Teaopia

I’m beginning to think white teas are the reason non-teaists call it “hot leaf juice.” Used double the leaf I would normally use, kept the steep time at a minimum, and ended up with m-a-y-b-e a little mild buttery flavor in the cup, but not much. I think I’ll return to something with a little meat on its bones, thank you….

When I saw how much this increased in volume during steeping—-easily triple what I spooned into the cup—I was sure I’d ruined it. Surprisingly, there was very little of that overcooked veggie taste; it was light and grassy and not bitter.

This is one of my favourite teas of all time – there is nothing not to LOVE about it. From the aroma, to the taste, it’s absolutely marvelous. It even looks nice too!

The name says it all in terms of the flavour. This tea creates the aroma of caramel, and has a delicious, nutty taste. As a side note – it’s fun to pick out the chunks of caramel and eat them too.

I used to work at Teaopia, and by the end of it I couldn’t stand the smell of most teas after having to spend the day showing them to customers. Creamy Nut Oolong is one that never got old, and will always be one of my “go to” teas.

I also swear by this one for stomach problems. Though oolongs in general are great for digestion, this one just so happens to help me!

Overall, this is an AWESOME tea for a flavoured oolong, and I highly recommend trying it. Just take a smell of it and you’ll be addicted!

The description of this tea is dead on. It is very earthy but in a good way. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it but after a few sips I really started to get past the earthiness and taste the other levels of flavour.

I’m still a little inexperienced with sencha varieties, so I don’t exactly know what to look for … but compared to the Oren’s Daily Roast Sencha I tried recently, this is a little yellower and a little lighter. Very nice sweet, pale flavor, but not as nutty as the O.D.R. Good for afternoon when you just need something a little warm and pleasant.

ohhh man this one is super tasty. It is pretty much straight up strawberry flavor. Honestly I prefer this one iced as it doesn’t need any sweetening and it is great for a hot summers day.

This tea just did not want to quit. Starting off like a smoky punch to the throat, gradually becoming a mixture of sweet (honey, honeysuckle), salty, and smoky.

By the ninth or tenth infusion, the main taste was starting to get sort of watery, but the smoke and the saltiness kept lingering. The strength of this tea is amazing. It is very medicinal, I find. When I had it, I was suffering from a cough/sore throat, and it really made the soreness go away, and it even seemed to help loosen the phlegm in my system. Move over cold medicine! This tea is a treat. It reminds me of summer campfires, and also cooking in the kitchen (the smoke aroma and taste of the later infusions begins to be less like a campfire and more like a mixture of oregano and black pepper). Also, after the second and third infusions, you will probably begin to feel tea-drunk. By the sixth or seventh, you will probably feel sort of heavy in your head and in your limbs. I would not recommend any serious activity for a good while afterwards.

I recommend this tea to those who have an open mind, seeing as it is very intense, and quite out of the ordinary for a black tea. Your basic Earl Grey lover might not appreciate (or be able to handle) it.

The earthiness is definitely a good thing. I love the earthy scent and forestey taste. I find the intensity of the flavour caps out after four minutes of steeping and it’s good for at least one other steeping.

Earthy? How about “eau de farmyard?” But that’s not a bad thing. The aroma sort of put me off, but if you hold your breath when you sip, the flavor itself is just nice and dark. A dig-in-the-flowerbed kind of dark.

My stereotype of orange pekoe either leans toward plain ol’ Lipton bagged or something a little sharp and acidic. This nice tea beats both of those preconceived notions back into the bushes. It’s nice, smooth, liquid amber—a little sweetness in the background like buttered toast or a Lender’s bagel. Probably not a kick-it-into-gear tea for the morning, but pleasant otherwise.

Thanks to Jocelyn Rama, I have a whole care package of Teaopia samples to play with and it’s been so long since I had a really good Assam, I pulled this one first.

It is a lovely red-gold color in my cup and has a nice, thick, substantial feel in the mouth. Flavor is smooth, not sharp, not flat…right on key.

I actually quite like this! The dry leaf smell is absolutely divine, and though the liquor’s aroma is decidedly much more subtle, I still quite like it. The leaves swell up to an alarming size, so make sure you have enough room in your vessel!! The flavour is wonderfully smooth, with a healthy astringency that reminds me of Chinese restaurants. Quite lovely at a slightly cooler temperature than normal just so you can appreciate the full flavour in your mouth. I might try it with a shorter steep time next time. Would buy again for sure.

