Tea-Guy

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Smooth wish some vegetal pucker in the finish.

This Ali San reminds me of roasted leeks, spinach and fresh greens. There’s a hint at light fruity sweetness in the body as well.

Kanyabashi’s sencha is a wonderful green brew with a light liquor and deep green leaves.

The loose aroma is grassy with just a touch of vegetal sweetness bordering on spinach.

Once brewed the aroma turns heavy of roasted leeks and this is refracted throughout the flavor. There’s a medium length tail of vegetal power, but nothing off-putting.

A very comforting brew.

Smooth and less astringent than most Earl Grey teas I’ve had. I think this brew would be enjoyed by any Earl Grey fan.

The leaves look rather pretty with the blue wisps strewn throughout making for an interesting visual. These leaves brew a nice copper liquor.

The aroma is lighter than I expected both dry and brewed. Hints of cream, vanilla and citrus spice are the highlights here.

The cream and bergamot come together for a palate pleasing brew.

This wonderful teas’ leaves don’t look anything like any oolong I’ve ever had. They’re not balled. Instead they’re twisted. They’re not uniformly colored or monochrome either. Instead, they’re a mixture of brown, gold, green and white leaves. The aroma is more hay and straw than anything else.

Once brewed, the leaves produce a wonderful orange liquor that, while clear, reminds me of sherbet. The brewed aroma smells more of a light Chinese green. Not so much grassy as artichoke-like but not heavily so.

The flavor is light, easy on the palate and smooth. While there is some astringency and a light drying of the palate it’s subtle. Flavors of straw and hay combine with notes of a floral undertone which seems to add some sweetness to the brew.

I enjoyed this tea. Best with honey or milk.

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The loose leaves for this tea look delicious! Bright green and unmistakably long (about 3/4 inch to an inch). The leaves actually remind me of a Japanese bancha in look, but roughly double the length. There are some stems in this tea which produces a dry aroma I find reminiscent of light garlic and butter.

Once brewed the leaves produce a wonderfully light, bright and clear yellow liquor. The brewed aroma is light and smooth with faint vegetal hints.

On the palate the brew is equally smooth and soft. Not as meaty as an oolong, but not thin like a rooibos either. The flavors play lightly on the tongue with almost no astingency. There’s some dryness in the top of the throat and hints of vegetables sauteed in butter.

The dry leaves of this tea are very dark curled balls. Their dark green hue matches well with the heavy but smooth aroma. My imagination runs wild at the thought of this tea being cultivated so high up, and near a protected wilderness area. It seems like a truly exciting place!

When brewed the leaves produce a bright yellow liquor that’s completely transparent. The steeped aroma is smooth and easy with overtones of grilled leeks and hints of other vegetal flavors.

On the palate the brew remains smooth. A buttery texture emerges as it coats the entirety of the mouth. There’s no astringency here at all. The liquor is very heavy in the mouth, a byproduct of its creaminess. The flavors remain vegetal, but are seriously subdued. Roasted leeks remain on my mind the most.

The leaves are a mixture of green, brown and white leaves with some stems in. The aroma is lighter and sweeter than most earl grey teas and reminds me of vanilla with some light floral tones.

When brewed the leaves produce an orange-red liquor which effuses an aroma primarily of bergamot. There’s a hint of a light spiciness as well.

On the palate I note smooth vanilla notes, though I don’t think there’s any actually in the tea. I alsorecapture the floral notes from the dry aroma. Of course, the bergamot is present throughout but not at all overbearing.

There’s only a slight astringency to this brew. Less than most any earl grey I’ve ever had. It’s quite refreshing and relaxing.

The leaves of this tea are broken grade and very dark. I don’t visually note the presence of actual cranberry pieces but they’re there, along with orange peel which I can pick out scattered throughout. The aroma is pungent and wonderful, eluding to a deeper level of subtlety not seen.

Once brewed the leaves produce a deep, dark colored brew Harney & Sons notes as mahogany. The aroma is lighter once brewed with notes of citrus tart and a light sweetness you feel begging you to consume it.

When drinking I noted this brew’s relatively smooth liquor where I’d anticipated something a bit brisker. A pleasant surprise. The sweet and tart flavors seem to swap places in the mouth as they battle for prominence. It’s at once energizing and calming.

The leaves for this fine tea look like Darjeeling teas. Loose and colorful, they’re choppy looking large leaf particles. The aroma from these dry leaves is light and airy. It reminds me of jumping in piles of raked leaves in Autumn as a kid.

