Seven Teahouse

A bit of a strange jasmine flavor. There’s a really strong medicinal flavor dominating the jasmine, and it’s weirdly sweet and synthetic tasting.

Not a huge fan of this. Mostly tastes like a generic ripe pu’erh. Not really getting any of the date.

Fuzzy peach on top of the floral oolong. Need to try this iced at some point.

The scent of this is lovely- intense, white peach. I found the flavor to be a bit more mild and not as juicy as I was expecting.

Preferred the Lychee Oolong, as the black base hides the lychee flavor a bit.

The oolong is a bit more oxidized than I expected, which balances the pineapple sweetness nicely. Definitely more of a candy pineapple, than an authentic pineapple flavor,.

I love a simple flavor profile executed really nicely, and this is definitely that. Reminiscent of Lupicia’s melon flavor. This is quite nice.

When the weather drops, so increases my fermentation craving. Plus this had my favorite kinds of blacks. Will add notes soon….

Now for the notes.

Lapsang Souchong (Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong) 4/5 Stars
I wasn’t sure if this was a smoked tea. Tasting it, maybe, but it’s got more vibes of an unsmoked one. Fruity, smooth, malty, silky with red plum notes, maybe a little bit of smoke and citrus. No astringency western. Brewed 3 times. Very good.

Golden Peony Black Tea 3-4/5
I’ve had this one in its own review. Extremely buttery and floral.

Earl Grey-3/5
Earl Grey typical bergamot. Bordering on a lime taste, but more bitter and malty. A little smokey. Couldn’t get past steep 2. Very good, but way more brisque.

Golden Eyebrow (Jin Jun Mei) 4.5/5
Easy favorite. Scotch, malt, cocoa, caramel, bready notes, and smooth florals. Soooo goood.

Lychee Black Tea 4/5
One of my favorites I have my own box of.

Osmanthus Black Tea 2/5
Peachy and floral. I’m not a huge fan of osmanthus black teas. I tried to get into it, but this kind of scented tea tastes like hot sprite to me. Smooth and floral and great black tea base, but not my preference.

Rose Black Tea-3/5
Very similar to the lychee tea. Fruity, but heady and almost perfumy. The black tea balances it out with silky malt like the osmanthus tea, but I like the rose more, almost higher than the jasmine black that I also really like.

The jin jun mei was the top. All of these teas were sachets, and I feel like I was drinking what I crave in a black tea with the Jin Jun Mei. I’d get a box of this one. I highly recommend this sachet sampler for Chinese Black Tea Snobs.

Yum!

I love this sort of Japanese-style grape flavoring, and it goes so well with the jasmine here. The grape definitely takes center stage, with jasmine in more of a supporting role. It’s just so sweet and fruity and floral, but with nice depth from the grape. My only complaint is the green tea doesn’t seem to have much flavor? It’s very mild, and the flavoring is strong, so I don’t really taste it. A touch of earthiness perhaps, and mineral notes. I bet it would be wonderful iced as well.

I’m a bit conflicted on ordering more, partially because it’s only available in individually-wrapped sachets (which just seems wasteful) and partially because I always stock Jingle Bells from Lupicia and I’m not sure I need more than one grape tea…

Drinking this one up, it’s very light on the strawberry and more heavy on the tieguanyin floral oolong. I get more orchid than strawberry at first, then it transitions into the strawberry. It’s not fake, but it’s light and candy like. I would have liked a little bit more strawberry that’s redder. It’s refreshing and thirst quenching. Might be better light. Needs more umph.

Still making my way through these fruity tea samples from Seven.

This one is really excellent, definitely the best lychee flavoring I’ve had. It feels much more dimensional than other versions I’ve had. Generally lychee flavor tends to be all top notes if that makes sense, light and floral and sweet. But this has more depth, a deeper honey-like flavor to it.

Anyway, it’s scrumptious, and of course it goes perfectly with the somewhat floral oolong. Not too floral for me, thankfully, and it has more of a refreshing mineral flavor than a creamy one. Definitely on the list to reorder. :)

This came out a teeny bit watery, I waffled on the amount of water to use and probably should have gone with 12 ounces instead of 14.

The strawberry here is reminding me of something, not sure if it’s another tea or what. It is quite candylike and a bit tangy, but also a touch floral/perfumey. Can’t quite place it, but I’m thinking maybe it’s those hard candies with the strawberry-printed cellophane wrapper.

It’s nice enough, though the base itself is a bit weak (my own fault). Still has those nice savory notes that I associate with Fujian black teas, plus a touch of the trademark caraway. Would be nice to see more quality Chinese teas being used as a base for flavored teas, they have so much more character than the usual suspects.

More fruity teas from Seven Teahouse!

For me, it’s hard to go wrong with what I would consider a Japanese-style grape flavor. Here, the tea is Chinese though, so maybe they’re fans of it too ha ha. Here it’s paired with a light yet flavorful shou mei base, which isn’t a combo I’ve had before. It’s lovely though, sweet and juicy on a soft and haylike, slightly woody base. Definitely a dark purple Kyoho-esque grape here, with a nice depth of flavor.

I have one other sachet of this flavor, and I think I’ll have to try it iced!

Tea Pop!

All my tea pops this week just came out disastrous and I really only have myself to blame. I made this one the day after my over steeped Blackberry Ginger teapop and out of an abundance of caution I ended up very much understeeping this brew. So, it was thin tasting and almost felt more like a lychee LaCroix (ie. “just a whisper”) instead of the juicy, rich lychee and black tea I know this tea can be.

