Tea-Guy

This tea brews a dark caramel liquor providing an aroma full of baked peaches and the hint of a spicy touch.

On the palate this tea morphs into something different. The profile is slightly astringent, drying the outer edges of the mouth. The peach flavor is more subtle at this point and the ginger tends to come through with just a tough more force. The flavor here is weaker than other peach/ginger blends I’ve had and I actually appreciate that.

I would recommend this blend to fans of peach flavored teas and lighter Indian and Ceylon black teas.

This spice based chai is a rather delicious one. Although it’s spice based, the flavor is surprisingly smooth on the palate.

The loose tea is very nice to look at. With its red peppercorns, broad leaves, red rooibos and other ingredients and’s a collection of visuals to keep your eyes budy. The aroma hints at cinnamon but has plenty of the cardamom and peppercorns to provide a feisty play in the nose.

The liquor brews up a beautiful orange gold and smooths the aroma providing a savory sweet collection of flavor suggestions including coconut, ginger and peppercorn.

I like this tea best with milk. I’ve always traditionally made chai with milk as that’s how I was taught by Indian friends of mine. This tea is ‘ok’ without milk. But it really comes alive with milk added.

I recommend this chai to fans of other chai blends, especially Pumpkin Spice chai blends. Fans of cinnamon teas will also find this a palate pleaser.

The dry loose leaves for this tea are wonderful to look at. Some leaves are forest green, others appear nearly white and there are some kind of seed looking things mixed in as well.

The dry aroma is grassy with notes of spinach and what I think are hints of squash. Once brewed the liquor becomes a very nice light yellow-gold. The aroma remains grassy, but sweetens a bit.

There’s some palate pleasing dryness to this tea, though the palate and tongue don’t dry out. A grassy and vegetal freshness come out in the flavor profile. This tea reminds me of a shade grown Fukamushi style sencha from Japan. It’s flavors of spinach and arugula lighten the grassy bitterness.

I would recommend this tea to fans of senchas and other Japanese green teas.

This blend of Adagio’s Puerh Dante with pumpkin shavings and rum spice turns out a pretty balanced tea.

The liquor brews to a dark golden brown and almost reminds me of blood pudding or a fresh beef based soup stock. The aroma is much sweeter, almost malty and reminds me of a fresh CTC style Assam with a lump or two of sugar added in.

When sipping, the brew I noticed an uncharacteristic astringency. After a few tries I think I’ve nailed this down to the rum spice. The effect strengthens as the tea cools, so be sure to drink it hot. The pumpkin seems to soften the strength of this teas’ finish and the pu’erh base is clearly notable throughout. Hints of stone fruits like apricot or peach were noted as well.

I would readily suggest this tea to fans of pumpkin spice teas, including chai, as well as fans of Assam teas, breakfast teas, milk to soften and fans of Lapsang Souchong.

The leaves for this tea are contrasting light and dark green braided leaves. The dry aroma has overtones from its wok firing and vegetal notes you can pick out.

This tea brews a vivid amber liquor and provides a steeped aroma reminiscent of grilled squash and charred leeks.

The flavors are less subtle. Strong astringency with fired notes similar to a camp firey Lapsang Souchong and notes of charred leeks match with nutty textures in the finish and a long tail.

I happen to enjoy these strong teas from time to time and am excited to find another Yunnan tea I can pick from.

I would recommend this tea for fans of Gunpowder green teas, Lapsang Souchong black teas and less malty Assam teas.

This tea is more astringent than I’d imagined, but that truly doesn’t detract from its appeal.

With chunks or raspberries and plenty of chocolate shavings mixed in this dark colored loose tea has plenty of aroma to share.

Once brewed, it’s amber-maple liquor gives off plenty of light chocolate notes and some raspberry sweetness. The flavor contains notes of a spiciness I didn’t catch in the aroma, wet or dry.

It’s worth noting that I tried this tea with milk at the suggestion of another consumer on the 52teas website and I enjoyed it even more this way!

I would recommend this tea to fans of fruit teas, keemun teas, rooibos and those who enjoy adding sweeteners and/or milk to their beverages.

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Bancha is used as a base for so many different teas. We see it in stuff Frank over at 52teas makes. We see it in most bagged green teas. We even see it in iced green teas and as a base for blended greens like Genmaicha. This Bancha from Harney & Sons is a nice quality brew.

