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Additional notes: ICED! Just a quick note on this one iced. Really, I just dumped some leaves in the mason jar without measuring like I usually do! After two days in the fridge, the flavor is mostly roses and not really any black tea. Most people probably wouldn’t like the flavor of the roses without the black tea, but I’m loving the flowery goodness. It tastes like summer.

I had been wanting to request more samples from Teavivre but I kind of felt guilty about it and I thought I’d drink up some of my other teas first anyway. BUT Angel from Teavivre sent me a message on Steepster saying she was sending me some samples anyway! Well, if they are offering, I will certainly not say no! So THANK YOU for the amazing generous sample package! I always love Teavivre’s teas, so this will be fantastic. Tan Yang’s are the next tea I HAD to try, thanks to the reviews I’ve seen here on Steepster. The descriptions of Tan Yangs sounded like they’d be my new favorite.

I wanted to follow Teavivre’s steep instructions: This means 185 degrees with FOUR teaspoons of tea for 8 ounces with 1-3 minute steeping times. So I used three teaspoons of these lovely mostly golden yellow wirey leaves (which is probably the most leaves I’ve ever used for any tea).

First steep // A minute thirty seconds. I let the water cool a while after boiling. Sadly, I have no way to tell what temp my water is. The flavor is divine, but it seems like the water was cooled too long for a black tea. But I will certainly follow Teavivre’s instructions at least for the first batch of leaves since they kindly sent me the samples. This is so good, but I wish I knew why this was called a Tan Yang. I’m going to take a guess that it’s because this tea is from Tanyang Village? It seems like a lighter Yunnan tea. I know Yunnans come from Yunnan. But this is a Fujian tea (and from the few teas I’ve had that I’ve known are from there, they seem like they have charcoal accents.) Anyway, the flavors here: a bit of smoke somehow (is that the Fujian?), sweet potato, honey, molasses… but on a lighter scale, probably because the steep temp is so low.

Second steep // Hotter & two minutes. This one had a deeper flavor, but still very similar to the first cup. I must have steeped it just the right way with the increase in time & temp to get it that way. I definitely suggest using three teaspoons for this one since I can see how it would be way too light tasting with only one teaspoon. Very good!

Third steep // Just boiled for 4 minutes. Cup number three had a slight flavor that reminded me of what I would call the Fujian flavor: something like charcoal. But it is just enough to be intriguing… not overpowering. The cup color is now a deep red rather than orange. More malty goodness!

I always thought that the few Fujian teas I’ve tried were so charcoal-like that they were my least favorites. But I’ve learned that not all Fujian teas are the same. I guess every tea IS my cup of tea! Oh no!

Additional notes: I want to thank both Dinosara and Momo for selling/sending little pouches of this one. I had a little pouch too, but this is my FAVORITE PUMPKIN TEA!! I just love that there is actual pumpkin pie filling in this blend, I just wish there were moooorrree. Pumpkin pie filling is just genius and should be an idea for all those pumpkin teas that just add spices in it. So I can definitely see going through three small pouches of this! I accidentally steeped this one for 20 minutes, but it was still delicious!

Additional notes: Sample sipdown! It seems I’ve been drinking many 52s lately. I’m sad to see this one go. I don’t know if it was because of how old it was or the little bag it was in (I just ordered these that are hopefully better for my baggie teas: http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-3-5×5-Ziplock-1-oz-Stand-Up-Pouches-Bags-SUP-AA-Clear-Silver-/310664301525 I asked Dinosara where she gets hers!) But the flavor wasn’t quite as bergamot as I remembered, so it doesn’t fill my bergamot craving but this is the 52teas that I’ve tried with the most cheesecake flavor. I haven’t tried them all though!

A random tea bag I had around… it’s a bit old but it isn’t bad! It isn’t a strong tasting tea if it’s a black tea (after 3 minutes), but the flavors of the southern fruits are surprisingly pretty tasty. The tea package shows pear, peach, apricot and apple (I think). I’m getting mostly pear and apple. It’s very nice! I wouldn’t mind having more of these around.

Additional notes: sample sipdown! This odd duck is done now. So the last time I didn’t use enough leaf because I had those infusers that only held one teaspoon. Now I have a brew basket, so it was around two teaspoons. Even though this tea has aged even more since the last time I had it, the flavor is still the same as I remember it. It’s just a weird minty, chocolatey, cinnamony, spicy, chamomiley blend. I’d call it a waste of the Laoshan Black, but I don’t seem to love it as much as anyone else. My tastebuds just don’t find the magic of this one somehow. That’s too bad! And here’s hoping that this is the only one.

First to review this one? How did that happen? I’m always up for trying any new blends from Della Terra. I must admit though… I think I’m falling out of love with rooibos because it seems that any rooibos likes to leave tiny rooibos pieces to irritate the back of my throat that is already bothering me, no matter how well my infuser does with screening out the rooibos. I think they are really tiny pieces! I have no idea why I’m just noticing that now. But I don’t think it would be a problem if rooibos was made out of bigger pieces. Anyway, this blend didn’t have that affect as much as other blends.

I was looking for the little ice cream bits here but wasn’t able to spot many in my sample. If I think about it now, rooibos almost naturally seems like root beer somehow. The flavor and fragrance is almost there anyway. But there is a root beer flavor here… I just wish there was more. And more creaminess. Next time I’ll try two teaspoons.

Additional notes: ICED! Have I mentioned this is my favorite image on a tea package? I LOVE it. This one is delightful iced. I was afraid the green tea would be bitter but it isn’t at all! Two teaspoons in a mason jar for two days. The blueberry cotton candy flavor is as present as it could be! I think even more that it was hot unless I didn’t steep it perfect. And I love the two giant blueberries floating the mason jar. So good!

Additional notes: Sample sipdown! If I had known how good this one was, I would have ordered it so long ago. It has aged surprisingly well. I guess I liked this cup better than the last after reading the tasting notes for the last time. It’s a tasty flavor, so I’m uping the rating.

Element seemed to have been back in business for a while but I sent them an e-mail weeks ago asking what was going on and never got a reply. I had no idea they started again, so I wish they would have sent an e-mail to past customers that they were open again. Maybe no one knew and they closed again! I was very happy with the teas they carried.

Thank you CrowKettle for a bit of this to try! I love yerba mates but it’s odd that this is paired with rooibos. The fragrance of the leaves is very sweet. I think they add something to make it honey-like. The taste of it kind of reminds me of 52Teas cheesecake flavor but that doesn’t really make any sense either. haha. It has the same creamy silkiness I guess. But I really love this one! Not too much of a lemon flavor, but I do like the sweet flavor that is here and the earthiness from the yerba mate. I think I’ve liked most of the DavidsTeas I’ve tried so far, when I kind of thought they’d be gimmicky for some reason!