StarlitSilences

Real oolong &
Vanilla bean.. Thanks to Jackie for my first swap on Steepster.

Smells Divine. Smells like a long forgotten memory.
Initial brew colour is Light yellow which turns to molten copper. While steeping it smells more of real tea than vanilla.
First taste is just real smooth, then vanilla hits you with some creaminess, that is not really found in a lot of teas. Looks seem to be really deceiving, it does look like black but taste more like a garden green. Small amount of raw honey seems to highlight the vanilla creaminess with undertone of tea. Drink it while its hot, getting cold it will get a lot more flat.

I am definitely not a teavana fan, but in the end, who can say No to free cup of tea at a friend’s place. As it happens in Teavana, my friend were totally upsold at the time. But my friend got it for me, and I believe in christmas time, its the intentions that matter. No matter from where the tea comes.

Loose/Bagged ? Loose

Appearance
Looks : You can definitely see most of the dried ingrediants in here, looks more like a herbal tea with lots of buds and dried apple slices.
Aroma when Dry: Strangely sourish sweet at first, definitely intriguing.
The tea looks and smells definitely of the berries and mixed with a lot of apple cider and some rose petals.

Staple? : Not for me, but can definitely be enjoyed occasionally.
Time of day/season : Its lightly sour and sweet, so choose accordingly. Will not go good with food or snacks, I do prefer such teas as after dinner desserts.

Taste
first notes: Definitely a lot of cranberry with some apple juice, surprisingly it was slightly bitter at the first note(may be cause my friend overheated the water).
Aftertaste : Once the first punch wear off, the tea becomes surprisingly smooth and some sweetness in the background. Interesting flavours of Rose & apple get more prominance as it gets more cold.
Additives used?: None, as usual
Lingers?: not at all. Its all initial sour and sweet mix, but nothing remainsin palate even after couple of minutes.

No notes yet.

Loose/Bagged : Bagged, stringless & tagless

Appearance : Black initially, green gets prominent when brewed. small foam with water is poured directly on tea bag.
Aroma when Dry: Berry-ish
After water is first poured: Stronger aroma of pomegranate than berry at this time
At end of steep: Pomegranate itself, with hint of citrus

Staple? : No
Time of day/season : 11’s or 3-ish

Taste
Forgiving : No, gets bitter real quick is over steeped
first notes: tastes more like a hot berry & pomegranate mix than tea. Almost taste the some kind of artifical flavours. very mildly sweet due to Stevia in the ingrediats, not much enjoyable sweetnesss.
Aftertaste : Not much taste remain after the sip
Additives used? : none
Lingers? : Acidic & tannic afternotes lingers on.
As it gets Colder : Get much more bitter & acidic as tea cools down.

Definitely a powdered Assam/Nilgiri blend. As expected its not top of the shelf, but pretty good when taken the price in consideration. Its real black tea, so you need to take care not to overbrew it at all, tastes best as it is and with a twist of lemon.

Definitely a hardcore Assam CTC tea, which is next to impossible to enjoy if not brewed correctly. Great for either plain with a twist of lemon and some sugar(sorry, honey doesn’t go well here). Or great to prepare a cup of Indian Chai.

Below is how to make your own good chai at home(skip it you do not care for it) :)
Water – one cup
Milk(whole) – 3/4 cup (depends on taste, so be careful)
Sugar – 2 teaspoon (agan depends on taste)
Ginger – 1/2 inch (mash it up)
Green Cardamom – 2-3 (just crush it, whole – do not leave the covers)
Good Assam/Darjeeling Tea – Tata Tea Gold(blend of CTC & Long leaf tea) – 1.5 teaspoon
1. Heat up the water, DO NOT let it come to a rolling boil.
2. Once you see the bubbles forming up, put in the tea & ginger.
3. Most Important – Let it remain in low heat itself for about 8-10 minutes. If you heat it up a lot then the tea will become bitter, but less heat and long time imparts all the flavour.
4. Add Milk & Sugar, push up the heat to Medium and let it come to boil for once.
5. Add Cardamon – Let it Boil for a second time, a take it off the stove top.
6. Wait for couple of minutes before you filter it out. Do not sqeeze the filter at all.
Use more Cardamom in Summer time, and more of Ginger in winter. The dominant spice normally vary according to the season. Also cardamom oil is not a substitute for real cardamom in this tea.

