Luthien

I ended up making this with water at a slightly lower temperature than I’d intended – 71C – but it turned out well, anyway. The liquor is a golden yellow, with a smooth, slightly malty taste that leaves a little astringency behind it. I’ll definitely be re-visiting this one.

This produces a liquor that’s a lot darker than many other green teas, and a medium brown in colour rather than yellow. Has an astringent note to it that left an aftertaste that I wasn’t too keen on. I think next time I’ll try it at a slightly lower temperature and with a shorter steeping time than is recommended on the tin and see if I like it better.

The dry leaves have a great aroma, and you get a similar scent from the first steeping – but the taste really lets things down and is a lot less flavourful. Not terrible, but I was really hoping for a bit more from this tea.

A comforting drink for a sore throat.

I’ve been drinking this throughout the weekend. Still a fabulous tea, and great for the first three steepings. The flavour really starts to taper off on the fourth steeping. I could probably coax a few more brews out of it given time and testing to get the right steeping time for each successive brew – but it’s easier just to get some fresh leaves!

I was sent a sample of this recently, so when I couldn’t find the tea I was intending to have today (that’s been put in the wrong place somewhere in the tea mountain in my kitchen cupboard g) I thought I’d try this. It’s… really not bad for a tea bag tea. Interesting aroma with more than a hint of licorice about it, and the flavour is okay. I won’t be throwing over teas.com.au’s Feisty Jade in favour of this anytime soon, but it’s certainly drinkable.

Still my favourite tea. Mmm.

From the look of the leaves, I thought this was going to be one of those typical red fruit teas, but it’s actually turned out to be primarily a green tea. It brews up to a warm shade of yellow typical of a green tea. The fruit/floral highlights are clearly present in the taste, but they’re nicely balanced and don’t take over. I like this more than I expected to. Will have it again!

I got it just exactly right this time: brew was sweet and grassy and perfect. 1.5 teaspoons per cup, steeped for 45 seconds in water at 73C.

A good, spicy warming tea for a chilly winter’s night. Brrr.

This is one of my staple Chinese greens. It’s very smooth and a little grassy to taste, but not as much as a Japanese green.

I loved this the first time I tried it and it’s now one of my staples. Very smooth and with a delicate sweetness courtesy of the osmanthus flowers. First steeping is very good, second steeping’s the best, but by the third steeping the flavour’s really starting to drop off so I mostly don’t do more than two.

I sent a friend some of this as a get well present, and so then I needed to have some, too. One of my very favourite green teas.

Smells strongly of cinnamon and is nicely spicy to the taste, leaving a peppery aftertaste. The packet describes this as being sort of like a green chai, and that pretty much sums it up. A good tea if you’re in the mood for something light and spicy.

I really wanted to like this one. I don’t dislike it, really. It’s more just that the hint of mandarin in the aroma doesn’t amount to anything much in the taste. A little disappointing.

Slightly darker gold in colour and also slightly maltier in flavour than some other Formosa oolongs I’ve had. Very smooth, with a little more astringency in the aftertaste. This tea reminds me quite a lot of the Ten Fu High Mountain Oolong from Ten Ren that I had the other week. Not my absolute favourite oolong, but it’s not too far behind.

Gah. Long weekend full of two things: far too much neck pain and copious amounts of this tea. I have no idea why the tea should help with neck pain, or whether it’s a whole of system/body thing to do with the effect of anti-oxidants or what. Something to remember for the next time my neck goes out, anyway!

Oh, great oolong! The first steeping is a light gold-yellow, darkening a bit on the second steeping. (The retailer claims that this tea is good for at least ten steepings so I’ll keep going and see what other shades I end up with. g ) The taste is smooth but with hints of all sorts of things going on just beneath the surface. It leaves you with a very pleasant, very slightly peppery aftertaste. Loved this one!

Brews up into a medium brown liquor. The lime is there in the taste, though it’s not very strong considering all the citrus elements in this tea. I can’t really detect the coconut at all. Very unimpressed. I’ll be going back to the lime and coconut sencha from Teas & Tisanes, which is about a hundred times better.

This tea falls very much on the “black” end of the oolong spectrum and makes a brown brew that’s much darker than many other oolongs I’ve had. This one is fine, if you like black teas – which I don’t, much. I think I’ll gift this one to Other Half, who likes black tea as much as I like green tea (and vice versa. g)

Had some of this last night at the end of a really busy day. A great tea to unwind with.

Makes a lemon yellow brew, which is a good indication of how it tastes. The lemon myrtle gives it a pleasant lemon flavour without overwhelming. A good tea if you’re after a smooth lemon-flavoured green tea.

Experimented with a somewhat higher temperature this time and totally stuffed it up. Bugger. Lower temperature next time!

Having some more of this as a reward at the end of a difficult day. I accidentally left it steeping for ten minutes this time. It turns out to be a very forgiving tea. I’ve just ordered some more, since I’m going through it like nothing else.