When brewed the leaves produce a light orange liquor with a lightly honeyes aroma sweeter than that of the dry leaves.

The brew tastes just as the tea smells. Like leaves in Autumn. The texture is easy but with some astringent bite and a long drying tail.

This tea’s leaves are perhaps 1/2 inch long at most. The dark forest-green leaves have some lighter tinting in spots that make them very nice to look at. The loose leaf aroma is smooth and deeply vegetal with only slight hints at the bergamot fruit’s citrus.

Once brewed the leaves produce a smooth, even keeled brothy aroma and a clear yellow liquor. With scents of spinach and avacado this lightly vegetal tea smells very promising.

Drinking this brew is a pleasure. The smooth vegetal notes flow over the tongue lightly. It almost reminds me of a light oolong. You catch the oil of bergamot in the finish more than the initial sip. This is a well balanced tea.

This tea produces a beautiful bright gold liquor. The steeped aroma isn’t powerful but it is heavy and reminds me of boiled cabbage or brussels sprouts, but without the sweetness.

This tea is extremely astringent for a white tea. The ‘singe’ from the brew lasts a very long time as well. This overbearing astringency makes it difficult to capture a flavor profile.

I didn’t particularly enjoy this tea. Without a flavor profile to keep my palate entertained all that was there was the sting from the astringency so potent in this tea. While the brewed aroma was pleasant, the palate profile was not.

I cannot recommend this tea to anyone at this time. Perhaps I received a low quality batch. When I travel to China I will seek out this brand to give it one more shot.

Not quite what the name implies, these leaves aren’t actually pearls at all. They’re light whispy dark green leaves with plenty of visual character. The aroma is light and vegetal, smooth and savory. Hints of fresh spinach with the sweetness of steamed bok choy.

When you brew this tea, you get a clear yellow liquor with an aroma that’s pleasant but lacking in additional subtleties compared to its dry counterpart. This isn’t necessarily bad though. Predictability and consistency are the stalwarts of perfection.

The flavor is light and thin at first, but seems to gain weight through the sip. There’s no astringency here. Instead, you’re presented with a very smooth brew. Overtones of steamed bok choy take the forefront while hints of a buttery sweetness seem to pop in and out.

This tea literally looks like grass. The mixture of deep and bright greens is a stunning visual. This is especially captivating when paired with the sweet grassy aroma which contains notes of baby spinach and artichoke.

This tea seems to be shade grown and the loose material does have lots of smaller leaf particles amongst the larger leaves. When brewed the tea produces a lightly cloudy bright green liquor.

The steeped aroma equally light and fresh, containing less astringency than when dry and this seems to allow the sweeter notes to emerge in greater force.

When drinking this Kagoshima Sencha it’s important to note the swirl of sweet and bitter on the tongue. This convalescence makes for a wonderful palate pleasing brew.

The loose leaves are very small leaf particles. Different shapes, and different sizes but all the same dark color with occasion bright stem pieces visible throughout. The dry aroma is light but fresh with hint of a honeyed edge amidst its Autumnal overtones.

Once brewed this tea creates a very dark russet liquor. It’s almost so dark it would be opaque, but you can just barely see through it. This tea creates a light, malty aroma with hints of chocolate and honey.

Once on the tongue the tea attacks out of nowhere. The dry and wet aroma are both light and don’t provide much hint of the aciditiy, astringency and pucker this brew actually has. This is almost worth of a breakfast tea blend the British would enjoy.

With an easygoing black tea and lots of very large coconut shavings you know what you’re getting when you steep this tea. The dry aroma is almost completely of bergamot with faint hints of coconut sweetness.

Once brewed this tea produces a deep auburn liquor. The aroma is more subdued which helps the coconut come through a but more. Light hints of caramel pop out as well. This tea has a bit of pucker but relativeley low astringency considering. But the flavor profile holds no surprises. This is a bright coconut Earl Grey through and through.

One brewed the leaves produce a light amber-caramel liquor. The steeped aroma more savory than the dry aroma if that can be believed. The roasty nuttiness of this brew has some weight to it, almost meaty.

With a smooth feel and overtones of roasted vegetables and a honeyed edge you’re drawn to savor this tea’s product. Once past the initial palate sensation I noted more vegetal nuance with each sip.

