Hyson

an amazing tea:

when i smell the teabag dry, i smell berries and fruit.

when i smell the teabag wet, the smell is intensified.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell berries and fruit. a lot like the purple Maynard’s purple wine gummies

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste fruit and berries. a lot like the purple Maynard’s purple wine gummies

the color of the brewed tea is a purple black color.

i rate this a 100 because its just lovely and reminds me of those purple wine gummies.

many thanks to hyson tea co for this free sample.

don’t forget to check out www.shophyson.com

an amazing tea:

when i smell the teabag dry, i smell apples and cinnamon.

when i smell the teabag wet, the smell is intensified.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell apples and cinnamon.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste green apples and cinnamon.

the color of the brewed tea is black.

i rate this a 100 because its just lovely

many thanks to hyson tea co. for this amazing tea.

don’t forget to check out www.shophyson.com

what an amazing tea!

when i smell the teabag dry, i smell mustyness and spices.

when i smell the teabag wet, the smell is intensified.

when i smell the brewed tea, it smells like spices while being really smooth smelling.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste spices and it is really smooth.

the color of the brewed tea is a dark orange to dark amber color.

i rate this a 100 because it is really tasty.

this is the best black tea i’ve had in ages although not as good as lapsang souchong

many thanks to hyson tea co for this free sample.

don’t forget to check out www.shophyson.com

It is a wonderful feeling to test one’s aquarium water and find all the different things you are testing for are at a perfect level. Knowing that the little biome you have is stable and your fish are happy, it is a very rewarding feeling! But on a completely unrelated note (ok not completely unrelated since my fish are named after Planeswalkers) I am waffling on my deck construction again, I am debating going to Black/Green, still full of griefer goodness of course. See if I go Black/Green I can pull a bunch of Golgari cards from Ravnica, my favorite setting and my favorite guild. They are obsessed with mushrooms, that is so my thing.

So last week I got a massive box in the mail of samples (and an outright tin) from Hyson Tea, a company specializing in Ceylon teas. Not only did this box contain a mountain of teabags (which will take me forever to get through) it also included a bunch of company logo swag, so now I have a new massive mug and teaspoons, which is pretty cool, they also have the distinction of being the first company/person/entity to donate to my blog, supporting the fine art of blogging is awesome, and I used the donation to expand my tea book library, because expanding my education is very important.

Today I cracked into the tin of Exquisite Collection ‘Celestial Dimbula’ Black Tea, this tea is a blend of black teas from the Dimbula growing region in Sri Lanka, probably one of the most well known of Sri Lanka’s tea districts, and also one of the oldest tea growing regions, having been first planted in the 1870s. I am not sure of any specific sub-districts or gardens these leaves come from, so this should be taken as an example of the region as a whole. The fairly small, very dark, leaves which look like a mix of Broken Orange Pekoe and Orange Pekoe (this tea is OP, hehe) has a brisk and malty aroma, with notes of oak wood, a tiny touch of tobacco, a faint cardboard-papery note, and an undertone of molasses. The aroma is not overly strong, erring more on the sweet side towards the end of the sniffing.

The leaves have steeped and unfurled a goodly bit, and the tea is now a lovely coppery color. The wet leaves have the aroma of malt and brisk tannic oak wood, blending in notes of topsoil, tobacco, a touch of molasses, and a finish of gentle tobacco. It is brisk and smells like morning, or at least smells like morning tea, it is a familiar smell that I pretty much grew up with. The liquid smells a mix of malt and tannic oak wood, a touch of tobacco, and a metallic coppery note at the finish.

Tasting time! I took this tea straight, as I mostly do with my teas now, except Masala Chai and my oh so indulgent Ostfriesen Tea and occasional Matcha Lattes. The taste is brisk and tannic, strong notes of oak wood, tobacco, malt, and a bright, coppery finish. It has a slightly sweet molasses aftertaste that does not linger overly long. I will admit, this tea was not so much for me, I think…and I feel like a massive tea snob and a bit ashamed of myself for this…this is a tea for casual tea drinkers. Back when I was a little girl, drinking cups of black tea for breakfast with my dad (two sugars and milk, the classic British way) I would have really enjoyed this tea. But I have moved passed that in my personal enjoyment of tea, and there is nothing wrong with either my growth as a tea connoisseur or the tea itself, just different things for different people. To be honest that is one of my favorite things about tea, and one of the reasons I love writing about it…someone is bound to find something they will like!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/hyson-tea-exquisite-collection.html

a great tea

when i smell the teabag, i smell green tea and something that smells like green apples.

when i smell the teabag wet, the smell is intensified.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell green ta and something that smells like green apples.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste green tea and something that smells like green apples.

