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_Experience buying from Sanctuary T http://steepster.com/places/2940-sanctuary-t-online-new-york-new-york?visit=1642

Age of leaf: Unknown; received this as a free sample after a mishap with shipping.

Packaging: simple transparent bag with a thin cardboard top with the company name and the name of the tea.

Aroma of dry leaf: Very aromatic.

Brewing guidelines: In sixteen-OZ ceramic cup with metal basket strainer; stevia added.
……….1st: Just off the boil; 3’
……….2nd: boiling; 5’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: looks like the color of chocolate and smells like chocolate.

Flavor of tea liquor: Tasty, chocolaty, but some flavor in here doesn’t quite go well with the chocolate.

Overall: It’s, OK, but not what I was hoping for. I like their straight rooibos better than this. Still, not a bad tasting tea.

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in autumn 2011; I received this sample of tea in late autumn and brewed it up not long after.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Tiny, tightly-curled, wiry, dark-brown (almost black) leaves and buds, very similar in shape to the early summer Laoshan green. It smelled incredible: it reminded me of a few Wuyi Oolong teas I have had—which I guess I would characterize as roasted—but somehow better (possibly sweeter).

Brewing guidelines ~4 tsp = 4 cups water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely (I acknowledge that this particular thin glass pot is probably not the best to use for a black tea, due to it not holding the heat very well from more than a couple of minutes, but I wanted to watch the leaves brew and be able to see the color—which I really enjoy doing, especially the first time I brew up the tea). Stevia added.
……….1st: boiling, and slightly warmed pot, 2’ (I ended up only using 2.5 cups for the first steeping)
……….2nd: boiling, and warmed pot, 3.5’
……….3rd: boiling, and very warmed pot, 5’
……….4th: boiling, and if possible, even more warmed pot, 7’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: dark brown; < later on the aroma >

Flavor of tea liquor: Oh … my … goodness; when I first tried it, the taste—as with the aroma of the leaves—reminded me vaguely of a Wuyi oolong, but once I really started to savor this tea I realized that it tasted like nothing I have had before. I admit that I still feel like a child when it comes to discerning the various flavors and aromas in a tea, but amongst all the other flavors in here, I think there is some caramel (I really enjoy any kind of caramel flavor in my black tea). The leaves held up very well through four steepings with great flavor, and no astringency—even after having been steeped over 7 minutes. Based on my notes below, I think this could have yielded flavor for up to at least five steepings; alas, I stopped at four and composted the leaves before I really took the time to taste the tea liquor.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: Very high quality: very few broken pieces, and very consistent color throughout; about the same aroma as the dry leaf, but possibly not as sweet smelling.

Value: expensive for me, based on my current budget, but still worth having on occasion; and great to give as a gift.

Overall: For various reasons, I generally enjoy drinking green teas, and I brew up a black tea on occasion. So far I have been VERY impressed with all of Verdant’s green teas, and I had an opportunity to try a sample of this black tea from Laoshan, the same village where most of Verdant’s green teas are harvested. Once I opened the package, and smelled, looked over, and tasted the liquor that I coaxed from the leaves it didn’t take long for me to be impressed with everything about this tea. It is the most unusual tasting black tea I have ever had (I don’t just value good flavor, I also value uniqueness). And yet, I was not certain whether or not to buy any (especially after dropping some $$$ on Teavana’s sale teas). But something finally tipped the balance. stay with me, if you can On the evening of the day I brewed up this glorious tea I remember absentmindedly (that’s kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it?) reaching for my cup, sitting half-forgotten on the kitchen table (do any of the rest of you have various cups just sitting around with different kinds of tea in them, ones you didn’t get a chance to finish, and then simply pick one of them up later and sip at it to see what’s in there?). And then, whilst sitting at my computer, I took a sip and, WOW! I was amazed at the flavor! It was the forth steeping, and tepid to boot! So I thought, “If it still tastes good like that, this is a tea worth having around!” Then I found myself thinking, “You already have enough tea, you dope.” And then my next thought was, “Shame on you for even thinking of denying yourself something this incredible (and for calling yourself a dope)!” That is what tipped the balance, and why I decided to finally dip into my not-so-deep coffers and buy this tea (I think my better part won out, don’t you?); the fact that buying from David, and knowing where the tea comes from, is more more rewarding for me than buying from some-big-chain-tea-retailer-that-largely-makes-it’s-home-in-malls helped make the decision even easier. Hurray! For small farms, small online tea retailers, the He family, Verdant Tea, and great tasting tea!

