Amy oh

Thanks very much to SimplyJenW for sending me a sample of this, I really wanted to try it!

As for me, well I’m not really sure chocolate goes that well in tea. This blend is nice though, it looks like it has some pink flowers in it, I wonder what they are? It has a light cocoa flavor that seems to go well with the black tea base but is ever so slightly “chalky”. I did not sense a lot of coconut until I added soymilk to it, which seemed to bring out the coconut flavor for me. I’d definitely have this as a dessert tea but I’m not sure I will buy any when I still have a big tin of Florence, their chocolate hazelnut tea, it’s tempting though!

I thought this one was delicious. Very smooth and sweet for a pu-erh tea, I steeped mine in the gaiwan for 30 – 60 seconds each time.

The flavors are fruity, I definitely get the date flavor and aroma, or maybe raisin. The wet leaves are dark and smell of cocoa and the forest. A very rich and earthy cup. Bana gets my vote for some of the best pu-erhs I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. I was surprised this one did not do higher in the other ratings. I think maybe pu-erh is an acquired taste…

I needed something to revive me today and this is helping, very uplifting!

I got this recently on Amazon.com with a gift certificate someone gave me for Christmas. It was only about 1/2 the price that Tao of Tea sells it for so I would check there first if you’re interested in buying one.

This is an interesting bing because it is made of the tea flowers and not tea leaves. I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not but I think it’s good. I steeped it around 175 F for 1-2 minutes each steep. It doesn’t really have the taste of a regular pu-erh. It is a lot sweeter, mild, and more melon-y and also a bit floral (duh!). It is a pretty nifty little cake. I am noticing a bit of a pollen aftertaste and since I have allergies it’s making me a little paranoid but I don’t seem to be allergic to the tea.

Let me know if anyone wants to try it/swap for it!

hmm. So I still think Alishans are kind of wimpy but I wanted to try this one anyway and it certainly seems like one of the better ones I have had.

I’ve been steeping this in a gaiwan at around 180 F for 60 seconds or so. My impressions of the first two steeps are it’s very light and citrusy with an elegant creamy element. I am reminded of lemon meringue.

The third steep is usually my favorite with oolongs and I’m also getting the coconut milk element that Geoffrey described in his tasting note. I think I will need to try cold brewing the rest of this sample as well, that would probably bring out the sweetness in this tea a lot.

About the fourth infusion I’m getting some sugar snap peas in here, I’m thankful this tea is not overly flowery in any way. A gentle and elegant way to start my day.

Hurray – I’m the first one to log this. Nyah, nyah nyah! :-)

Today I am an oolong fiend. I got this as a freebie with my order from Asha Tea House and I’m very grateful.

I only have had one other oriental beauty oolong and this is another one that evidently gets its’ sweetness from the assistance of insects. So I’m defintely not an expert. And I’ve heard it can be difficult to find a good quality oriental beauty oolong but I believe this is a good one.

It brews up darker than a green oolong but is not really roasted. The flavor in infusions 1 and 2 reminds me a bit of grain with a light floral quality and some lingering sweetness. A bit of honey. This falls very softly on the palette and is moist and refreshing in your mouth.

Steep #3 is getting a bit sweeter with something like a light touch of caramel or brown sugar. Mmmm. This is really lovely, I’m so glad I got the chance to try it. It’s luxurious!

Wah – I just wrote a nice detailed tasting note for this but it did not get saved for some reason.

Normally I think Alishans are kind of wimpy but this one was really good. Lightly buttery with a scent of gardenias but not overwhelmingly floral. Very clean and delicious, I would definitely buy it again. Steeped 4 times and still very flavorful! Sorry for the brevity of this note, I don’t have the patience to recreate it – :)

Finishing off the last of this sample today -kinda sad to see it go, it’s yummy (see previous tasting notes)

Thanks to Indigobloom for sending me a sample of this which I am finally getting around to trying!

