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Dry leaf: DRIED FRUIT, GRAPE VINE, SWEET: prune, raisin, dried fig, grape skin, musty green, grape vine, blackstrap molasses, green stem, sweet and sour, bitter honey

Smell: FRUIT, SWEET: green apple, light caramel, bread pudding, musty grape

Taste: FRUIT, SWEET, GRAPE VINE: candied green apple, sweet potato, malt, sweet and sour, green twig, green grape, grape vine/leaf

This was a fun one! To be honest, a lot of the experience reminded me of a black tea, but there were little surprising pops of flavor where the oolonginess asserted itself. Especially interesting was a multifaceted “grape” experience that ranged from grape sweetness to green “leafiness” to dry vine/stem flavors. Weird and hard to pinpoint, but that made it a pleasure to return to each day.

This is the “select grade”, the lowest grade that TTC offers. There’s premium, superior, supreme, private reserve… I have no idea what this means in terms of little leaf-munching critters or the resulting flavors. In any case, this is a tasty, affordable treat.

Dry leaf: FRAGRANT, VEGETAL: fragrant wood, honeysuckle, milky tea, sweet mustiness. In preheated vessel: popcorn, cooked sweet corn, sweet note like salted caramel

Smell: VEGETAL, SWEET: sweetened milky tea, honeysuckle, sweet green beans

Taste: NUTTY, VEGETAL: sweet corn, cream, popcorn roastedness/nuttiness, cooked green beans, milky tea, honeysuckle, hint of maraschino cherry and cherry wood.

A few thoughts on this one. First, it provides an interesting experience that is a mix of white and green tea. It has the fragrant creaminess of a white tea while also providing the vegetal nuttiness of a Chinese green.

Second, I had quite a bit of difficulty brewing it. I tried everything – leaf amount, water temperature, steep times. For me, the best solution was an infuser basket full of leaf left in 12-16oz of 190-200 water for a few minutes. I rarely think this is the best way to brew stuff up, but this is what worked best for me for this tea. It did not perform well in a gaiwan – body was consistently too thin and it simply did not resteep well.

So, here’s what I would say – if you’re looking for a to-go green tea, an easy-going green that you can take to work, plop in a mug, maybe forget about for a while… and still have some decent tea, then this is your guy.

Dry leaf: NUT – peanut shell, some bittersweet green wood

Smell: NUT – peanut shell, pistachio, slight hint of vanilla extract

Taste: NUT, FRUIT – In the mouth – dry nut (peanut shell, acorn), roasted peanut, tea tannin, green twig, slight hint of orange. Aftertaste has strong ripe peach flavors, with some orange, orange blossom, dewy grass, and bittersweet melon/melon rind.

A tale of two teas! This is an interesting session. Everything up to the aftertaste is all about its dry nuttiness. It’s dead-on peanut shell – smell, taste… But then, the aftertaste develops into a thick, rich ripe peach with a few extra supporting notes to keep you interested.

To be honest, nutty smell/taste isn’t all that interesting and is a bit monotone in the mouth. But the aftertaste is quite a different show. You have to take your time with it – little sips with plenty of time in between to let the tea open up in your throat and mouth. The hui gan is so engaging that I feel like it more than makes up for its monotone arrival.

Dry leaf: HONEY, FLORAL: honey, fragrant floral (lily of the valley), lactose “milkiness”, bittersweet floral (potpourri)

Smell: HONEY, VEGETAL: malty honey (like boiled honey or sweet malt used in beer brewing), green stem

Taste: FLORAL, HONEY, FRUIT: bittersweet green, fragrant floral (lily of the valley), honey. Aftertaste has lemon/citrus notes, hints of light red fruit, green apple. One infusion had a light almond/marzipan note.

Flavors are pleasant; there is nothing “bad” about the tea. However, my experience is that it’s just very light. Frankly, it reminded me of later infusions of some higher-quality Taiwanese oolongs. No big flavors in the mouth or aftertaste, no staying power in terms of infusions and re-brews. Personally, I think spending a little extra money on a higher-quality oolong is worth the upgrade in experience.

