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After breaking my heart and drinking the last bit of golden eyebrow in my cup, i regretfully move on to this next tea in my sample shipment from tealux.

Opening the bag, i notice just how beautiful this tea is. This tea looks like large silver needle… only instead of being silver, this tea is gold :). The smell is a nice mix of clean, dry fall leaves, and clean, dry hay. The liquor has a nice smell of clover honey :)

I scoop out 2 tsp of buds into my 4 oz gaiwan, and infuse for 30 seconds at 195.
As i was somewhat expecting from the appearance of this leaf, this is a lighter tea, despite its rich dark almost mahogany coloration. This tea is smooth and delicate like silver needle, but with a bit more flavor. Not without surprise, this tea is the first tea since silver needle i have tried (not that that is saying much) that tastes almost exactly the way it smells dry. It has a pleasant taste of hay that has been soaked in clover honey. The honey taste lingers somewhat, tempting you to take that next sip.

To me, this is the “evil twin” of silver needle. I highly enjoy both, but will rate this slightly below silver needle, as somehow, this tea just kinda seems like its trying to be something it isnt supposed to be, but manages to get away with it. This is a perfect black tea for when you want to step back and have a nice, soothing tea that wont run around the room screaming its name (not that that is a bad thing, thats what i LIKE about black teas lol) but also want a break from the uuber delicacy of silver needle.

This is the second tea i am giving my attention to from the shipment of samples i got from tealux. I had to wait through 4 hours of work after discovering the package in my mailbox during my lunch break. It was not fun.

Opening the bag, my mind races back to my childhood. My parents live in the country, with 6 acres, completely surrounded by cornfields. We had lots of animals, and we fed them mixtures of alfalfa, straw, and clover. While not exact, the smell of this tea comes very close to that feed. This tea definitely has my attention.

This time, i chose to only use 1.5 tsp of this tea, because the leaf is so small and needle like, a tsp amount of this leaf is quite dense. So in it goes with about 195-200 degree water (im getting good enough at judging the water temp based on the sound/bubbles that form on the bottom of the pan im not bothering with the thermometer anymore, ecleast not for blacks) and i infuse for 30 seconds, increasing 25 seconds each infusion.

Ooh… ooh MY…the taste… i thought i was in love with innocent little Black Dragon Pearl… now i meet her older, more experienced, and FAR more playful sister. This takes everything i love about the pearl, and does it better. The first sip is the greeting that i know well, but slightly different from the Pearl; the light taste of the base black tea, a lighter taste of cocoa and molasses, and barely a hint of honeysuckle. No bitterness what so ever. Hmm. So i sip some more, and the more i sip, the more bold and playful she becomes, the sweetness and molasses flavors building and cuddling my taste buds. Well now! This is getting interesting. The flavors peak and hold at a lovely mix as you sip, giving a lovely honeysuckle nectar-ish finish that lingers for an extremely long time, teasing you back to take another sip. And another.

As you can guess, this tea is simply… divine. But as is with anything worth having, it demands some respect. Being considerably more expensive than the pearl, i am going to have to definitely keep myself in check when it comes to this tea. Which makes me die inside.

This tea deserves to be an every day tea, but unless you have a GREAT job, it is not viable.
But if you even remotely LIKE black teas, please, do yourself a favor, and buy an oz of this. You will thank yourself… and also hate yourself for not having more money.

So, i just got an oz sample of this in my shipment from tealux today. I came home on lunch (at 2 am lol i work the graveyard shift) and there was my package of samples, sitting pretty for me to find. The last 4 hours of work were difficult.

When i open the bag, all i can think of is NORI. Yes, roasted seaweed… and i immediately have a flash back to my first experience with an oolong, a bad sample that smelled and tasted like raw seaweed… and nothing els. But trying to be brave, i load my standard 2 tsp into my now trusty little 4 oz glass gaiwan, heat up some water, and steep for 30 seconds at 195, increasing steep times by 15 seconds every infusion.

