Teabox

Aroma like a subdued version of the Taiwanese 18 tea––malty sugar, maraschino cherry, and woodsy. Which is strange because this Red Thunder Oolong is a Darjeeling tea, and 18 is an Assamica hybrid.

Tea liquor is astringent and woodsy. Awful dry mouthfeel, feels like I’m sucking on hay and herb stems. When I hold the liquid in my mouth for longer, I get the slight impression of a tangy fruit tart. But honestly the mouthfeel is so unpleasant that I ended up throwing out half the cup.

Brewed at 187˚F for 5:00. Will try brewing at higher temperature next time, and/or for a shorter time.

Rating: 59

Okay, I brewed this in a teacup at 176˚F for 5:00 and this time it wasn’t bitter. I don’t understand what went so wrong the first time.

Tasted like a milder chai tea, nothing special. Goes well with milk. Increasing my rating to be fair, but I still wouldn’t buy the full size of this.

Rating: 60

I was sceptical of the idea of a green tea chai, and sure enough, I didn’t like it very much. The spicy flavour is nice and not as strong as masala chai, but the green tea portion of it tasted overbrewed, bitter, and astringent like steamed vegetables (even though I brewed it at 177˚F). If the idea of green tea chai sounds good to you, then by all means go for it, but it’s not for me.

To be fair, I paired it with a pineapple tart I was eating and the combination was pretty good… but mid-way when I tasted the bitter green tea I spat out the mouthful of tea.

Brewed for 5:00 in 6oz of water at 177˚F. Might try brewing this at a higher temperature, 180 or 185, but I’m predicting it will probably taste even worse. I wouldn’t buy the full size of this.

Rating: 45

Brewed at 178˚F and it’s not as aromatic or flavourful as I remember. Probably should brew at 185˚F next time. Still one of my favourites from Teabox.

I’m not going to rate this tasting because I accidentally used 8oz of water, poured out 3oz of it and had to top up to 6oz of water, so some of the flavour literally went down the drain.

Love the aroma––lovely floral mixed with honeyed sweetness. The liquor, though not as flavourful, tastes great as well.

Wow, this experience was so different from my first one with this tea! This time I watched the timing more carefully, probably around 4:00.

First of all, I get the aroma of toasted nuts, sweet floral like honeysuckle or osmanthus. It tastes amazing, sweet; my favourite Darjeeling so far. Would rate this a 90 when drinking plain, but unfortunately does not stand up to sweet breakfast like raisin bread and turns bitter and astringent, so lowering to 86.

Let’s start with the positives. Lovely orange blossom, malty sugar, licorice aroma.

Unfortunately I over-steeped it for maybe 20 seconds (over the recommended 4:00) and it’s quite astringent. Tastes a lot like cucumber water, slightly spicy maybe from the fennel, but also kinda musty, which is unexpected in a black tea. Not my thing.

Rating: 68

Brewed at 187˚F for 5:00. Very lovely, savoury, complex white tea that’s different enough from Chinese white teas to merit a full purchase.

Aroma:
Cotton candy and Hay. Smells so much sweeter than Chinese white tea

Liquor:
Notes of Melon, Celery, Floral. Smooth, no bitterness or astringency.
I was actually eating walnuts with yoghurt at the time I drank this, so couldn’t taste the walnut notes in the tea but I’ll look out for them next time.

Delicious, rich, spicy aroma of ginger, stone fruits, woods, and cloves.

The taste is a bit dry and astringent even though I steeped at the minimum temperature (185˚F) for about 15 sec under 4:00. Tastes better with honey but I can still taste a slight astringency. Lovely aroma but I will not be purchasing more of this tea.

I like this tea, the most predominant flavor is that of wood, with hints of geranium. It is complex and interesting.

I can now tell where the gorgeous Taiwanese 18 tea got a lot of its parentage from.

The malted sugar and cherry fragrance on this Assam black is lovely.

Unfortunately the tea liquor isn’t sweet at all so I guess I could add some honey to it. It is mellow and has the same slight astringency that I get from 18 which is actually quite nice. Not bitter (yet… I must make sure not to oversteep this).

