New Tasting Notes

I really wanted to like this. I’m very picky about rooibos in general so that’s probably what I don’t like about this one. It’s hard to pinpoint though.

Something smells off about the dry leaves, which is probably the rooibos. The taste isn’t terrible when it’s really hot but as it starts to cool, it got harder and harder to drink. I get the “lemon chiffon” quality b/c there’s definitely a creamy/vanilla flavor with the lemon. It just has a sour flavor that reminds me of sour cream. On nachos – yum! In my tea, not so much.

Still, I think it’s ultimately the rooibos that’s ruining this for me. If you really enjoy rooibos, take this review with a grain of salt.

Not as sweet as previous years, but still with a comforting aroma and mouthfeel. There’s a slight smokiness I’m not used to finding in teas that don’t come from Yunnan (as far as I know this tea hails from the East coast of China), but it’s very subtle in the manner of Dian Lu Eshan Mao Feng or a light infusion of a white pu-erh. The combination of the slight sweetness and slight smokiness bring to mind the taste of a perfect mango.

The second and third infusions were just as good, although the sweetness retreats as the smokiness takes hold. After the third I thought I might be drinking the last infusions of a delicious green pu-erh.

Floral and honey notes, certainly! But what I also find interesting about this is…the scent. The scent reminds me of being out in nature…like in the middle of the woods or even on a beach…those familiar nature-smells! Then when you taste it…it’s not really what you expect…altho even more pleasant. There is a soothing and lingering yummy aftertaste, too!

Just got this one in and I must say it is growing on me. I do believe that this is a tea that benefits from adding stevia and milk. I purchased this with the hope that it would make a good breakfast tea and it does! Bold and brisk, this is a “wake up” tea.
So hoorah for me and kudos to Dan~tea drinker from Drink The Leaf for a Ceylon well done! Oh, and let me mention this, I ordered these teas on Monday and got them on Wednesday! I got 6 ounces of tea(3 different kinds) for $17 plus shipping $22 total!

Wow. I’ve posted so rarely about this tea, it’s been moved to the ever end of my cupboard.

I’m enjoying this and its faint nuttyness this morning, because I have it bagged and thus don’t need to drag out any infusers, which I have already packed away. I’m going camping with my family.

I packed pretty much as many teabags and small travel-tins of tea as I could. I didn’t have a travel-tin for it, so I threw my tin of A&D’s Caravan right into the bag. You CAN’T forget your SMOKY TEAS when you’re going camping of all places. My father was DELIGHTED to learn that I was going to bring the ‘bacon tea’.

My backpack is filled with art supplies and tea. …There are some clothes in there as well—those I could fit around the other two.

I just had a splash of Smart Balance milk left, so I dumped it in. Not really a “splash” kinda girl when it comes to milk in my chai, but what else am I gonna do w/ this little bit of milk?

Blech… extremely watery spicy chocolate milk…

Bai Lin Gong Fu black tea won the top prize of Three Star Gold. Only 91 products out of over 6,000 entries achieved three stars!!!!

I received a nice sample size of this today and must say it is much different that I remember it! I know I liked it before but WOW! This time around it is even better!

Right out of the package the aroma smacks you in the face!!! I like a loud tea! BUT…the smell was much different that I remember and unlike anything I have ever smelled! GET READY FOR THIS!!!!! The smell of this reminds me of Ravioli! A bready/Tomato type smell and I just LOVE it!!! Truly unique!

The taste is also much different…and I like that! It’s a little cakey but creamy!!! It’s a full and fairly bold RED – or Black tea taste – at the beginning and leads you into a lovely mellow aftertaste. The aftertaste encourages you to sip more!

I really like this!

This is a lovely green – refreshing. Kind of smells like celery and tastes very pure!

Having more of this, this morning…and throughout the day…lol (I don’t think there’s a minute in the day I don’t have tea in my hand while at work). Takes forever for the water to cool down to be drinkable, but its worth the wait haha. I also tried re-steeping the bag some yesterday and was able to get 3 uses out of it before I decided to trash it. Pretty good stuff!

WOW! This tea is one of a kind IMO. I bought the limited edition tin because I thought it was cute (I have a thing for cute tins LOL) and just hoped that I would like it enough to make all of the tea that came with it, since I normally will buy a sample or a small sized pouch first to “taste test it”. Anyways, I am so glad I got this in the larger amount! I opened it up and smelled it and it smelled like a fresh, juicy peach and a bit of sugared rose petals to just give it that extra exquisiteness. This is the perfect balance of flavors, the oolong tastes very good and the peach tastes 100% natural and the bit of the sugary rose is subtle and nice compliment to the fruit to give it that extra oomph! This will be one of my “must have this tea on hand at all times”! Also, I had this hot and I can hardly wait to try it iced as I am sure it will be even better! I think I will go ahead and order another pouch of this now to have on hand as back up…I can see myself making pitchers of this iced for summer!

