Tealyra (formerly Tealux)

Da Hong Pao Superfine | Big Red Robe. Tealyra.
Lotsa names for this tea, but a rose by any name… or a turd by any name… smells the same. I brewed as directed, Western. I brewed gongfu. I went for multiple steepings. Yes, I could taste the “mineral” essence, and I definitely got the astringency. I did not get the promised sweetness. I did not get the floral notes in the finish. I did not get fruitiness as it cooled. I did not get the promised “mouthwatering” flavors. I really wanted to, and I’ve returned to this tea repeatedly across seven years, always wanting… hoping… praying… that it would finally pay off. It is said to improve with age. But in the end, I just feel duped. Minerality is another name for rocks (and one name for the tea is rock oolong); the effort of charcoal-roasting the leaves is another way of saying you tried to smoke-off the defects; aging the tea also ages the drinker, whose sense of taste eventually declines; multiple steeps extract out astringency, and the mouth feels faux-sweetness at the relief of not being puckered up by another cup of this swill. Ultimately I became tired of trying to find goodness in a mouthful of wet rocks tasting of carbonized wood. THE KINGS NEW CLOTHES ARE REVEALED! It is as if they took the discarded, spent leaf from an RTD black tea factory and baked it dry, then repackaging it for sale with a hundred promises and a fast getaway car on standby. This tea is a waste of time, money, and spring water. Do not buy this tea, which I rate as 15. Do not waste your money, time, cupboard-space, or friendships with this farm byproduct. I am not only disappointed, I’m angry.

RTD = Ready To Drink

I’ve been trying a number of different ginseng teas from Tealyra lately, and bought this Imperial Ren Shen Genseng Oolong because of its unique composition: rolled oolong, with a coating — almost a shell — of ginseng and Chinese vanilla. I steeped this as directed, western style in a stainless steel infusion basket, and re-steeped twice for a total of three clear light-amber infusions that each had some fines settled at the bottom of the cup. I don’t know how Chinese vanilla differs from other vanillas, but I don’t think I tasted it. Nor did I really get a strong ginseng flavor—just a bit of warm gensing in the aftertaste at the back of my tongue and roof of my mouth, following vigorous slurping and swirling. Only the mildest of toasted oolong flavors was to be enjoyed. The oolong aroma was better than the flavor. The first infusion had almost no flavor at all, and after steeping, the oolong leaves were still encased in the shell. In fact, the oolong leaf never fully escaped the shells, and that may have been an issue. So I smashed the spent material with a spoon and gave a fourth steep, which resulted in a very dark olive green liquor, muddy with fines, almost like a brown, gritty matcha. This 4th, final, steep had only mild woody oolong flavor and aroma when vigorously slurped, but did finally offer some ginseng at the end of the finish. I have attached a photo of the spent, smashed pulp, which did show some intact leaf amidst the debris. The net result of this experience was four disappointing cups of tea with few notes of oolong or ginseng and no vanilla, that represent a wasted quart of my spring water. I would not recommend, and will rate this 24. (And yes, this was freshly purchased, with a BestBy date still 15 months in the future.)

This has been my recent coldbrew choice. The flavor was a little weak at 5g leaf to a liter cold water, but 6g improved the flavor greatly and that is what I’ve been sticking with. The tea tastes a bit like a combination of grape and black currant, which I’ve found very pleasant. The grape flavor leans a little towards grape candy, but not overly so, since the tea itself is not very sweet and the currant adds a slight tanginess. It’s not as good as the grape flavoring that Lupicia uses, but for the lower price and easier accessibility it is a servicable substitute. The white tea is pretty mellow beneath the flavoring, but does add a crisp and refreshing slight vegetal note. It’s been a very nice iced tea during hot afternoons.

Brewed western as directed, 8 oz water. Smoky nose and flavor, clear bergamot flavor. Not sure what birch leaf contributed, possibly to the bitter note I taste. Cornflower petals were just a visual garnish. Slight astringency. Slight pepperiness from the cardamom. Really, I prefer my Earl Greys to be on the sweeter side, and this was the opposite; not sour, but just UNsweet. The Ceylon base delivered a fairly nice long finish to each sip. The smokiness wasn’t overwhelming, which was a relief. Overall a pretty well balanced tea for those who enjoy smoked flavors. I’ll rate it at 78. YMMV.