I don’t remember whether I chose this one or they included it as a freebie, but it’s quite nice. I like the Fujian black as a base, it has that nice chew and savoriness to it that contrasts well with the blueberry jam-esque flavoring. There’s something slightly candylike to it as well, a tangy note that reminds me of blue raspberry (my husband’s favorite).

I don’t know that I would go out of my way to buy it, just because I don’t see myself craving a blueberry tea. Plus, I already have a blueberry green in S&V’s Acadia, so I certainly don’t need two. But definitely wouldn’t turn down a cup!

Another fruity tea from Seven!

I agree with Kelly on this one, it does taste a bit yogurt-y. It reminds me of a peach yogurt smoothie, or maybe Calpico. It’s nice though, with a sweet white peach sort of flavor on a silky oolong base. I steeped this one just slightly less than last time, and I think it helped cut down on the floral notes from the oolong a bit.

Enjoyed the cup, though not sure I would order this one as peach just isn’t a favorite flavor of mine.

Next up from Seven! They actually sent me an extra sachet of this one, in addition to the two I got in the white tea sampler. Yay bonus tea! I sent one out in a swap, since I had enough to share. <3

This is just lovely. I like orange and citrus things in general, though often orange-flavored things can be quite sweet and candylike. This is not. It has a very natural orange flavor to it, a nice balance of sweet and tangy. It reminds me of eating a clementine or something similar, and goes so well with the honeyed hay notes of the light white base.

I might try icing the other sachet, as it seems like it would be great cold too. Either way, this seems like a repurchase sort of tea to me… Their sachets seem expensive, but they have a lot of tea inside. I only need one for my 16-ounce mug.

So I ordered a build-your-own sampler with a sachet of every flavored oolong that Seven sells. This is the first one I’m trying, and I’m a “save the best for last” kind of person, so I chose a flavor that I wasn’t overly excited about. (My husband thinks that’s weird, by the way… XD)

The wrapper recommended 300 ml of water, but that seemed crazy to me given the amount of leaf in the sachet. I ended up using 16 ounces because it was almost a tablespoon worth of leaves, and oolong expands so much. The resulting brew has plenty of flavor, so no regrets there. The oolong is definitely on the floral side, which is not my favorite. Strawberry is there as well, though it’s quite mellow and light. I would say it’s on the candy side of things, but it doesn’t taste terribly artificial or anything.

It’s nice, but the floral presence is a bit strong for me. Definitely looking forward to trying some of the other flavors though.

I had a cup of this today and it was really nice! Osmanthus is a floral flavour that I’ve maybe turned my nose up at a bit in the past and just sort of felt like it wasn’t for me, but last year I had a little bit of a change of heart and this tea was an element of that. It’s full bodied with a briskness and slight astringency from the black tea I really enjoy with woody and cocoa like notes, but also bright and lush feeling with fruiter peach, persimmon, or honey-like notes from the osmanthus. It’s one of the first osmanthus teas I’ve had where I felt like I finally got what other people had been describing when it comes to this flower…

I’m not usually super into osmanthus flavoured teas or, really, foods/beverages in general so I was skeptical about this blend but it’s maybe one of the nicest osmanthus blends I’ve ever had. I’ve always had people describe osmanthus as tasting like honey and peaches and this was the first time I’ve really, truly, and deeply experienced that. Very aromatic and fresh with almost a juicy sort of element to it? Lush feels like a very apt word for it. Also brisk and full bodied from the malty and slightly cocoa-like black tea base, and I think that strong foundation was a really great contrast with the osmanthus. I just can’t convey how impressed I was by this tea as someone who was convinced that I just didn’t like osmanthus.

Tried my second sachet of this one cold-steeped, in 16 ounces of water as instructed on their website. I did steep it a bit longer than they specify.

To be honest, I’m not in love with it. The lychee is lovely cold, as I would expect, but for some reason the shou mei is actually giving me red rooibos vibes. A bit woodier than it was warm, and because it’s combined with a fruity note, coming off a little medicinal. I do still taste those nice dried fruit flavors, but the rooibos note is ruining it for me.

At least now I know not to try the other flavors this way ha ha! Perhaps I’ll try a shorter cold steep though, or even iced.

So I couldn’t resist ordering from Seven Teahouse after seeing them recommended by Kelly, and also I love Lupicia’s fruity oolongs, which is a category that Seven seems to specialize in. I got a build-your-own sachet box with one of every fruity oolong they carry, along with some flavored black teas. And then I also picked up their fruity white tea sampler, which has two sachets each of five different varieties.

This is the first one I’m trying, and it’s nice. It’s a shou mei base with lychee flavor, and the shou mei is deep and flavorful without being too woody or autumn leaf-y. Some nice dried fruit notes pop out at the end, something like apricot and maybe a bit of golden raisin. The lychee is a lovely complement, not overpowering and even not noticeable on first sip, but it makes itself apparent midway through, and adds a lovely refreshing sweet and floral top note.

Off to a good start for sure. I think I’ll try the other sachet cold-steeped, I saw that they had instructions for it on the package, and I bet lychee would be the perfect flavor for it!

This one and the pineapple one, the Lychee black, and the summer jasmine black are all my favorites. I couldn’t get enough of this one. It’s soooo juicy hot and cold brewed. I also got a minimum of four resteeps for it without losing much lustre. The orchid notes of the TGY blend very well with it. This particular fruit oolong is greener and fresher than some of the other blends. I don’t know if it’s the lychee, or what. I wish I got more of this one, even though I got a whole box of it. Definitely a top tea for the year so far. I feel so basic that I’m enjoying this more than some of my high quality Gaoshan too.