Azzrian

All my fears about this tea have been squashed thanks to Amanda for sending me this sample!
I was so afraid of a licorice / anise taste but nooooo its not like that at all!
I taste creamy milky butter and sarsaparilla root be it in there or not, it tastes like root beer and is yummy as the cup cools.
Will I run out and buy it – not that i need to go OUT lol but I doubt this will live in my perma stash but I surely would never refuse a cup offered!
We will see if I have any cravings for it sneak up but I still have enough for another cup for another day.
Thank you Amanda I was so curious about this one – curiosity cured and happiness that it was an enjoyable cup!

Quick Note – busy day here – thank you Amanda for sharing this with me! Also this was the tea that started a great trade with Amanda!
This was good. I could live without it and won’t have dreams about it BUT it was a very very nice start to my busy morning!
I would say if this were for sale still I WOULD buy it.
Its not an OMGTEA but it is a really reliable tea with great flavors that are true to its name!

Got a sample of this from Kittenna even before she gets hers because we had a mutual order sent to me. I have a huge box about to go out to her she is going to be rolling in tea soon! :)

Anyway about this tea.

I think it was a good idea to add this flavor to a white tea. I feel if it had been in a black te the flavors would have been lost but this is quite nice. There is a cheesecake flavor coming through along with a nice but not too over done apricot sweetness.

This tea, for me, is not up there quite with the Zabaglione blends but its tasty!

This is a flavor combination that in my opinion and from experience tasting from other companies can be done quite wrong! Frank has done this blend QUITE RIGHT!
The cherry and almond come through nicely and the gunpowder base is not overwhelmed by the cherry or almond that are more than present!
It has a thin mouthfeel and would be amazing cold brewed! Light and refreshing not cloying whatsoever. I am sure some sweetener added would make a wonderful iced tea for kids or those of us who have sweet teeth as well :)
Thanks for another masterful creation Frank!
ETA: (A term stolen from Kittenna) this one re-steeped very well! Still as strong in flavor WOOT!

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In continuation of TeaEqualsBliss Matcha Marathon I am having the last of my sample of this provided to me by Kittenna again thank you for sharing!!
This is some yummy stuff and I do love all of the matcha I have sampled from Red Leaf thus far!
I mixed half and half milk and matcha with a little german rock sugar and ice.
So creamy yet feels healthy.
:)

Thank you Amanda for sharing this tea with me!
Its lovely!
I visited the site and was shocked at the low prices there but I shall refrain (for now) in placing an order.
This has the PERFECT balance of nutty, vanilla, and coconut!
It is also perfectly sweet without adding a thing.
Really a very nice tea.
Thank you again Amanda – this goes into the wish list!

Sometimes we just do something on the spur of the moment, on a whim, and it turns out AMAZING and thank you to Brian of Design a Tea for making this blend A MAZE ING!

I asked for a blend of peach and zabaglione but Brian went all out and added so many extras to make this THE BOMB!

I did a cold steep – just added room temp bottled water to the container with my strainer in it and within an hour it was ready, delicious, refreshing, and OMG good!
I JUST got this in the mail today and I already ordered more of it yes although I am on an order stand off I HAD to get more as this is now my DAILY iced tea for on the go in this mid west summer heat!

WOWZA and YUM!

Matcha #2 in TeaEqualsBliss’s Matcha Marathon

This is delightful!
Very naturally flavored with a great citrus awakening punch!
I am enjoying this mixed with some milk, ice and a little German Rock Sugar but I also tried it straight and it was darn yummy!
LOVE!
Oops forgot in my excitement to thank Amanda for this sample! <3

