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Tried this one with milk this evening, while it was on my mind. I do prefer it this way on the whole, I think. The milk seemed to smooth it out a little, and tone down the very slight musty/bitter flavour that emerges in the aftertaste when drank black. I’d happily drink it black again, but milk is going to be my preferred way forward here.

Oolong has not so far been my thing, but I’m willing to have my mind changed. I think that’s why I keep trying them – I know there must be one for me out there somewhere! Before now, I’ve only read about milk oolongs on here, but I’ve been curious to try one for a while now. Thanks to Sil, I finally have the chance!

The leaves of this one are intriguing. They’re rolled, I think, are roughly round, and a mottled green in colour with both light and darker patches. Once in my infuser, they unfurl pretty quickly, which is actually an enjoyable process to watch. I’ve just arrived at work, so I’m obviously easily distracted. There being 130 emails in my inbox isn’t helping on that front.

Brewed, the leaves actually smell pretty amazing. There’s a vegetal scent, as I might have expected from a green tea, but there’s also a very floral, faintly sweet overtone that I’m very encouraged by. I’ve never experienced this with an oolong before! I guess it’s what I was hoping they might be like, but instead have always found them quite bitter and mineral-tasting. The liquor is a golden yellow-brown.

I will admit to being a little apprehensive about this before taking my first sip, but I needn’t have been. I think I’ve finally found my kind of oolong! There’s no trace of bitterness at all – it’s smooth, sweet, slightly floral, and with a wonderful milky creaminess. I’m not sure whether it’s specifically orchid I can taste, but if it is, then orchid is a flavour I like. Who’d have thought it? I could happily drink this all day – it’s the complete opposite of what I was expecting, and, thankfully, has blown my preconceptions about oolongs out of the water.

Many, many thanks to Sil for finding me an oolong I can get behind!

First tea of the morning. I’m glad I chose a black, because I’d already had my first two visitors before I’d even taken my coat off. Sipdown on this one! I’ve got three other samples from this pack to finish, but this has been nice. Sweet, peachy, clean, fresh. Sad to see it go.

Sipdown! Finished off the last of this at work today, after returning from my training. I had a bit of a headache, so it went down well. Refreshing and cooling — just the thing. This is one I’d buy again!

Haven’t had one of these in a while, so I made up a cup with milk last night. Really, really enjoyable — more so than I remembered, actually. I’m not sure whether I’ve tried it with milk before, but the berry flavours were clear and strong, complemented by the smooth creaminess added by the milk. The woodsyness of the rooibos was all but absent. This is one I’ll be adding to my evening rotation. I must remember to try it as a latte as well.

I’ve had this in my cupboard for a while, but this is the first time I can recall trying it. The box is open, though, so maybe I’m wrong about that. Anyway, I’m kind of assuming that this tea is what I’ve got – it’s the bagged version called Cinnamon Spice, but it’s essentially cinnamon flavoured black.

The dry leaf smells reassuringly of cinnamon, exactly like a freshly opened pot of the ground up spice. There’s actually quite a lot of dust in the little packet it was wrapped in, so maybe that’s what it’s actually flavoured with. In that case, no surprises. Brewed, this smells almost exactly the same as it does dry. There’s something in the scent that’s making me think of Butiki’s Cider Guayusa – it’s kind of earthy, and I imagine (but can’t actually remember) that they share cinnamon as an ingredient.

To taste, this is much more palatable than I expected. I didn’t brew it for the recommended 5 minutes, as I have no milk. I gave it about 3 minutes, and it’s a pretty dark brown, so I was expecting to taste Adagio’s black base a lot and maybe not much else. It’s not like that at all, though. Cinnamon is definitely the predominant flavour, and there’s something deeply earthy and maybe a tiny bit smoky-spicy in the background. I will try it with milk at home, because I think I’ll definitely prefer it like that. I’m getting on with this a lot better than I thought I would, though. I feel I’ve been spoilt for Adagio’s blends now by all the other kinds of tea I’ve tried and loved, so I can’t help but think I would have liked this a whole lot more earlier in my tea journey than I do now. It’s not bad, though, and it’s certainly one of the better Adagio flavoured blacks I’ve tried.

I actually drank most of this iced over the bank holiday weekend, but I managed to salvage a couple of cups worth to drink at work today. Iced, the main flavour is papaya, closely followed by hibiscus. I guess that’s understandable, but it seems to lack depth a little bit, given all of the fruit flavours that are in there. I’m hoping this will shine more hot!

