Featured & New Tasting Notes

After a long stint of drinking flavoured teas, I found myself craving something else and reached for this favourite. I don’t drink it all that often.

Today, this first cup is a rich savoury earthy broth with bready notes and malt and sweet potato and hints of chocolate and the gentle huskiness of smoke.

What is your approach with and rationale towards your extraordinary teas?

Sipdown (277)!

New, to me, company! I definitely first saw this company on VariaTEA’s instagram feed; some of the flavours they offered seemed pretty unique and samples were an option so I ended up getting twelve different samples; plenty to get a good feel of the company.

I don’t know why I chose this one to drink first: I knew I wanted an iced tea, and it definitely looked like the kind of flavour that would work well for an iced tea but apart from that something about it just… stood out.

- Kind of a weirdly buttery peach smell to the dry leaf?
- The dry leaf hardcore reminded me of peach strudels
- The taste is brighter/juicier and more candy/cocktail like
- Does retain a HINT of butteryness to it though
- Also notes of sweet apples
- The spices seemed like a weird touch to me, but honestly I’m into them!?
- Like, they’re just BARELY present but the soft hints of allspice and ginger work
- It just makes the brightness of the peach extra vibrant
- Don’t know that I agree strongly with the name…
- But I’m REALLY into the tea

I wonder how long they’ll be keeping these summer exclusive teas around for, because I was actually SUPER impressed by this one and if I ended up liking enough of the blends I would actually definitely consider grabbing more of this one. I think it was a good intro to the company, for sure!

I’ve been waiting to find some free time to try this one. As expected from this vendor, the tea’s quality has surpassed my expectations.

The brewed leaves are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen – expertly processed. They’re very green and plump. The aroma is fruity, floral, and subtly grassy in a white tea sort of way. Nice pale tea soup. It’s a very gentle, rich, full bodied, and well structured tea that is delicate yet robust. It’s extremely fresh, lively in the mouth and uplifting with a gentle qi. Initial steeps are typically sweet and floral in a way that is unique to white teas.

But, this one offers something else. There is depth, mellow qi, and structure with lingering sensations and aftertaste. I prefer the later steeps (passed steep 5), which are increasingly spiced (cinnamon, nutmeg, and pears), a bit tingly and cooling with interesting karst-mineral and complex woody notes. This is indicative of high quality tea leaves from well-established plants. This is a proper white tea.

I really didnt want any black tea, malt is not my thing at all. so much tea with ‘golden’ in the title lying around not being finished I try not to buy any more. But this one came recommended from Alistair, and I liked the description so I went for some – & really glad I did.

Possibly one of the nicest black teas I have tried. It has a fruity blackberry taste & aroma, with honey-sweet smoothness, & an slight oily leaf taste reminiscent of wuyi yancha running through it. In fact it has the taste of a steeped wuyi, you know when the roast has gone and you are left with the leafy taste (in a good way?) it kinda has that, under the bolder black tea taste. It also has a nice tongue-whetting aspect from the sweetness.

If you like the other smoother black teas that what-cha have/had (the georgian one springs to mind) or just want something slightly different from the usual golden malty blacks, you should consider trying this, the blackberry fruit really lifts it into special territory.

I have been drinking it gongfu, but I’m pretty sure a well made cup of this would sing at the right times.

Another of the teas I bought while on holiday in Scotland last year. Still behind! I drank this one a couple of times before I went away this year, but I was so busy with work that I didn’t take the time to log it. I’m still busy now – helping out the same team I was helping before I went away, but I’ve also decided that I’m not going to work my butt off if the people I’m helping aren’t putting in a similar amount of effort. And they’re not. So I’m logging my tea, and doing things at a more leisurely pace.

I used 1 tsp of leaf for this one – it looks like sencha, and contains a lot of really pretty pink cherry blossoms. So far, so good. The downside is that is smells a little too much like cherry cough medicine for my liking – artificial, over-sweet, and strange. I gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees.

Turns out, it’s actually not too bad. There are hints of Carmex in the cherry flavour, but it doesn’t come across as super-artificial, which was my main fear. The flavouring is by no means subtle – you definitely know it’s cherry – but it’s fairly accurate in terms of flavour, so that’s okay. The green tea base is smooth, sweet, and slightly grassy. It’s a good pairing with the cherry – they get along well.

Overall, I’m okay with this one (which is a good thing, as I have a whole tin…) I’m tempted to try it cold brewed.

