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I found a box at Safeway, and it’s almost May! WAHOO I am reunited with a long-lost love!

I’m really glad I ordered this tea. White teas are hit and miss with me, but this surprised me. I love jasmine in almost all forms, but I was really worried the white tea would taste like hay. Thankfully this tastes more like a green tea to me. Kind of nutty but so amazingly smooth and sweet because of the jasmine. It’s a great blend. I tried it at 85 and 80 degrees, and i find it best at the lower temperature. A cold brew is next.

On a sad note, I’m drinking this while holding my breath for the Canucks. Down a goal already in game 4. I need a stiff drink to keep watching this. I was expecting to watch more than 4 games of playoff hockey this year!

EDIT: WE WON!

I am head over heels in love with Chinese greens lately. Thanks TeaVivre for sending some delicious samples this way! I want to finish each green individually so I get a good idea of the taste and subtleties, since my taste buds have been slightly dulled by super strong coffee over the years.
This is my first Mao Jian as well, and it reminds me of the premium dragonwell I sampled recently from this company; more vegetal and less buttery. I have been enjoying several cups after work lately and it makes me feel cleansed. I would say this tea caps at four steeps. That was a stretch for me, but it seems like four was the max for some other people as well. I suppose it depends on your taste buds though.

I bought 100g on a whim, thinking that there was no way I wouldn’t like this tisane. Aaaand I was right! This is so delicious with a little bit of sugar; it has a very blueberry flavour although the roselle makes it quite tart. I enjoy the colour it gives off though. After trying a few hot cups of this tisane (2 tsp loose tea), I brewed up a big mug and let it cool to use in blueberry pancakes. It didn’t impart any extra flavour into the pancakes that I could notice. Next time I will use more than 2 tsp of loose tea for baking purposes.

This is going to be awesome over ice this summer.

Things I like about this tea:

1. Green is always a plus.
2. So is mint.

Things I don’t like about this tea:

1. All mint and no green taste for me. It’s puzzling…
2. Not getting very much, if any, vanilla flavour. There is a mild vanilla note on the tip of the tongue, but not always.
3. I can’t stand the second steep! This is definitely a 1-steep wonder for me. Second steep smells and tastes like minty rubber.
4. A little on the bitter side.

I should state that this isn’t BAD in any way, it’s just not as great as I had hoped. Drinkable, but it crushes me that I can’t get through a second steep.

So there you have it. I’m sipping this one all the way down today. I grabbed it from a random pile of teas at 5 am in the dark, so the fact that I picked this on St. Patrick’s Day is quite convenient.

Thank you Tommy the Toad for this tea!

This smells like caramel on the first whiff, but then I totally smell maple. With a bit of sugar this is really tasty and the base isn’t as harsh as previous Adagio flavoured black teas that i’ve tried. Definitely all maple though. I’m not getting anything “chestnutty” but it works for me just the same.

In terms of what can be summarized as the better jasmine green from TeaVivre, I would say this is second to the Dragon Pearls. The jasmine in this loose blend is not as sweet and light as its rolled counterparts. Also, this tea is smooth, but it does get bitter quick, as in 2nd steep quick. Maybe it’s my water quality. shrugs Overall, this is quite tasty but lacks in flavour and re-steep quality. Far better than the last loose jasmine green in my cupboard.

sample provided by TeaVivre

I purchased this tea from TeaVivre, along with a huge amount of Dragon Pearls and blueberry fruit tea. You can’t go wrong with 350g of tea for 36 bucks with fast, free shipping to the other side of the world. I had to include this tea with my order, even though I’ve never tried a milk oolong before. The reviews were already looking promising, so I took the plunge. Now I wish I bought more than 50g!

This is soooooo delicious! The leaves look like polished jade rocks of beautiful oolong goodness. I steeped 3 tsp in a 250ml gaiwan for a minute, with no rinse. The result was a lovely flavour that reminded me of sweetened condensed milk mixed with a buttery taste found in good quality oolongs. I wish the milk notes lasted more than one steep though. The second cup had almost no milkiness left, but this is still a damn good oolong.