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So this was my first day back to drinking a good amount of tea. I brewed this today before work, and had it throughout the day. I’m currently sitting at my desk, taking a moment to write a review before jumping into my “1000 Word Writing Challenge.”

While I was in North Carolina, my mother-in-law wanted to take us out shopping after we had our Southern-style BBQ/family gathering. Anyway, I stumbled upon a 1000 gram “bucket” of this Sencha for $20! I love a good Sencha, so I thought that price was a steal, especially for 1000 grams!

Now the leaves are about the size of my pinky. The aroma of the dry leaf has a nice vegetal/mineral aroma. The wet leaf is the same, but the vegetal aroma comes forward a little more. However, the flavor profile is nice. It’s a smooth-sweet-vegetal-coated-in butter flavor. 1000 grams is plenty; I’ll drink this daily for a while. It’s a good cup to have throughout the day, and I rather enjoy it.

(Side Note: Imagine broccoli with butter. That’s what my wife said it tasted like. I’m not a super connoisseur when it comes to Japanese greens, but this is all I can think of now. What would you (those of you who are BIG into Japanese greens) call this flavor?)

PS. Apparently this tea is a Chinese tea “prepared by using traditional Japanese deep-steaming methods….” So my bad. However, it’s nice. I might try expanding my tea tastings to more Japanese greens, or some prepared in this fashion. I’m down for something good, but being that I haven’t been exposed to too many Japanese greens, I avoid them as much as possible. I had an old roommate who played with Japanese teas, but his method included over-steeping and water that was too hot. If anyone has any ideas what to try, please let me know!

Well tea friends, I’ve returned from a very short vacation. Now I’m tired and ready to sleep. Ha-ha.

Anyway, I’ve been drinking so much Southern sweet tea, that I don’t have anything interesting to review at the moment (I left all of my tea here, so I was unable to have anything other than overly sweetened bagged tea). However, my mother-in-law made this as an iced/sweetened tea over the weekend. I had a huge cup on the way back to Ohio, but there was a twist to the tea today than there had been this weekend: I mixed it with espresso.

Yeah, yeah. We’re all about tea here, but let me tell you—Orange Pekoe + Coffee = A caffeine loaded hybrid love-child. It was good. However, I was too tired, and needed a jolt of caffeine to get me home…so I have the inability to write a proper review…..

I’ll get something up here tomorrow, though.

This is an unusual one. I haven’t decided on whether it’s good or not, but I’ll figure that out later.

I wanted something unusual to try before I head on down to warmer weather. Although, I was told North Carolina is a mess with the recent tornadoes. My mother-in-law wants us to come on down, and spend the weekend with her and the family. She is also expecting me to bring some teas down, but I won’t have the time to review them. So, this is my last one for the weekend.

It’s “fresh” for a bagged tea. What I mean by that is that it tastes nothing like a pu-erh, but tastes more like a freshly picked basil leaf, with a touch of fresh mint. And if you’re not familiar with those flavors, you should make a note to grow some in your garden this year.

Anyway, I’m sorry this is short. I’m going to finish this off and go pack. I’ll review this again when I have more time!

My wife bought this tea for me about a year ago. It found its way in the back of the cupboard for awhile, and I finally decided to finish it off today.

This is a good tea for a rainy/cold day. The ginger notes are pretty strong. I can’t really taste the lemon (maybe it comes out more if I added sugar), but the overall flavor is nice. Despite the ginger notes, it’s pretty light and refreshing.

My mother-in-law loved this tea more, so the majority of it was sent down to her. However, it got me through last winter, on the cold and bitter days, and I’ve finally decided to give it one last sip. It’s pretty bittersweet, but I’m glad to start drinking the old stuff, before moving on to buying more tea. Which will probably happen anyway. Ha. Ha.

I’ve tried this tea few days ago, but I didn’t write the review while drinking it. Since I had tasted a few teas since then, I decided to return to this tea for another session, so that I may have proper review of the tea.

I must say that the tea gives off a huge seaweed aroma, but the flavor is quite different. Yes, there’s a slight mineral flavor to the tea, but there are the “pu-erh” flavors (earthy, mossy, “muddy,” etc) hanging about, too; although, these flavors are subtle, and not overpowering.