I finally got around to finishing the last of a 25 gram pouch of this tea last night. My work day was extremely stressful and I did have some trouble sleeping, so I ended up deciding to calm myself with a gongfu session. That did the trick and I managed to go to sleep almost immediately afterwards.

Obviously, I gongfued this one. After a quick rinse, I steeped 7 grams of loose tea leaves in 5 ounces of 205 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 13 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 5 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes. There was no real rhyme or reason for this particular methodology. It was late, I was tired, and I just kind of goofed off with it to see how it would work.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of chocolate, honey, orange, marzipan, and pine. After the rinse, I detected emerging scents of toast and malt. The first infusion produced a maltier bouquet with a hint of spice. In the mouth, I detected mild notes of toast, honey, chocolate, orange, marzipan, and pine underscored by a hint of spice. Subsequent infusions brought out more robust malt, chocolate, marzipan, orange, and pine impressions, while the previously rather generic toast note began to morph into a definite wheat toast flavor. I also began to detect cinnamon, nutmeg, juniper, cedar, vanilla bean, roasted nuts, minerals, brown sugar, cream, and lemon zest. The later infusions were mild, offering gentle mineral, malt, toast, pine, cedar, nut, and citrus notes.

This was a very nice, mellow Yunnan black tea. It even responded to my wonky brewing method well. I would definitely recommend this one to fans of traditional Yunnan black teas.

The 2017 Spring Silver Needle at FLT is killer this year!

It is super fuzzy and fresh tasting. The notes are syrupy sweet, aloe, sweet grass, crisp asparagus, and lychee. The texture is on the heavy side too.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2017-spring-silver-needle-white-tea-floating-leaves-tea/

Thank heavens I got a sample with my order because I missed it. This remains as one of my favorite blacks, and I am happy to sip it down.

What an amazing tea! This was a free sample sent by Teavivre during the spring, and their dragonwells are always the most delicious, amazing teas. Rich, velvety, savoury ‘green bean’ flavour, with an unbelievable freshness. The first infusion (western style) is the best, but a second can be good too – only if it’s steeped within a few hours (otherwise something in the tea turns a bit and while drinkable, it’s just not as good).

As an aside – this tea leaves downy fluff on the inside of the bag – it looks like mold but it’s totally not.

Here’s another one of the Spring 2016 teas I have desperately been trying to finish. This was one of my first purchases from Whispering Pines Tea Company and I totally forgot I still had it. At first, I was a little concerned about the tea’s age, but after opening the pouch and catching a whiff of ridiculously herbal, woody tea leaves, my concern melted away. I found this tea to be an exceptionally balanced black tea with enough depth and complexity to keep one coming back for more.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of malt, wood, roasted nuts, spice, and molasses. After the rinse, I began to catch hints of citrus, camphor, sweet potato, and leather. The first infusion produced an almost identical bouquet. In the mouth, I detected a mix of wood, nuts, leather, and malt underscored by hints of citrus, camphor, sweet potato, molasses, and spice. Subsequent infusions allowed the nut impressions to more clearly define themselves. They reminded me of a combination of roasted almond, roasted chestnut, and beechnut. The sweet potato, camphor, and molasses notes strengthened slightly, joined by notes of caramel, butter, pine, smoke, honey, minerals, and dark chocolate. The indistinct citrus impressions morphed into a clear orange presence, while the melange of spices also came into focus, resembling a mix of anise, black licorice, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper. The later infusions were clean and smooth on the nose and in the mouth. I detected mild notes of malt, butter, leather, roasted nuts, and minerals underscored by lingering citrus, spice, pine, camphor, and honey tones.

Overall, this was an exceptionally refined Yunnan black tea. I could see what all the fuss was about and only wish that I had gotten to this one a little sooner. I guess that just means I’ll have to pick up a pouch of the 2017 harvest at some point in the near future.

Random…. yes, random… Last week I attempted to write notes as I drank a 1997 oolong and it did not work, but here’s how far I got :P

Steep 1, 30 seconds 95c
Aroma starts to come off like dry cocoa dust in the air and some juicy/wet plum. Leaf integrity isn’t all that, but with aged tea I look for consistency in aroma/taste as the session goes on. The liquid is quite thin and rolls off the checks quick while it sticks on the tongue with a nice plum like sweet/tart balance as the mineral notes combine from the brew. The level of roast on this tea is pretty much gone so I would consider it a ‘light roast’ tasting tea; one thing to note about that roast dissipating over time is you taste storage or lack thereof which this is a mixture of both. Sides of the mouth picks up on a tad of old leaf that is similar to huangpian; dry funkiness, in very subtle side notes.
Steep 2, 30 seconds 95c
Liquid being hot and the way it is makes it appear to be semi oily. The taste has gone down in strength a lot as no roast is left. Very easy going and smooth with a possible sweetness coming through.