While not astringent or puckery this tea has a long vegetal tails which grows lighter with each steeping. You can expect a good three or four steeps from this tea before any notable flavor degradation kicks in. I used a good seven or eight steeps before I was essentially drinking water.

A jagged bancha blended with sesame seeds provides a visual more natural than I thought at first. The aroma is roasty and sweet with hints of a more savory flavor profile.

When brewed the leaves produce light yellow liquor partially clouded by some dusting from the loose blend. The steeped aroma is lighter, slightly sweeter with more prominent nutty tones and a more subdued roasted profile.

On the palate everything comes alive. Clear spinach and artichoke flavors pair with the roastiness of the sesame and the nutty flavors to create a well balanced and nuanced flavor profile.

While there is a slight bit of vegetal astringency it’s only on the initial part of the sip and is quickly balanced by the other pieces of this teas’ profile.

Long thing lightly twisted green leaves roughly an inch and a quarter long are what make up this tea. The dry aroma is light and sweet. The lightly floral scents remind me of a hillside covered with flowers.

Once brewed the leaves produce a light yellow liquor. The color makes me think of honeycomb for some reason. The brewed aroma is smooth and sweet. Hints of butter and honey are present with the floral overtones.

The flavor is also smooth. The liquor literally coats the mouth. While there is some drying at the tip of the tongue, there’s no astringency to speak of. Butter and honey come through nicely in the texture and flavor profiles. The flavor is less floral than the aroma.

The 3:15 PM brand teas are bagged, not loose. But the bags are much larger than usual in order to accomodate both tea leaves and the milk powder that’s included. The dry aroma is slightly sweet, but toasty. I wouldn’t smell too hard though, as you’re likely to end up with milk powder in your nose.

When brewing I like to leave the bag in an infuser. It helps to keep clean up simpler. The bagged material produces a Khaki colored liquor which is completely opaque. The resulting aroma is fairly identical to that from the unused bag: slightly sweet and toasty.

The flavor is one which I think would appeal to coffee drinkers everywhere. It’s roasty and creamy with hints of sweetener (because it contains refined sugar). While there’s a notable drying of the palate, the roasty taste sticks around through a very long tail and leaves you yearning for more.

The smell of the dry cake reminds me of a forest floor in Autumn, with the leave’s fallen but not yet dry. There’s a bit of a mustiness to it which I find enticing.

When the tea brews the cake comes apart in the infuser. It’s at this point you can discern the look of the ‘loose’ leaves from this tea. They’re dark and appear a bit decayed. The aroma from the spent cake is similar, but amazingly lighter than that of the dry cake.

Brewed, the tea produces an extremely dark liquor. Somewhat cloudy and gritty you can’t see through the brew at all. The aroma from the liquor shifts a little with each infusion but maintains the same general profile of mossy/fungal scents.

The flavor is well rounded, composed of earthen flavors such as wood, drt and moss while holding a hint of honey in the initial touch on the tongue. While the tail is light and lasts a while, there’s only a little astringency and not much bite. Overall this is a very smooth Pu’erh.

The loose material which makes up this tea is primarily of green rooibos. When you peek closer though you’ll note lots of thin red slivers of strawberry. Very tins, but abundant. The aroma is quite heavily of strawberry.

The concoction brews a nice amber liquor with a strong but sweet strawberry aroma. The aroma is actually more pungent once brewed than prior to it.

The flavor is predominently strawberry, but not as sweet as the brewed aroma hints at. Adding some honey or sweetener is a good option to look to if you desire a sweeter brew.

There’s not much tail or finish on this tea. There’s virtually no astringency and there’s no drying of the mouth. So while the aroma is as apetizing as can be, the flavor and texture seem to be lacking a bit.

I recommend this tea for fans of strawberry flavored stuff as well as those who enjoy fruit teas and tasty caffeine free treats. You might want to add some sweetener of some kind, be it honey, agave nectar or sugar/substitute.

The jagged dark green leaves remind me of a Japanese Bancha or maybe even a Sencha. The aroma is predominently pineapple, though I detect either guava or passion fruit in the mix as well.

When brewed the liquor produced is a wonderful yellow hue. The aroma is more subdued than from it’s dry leaf counterpart, but still plenty aromatic with the scents literally discernable from another room.

The flavors are a veritable street fight between the vegetal green tea and the pineapple. It’s difficult to say which is most dominent here. The finish and tail are primarily of the vegetal style though.