Canton Tea Co

I don’t have much experience with white teas, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can learn from this one. On first look, the leaves are beautiful – furry and very soft. They smell wonderfully fresh. The liquor is touted as being champagne-colored, but I think it’s a little too dusky for that; I’d say it’s more like a very light ginger ale or cream soda: a very light yellowish tan.

The flavor is light as well, but more complex than I had anticipated. There’s grassiness, but not in the same way as a Japanese green; more like a straw-grassiness, akin to chewing on a dried piece of sweet hay. There’s some sweetness and absolutely no bitterness or astringency, though there is a high note I’m having a hard time putting my finger on. Almost like pine, in a very subtle way.

Second steep: It’s funny, I’m getting almost as much of the flavor in the aftertaste as in the sip itself. I’m not used to teas that are so quiet – it’s kind of throwing me off my tasting game! There’s enough going on that I know I’ll be able to appreciate it, it’ll just take a little reprogramming of the taste centers to get there.

My last bit of this sample was a little more than I needed, but I liked the slightly stronger taste it yielded. I went three steeps, and really did find very different characteristics in each one. The first was sweet and floral, juicy and just a little vegetal. The second was more strongly vegetal, moving closer to a sencha style in buttered vegetable goodness. The third was grassy, still sweet, and had just a hint of roastiness. A very nice trio of tastes from one spoonful of leaf!

Second try at this tea, and I’m starting off with a longer first steep, 2.5 minutes, than I tried last time. Maybe this was the key to unlocking more enjoyment of this time, because I’m getting a much more floral scent and a rounder, fuller flavor of green vegetables and fruit juice, with a noticeable background of natural sweetness. Better this way so I’m bumping up the score a bit.

Another of the Canton Tea Co sample packs to try out! Once I opened this up, I was immediately reminded of the Tie Guan Yin from Chicago Tea Garden – it has a similar look: glossy dark green chunklets, and scent: fresh and grassy. I’d say this particular tea has more in the way of vegetal in the scent however; it’s reminding me more of sencha in that way.

The first steep at one minute, 190 degrees: the leaves have started to expand, and I’m left with a clear, light golden liquor with just a hint of green in there. The aroma is very light, encompassing fresh mown grass and something just a little savory/buttery. The flavor is very nice; there’s some of the sweetness I associated with the Tie Guan Yin, though not to such an outstanding degree. There’s also a degree of rich mouth feel to it, which may be what others characterize as milkyness (that’s one descriptor I don’t think I would have come upon on my own).

2nd steep, 190 degrees and 1.5 minutes: The liquor comes out a little more greenish yellow this time, and the leaves have mostly all unfurled now. The aroma and flavor are more vegetal, but there is still some of the overall sweetness that I like so much. I’m also getting a little fruitiness in the background, which is quite yummy.

3rd steep, 190 degrees and 2 minutes: Still a strong golden/green color, but the flavor is markedly more subdued now. Still getting vegetal and small sweet tones. Pleasant enough, but it’s lost most of its shine by now.

This Oolong is AMAZING! I had only enough for a gaiwan’s worth of this tea left, so I decided to go ahead and enjoy it this evening. What a lovely tea it is. I know that I read somewhere on the forums recently where someone was asking about Pheonix Honey Orchid… well, this is a Honey Orchid Oolong… so I guess I will head to the forums next to post about this one.

I absolutely love this. Rich with honey notes as well as fruity tones … just as the description suggests, a lychee-like flavor to it. It’s a very distinct kind of flavor like that. Sweet, with notes of sour, and very pleasantly balanced.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a sample of this to try!

As most of you probably are aware – I LOVE Oolong tea. So much so that I think that my gaiwan is becoming an essential tool rather than just a gadget. (tsk tsk) I don’t know why I prefer to brew my Oolongs in a gaiwan… but I do.

I can taste the lychee flavor, and the honey-esque tones in this tea. It has a wonderful fruit and floral aroma. Pleasantly sweet with a charming baked quality to it.

Delicious… amazingly delicious.