Now, i have to say this… i really, REALLY wanted to fall in love with this tea… all of the reviews i have ever read on milk oolongs have been spectacular. Based on what apparently everyone gets from this tea, this was exactly what i am looking for in a tea. Sadly, reality isnt always kind to us :(

The color of the nectar was of a clear, light jade. If i wouldnt have known better, i would have thought this was a beautiful, crystal clear green tea. It tasted VERY lightly vegital, with a simple sweetness to it, sorry i dont really know how to describe it. It was quite smooth, and easy to drink, and the sweet taste lingers in your mouth for a LONG time. But it was boring. Boring enough that i honestly cant even describe the taste any better for you guys, and i have no desire to infuse more to be able to describe it.

I can see how alot of people would like this tea. I WISH i do too. But for how light this flavor is, and with how it failed to catch my attention, i have to stick with Silver Needle. I only hope this isnt a trend for me with oolongs… i have heard alot of good things about them, and i really hope i can find ecleast one i like.

I was quite hesitant about this tea to be honest. I bought it with some silver needle and black dragon pearl when i went to teavana for some tea while i wait for my shipment from china. The main reason i bought it is it smelled nice enough, and it was 75% off a 1/4 lb tin, as teavana will no longer be carrying this tea. So $17 for 1/4 lb of loose leaf AND a large tin…

The leaf smells malty, and slightly of cocoa. I used what seems to me to be my now standard 2 tsp in my 4 oz gaiwan (i like a stronger tea, and i infuse the leaf until im drinking plain water lol) and after a quick rinse i brewed for 30 seconds at 195, adding 15 seconds or so every other infusion.

This tea has a nice, strong body while hot which backs off a little as it cools. For me, the taste quickly changes in my mouth. It starts with a light smokiness, then a bit of sweet potato, walnuts without the bitterness they have, and finishes with a slight floral aftertaste. This tea was quite smooth to me, probably since i used so much leaf with such a short infusion.

In a way, this tea reminds me of the black dragon pearl, but where the pearl has a nice cocoa profile, this tea has a sweet potato/walnut taste. IMO, the pearl comes out slightly ahead, but this is an excellent every day tea, and would most likely make a great iced tea. It is a fun tea to drink when you have the time to focus on it and observe the nuances of flavor it has. Overall, im extremely pleased with the purchase, especially considering i picked it up so cheap.

i was really excited about this tea when i bought it, and i couldnt wait to get home and try it. i have yet to brew a perfect cup of this, but it is getting better and better :)

the best cup so far has been from a 4 oz gaiwan (my only brewing vessel) and about 2 tsp of pearls, about 8 loose pearls. after a quick rinse, i use 195 degree water, and infuse for about a minute, adding 15 seconds at the third infusion.

tasting this is pure heaven :) it has a nice, full flavor, without being too “in your face” about it. it is lightly sweet, and has a nice taste of cocoa with a slight hint of molasses.

this tea changes its taste quite quickly with minor changes to how you brew it, so i highly suggest playing around with it quite a bit to see just how you like it :)

this is the tea that is introducing me into loose leaf teas. i always buy the bags of white tea from stash, and always wondered what the “good stuff” tasted like. so i bought this and was pleasantly surprised.

i use a 4 oz gaiwan, and about 2 tsp of buds, at 170 degrees, infusing about 45 seconds each time until i notice a drop in flavor, and add about 15-30 seconds after that.

this tea has the taste you would expect of a white tea, the light notes of straw, but fresh, good straw. it also has faint notes of honeysuckle, though depending on how you brew it, this will change to a very light taste of sweet corn.

all in all, i was pleasantly surprised with the difference in the taste of bagged and loose leaf. i find that i like a stronger flavor than is apparently standard, so i simply use a little more leaf. this is an excellent tea, as long as you keep in mind it IS a white tea, and will not Gibbslap you over the head with flavor.