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in autumn 2011; I received the tea in early winter and brewed it up not long after (I also included notes about their spring harvested Dragon Well style tea in this review). I slightly updated this on 6/5/2012.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Looks beautiful! Light and dark green bud sets (or sparrow’s tongues), with some yellow color mixed in here and there. Very mild, but fresh, aroma.

Brewing guidelines About 5 tsp = 5 cups water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely. Stevia added.
……….1st: 175, 1’
……….2nd: 180, 1.5’
……….3rd: 182, 2’
……….4th: 183, 3’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: light amber color; good, fresh aroma.

Flavor of tea liquor Fresh, sweet, chocolate-y, tasty; it has what I think is called a full mouth/full bodied feel. It had great flavor up through and including the forth steeping.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: smells fresh and very aromatic; all whole beautiful looking leaves, buds and bud-sets; no broken pieces.

Value: expensive for any tea by my standards: (as of 6/4-2012) it is roughly $10 / OZ when you buy four ounces of it; but it’s worth having some around for special occasions, and great to give as a gift!

Overall: Although, as LiberTeas pointed out in her review of this tea, it is not technically ‘DragonWell’, it is by far the best ‘Dragon Well style’ tea I have ever tasted (it tastes as good as the Laoshan spring harvested DragonWell); and with one or two exceptions, I think it is the best green tea I have ever tasted. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something different about the aroma and the taste of this tea than any other green tea I’ve had. The leaves remained on top of my Bodum for every steeping, which seems to be a good indicator that this is indeed a quality tea. I really like the contrast of the light and dark green colors of the dry leaf; it is clearly one the the highest quality teas I have ever seen. I love the complexity, the sweetness, and the unique flavor of this tea! You go, He family and Verdant tea!

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in early summer; I received the tea in mid to late fall and brewed it up right away.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Tiny tightly curled, wiry dark-green leaves and buds. Aroma is earthy, and my mouth started watering when I really started taking in the smell of the leaves; it was as if the aroma triggered some autonomic reaction in my body to remind me of the importance of eating healthy green vegetables! That was a very interesting experience! (I suspect this may happen with other quality green teas) It seems that there is a nutty note hiding somewhere in there, too.

Brewing guidelines I have taken information from more than two separate steeping sessions into consideration for this review (I list the parameters for only two). On the first steeping session I used my standard green tea parameters, including using one rounded tsp tea per cup of water; on the second session (below, in parenthesis) I used hotter water, steeped it longer, and I used a little more than one rounded tsp of tea per cup of water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely. Stevia added.
……….1st: 172, 1’ (182, 1.5’)
……….2nd: 177, 1.5 (179, 2’)
……….3rd: 182, 2’ (187, 3’)
……….4th: 185, 2.5 (190’, 4’)

Color and aroma of tea liquor: < Later on the color >; Slightly sweet and vegetal aroma, pleasant.

Flavor of tea liquor It’s funny that I can’t find any details in my notes for this, the most important detail! However, what matters most is that my wife and I both like it. And I ­*can* remember that it tastes fresh, vegetal, slightly sweet, and I think there is a hint of chocolate running around in there (but I may be thinking of the Laoshan Dragonwell).

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: Smells of fresh cooked spinach. <I still need to do my standard wet leaf analysis, but from what I remember when I composted it, I think the tea will be comprised mostly of whole leaves and buds>

Value: Good. This is David’s least expensive unflavored green and at his ‘bulk’ prices (or on sale) this tea is affordable for me.

Overall: The appearance of the dry leaves (and later, the wet leaves) impressed me right away, as I have never seen anything like it before. I like the aroma of both the leaves and the tea liquor. Yet, while I liked so many things about this tea, I was not impressed with the flavor in the first steeping session; not that it was bad, it was simply weak. So I emailed the owner, looked at the reviews on Steepster, and used the information from David’s reply and the reviews to make adjustments to my steeping parameters: go with higher temperatures for longer periods of time, and slightly increase the tea to water ratio; Lo, and behold! I got much stronger flavor! It does have a bit of astringency if brewed too long, but it doesn’t really distract from the enjoyment of the tea. I enjoy watching the leaves as they steep while hanging on the top and bottom of my glass Bodum pot; none of the lower grade green teas hold themselves in such high esteem! I really wanted to like this tea; and it turns out my perseverance—giving it a number of chances—paid off! I do really like this tea. Thank you David, and a big thank you to the He family in Shandong Province, China.