The mouth-feel is nice. It’s a smooth tea that goes to the back of the throat gently. There is no sign of astringency with this tea. It’s a rich and smooth tea, that I plan on drinking again.

I started with a 15 second rinse to wake the leaves. However, after that, I began to steep the tea for 20 seconds, and added 5 seconds to each steep after that. I’m on number 5 thus far, and plan on getting 10-12 more steeps out of this.

I started this steep later than I planned. I was hoping to get to this after the meeting with the caseworker today, but I had decided to enjoy a different cup of tea.

However, the aroma profile is quite unique. It’s mineral-y, woodsy, and earthy; yet, the flavor has a nice smooth, rich, and nutty taste. The mouthfeel on this tea is nice. It’s light on the flavor after the first few (25 second) steeps, but after I increased the steep time, it had a more solid flavor to it.

I really enjoyed this tea, but on the account that I have to be up early, I’m stopping at 5 steeps, and will continue drinking this tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be a good cup to start the day with, too.

I bought this tea nearly a month ago, but it’s time to finish it off. Oolongs are so special, that I have a tendency to hoard them as long as possible, and avoid drinking them daily. However, this tea is fairly priced and is an excellent quality.

The first loose leaf that I was introduced to was a Tie Guan Yin, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I suppose my love for an oolong comes from that moment where I realized that I love tea, possibly more than coffee (which is true now). My roommate opened my eyes more and more as I began my tea journey, but eventually I hit the ground running, and explored more teas on my own. Although, he admittedly acknowledges that I may have excelled his tea knowledge; for he is still drinking Tie Guan Yin and Dragonwell, while I drink nearly EVERYTHING. Those are two very good teas that I don’t blame him for drinking everyday; however, I like to change it up on teas every once and a while.

Anyway, this is nutty, earthy, sweet, and smooth. It’s light and easy to drink more than you’d ever imagine you could. That’s because it’s a solid tea! With that said, I’m going to buy more to hoard soon!

I’m going to be up much later tonight than I had planned. This tea is extremely good. I can’t get enough (5 pots and still counting)! Goodness, this is good!

The dry leaf smells like chocolate? However, the wet leaf has a slight mineral, nutty, sweet, and chocolate(?) aroma and flavors. This is so unique, and due to the inability to comprehend tea at the moment because I’m so hyped on this stuff, I’m boggled. However, I’ve decided that I’ll never go back to anything for a while except cakes, bricks, and pu-erh. This whole experience is life changing.

Anyway, give this a try. I’m enjoying it tremendously.

I’ve heard the saying “Tea Drunk” many times in the past, but I’ve finally experienced this feeling today. I have had two full 24 ounce pots of this, and I’m working on a third. The great thing about this is that I’m still working on the same leaves. However, for this third pot, I’m going to take it slow. I’m so bloated right now, but it’s a good kind of bloated: the tea kind.

I mean this tea is nutty, cocoa-y, rich, and delightful. I think I might finally give up chocolate. Seriously, I am fond of pure teas that could really replace all desserts. My Yunnan Sourcing selection is that and everything. I’ve tried two out of the six teas that I bought, and I can’t seem to move on to anything else at the moment. I’m really enjoying this selection.

I purchased this tea from a local coffee/tea shop in the heart of downtown Canton, Ohio. My wife ordered a few bricks and cakes from Yunnan Sourcing, but I was too eager to try a pu-erh “the right way.” So, I went to this shop, where I knew I’d find bricks of tea, and bought one.

I’m currently on my fourth steep (after two quick rinses) and it’s a solid tea. From the research that I’ve done, pu-erh can go through this process quite a lot. Which is nice, since I enjoy having a tea that can be re-steeped abundantly. However, with this tea, the fourth steep is just as solid as the first; I can see myself drinking this chunk of tea for a long time today.

Anyway, the tea reminds me of a nice hike in the woods. It’s earthy the way a pu-erh ought to be…There’s a flavor that is left on the back of the tongue that I can’t quite think of, but it’s smooth going down. The tea is rich, earthy, smooth, and has me longing for a good hike!

(Side Note: I did two rinses before serving the tea. I did two 15-20 second rinses. I started with a 30 second rinse, and added 30 seconds after that to each steep. I’m not sure if that’s “the right way,” but it works for me.)

Here’s a short video that I shot after purchasing the tea. I’ll post a follow up video!