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This is a very chocolaty rooibos. I chose this onew tonight because I am avoiding caffeine. I really wanted to brew up some shou in my new teapot but that will have to wait. I’m letting it soak in the tea water overnight to finish seasoning anyway.

This tea falls short of what a really great rooibos should taste like. So far I am only 50/50 with my teas bought from The Pleasures of Tea. They did sell me an incredible gaiwan though. I can’t describe what it is I don’t like about this tea, I just don’t think that much of it. Its not bad enough to throw out, I just would not buy it again. There is somoething slightly off putting about the taste, don’t know what.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with boiling water and 3 tsp leaf for 5 min.

The first steeping of this was a little confused, I couldn’t figure out just what I was tasting. I tasted the vanilla and probably the saffron, both strong, both powerful, competing. As I continued to steep this the vanilla got slowly stronger. By the fifth steeping the vanilla was dominate. The other flavors moved to the back burner. This was a really good tea. I would probably rate this tea lower if I had only steeped it once. This is definitely a tea for multiple steepings.

I steeped this five times in a 8oz YIxing teapot. I used 2 tsp leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, 4 min, and 5 min. It was delightful by the fifth steeping. I will have to consider buying some of this.

Thank you Sarsonator for this tea. This tea is absolutely amazing. It is some of the highest quality oolong I have ever drank. The vanilla creates a buttery sweetness that is absolutely incredible. This tea was delicious from the first steep. It was not bitter in the sense of many oolongs although there was a tinge of bitterness. This quickly faded by the third steep. Amazingly, as each steep passed the vanilla seemed to get stronger in flavor. I am on the eighth steep now and the vanilla flavor is amazing. I thought I might describe this as almost as good as the Tung Ting Oolong from Tea Trekker before I had drank this. Having drank this I would describe the Tung TIng Oolong by Tea Trekker as almost as good as this. This is the best Oolong I have ever drank. While I would not use the word " tea drunk" this tea has had an incredible relaxing effect on me, is that what is meant by Qi? I don’t know for sure but I am sure glad that Whispering Pines will soon have this back in stock, because I have to buy some. Even though I put this through eight steepings, the leaves are not totally played out. I shall save it for tomorrow and resteep it at least two more times.

I steeped this 8 times in an 180ml teapot with 190 degree water and 5.5g leaf. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, and 2 min. Tomorrow I shall begin with a five minute stetep and see how many more steepings I can get out of the leaves.

I brewed this in the morning before work in a big 64oz iced tea pot and put it in a thermos for work. This is an excellent tea. It is mildly sweet from the orange peel, but not too sweet. There is a little bit of bitterness but not much. It is purely on the back burner, the orange flavor dominates.

I brewed this once in a 64oz iced tea pot with 8 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min. I proceeded to drink it all day and shared it with some of my co workers.

This tea is an excellent Green Tea. The person who originally entered it classed it as white tea by mistake because the green tea that is the primary ingredient is called White Monkey Tea. Strange name for a green tea. It is excellent. My stock of it has begun to lose its flavor but is still good. It is sweet, but not too sweet. There is a slight aftertaste that I would describe as neither sweet nor bitter nor sour but perhaps savory. I don’t know how else to describe it. In short if you like flavored green tea this one is good and worth buying.

I brewed this once, western style, in an 18oz teapot with 175 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min. Good stuff from an excellent tea seller who sells very reasonably priced teas. There teas may not be quite as good as Whispering Pines by reputation, but they are excellent and much cheaper.

This tea was phenomenally good. It came as close to a 100% as any raw puerh I have ever drank. From the first steep it was smooth and a little sweet (not meaning sugar sweet) tasting. There was none of that bitterness often associated with sheng puerh, It only got better with each steeping. There were a lot of complex notes to this tea but I failed to pin them down exactly because I was concentrating on a game of Runequest at the time. They were sweet notes but I don’t know just how to describe them. There was just a hint of bitterness in the second steeping. By the third steeping this bitterness was nearly gone. By the fourth steeping the bitterness was a faint memory. By the sixth steeping this tea was just smooth, no other word is necesary.

I steeped this six times over a period of hours. The tea had more steepings to it but I have to get up tomorrow and I was steeping 6 oz each steeping. I steeped it in a 200ml Yixing teapot with 200 degree water and one puerh ball, about 7g of leaf. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min. This is right up there with the 2014 Wild MOnk from Mandala in taste and quality.

This is an excellent blend from Clipper Ship Tea Company. It a fruity melange of raspberry, strawberry, cranberry, pomegranate, papaya, and rose hips not to mention black and green tea. The flavors are not too powerful which is good and they mix well. No one flavor dominates the mix.

I brewed thi once in an 18oz teapot with boiling water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min. If I had remembered there was green tea in the mix I would have lowered the water temperature. It came out good and not bitter anyway.

This tea is absolutely incredible. I had drank it before and liked it western style. I needed to gonfu this to get the full effect. This tea had strong notes of honey and fruit notes as well, perhaps apricots etc. This tea was naturally sweet. This was amongst the very best tea I have ever had. At one point I added fresh raspberries to it, but it was so good without them I stopped adding them, wanting to get the full flavor of the tea. I normally only rate ripe puerh to be this good.

I steeped this five times. I wanted to steep it some more, but I need to sleep tonight. I steeped it in a 150ml gaiwan with 190 degree water and 6g leaf. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. The spent leaves had an honey like aroma to them, not the usual vegetal aroma you often get from oolong. This was as good as any tea I ever drank.

In fact, this is the last tea that Cha He will ever hold. I managed to break it tonight. It was as if the Cha He had tasted perfection and couldn’t bear to have another tea so gave its life. Does anyone know a US seller for tea presentation vessels, or Cha He.

I bought this tea because it smells incredible. That aroma does not translate into taste however. The tea liquid brewed cloudy for a start. The chocolate flavor is there, but it seems as if it is stale or something. I don’t recommend this tea. It is not bad enough for me to throw out but I’m glad I only bought 2 ounces.

I brewed this in an 18oz teapot with 185 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

This tea was pretty good. It still had a fair amount of fermentation flavor left but was tasty. This was purchased at the Pleasures of Tea in West Sayville, NY. She didn’t know anything about the cake but I was able to get a translation of the cake online and found out a name and tea factory. Kristine knew only the year and that it was shou.

There was a mild note of plums or dates in this cake but little in the way of chocolate notes. It was naturally fairly sweet (not meaning sugar sweet) and I suspect the fermentation of the cake was not heavy. It tasted like a lightly fermented shou cake but I cannot be sure. I am pretty sure she has more of these for sale but she does not list them on her website, you would have to call or visit.

I brewed this six times in a 170ml yixing teapot. I used boiling water and 6.4g leaf. I brewed it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 25 sec. I was strong throughout the first five steepings and only a little weaker by the sixth. I didn’t increase the time per steeping because it didn’t need it. The first steeping was light and the second and third strong. It mellowed out a little by the fourth steeping and was delicious by the sixth steeping. If I didn’t need to get up in the morning I would have steeped it four more times. I would say I could have gotten at least 12 steepings out of this tea.