I still don’t know how to tell if a milk oolong has real or an artificial flavor added. From the description it would appear that this one is natural. I’ve been steeping it in the gaiwan for 60 seconds or so this morning at around 180 F. this is a very buttery tea that reminds me of freshly cooked corn. There is also a slight floral element here which is nice. It is very tasty but since I seem to be allergic to milk I always worry about these. :)

It gets a little less milky around the 3rd and 4th step so that’s where I seem to like it the most. Amazing this reminds me of POPCORN!

Thanks for this one, QueenofTarts. I can’t say that I will ever love the taste of rooibos, it seems a little medicinal to me, almost like cough syrup? But I am still looking for things to drink without caffeine sometimes, plus now I hear it is good for people with asthma and allergies, I have both so I believe it’s worth a try.

This is one of the better red rooibos blends I have had, I don’t so much taste a lot of almonds but the vanilla is there. It was very good with soymilk as a kind of dessert tea. I’m not sure I would buy it for myself but I did enjoy trying it.

Steeped for 3.5 mins with boiling water.

This came about as a result from my swap with Tommy the Toad who has the funniest name on Steepster. :)

I’ve never had a Mushroom shaped pu-erh before but I guess the shape of the tea does not impact the flavor much? Does anyone know? I steeped this one in the gaiwan for 60 seconds after a quick rinse in boiling water.

It’s very earthy and a woodsy tea. I thought I noticed some creamy elements and a bit of fruitness here as well. I wasn’t sure how much of the sample to use in the gaiwan. After the first steep, the second one only needed about 10 seconds before it got really dark. This tea has staying power! I don’t know if I can drink anymore of it tonight without staying up all night.

With the second steep it seems very woodsy and with hints of tobacco, it’s a bit smoky. Thanks Tommy! I will have to drink the rest of this in the morning when I have all day to stay awake. :) I might have to buy one, it’s a very good pu-erh for the price.

hmm. I still like this stuff, green rooibos seems to be a bit more appealing than red. I’ve been trying to drink it due to the health benefits. If anyone else knows of a good green one, let me know. :)

This is my afternoon cuppa. I have to admit – chocolate tea and I do not really get along. I haven’t really found any that I like too much. This one comes close but I have lost some affection for it over the past few months, I am not sure why.

This one is just so nice. One thing I like about Naivetea’s flavored oolongs is they don’t seem fake or artificial in anyway. This has a light strawberry flavor that is just really delicious. I highly recommend them!

For me this seems to have been the dud of my recent Lupicia purchases although some other people seemed to like it more than I did.

It’s got a sweet potato pie aroma, for sure but I found the flavor to be a bit too strong as well as artificial and it left a bit of a funny aftertaste. It does have kind of a whisky flavor as Auggy mentioned. It also gets pretty sweet. Adding soymilk definitely seemed to help me to finish it off.

I don’t know if I can finish this bag myself so let me know if anyone would like to try it…

Steeped for 4 minutes in boiling water. Might try for less time next go around.

This came about as a recent swap with Amanda. Even though she gave it less than stellar reviews I wanted to try it anyway, plus I am always looking for some more caffeine free things.

I don’t love roobois much so I was thinking I might hate this but I did have a strawberry rhubarb tea once from Lupicia that I really liked.

Steeped for 5 minutes with boiling water in my $4 Daiso teapot.

Yeah the smell of this is pretty funky. It’s like a yogurt that went bad. I don’t think it quite smells like butt but maybe… feet? The flavor isn’t quite as bad though thankfully. I don’t quite know if I taste any rhubarb in here. I think it needs something. It was definitely better with some soymilk. And maybe it needs a pinch of sugar. Well I will find some way to make it more drinkable but I won’t be buying any…. :)

we are finishing off the last of this sample today. It’s a rainy and blustery day here which seems perfect for shu. A very musty and woodsy one here… see my previous tasting notes

Since this tea is a Sikkim and not a Darjeeling I updated the listing – I hope nobody minds!

I’m coming near to the end of my sheng samples from Bana Tea Company. I would have tried them all before now but sheng is something you need to sit down and pay attention to.

I steeped this in boiling water for one minute after a quick rinse of the leaves. I am getting something like a slight apple cider sourness along with a bit of malt. Can a tea be “tangy”? Well this one seems to be, sort of.