Dry leaf – VEGETAL, SWEET: vegetal, buttery, bittersweet green, bitter honey, sweet bread, honeysuckle; in pre-heated vessel: strong bittersweet vegetal

Smell – VEGETAL, SWEET: musty pungent green wood, raw honey

Taste – VEGETAL, SWEET, FRUIT: spinach, asparagus, buttery, lemon zest, honey, lactose sweetness, hint of carob. Aftertaste of tropical fruit, mandarin orange, spearmint

This was a pleasant experience. Many strong, interesting flavors, but none of them dominated the other. Everything was balanced and worked well together. High-quality experience at an affordable price.

This is a pretty easy-going tea that has naturally likable flavors. Would be a great intro to whole-leaf tea for your Earl Grey friends. Show them the power of the dark side. Or the light side, as the case may be.

Plus, dropping in a few balls of tea and seconds later having a forest exploding out of your gaiwan is enough to have anyone forsake the bagged stuff.

Dry leaf – GRASSY, VEGETAL, SWEET: dewy grass, cooked sweetcorn, pine nuts. In preheated vessel: vegetal aromas intensify – corn, sundried tomatoes; dried dill and parsley, hint of tangy tropical fruit.

Smell – GRASSY, VEGETAL: warm wet grass, tomato vine, corn, wilted spinach

Taste – GRASSY, VEGETAL, SWEET, MARINE: Arrival is new grass, sweetcorn. Develops into vegetal sweetness, cooked spinach, with notes of sweet butter and cooked pears. Finish is salty and marine, with the expected savory umami finish. Aftertaste has tart freshness of green apple and fresh mint.

Great tea. It’s like a little pouch of springtime. What I appreciate the most about it is its three distinct flavor profiles: thick, sweet grassy flavor that finishes in a mouth-coating marine brininess, which eventually transforms into a fresh and pleasant tartness.

In summation – the leaves look like green snuff, the brew achieves a glow-in-the-dark Ecto-Cooler green, and it tastes delicious. What’s not to love?

Dry leaf – SWEET, FRUIT, GRASS: natural honey, fragrant wood, bittersweet green, fresh grass, slight notes of apple pie spice, notes of dried fig. In pre-heated vessel – raisin, prune, cacao, slight herbal/dill note

Smell – EARTH, GRASS: hay, damp earth, stable, bittersweet green

Taste – GRASS, WOOD, EARTH, FRUIT: Arrival – musty hay and grass flavors, some pine notes, musty raisin. Development – bittersweet green, wood, lemongrass, savory sweetness of grits, underlying dark fruit in base, heavily roasted coffee grounds, oily. Finish – woody, some dried fruit, a little charcoal smoke, wet earth, mineral. Aftertaste – cherry wood, soaked raisin, floral. Website claims “orchid aroma” – I would agree – similar notes are present in orchid aroma dan cong.

Overall, no “big” flavors, although admittedly this is sort of an awkward age to be reviewing this tea. The main flavors were bittersweet green and musty raisin. It did need quite a bit of leaf and long steep times to really provide a full experience, as noted in other reviews.

The bitterness that was noted in other reviews has certainly died down. In fact, the main thing I noted was the smooth, oily experience this tea provides.

Not quite sure what else to say. Personally, I kind of like being smacked in the face with flavor and am happy to take the good with the bad – “smoothness” is not a quality that I prize too highly; I want personality! However, this tea is just very understated and does not provide a tapestry of flavors that weave in and out. It does have some personality – oily, raisiny, some lemongrassy bittersweet sensations, but it doesn’t assert itself with gusto.

So, if you’re looking for a smooth operator in the pu’erh realm, maybe this is your guy. I would recommend giving it a few years to come in to its own a bit more.

