WtFGoD

got this tea today as a sample from pekko teas, didnt even know it was coming so a pleasant suprise i guess. upon opening, this package is pretty, its wrapped in a colored light paper(???) inside is a tall thin golden package with the company name/logo + tea name. one negative i would note is that although the bag had a golden twist tie like peice wrapped around the top, it was not sealed(probably not ideal for longevity) but it is a sampler so not a huge strike unless you plan to keep it sitting around a long time before trying it.

since this was sent to me as a free sample i felt i should add this tea to the site, and ill try to give a brief impression in-spite of not really liking green teas >.<

the tea itself comes out yellow/light brown liquor, smells of a very subtle green. the leaves look black in the bag but are actually more darkgreen/brownish. smells kind of like … maybe a ladies arts and crafts store??? kind of like a florally/minty scent.

the tea tastes green in a very subtle way, slight mintyness to it. the consistency is thin but smooth maybe what some would call a bit buttery?
aside from that im pretty sure i brewed it incorrectly :( there where no dirrections on bag and i didnt see it under “Black” on the pekko site, was under the impression darjeelings where black. so the water was probably a bit too hot and the tea had a slight bitterness/astringency to it… kind of like a straight alchohol but very subtle (probably due to my error)

all of that said i will not rate this tea because of my personal bias against green teas… which i hate… this tea was subtle enough, i had no problem finishing the cup.

leaves smell dark/dull smell, liquor smells like a fujian

tastes very earthy and maybe a bit what would be described as dark chocolatey, overall a very blunt flavor… i almost want to say it has some taste characteristics of a keemun but very earthy

got this because people said it had a caramel taste to it, i dont really taste it and this tea isnt one of my favorites. was far outshined by the tea i got just for the heck of it, the yunnan dian hong

decided to place an order with teavivre a few weeks ago. mainly wanted to try out their bailin gongfu and figured i would pick up samples of other black teas while i was at it, i ended up buying this tea in a larger quantity because the value seemed very good and it was well reviewed here at steepster.

few notes on the teavivre packaging, everything came in bags(generic like most companys) but teavivre only puts 3.5oz into each bag and has the teas inside the zip bag in another bag, superior packaging imo.

the tea itself when you open the bag it smells sweet even spicy; a really pleasant aroma. taste wise it reminds me a lot of an earl gray at first…. just a really subtleness of the same flavor. the sweetness/mild spicyness comes through pretty well to the taste, also has a nice heavy mouthfeel

at first i wasnt sure if i was going to like it, was interesting but reminded me of earl gray too much(wasnt fond of); after a week-two of drinking ive taken a liking to it(complex teas take a while for me to get acclimated to.. had this experience with a fujian in the past)

overall so far this outshines the bailin gonfu for me, really glad i picked up more than a sample size of this…. great value tea, good tasting especially to those of you who prefer sweeter teas(blacks)

smells mildly floral/fruity … reminded me of earl grey smell.

liquor is light colored also thin, mild… floral reminds me of a very mild earl grey for some reason, not a fan of the taste but being mild its drinkable. if you like that earl grey florallyness go for it

dry leaves – smells almost florally till the mint hits you

liquor very light, not like a black tea at all mild minty smell

overwhelmingly minty flavor, liquor feels thin like a keemun… but the thing that stands out is the mint possibly with a slight floral taste to it

i cant help but think they misslabeled this tea, as its nothing like the other ceylon ive had… its also very light for a black tea, by looks (liquor) it might be mistaken for a mature white tea /dirty yellow liquor

if you are thinking about getting it, keep in mind the mintyness. as i like mint i didnt mind this tea, although i do prefer my true blacks.

very subtle smell, like a mild keemun smell, dark chocolaty smell.

liquor smells more earthy/dull than the dry leaf.

has an earthy/dark flavor pretty subtle, not as bold as some other black teas. but has some complexity? that comes through, a very interesting tea and the first one ive liked in a while.(enough to drink daily)

im a little conflicted about the earthiness of the tea but overall i like the tea. as a note on persimmon tree itself, i find their tea descriptions pretty accurate at least for the few black/white teas ive tried.

got a sample of this- so quick impressions

the cinnamon in this is pretty present like a spicyness to the whole tea… while i didnt really like the taste i felt it did live up to the name as it was rather relaxing

couldn’t really say if it was good or bad as i dont drink chai teas, but the cinnamon is what really stands out.. so if thats your thing you might like this.

