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Another new sample to try! YAY!

I drank this one all day. It is a solid shu. I found the first couple of steeps to be quite sweet, but also had a lot of camphor notes. Apparently I like camphor notes in sheng but not shu… After that the steeps were more balanced, and quite nice. I will definitely finish the rest of my sample but this is not one I would seek out to purchase. I love trying new teas though, it’s my favorite! :D

I’ve been drooling over tasting notes of this tea for months now. Thank you Tealizzy for sending me a sample! :D

The oolong itself is your typical tightly rolled green oolong, but there was also this crazy neon green spiky piece of sugar candy in with the leaf! Looked like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Kompeito_konpeito.JPG

The flavor is strikingly similar to these little individually wrapped muskmelon candies the local Vietnamese restaurant gives out at the end of the meal in lieu of a mint. I really like those candies and the flavor pairs very well with green oolong. Also this is fantastic iced! I drank it kind of fast because I just came in from hours of yard work. I finally planted my fall crop of lettuce, beets, green onion and fancy radishes :)

I enjoyed every sip! Would consider ordering this some day, especially for iced tea. Thanks again Tealizzy!

I got another sample of this tea from another most generous Steepsterite! Thank you SO much! And this time I even brewed it properly, LOL.

Man, I have to be honest here…I didn’t WANT this one to live up to be hype. I didn’t WANT to fall in love! But alas, this tea is everything everyone says about it and more. Seriously ridiculously good. I had a couple of non-tea drinkers taste my cup, and they really thought there was some chocolate in there! Nope, just two insanely good black teas and some vanilla beans. sigh I combined steeps one and two in a hot-to-go mug. I got notes of cocoa, tart cherries, pastry, malt…even some powdered sugar notes. GAH! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO GOOD!!! Sigh. Expensive tea but worth it. I’m a convert! Maybe my fave black tea of all time now??? Ambrosia!

starts saving pennies

:)

I got this from an amazingly generous Steepsterite, who just wanted to expand my puerh horizons! You know who you are and thank you SO much!!!! <3

It was so much fun to have a WHOLE tangerine to bust open! I have to say, this is much better than the 2009 stuffed tangerine puerh I had a sample of from Teavivre. The shu just seems to be higher quality! The tangerine flavor itself is very subtle (I don’t think I got any bits of peel in my gaiwan this time though.) The shu is rich and creamy and earthy without any ‘off’ flavors. I was sad when the leaves finally gave up, which always speaks well of any tea :)

I totally thought I had reviewed this one before, but I guess not! This is another sample from my huge box of TeaUrchin sheng samples my husband got me for my birthday back in June. Best gift EVER!

After my recent blissful experience with the 2012 Spring version of this tea (insanely good flavor and strong cha qi!) otherwise known as “One thousand butterflies” I decided to revisit this one for comparison.

This harvest is also quite wonderful. It is a bit more mellow, not as floral or as insanely sweet but still well balanced. I get a warm richness from this fall harvest. Early steeps are quite bold. Tastes like colorful autumn leaves instead of spring flowers. Very light pleasant bitterness and no astringency. It is not exactly buttery but I keep thinking of browned butter as I drink. Third steep in I start to get that lingering herbal/spiced aftertaste in the back of my throat. Ahh, sheng. You’re my pal :)

I haven’t been posting as many reviews lately because Steepster has been so flipping annoying!

Anyway, I’ve been experimenting with mixing this tea with loose leaf shu. mad scientist laugh The first time I tried it didn’t turn out so hot. I did 1tsp of this tea and 1tsp of shu. It was too weak in the flavor department. This time I did 2tsp of this tea and 1tsp of bu lang gong ting and it is just about perfect! My cup is about 12 oz. The shu just bumps up the base note of this tea, making it even richer and earthier. Good times. Happy Friday everyone!

Almost sipped this one down today. One serving left. I used to really enjoy it but it pales in comparison to some of the lovely TeaUrchin shengs I’ve been drinking lately. Oh well, at least it is almost gone :)