I decided that today would be a wonderful day to drink tea allllllllllll day long. I have a ton of work, rain is threatening, and I’m exhausted (drawing class last night! So satisfying, but drawing for nearly 3 hours in an unairconditioned studio after a full day in the office will drain you!).

I decided to treat myself to my last, precious Dragon Ball (courtesy of SoccerMom!! THANK YOU SoccerMom).

Oh, it’s so good. It just has EVERYTHING as you cycle through the infusions. That good tea flavor. A bit of roasty. A bit of floral. A bit of milky. A bit of buttery bakey french pastry (yes, that specific. I think it tastes like a croissant!). Cinnamon and nutmeg. This is absolutely one of my favorite teas. I am trying to enjoy it to its fullest, and not dwell on the fact that this is my last one for awhile, until I’m “allowed” to order again!

EDIT: It’s 4:32 and I’ve just done my last steep for the workday. I think this is number 8 or 9. It’s still completely delicious and amazing. Love, love, love this tea.

Felt like a toasty morning tea – it was between this and Den’s Houjicha, and this one seems to be hitting the spot. I’m tasting less of the vegetal element this time around than last, though it is still there. Since trying this the first time, I still haven’t gotten around to ordering a straight matcha to experiment with, but tasting this is renewing my determination to do so. I went to a great little shop in San Francisco when I was there a few weeks ago that specialized in all kinds of Japanese things (just had to pick up some forms for making sticky rice into star and heart shapes!) and they had some nice looking teas – unfortunately I didn’t take the plunge and buy any of them. I know there is matcha in my future though…

The steeped tea was fun to pour out of the teapot. When I started to pour the tea into the pitcher it was a light yellowish orange color, then all of a sudden a blood red color comes out of the spout of the teapot. This gave the tea a dark red hue. The aroma of the tea is a mix of vanilla and mint with a licorice aroma in the background.

Wow, what an interesting combination of flavors and sensations. At first I taste the sweet vanilla, and then I feel the coolness of the mint. I few seconds later I feel the heat from the cinnamon in the back of my throat.

The tea isn’t has heavy or bold as I thought it would be. Steeping pu erh for five minutes scared me because I know how bold they can be. However, this one tastes more like an herbal tea. The only thing I’m getting from the pu erh is some astringency. It isn’t bitter at all. In fact, the sweetness from the vanilla and the coolness from the mint make it rather refreshing.

The taste is… unlike other green teas. It tastes nutty and buttery. It also has a sweet, honey-like flavor to it. There isn’t much of a grassy or vegetal taste to this green tea. The boldness of this tea matches that of oolong tea – roasted notes that linger for quite some time.

This should not be an intro tea to those trying greens for the first time as it is rather bold and astringent. The tea isn’t bitter, but the intensity of the roasted flavor can be a surprise. Although, if you want to drink green tea and you don’t particularly like the grassy taste, this would be a good one to try as it has darker qualities similar to oolong and black tea.

With that said, this is a great tea for those who are tired of the same old stuff. This Houjicha is a rather complex tea and it surprises me every time I take another sip. I have to remind myself that this is a green tea even though the taste is unlike anything else.

Started my day with this! See my previous review! Also log on to http://sororiteasisters.com for a longer review!

Refreshed for an 8th-10th infusion.
Still has a great mix of aromas that continue to shift around. Smell of a warm willow-covered sandbar on a riverbend. Redwood rich spices… clove, cinnamon, and bits of roasted ginger and tannin. Earthenware fresh from a kiln. Bouquet of flowers. I’m getting definitive Cymbidium Orchid aroma. Astringency plays off mild acidity nicely – crisp and mouthwatering in the back lower corners of the mouth sort of near where my tonsils once were. Makes my breath sweet like fresh toasted seeded crackerbread. Bit of black plum pit juicy tang in aftertaste.

Shorter steep. Sweeter flavor. Raised rating.

If memory serves me correctly…this is one of the first teas I reviewed on here, just under a year ago…I still love this tea, but it got buried in the avalanche that is my cabinet and on top of my counter tops, microwave and into baskets strewn throughout my kitchen. I have since found it and not stopped drinking it.

It’s base is Earl Grey, as we have discussed, I do not like the Earl so I tend to avoid him, but the issue I have with EG is the Burgamot. I do not like it, not at all, something about it, it is sour, it is sweet, it is slightly floral, but there is no depth of levels, it is one-dimensional and I do not enjoy it. Enough complaining. This tea, though Earl Grey based has little-to-no Burgamot, it instead swings right into a malty tea from China, then a crisp English Breakfast tea followed by a deeper rich flavor from Indian tea finished with a hint of Jasmine. The four flavors, though do not seem like they would meld, actually blend and compliment each other very nicely. They infuse into one complex mouth flavor that has levels of delicious depth with natural sweetness and crisp end feel free of any black tea twang.

I infuse tea hot, 3 minutes, no additives. The left over 2 ounces I let infuse about 3 more minutes then add cold water and pop it in the fridge to be iced for later.

This tea is excellent either way!