…
Now, I use Steepster as an outlet for all sorts of things since a lot of my friends are in the tea community here so let’s just drop why life is blah and reviews are not frequent. Last weekend my in an accident where she was hit; she is fine, her car is not. Yesterday my best friend had someone run a red light in front of him and his car was totaled; he is also fine. Over the course of the 14 years I have had a license, these are the only two accidents that involve people I know on a deep level. Being that they are slow close together in time, my mind is very… I have no idea how to word it…. the unwanted what if questions come in and my emotions are uncontrollable. All I want is some peace from the negative thoughts…

Thankful they are both okay. Cars are just objects. It takes so much energy out of me to stay calm and keep reserved in moments that someone has put people I love in harms way… but I must remind myself that I also love the one I am angry at in the moment as they are just another person with a life as valuable as my friends/family.

Anyways, tonight I am drinking some Lao E Man with hopes that energy fills me!

This was an excellent sheng with very little bitterness at all. It had a nice sweet note to it. I think the classic profile of apricots and stonefruits fits this one. I had heard this tea was somewhat bitter, maybe it was because I used a lower brewing temperature but I really didn’t get any bitterness or astringency. This was good stuff.

I steeped this eight times in a 120ml Yixing teapot with 8.4g leaf and 190 degree water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 seconds.

Wow, that was hard – I literally had to not come here for a few months due to money constraints. So there has been a lot of sipdowns going on in the household. Then I caved and had to make some orders as I ran out of some staples!

Thought I would try this on a whim – I don’t seem to have much luck with rou gui or cinnamon-type oolongs, the ones I have tried seem a bit too easily dissipated, losing flavour rapidly, and I thought this one sounded similar.

But this one is really good, with nice longevity, the ginger aroma lasting even as the tea soup gets thinner.. I think I was up to ten flash steep style and it was still giving. Its an interesting flavour that i have no idea how its imparted – doesn’t taste fake but also doesn’t quite taste real, but works with the rest of the tea, it isnt too sweet or too much of anything bad, really. But kind of dessert-esque. Nice bitterness lingering in the back.

A hard one to place but happy with it & glad to have found a dan cong like this that gives out as much as it should for the price.

Oh, this is a lovely surprise. I accidentally steeped it for over ten minutes because I received an important phone call while waiting for the 2.5 minutes. Concerned I ruined it for life, I added some whole milk, took a sip, and…?

Wow! Very flavourful and miraculously not bitter at all. There’s a lot going on in this blend. Creamy vanilla, cocoa, pecans, and malt. I think it’s the malt and vanilla together that’s creating an Animal Cracker-like vibe to this too.

You know, altogether, the flavours really do come together to create a Rocky Road ice cream experience. Crazy. I wish I had more than just the taster size!

Here’s yet another sample sipdown. I way overloaded on caffeine the last couple of days, but could not go without my daily sipping session, so I did something I don’t do often-I broke out a white tea. It totally hit the spot too.

I brewed this tea gongfu. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped the entire 6 gram dragon ball in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions was as follows: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dragon ball emitted aromas of hay, honey, eucalyptus, and apricot. After the rinse, I began to pick up on grass, nectar, wood, toast, and camphor. The first infusion introduced hints of butter, pine, cucumber, and malt. In the mouth, I mostly picked up on notes of butter, malt, cucumber, damp grass, hay, pine, eucalyptus, wood, and honey underscored by touches of apricot, camphor, and nectar. Subsequent infusions saw the camphor, apricot, and nectar intensify in the mouth. I also began to detect impressions of almond, wheat toast, puff pastry, cedar, dates, oats, cream, minerals, golden raisin, cinnamon, vanilla, and clove. The later infusions were smooth, displaying pronounced buttery, creamy qualities with hints of minerals, hay, pine, eucalyptus, spices, toast, and apricot in places.

I normally don’t go for white teas, but I have had a soft spot for Yue Guang Bai for a little over a year now. This one was excellent. It was deep, complex, mellow, long-lasting, and well-balanced.

A very complex Moonlight white – you can tell the material is very good. The body is very heavy, the flavor is floral, buttery, a bit citrus, and paperback book.

There is some dryness, but I wonder if with age that will go away. I got 16 infusions.

