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This tea was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting its intensity. First, the smell when dry. I’d say woodsy. Nice. Unremarkable, really.

195/2 min – The aroma has become deeper. It’s now more of a roasted scent. The color is a medium reddish brown. Very pretty to look at and very appropriately named! The taste is rich, deep and roasted. It reminds me a bit of barley. It’s a strong tea without bitterness.

I’m in tea heaven! Wow, Joy’s Teaspoon, this is amazing! I have found one of my favorites and the second and third steeps were just as delicious. (On the shopping list!)

Okay, first, the dry tea scent is sooooooo tantalizing! Fruity, fresh, begging to be brewed.

175/2 min… Ahhh… the scent, if possible, is even stronger. The taste is like the tropics. It’s tropical fruity, like pineapple and hula skirts. The green tea matches it so well. I love being able to taste both the fruit and the tea. It’s outstanding! Subsequent steeps were just as heavenly.

This tea’s scent is beautiful from start to finish. When I opened the pretty little vacuum sealed bag, the smell of the tea leaves reminded me of a preserved bouquet. It was very pretty, yet grassy. Not overdone or overpowering. Just pleasant.

195/2 min

Now, the fragrance of the tea is much more evident. I’m picking up on the bergamot scent, reminiscent of Earl Grey, but not scent the room strong. The taste is really subtle. I can taste the bergamot, but I don’t feel it as in the Earl Grey where it permeates all of your senses. Instead, it’s comforting and delicate. This tea is fairly light and other than a hint of toasty oolong flavor, it really does resemble more of a roasted green tea. I’m not picking up too much of a fruity flavor, just a gentle floral infusion.

I tried this one next in a frantic attempt to clear out some of my tea cabinet. I really like the fresh, earthy scent of this tea. It smells like the woods with fresh, clean leaves and twigs.

195/2 min. – The scent is still earthy, but has lost some of the freshness. The tea itself is a deep yellowish color. The taste is okay, not really what I was hoping for. I didn’t discern any notes of fruit or honey or anything sweet. It isn’t bitter at all, it’s just kind of plain. Not bad, but not exciting, either. No improvement on the second steep.

One thing to note, when I was emptying my strainer to prepare for another tea, I couldn’t help but notice all of the broken pieces of leaves stuck to the sides. The leaves plump up tremendously, but leave a lot of waste behind.

I ordered a small tin of these with about eight inside. They’re okay. Frankly, the tea taste is a bit harsh. These are more like candies than chocolate, but not really sweet. I think the ratio of the white chocolate to tea needs to be changed. More chocolate, less tea. There are bits of tea in it that add texture, but I really didn’t feel like they’re necessary. The green kisses are soft like white chocolate, but the taste is just off what I expected. It didn’t stop me from eating all of them in the course of just two days, but I wouldn’t repurchase them. Now, if they were made with genmaicha… :)

This smells sweet, with a spiciness. I can make out the almond, marzipan scent.

Boiling/2 min – Also, I went with 3g/8 oz of water, even though I normally use 3g/6 oz. It smells very strong.

Now, once brewed, it smells very cookie-ish and sweet. Just like marzipan, actually. The taste confirms that this tea is indeed marzipan flavored, and quite well. How do I know? Because I detest marzipan! I bought this tea for my husband. So, I’m rating it according to how well I think the actual tea reflects what it is supposed to be, and the truth is that I hate this tea because it is exactly what it claims to be. My son loves this. My daughter just asked for more. My husband is happy, but wants it to be stronger. I want nothing more to do with it. So, I’d say it’s a success.

I think that this would make a very nice winter holiday tea. It’s spicy, tastes like marzipan and tea (actually, the black tea flavor – not flavoring – is very nice and is not bitter or overwhelming at all.)

This is a little bizarre for me. I’m reviewing a tea I drank without realizing I had been drinking it.

I ordered from thepuriTea and received my order yesterday. I was looking forward to trying the Dan Cong, so I prepared it, took notes, drank it. Then, I looked at the sample packet. It was marked Dong Ding, as was the other packet of tea in the case. I looked at the outside case. It was marked Dan Cong. Someone put the wrong tea into this sample packet. Therefore, here’s my review for the right tea, Dong Ding.

It smells nice. It’s fresh, not fruity or sweet. More like a soft spring day freshness than woodsy fresh. (195/2 min) It smells grilled. It’s nice, though. Not roasted or smoky, but just grilled. Like the taste that vegetables get on the barbeque, but without the vegetal taste. The tea is a nice yellow color and very clear. The taste is really fresh, clean, grilled, slightly smoky flavored. It’s a bit woodsy, but very nice, not overwhelming. I’d say the elements are all nicely balanced. I’m really enjoying it.

Now, I just have to contact thepuriTea to get the sample that I had actually ordered.

Wow. Simply wow. On a recent thread, some Steepster peeps were discussing milk oolongs and a few companies’ names were thrown out. I decided to give the milk oolong from thepuritea a try. I placed my order just a couple of days ago and received it today. (Rats… my husband saw me bringing yet more tea into this house!)

Anyway, I decided to try this first since it really was the reason I ordered from them in the first place. Upon opening the bag, the scent is wonderful! It’s nutty and creamy and even fruity smelling.

I used ATR’s recommendations for their milk oolong 175/2 min. It came out a very light yellow color. Pretty. The scent is beguiling. Floral, fruity, nutty, creamy, lovely. And the taste is really outstanding! It’s really, really, really good and is now one of my favorites. I can’t believe this isn’t fruit flavored. It’s so sweet. I love this tea.

Oh boy. I’m not even sure where to begin with this one. It came in the mail to me through Golden Moon Tea’s Single Leaf Club (like a tea of the month club… I’m trying to broaden my horizons); however, when I enter the secret link to read more about it, the link doesn’t work.

So, kind of excited as I’ve never tried pu-erh before, I open the container and sniff. Now, if I were a farmer, perhaps this would have invoked a different reaction, however, the barnyard/dirt fragrance really turned me off. Would I actually try this? I had to question myself. Well, this morning I took the plunge.

I followed the directions almost exactly, but added a rinse first, hoping to shake some of that scent. 180/1.5 minutes…

Sniff… ack! Nope, now it’s wet barnyard that I smell. And something like feet. Seriously, this is getting worse and worse. But, I’m thinking to myself, I lived in France for years. Some of the cheeses that could condemn a home on odor alone were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Besides, the color of the tea is very light yellow and pretty. So, I throw caution to the wind and take a sip.

I’m not a mathematician, but I’ve come up with an equation:

(scent of cheese:taste) ≠ (scent of Sticky Rice Pu-erh:taste)

I’m pretty proud of that and I have no words to describe this that wouldn’t fall into my mom’s “if-you-don’t-have-anything-nice-to-say, then-don’t-say-anything-at-all” category.

So, after a first failure to find fruitiness in a morning cup of tea, I’m turning to South Sea Magic from Joy’s Teaspoon. I only purchased the sample size of this one, but that little tin holds so much promise in its scent. It smells rich, like the black tea base it has, but also fruity and fresh and very tropical. (All good things in my quest!)

Boiling/1 minute

Mmm… still smells tropical! I’m getting excited that this tea may actually deliver a fruity taste, too. So, without further hesitation, I sip and it really is fruity! It’s truly a shared experience with neither the fruitiness (think mango, possibly papaya) nor the black tea overpowering the other. It’s very good. So good that I will most likely order a larger size of this and I’m not really a black tea kind of person.