Yawn. Teaopia often has this as one of their sample teas, and I can’t imagine why. It’s bland. I’m not getting anything like the delightful sweetness of Pomegranate Green. It is wholly unremarkable. Pass!

Yay!! A green tea I actually really enjoy!!

Though the dry leaf smells beautifully of pomegranate, I couldn’t find any pomegranate coming through in the flavour of the liquor, which is too bad, but it didn’t really matter because the flavour was so nice and sweet and a little bit citrusy. Very lovely. I’m on my second cup, which is kind of unheard of for me and green tea. I’m actually ecstatic that I’ve found one that I like!!

I SO wanted to like white tea. It’s light, refreshing, delicate—yes please! But why oh why must there be grassiness. Curse you grassiness!!! You are the BANE of my tea-loving existence. I do not understand how people can appreciate you. I once ATE grass, and did not enjoy it at the least (hush, I was a child, I was curious) and so why there are many who enjoy a hot steaming cup of grass I will perhaps wonder over forever. (I once entertained the idea that “green” tea was so labeled in order to warn those who know the truth about grassiness to stay away)
I would like to share the following that Erin posted while describing Adagio’s White Pear: “like latex and corn syrup stewed in a mug with some asparagus.” YES. YES YES YES. WHY.
Also, although this smells deliciously of promises of peary goodness, there is no “pear flavour,” Teaopia. I could not find it.

I blended this today with Teaopia’s Rise and Shine for my morning class, and not only was it super delicious, it kept me awake! Points! As a blending ingredient, I might recommend this!

Mmm! Smelled divine. Looked divine. It’s rooibos (green!). I was so sure this was going to be perfect. But first steep (4 min) was disappointingly weak. It actually kind of reminded me of the McDonald’s “orange drink” they used to serve us at summer camp that was just orange flavour powder extremely diluted in water. 7 min was more promising, as the flavour had some time to strengthen up. I think I can see myself wanting this for breakfast as a light, citrusy refresher, but I gotta admit I prefer my rooibos earthy and rich.

I am a fan of fruit but not so much grassy, and while this has both, they seem to cancel out each other, thus something I am now dubbing frassy in flavour—the two elements are there but together they somehow fail at being either. The addition of honey I hoped would give the fruity the win, but it really just tastes like honey now sigh. Pretty unremarkable. Yawn. Am curious about the sustaining “mateine” effects, so will report back later.
ETA: I didn’t get the woozy jitters like I do with strong plain caffeine, but I don’t feel tired at all, so a tentative thumbs up to the stimulating effects!

Yum! I was on a search for a very vanilla-y tea and this was a great choice. I appreciate this one for its flavour and that it is my only rooibos, caffeine free! It’s also a great tea to blend with other teas if you are feeling adventurous. (mixing with Teaopia’s Rise and Shine has a vanilla-coke type flavour for example.)

I actually disagree that it doesn’t taste like much…it has a wonderful smell and a subtle flavor that reminds me of something that I can’t quite place…I really enjoy this. I am testing its claim to help with migraines (I haven’t had one since I bought it this week, so I can’t say its effects with migraines yet) but there is a noticeable difference in my daily headaches. It’s nice both plain and with a few drops of agave nectar. Very impressed, I’ll raise the ratings if it actually does help prevent my migraines!

Had this with breakfast! Delish.

Made this into a traditional chai today! Suspicions about lack of spicyness confirmed.

I tried a few sips of this without milk and sugar to start, and I get that it’s supposed to be a transition tea from coffee to tea. It’s quite dark, strong, and a little spicy. The smell is very sweet, predominantly cloves. A little milk and sugar later and… mmmmm. Everything I want in a chai: sweet sweet sweet with a little bit of lingering spice on the tongue. Delicious!!
ETA: points off because I find myself thinking I’d like this to have more spicyness

Squeee!! Am drinking this this morning out of my brand new shiny (ok, matte) Yixing mug!!! (looksie: http://tinyurl.com/yixing) Mmm Pu Erh. I must buy more of you.