This is one of four grades of Tieguanyin currently being sold by Tealyra. It is Stock Code 405, and is currently the cheapest of this type that they sell. I don’t doubt that it is from the Province of Fujian, but Tealyra does not claim that it is from Anxi County, the “home” of Tieguanyin oolongs. That claim is reserved for two other somewhat more expensive products. Nevertheless, it is the product I naïvely bought and am reporting on here. To be fair, I did just finish sipping a competitor’s Ti Kuan Yin, but this (code 405) is clearly inferior in color, aroma, and flavor. It does hit some of the expected notes of floral fragrance and mineral flavor, but it really tastes more like a fourth steeping of exhausted leaf. And for goodness sakes, please ignore Tealyra’s health claims— get your diabetes remedy from a physician and don’t look to a knock-off tea for it. Ditto for cancer. Ditto for weight loss. Etc.

I brewed as directed, and got the pale yellow swill that was described, with echoes of the sensory experience promised. I did try a second, hotter and longer steeping with minimal improvement. I was justified in taking a grain of salt with the description of it being a “tea masterpiece”. The only masterpiece was in the florid writing by Tealyra. Not recommended, and rated as a 35 score. This is going to the compost heap. Some day I may try the more premium offering(s), but a lot of water will have to pass under my bridgework first.

Fruity chai isn’t my favorite, so this wasn’t going to be a winner. I like milk with my chai, but the acidity from the fruit makes it a little funky. This tastes tart and fruity, but I also taste spices, especially the cardamom. The acidity it a bit harsh in the back of my throat. I don’t love the black base this is on. Still fun to try from the TTB!

I gave this tea a second chance this morning, and must say it is better this time. It’s not great, but perhaps my prior discouraging remarks were based on poor water or a bad day for my taste buds. Todays infusion was a deep clear orange color, with a subtle generic black tea flavor, light astringency, and okay aftertaste. Previously brewed with tap water in a different city, now back home using alpine spring water. As the cup cooled, the tea darkened somewhat to a nice brown hue and became less astringent. Frankly, it’s comparable to a Lipton black teabag. Increasing my rating to 65, the same rating I give to that Lipton.

I was so happy to receive this Rwandan tea last week because a former coworker is from Rwanda, and told of life there and the coffee farm they came from. The dry loose-leaf tea leaf consisted of 1-cm threads, as in the photo, and had a mild aroma. I steeped as directed, and obtained a translucent brown liquor. Nothing really stood out in the flavor or fragrance. Inoffensive but unimpressive, and the initial infusion tasted more like the 3rd infusion of generic grocery store black tea. Similar to Lipton tea bags, but less brisk, less aromatic, less malty, less enjoyable. The tea is now listed as being discontinued on Tealyra’s website and I doubt it will be missed as much as I’ll miss the $5 I spent on it. Not recommended, and I’ll rate it at 50.

Newly received from Tealyra, I brewed a teaspoon of the green tea jasmine-scented pearls grandpa style in 8 oz boiling water. I began sipping after a minute or so of steeping. As the pearls unfurled, beautiful large leaves and buds swirled in my cup, amidst a clear golden-green liquor, and the powerful jasmine scent filled my nose. I loved the authentic jasmine fragrance, and it took me back to my childhood play amongst the jasmine hedge we had in California. I relaxed and took my time sipping the tea, allowing the floral notes to waft in my face and fill my sinuses. The base green tea was enjoyable too, but very mild and I found it difficult to call out any specific flavor notes, so distracting was the jasmine as to render the infusion pretty one-dimensional. Only in the finish could I appreciate the sweet vegetal tea notes. Not sure at all what type of green tea was used as base, but it wasn’t a small-leaf variety, nor long jing. I suppose the nuances of specialized leaf would have been overwhelmed by the jasmine, or potentially overpowered the jasmine! I recommend for jasmine lovers, and give a rating of 75.

I tried this catalog tea years ago under the name “Blood-Orange Smoothie” from Spice and Tea Exchange, and sort of fell in love with it and then out of love with it. I think it was on sale at the time I made this particular Tealyra order so I figured I’d give it a try again, but mostly my opinion has stayed the same. I don’t dislike it, but I feel kinda meh about it… It has an amazing creamsicle aroma to the dry leaf, but that just doesn’t translate to the flavor. The blood orange comes out but there just isn’t enough of a sweet cream/vanilla flavor present for me. Plus, I feel the blood orange falls into the right flavor profile to bring out some of the medicinal notes in the rooibos that I don’t care for much. So to finish off the bag, I started brewing this cold brew… and it actually is pretty good that way. In general I tend to not cold brew red rooibos because in the past it has come out really cough syrupy to me that way, and despite getting a bit of that when I brew this hot, I’m not really getting that when its cold, and the orange feels particularly refreshing with this preparation method. So, I probably won’t grab this tea again in the future since it lacks that creamsicle vibe I’m looking for, but it also wasn’t really a chore to finish off this bag making cold brew pitchers.