Now its time to enjoy a real cup of Chai. :)

Best part of this tea is its real orange smell that has not been colluded by Cinnamon or many other spices. Now this same thing is put off for when the flavour is concerned. Its more on the fruity side for me than being a tea. This tea is also not so forgiving on steeping time, blame on the orange peel in it.

Good tea to relax with, sometime to be enjoyed late at night sitting on lake side.
Colour is dark pink to red, depending on how long you steep it. This tea is generally forgiving in the steeping time.
Tastes more on a sweeter side, reminisent of hibiscus(while it might be pommegranate or I am taste blind). Good sip quality, but not do great finish and aftertaste. Definite undesirable tartness remains after the sip. That is the reason of it being not rated much higher.

Definitely one of those american version of indian chai(which itself mean “tea”). It seem pretty simple one to me, might be cause I am used to a lot of spices and was kind of expecting it. While a real chai must have milk(not cream) and sugar(not honey), this is one which you can take as it is. Just make sure that you do not over brew it. My real complaint with the tea is that its predominantly Cinnamon-ised. While in real chai the two main spices are Ginger & Cardamom(which seem to have been lost in cauldrom of spices this tea have). In reality you just need some Ginger & Dried Cardamom as spices to make a great cup of chai.

Below is how to make your own good chai at home(skip it you do not care for it) :)
Water – one cup
Milk(whole) – 3/4 cup (depends on taste, so be careful)
Sugar – 2 teaspoon (agan depends on taste)
Ginger – 1/2 inch (mash it up)
Green Cardamom – 2-3 (just crush it, whole – do not leave the covers)
Good Assam/Darjeeling Tea – Tata Tea Gold(blend of CTC & Long leaf tea) – 1.5 teaspoon
1. Heat up the water, DO NOT let it come to a rolling boil.
2. Once you see the bubbles forming up, put in the tea & ginger.
3. Most Important – Let it remain in low heat itself for about 8-10 minutes. If you heat it up a lot then the tea will become bitter, but less heat and long time imparts all the flavour.
4. Add Milk & Sugar, push up the heat to Medium and let it come to boil for once.
5. Add Cardamon – Let it Boil for a second time, a take it off the stove top.
6. Wait for couple of minutes before you filter it out. Do not sqeeze the filter at all.
Use more Cardamom in Summer time, and more of Ginger in winter. The dominant spice normally vary according to the season. Also cardamom oil is not a substitute for real cardamom in this tea.

Now its time to enjoy a real cup of Chai. :)

No notes yet.

Its my afternoon tea, definitely something to relax on. Though you will not expect the subtule tea flavour from a bag, but its still there in this tea. It mode dominated on the combination of mints than a tea, which do provide some grassy undertone. This is not a forgiving tea if you ever steep it for long, so keep that in mind.
Its light, refreshing, little grassy & definitely a lot minty. So if you are planning to enjoy green tea, then avoid it but if you want to enjoy the mint flavours then definitely go for this one.

No notes yet.

Being a heavy tea drinker, who enjoy all type of tea its always a tough decision for me on what to order the next time. After some heavy research, on the product, categories, quality, price etc I finally settled here, as it seems to be ideal balance of all.
Item arrived on time in two days (thank god or amazon prime :) ), good packaging but little bit wasteful.
Each tea bag is not individually wrapped, though not a trouble for me as I keep them in airtight containers but can be put off for some persons.
On the first brew, the color of tea is first seen as golden which do change to orange-red depending on time. It has a natural sweetness to it, so if you are planning to contaminate your tea with sweetner please take it in consideration.

Taste :
Slightly sweet, no bitter note at all(have no clue how they do not have any tannin). Stronger than expected aroma of rose and slight flowery smell, may seem peculiar for a ceylon tea but it does go very well. After taste is smooth, rich and bold like a good ceylon tea should be.

Things to care about :
1. Do not get fooled by the color and brew too less. To wait 3-5 minutes can seem to be pretty long when staring at a tea cup.
2. Its definitely not for those who pollute the tea with cream or milk, you are better for with some Darjeeling or Assam tea.
3. Just take usual care of tea brewing, like not to re-boil the water, keep boiling it for too long etc.
4. Relax and now enjoy this master blend :)