Dry leaf – FRUIT, SWEET: dried apricots, dried fruit, coriander, overripe oranges, dark chocolate with sweet cherries

Smell – FRUIT, SWEET, SMOKE: dried apricot, kumquat, dark chocolate and berries, charcoal smoke

Taste – FRUIT, SWEET, SMOKE, and MORE!: Arrival is musty fruit with a hint of bitterness – dried apricot, bergamot. Development is complex – “resiny” smoke from pine is noticeable, dark chocolate and berry, strongly brewed English breakfast tea, hint at brewed coffee grounds. Finish has raw nut dryness and woodiness. Aftertaste is a dry fruity experience – hints at the apricot and chocolate flavors, very long lasting and pleasant.

What a great find this was. This is a complex, delicious session. I had to keep going back and revising my tasting notes because the taste just kept evolving and showing new sides of itself.

This was, for a me, a “what-the-heck” sort of buy – the thing you add to your cart in the middle of a caffeine-induced tea buying extravaganza. At $0.60 for a 5g pack, I had nothing to lose; so I added a few to my order. It was an inspired decision.

Great flavors, dynamic session, and some considerable staying power that suited itself very well to gong-fu style. 5 sec brews yielded a ton of flavor.

Overall, the flavor is much more akin to a black tea (i.e. “red tea”) experience than any sort of pu’erh. But, of course, it’s different! My experience with this tea has convinced me to make a more serious investment in “hei cha”, as this was a very enjoyable and rewarding session. Great little buy to see if this genre of tea is for you!

{NB: review from 25g sample, not whole cake}

Dry leaf – SWEET, FRUIT, HERBAL: bitter honey, honeysuckle, dill, fragrant wood/incense; in pre-heated vessel: prune, dried date and fig more prominent

Smell – WOOD, FLORAL: fragrant wood, light honeysuckle, some smokiness and ash

Taste – SWEET, GRASSY, VEGETAL, FRUIT: prominent bitter honey, green hay, fragrant wood smoke – hickory?, nice vegetal flavors of bitter green, some steamed green bean, musty. Undertones of lightly brewed English breakfast tea, dry spice (nutmeg), hints of fig and date, some ashy notes. Creamy lactose sweetness in aftertaste, prune and date flavors strong in aftertaste.

Well – there’s quite a bit going on here. For a young raw, this is very pleasant and has great flavors going on. There is some astringency, but personally, I don’t find it to be overbearing. It’s pleasant like a cup of good black coffee.

This one has me intrigued. I like the range of flavors that it offers. Additionally, it makes you burst into sweat when you drink it. I know this is a common pu’erh side effect, but this one isn’t messing around. Who knows what kind of chemical voodoo is responsible for that, but it’s fun nonetheless. Nothing like waking up on a Saturday morning and going toe-to-toe with your tea.

One final note – personally, I felt like the more interesting flavors petered out fairly quickly. I’m no expert, but I will chalk that up to the tea’s youth. However, there were several other reviews that made special mention of the longevity of this tea, but that just wasn’t my experience. Could be user error, I guess. Interestingly, I had a better experience with a clay pot (7g/160ml) than a gaiwan (4.5g/60ml), even though the gaiwan had a higher leaf:water ratio.

Anyway, my sample is gone and I simply looked forward to every session I had with this tea. Is definitely on the short list for my next pu’erh purchase.

Dry leaf: FLORAL, SWEET (perfumey/potpourri-ish floral, light chocolate, bittersweet “green” notes, buttery, noticeable honey notes when put in pre-heated vessel)

Smell: FLORAL, SWEET (similar floral notes as dry leaf, bitter honey, some sessions had a mineral/ocean notes – seashells, seaweed – very faint, pleasant)

Taste: SWEET, FRUIT, CREAMY, VEGETAL (natural honey, bitter honey, lemon rind and citrus, some creaminess like flan or custard, vegetal notes like tomato vine/sun-dried tomatoes, sweet corn. Aftertaste of honeydew melon and natural honey.)

Honey! That is the constant throughout. It is not a heavy or strong flavor, but it’s definitely there. Also, it’s a slightly bitterish honey – like wildflower honey or honey from that one friend who decided to give beekeeping a shot. Well, maybe a bit better than that…

The body is medium-light, so it requires some attention to really pull out and appreciate the flavors. Great afternoon tea to sip on while procrastinating chores.