Saroyan

Fairly good green tea and the teabag is the more eco friendly kind as well. It has a very strong jasmine flavor, which if you like jasmine you will love. I actually am not a huge jasmine fan or when I do have it I like it to be a little more subtle. Still its pretty good for teabag tea and it definitely clears the palette, it borders on medicinal.

I almost never have teabags in my apartment but I am currently stuck at home for the next couple of weeks and my parents have a gigantic amount of teabags. So I thought I would review some and try to restrain from sounding like a loose tea snob. This darjeeling isn’t terrible considering its twinnings but its still pretty bland with a flat muscatel flavor. It has a slight sweetness but it borders on tasting like dust. I drink it straight, milk and sugar would just make it a glorified milkshake in my mind. Meh.

This is a simple nice oolong with a wonderful roasted nut flavor at the end of every sip. It almost tastes like roasted corn at a summer picnic. It doesn’t have the sweetness or vegetal taste of lighter greener oolongs and is perfect when you want a little more bite to your oolong. I love trying teas from places other then china and india and this tea can definitely stand on its own when compared to chinese oolongs. After seeing lord of the rings I’m sure New Zealand has many perfect places to grow and process tea. Very nice.

First steeping is sweet and vegetal with a slight nutty taste. 2nd steeping has a lot more floral flavors and has a lot more crispness. Its a very reliable tie guan yin and has both the lightness of a green tea and the richness of an oolong. Its also in my shelf next to my bag of verdant tea tieguanyin, which couldn’t be more different. Both are fantastic teas but CTG is lighter while Verdant had a richer spicier taste. I love both and plan to buy both in the future when I run out.

This is my first experience with matcha besides genmaicha/matcha blends. I read the directions and saw that it recommended a half teaspoon and I promptly ignored that and dumped a hefty teaspoon into my mug. That was stupid. The matcha has sifted to the bottom and I’ve been adding more and more hot water to my mug so its kinda like I’m imitating multiples steepings. I know a whisk is usually used as well as a sifter so I might think of getting those. The tea itself is quite nice despite my mistakes, its vegetal and sweet and just tastes healthy. It reminds me of the tea version of naked green machine juice but a lot less sweet.

I got this pu-erh in a very generous sampler box from Teavivre. This pu-erh has a much more pronounced leather taste as opposed to soil taste and less sweet then most. I love drinking it after dinner and find it incredibly relaxing. A one minute steep brought out the interesting leather flavor while a second steeping at two minutes has a sharp cooking chocolate taste. Nice late night tea.

Compared to my other shu pu-erh from adagio this one is a lot more interesting. Sweeter and lighter in the first steep (after rinse) but still rich and complex, a slight brown sugar quality. This pu-erh also does not smell like rot but instead has a sweeter mustier smell. Further steepings are more of the same and the leaves do not evolve too much. Last steep was ten minutes and there was no bitterness at all. Not a bad pu-erh but I’m still not a huge fan of shu pu-erh

After Big Red Robe and their autumn tie guan yin I’m falling in love with all of verdant teas. This is one of best yunnan’s I’ve had. Instead of pepper being the overriding flavor the first steeping is creamy with an aftertaste of vanilla bean gelato and cinnamon. The tea is very forgiving and can handle longer steeps in which the flavor expands even more. 2nd steeping has that chocolate milk taste which is really interesting. This tea has a lightness and stamina of a dark oolong which I really like.

I wouldn’t normally think that Fairway loose tea would be anything special but for the price this is one nice keemun. I love Fairway and always miss it when I leave the NY area. This keemun is smooth with a slight chocolate aftertaste, not the richest keemun I’ve ever had but its a great everyday tea.

I did take a camel ride in the middle east once but I’m not sure I could tell you what their breath smelled like. This tea with its shitake mushroom and peat smell might come pretty close. I did a 30 second first steep. First steep is light and soupy with a hint of caviar at the end. 2nd infusion 45 seconds and much darker, thicker and soupier with a sharper aftertaste.