I’ve been making this tea as a cold brew, and it’s very refreshing. It brews a bright red color from the hibiscus, but there is no hibiscus flavor or tartness at all. It actually has a quite sweet and creamy flavor… I don’t really get watermelon, but I also associate watermelon with that really strong artificial watermelon flavoring used in candies, which this tea doesn’t taste like at all. Instead I get more of that mixed generic “melon” flavor used in Japanese candies that tastes a bit like cantalope mixed with honeydew and sweeter. I get a bit of a cucumber water note as well. The mint is a fairly strong backdrop, but blends with the melon flavor nicely, and gives the cold brew a very refreshing and cooling aftertaste.

Brewed 2.5g dry Indonesian leaf in 7oz boiling water for 2 min. Neither leaf nor liquor were purple. Aroma of toasted wheat. Flavors of toasted grains, blackened potato skin, nuttiness, charcoal, and metallic. No floral notes, no cinnamon, no butter, no dill, no vinegar. A re-steep was the same, after which the rolled leaf had loosened somewhat, but never expanded. Frankly, just tastes like an infusion of vegetable ashes. No desire to drink any more of this. Rating 25 and not recommended.

An old pouch I hadn’t opened in 7 years, kept well stored. Finely chopped leaf, almost like a CTC.— and faintly fragrant. Western brew. Bleh. Brown water tasting vaguely of tea and nowhere near as good as standard Lipton teabags, which I rate at 65. This old, stale black tea tastes old & stale. Not recommended and in fairness I won’t assign the rating of 40 because of its age. If you find some of this, and like it, give it a fast sipdown because it won’t live long.

I’ve had this black tea sitting around in its sealed mylar bag for some 6 years now and am finally posting some notes here after finding it this morning. Coincidentally, I see that Steepster user @Mastress Alita posted a review of it only 3 days ago! MA’s material might be fresher than mine, but it’s no longer for sale on Tealyra’s site anyhow.

I steeped Western style, as directed, and found much the same as reported by MA, though with a weak intensity and substantial astringency. Interestingly, midway through the tea, I got hit with a few flashes of blackberry fruit flavor! Overall the tea was drinkable, with some interesting flavor and little if any extended aftertaste. I’d only rate it a 60 though I won’t post that score here (nor “recommend”) since I suspect mine has simply suffered with age. I may try overleafing it and dropping the water temperature before giving up.

FOLLOWUP: I doubled the leaf to 5g and used 8oz water at 190°F for 30sec. The result was much more intense in flavor and aroma, but no more enjoyable to my palate. A re-steep also for 30s was less bright. This tea just isn’t for me— off to the compost heap with it! (I guess I can’t call it a sipdown ha!)

Well, there is a raft of 9-12 yr old reviews on this tea under the old name of this vendor (Tealux), but Steepster “teepland” posted a newer note a few yr ago, and I’ll tag onto it. I’ve updated the Tealyra description and photo, though. Still, it seems these pearls have gotten larger since teepland’s review (and the photos) because they report using 8+ per teaspoon, per cup, while Tealyra suggests 3 pearls per teaspoon per cup, and that matches my measure. Those 3 pearls totaled 2.5g dry wt, which is about right and matches some of those old reviews. So maybe the size varies from lot to lot? I brewed grandpa style. Pleasant, sweet, fragrant tea, with notes of honey, cocoa, petrichor, and my impressions match Tealyra’s description and others’ notes. Nuff said. I’d recommend and rate this as 70.

I picked up this Japanese black from Tealyra at the same time I grabbed their Benifuki black. This tea also has that sweet, fruity quality I get from Japanese blacks that I really enjoy. The body is more on the medium side for a black, tasting of warm cinnamon bread and autumn leaves, with a subtle stonefruit note that leans a little citrusy in the aftertaste. It’s very tasty, but I do think I enjoy the Benifuki variety better of the two, as it had a little more oomph in its flavor notes. I’ll probably try experimenting more with my leaf ratio and steep times to see if I can push this tea a bit more.

I’ve had this bag of shôu carefully stored in its sealed mylar bag for 8 years and it has not appreciably changed in that time, now being 28 yr old. This is a loose-leaf tea that was never compressed and consists of clean chopped leaf dried into short brown threads (<1cm). I brewed as directed by the label: western style with 2g leaf in 8oz 205°C spring water for 1 min, using a stainless micropore infusion basket, after a 10s wash in the same water.

