T.C.

This is my first time trying this tea (I tend to spend all my time on green teas), and I’m enjoying it a lot. It has a very classic “assam” taste, without too much astringency (especially with my somewhat non-standard brewing parameters). It has a very rich malty base to it that makes it a nice full-bodied tea. In a weird way, it makes me nostalgic for my trip to India (which only lasted 2 weeks, but definitely made an impression), and also has put me in the mood to do some yoga – so I’ll talk to you later!

I haven’t had this tea in a while, but inspired by the other reviews, I brewed a few cups today. Absolutely delicious! Don’t know why I haven’t been drinking this more often. It has a subtle complex sweetness and is more appetizing than most ceylons I’ve had. I tried different steeping parameters than I normally would for black tea, and with good results. I think I know what I’ll be drinking most of this weekend.

Had this tea again today – really brightened my day. Lightly tart, floral, and really just great all around. I’m not a big flavored tea person usually (nor a white tea person really), but this one really hits the spot on a sunny day like today.

The infusion is a very pale golden color, very enticing. The smell has a salty vegetal-ness to it almost reminding me of edamame. The taste is delicious – surprisingly savory for a Chinese green tea. It takes a few sips for this to really develop (at least using the brewing parameters I did), but it is fantastic once it does. Although I am a vegetarian nowadays, I would imagine that this would pair well with chicken or turkey.

This tea has that deep, dark, inky pu-erh color. It has a very natural plant-like flavor. It’s very soft, but with an astringency that seems to cleanse the mouth. Overall, it’s very earthy – fans of this style of pu-erh will definitely enjoy this tea. It’s quite the opposite of a dessert tea, and for some reason seems to have an air of seriousness to it.

After a warmup infusion (95C, immediately drain water after filling small (~100ml) pot), first infusion used 92C water for 15 sec. It has a nice golden color, and a delicious roasted flavor that almost reminds me of a houjicha. It’s fairly appetizing. Brewed the second infusion the same way. All the flavor from the first infusion is still there, nearly identical to the previous cup. Third infusion, still the same, but maybe with a slightly less roasted aftertaste. I enjoyed this!

I was stunned by the incredible deep golden, coppery color of this infusion and its pleasant jasmine fragrance. Usually I am not a fan of jasmine teas – they tend to come out tasting rather soapy. I think what makes this one different (and much better) is that it is not jasmine FLAVORED, but rather SCENTED with jasmine. The jasmine has a very noticeable presence, but does not overpower the tea like others I’ve tried. The taste is pleasantly floral, with a short-lived astringency that makes the tea ‘crisp.’ The aftertaste is a relaxed lingering jasmine.

Despite normally being the kind of tea drinker that loathes flavoring or anything like that, I really enjoyed this tea. I will almost certainly go through a bag of this during the fall.

This is a very interesting oolong! I agree with the description – it certainly has some lemon notes to it, and a short-lived astringency that is actually quite refreshing. This is a surprisingly sweet oolong. It has the depth and base taste of a good quality non-green oolong, but with that surprisingly lemony twist.

This is a good green tea for the price. At first it is somewhat savory, which fades after a couple seconds to an astringent note, that quickly subsides into a more unique flavor that is somewhat food-like; delicately sweet, it almost reminds me of gingerbread. This is a very subtle aftertaste though.

No notes yet.

This is a very interesting Chinese green tea! 90% of the taste of this tea is in the aftertaste – as the tea leaves your mouth, a tangy and somewhat astringent flavor arises from the sides and back of your mouth. There are some savory undertones, but they seem to quickly dissipate. In my experience, this has been much more flavorful than most Chinese green teas – just make sure you like tangy notes!

Has a nice, brisk sencha-like flavor with a very savory, somewhat creamy aftertaste. It really just tastes like a cross between a good quality sencha and a gyokuro. The pan-fired taste is fantastic.

This sencha is incredible for the price. Has the normal vegetal, savory notes of any good sencha, and little-to-no astringency if brewed properly. It has that delicious deep aftertaste you can only get with a great sencha. Overall, it leaves me feeling fantastic – a good theanine to caffeine ratio in this one for sure.

Brewed at 80C for 1:00. Used more tea than I normally would. The result is a light green/golden infusion. It has that familiar buttery smell of a good kukicha. The taste is a light buttery one with a savory base, surrounded by hints of vegetal notes and very mild astringency. In my very last sip I taste something almost floral about this kukicha – very unexpected but wonderful!

