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I brewed this puerh differently today and got totally different results. The water was cooled below boiling. Steeped about 2 minutes. The liquor was not the dark burgundy normally experienced. Instead it was dark caramel and looked more like normal black tea in the cup. The scent was a bit off. It was a bit of a fishy poo odor. That horrible odor is gone now with hotter water. Maybe needs more aging. The taste though was the leather I love, but also deeply earthy. It was like really rich soil. It is not at all musty or fishy in taste. Except for the smell I was quite pleased with this today.

Today I get to control how this is brewed. Go me! I used a healthy spoon and boiling water for 2 ½ minutes. I thought 3, Ashmanra suggested 2, and so I compromised :) The liquor is nice and dark. It smells much lighter than the dry leaf suggests. One comment on the wet leaf – this is CTC and the wet leaf does plump up nicely but not quite as much as say Twinings.

The taste is interesting. The bergamot is a tad lighter than I prefer in an EG, but tasty. It comes in late in the sip. The first taste is a very smooth bit of malt, emphasis on smooth. There is a drying aftertaste yet this doesn’t seem astringent when sipping. As the cup cools the bergamot becomes more pronounced, which appeals to me. I let the last of the cup get cold and I liked it. This would make a good iced tea. Today, the second cup is not as good as the first but still drinkable.

This is a pleasant cup. I can’t think of anything to compare it to. It is as far removed from Twinings as it is Harney & Sons. Obviously, the American aspect of it appeals to me. It breaks the rules of tradition and it still works. I started to give this a 76 as in ‘spirit of’, but in reality it is a little more interesting than that. If I could buy this locally, I would keep a small tin around for the novelty alone. I was told it was $6 for 2.3 oz (50g).

A co-worker (not the cheesecake guy) came back from vacation having taken the South Carolina tea plantation tour. He didn’t want to go – his wife pushed him into it. He said it actually turned out to be the most interesting thing they did on vacation. He wanted to share what he had learned. It was a bit of a refresher course but I pretended it was all new so as not to squash his excitement. He bought a book, and a video, with me in mind, but forgot them this morning :( but did remember a tin of this tea :)

On to the tea. There are no brewing instructions on the tin. Ingredients are tea and oil of bergamot. It smells great in the tin. The leaf is very small pieces of CTC. I am going to reserve rating this until I get control of the steep. Today I was handed a press with the leaf already brewed once. It did not appear there was enough leaf. This may also prove to be a tea that cannot be steeped twice. It has been so long since I have had a black that could only be steeped once that I almost forgot that is normal. The tea is dark enough but the taste isn’t there. The coworker who drank the first steep compared it to bagged Twinnings Earl Grey. I took a scoop of leaf out of the tin and put it in a plastic bag to try later.

Today is a good day. A co-worker brought me a piece of homemade cheesecake, and it was good. I thought what tea goes with cheese cake? Oooh, Bailin! Low temp water and 2 minute steep. For those who reviewed this recently and thought it rather ordinary, I am so happy that you get to drink black tea this awesome enough that this seems like nothing special. With the combination bite/sip, I got cheesecake just drifting straight into malt that lingers forever with chocolate and caramel notes. No bitterness. No astringency in the taste but does leave you with a very slight dry mouth feel. In my realm of tea experience this stuff is freakin’ awesome!

Sunday afternoon with the Mythbusters and a cup of yum. (Season premeire tonight!) My wife took one look at my mug and said it just looks like water. I said, yeah and it tastes like cucumber. She said, ewww and walked away. Yep, I know how to keep this stuff to myself. Honest wasn’t my intent. It just does taste like sweet hay and cucumbers. If I heard that description I would be skiddish too. One taste though and you just get it. This really good.

Yeah, I know its spring not fall, but this was included with my samples and once I opened it and caught a whiff I had to have it now. Smells like gingerbread to me. This is a mix of rooibos, honeybush, sweetpotato, pumpkin, candied peanuts, ginger and some other stuff I don’t recall. I used a healthy 2tsp of ‘leaf’ for a 12oz mug and steeped in my press for 9 minutes. The brew is a muddy orange red. This smells so good.

The sip is rooibos and honeybush at the beginning, followed by ginger mixing with the other spices. At the tail of the sip and especially in the aftertaste you get the pumpkin and sweet potato. This is a delicious and awesomely aromatic rooibos blend. If you are a fan of this type ‘tea’, this one is a winner.

Sample provided by Fusion Tea Room. Passing along, get 10% off your first time order by entering the code 10off.

The dry leaf smells a bit like clove to me but there is no clove listed. The ingredients are Tulsi herb, papaya pieces, apple bits, rosehip peels, orange peel, and flavor. I used 2 tsp for 12 oz of water and steeped for 7 ½ minutes. The liquor is yellow. The aroma is pleasantly fruity and mainly of orange.

The sip is a lot different than the fruity scent suggests. It is slightly tart with the interesting taste of the tulsi lifting up in mid sip. The aftertaste still seems to be lightly clove. I can pick out the orange and apple influences. I believe the tartness is probably the rosehip. What I am not certain about is the papaya. I believe it adds a touch of sweetness but this is not what I would call a sweet tea. There is just a hint.

While this is masterfully blended, which has been true of all the Fusion Teas I have tried, it is not an in your face fruit drink. It has a much more subtle and relaxed flavor. I would recommend this if you are looking for more of a laid back, not too sweet, caffeine free, sip. As with most hot drinks, I think the cooler this gets the more flavor it develops.

Sample provided by Fusion Tea Room. Get 10% off your first time order with the code 10off.

Today’s lab experiment involved a healthy scoop of this Ceylon Keemun blend and about 4 leaves of chocolate mint. Slightly below boiling water and 3 minute steep. This tea straight up is really fantastic. With the mint added, I am not as impressed as I have been when I have used it with other teas – ripe puerh for instance. Here, even though I went light on the mint, it tends to take over and be the predominate flavor. There is a hint of chocolate in the late sip. The tea base just gets a bit lost. Maybe I should have used hotter water? 2nd cup full roiling boil, 4 minute steep. Well it is more balanced, and I can taste the tea base and as it cools it gets better, but I’ve decided this base doesn’t need messing with.

Yummm. Passed the rest of the sample to a coworker – he’s hooked.

Actually enjoyed this more today than at my first attempts. I used water below boiling and a 3 minute steep. The bergamot in this one is not exactly citrus, flowery, perfume, or even artificial. The best I can describe it today is fruit punch. (Last time I called it bergamot/peach) I really like the base tea.