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A wonderfully roasted green oolong. The roasted flavor is light enough so that it never tastes ashy but instead slowly creeps up on you. You can taste both the light sweetness of the oolong mixing with the roasted flavor and they balance each other nicely. I really like CTG and I’m very sad that they are closing up shop. I am especially sad because I’m from chicago and I wanted to go to one of their tastings or classes on tea. Oh well maybe he will still do some in the future.

This is another teabag tea from the discounted shelf at TJMaxx/Kmart/Homegoods. It makes a big point of being an earl grey with one hundred percent ceylon tea. A little bit dusty from the CTC tea but not so bad as other teabags I’ve had. The bergamot is light and not too overpowering. A decent way to start the morning.

This earl grey has quite a punch and the added citrus with the bergamot makes for a very complex flavor. Be careful not to oversteep this tea, it tends to taste like Mr Clean lemon. In the end I like an earl grey where the bergamot doesn’t take over and with bergamot having added support with the citrus the poor assam has no chance at all. Not bad but I always get a little nervous when my tea looks like potpourri.

Nice light green tea with a hint of jasmine, not too strong which I like. My parents love the Home Goods/Marshalls/KMart reduced tea selection so I always seem to find these heavily reduced teabags in my pantry and they always seem like the saddest toys in the shop. The teabag is so small and the tea packed so tightly that it just kind of sits there like a rusty coin. Maybe I’ll try ripping it open and throwing it into my mesh strainer.

Pretty good for a teabag. This earl grey has a nice balance of citrus from the bergamot and spice from the lavender. It feels very chai like and I swear I can taste some clove in there too. This tea also has the big plushy pillow size teabag which definitely kicks it up a step from other teabags. Very relaxing.

This is a sorry oolong and a terrible way for someone to be introduced to oolong tea. First off Twinings is probably confusing people and making oolong seem like a specific pure tea when its actually just a way of processing the leaf. It isn’t terrible and I would drink it over Lipton (but that isn’t saying much at all). It reminds me of tea from a basic Chinese restaurant, if you got some greasy food it will compliment that nicely with its hints of dust and generic tea taste. Teabags simply can’t do oolongs.

This tea has a great smell and the peach flavor actually smells like a fresh peach and not like a factory produced flavor. Taste wise, it’s very smooth and the peach and ginger kind of take a backseat. I’ve had other ginger teas where the ginger takes over so I was glad that it wasn’t undrinkable but it also wasn’t very exciting. For a tea called Peach Ginger its more like a whisper of peach ginger. Still the smell is great and it is a nice dependable smooth black tea.

With a title like adventure blend you’d expect a pretty exciting tea. This assam from the now defunct Justin LLoyd company is actually not bad. Strong but also very smooth, perfect for early morning. Because of the smoothness I don’t think it needs any milk. I think I picked this up for a buck at home goods or something, it seemed very sad with all the discount stickers piled on top of each other. Seeing as how the company has disappeared I don’t think its even possible to find this tea anymore. Well nevermind it ain’t the holy grail but very serviceable for teabag tea.

Another generous sample from Teavivre!

First, it smells like buttery greens that have been thrown into the oven for a couple of minutes. It tastes very similar with an even more pronounced butter flavor, slightly roasted and slighty vegetal. For a lighter oolong this sure has a lot of heft and body. The second steeping brings out a sweeter fruitier taste. Wonderful oolong and it holds up to many steepings.

Fairly good green tea and the teabag is the more eco friendly kind as well. It has a very strong jasmine flavor, which if you like jasmine you will love. I actually am not a huge jasmine fan or when I do have it I like it to be a little more subtle. Still its pretty good for teabag tea and it definitely clears the palette, it borders on medicinal.