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I love the compact, perfect little size of these Mini Tuochas! You would have thought the holidays had already come, and a little boy was opening a carefully wrapped gift. You find the same care and attention to detail of the wrapping, as you find in the larger tuochas. The paper used for these tuochas, seems like a perfect idea for a collection of some sort. Surely, there are already ideas out there. This may require a little more research, now that I think about it.

There is plenty of body with this tea – very full, green puerh. You will find quite a bit of astringency that lingers, however you can control its bitterness in the mouth by holding it towards the middle of the tongue – back of the throat. I found the tea to deliver more flavor after it had set for a minute or two.

This is a very young tasting sheng and certainly reflects its green qualities. It is green along the lines of older dandelions, that have been simmered and stewed down – without the mouth puckering bitterness. This bitterness is much drier and feels quite nice around 20-30 minutes after you finish drinking the tea. The liquid is more green melon in color.

Overall, you can’t complain about this tea not matching the total investment. These small broken leaf mini tuochas are great for a small pot of tea and are good enough for multiple infusions.

This English Breakfast is really hitting the spot right now! I would have to say that for a Keemun there is not a noticeable amount of smokiness. I guess if tea were tobacco, then this would be a smokeless. :) Sorry, couldn’t resist.

The brew is semi-bold, more of a stronger medium fullness in the mouth. Very smooth, with very little bitterness. Has a lot of Ceylon qualities – taste more from a region in India than China. Still very satisfying!

This tea has a lower astringency with a medium boldness. The aroma is an excellent balance between the mint and pure Ceylon black. The spearmint is clean and the honey brings an extra sweetness.

This is my first tea from Dilmah Exceptional and found this to be a very nice tea. They even provide a small tri-fold brochure, stating the company’s dedication to single origin from Sri Lanka and it’s quest, along with commitment of seeing “the return of real tea.” Not completely sure of it’s proclaimed, “world’s first fully vertically integrated family tea company” and “the finest tea on earth…also the world’s first Ethical tea”, however I love how that all the profits flow back to the community as they share with their workers. Sounds like a lovely company.

Thank you LiberTEAS for this nice sample!

There are some very interesting characteristics with this tea. Plenty of mixture in the dry leaves, even noticed some smaller broken green colored leaves – looked like an oolong.

Now to the fragrance of the infusion. Immediately, there was a familiarity with the flavor and boldness of this brew. It was more intimate and brought me to my southern coastal roots. It wasn’t the cinnamon brown colored liquid that spoke faintly, then more pronounced between each sip. It was the aroma and the salty oceanic presence that drew me in the most. There was a medium astringency, however this wasn’t the most noticeable of all note.

Warning: This next reference will seem odd and over-dramatic.

I am not kidding when I say that there was the taste of – steamed crabs! There, I said it. Get over it! :) Yes, there’s a few very strange people that will drink a tea and compare it to a decapod crustacean, more specifically – Callinectes sapidus, better known as the blue crab. And yes, I’m strange. Now, before you chalk me as a complete idiot, let me make the connection of where I’m coming from on a taste standpoint.

There is a certain strange sweetness and almost indescribable flavor that one discovers while consuming the body meat (not claws) of a freshly stewed blue crab. Look up Crab Etoffee and you will be headed the right direction in understanding my experience. I had to add sugar and milk to test how this taste held up to the additions and found it added a creamy, buttery depth to this broth, I mean brew.

I found that you could taste more of the black tea if you help the liquid a moment longer on the tongue. This was definitely a nice experience, although I simply wasn’t in the right mood for this particular tea. I was searching more for a bold treat, even an option to make a chai-like drink. This tea didn’t quite match my mood this time. Maybe better luck next time. It was good nonetheless.

Thanks to Epi Tea for this sample!

Personally, I found this tea to be very smooth and only a small amount of bitterness towards the end of the sip. The boldness that I expected, really wasn’t present with this tea. That’s not saying it was weak, it was only more subdued than anticipated.

The leaves were very dark and had plenty of room to infuse in the pyramid sachet. It seemed the leaves turn more golden during the infusion and the liquid color seemed to mirror this slightly parched honey wheat tone.

I must say, this was more of a treat than expected. Plenty of sweetness and malty thickness – nice and mellow.

Special thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for sharing this nice white in her very bountiful envelope!

First, I must say that my tasting note on this tea may seem a little different than others that have posted. It may be because I chose to add a little extra leaf in the pot, nonetheless the result is very tasty!

The aroma of the dry leaves are sweet and enticing. There is a certain floral undertone to the wet leaves, similar to blossoming honey suckle. Even though there is sweetness at its base, there is certainly much more. I found the liquid when first poured, to have a distinct aquatic flavor. Only one word that I know how to specify exactly – seaweed! I tried several smaller cups (87ml) to confirm this detection. Yes indeed!

As the cup cools, the grassy pelagic notes soften to a smoother, thicker malty sip. With the body of the tea, there is a certain coppery cocoa-like flavor. One last thing, you also find a touch of astringency towards the end, but your palate is left with a clean, ginger-like taste that lingers nicely.

Very nice cup of tea!