MATCHA 1 of the TeaEqualsBliss Matcha Marathon!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Amanda for this sample! I am preparing for my first Red Leaf order – you would think I was preparing for prom lol. I want to do this right!
I agree with Amanda about the chemical flavor of this tea HOWEVER I made mine iced with milk and it sure helps a ton to cut down on that chemical taste. Hot, this is nasty!
With that said I am enjoying this iced matcha latte!
A little german rock sugar, a little milk, ice, and the peach matcha is goodness!
I would be upset if I were Amanda though and liked my matcha warm. I can’t handle warm matcha though so make lattes with all my samples.
There is still a slight chemical after taste here but the peach flavor is good. I hope that Red Leaf manages to fix this because their matchas are too expense not to be perfect in my opinion especially when you get the upper end matcha base like Amanda did!
Again thank you Amanda for sharing this with me!
:)

Thank you Indigobloom for sharing this with me too!
I have had it around for a while and I apologize for just now getting around to it!
I seem with teas I only have a sample of to try putting off tasting until I have the time and peace to really enjoy them.
When I first smelled this in the steeped form I smelled dirt and sugar lol.
It has almost a beet flavor to it and it is mildly and naturally sweet!
I love earthy teas so the slight flavor of dirt I am getting is a okay with me!
I do get the lightly melon flavor but had I not had that pointed out to me by other reviews I may have just called it juicy and fruity.
I do pick up the peppery essence that Dylan found lacking.
What I love about this tea is everyone seems to get something slightly different from it!
Thank you again Indigobloom! I am enjoying this cup!

A big thank you to Angel and Teavivre for a sample of this beautiful tea.

This is the tea that takes you away from it all, soothes, and calms you after a tough day.
This jasmine tea has just the right amount of jasmine and if you are afraid of a jasmine tea tasting perfumeish don’t be with this one. Teavivre are masters at what they do, and you won’t ever feel like you are drinking your grandmother’s perfume!

Now I will admit jasmine tea is not my all time favorite nor would I reach for this every day but there are just some days I really need transported and this is my comfort tea!
This particular Jasmine from Teavivre seems a little more mellow, more subtle, and it is so relaxing.

Thank you Angel and Teavivre for allowing me to try this one and share my feelings on it!

This is just okay.
Not very oolong ish and the peach is alright I don’t believe I would order this again but its not horrible either.
Far better of similar teas though out there.

Purchased this in my first ever H & S order and SO glad that I did!
What a lovely bancha base with an amazing caramel flavor!
Yes sweet but as others have said not too sweet but really if you are one to typically add sweetener to your tea I don’t believe you will have to with this so at least give it a couple of sips before adding by nature.

I do not get the sesame as much as others have – only slightly – but I am one to sit and eat sesame seeds like a snack just plain lol so maybe I am desensitized!

Although this is caramel flavored I totally taste fruits in this tea.

Love it. So happy that I included it in my small but awesome order!

I am sending a sample to Amanda to enjoy as well! :)

Thank you to Mercuryhime for sending me a lovely sample of this!
I really did enjoy it very much. I am not sure what level of flavor was added to this batch but I think I would go one more flavored if that were an option – I mean if this is not already the more flavored kind. Bah anyway if that made any sense…
I do love Red Leaf matcha although I have only tried two flavors to date I appreciate the good base tea even if this is not the “superior” base it is darn good!
Now this was not an in your face caramel flavor in my opinion but you could certainly tell it was in there!
I will be making my own order as soon as possible! :)

De-cupboarding to send to Amanda enjoy!

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sharing this with me!
Just goes to show an old tea can still be a good tea!
Yeah that was slightly punny.
Anyway lol this is nice and very refreshing – actually while I am having it hot I am thinking this would be excellent iced!
Due to a generous trade partner I have plenty to try it that way then may pass it to someone else to try since this seems to be obsolete now and is still quite good!

Natural flavors no artificial junk here!

I will send the rest to Amanda! I think she will enjoy it.

Yixing Method
Rinsed

First steep – mineral, leather, sandalwood, tree moss, oak, drying in back of throat, light bright mouthfeel.

Second steep – the same but stronger with an ever so slight sweetness peeking through toward the wisdom teeth, yes I realize that is strange.

Steep Three – same flavors but lighter – tickling on back of throat – slightly cooling sensation but not minty.

