James R

This is my standby oolong at work. It is really tasty, but cheap enough that if I get distracted I won’t be mad if I brew a cup then not return to my desk for an hour and have to make a new cup. It has a nice baked aroma with some honey sweetness. The tea itself is a little bit like honey with a slight bit of tannin. Nothing too complex, but good to sip on throughout the day.

I have a hard time drinking this straight, but mixed with some honey it is great. I look forward to trying this iced in the summer. The taste is of real blueberries, not that artificial candy blueberry flavor. It can be very tart if overbrewed.

Without a doubt, this is a JASMINE tea. This is very heavy on the jasmine, really fills the room with an amazing aroma. The flavor of the green tea is lost until the third steep, the jasmine shines more than anything. Nothing tastes artificial, this is a very high quality tea. It’s relaxing to watch the pearls open up in a glass vessel while brewing. Very fragrant, no bitterness. Great tea to relax with.

This is a dark malty tea. The liquid is as black as coffee. There is no harshness, its actually pretty smooth. Some notes of raisins and malt. Similar to an assam without kicking you in the face!

This is on the border between a medium roast and a dark roast tieguanyin. It has a very bready aroma and taste to it with a slight hint of sweetness, like walking into a bakery. This is an extremely forgiving tea, I’ve brewed it boiled, and at 195, both are fantastic. Got a good three steepings out of it.

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I can’t get over how good this tea is. It’s extremely full bodied but not bitter. Its a rich caramel brew that needs no sweetening whatsoever. It has a smell reminiscent to a freshly baked loaf of bread along with some cacao notes. A truly unreal tea.

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Thanks to Michelle for this sample. I bought 2 oz right away. This is like eating a caramel dark chocolate brownie. No lie.

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Gotta love Adagio representing my hometown! I got this at one of the Adagio brick and mortar locations in Chicago using some loyalty points. I am not the biggest fan of chai, but I actually really enjoy this. It is very spicy from the ginger and cloves, with cardamom in the background. Clove is definitely the strongest flavor in this tea, and it actually holds up pretty well to 2 infusions. I’m not sure what black tea they use as a base, but its a nice strong tea that gives this chai a nice full bodied infusion.

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This is my second experience with a Japanese Black, I had tried Rishi’s Sakura Black before. I don’t get the similarity to a China Black, if anything its closest to a Fujian but its much bolder. The tea initially is tannic but it subsides as it cools and actually becomes smooth. There becomes a sweetness almost of plum juice with the bite of an artichoke. I had only ordered a sample of this, but it is worth ordering a whole bag.

I tend to really enjoy lychee black teas, but this one kind of fell flat. The lychee is overpowering almost too sweet to drink at a hot beverage. Dissapointed in this tea I headed to Steepster to see if maybe I had been brewing it wrong, so I tried it iced and it was MUCH better. Something about this tea hot isn’t quite right, however it makes a delicious iced tea.

Wow this is a really good Assam. A much larger leaf than others that I have had, very high quality. This is definitely a breakfast tea, it is really malty when freshly brewed, but as it cools it reveals notes of raisins. The tannin is not overpowering either.

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Tastes more like a Taiwanese oolong, its great! Full review here: http://www.examiner.com/review/peony-tea-s-phoenix-dancong-heavenly-fragrance-review

Beer + Chai Tea! Great mix, check out my full review http://exm.nr/Rq3edp

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Nice Floral tea, sweet aroma. Got 7 infusions out of it. Check out my full review http://exm.nr/MnTWux

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