Popular Tasting Notes

My addiction to loose tea began a few months ago at a mall when I was speeding past a Teavana and an associate got my attention with a sample of Maharaja Chai Oolong/Samurai Chai Mate blend. I was honestly blown away. I described the difference in bagged tea to loose tea to my mom as “like black & white tv to HD”. My heart fell when I read the horrible reviews about Teavana of course-how a company treats their staff matters. I did get a salesy feel, but having been in many brutal sales jobs it doesn’t bother me unless they are relentless, then I just say “I know this is your job, but I don’t respond well to sales pressure, so let me have a look around-thanks!” And don’t have problems. Here’s hoping the Starbucks purchase helps them with all that. So I am a lover of all things chai, and I adore this one. The dry leaf smell is cinnamony/cardamomy and even after sampling all the chais at David’s Tea, (I was dying to try the famed pumpkin chai which is out of season, so I bought an entire chair sampler just to get it!) I keep going back to this one. A few other people mentioned that there aren’t many Oolong leaves in there to unfurl in my strainer, I did notice that, but otherwise, this one is spicy perfection for me in a latte..

I adore the little bird nests, and GREEN is so true in this case. Happy little green bird nests. I did two steeps. First one better than the second, which is pretty normal, right? EASY to oversteep, so watch yo self. Not my favorite puerh, probably wouldn’t drink it again if given the choice of a puerh lineup. But it wasn’t disgusting by any means.

One of my favorites of the moment. Very well balanced flavors. Just sweet enough, very soothing.

Wishing this packed more of a punch. This cup had some ginger, and not much lemon. Mostly tasted like drinking a cup of hot water. Maybe I’m just used to stronger teas. Happy there was no bitterness though.

This review is for the newer version of this tea – my bag has yellow flower petals instead of blue cornflowers, and I have a feeling they’ve changed the flavoring, too. This one really isn’t for me, despite my general positivity toward citrus/bergamot flavors.

I really can’t explain what I didn’t like, but I’ll try. I had a cup of this every morning for about a week. The first time it was alright – a very, very light, almost weak earl grey, with a pretty obvious vanilla flavoring. It was pretty smooth, but any “creaminess” was due more to a lack of body than a real texture. So I thought maybe I needed to change my steeping parameters.

I steeped the next few cups a bit longer, but that increased the vanilla flavor, and even made it taste and smell artificial. Adding more tea leaves just made it bitter. At that point, I couldn’t even bring myself to drink a version of this made with my original amount and steeping parameters. It’s a huge shame since I have a full ounce left. The sales people always make it sound like 25 cups of tea is nothing! But that’s really not true if you don’t like the tea…

This tea is nice. It’s a mild tea. The leaves are greyish white and unfurl into a greenish brown full leaf with each infusion. The liquor is a light gold color. It has a bit of a grassy, herbaceous flavor. A slight fruity note like peaches maybe. It isn’t bitter if brewed correctly. Quite delicious!

Smells of citrus
bit astringent at the back of the tongue.
deep amber steep.

I’d been drinking this for a few weeks, then my local store took their sweet time restocking it. I went about two weeks without it and wow, was there a difference. I hadn’t noticed my improvement, but I sure noticed my decline after stopping. The probiotics are the best thing. Seriously. It tastes great, but that’s just a perk.

Most cheap bagged white teas don’t claim to be any particular grade but this one says it is authentic Bai Mudan (or Pai Mu Tan, otherwise known as white peony). While it certainly doesn’t compare with any loose leaf Pai Mu Tan I’ve tried it’s considerably better than any of the other cheaper bagged whites I’ve tasted, it has something of the Pai Mu Tan taste, the sweetness, and hints of melon, peach. The manufacturers say it has a slight nuttiness which is often said of Pai Mu Tans but I don’t get that though I never do in any of them, to me it always has a slight woodiness behind the sweetness. It brews quite dark in the cup for a white tea, and tastes very clean and fresh, if I don’t have access to leaves or an infuser and want a white tea then this is my preferred choice.

Mixed feelings about this tea. I love the sweet aroma of vanilla and coconut that this tea produces. I do wish a little more of this was present in the actual flavor. I found this tea on first sip to be a simple, bitter black tea. It’s only the aftertaste that really reveals the vanilla and coconut. Drinking this tea plain wasn’t particularly enjoyable. With some cream and sugar added, the flavor was much improved. This is definitely a milk and sugar tea. Might also be good iced, though I haven’t tried it.

Drank this for a late morning pick-me-up. It is really meh, but not unpleasant. It is a bit sour from the hibiscus, but I can taste some rooibos and definitely blueberry. I will finish my few bags of this, but will not order more.

The dry mix is mostly dried fruit. I can see strawberries, maybe apples and pineapple too. If I’m not mistaken, there are also rose petals, juniper berries, and some kind of dried wrinkly fruit. Perhaps cherry? I can see dark green bits of the curled oolong too. It’s not as numerous as the other ingredients, but it’s visible. This honestly looks like trail mix to me. Or maybe I’m just hungry.

It smells strongly of strawberries and ripe, juicy fruit. It’s mouthwatering actually and very sweet, like candy. After steeping, the leaves have unfurled completely. Some are really rather large. The liquid is a pale, golden pink.

It doesn’t taste as sweet as I expected it to, but it does have a nice flavor. It reminds me of an herbal tea but with a nice floral flavor/scent, possibly from the oolong or maybe the rose petals.

eh… I’d drink it again

It is a brisk, slightly astringent, never bitter, flavorful tea. It is my favorite afternoon pick-me-up tea.