Joshua Smith select Send Message

This tea was okay, and certainly worse than I remember, but part of the reason for that is because I have a cold right now. Regardless, this is green tea. There is nothing else to be said about it. It has no distinguishing features, no interesting flavors, and no unique aroma. It is a tea marketed to the masses, and it has a taste that, while not offensive by any stretch, is lacking.

This tea was a bit strange, but in a good way. I opened the bag, but there wasn’t much of an aroma. After brewing the tea, I still had a hard time with the aroma, but there seemed to be something a bit spicy (spicy as in smelled like a spice, not oh-my-god-my-tongue-is-on-fire spicy). Imagine my surprise when I tasted the tea, and it there was a delightful dash of cinnamon taste! It was like drinking masala chai, but not a strong, and with more refined/subtle flavors than any chai I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, I only had time for four infusions of the tea, and it was still perfectly drinkable, but the flavors had started to fade quite noticeably. I actually think that I want to get this tea in a larger quantity in the near future.

So, I opened up the bag of this tea, and was overwhelmed by the earthy smell of this tea, but in a good way. The smell was very distinctly earthy, something that I associated with my young sheng, but it was not as harsh. After the first infusion, the aroma lost the “earthy” quality, and started to smell a bit like cedar. The taste of the tea was rather interesting as well, as it had all the flavors that I associate with Sheng, but they were smoother and just better than I am used to.

I can’t wait until this tea makes it’s way back through the rotation so I can have it again.

I opened my little sample bag, and was greeted by a very light ans subtle aroma of the loose tea. After I finished infusing it, the aroma changed dramatically, with very prominent orchid notes. It was actually rather nice, as it had a stronger aroma than my Qi Lan tea, which was one of the only things missing from that tea.

The tea its self was a very light Oolong with a very smooth taste. The taste is hard for me to describe, but it seemed flowery to me. The after taste of this tea was actually excellent, with a warming sensation in that back of the throat, and a more prominent flowery taste.

Unfortunately, like most light Oolongs, I only got five infusions out of this tea before it became too bland. The Aroma and the flavor decays gradually over these infusions, and the aftertaste starts to fade away, leaving behind a rather bland taste. Regardless, it was a wonderful tea, and one that I look forward to getting more of in the future,

I opened up my tin of this again, after leaving it alone for a few weeks, and was greeted with the vivid roasted aroma with chocolate undertones. The aroma of the steeped tea is more subtle, but the roasted smell is still very prominent. The first infusion is rather dark, comparable to a black tea, but the taste is much subtler. There are nutty and chocolatey notes flavors present, which have really aged well, and produce a very smooth flavor with a hint of sweetness. The aftertaste of the tea is also really interesting, as it merely leaves a kind of tingling on the back of the tongue which is rather pleasant.

The only thing that I have to complain about is that it looks like a heavily-roasted Wuyi Oolong, and the taste is remarkably similar to a Wuyi Oolong, so I find myself comparing it to my Da Hong Pao, which is a bit unfair. Regardless, it is a rather nice tea, and I think it will enjoy it for quite a while.

The later infusions were interesting, especially how the sweetness that began to assert its self complemented the nutty flavors, and yet it didn’t affect the smoothness of the tea. As much as I hate to say it, this tea once again draws a comparison to Wuyi Oolongs, but it matches up better than some of the cheaper fares from that region. I got 6 infusions out of this tea, which is really a testament to how heavily roasted it was.

Anyway, the executive summary is that it’s a good tea, very smooth, nutty flavors, and something to look forward to drinking again.

I actually drank this yesterday, but didn’t end up having time to do a review (CURSE YOU PHYSICS LAB REPORTS!!!!!!!), but I figured, better late than never.

As usual, this was a very pleasant tea, but I did accidentally over-steep the first infusion, and that was a little unpleasant. Other than that, it was pretty much the same as my previous experience with this tea.