Experience buying from Teavivre http://steepster.com/places/2857-teavivre-online—

Age of leaf: advertised as spring 2011. Received fall 2011, brewed up days later.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Characteristic Bi Lou Chun green tea look: a mixture of fuzzy, curly light and dark green leaves and buds; vegetal aroma.

Brewing guidelines: based on past experience, I used longer steeping times that my standard green tea parameters normally call for. Loose in glass Bodum pot. Stevia added.
……….1st: 172, 2’
……….2nd: 177. 2.5’
……….3rd: 180, 3.5’
……….4th: 185, 5’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: cloudy greenish yellow; slightly vegetal.

Flavor of tea liquor: similar to other Bi Lou Chun green teas I have had: mildly vegetal, with notes which have a pleasant roasted flavor, or something else earthy or smoky; I don’t exactly know how to describe it, but I know I like it.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: the leaves were hanging on top and standing on the bottom of the pot during the second steeping: very cool! Fairly decent quality leaf: a number for whole leaves and buds, a few bud sets and fewer stems, and many smallish sized broken pieces throughout.

Value: This is the least expensive Bi Lou Chun I have tried (less than $3/oz); it is a great value for the quality.

Overall: This BLC has good flavor, which held up fairly well through the third steeping (there was a little mild flavor on the forth); even on the forth steeping there was no astringency what-so-ever. This seems to me like a decent grade Bi Lo Chun. I could easily drink this daily.

Experience buying from @Ashley: I bought this tea from Ashley when she was selling all of her tea. I received the tea quickly through the mail and my package was filled with many surprises. Thank you Ashley!

Note: I got this as a sample from Ashley and brewed it up not long after receiving it.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: looks like small nuts and dried pieces of fruit; smelled sweet, herbal, and fruity.

Brewing guidelines: 2 tsp, 2 cups of water; I used a metal basket strainer inside a 16 oz ceramic cup, such that I put a lid over the top to keep the heat in. Cup was warmed before steeping. Stevia added.
…………….1st: 195, 2’
…………….2nd: near boiling, 3’
…………….3rd: boiling, 5’
…………….4th: boiling, 10’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: beautiful pale red, reminiscent of the color of watermelon! Smelled great, too! One odd thing: there were very small green bits floating on top which must have been flavorings small enough to make it though the strainer.

Flavor of tea liquor: I iced this, per the directions, putting all four steepings together in a pitcher with ice, and chilling it overnight. The resulting flavor was on the mild side (expected due to the way I combined all four steepings), but sweet and flavorful: just like watermelon!

Overall: I was impressed with how it looked and tasted like watermelon. A great iced tea for watermelon fans!

NOTE: I am writing this review after having brewed it up many times since I first tried it.

Experience buying from Jing Tea Shop http://steepster.com/places/2780-jing-tea-shop-on-line—

Age of leaf: I received this tea in early June 2011 and brewed it as soon as I got it and many times thereafter (the tea is listed as 2011 early spring harvest).

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: lots of straight, dark green gently curved leaves and buds (which seems to be characteristic of HSMF green tea); vegetal, smoky.

Brewing guidelines: I used my standard green tea parameters: loose in glass Bodum pot; four 8-ounce cups of water used; Stevia added to compliment flavor.
…………….1st: 170, 1’
…………….2nd: 175, 1.5’
…………….3rd: 180, 2’
…………….4th: 190, 2.5’

Aroma: slightly smoky.

Color of liquor: light yellow.

Wet leaf: lots of bud sets, and a number of buds, whole leaves, and virtually no stems: beautiful.

Blends well with: other smoky green teas, like green Yunnans.

Flavor: fresh, vegetal, smoky.

Value: This tea is a bargain for under $3 an ounce.