Full review http://oolongowl.com/2016-nightlife-white2tea/

I finished this one last night, which was a terrible decision. I had way too much tea yesterday and ended up not falling asleep until around 3:00 A.M. as a result. I didn’t get up this morning until somewhere around 10:00 A.M. I may have put myself through hell, but at least the teas I drank yesterday were good. This one was no exception, and for me, that’s saying something because I’m still not totally sold on Nilgiri teas.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted a fairly powerful bouquet that presented a blend of honey, flowers, grass, and fruit. After infusion, I detected pronounced scents of honey, violet, grass, rose, and mango. In the mouth, I detected honey and flowers up front. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of floral impressions I was getting. At the time, I pegged it as a mixture of chrysanthemum, rose, tea flower, and violet. With the exception of the violet, I’m still not confident that my description would strike anyone else as being remotely accurate. Just beneath the honey and floral notes, I detected impressions of grass, straw, malt, herbs, mango, and nectarine underscored by a touch of smoke. The finish was sweet with a nice mix of floral, fruity, and honeyed tones.

This was an interesting and satisfying black tea. I was pretty much firing in all directions simultaneously when I attempted to log this, so I have no idea if my description of this tea even approaches adequacy, but I can confirm that it was a nice drinking experience. Again, I’m still not the hugest fan of Nilgiris, but I thought this one was quite good. I imagine that those who have more interest in teas of this type would get considerably more out of it than someone like me.

I polished off a sample pouch of this tea to start my day. I think I’m going to spend much of the rest of this day cleaning house and catching up on reviews. I have a couple of others that I need to post. Anyway, this was kind of a standard Kenyan black tea in the sense that it was a strong, malty Assamica. It definitely did the trick as a breakfast tea.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted mildly malty, woody aromas. After infusion, I caught hints of camphor and anise to go along with caramel, cocoa, molasses, leather, malt, nuts, and wood. In the mouth, the tea was strongly herbal and nutty up front. Along with a somewhat menthol note of camphor and a hint of anise, I immediately detected notes of black walnut, beechnut, and roasted chestnut. The tea then opened up, allowing notes of cream, malt, butter, leather, brown toast, orange, and dark wood to appear. I could detect impressions of cocoa powder, coffee bean, and molasses lurking in the background. The finish was malty, nutty, creamy, and somewhat sweet with a returning hit of camphor and a belatedly emerging leafiness.

For kind of a standard issue African Assam-type black tea, this was very nice. It wasn’t quite as syrupy or as heavy as some of the other African black teas I have tried. I could see it taking additives well, though it does not need them to shine. I would have no difficulty recommending this tea to anyone looking for a respectable breakfast tea to get them going in the morning.

GCTTB

I am so very grateful that the brief rainfall cleared the humidity and kept the neighbour children off that cursed trampoline. Those would be the other neighbours: not the ones with the shrieking baby and the at dawn exercise routine.

Yeah, I know—I must have done something truly horrible in a previous life.

I quite like this one though I was expecting a completely different set of flavours than those which arrived in my cup. The black base is pretty frisky. I had steeped it as per VariaTEA’s instructions at 4 minutes instead of my usual 2 minute black tea quickie. The lime here is earthy rather than bright. The coconut is missing altogether. Nice cup. If I tried it again, I would likely do a shorter steep.

Thanks, VariaTEA!

I put off trying this one for a long time. I had to immediately transfer it to a holding vessel upon receiving it due to its sealed pouch getting punctured in transit. Luckily, the damage was at the top of the pouch, it was fairly minimal, and I noticed it almost immediately. I was fortunate enough to lose none of the tea, and after finally opening this up and working my way through it, realized that it came through all of this unscathed. Prior to trying this particular tea, I was not familiar with Jin Mudan at all. This one, however, made me want to try a few more.

Jin Mudan is not a classic Wuyi cultivar. As a matter of fact, it is fairly young, having only been in existence for about 40-50 years. According to the information provided by Yunnan Sourcing, it was originally produced as a hybrid of Tieguanyin and Huang Jin Gui, though it differs somewhat from other cultivars descended directly from these two. It is noted primarily for its broad, thick leaves and unique floral and fruity qualities.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I caught aromas of char, dark wood, dark chocolate, elderberry, blackberry, and flowers from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I began to detect scents of violet, dried blueberry, raisin, roasted almond, cream, elderflower, and prune. The first infusion produced a similar bouquet, though I did note the emergence of vanilla bean, coffee, cannabis, and damp grass. With such complexity on the nose, I knew I was going to like this tea even at this point. In the mouth, I detected mild, soothing notes of cream, dried blueberry, raisin, elderberry, roasted almond, elderflower, violet, char, dark wood, dark chocolate, blackberry, and prune balanced by touches of damp grass, vanilla bean, coffee, and cannabis. Subsequent infusions brought out ginger, fig, black raspberry, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, hibiscus, minerals, tea flower, rock sugar, and a touch of actual peony to compliment the increasingly prevalent notes of cannabis, coffee, cream, vanilla bean, damp grass, dark wood, dark chocolate, and dark fruits. I also began to catch something of a cooling, herbal quality reminiscent of menthol. The final infusions were surprisingly smooth for a Wuyi oolong. I detected mostly savory notes of cream, butter, and vanilla bean balanced by subtle mineral, menthol, raisin, prune, dark wood, rock sugar, damp grass, dark chocolate, and vague, indistinct floral notes.

