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A loose leaf act of kindness from ashmanra. I could smell this the moment my wife brought the envelope in the house. Intoxicating aroma. Heeding ashmanra’s warning I quickly surmised this should not be stored in the drawer with my other teas. I only thought the Peach Apricot green tea I had from Empire Tea Services was aromatic.

When I first started drinking tea I bought a lot of Bigelow Cinnamon. I had a love hate relationship with that tea. I really wanted to want it but it never delivered. HCS is what I wanted out of the Bigelow – a cup of liquid Red Hots.

I was not sure how much leaf was needed. I used the scoop that came with the French press and filled it almost to the top. There is a LOT of cinnamon in this and I was concerned it would need a bit more leaf. It was fine. This really smells spicy but my system craves spicy so to me it isn’t hot. Did two steeps. Actually enjoyed the second more than the first. This leaves a lot of sediment in the bottom of the cup but you have to expect that will happen. The pot still smelling strong of cinnamon I tried a third steep but it was a bit flavorless. I almost added a good quality black to give it some oomph but didn’t. It would have been tasty – note to self add more tea next time.

The difference between this and the sachet is subtle. The loose is a bit fuller and more alive. Of course this is not in a paper cup at BN. I enjoyed both but this I enjoyed more. The best part was the people stopping at my office door and asking, what’s that smell?

Continuing my tea bag extravaganza. This will be my last cup of the day. Had a diet Coke and a big lunch (they cancel each other), and would prefer to have a puerh but don’t have it in a bag and I almost never start a multi steep tea on a Friday afternoon. Can’t waste the leaf! I don’t have milk to do this right either, but full speed ahead. This brews up dark and clear (not cloudy). Hot it is a bit peppery and not as full flavored as the aroma suggests. I think I am expecting it to be Constant Comment. The cooler the cup the more flavor it develops. I am not a chai drinker so I don’t know if this is a good example or bad. All I know is I enjoyed it.

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.

Prepared this in my French press with 12oz of boiling water. Having it today with peanut butter fudge and crackers coated with a generous wash of garlic and red pepper (lots of red pepper!) Also have some kind of crumb cake squares covered in lemon icing. Wow. I have tried my best to avoid the holiday snacks but they keep finding me. I have no choice. It’s not my fault. Ok, I’m just weak but I did try to resist… briefly.

Tea report – For all I know, all the blooming teas in China could be made in the same factory. The craftsmanship in all of them is pretty high and frankly they taste way better than I expected. The Primula pods are slightly smaller than the Teavivre ones. What they lack in size this one made up for in jasmine flavor. This one is especially good. The bloom was not as amazing as some of the others but made a pretty display. There is globe amaranth in this but for once I don’t really taste it. Just a lovely mild jasmine tea. I thought all the sweets and spices in my snacks would wash this out but it actually stands up for itself pretty well. Bring on cup two and three, hold the goodies. I notice my experience with this tea was completely different than TeaEqualsBliss. Possibly my pod was fresher?

This is one of two bagged teas I still buy on purpose. Similar to Foojoy Wuyi but even cheaper and tastier. I am sure it is rather one dimensional compared to loose but since I have never tried it loose I can pretend I don’t know better. It is a heavily oxidized oolong and makes a very dark cup very quickly. From what I have written in other reviews, I should hate this tea. Its roasted smokiness reminds me of smoldering leaves in the fall air. I claim to not like smoke – it just works here.

Thank you Ashmanra for this generous sample. I was going to wait until Monday and do a two day marathon with this, however I had cheese dip this morning and Mexican for lunch. My gut hurts now (duh) and I need this, so perfect timing. I will do a marathon later.

A raw green puerh. Except for the rose toucha from Teavivre that I loved, loved, loved, I much prefer green over ripe. It is not as in your face. The loose leaf is long and slightly twisted. A bit hard to measure with a spoon. I finally just judged how it looked in the bottom of the press. I did not do a wash. Steeped 1 minute with 180F water. The wet leaf smells of celery and hay. Fresh and green. Appears darker and thicker in the cup than the other green puerhs I have tried.