Overall: Of the four HSMF teas I have tried, I think this one is my favorite. Although this one did not have very flavorful third and forth steepings, overall I like the aroma, the look of the leaves (dry, wet, and while steeping), and the smoky green tea flavor—-all which seem to be characteristic of HSMF. Although for various reasons I currently drink this tea on occasion, I could easily drink this tea on a regular basis.

Experience buying from @Ashley: I bought this tea from Ashley when she was selling all of her tea. I received the tea quickly through the mail and my package was filled with many surprises. Thank you Ashley!

Age of leaf: bought sometime in October, brewed up mid-November.

Packaging: 52Teas packaging is very professional: small silver zip locked bags with a clear front that has a 3” X 3” label on it which has the name of the tea, an ingredient list, and an expertly created picture of the food item that the tea replicates.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: CTC leaf with bits of banana; smells just like banana bread, incredible!

_Brewing guidelines: two tsp. dry tea for 16 ounces of water. I used a metal basket strainer inside a ceramic 16 oz. cup, such that I put a lid over the top to keep the heat in. Cup was warmed before steeping. Stevia added.
…………….1st: slightly off the boil, 2’
…………….2nd: near boiling, 4’
…………….3rd: boiling, 6’
…………….4th: boiling, 10’

Aroma of tea liquor: Spot on banana bread!

Flavor of tea liquor: hard to get the HBBB flavor on the first steeping when still hot, but when cooled I could totally taste it. Good flavor up through three steepings.

Aroma of wet leaf: I believe the aroma here was the same as with the liquor itself: spot on!

Overall: I do have to admit that I am not a big banana flavored person, and that is why I didn’t rate this tea as high I have a few other teas of Franks. Having said that, this one’s still a keeper, especially if you love banana bread as there is clearly banana bread flavor swimming around all over in this cup! Next time I will have to search for the butter, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all it I can find it doing the breaststroke right next to the banana bread. Right as I was in the middle of writing this up, I went to Steepster to verify something about the description of the tea, and I glanced at the number of ratings and at the overall rating of the tea itself (which I try not to do before I review and rate a tea); I noticed that there are lots of reviews, and the tea has a high rating. Wow. I may be a little tough on my ratings, but I am certainly with the crowd on the reviews on this one. You rock, Frank!

(These notes are a rough approximation taken from memory; I hope to update at a later time)

Experience buying from @Ashley: I bought this tea from Ashley when she was selling all of her tea. I received the tea quickly through the mail and my package was filled with many surprises. Thank you Ashley!

Age of leaf: bought sometime in October, brewed up early November.

Packaging: 52Teas packaging is very professional: small silver zip locked bags with a clear front that has a 3” X 3” label on it which has the name of the tea, an ingredient list, and an expertly created picture of the food item that the tea replicates.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: CTC leaf with small fruit and other flavoring pieces; strongly aromatic, fruity.

Brewing guidelines: (again, this is a rough approximation based on what I have been doing with all of Frank’s teas) two tsp. dry tea for 16 ounces of water. I used a metal basket strainer inside a ceramic 16 oz. cup, such that I put a lid over the top to keep the heat in. Cup was warmed before steeping. Stevia added.
…………….1st: 195, 2’
…………….2nd: near boiling, 3’
…………….3rd: nearer to boiling, 6’
…………….4th: boiling, 10’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: dark amber, fruity.

Flavor of tea liquor: tart, but good.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: CTC leaf.

Overall: I remember liking this tea, but I don’t remember anything standing out about it. I believe, as with all of Frank’s teas, it held flavor through four steepings and that the flavor in the tea at least roughly matched the name of the tea.

My second go around with this tea, and my impression has changed, slightly. I brewed this again using the same parameters as before, with the exception of using a little more tea this time—-about 2.5 teaspoons with 16 ounces of water. Although there was nothing special about the first steeping—-and this is still not my favorite one of Frank’s teas—-I found no ‘off’ flavor in it this time, and I did taste the the cinnamon roll flavor running around in the cup. We did enjoy the later steepings a little more this time, too. What was impressive is that the third and forth steepings held up with appreciable flavor. That’s why I am slightly increasing the rating on this tea. And strangely enough, I feel a little better about that; I think it’s because it’s not pleasant for me to have opinions that seem to differ from the majority (it’s the ‘people pleaser’ in me). For whatever it’s worth, I guess I’m no longer an outlier.