This oolong has a nice mineral aftertaste just like the other rock oolongs I’ve had. I taste a little bit of the honey but the peach is very faint. It has an interesting grittiness that the other wuyi oolongs didn’t have, almost sandy. The roasted flavor is great and comes through strongly without being overpowering.

This is my first “sheng” or “green” pu erh and it’s very nice. Light and minty (due to extra herb) this tea tastes exactly like sticky rice. The color and mouthfeel reminds me of green tea but the taste is completely different, there is a lot more bite. First steep was very light green and the tuocha did not fall completely apart, second steep however the entire thing melted and the tea color is a light amber. The second steeping is much richer with a hint of basil almost.

I followed the more traditional pu erh rinse and 30 second steep instead of a 3 minute steep. It smells like fish and mushrooms but the actual taste is smooth with a slight sweet aftertaste. I am very new to Pu Erhs and I’m curious to try more Sheng and raw pu erhs to do more comparisons. Its not my favorite but its a very interesting way to process tea.

I usually read the description at the top of the page with a little heaping of disbelief but this tea truly grows and transforms as I continue to resteep. It’s probably the best greener oolongs I’ve ever had. The first steep was vegetal and spicy and further steeps became thicker with a more buttery aftertaste, it also does have that thirst quenching biting into a peach feeling. I also pick up the roasted marshmallow or more of a burnt sugar/caramel essence. I’ve had teas that resteep nicely and lend new flavors to each cup but this tea is different. It’s actually getting richer around steeps 3 and 4. This is a fantastic tea and I can’t wait to try the spring one.

This is just ok, it has a nice sweetness at the end like all dragonwell’s do and a light vegetal notes but its just too weak and bleh tasting. Even when I steep for four minutes the leaves just don’t seem to have it in them. Very meh.

Buttery and vegetal and the slight chestnut overtone is there as well. This is a very nice green tea, mellow and brothy.

This tea reminds me of Chun Mee but without the “dusty” aftertaste, its not wonderful but it has a nice honey/plum aftertaste and its nowhere near as bitter as Chun Mee.

On first steep: I can taste the peach pit and a little bit of the honey but the floral taste really overpowers it. I’ll try for a shorter steep next time, right now it just tastes like bitter flowers.

This is my first “yellow tea” and it’s really really good. It does remind me of Darjeeling like it says. It has the earthiness of an oolong but its sweeter. It almost smells like black tea. I don’t really understand umami but this has a vague taste I can’t put my finger on so maybe its that quality. Very enjoyable.

This tea smells wonderful, malty like an assam but sweet and peppery as well. Taste wise it’s good but not fantastic, especially for how much it costs. It has a syrupy brothiness, almost like unsweet caramel. The pepper is there but not as strong as other Yunnans I’ve had. I’m going to try a couple of resteeps to see what happens. Its still a great morning tea but still out of my budget except in samples.

I don’t usually drink flavored teas but this one seemed interesting so I got it. Its dark and smokey and has ample hazelnut flavor. Its so coffee-like that I’ve told friends to try this tea first as they make the transition from coffee to tea. Its a great dessert tea and acts like a coffee substitute for me.

Very bitter and unenjoyable, only steeped for two minutes and its already quite bitter. I don’t usually use milk but next time I’ll try some. Not my favorite ceylon by far though.

Very nice light oolong, not as good as wuyi or pouchong, this one has a more floral quality almost a woodiness. Its not my favorite green oolong but it isn’t bad and the multiple resteeps bring out different aspects of the floral notes.

Wonderfully light and floral with a slight butter aftertaste. Second steeping really transforms into an almost jasmine like floral taste and you lose the butter quality. It definitely costs enough, I’ll have to do a comparison with their standard pouchong back to back but this one does not disappoint and it holds up well to many resteepings.