The thick gritty looking green leaves put off a nice grassy smell. The flavor is a bit more astringent than I expected, but contains notes of collard greens, steamed brussels sprouts and a vegetal smoothness similar to artichoke.

I recommend this tea to fans of any Japanese green tea, be it Genmaicha, Hojicha or Spring Rose tea. Fans of the more shade grown teas from Japan such as Gyokuro or other Fukamushi style teas may find this tea hit or miss.

This mildly spicy, but smooth tasting brew sits easy on the palate and the aroma pleases the senses.

The leaves are clearly a mound of red rooibos. Large coconut chips, ginger bits, apple chunks, black peppercorns and almonds create a menagerie of fun colorful activity. The dry aroma carries the peppercorn, cinnamon and cardamom rather nicely.

Once brewed the liquor shows nice brilliant red and gives a sweeter aroma with notes of spiciness and hints at a milky texture. The flavor comes out slightly nutty with heavy notes of spiciness and a touch of coconut sweetness.

I would recommend this tea if you enjoy chai.

With a pretty mix of grassy looking Chinese sencha leaves and sizable apple chunks, the aroma from the dry assortment very clearly reminds me of the sour apple candy I loved so much as a child.

The liquor, a light yellow, provides somewhat lighter notes of that sour apple flavor, but contains a deal more vegetal tones. I noted roasted leaks and steamed bok choy.

I was a bit disappointed in the flavor. It’s not as strong on the apple as I’d hoped. That being said, its subtlety seems to soften the vegetal strength of the sencha to provide a nice balance for the palate.

I recommend this brew if you enjoy fruit teas, lighter Chinese greens (i.e. Lung Ching), Rooibos and Yerba Mate.

The blending of a standard Sencha with a collection of fresh Sakura cherry blossoms is something I found surprising the first time I saw it, but given the love of the Sakura blossoms and associated festivals in Japan, I shouldn’t have.

This delicately balanced tea is lightly astringent which I didn’t expect so much, but doesn’t detract from the taste much. The floral-but-still-cherry flavor is distinct and memorable.

This isn’t like a “sour cherry” tea you may get from somewhere else. This blend is light and flavorful, but not particularly aromatic. For an additional level of aroma I would either use maybe a 1/2 teaspoon of extra loose material or steep an extra 30 seconds.

This is a great blend for fans of Sencha teas looking for a bit of a changeup. I also think fans of Jasmine green teas will really enjoy this tea.

I’m used to mint teas being very minty and fresh on the palate. While this tea may refresh the palate a bit, it’s flavor was far too subdued for my tastes.

The inclusion of stevia leaves takes the bite out of the mint I think, which disappointed me.

Overall I try not to drink too many bagged teas. The quality and flavor just doesn’t live up to what I am used to. If Zhena’s offered a loose variant of this I’d be willing to give it another go.

As it is, this tea was just ‘ok.’

This roasty-toasty oolong reminds me a great deal of Hojicha. With hints of floral notes such as lilac in the aroma and flavors reminiscent of roasted leeks or bok choy in the brewed broth I’d say this tea is worth the $25.99 for 4oz.

The tightly rolled balls have some stems in, with leaves approaching an interested redish or purplish hue depending upon the light.

I would easily rate this an everyday tea if it weren’t for the price.

Fans of Hojicha will find this very enjoyable and a nice break from their usual palate pleaser.

This oolong is reminiscent of both Taiwanese oolongs and Himalayan Tips teas. It’s light, aromatic and pleasant like a Himalayan tea, but smooth with lightly changing flavors over multiple steepings.

I noted apricot and stone fruit flavors and aromas and notes of woody or fired flavors and aromas as well.

The dried leaves are pleasant to smell and remind me of Himalayan Tips while their tightly curled (but not balled) leaves are white, brown and black.

I really enjoyed this tea and would recommend it to everyone.

This vanilla bean chai is pretty tasty. I didn’t add any sugar or milk as is traditionally done and still enjoyed the brew.

Large vanilla bean pieces and ginger root chunks combine with clearly visible cinnamon shavings to creating a uniquely strong but comforting brew.

This tea does significantly dry your palate, so keep that in mind, but I honestly didn’t mind that much.