For the second steep I decided to go for 30 seconds only. This seems to have been a good decision since the tea is mellowing out a bit. I am still getting apples with a bit of burnt toast and now some sweetness. It seems very fresh and aromatic.

Third steep, I used water that was less hot. More sweetness and mushroomy-ness, it’s very mild and pleasant. This seems like one that would only improve with age although it is quite ready to drink now.

If you want to go on a sheng adventure you certainly can’t go wrong with this sampler pack from Bana, I’d highly recommend it. Not a bad one in the bunch so far…

Wow, I knew I was in for a treat when I smelled the dry leaf in the bag and it is already smelling kind of pineapple-ish. I steeped this at 3.5 minutes at around 195 F. I wish I knew where my thermometer was. My water was not quite boiling so I assume it was around 195.

I wonder, is this technically a darjeeling if it’s from Sikkim? The second flush Sikkim from Rare Tea Republic was beyond amazing in my opinion, and this one is excellent also. It’s very light bodied with a slight floral nose. The tea itself is very fruity, pineapplish and actually on the sweeter side with a bit of sandalwood/earth. I’m so used to these darjeeling type tea being very astringent with lots of tannins but this is exceptionally smooth and mellow. It’s easy to drink plain on it’s own. I’m with LiberTeas, I thought it was superb. Mmmm, I think I’m going to go make another cup right now!

I will definitely be going back to Rare Tea Republic as a customer.

This sample was provided courtesy of Teavivre for review.

I decided to use two of the sample packets in my Gaiwan because I wasn’t sure one would have given me enough leaf.

My first steep was with around 180 F water for one minute. It is buttery, very rich and fresh. I got a tiny bit of sharpness towards the end so I think I may have steeped it too long that time.

The second steep was for around 30 seconds. The leaves have expanded so much that they have almost filled my entire gaiwan so I’m not sure using all that leaf was such a great idea. hee hee… but now I am picking up a bit on that lychee flavor and it’s still very nice and buttery.

Third steep: a little less butter and a little more fruit. It’s really a nice relaxing cup of yum-ness. I do happen to like Dong Ding oolongs quite a lot.

Fourth and Fifth Steep: still going strong in terms of flavor and richness.

Overall I give this good points on flavor but I’ve been drinking sooo many Taiwanese green oolongs lately that I’m not sure it really stands head and shoulders above the crowd. It is very enjoyable though! I would have liked to seen this roasted a bit.

Another sample from Upton which I am just trying today. This tea has not done very well in the ratings so far but I try not to let other people’s opinions influence me too much.

I first gave it a short steep in the gaiwan for 30 seconds at the recommend temp (175 F). It is light with a refreshing clover and almost cucumber like refreshment.

The second and third steeps are much the same as the first. I let them go on or 2 or so minutes. I am still getting cucumbers and light sweetness. It is very pleasant, but I can also see how you might be hoping it would give out more flavor. It is kind of expensive so I can’t see myself buying more in the future but I have definitely enjoyed trying it.

I’m holding off on rating this for now. I steeped some up this morning in the gaiwan and I just don’t get the appeal of it particularly with all the extended verbiage everyone else has used to describe it. It’s okay, but??? Am I missing something? Any helpful advice?

After reading the other reviews here I was wondering if I made a mistake in purchasing this. I have been shying away from flavored teas lately but I still like the fruity ones.

This I steeped up with boiling water in an infuser mug for 3 minutes. It’s a black tea and the fragrance is very strong, it smells a bit like black currents and cherries to me. As it cools off I am getting more blueberry flavor. It’s true that the flavor of the tea is not as strong as the smell but I don’t really mind that. If the flavor was stronger I might find it sickening, to be honest. I don’t really drink a lot of black teas without soymilk but this one is just kind of pleasant to sip on plain. Drinking it with soymilk is making it more of a dessert-type flavor.

Overall, I am pleased with this purchase. Will definitely have to try it as an iced tea also.

This really did make an excellent iced tea – I am steeping the rest of it today to drink tomorrow…