Dry, it does smell irresistibly fruity. I can definitely pick out the papaya, passionfruit, mango and orange, and it just screams “tropical”. The summer we’ve been having so far hasn’t been all that wonderful, so it’s nice to have something sunny in my cup if nowhere else! Brewed, this has the tell-tale colour of hibiscus – the ubiquitous pinky-red. Thankfully, though, it doesn’t taste overwhelmingly of hibiscus. The mango contributes a pepperiness, which is very welcome, and cuts through the sweetness of the papaya and passionfruit. There’s a slight citrus tang that I assume is from the orange, and a tartness that’s almost certainly the hibiscus, but no one flavour really dominates. Of all the tropical fruit blends I’ve tried, this is one of the more convincing ones! It’s genuinely fruity and very refreshing. It’s a shame it seemed to lose some of its punch cold, but I’m more than happy to drink it hot – it’s how I prefer my tea anyway! Another great blend from Bluebird!

Sipdown! I haven’t tried any new teas in a couple of days, because I’ve got a really heavy cold. I’m mostly drinking lempsip, but it’s the perfect excuse to finish up a couple of teas that have been in my cupboard for a while. I’ve tasted this one so many times before, I can remember what it’s supposed to be like even if I can’t taste it all that well at the moment. A fond farewell to this one — it’s been nice.

So, this is a sample from Sil and my very first David’s Tea. I had a look at this on their website first, because I kind of like to know what I’m getting into, and this seems like a busy tea in terms of ingredients. I can see pretty much all of them in the dry mix – hibiscus and beetroot, blackberry and eucalyptus leaves, lemongrass, pieces of apple and carrot, orange and tangerine. I was trying to imagine what it was going to taste like, but I’m finding it hard to say at this stage. Orangey, maybe? My throat is hurting again, so this may not be the most insightful of tasting notes. It’s really just a hot drink I’m wanting at the moment, but I brought this one to work especially to try, and got all excited about it, so I’m not going to back down now!

The first thing I have to say about this is that it’s a really lovely colour. It’s hot pink rather than flamingo pink, but that’s almost as good! It smells nice, too. I can definitely detect orange and tangerine, and the eucalyptus, and I’m picking up something red fruity also. It seems kind of blackcurranty at the moment, but it might just be hibiscus.

It’s equally nice to taste, and pretty true to its scent. Orange and tangerine are, as I hoped, very much in the foreground. I can also taste the eucalyptus, but it’s not at all overpowering. I feared that it would be, but it just adds a nice menthol-like kick to the aftertaste. It’s not something I’d have ever thought of pairing with orange, but the combination is a pretty good one. It doesn’t taste overwhelmingly of hibiscus, either, which is another point in its favour. It’s there all right, in all its sour glory, but it stays firmly in the background and is actually pretty successful in that kind of supporting role. If hibiscus was always like that, I could maybe get to like it! I’m missing the apple, carrot and lemongrass, but that might be my tastebuds. I’m surprised I’m able to taste as much as I can at the moment, so everything’s a bonus. In any case, they’re not flavours I feel bereft without. If they were all there, this would be a pretty confusing tea, and, as it stands, I’m really enjoying it. I’ve not tried many orangey herbal teas, so this is a nice experience to have had, and a great first acquaintance with David’s Tea. I’m looking forward to trying some of the others in my stash now! Thanks again to Sil for sharing this with me!

This is the nicest flavoured black I’ve tried in a good long while. I wanted something different but still reassuring last night, and this is what I plumped for. The dry leaves smell wonderfully sweet, with hints of fresh raspberry and cream. I’ve been disappointed so many times by flavoured teas that smell amazing dry, and then don’t live up to the expectations they’ve raised when they’re brewed. Not so with this one. I will admit being a little concerned, because the scent brewed is predominantly of black tea, and not of raspberry. Oh man, though, the taste! The black base is detectable, of course, but it supports and rounds out the flavouring really well. Mostly, though, this tastes just like fresh raspberries and cream. There’s nothing artificial about it at all, and it somehow tastes really clear, not muted or overpowered or simply like muddied tea. Every sip is fruity, creamy deliciousness. Deciding to buy this was a close thing for me, because I find it hard to abide any kind of artificial cream taste (cf. my review of Adagio Cream). I’m glad I decided to pick up a bag of this one, though. Now I’ve tried it, it’s going to be hard to live without!