The resulting liquor was deep red-brown in color, and both flavor and aroma were fairly one-dimensional. Petrichor earthiness, autumn forest leaves, slight sweetness, a touch of bitter, and a caffeine kick. Just as Tealyra promised: “drinkable”. No fishiness or astringency, and I couldn’t quite get the mineral notes mentioned by Tealyra. Once I added sweetener and milk. the flavor came alive to present a creamy vanilla taste and fragrance that was quite nice and coated the mouth. That is how I’ll drink this in the future. Offered multiple steeps (more than I cared to drink). I’ll rate this as 50 and recommend it as a value introduction to ripe pu’erh, good for blending and free of major defects.

Followup Edit: I’m obliged to report some sad news— I poured a cup of hot water and added milk and sweetener, only to discover the same notes of creamy vanilla and nuttiness. So I cannot credit the tea for the flavors at all. Generic yellow packet of sucralose and generic lactose-free ultrafiltered dairy milk. :-(

It’s a shame Tealyra no longer carries this (I had to do some archive.org magic to get the info from the old sales page to add to Steepster), because this is quite lovely. The name is a bit confusing since “White” makes me think of “white tea” but this is actually a green rooibos herbal blend. It is described as a lemon/vanilla blend, but with the pithy orange in the ingredients, the flavor tastes a bit more like a cross between a lemon cream and an orange creamsicle. It is sweet and definitely has a vanilla cream flavor, but there is just enough citrus zing to keep it from being cloying. I’ve only tried it brewed warm, but I imagine it would be a lovely cold steep, as well. I’ll miss this one once it’s gone!

2025 TTB #21

I don’t recall having tried a fruity chai before. In theory, I could see it working…something like a cinnamon-spiced berry crumble? But this one didn’t do it for me, sadly. Both beetroot and hibiscus are bringing a lot of berry-red color but an unfortunate tartness and earthiness that is overwhelming whatever berry flavor might be here. And the spices are very light for a chai…just a whisper of cinnamon and ginger, mostly in the aftertaste.

I personally love Japanese black teas, but they are hard to find (and often quite expensive) especially when trying to avoid foreign shipping. But I had this one from a (now dated) Tealyra order and it is lovely! Of the Japanese blacks I’ve had in the past, there is always this really fruity quality to them that I personally love, and this one is no exception. It leads with strong, malty Assam qualities like baked cinnamon raisin bread and autumn leaves, with a fruity end of the sip that lingers on the tongue that is a little like muscat and cherry. Sometimes the fruitiness presents with a sort of effervescent feeling that reminds me of wine, particularly in the aftertaste.

So far I’ve only been steeping this hot, and since the leaves are hard to come by and a little pricey, I’ve been getting a resteep out of them, as well (which I typically don’t do). The resteep doesn’t have the strong flavor notes and tastes more like a general black breakfast tea, so sometimes I’ll add a little lemon or honey to it. But that first steep is perfect just as it is.

Wow this is nice! I had been trying a handful of fruity teas and tisanes from Tealyra, with mixed results. This Ginger Ginseng Chamomile tisane blend made the best fruity infusion I’ve found. Anywhere. I followed the label directions for a western-style infusion of 1-1/2 tsp dry tisane (wonderful dry aroma of chamomile, orange and ginger) in 8oz boiling alpine spring water in a micropore stainless infusion basket for 5 min. Single steeping.

The resulting liquor had a strong golden-orange hue, was crystal clear, and delivered a mostly chamomile and orange aroma. The first sip gave a chamomile overture, with backup melodies of mixed spice. The melodies resolved as a softer chamomile drone with a fugue, starting with a prickly tingle of ginger on the top and sides of my tongue, followed by mint in the nose, sweet orange across the mouth, a gentle zing of slightly sour rosehips, and a whiff of mint. This was then followed by a returning ginger heat on the tongue as the other notes rose into the sinuses. Really, all the flavors and aromas were so well balanced that I’m sure the ginseng flavors were in there, but I wasn’t aware of it taking the lead. Even ten min after my last sip, there was a sweet and warming tail of flavor lingering to be enjoyed. Once reaching room temp, the flavors had flattened out and was mostly ginger and chamomile.

I recommend enjoying this tisane hot and/or warm. I’ll rate it as 95, it was soooo good! I’ll enjoy this on spring and summer evenings, when I need to avoid caffeine. Hope you get to enjoy it!

ICED. Brewed as directed, at double strength, then added an a tablespoon of white sugar, an equal volume of cold spring water, and chilled in a sealed jar 24hr. Result: Cloudy pale yellow liquor with very floral fragrance, but tastes like apple juice with a hint of berry. Flat apple juice, without any bite or zing. Really boring and not recommended—just drink real apple juice! Rating this style a 20, as it may have utility as an alcohol mixer, but choose something high-proof!