A nice earthy pu-erh.

I found this tea to be better on the second steep so perhaps giving it a rinse is key to getting the flavors to be more “robust” however this is not a robust tea by its nature.

If I had more of it as it was a sample Thank you to Kittenna I would keep trying to play around with it.

Steep one was good – light peach notes, subtle flavor all around, juicy, clean, fresh, light.
Steep two far more of the peach notes coming through and a sparkly mouthfeel!
Both steeps provided a buttery flavor but I believe the first steep was more buttery than the second. This tea develops more flavor as it cools slightly as well.

I like this one but lately white teas have not been my favorite. I tend to go in spurts as to what my palette desires.

There is an interesting spicy sort of flavor as well as a slightly earthy flavor although it is again subtle.

I will say this tea does have some flavor layers to it though if it really focus on it.
Almost this earthy like dirt flavor which I find interesting indeed!

I enjoy this tea for its subtle complexity.

Thank you Kittenna for sharing some of this with me! Now all I want to do is place an order with Red Leaf Tea and get some other yummy matchas! I was looking at their site and there were so many options and I seem to be interested in the white matcha as well. I was seeing how things kept adding up and forced myself to close the site lol.

This is a lovely matcha so I am curious which you chose for the base! Yes you get to choose what grade of matcha you want and SO many flavors to pick from! Wow!

This here is so good its not an “in your face” vanilla but just the right touch to allow the yummy base to shine through. I think I have this whole matcha making thing figured out and now I am needing to purchase some more of this stuff. I can’t though as I do have enough plain matcha already but for some reason THIS matcha just seems better – the base itself seems of a higher quality I suppose.

SIGH okay maybe next month. Fingers crossed.

Sent to me by Angel of Teavivre for review and a huge thank you to them for this!
You know I kept planning to sit down and write the review many times but I kept getting pulled back into the tea just relaxing, enjoying, and almost sending me to a heady meditative place.
I needed it too!
The sample is quite generous and for that I am very happy as I can have another full pot to tide me over until I can place an order with Teavivre next month! Eek that seems so far away thinking about it!
This tea has a bright fruity aroma and a juicy fruity after taste that is lovely and quite different from its malty and sweet potato flavor on the initial sip!
Its sweet but of course there is no added sweetener to the tea itself and I did not add any sweetener so this is an all natural sweet goodness here!
It has a velvety rich mouthfeel which makes me feel a bit spoiled – its decadent!
The tea also provides a nice but mellow caffeine kick!
I would absolutely keep this in my perma stash!
Thanks again Angel and Teavivre! you got me with this one for sure – then again you get me with most all of your teas lol.

I love black dragon pearls! So sweet and cocoa tasting. The notes of chocolate are on the dark chocolate spectrum of cocoa flavors which is wonderful, but there is also this sweet, roast, almost marshmallow like flavor as well. Add to that a baked flavor goodness this tea reminds me of smores!
A staple for sure.
I am enjoying this cup SO much that I am finding it difficult to allow it to cool down much – burns be darned I will sip this tea boiling hot! lol beware!
I will need to pour a second cup to let it cool a bit as we find new flavors when a tea cools a bit … so … be right back … ohhhh mmmmmm nummy.
Yes I realize my review is not flowering with eloquent words here and in no way can my words match the goodiness of this tea but it is transporting that is for sure.
This is not only a tea that can perk you up but also unwind you depending on what it is you need in the moment. There is this slightly smoky flavor coming through as it cools but nothing like a lapsang souchong by any means just this nice toasty flavor that is very understated.
I do pick up a subtle yam flavor in here as well but I LOVE yams so that is alright with me!
This was a free sample from Angle at Teavivre and I want to give her a big thank you for it! Now I have to get some ordered! So delicious!

So happy I grabbed some of this! I LOVE Dong Ding – one of my favorite Oolongs if not my #1 favorite!
This does not disappoint! My only regret is I didn’t get more!