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Anyone that knows of me knows I generally write extravagant reviews in great detail. I’m without a computer and on my phone, so this is going to be short. I will rewrite it later.

This is absolutely the best roasted oolong I’ve experienced. It is that…. an experience. I read verdant’s description and think that it is a little over the top and extremely suggestive with what it smells and tastes like. It taste like fantastic oolong…. nothing more, nothing less. The crop itself is gorgeous and has the smell to accompany it. In short, this may be my new favorite tea.

P.S. Stop hiring poets to do product descriptions. _

I got my sample in, so here’s my notes and thoughts. The initial smell is a mix between okra still on the branch and super glue. I’m not going to lie, the smell of the leaves and first steep made me want to vomit. The initial taste also made me want to vomit (sorry… I know), but I also don’t like “green foods”. Because of the reviews, I couldn’t give it up… I wanted to see where it’d take me. The first steep was gross, and I hated every moment of it, so I’ll just skip to the second steep (third including the wash) for the review. So from here on, I’m going to forget everything else about the tea and pretend it’s my first sip ;)…

The following is a composite break-down of one sip

Initial: Very thin… crisp. This is far from bold in every way. Don’t take this the wrong way- it’s still VERY flavorful. I would say that if I had to name any faults in the initial taste it’d be that it’s TOO fresh (is this actually possible!?)… but it may be that it’s just not oxidized to my preference.

Apex: I feel the apex is a bit anticlimactic. Did I say anticlimactic? I think I meant that the “Initial” taste was so “in your face” that it can only go down-hill. There is a buttery taste that parabolas itself into the picture. It’s a welcome addition to the flavor.

Lingering Taste: The oddest thing happens right here. The flavors seem to split up. The low-notes are a very obvious oolong that’s VERY pleasant. The high-notes are something I’d compare to a wad of grass and is repulsive. With these combined tastes you have this weird effect of a pretty descent and unusual linger. One part of me really does want to say it taste bad, but with the good? I just can’t. It’s like walking on a very very scary trail on a stormy day… surrounded by bare shaking trees with the wind howling and random animal sounds in the distance…….. but then out of nowhere a beam of light breaks through the clouds and lights up the most beautiful flower you’ve ever seen- for this split moment you forget about everything else…. it’s so beautiful and you want that moment to last forever. Yeah it’s a lot like that lol.

Final Exhale: Right back to square one. Sweet green okra smell and taste. It’s a nonchalant reminder of the loves and hates that I just experienced.

I can’t deny that this is the most unusual tea that I’ve ever tasted. It’s epic in a literal sense, and I can’t say that I enjoy it or hate it or anything. It’s almost an experience really… like reading a story. I wish I could say that I hate it so I’d never have to taste some of it’s notes again, but I also want to say that I love it more than any other tea because of the wonderful notes it showed me. I don’t feel like I should rate it based on everything I’ve tasted… if I did it’d be about half way because I’d want to rate it a 100 and a 1 at the same time lol. Take that how you want. I do think that being a supertaster has drastically affected my thoughts on the sweeter greener high-notes, so if you like green foods and teas, then I’d definitely recommend this tea in a heartbeat.

Outside of flavor and aroma, I feel I should comment on the quality. These leaves are TOP-NOTCH. They opened up at least 500% of the initial size with no loose stems or dust. I made this tea in my 4oz yixing and had absolutely no rogue dust or particles- I think that says a lot.

This is very good. I must admit, I’m a bit flabbergasted that this was at my local health-food store (next to Yogi tea no less). This tea is a bit of a hybrid since it’s pu-erh, rooibos, and misc spices. I’ve separated this tasting into four parts that include the initial tasting, the apex plateau, the lingering plateau, and the final exhale tasting. I may start doing my notes like this because I think it describes the teas better (if you think otherwise just tell me I suck in my comments).

Initial: The pu-erh itself hits your tastebuds first- very nonchalant and earthy (the same earthy I’d describe mushrooms), but almost immediately the orange zest and rooibos pop up like some sort of surprise party.

Apex: The apex of the tasting reveals cocoa and the vanilla beans (I love that these compliment each other so well). I hate chocolate, but this is very smooth and not over-done.

Lingering taste: The fading of the tasting reveals the cinnamon (which again compliments the apex very well).

Final exhale: A final exhale tasting highlights the miniscule nuances of what tastes like nutmeg and of course the normal lingering chocolate aftertaste.

Overall I think this is a wonderful alternative to hot chocolate. It may not be that chocolatey, but I would consume it when I’d normally consume hot chocolate (because it’s hot and yummy).

Very vegetal with a lingering grassy taste. I hate this tea, and will probably catch the rest of it on fire. I don’t think that I should give it a rating because I’m not a fan of green teas to begin with, but this is absolutely the worst green tea I’ve ever had. Ever.

Reading over the reviews of this tea, I felt I need to speak up. This tea $3 a box. If you handed me a random tea and said “I only payed $3 for the whole box”… I’d probably dump it out in your house plant and pretend to drink from the empty cup whenever you looked.

Now, with that said, I don’t feel that this tea is that bad at all. It has the very classic and stereotypical flavor of darjeeling. It can be quite bitter very quickly if you don’t watch it, but the aroma and full bodied flavor is definitely way above par for the price if the brew is good. I’m very sensitive to bitter tastes, and like to add too much sugar and some milk to this tea- this makes it VERY malty (obviously, but more than expected), and has lingering aftertaste of green grapes(?).

I bought a box of this to season a yixing since it’s straight oolong. If you’ve ever ordered oolong from a low-end chinese food place… you probably got this stuff. There’s honestly not too much to say, it’s a non-sweet oolong that’s very oxidized (going out on the limb… probably around 80+% oxidized). This tea is almost always weak- I use three bags instead of my usual two bags (14oz pot).

With all that said, it’s still not as terrible as it could be (for the price). Whatever I don’t use to season the yixing will be drank, and that’ll be the end of my relationship with this tea.

This is superb. Cocoa and almonds aside, the tea itself is very excellent, now add in the perfect amount of cocoa and almonds. The cocoa is extremely mild and smooth- this doesn’t really taste like chocolate as much as you’d think. The almonds are very subtle and are merely there for miniscule nuances as a high note- nothing more, nothing less.

All in all, the tea leaves are ultra superb, the cocoa and almonds are in excellent ratio- what more can I possibly ask for? Nothing. Instant 100.

Meh. The tea itself is okay, but the peach is a bit candy-like and is perhaps a bit overwhelming. I also smoke hookahs, and this reminds me A LOT of your typical peach sheesha. I broke open a bag and remembered why I don’t like stash…. looks like 3/8th cut grass, 5/8th dust. I see a few people commenting about the peach scent diminishing, and this is correct- perhaps a 60 second aroma. It’s not a bad tea though, and I think that if you are a fan of those fruity teas then you’ll probably like this.

TL;DR: I am going to finish the box. I will never buy this tea again.

Very smooth. I like the blend itself… it flows rather nicely together with a mint ‘cherry on top’. For me, this isn’t a ritualistic once a night thing… perhaps once a week at best, but it’s good at those certain times. It does make you sleepy though.