Laura Mae Send Message

For me, this tastes fine for a greener and less roasted TGY, and it has an amazing aroma, lots of body. But as you keep steeping, it gets kinda vegetal after tasting. Not bitter, just loses it’s pizzaz.

I tried to like this. Short brew. Long brew. Rinse first. Different temperatures. I simply can’t get the smoky bonfire taste to be enjoyable. This may be a fine example of a gunpowder, but I can’t finish a cup due to the bitter smokiness, just not my cuppa tea. Willing to swap!

Fruity and sweet. I may order more of this for work. It doesn’t have the heaven, nut and spice aroma I like so much in a TGY, but if this holds up thru multiple infusions, it’s a pretty good value for your oolong buck.

There’s even a hint of a malty-ness, like a black. But there’s so much honey and sweet… Edit: it loses something magical after the 2nd steep or so. Maybe this would be better for the morning when I don’t have time for more than 1 or 2 steeps.

If you like an Earl Grey that is light on the flavoring and comes in a teabag, this is a pretty good one to go with. Not much bitterness, not a ton of overpowering bergamot aroma or flavor. But not a lot to write home about, either.

Delicate, not too vegetal, mostly sweet. The tiniest hint of toasted.

I like this more an more the more I drink it. Since green tea is supposed to be the healthiest for you, I keep trying to find ones I enjoy. This is holding up to a second steep more and seems more forgiving than some others, in terms of not getting gross if you oversteep by a few seconds. It’s more like a cross between a white tea and a green oolong. It doesn’t have super complex flavor notes that crop up and the flavor doesn’t last for days in your mouth. So I’m giving it full credit for pleasing flavor (not overpoweringly artichoke or spinach), aroma and forgiveness to under/oversteeping. But it doesn’t get the few final stars for transcendence.

There’s a little hint of a smoky/bitterness I’m picking up. But it’s also a bit like miso/umami. Just a hint. Overall sweet, not overly vegetal.

Edit: I’ve found that if I do a quick rinse of the leaves with hot water (basically immediately discard the first steep) the bitterness is gone, but the toasty/smoky remains, as does that umami-like smell and hint of flavor. I enjoy the tea much more following this method. But then you get to the last sip/swallow in the cup… bitter again.

Up early today, and already on my second tea. Melon flavor with wildflower honey. Transcendent? Maybe not. But the first sip momentarily transported me to … I don’t know where. Someplace other than this -10F Great Lakes winter. Marveling that this is essentially the same leaf as the Assam I had earlier. Marveling that I live in an era where I can have 50+ teas in my house from the other side of the world. Marveling at the craftsmanship and care taken to bring me a simple, hot cup of tea. I guess I know why it costs $0.25/gram mail order retail. Same cost as silver.

Really nice and smooth. Not higher rated because the more complex flavors faded fast(ish) after 2-3 steeps, and what was left was a bit more vegetable than I’d want. Though sweet and, really, quite tasty.

Not my favorite oolong. It’s the kind of oolong that tastes mainly like roasted barley. It’s much more complex than that, and if you like that flavor in your oolong, then I think this is a fine tea at a great price. It holds up the nutty, toasty, woodsy flavors through many steeps. I will likely keep some of this around, but may not be on my daily list. There’s a bitterness and a sweetness at the same time.