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I have grown weary of floral Oolongs so this is one of my last few that I have left to review. I’ll be back to you flowery ones someday, just exploring others for now lol.
That being said,,,,,this is a very good one!!!!!!!
The rolled green dry leaf is very toasty-smelling and it really entices you.
The liquor is golden colored and has a lovely floral scent.
The flavor has a lot going on!! There are flowers, cream, astringent notes, parsnip, a touch of roasted nut maybe a brazil nut? The floral and astringent notes are prominent though making this a nice, cleansing tea.
Very nice floral Oolong.

The dry tea leaves smell like sorghum and are pretty tiny and twisted with a few golden colored ones among the mix.
This smells sweeter than it tastes. It does have notes of malt, chocolate, and a touch of orange pith because it has a tiny bitter note but not an unpleasant bitter.
This was a nice afternoon pick-me-up tea!!
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7/22/14
Tried this again Western style this morning. Can’t seem to brew this without bringing out bitterness. This is a hand made Orange Pekoe from Amba Estate in Sri Lanka and so pretty to look at. I’m trying it again at a lower temp even though they suggest 203F.

Tried it one more time at 190F and still got strong bitter notes. :( Luckily I didn’t get a lot of this tea and it is gone. I feel badly that I was not able to bring out the notes that Canton brought out bc someone made this tea by hand and worked hard on it.

I am glad I tried this tisane in the morning because the dry berries smell like dark toast. Smells like a breakfast diner.
I like buckwheat grain and eat a lot of different grains with vegetables so I was intrigued about an herbal drink made from it!!! I am thoroughly enjoying this!!!!!!
It is nutty, warm, “breakfasty”. I didn’t add anything to it but I could see a maple syrup doing quite well in this. Delicious!

From the Steepster Select box, March 2014

Second Steeping —-OK making another pot of this and looking at a package of buckwheat that I have in my pantry. Buckwheat is very high in magnesium, manganese, B vitamins, etc. I love this tisane!!! It is a very reviving and healthy drink!!

The flavor with the second steeping is still very good. Still toasty and no bitterness. I think the best was in the first steeping. I added a touch of maple syrup to see what it would do and it wasn’t as “mapley” as I thought it would be and this tisane does have a natural sweetness so it doesn’t need it.

Dry leaves smell like vanilla and cocoa but the tea steeping smells like vanilla flowers.
The flavor has a lot of dark chocolate notes with the floral being in the scent and not the flavor which is awesome.
This tea tastes like vanilla and 100% unsweetened bittersweet chocolate and smells like flowers. Very neat tea!!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select box, March 2014

Second Steeping brings out a little more floral but still very dark chocolate flavors with vanilla.

Pretty moss green leaves when brewed and the liquor smells like grapes indeed.
The name is deceiving because this really isn’t a dark and roasted type tea. The liquor is a red color. I read that In China, the type of tea that Westerners call ‘black’ tea is known as ‘red’ tea, which follows the Chinese color system of the color of the tea liquor in the cup. So Hei Cha, also known as dark tea, is quite different than the ‘black’ tea well-known to tea drinkers in the West. So, when in China, if you ask for ‘black’ tea you would be given some form of Hei Cha – if you ask for ‘red’ tea, you will be given what most Westerners would recognize as black tea (from Tea Trekker).

Anyway,,,the flavor is delicious and does have lots of grape qualities as the package suggests. It is the flavor of a fresh grape just off the bunch not of grape juice that has been cooked to concentrate sugars. So it isn’t so sweet.
This tea is very good, I like it a lot and it is unique.

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

Second Steeping brought out the dry finish which wasn’t evident to me in the first.

These are the most unique-smelling dry tea leaves,,,they smell like tomatoes? Very different from other teas that I have tried.
The scent of the liquor, however, is a very sweet scent like honey or agave.
The flavor of this black tea is delicious!!!!!!! It is light, sweet, malty and has absolutely no harshness or bitterness. It is easy on the stomach and a pleasure to drink. I would definitely drink more of this.

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

Second Steeping is just as delicious,,,still malty and sweet and no harsh caffeine effects or stomach upset. Love it.

I LOVE white tea so this is right up my alley!! This is so unique! I love the appearance of the dry tea leaves, they look like little dried white cone flowers.
Glad I have my tea temp kettle because this is a low temp and I didn’t want to hurt this delicate tea.
The flavors are subtle and they come together to create a dessert of cooked fruit with hints of nutmeg and honey. I detect mainly apricot or peach fruits.
Thank you Steepster and Tea Source,,,I love Steepster Select because I was unaware of this company and am super stoked about all their white teas!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

6/11/14
Tasting a bit of the bag I bought from Tea Source. So fruity, zingy, and good. There is a sugar note, multi-fruits, Sweet Tarts, touch of licorice. Mike and Ike’s candies. Love the out of this world look and flavor of Ya Bao. I like to age it,,,it is getting sweeter.

My 100th tasting note!! And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I chose this Jade Oolong for St. Patrick Green!!!
The dry leaves are very green, tightly rolled with stems and smell of creamy butter!!
The liquor has a subtle floral scent and lots of buttery notes as well.
The flavor is flowery and creamy. Though it is herbal and floral dominant, there is no astringency which really is impressive. There is a tiny hint of bitter but I don’t mind bitter as long as it is not accompanied with tannic or astringent qualities. This is a very good example of an unroasted oolong.

Fresh tea leaves with their distinctive speckled colors. Very delicious Oriental Beauty. This one is from Taiwan and I feel it is zippier and livelier than the couple of others I have tried. It is zingy and fresh. Besides the citrus zing, it has flavor notes of apricot, honey, a tad of maybe a woodiness? It is tea umami,,,Oriental Beauty is so hard to describe!
I keep using the word fresh with Canton teas because I feel I am getting the best representation of the teas from them,,,,, fresh teas that have just been packaged. I have been very impressed, I wish they were in my country :( :( :( :( :( but I am glad I tried them. Though I do wish I had ordered more tea because of that but I didn’t know how good it would all be to me!!
Also, I feel like their directions have a tad lower temperature for their teas which is good. At first I thought, am I not converting Celsius to Fahrenheit properly? But they are just very careful and have the perfect temperature and brew times to bring out the best of the teas.

The tea I have gotten from Canton is extremely fresh. These tea leaves smell like dark, unsweetened cocoa.
The liquor is definitely roasted flavor with dark, unsweetened cocoa notes. There are no sweet notes to this Da Hong Pao, it is very dominant in its roasted notes.
Has a great cream note and mouthfeel in the finish as well. Very delicious, this one is like dark coffee with cream and no sugar.