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First off, the temperature is not precise, which I know it needs to be for such gentle tea. Hopefully the experience wasn’t compromised.

The leaves are very pretty; they look just like the photo: delicate green needles coated in silver down. The wet leaves are a bit greener, and give off a faint bouquet of roasted nuts and peas. The liquor is pale yellow.

The tea itself is surprisingly sweet. It is very subtle. The first waves are blank, and the flavor doesn’t kick in until the middle tones. From there it very smoothly picks up into a barely vegetal taste, somewhat reminiscent of peas, which is rounded out with a sweet finish and aftertaste like I just finished a bowl of especial sweet peas. I like it a lot, and I am looking forward to comparing it with other silver needles.

To put it simply: I hated this tea. One of the few cups I didn’t finish. I think I toasted it at 190, and need to give it another go. I will, and will report back, but in the meantime, YUCK!

As always with the delicate greens I try at work, this may be a touch too hot, but hey, what can you do? It still came out tasty, so I think it is OK.

The dry leaves smell deeply vegetal, like fresh cut grass. I want to eat them straight! There are a few stems. Wet, they unfold flat and loose some of that grass smell, instead sending out subtle edamame or asparagus scents. The liquor is a light yellow-green, leaning towards golden-yellow, and the cup send out just the barest hint of the asparagus scent.

The taste is strong considering the subtlety of the aromas. The thick, grassy flavors kick in early, giving way in the mid-tones to a more vegetal flavor. I can’t pinpoint what exactly, but suffice to say it is undoubtedly green. No bitterness, no acidity, but neither is it sweet. The aftertaste is somewhat edamame-ish, and very rich. It is a satisfying, savory treat. I would recommend this tea for all ranges of tea lovers, but especially those new to green tea.

I think I brewed it a bit long. I wasn’t paying attention. Also, the only water I can get is a bit hot. Still, I think it came out OK.

The dry leaves smell great. Very perfumy, very floral and fruity. Quite a few stems. The wet leaves open up nicely and spell much more vegetal and deep than the dry. The liquor is light and yellow-ish green-ish, with just a hint of brown. Fairly transparent.

The front end of the taste is fairly standard-the green tea base seems to be good, though not spectacular. The mid-ranges give way surprisingly cherry tones, and the aftertaste is strongly floral and fruity, again with the ghost of cherries on my pallet long after I finish sipping.

I have been looking forward to trying a Sakura Green for a while, and this delivers, though perhaps not with as much of a bang as I had hoped. It does leave me with that happy tea feeling afterwards. It’s a solid tea, maybe a little better than an “everyday” tea, if you like floral, fruity cups.

I’d say this is a good tea for people with a mid-range of experience. I’ll definitely brew the rest of what I have (about 50g), but I probably won’t buy it in the future.

Wow. This is a wonderful tea. I brewed it much cooler and I put in 3 teaspoons for two cups (leaning towards gong fu style). The dry leaves are only brown and have little smell. The wet leaves are brown and green, with some nice dark greens in the middle, and smell strongly of peaches.

Round one is light and airy, and very, very fruity. I taste peaches in that little cup.

Round two has a darker liquor, despite a shorter brew time (30 sec). Still peachy, though slightly less so, with that slight sesame taste I associate with oolongs. It’s all about the aftertaste.

Round three was a bit less exciting, but still great. Also 30 sec. Little peach, but a nice, complete oolong. It tasted of roasted sesame.

First off, I would have gone lower if I’d had better control of the water temperature. That said, I think it is still ok.

The dry leaves spell overwhelmingly of jasmine. It’s a bit heady. The pearls are small, and they are pale green and light yellow. They unfurl into an interesting bouquet of perfumy, almost bubblegummy jasmine mixed with a dark, vegetal aroma. The liquor is a transparent, light yellow-green.

As with most of the Chinese teas I’ve tried, this one starts off light and watery. This middle notes quickly transition into pure, liquid jasmine, with the jasmine aftertaste kicking in before I’ve swallowed. It finishes with a slightly vegetal taste, and the aftertaste is all jasmine. I almost want to call it a bubblegum experience, as with the initial spell. This tea is lovely, though not as complicated as I had hoped. I have yet to find a jasmine pearl in which the tea has more of a presence.

Overall, this is a lovely tea. I’d say that newbies would enjoy it, though I think that seasoned sippers might be a bit bored. It’s a good everyday tea.

I like this tea. It doesn’t blow my mind, but it is a solid tasting tea.

The dry leaves are a bit on the short side, but they have a nice golden down and there are a decent number of golden tips. The wet leaves open up nicely, with a faintly sweet smell that hints at spiciness with a deep earthy quality. Actually, I would identify it as the smell of wet leaves (wonder why?). :)

The liquor is a bright reddish-brown, and is fairly transparent. Its aroma matches the wet leaves. The taste is smooth and earthy, like a light pu-erh. The first note is fairly subtle, just good water with a little bit of the tannic tea flavor. In the middle notes, I almost taste some green tea flavor, like Dragon’s Well, for 1/2 a moment, before the tannic and strong black tea flavor pulls though. It is heavy-bodied and earthy, tasting almost like dirt or, again, wet leaves after a fresh rain. The aftertaste is a bit astringent, but not too much. I might have left it steeping too long (I’m at work and I wasn’t paying attention), but the water was cooler…

No milk, no sugar; I think they would ruin this tea. Overall, I like it, and I would rank this tea for intermediates and connoisseurs.

This is a top notch Earl Grey. It is sweet, I assume becasue of the white tips, so I use less sugar, and truthfully, it needs less milk too. It’s light, sweet, complicated, and lively. This is a truly wonderful tea.

I hate smokey teas, but have been on a quest to find one that I like. This tea is the winner. It is lightly smokey, more so I think than a Gunpowder, but less so than a Lapsang. I really like it.

The liqour is a dark brown, not too transparent, and the aroma is pure smoke. The flavor starts with a hint of smoke, followed by a medium-bodied tea flavor, then finishes with a stronger, but not overpowering, smokey taste.

I loved it without milk and sugar, but when I added milk and sugar it ruined the tea. I threw the rest out. Word to the wise: drink it straight up or with a little milk, but not sugar.

This is the first Darjeeling Second Flush I have had since I have really understood the difference between the flushes. I’ll say that this is a very good cup of tea, just not my cup of tea.

The liquor is light caramel, and highly transparent. Very pretty. The aroma is quite subtle, hinting ever so slightly towards cinnamon. The flavor is very, very peppery. The first wave of flavor is peppery, the middle notes are peppery, and the finish is peppery. It’s like someone added essence of green bell pepper to my tea. I am not fond of this tea.

I tried it with milk and sugar and without: with is slightly more pallitable, but I have a feeling I won’t be finishing this cup in record time.