(i rated this low because i didnt like the taste, moved it up a bit cuz it was relaxing)

got a sample of this – quick impression

i wont give a rating for this tea… as im just so biased against the taste it might not be fair- didnt even finish the cup

very florally taste/smell – sweet smell/taste … i find it offensive, its like drinking poupouri… has a very thin/lemony quality to it… as another review said ‘tart’

… that being said its not overly artificial/fake tasting? maybe some people like floral teas, but its just so far from my preference i couldn’t even say if its good/bad.

got this in a sample – so brief impression

first time trying rooibos tea so i dont have anything to compare this to

the smell of this tea is pretty mild although distinctive ….the taste however is pretty orangy? i guess not so much like a real orange, but maybe some sort of orange candy taste, was very present almost like an orange lollipop…. but one that you drink it also fades away very pleasantly after each sip

im not so much for sweet(will effect my rating), i tend to like black teas that are bland/dark in flavor…. so this isnt a tea i would drink but i find it very interesting

i could see children really liking this tea or anyone who likes that candy/orangy taste in their tea

overall im very impressed with this tea but its not for me

got a sample of this- quick impression

i dont much like earl grey teas… i dont like this one either, i just dislike the flavor.

that being said this one was far better than the last one i tried. epi teas earl gray didnt overpower me with the flavor… the first time i tried earl grey it was so artificial i could barely drink it, this one is far more subtle/comfortable level of flavor. i think if you like earl grey you would like this tea, but take what i say with a grain of salt.

the smell of the tea is far more subtle(than the first i tried) and it gives a fairly relaxing feeling overall. i rated it on the low end because of personal preference even though i am pleasantly surprised by this tea.

just brief impression

only tried this once – got in a sample pack so keep that in mind

although its an irish breakfast it seemed pretty chinese to me. couldn’t specify a specific region for sure, but tasted far less assamy than most irish breakfast teas.

while i dont prefer the taste of chinese teas (will effect my rating) i thought it was pretty good… had more of a weighty mouthfeel than english breakfast teas(not same flavor just reference point) less thin which i like although not quiet as round/heavy a mouthfeel as some other irish breakfasts…. if memory serves correctly i would put it around a fujian tea

other thoughts : this tea came in a bag, with leaves about the size you’d expect from an irish breakfast. the smell pretty closely matched the taste, the tea bag itself kept the tea inside let water through and didnt effect the taste… although might have been a little small(normal sized) and didnt have a string.

took on the long side steep time wise but didnt seem bitter at all and had a pleasant aftertaste

No notes yet.

Scottish Breakfast

Leaves: they have a distinctive fairly strong scent… that i just cant seem to identify… it just smells like something you’d imagine drinking in the morning… the leaves are pretty small while some look rolled others do not, not sure if this is intended?

Liquor: the color is dark, and it steeps very very fast… ive often overbrewed this tea… i use times dramatically short of the 3-5m prescribed times for blacks….that being said if you get it just right its very nice and worthy of everyday drinking, has that smooth(malty???) feel and if you dont overbrew it has a slight tinged taste to it? like a metallicness? or a rawness? not a bad thing just strange

overall i do like this tea(when i dont over brew it :rage:)… but i would like to try some more teas before settling( irishbreakfast teas are my staple tea )

China Keemun

Leaves: the smell of these is interesting..has a chocolatey smell(darker) like you would imagine a bag of chocolate(not milk chocolate)crumbs might smell- the leaves are pretty small but bigger than CTC

Liquor: the taste was pretty bold/upfront and it struck me as a bitterish tea, not so much in the brewing but in the rough/chalky kind of way.. might be considered astringent?

