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This makes me smile. Raspberry and lemon Pez candies with a hint of rose on a tart fruity punch-tasting hibiscus base with just enough blackberry leaf and licorice root sweetness.

I paid mind to the recommend steep time of 3-4 minutes.

Had hopes — not high hopes — for this based on the ingredients list but like most Yogi teas that have licorice root, that’s pretty much all I taste. That and lemongrass/lemon balm. And lemon oil when I burp. Some cinnamon as it cools. Meh. Also, it is very drying. Tart aftertaste.

Not as aromatic as some chamomile, nor as sweet. Plenty fine with me.

I hardly ever go for chamomile but this is hitting the spot after a much needed sick day. I don’t know how long this was lingering in my aunt’s tea drawer. It’s pretty fresh but I’ve steeped it too long because it’s catching a bit in the throat. Mellow and sweet. Chamomile. What more can I say?

This session is dominated by red woods, diaphoretic camphor, black pepppercorn, dried ginger, abandoned concrete building in old humid continental forest, dried-out decayed wood, a little bit of damp cigarette smoke. Spicy-hot prickle. Strong energy floods my vessel from top of crown into trunk and fingertips. Feel tingling as if wearing a chin strap. As if the jaw is made of silly putty and somebody is stretching it from my ears down over the front of my throat. Floored. Sitting required. Do I even have legs? Bob Oblong.

Lot 1312, Spring 2024

Rich and sweet winter squash flavor with nuances of honeydew, sweet corn and burnt sugar. A distinctive cooling sensation, sweet like the best peppermint, coats the throat, while the body is flooded with warmth. I find myself drinking each pour quickly and with ease. A perfect match for a day that feels like fall.

This tea, like other GABAs, does very well with boiling water and long steeps. Adding more leaf creates a richer, thicker brew with nutty and buttery overtones; however, only 3g:100mL was used for this satisying final session.

Kindly included as a freebie in my latest order — thank you! It’s been so long so I’ve tried a young sheng, so I’m delighted to have a go at this. Prepared in a porcelain pot.

First several pours smell and taste like vanilla sugar in an astringent-sweet broth. It’s deep and clear, pleasant to drink. Buttery and nutty flavors are folded in as if they were made of silky fluff. The tea has a flowery component but it’s light and natural, not reminiscent of perfume. Bitterness is elusive — until it isn’t! Strawberry candy lingers in the aftertaste which later turns a bit acidic. That strawberry flavor is unlike hard candies; it is more oily-tasting? like a Hi-Chew, and later with the acidic aftertaste, it becomes reminiscent of the actual fruit. By the fourth steep, brassy apricot and astringency take over. That metallic taste is one I tend to get from autumn teas like this one.

The ball opens with ease, which is always welcome in this format. Poking through the leaf, I found a fully intact huangpian leaf an inch longer than my middle finger.

Lovely late morning tea.

A customer at work got the last of Earl Gold Reserve this morning, in the original bag, so if he likes it, he knows where to go!

One of these days I’ll get around to taking notes on this tea.

Lot 1308 from Spring 2024

It feels like the strength and power in this tea was expertly sealed into each leaf.

It’s a fun one. So savory, sweet and viscous. Clean, buoyant and coating. Masculine. Cool medicinal. No weak hay/straw white tea notes. Tannins do not stand out at all.

Tobacco, wintergreen, bay leaf and black cardamom mingle with a fresh vegetable stew. Don’t wrinkle your nose. Give it a try.

Billy Strings — Long Journey Home

Found in the back of my desk at work, I realized this little packet that came from my boyfriend’s brother back in January (who got it from his fiancée). It sat there for so long because:

1) It’s powdered green tea. We’ve all had bad experiences with that.
2) The blatant health claims on the packet and the healthy lifestyle marketing both rub me wrong.

Yesterday was an absolute shit day. I’m recovering slowly today. Don’t have the desire to make tea. Perfect chance to try this little gift. I opted for warm preparation over cold.

It pours out of the packet looking like turmeric powder (expires April 2025). A strange, thick white foam forms on the top after adding hot water. Looks like dark, clear apple cider. Tastes like very old oxidized green tea powder, that brown taste, you know it. Not in your face, but that taste is there. The spearmint is nice, not overdone, but my mouth is left with a sticky dry sweetness I don’t enjoy.

It’s overall not as scary is it sounds but never would I buy it and I certainly do not recommend it, not even for situations that might call for such an ease-of-use product. This is trash. My stomach hurts.