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Apparently this is turning into a go through the drawer and pick out a bag day. I don’t think I have ever logged this on Steepster. This was the first tea I bought on my own as a teen. I love the smell of this tea. The orange and sweet spice smell and taste so good. I have no idea how long I have had this bag. The black tea is kind of lost in the cup, so it is probably stale. I can catch it briefly after the sip on my breath. You know, after the Tazo assault on my taste buds, I don’t even care if it is stale. This is a pleasant cup of memories. Good choice.

This has been in my drawer forever. I have been afraid to try it. A bagged herbal infusion. Starbucks what were you thinking when you bought Tazo? Hibiscus, blackberry, orange, and spearmint. How could this be anyone’s idea of good? I at least waited until the cup cooled before dumping it out. Gross.

I keep a couple different $2 boxes of bagged oolong around for the convenience of when I am too lazy to use the press. Measuring out the tea would add a whole 5 seconds to the process. As cheap as they are, the bags aren’t really a bargain, when you consider how many times loose leaf can be resteeped, unless you are a steep once and throw out kind of person. I digress. Here I am, bag in hand. On the black end of the oolong scale. This is roasty and toasty. You can almost taste campfire in the sip. One of these days I will try a loose version and never look back. I’m pretty sure I am missing a big chunk of the flavor this type tea is capable of delivering. For now, this was a good choice to begin my day. Better than I remembered.

Prompted by reading Dinosara‘s review of this yesterday, I had a craving for it today. I knew I still had a couple bags tucked in the back of the drawer somewhere. I can’t remember the last time I had this. I notice I last logged it here a year ago. The trouble is I have had a lot of really great loose teas since then. This isn’t as good as my memory of it. 3 minute steep in steaming water – below boiling. When this is hot it is a bit bitter and has little other flavor. Once it cools down the lotus does come to the forefront but it can’t completely hide the bitter green base. Maybe the bag is just getting too old (might be 2 years old) or maybe I have outgrown it. Either way, Lotus was an important stepping stone in my early tea journey, so this is disappointing. I have not seen another lotus to replace it.

Decided to resteep yesterday’s leaf just to see if it would survive the night. The bite is gone. So is the hint of smoke. What remains is a smooth cuppa with delightful cocoa notes. Actually think I preferred this cup over the previous ones.

Kind of forgot I had this one in the drawer. Keemun and Ceylon. Now that it has aged a few months, the dry leaf smells of cocoa. Boiling water. 3 minute steep. The wet leaf has a slight smokiness and grape notes. This is a nice basic good cup of tea. A little bite, just a hint of smoke, a bit of malt, and fruity notes after the sip. Similar to the Twinings version but that is only in bag form. This is loose and very small cut pieces. It steeps easily a couple times and is quite flavorful.

Today I tried altering my method to approximate what other reviewers did, to see if I could duplicate their experience. Used 2tsp of leaf and just below boiling water. First cup steeped 3 minutes. The longer steep and slightly hotter water gave a brew that was again very flavorful. Instead of mushroom, this time I get a pleasant earthiness and the peach notes that Harney mentions as the cup cools. It is not a strong note, only a hint, but it is there. Also quite a creamy mouth feel. The second cup I went 4 minutes. The peach notes are gone leaving a rich earthy flavor with less creaminess. Also notice the tongue tingling, followed by a cool breath feel. Third and fourth cup, is straight earthy sheng. Altering the time and temps did alter my perception of this tea. Still, my experience was different than the others reported.

Fifth cup. 5 minutes. While sitting here waiting on the tea, I started to grab a Hot Tamale (cinnamon candy) to munch. At the last instant in a fit of brilliance, or possible insanity, decided to toss a couple in the cup instead. Dude, I think I’m on to something! It was not enough to call it hot by anyone’s standards, just sweet and mildly spicy. This is good. I need to try this with a shu some time. I have never heard of a cinnamon puerh, so until I find out otherwise, I hear by plant my flag and claim this as my own blend.

Sixth cup, 5 minutes. Added 5 Hot Tamales to the cup. Turned the brew cranberry color. Smells strong of cinnamon candy but still not as hot as I would like. With a little work by someone who knew what they were doing this could be a really neat blend. What to call it? Hot and Spicy Poo? That’s probably almost copyright infringement. I know… Flaming Poo! Yeah, I like that. Hey, 52Teas or Man Teas, if you send me some, you can use the name. lol.

If you decide to try this, just be careful, the carnuaba wax turns clear and does not completely dissolve.

Happy New Year all. I celebrated by enjoying a couple cups of this and falling asleep long before the ball hit the ground. Yeah, partied like it’s 2012. Dipped some Newton wafers in the tea – not the best combination but I’ll know better next time.

Revisited this one today. Steeped 1m in boiling water.

I have loved every sheng I have tried. They just speak to me. Shu, like this, I am working on. They are just so unlike anything else. Cheap grocery store cooked puerh can be really bad – fishy or moldy smelling, and the bagged stuff can be a bit one dimensional. These are not like that. They are fresh and complex. I loved the rose toucha by Teavivre. I wish I had gotten the Chrysanthemum one as well – maybe I’ll order that one down the road. Anyway, this one I am enjoying much more the second time around.

The taste is peaty, mildly saddle leather (even if I am the only one to think so), followed by fruity and spicy notes. There is also a heavier flavor I can’t quite place, woodsy maybe? Hmmm. Guess I should read the other reviews and see if any of the comments register with what I am tasting.

2nd cup, 30 second steep. Very dark. Similar taste profile but a bit too light in flavor. 3rd cup, back to 1 minute. The extra time gave back that fuller flavor of the first cup. Didn’t have time today to go further. It’s no sheng but I like it. Upping my rating a bit.

Not sure why this is called Guilded Lotus as Primula lists the ingredients as green tea, marigold, and jasmine.

I prepared this in my French press using 12oz of boiling water. As with all the green tea pods in the Primula variety pack the dry bloom smells strong of jasmine. The bloom was completely intact after adding the water. As it began to open it quickly sank to the bottom and began to release trapped air bubbles. The air had enough force that it knocked several petals of the flower loose. It eventually expanded into a massive yellow flower. Quite pretty.

I let it steep longer than intended as work got in the way. The brew was bright golden in the press and much deeper in the cup. The taste is primarily jasmine at the front of the sip. This is followed by a bit of bitterness and then a rush of sweet floral goodness in the aftertaste. With the following cups I was careful not to over steep. They had the same jasmine followed by sweet floral without the bitterness in the middle. This is maybe the sweetest tea I have tried. An interesting cup.