This was a surprisingly great Wuyi oolong. I found tons of complexity and depth, which oolongs of this sort do not always deliver consistently. All of the aroma and flavor components also worked well together, which again, does not always happen. I also have to note that this tea packed a tremendous punch. The energy it provided was invigorating, cleansing, and thoroughly restorative. I finished this session over an hour prior to starting this review and I can still feel the tea’s cooling, herbal, menthol-like presence in my mouth and throat. This one is definitely a keeper, and I will probably be getting more in the very near future. Its roast should allow it to age like a champ. Definitely make a point of trying this if Wuyi oolongs are your thing.

4th tea from Yuuka-Cha and it is a winner too. I really did well from Yuuka-Cha choosing 4 teas I never had before and love them all. Of course I just placed a 2nd ordering an old favourite plus one extra.

So my first impression when taking a sip of this tea was how sweet it was. Super sweet! It’s fruity too with a bit of buttery taste. There’s a good umami taste to it but it’s not intense like some sencha or gyokuro teas. Sometimes that intense green taste is just too much for me even though I do love it.

This tea was 16.65 US for 100g so it was in the mid-range. Definitely worth it. I am blown away by how good this tea is and I didn’t even use any special brewing. Very thankful to all that left reviews on Yuuki-Cha’s website as I based my tea purchases on that.

Another sample sipdown here. I took a sample pouch of this tea with me to the youth summit this week and ended up using it to wake myself up in the morning. I found it to be a very respectable blend, but I do have to say that I found it to be a bit too citrusy.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

After infusion, the tea liquor produced robust scents of bergamot, lemon rind, grapefruit pith, and toast. In the mouth, the bergamot and grapefruit were front and center, balanced by much subtler notes of brown toast, caramel, cream, and lemon rind. The finish was astringent and tart, offering up lingering citrus impressions.

Normally, I adore super citrusy Earl Grey variants, but this one was a little much, even for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice blend that blows most commercial Earl Greys out of the water, but it also is more than a bit over-the-top. The pronounced citrus character overpowered the more subtle aromas and flavors, so there was not much in the way of balance. Also, I’m guessing that a rather large amount of both grapefruit and bergamot essences was employed in this blend because it displayed something of a soapy texture that I found unappealing. Overall, this was a good Earl Grey, but I felt it was a bit unbalanced. Fans of extremely tart, citrusy blends, however, will probably beg to differ.

I finished the last of a 50 g pouch of this tea Monday, but forgot to post a review. Unfortunately, I also forgot to take notes. I do remember a great deal about my last session, however, so I will attempt to work from memory. I do remember greatly enjoying this tea and found it to be a steal for the price.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose leaf material in 4 ounces of 175 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected subtle grassy, vegetal aromas and a hint of corn husk. After the rinse, I began to pick up more pronounced scents of grass, hay, squash blossom, seaweed, and fresh spinach. The first infusion produced a similar bouquet with a touch more corn husk, a slight butteriness, and a hint of chestnut. In the mouth, I detected gentle impressions of grass, hay, corn husk, spinach, seaweed, chestnut, and squash blossom. Subsequent infusions brought out a nectar-like sweetness, as well as minerals, pine nuts, corn silk, asparagus, and garden peas. The later infusions were heavy on minerals, though I could detect subtle seaweed, corn husk, butter, grass, and hay notes in places.

Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting all that much from this tea, but it ended up impressing me. For the price, this was excellent. I would have no issue recommending it to anyone looking for a flavorful, unique green tea.

Bai Ye is just one of those teas that if you buy it from 7 vendors you’ll get 7 different teas. This is fairly representative with a good amount of florals and sweetness and a hint of cashew. Brewed for extra length which is always a plus, but it was not the best I’ve had, still I will drink the rest of my stash with reverence.