As it happens, floral teas have been growing on me. Of particular interest has been the Jasmine family of teas.

This Jasmine from Andrews & Dunham has turned out to be one of the best Jasmine green teas I have had. It’s flavorful, fragrant and good for four to five steeps until almost all the flavor has been tapped.

The dry leaves are very aromatic with Jasmine petals mixed in and long thin leaves roughly 3/4 to 1in long and twisted, like twine.

If you like floral teas, Jasmine teas or teas which can be brewed many times, this infusion is for you!

This puckery black tea seems to have a lot of bit to it. Astringent and assertive, it certainly grows on you as you continue to sip.

While the peach aroma certainly comes out with the dry leaf aroma, it’s less notable once brewed. There I catch light hints of peach, but mostly I seem to get the Ginger.

In the dark, almost coffee-ish liquor I taste the peach at first, but it quickly dissipates and is taken over by the ginger and the strong astringency this tea has.

Try this one iced and/or with a couple lumps of sugar to soften it up. You won’t regret it.

This vegetal and grassy (almost brothy) brew has deep green leaves and bright green-yellow liquor.

The aroma is pleasant, lightly sweet and grassy with hints of avacado smoothness and just a touch of artichoke.

If you like Japanese green teas, you’ll LOVE this brew!

This wonderful brew has large fig chunks blended with red rooibos and plenty of cinnamon.

I’m not typically a fan of cinnamon, but I’d say it matched perfectly with the fig and the natural sweetness of the rooibos to produce a wonderfully light taste.

Figs are a tremendously undervalued fruit here in the ‘states,’ but I’ve always enjoyed them.

This brew comes across light and refreshing while needing nothing added. The cinnamon provides the lightest spice to the sweet rooibos and savory-sweet fig.

I think everyone should try this one!

The aroma is extremely complex. While descriptions give it lilac I certainly note it’s gardenia counterpart. There’s a buttery sweetness to the aroma here as well as a hint of stewed chard.

The flavor is creamy, coating the tongue and mouth. A slight astringent bite when you breathe in is left to tease the senses. This tea certainly knows how to play!

While not very bold, this tea’s subtle pleasures and unique aromas and textures provide for a very interesting brew. I’d recommend this tea for Oolong fans of all kinds, enthusiasts of darker green teas such as Gyokuro or lighter ones such as Pi Lo Chun should find this an equally pleasing brew.

The dry leaves provide an aroma of freshly dried leaves in Autumn, wheat toast and hints at hay. Once brewed the aroma sweetens and a more chocolatey vibrant scent seems to emerge. This tea brews a vibrant caramel liquor.

Jackee Muntz seems to bite a little. There’s certainly an astringent kick in this tea’s taste. A bit of toasted bread with fired notes and a panopoly of lesser notes including a honeyed edge in the finish which is very nice.

Visually this tea is made up of heavily broken black tea leaves. Not quite tea-bag size, but a bit larger. Large chunks of bananas, strawberries, vanilla beans, cherries and cacao nibs are mixed in for a decent visual. Togetehr these brew a dark caramel liquor.

The aroma here is more chocolate and banana than anything else. It actually reminds me of a Nutella banana panini I had at a local coffee shop once (shhh, don’t tell the tea!). I can catch just the faintest hint of either the strawberry or the cherry but I’m not really sure which.

WOW! The astringency here is very high. Not so much a pucker as much as a sting. That’s not always bad though. It depends on how you like your tea. This does bring the flavor down a couple notches for me though as it makes it more difficult for me to discern the more nuanced flavors. I do catch the chocolate through the finish which dries the tongue, and the banana.

The aroma of the dry and the spent leaves is very fruity. I get guava and mango with a hint of passionfruit and marigold in there as well. The tea liquor however smells more vegetal, almost like steamed leeks. My guess is that comes from the Sencha base.

This tea seriously dries the palate. The finish twinges of guava. However, rolling the liquor in the mouth provides a more apricot taste. You can tell this is a Sencha even through all the flavors. There’s the vegetal tones inherent in the green tea, a nuttier lightly roasted sense I get which would be a more southern grown plant. The gritty bitterness from a Sencha is clearly present.

This tea would be maybe a 75 or 80 if it didn’t seriously remind me of having cotton balls in my mouth. That kind of irks me if you know what I mean.