I recommend paying close attention to how you brew this tea – steeping too long, too hot, or with too much tea can result in an overly astringent brew (that’s just the nature of kukicha teas in general). But when done right, its a lovely light green tea.

First Infusion: This is a very different pu-erh than most I’ve sampled. It retains the earthiness of most pu-erhs, but it has a very slight sweetness to it that really rounds out the taste. Additionally, it smells more like a black tea than a pu-erh. But it’s really nice to find a pu-erh that doesn’t smell like fish :p

Second Infusion: This time I used a third less water in order to concentrate the flavor more. It definitely has more of the rose-tinted hue described on the company’s website. The flavor is even more complex than the first infusion. It kind of reminds me of a cross between a black tea and a white tea, if that makes any sense – you can easily identify a black tea taste to it, with some of the lingering lightness of a white tea.

Overall, this is a pleasant and very interesting pu-erh. Definitely worth the price of a sample on the company’s website.

This is a delicious Chinese green tea. Usually I’m more into Japanese greens, but this one might just change my mind. It has a soft (non-astringent) taste with note of butter…and maybe gingerbread? Like most Lung Ching teas, it is very subtle. But this one still packs enough flavor to satisfy. This is probably my favorite Chinese green tea I’ve had to date (today’s date being Aug 16, 2010).

A solid bottled tea. The lemongrass flavor is pleasant, but slightly overpowers any tea taste. Wonderful flavor for a cold unsweetened tea – one of my favorites as far as bottled teas go.

The infusion has that wonderful floral ti kuan yin smell. It’s very light in color. The taste follows this nicely – it’s a very clean floral oolong taste with a depth created by a slightly savory undercurrent. There is definitely nothing out of place here…no sharp notes, weird aftertastes, or astringency. It leaves a nice feeling in your mouth, too – though how it feels is hard to describe. I could definitely drink several cups of this in one sitting. It reminds me a lot of TeaG’s Sumatra Barisian Oolong.

Second infusion (also for 30 seconds @ 90 C). I used less water this time to try to attain a stronger brew. The taste is very similar, but this infusion definitely has a stronger savory base and aftertaste. It’s delicious.

The taste is delightfully complex. It seems like an entirely different tea in the back of your mouth – it has a strange mildly astringent, almost citrus-y taste in your throat, with a savory aftertaste. It has a very smooth textured body with a relaxed buttery taste. This tea is definitely worth the money – I’m very impressed. I’m excited to try CTG’s Ti Kuan Yin next.

Has a slightly fishy smell, but not as fishy as other pu-erhs I’ve tried. The smell is subtle, warm, somewhat savory. But not nearly as intimidating as the scent of most pu-erhs.

The taste is very smooth, as is expected of a good pu-erh. The first taste that I perceive is a lighter taste, semi-sweet. It reminds me of the bamboo pu-erh from Norbu teas. After this comes a gentle earthiness that adds depth to the tea’s initially light taste.

The aftertaste is very savory and deep; you notice it as immediately after swallowing towards the back of your mouth and throat. There might be an aftertaste of chrysanthemum – but I only have the vaguest idea of how a chrysanthemum would taste.

Overall it is very rounded and enjoyable. Nothing overwhelming or out of place here. Just a good pu-erh – the chrysanthemum doesn’t seem to strongly influence it.

First time brewing: Used about 4-5 grams. Very tasty, but sort of weak; I think I usually use more than 5 grams for my big cup (probably around 10 grams). Next time I’ll either double the tea or halve the water. Even with this weak brew, the buzz was quite potent. Might be order-worthy if brewed stronger. Might try less heat, more time, too.

Second time brewing: Only had about 5g left (at the very most), so I used about half the amount of water I normally would. It smells amazing (roasted rice smell) and has a beautiful green color. It tastes sort of like matcha mixed with genmaicha (obviously), but it’s very appetizing and gives a great tea buzz even with a small dose. The second infusion completely lacks the green color of the first – I guess all the matcha is gone.This second infusion has more of a genmaicha taste.

No notes yet.

Extremely fine, dark leaves on this one. Has a very nice, subtle vegetal taste. Definitely a good quality Sencha. Fairly complex as well. Has a strange, and oddly familiar aroma that reminds me of something unrelated to tea. Not an overload of sea-weed taste, has a deep sweetness to it that’s hard to describe.

Used more leaf, less water than I usually would. Has a taste largely unlike other green teas. It’s somewhat savory, but hard to describe. It tastes like a food I’ve had. And also a little like genmaicha. It almost has a note of caramel but without the sticky sweetness. Its a nice, almost woody version of that taste.