the color of the brewed tea is a lime green.

i did some research and found out soursop is a real fruit! tastes like green apples though lol

i rate this tea a 80 because i’m not much for soursop. maybe others will like it more than me.

many thanks to hyson tea co. for this free sample.

don’t forget to check out www.shophyson.com

an amazing tea!

when i smell the teabag dry, it smells spicy, musty and like oranges.

when i smell the teabag wet, the smell is intensified.

when i smell the brewed tea, it smells like mustyness, spicy, oranges and fruittloops.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste spicy, oranges and fruittloops.

the color of the brewed tea is a dark orange

i rate the tea a 100 because it tastes really really good.

thank-you hyson tea co for this free sample.

don’t forget to check out their site. www.shophyson.com

little glass pitcher method

an amazing tea too!

when i smell the tea bag dry, i smell cherries,

when i smell the tea bag wet, i smell cherries and black tea.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell cherries and frutyness.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste cherries and fruit.

the color of the brewed tea is peach.

another lovely tea! mmmm cherries! this is why i rate this tea a 100

many thanks to hyson tea co. for this free sample.

Don’t forget to check out www.shophyson.com

an ok tea

teabag contains 1.5g

when i smell the teabag dry, i smell flowers, herbs and a tad bit of licorice.

when i smell the teabag wet, i smell strong flowers and hibiscus.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell hibiscus, flowers and herbs.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste hibiscus and flowers.

the color of the brewed tea is a pinkish red.

i rate this tea a 50 because i’m not really into hibiscus

many thanks to hyson tea co for this free sample.

a great tea :D

when i smell the tea bag dry, i smell mustyness and spices. typical of a black tea.

when i smell the tea bag wet, the smell is intensified.

when i smell the brewed tea, it smells musty like a black tea should.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste a tad bit of chocolate and a tiny amount of spicyness.

the brewed tea color is dark amber to chocolate brown.

i rate this tea a 80 because it tastes good. however, im not much for straight black teas, unless its lapsang souchong.

many thanks to hyson tea co. for this free sample

Another Free sample from Hyson Tea Co.

an amazing tea!!

this tea restored my hope in tea blends! :D

when i smell the leaves dry, they smell like fruit, grapes and wine.

when i smell the leaves wet, the smell is intense! and yummy!

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell wine and grapes.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste wine and grapes.

the color of the brewed tea is a dark yellow.

another one of those heavenly teas! i can drink this a lot and not get drunk (like yyou can with real wine), and it tastes just like red wine! the joys of tea! this is why i rate it a 100

many thanks to hyson tea!

what an AMAZING tea!

i recived a lot of tea from hyson tea co. i hope to get to them all real soon.

little glass pitcher method

when i smell the leaves dry, they have a strong green tea smell and some smokeyness :D

when i smell the leaves wet, the smell is even stronger.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell green tea and slight smokyness.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste strong green freshness and light smokeyness.

the color of the brewed tea is a light to medium green.

this tea makes me feel like im in heaven. the smell, the taste… just wonderful! thus why i rate it a 100

many thanks to hyson for this amazing sample!

This tea has a very interesting taste. The pineapple and strawberry flavors merge together in a way that tastes like it’s not really quite one or the other fruit. Not the best tea I’ve ever had, but not the worst either.

I love the smell and taste of this tea, it sometimes doesnt even need to be sweetened, but just a small portion of splenda or agave nectar and this tea makes it taste like 2x as much… my favorite green tea!

I took it as a bad sign when I opened the little paper package and sniffed. There was no scent at all coming from this tea. As it brewed, dark and cloudy, there came a hint of aroma finally. It reminded me of the big tea brewer I used in my waitress days at a country club. I tried to keep my expectations positive, as I love Ceylon.

I added 2 teaspoons of sugar and tasted it. I mostly tasted sugar, with a bit of a Ceylon aftertaste at the end. It tastes cheap and mass-produced with lots of filler. Leaves a sour taste in my mouth and is pretty astringent. I do not recommend this unless it’s a last resort.

I was so pleased w/ this last week that I decided to have it again. Definitely the best of our church’s offerings.

I just remembered I forgot to log this from Sunday! I had this at Bible Study before church. I’m not a black tea person, but I was disappointed w/ the strawberry green I’d had last time and I love apple so I went for it. JUST like taking a bite of an apple! If you like black teas and you like apple, this is actually a very good bagged tea. I’m impressed.

Drank this at Bible Study so I dunno how hot the water was. The green tea was pretty good for a bagged, but the strawberry tasted like I sweetened it w/ strawberry simple syrup. NOT my cuppa.