Wow! This is the first time I have tried a white tea. I must say I am plesantly surprised! When I poured it out, at first I was scared I hadn’t steeped it long enough! But then I smelled it, and it smelled wonderful. The first taste is very floral and the lingering taste is very mildly green. I was disapointed in Canton’s Vietnamese Pu erh tea, but this more than makes up for it!

This is my first taste of a pu erh tea, so I have nothing to compare this tea to. To me, this tea tastes old and musty. I know that pu erh is supposed to be aged, but this actually tastes and smells dusty, like it has been sitting on a shelf open, exposed to dust collecting. I have tried two infusions, but I can’t really like this tea. Are all pu erh teas like this? I am still open to trying other pu erh teas.

My last bit of this from the sample pack, and I’m sorry to see it go! Caramely, thick and rich orange-brown liquor, needing help from no additives to be absolutely delicious. Possibly my favorite discovery from the Canton Tea sampler special they had on a couple months ago.

I guess I can tell which of the samplers I’ll be reordering by noting how nervous I feel when the pack starts to get empty… This is one of those. It’s got such a nice and sweet dried fruit quality to it, and with the holidays coming round it feels like the right tea for the moment. Really happy to have discovered this one!

Time for another serving of the Darjeeling that’s not a Darjeeling, as I’m beginning to think of this one. It’s got a very similar caramel/muscatel scent and flavor to it, and today I tried to puzzle out how the two varieties differ. From what I’ve tasted so far, I think the Bai Lin Gong Fu has more of an earthy and starchy sweet potato-like sweetness to it, similar to what I’ve found in The Simple Leaf’s Dawn or Samovar’s Hawaii-Grown Black. I also think that the Darjeelings I’ve had have been a little more astringent than this tea, which is very smooth, even at fairly long first steepings (four to five minutes). One of these days I’ll have to do a side-by-side tasting and see what I find out.

Second tasting of this sample from Canton Tea – this time I’m really struck by the sweet, dried fruit aroma of the dry leaf. The liquor steeps up to a lighter brown; between that and the lighter color of the leaves themselves I’m really reminded of the Darjeeling style.

The tea is so wonderfully sweet, and lacks any astringency or bitterness. The flavor is deep in fruit and has a little malt too, and I’m once more getting an aftertaste reminiscent of dried peach/apricot, as I did last time. Straight up, it is such a soothing and delicious cup that I don’t think I’ll be trying it with additives for fear of losing any of its best traits.

Excited about the Canton Tea Co sampler which arrived over the weekend! I’ll start my Monday morning with what sounds like a good breakfast tea. The dry leaf is pretty, with orange highlights in the long brown strands, and their aroma is very nice – there’s a sweetness there which reminds me a little of Darjeeling. We’ll see what comes out in the steeping…

Mmm, this tea smells really, really yummy – I’m definitely getting the caramel that other tasters have noted. The liquor is a medium-brown and on first taste is great. The caramel is there, and the natural sweetness of it means I won’t be adding any sugar to it. In addition, underneath that flavor, I’m getting something akin to fruit flavors; peach and nectarine are those which come to mind. This one’s a keeper.

Pleasant if a little shallow. Better than some cooked puerh I’ve had that border on fish market pungency. A great introductory shu puerh; earthy, cooling, smooth though not as complex as I want it to be.

Shu+

Okay…it’s been a HELLISH Day! So…in short with more reviews later…
DRY smells like fresh cut zucchini and once infused smells like a mellow green or white tea. Taste is REALLY yummy…

COOL (eventho I am drinking HOT), Cucumber-like, nutty, crisp, clean, delightful!!!!

Yummy, Fruity (but no actual fruit), Mouth-watering Goodness! Upping the rating and share with friends…see my previous reviews!

Floral and honey notes, certainly! But what I also find interesting about this is…the scent. The scent reminds me of being out in nature…like in the middle of the woods or even on a beach…those familiar nature-smells! Then when you taste it…it’s not really what you expect…altho even more pleasant. There is a soothing and lingering yummy aftertaste, too!

Even better than I remember. Very intense flavor.

Enjoyable. Strong honey notes. I prefer Canton Tea Co’s Magnolia Blossom Dan Cong, however, this tea may be more accessible.