This has a bolder flavor than I was expecting. Fresh, green , mushroom, and light earthiness. There is no bitterness and nothing foul tasting (for puerh, lol). It took a moment to adjust to the bolder flavor but once I did I must say I like this. It has the sticky lip feel of other greens I’ve liked. Ashmanra told me it was a bit minty. I am not really getting that taste the way I prepared it, (cool water short steeps) but I get what she is saying as it does make the side of the tongue tingle and leaves a cooling effect to my breath. Had time for three cups this afternoon. It was still going strong when I stopped.

Meh. Two immediate strikes against it (and not the bag) – there is no tea in this and I have never liked spearmint. The cinnamon, vanilla, and clove are all interesting flavor ideas but the mint overpowers them. I will say, after it reaches room temp it isn’t bad. Just not my cup of joy.

Had this with sour dough bread today. I was a little concerned the tastes were too similar but it turned out to be a good combination. The wet leaf brought to mind cocoa, or bakers chocolate, heating on the stove. The bread enhanced tasting notes I hadn’t caught before. The main being a cucumber taste. Under that was a sweet fruity something that I couldn’t place but made me think of jelly – kind of went with the whole bread thing I guess. As the cup cooled the malt became more pronounced. The aftertaste pleasantly lingers. There is also a dry mouth feel with this combination. An exceptionally good tea.

Curious and admitting globe amaranth is never going to be a taste I crave I decided for the third steep to cut the string holding the bloom together and remove the flowers. The floral scent is still present in the brew but much reduced. I can even taste tea. What was a beautiful center piece is now a more pleasant drinking tea. I know it kind of defeats the purpose.

After reading this morning of using a 7 oz glass to steep this, I wanted to try it but didn’t have anything that small so I used my press and added 12 oz of water. That is about a third of what I have used in the past for flowering teas. 1 minute steep in boiling water. The globe amaranths were poking out of the water. The bloom was spanning almost the width of the press. Taller and narrower would be better. Using less water brought forth the jasmine scent but the globe amaranth dominates. I do think less might be more with this tea. The flavor is much more intense. I have read a lot of reviews warning of the dread hibiscus, well here it is the globe amaranth. If you aren’t a fan you will have an issue.

I’m a couple days behind. I ran this through five steeps again. This time I noticed something new. Well two things. First, I caught the sweet potato others mentioned. Second, by the 4th cup as the creaminess moves in, the malt disappears but only while the cup is really hot. There is a bit of earthiness while hot. The more the cup cools the more the malt returns. I am used to the cup changing with the temperture but this really changes. I love this tea.

Another I haven’t had in a while. Enjoyed 5 cups. This is a green puerh. Still haven’t figured out how to remember if that means sheng or shu. After the first steep the leaf smells like mushrooms – like springtime morels. Yum. I love green puerhs. They are so light and clean. Sweet and sticky on the lips. Seems creamy today.

I gave the third cup to a co-worker- traditionally the best cup. He grumbled, “it tastes like sweet dirt” and poured it out. Guess he is entitled to his opinion, even if he is a stupid head.

Haven’t had this one in a while. A Ceylon Keemun blend. 1st steep 3 minutes. Enough bite to be interesting without getting bitter. Nice fruity aroma. A hint of smoke in the sip. 2nd steep at 4 minutes stood up nicely to pizza. Third steep at 5 minutes was the most pleasant.

Backlogging – Had three cups of this yesterday. Not sure why I don’t see other reviews for Green Earls. I find black Earl to be bland and boring after getting hooked on green. I guess I am ahead of my time. Green is the new black.

A favorite from last year – though I still have no idea why it is called Christmas Morning. After all the amazing loose leaf teas I have had since late summer, this one doesn’t impress like it did last year, but if I was served this in a restaurant I would be very pleased. A good basic Assam with enough bite to make you notice, while the Ceylon keeps it under control. The Keemun is in the aroma and in the aftertaste. I don’t know what a Sumatra tastes like on its own and I don’t catch a glimpse of anything I don’t recognize in this. The Jasmine is so subtle I probably wouldn’t pick up on it had I not read the label. I do catch floral hints in the aroma but not in the cup. Went great with a baked chocolate wafer snack.