COLD BREW. Put 3 tsp dry tisane in a pint jar and added a cup of water. Sealed and let sit on counter overnight, then 12 hr in refrig. Added a cup of cold spring water (no sweetener) and tasted. Result: Cloudy golden liquor. Cidery aroma and the most foul tasting somewhat sour and slightly bitter infusion I’ve ever had. Yuck! Don’t do this! Had an appley aftertaste, but not worth the trouble or nastyness to get there. Rating this style a 5, for a average rating of 31 for the hot, iced and cold brew concoctions together.

Upon opening the pouch of “Organic Pomegranate Raspberry” tea, I immediately noticed two things: an incredibly pungent aroma and major stratification of the ingredients. So I tumbled the pouch around a bit to re-blend the contents to uniformity. The dry aroma was so very artificial, and it took me a while to identify it as the exact smell of Wrigley’s Juicyfruit Chewing Gum! Now I happen to like the smell & taste of Juicyfruit Gum, regardless of the artificiality of it, so I was optimistic. Note this contains no Camellia sinensis, so it is not actually tea, but rather is a tisane. Also, it contains papaya with added sugar.

I brewed it up as directed, western style: 1-2 tsp tisane with 8 oz boiled spring water, in a stainless micropore infusion basket for 5 min. The resulting liquor was golden colored and the juicyfruit fragrance had been driven off and replaced by a rather offputting vegetal scent, likely due to the papaya and drumstick tree leaves (Moringa oleifera). As it cooled, the fragrance shifted toward pleasant raspberries and apple, which remained through the rest of my sipping and lingered in the empty cup. While hot, the taste was reminiscent of apple dumpling (without cinnamon), and though inoffensive was not my favorite. As it cooled, the berry flavors reasserted themselves and I enjoyed the improvement! I never really noticed anything like pomegranate flavor, nor pomegranate flowers. I will prepare iced tea with my next infusion and report back on it. Overall, I would give this a Rating of 68, and recommend it to those who like strong fruity flavors. I’m not sure why the ingredient lists both raspberries and raspberry! Maybe for the same reason the description uses the word “perfect” twice in the same sentence?!

One other issue I note: The tea is labeled (but not on the website) as “organic”. I do not believe it, because of the papaya content. Virtually no papaya in commercial global production can be correctly labeled as USDA Organic. Same under EU regulations. (Though the package omits the term “USDA”.) Personally I don’t give a rats tail about organic foods, but I do care about misleading labeling. So take that label cum grano salis.

I will admit to having been swayed by the Tealyra description and reviews posted on their site. And I had not seen eelong’s tea note here on Steepster — a note that might have dissuaded me from purchasing Rosy Earl Grey. However, I have been captivated by roses and rose scents since childhood, and was eager to try this blend. And I liked it! Mostly. I do also enjoy jasmine scents (and have before remarked on my memories of summertime play amongst the Star Jasmine bushes as a kid in California).

I do wish tea purveyors would be more strictly precise in their claims and ingredients. When a claim of “bergamot essential oil, jasmine, lavender” is made, I expect to find those precise ingredients listed, and not obscured behind the anonymity of “natural flavors” or a vague compound ingredient like “jasmine green tea”. The dry leaf was nicely fragrant of rose petals (not rosehips), and I was optimistic.

I steeped (a single cup) western style, according to direction: 1 tsp leaf in 8 oz (boiling alpine spring) water, for 3-1/2 min, in a stainless microscreen infusion basket. The jasmine aroma was more pronounced in the tea vapors, though I also detected scents of rose and bergamot. While sipping, I found it easy to identify each of the named ingredient flavors, largely in my sinuses, but with bergamot on the sides of my tongue, and with the lavender arriving late to the center back of my tongue in the finish of each sip. I only saw the green tea leaves and smelled their jasmine, but couldn’t really parse out a distinct taste of green tea. Perhaps the green tea accounted for the slight bitterness and bite with a little astringency that I noted (and which Tealyra described, too). The clear amber color undoubtedly came from the black tea content, though it was only barely detected as a flavor. Finally, in the last few sips of the cooler tea, I got a powdery floral hit on the roof of my mouth. Overall, this was a satisfying springtime bouquet that I would recommend and continue to enjoy from time to time, giving it a rating of 75 today, mostly docking points for the use of generic flavorings rather than actual biological components. I prefer a cup of plant origin, rather than the cheating of chemistry, which steals the magic.

I did not detect any notes of bubblegum, as reported by eelong. Thankfully.