yunjii

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3 finals down, one more to go! To fuel my brain, I decided to steep the sample of this tea I got from my last order.
I added a bit of sugar and half and half to the brew and I don’t know… the flavors in this tea don’t really impress me at all. The banana and chocolate flavors are underwhelming, and honestly the idea of “drinking” banana kind of puts me off. I steeped this tea for awhile and still am getting a pretty watered down flavor. And while taking a sip of the tea, I notice an oily feeling on my lips. Sure enough, there’s a layer of it floating on top of my steeped tea. No coconut listed in the ingredients though, so I’m not even sure why there would be an oiliness to begin with.
Anyway, the idea was good but execution is not so much. In fact I may just throw the rest of the brewed tea out and pick a different flavor.

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Take #2 on this Coffee Pu’erh sample I got in my Sweet Indulgences sampling kit.
First time I tried it, I tasted it plain and hated it. Much too bitter and not a pleasant taste to me. This time, I added a bit of half and half and about a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to my cup and added the steeped tea.. it’s pretty yummy! The half and half definitely lessens the bite that I hated previously and now is more of an enjoyable latte flavor. I can taste the hints of the caramel now and it’s great.

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Wow, I haven’t had time to brew a cup of tea in ages! But I have a steaming mug now and it feels so right. The post-doc I work with even painted me a new mug so I finally have a chance to christen it with this vanilla orchid sample I got.
Very subtle vanilla taste, but a whole lot of creaminess. Tastes very earthy but clean and light.
Bottom line: would probably try again and would consider buying a 50g bag if not for my fickle curiosity in trying a whole lot of different DT flavors.

Edit: With each gulp I’m realizing how good this stuff really is. I might have to add this to my shopping list after all!

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Tea number 3 from my latest DT shipment..
I think this one will take me a few different tastes to determine whether or not I like it. The thing that bothers me most is the fact that the dry leaves smell very medicinal. The aroma of the brew smells similar, just slightly less potent.
Overall, I do get the flavors of the apple, pistachio, and rose, but somehow I’m also getting a taste of cherry too. I might have to try this one cold to see if that makes any improvement.

This… this is the essence of fall in a tall travel mug on the chilly walk to class.
At first I thought it was a little weak on the pumpkin and chai flavors but it gets better with every sip!

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Just spent the weekend at a retreat with my co-ed fraternity.. and came back to a big beautiful white box from DT!
This is the very first of the flavors I decided to try out, and I’m liking it. It’s got a natural sweetness to it that I’m fond of and it still has a very clean, juicy, fresh taste. I’m normally not a big fan of mate teas, but this one is good. However, I do think the mate is the only thing I’m on the fence about, since I can taste a grassiness that is slightly weird to me. I can work with it though, because the rest of the tea is delicious!

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My relationship with school is still on the rocks with back to back exams.. but tea is becoming a best friend at least!
With this second try, I’m finishing off the last of the sampler I got of this flavor. It’s decent, but really doesn’t have much flavorful impact and has a more subdued, subtle mango taste. I don’t have much experience with white teas but I would have expected more “madness” with the mangoes… it has more of a floral note to me than anything.

While this tea is definitely drinkable, I don’t think it has enough of a wow factor to make me want to buy it. Glad I got to sample it though, it is nice but just not my thing. It might taste good iced however, so there might be a redeeming quality there. But since I am lazy and in study mode, I might just forgo that opportunity to do a second hot infusion.

I like cranberries. Pears are fine too. But somehow this tea just doesn’t do anything for me and I’m left a little disappointed, especially when those two flavors have a ton of potential to be amazing.
I guess I was expecting more of a tartness to it, rather than the odd cooked fruit taste I got from it… ended up just drinking it to wash down my yummy chocolate chip muffins this morning.
Starting to clear out the rest of my DT samples from the “Sweet Indulgence” sample collection to make room for the order coming in sometime this week or next (eeeee!). This tea was alright, but definitely not one of the favorites from that box.

I don’t have too much experience with oolongs, but this tea is pretty palatable!
The dry leaves smell absolutely delicious and was enough to elicit an outloud “OOOOHHH!” from me.
Although it was a nicely blended tea, I really wish more of the peach flavor would come through. I liked it, but I don’t think I liked it nearly enough to make it to my shopping list. Now that I think about it though, good peach flavored teas have been rather hard to come by.

Initially I had rated this tea quite low for the first tasting, but I think I’ve changed my mind..
I didn’t like it at all the first time around because the flavor just didn’t do anything for me. It wasn’t the “nutty” flavor that I was expecting based on the description.
I added a bit more tea to the same amount of water I originally used for the second time… much improvement. And the second infusion of the used tea (with slightly cooler water temp).. actually even better. More cinnamon-y, nutty taste than before and more of what I was expecting this tea to be.
Still not a ton impressed, but a lot more so than I had initially thought.
The pink color from the beetroot is also fabulous and makes me happy.

*edit: the more it cools (for the second infusion), the more and more cinnamon I get. It’s like drinking a cinnamon sugar donut.

Studying is not all that bad because it gives me an excuse to brew as many cups of tea as I like. The number is unashamedly high.
I’ve had this blend a number of times and I love it! I’m a sucker for herbal teas and particularly ones that are fruity. I loved it so much that I’m down to the very last scoops of my 50g bag already.
That being said, if you plan on buying this tea, be sure to mix up the dry leaves and berries up before scooping it to brew. I guess the tiny black currants settled down to the bottom of the bag and the bigger pieces tend to stay on the very top. This last batch I made is considerably more sour and not as tasty as when more of the sweeter fruit pieces and strawberry leaves were in the mix. It won’t deter me from buying more though, I will have this knowledge for the next time!

I’ve had this a number of times and I keep going back and forth about it.
On the one hand, it smells fantastic and deliciously chocolatey and is pretty good at waking me up. Fellow college-students-with-2-exams-this-week would know this is a super important factor sometimes when picking out teas…
On the other hand.. the flavor just doesn’t wow me. It’s good, just not amazing and not nearly as good as it smells. I drink most of my teas plain, although I’ve tried agave nectar in this blend and it did virtually nothing to change the taste. And from what I’ve read about mate teas.. I feel a little tepid towards drinking it.
I’m not a huge fan of chocolate teas though, so that could be it. In any case, I have about half a 50g bag left if anyone would be interested in a trade. I’m also new to steepster so I’d love to trade teas in general too :)

So I’m in the kitchen baking muffins, and I decide now would be a great time to brew this sample from my last David’s Tea order. Warm kitchen, warm tea.. my apartment is so cozy!
I steeped this a little longer than 7 or 8 minutes but the flavors are still wonderful and not at all bitter. I took a few first unsure sips and I suppose it was too hot at that point because it didn’t taste like much. But cooled down just a tad… it’s fantastic!
This tea has a really nice key limey goodness and the perfect amount of tangy flavor. Not too sweet or sour.
It’s too bad I only have a sample on hand because I would love some more! I put the rest of the leaves in some water in the fridge and plan on drinking it tomorrow cold. I have high hopes for it though, because it’s absolutely delicious hot.

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