I added milk to the second half of my cup and it goes very nicely; the milk adds a touch of sweetness that enhances this tea a lot.

Rating: 82

Not a big fan of this plain as the spices taste sharp, but it’s decent accompaniment for a meal when I add milk.

2.5g, 6oz at 192˚F.

Brewed pretty free and loose, not sure what temperature. This tea is really good, not bitter at all. It is refreshing, citrusy and light like a white tea.

Increasing rating to 86. Possible purchase, but it’s sold out on Teabox.

Aroma is leafy and vegetal, like Chinese green teas, but also with a pleasant malted sweetness and hint of lemony citrus.

Liquor tastes of malt sugar, seaweedy umami. Very nice, I definitely prefer this to the MH Classic Black. Stands up nicely to my sweet yoghurt granola breakfast.

Brewed 2.5g at 190˚F in 7oz of water for 5:00.

Rating: 77

185˚F in 6oz water for 5:00

Now this time the first whiff I get is a spicy ginger aroma, followed by the malty sweetness, and there’s also notes of buttery pecan, and fresh lemon.

No astringency this time so I think lower temperature is better for this tea.

I tried half of my cup with a few drops of lemon juice and do not recommend that. It turned the tea slightly bitter in addition to the sourness.

Increasing my rating to 80.

This is my first ever Darjeeling first flush black tea––I’ve only had Chinese black teas before this.

Lovely aroma, malted sugar and toasted nutty, reminds me of Golden Monkey black tea. The wet leaf itself gives off a divine floral bouquet. But the taste of the liquor is totally average. I used a bit too much water to leaf, but even so it’s slightly on the astringent side. I can see tea beginners enjoying this, and maybe it pairs well with savoury food but not so good with yoghurt and granola.

Brewed 2.5g of leaf in 8oz of water at 190˚F for 4:45. Next time I’ll try 6oz of water at 185˚F. Then will try adding honey or lemon.

Rating: 70

Super excited as this is my first single-estate Indian tea!

Intoxicating fruity, spicy, malted sugar, and floral aroma. More complex and beautiful than many of my Chinese oolongs! Most resembles a dancong oolong or a white tea in aroma.

The liquor tastes tangy and citrusy. It is sweet but not a caramelised malty dessert sweet, more a natural fruit sugar sweet. Great tea body and mouthfeel, pairs well with my sweet yoghurt breakfast. I might try adding sugar to the tea another time just for laughs but it doesn’t need it.

Steeped 2.5g of leaf in ~6oz of water at 183˚F for 4 minutes, as per instructions.

A very strong chai, it was good and strong. I enjoy spice and usually drink my chai without additives, as I did this one. It seemed a bit strong for me, I had only one serving since it was from the Joy box, a Christmas Advent box. I wished I had added milk before it was finished, I didn’t think of that until it was too late. Oh well, a good chai but not my favorite, but then I didn’t really give it a complete try.

The dried tea leaves are olive-green and silver and very long. This can make it hard to pack enough into a tea strainer, since there’s a lot of air caught between them, making for an extremely mild cup of tea. The dried tea smells of wood and earth, dry grass.
The steeped tea is a very pale yellow-green. The scent is like leafy greens with a slight fruity sweetness. The taste is extremely mild, a bit like grass, with a burst of astringency in the aftertaste, which is quite nice after the previous mildness.
Overall a really wonderful tea, great on its own or with a meal.

Indain green tea is good to health.

Delicious, bright tea with lots of lemon flavor. It tastes like a dessert tea, and it is a green tea besides. Very enjoyable, refreshing tea. I loved this one!

Classic Earl Grey sounds too plain for this delicious tea. I enjoy the Assam black tea, strong and brisk along with the strong bergamot oil. I enjoyed this Earl Grey a lot.

Both earl grey and green tea! The taste is refreshing, and light, it would work any time of the day. I enjoyed the subtle green taste as well as the trademark early grey flavor of the bergamot. The tea tastes smooth and balanced. I enjoyed this one very much!