overall not the worst tea ive had… but i wont be stocking any “keemun” teas

Tippy Orthodox Assam

Leaves: mild smell- mild black tea smell(of the brkfst teas) but sweeter…better smelling(imo)- the leaves are about average size

Liquor: this has a lighter liquor than the breakfast teas, comes off close to an irish breakfast but smoother i guess you could say, also has a full mouthfeel

overall i really like this tea

Ceylon Op

leaves: hard to say but overall mildly sweet fruityish scent, leaves larger than CTC but not the biggest leaves ive seen-after steeped leaves just smell like… wet leaves, not really distinctive

Liquor: the color is lighter than other blacks ive tried, the mouthfeel is pretty round and i almost want to say tangy feel/taste… not the most bold tea but imo one of my favorites for taste/mouthfeel

the only thing keeping me from drinking this tea as a primary is that i feel the ‘kick’-caffeine is not there… it just doesn’t have a strong physical effect :sadface:

i have been a little hesitant to review black teas, as they are (imo) harder to compare to other tastes/experiences …but ill do my best

the leaf is cut/rolled into tiny pellets(very tiny) and has an almost absent smell… i kinda like the mildness of the scent

when steeped the water turns dark very very quickly(in my experience) possibly due to the larger side surface area of the leaves(being in tiny pieces?) i tend to cut the steep dramatically short of the prescribed 3-5 for blacks

it also provides what i consider a large amount of brews/cups(compared to other blacks)

the mouthfeel tends to be really thin… i dislike this greatly… but it is my understanding that this is usual with englishbranded teas?

the taste i don’t much care for as i prefer irish/assam type blacks more.. but the taste lines up with what i’d expect from an english breakfast

overall im impressed with the tea but alas it is just not for me

got this as a sample

smells very very floral… if you had enough of this you could scent a room with it, light liquor, liquor smells florally too also tastes exactly like it smells… if you like floral teas go for it… not my preference

received a sample of this(so only tried it once)

but it tasted kinda keemuny to me .. like an astringent/rusty quality to it… feels like your tongue is coated with it after your done

a little more bold than other black teas ive had, overall decent .. although not something i’d buy

this tea smells like a campfire, not exaggerating in the slightest … it also tastes like a campfire.. strangely enough, like someone took a burning log and put it in some water

very smokey … i didnt like it

lightish colored liquor

when you open the bag up it smells of frootloops… after the first whiff though it begins to have a very floral smell, like sweet flowers

the taste is pretty uniform with the smell and it has the frootloopish taste and kind of gets more floral the more you drink(although more subtle than the smell)

overall it was decent, not really my thing though. i seem to prefer more bland/darker flavors. but if you love frootloops go for it ! :D

snowbud is the first white tea ive tried. i picked it up after realizing i hate the taste of green tea but still want a tea i can drink before bed and the health benefits are a + i guess

i love this tea (compared to green tea) it doesn’t have much taste to it just a really really subtle sweetness as a base and unfortunately still some greentea kind of taste… i think ive seen it said as "vegetal’ but idk

as im looking for a cheaper white tea(not many) i think i could settle on this although its not amazing its certainly acceptable … would ideally like to try other whites though as i see room for improvement

would like to start by saying i rated it low(ish) because i do not like the taste of chamomile, just personal preference i guess, as it seems like it has a taste which some could enjoy

kind of sweetish flowery taste… not really sure how to explain taste….the smell and the taste are perfect mirror imo

i like the relaxing effect drinking it gives and apparently the vitamin A in its good for you so i may order more, i currently mix it with a decaf vanilla tea to make the taste acceptable (to me)

has an overwhelming smell …. smells very good, but its just so overpowering that i find it unpleasant after a while

that being said the taste is pretty mild, pretty good.. i mix it with chamomile for afternoon tea, as the chamomile neutralizes the smell of the vanilla and the vanilla masks the taste of the chamomile( that im not too fond of )

with this being my first decaf/flavored tea it doesn’t exactly encourage me to try others but as a mask for the chamomile it makes a very acceptable cup that’s relaxing