QuiltGuppy select Send Message

This tea is simply outstanding. I know I’ve said it before, but there’s something about it that just pulls me in. It’s a savory tea, creamy, milky, and a little buttery that just oozes comfort. It’s hands-down one of my favorites.

Wow! Was this tea ever a surprise! Usually peach does nothing for me. It’s too cloyingly sweet and overtakes tea way too easily for me to enjoy. Well, I’m sick and I can’t smell a darn thing. It’s a little later in the evening and I didn’t want a lot of caffeine, so I chose this tea. I could actually smell it when I opened the package… and it’s not just the peach, but also the mango. It smells really nice.

180/3 min – I can still smell it! And so I taste it, and I can taste the flavor, too. It’s nice. Not overly sweet, more fresh and fruity. I can even pick up the mango and imagine that this must be an amazing iced tea. I can’t detect too much of the white tea, but I’m certain that’s not the tea’s fault. It’s delicious!

This tea was a complete surprise to me. I ordered it along with a pu-erh to try on a whim. (I had had a terrible experience with another pu-erh.) Yep, two teas at once.

I’d estimate that the steep time was about 3 minutes 30 seconds… about as long as it took me to pay, collect my bags (yes, plural) and walk around the block to my car.

The tea smelled amazingly yummy. I didn’t get to smell the dry tea and didn’t think to ask. I was so in awe of this new tea house. (New to me, that is.) There was absolutely no bitterness to the tea. It had a very full taste to it. Yes, it did have some floral tones to it, but it did not overtake the strong oolong base.

This is an interesting tea. I, like others apparently, expected it to be an explosion of perhaps too many flavors meshed together, but it wasn’t. It’s sweet, but more of a banana type of sweetness. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite. I did think that the dried tea smelled really pleasant, though. Fruity and green.

Twice I opened my tea cabinet and twice this tea fell out and hit me on the head. A sign that it was time to try? Perhaps. I took it on.

First, I’m not at all a fan of orange in tea. (Usually not lemon or other citrus fruits either, but not always.) I received this as a sample from Chi of Tea. Frankly, if left to me, I never would have possessed this tea. The scent upon opening is almost an orange-mint scent.

195/2 min – I didn’t want this one too strong as I was concerned about the orange. I need not have been. Once brewed, the scent continued. Upon sipping, I realized that this tea reminds me of orange Tic Tac infused oolong! It was really good! I did end up enjoying this tea much more than I thought I would.

This tea smells really nice when dry. It’s kind of a roasted scent, but clean.

195/3 min. – I’m trying to up my oolong brewing time as I prefer a stronger cup.

After brewing, it smells as if I overdid it. It’s pretty strong, but when I taste it, it’s perfect! I can taste the roasted leaves. It’s very good. There is no fruitiness or floral taste to it, just a nice roasted oolong flavor. I liked this version much more than the Zealong Pure.

I tried this tea this morning as my wake up brew. The dry tea smells like berries (raspberries, blackberries, etc.) It’s very pleasant.

boiling 1.5 min – I went short on this one due to the frequent oversteeping I seem to manage on a fairly regular basis these days.

The aroma is deeper. I can smell the tea, which is vegetal and fruity at the same time. The taste is pretty good. I can still make out the black currant without trouble. It’s not overly sweet. The tea did become a bit too vegetal for me, but it’s not taking over the tea. It’s not an overly complex tea, which is nice.

I wasn’t certain what to do with this tea. The directions on the package definitely cause some confusion. First, the website mentions brewing at lower temps, but there’s no mention of this on the package. (Space, I know, but at least indicate there’s an option.) Being the rule follower that I am, well, except with reading the ending of books first, I went with the package instructions and, boy, do I regret it. (Lots of commas in that sentence.)

Dry tea smells really nice. Slightly toasty with a crisp scent.

Anyway, I followed the instructions on the packet. Boiling water rinse to “awaken the leaves” – yeah, they put it within quotation marks, too. Discard. Then steep with more boiling water. It started looking really dark, so instead of waiting the two to three minutes, I stopped at one. I’m really glad I did or it probably would have been undrinkable. It’s strong. It dries my mouth and makes my tongue feel picky. It tastes like boiled raisins mixed in vegetables. It’s not floral or sweet at all. It is interesting, though, and not as horrible as it sounds in description. There is complexity to it as well and I find myself still sipping. I think part of the disappointment is reading about a fabulous sounding tea, only to have it turn into boiled veggies. I really wish I had tried this at the lower temperature. It would be interesting to do a comparison.

I decided to try this one because of twing’s recent post on gunpowder. I hadn’t tried one, so I dug through my cabinet until I found something to fit the bill. The directions on this tea remind me that I really need to write down Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions and post them near my tea! It said to only heat the water to 60 C, which is 140 F, but as the Breville only goes down to 160 F, that’s what I used. (My tea thermometer is MIA and probably stashed in my daughter’s play kitchen. Hopefully.)

The dry tea smells just like leaves, fresh and grassy, too. 160/2 min. Now the tea smells slightly deeper. It looks very delicate with a very pale light yellow/green liquor. It’s very clear, too. The taste, as expected is delicate and subdued. I’m not tasting anything floral or fruity although I do sense a sweetness, but it tastes nice, just what I would expect of a green. I was concerned that at the higher than recommended steeping time, it would end up tasting like boiled asparagus, but it didn’t at all. It’s taste is fresh, too. There is no bitterness whatsoever and it’s very enjoyable.

This was my wake up tea today. The aroma upon opening the bag is fruity and grassy, as I’d expect from a flavored green tea.

175/2 min – Now, the fruit scent is more mellow and a bit deeper. Not as pineapple sweet anymore, but more like apple and melon. I can taste the fruit, except I don’t taste the pomegranate, but I can see pieces of it in the wet tea leaves. It is slightly tangy and very slightly bitter, but not overpowering. It’s a very pleasant tea and I imagine this would be a nice afternoon or early evening tea as well.