Basilur

How i got it: Bought It (Basilur’s “Four Seasons” Assorted Pack)

Experience: Well, this is a brand new experience for me. Never ever had maple syrup, so i was wondering what it was like. The intense aroma of this blend is defined by this ingredient, which seems to me like a mix of toasted caramel, vanilla, truffle and cinnamon, all together. No much room for the tea to appear in this respect. The taste, at the other hand, is more balanced, and both the tea and the syrup could be noted. Mild intensity flavor, no astringency. I guess that it will take me some time to get used to this new flavor, but this was a good start. Very good.

Would i buy it again?: I think this one goes behind Winter and Summer in my list, but there’s a chance too.

How i got it: Bought It (Basilur’s “Four Seasons” Assorted Pack)

Experience: Just as its Winter counterpart, this tea ended up being better than i imagined. I’m not that seasoned in flavoured greens, so i didn’t know what to expect about the strawberry + green tea combination. But it worked! Similar to the Winter tea, its aroma is dominated by the fruit notes, while the flavor is a nice mix between these and the herbal notes from the tea. The result is a light and fresh blend, which seems to include touches of melon and watermelon. Very good.

Would i buy it again?: Another Basilur one that has good posibilities. Maybe i’ll try that loose leaf version.

How i got it: Bought It (Basilur’s “Four Seasons” Assorted Pack)

Experience: Since the moment i looked at the package and saw “cranberries”, i lost quite a bit of confidence, thinking this tea would be similar to those berry tisanes i run away from. But in the end, it turned out to be a nice surprise. While its aroma is indeed dominated by the cranberry, its taste is a nicely equilibrated mix between the frutal flavor of the cranberries and the gentle bitterness of the ceylon, which prevents this tea to become unpleasantly acidic. Now, i have a bit more appreciation for the fruits on my tea. Very good.

Would i buy it again?: I think this one has good posibilities.

(Note from last night as the website wasn’t working for me)

This oolong has a herbal, almost peppery scent, just like fresh herbs. Also a hint of mint, a refreshing sort of scent.

Flavour is sweet and thick, highly perfumed and herbal. It’s nice but a bit strange…sour, herby perfume is a strange mix but it’s not disgusting, acquired taste I suppose.

This is a green tea, flavoured to taste like Milk Oolong. It’s good. I like it. It’s not as great as a loose leaf natural Oolong, but a bit more flavourful than a basic green. It’s a pretty good teabag approximation of real Milk Oolong. I drink it when I’m feeling too lazy to make leaf-tea.

Backlog:

OK … I LOVE love LOVE the book-ish tin that this tea comes in. It’s so cool.

And the tea inside is pretty good too! A tasty roasted almond essence enchants the nose, evoking thoughts of something freshly baked. The black tea is a Ceylon and it’s a mild, even-tempered sort of tea. The almond notes are lovely. There are jasmine flowers in this tea but this isn’t a jasmine tea. I taste hints of flower in the distance, but the focus isn’t on the floral notes but the sweet, nutty almond notes.

A really tasty tea.

Usually when I have fruity black teas, I expect the fruit to be the star, and the tea to be there in the background. This tea actually has the tea as the star, but complemented by the fruit. The result is rich and pleasant — actually, it reminds me a bit of bubblegum. I do with that the fruit was more of a star in this tea, but I can’t say I mind it like this either.

I never knew a black tea could taste this strongly of hazelnut. I feel like I’m drinking a liquified ferrero rocher — the flavour is that strong. It’s actually quite good for that — I’ve never had a black tea quite like it before, and definitely I’m glad that I’m having it clear; I have no idea what milk or sweetener would do to this flavour. But on its own? Wow.

I picked up a tin of this about a month ago, because they had a promotion going on and it looked interesting. Also, I was just about out of my current go-to black tea, so the time and price were both right.

I think another time, if I were having it clear, I’d brew it for just a hint less time — closer to the four minute mark than the five. It’s a little bold, and with a taste that reminds me a bit of honey, though darker and not as sweet — just that bold semi-planty taste.

It actually tastes wonderful with milk and honey though, which is my favourite way to have a black cuppa when not having it clear so. Really I can’t complain at all.

A friend brought me a tin of this from Sri Lanka and I love it. The tea leaves in this are huge, the green tea itself a little astringent and a perfect foil for the fruit/flower flavors. I would say the dominant of those are the rose, strawberry and a flavor I took for pineapple but the ingredients list tells me is soursop.

The dry tea smells AMAZING. The cranberries lend their unique scent to create a strong, pleasant aroma that made me smile even as I was just opening the package.

That being said, I’m not sure I quite did this tea justice. Having no instructions to go off of, I defaulted to a heaping teaspoon in my two cupper with boiling water for five minutes. Unfortunately, the result seems oversteeped. The cranberries come through decently, but are still somewhat overpowered by the bitter tea, which is a shame. With milk added, the bitterness mainly goes away, leaving the cranberry taste. Overall good, but not as amazing as the scent.

The dry tea bag smells like cherry bubble gum, while the brewed tea
smells like a cross between cherry and the body shop cranberry smell (I worked there during University so this smell is way to familiar).

Pleasantly fruity taste that is not too sweet, despite the smell of the dry bag ( I like this because than you can choose to sweeten it as you like). The base has a deep fruity taste ( referencing black berries) with a bit of bitterness from malt that goes nicely with the flavouring. The tea is not very tart which you might expect with a cranberry flavouring, but there is a little bit of this that becomes more apparent as you drink down the cup. The flavouring and the tea blend well with each other neither overpowering the other. Not bad for a bagged tea ( though they do sell loose leaf as well). Basilur Canada’s webstore is online. http://www.basilurtea.ca/. Their “Autumn” tea is a maple tea I might just have to try it out.

Feeling gross today. Happens every time I eat well cooked eggs for breakfast, and maybe even with sunny side up if I don’t have much besides that. Today, they were scrambled. Delish, but holy queasy :/
I’m the only one I’ve ever known with this issue. Anyone else out there?

So I didn’t really care about which tea I had. Figured anything would be good, I guess I was in that kinda mood. So when I made this, I didn’t expect it to be fab. Last time, I found it somewhat weak. But today? It was great! All semi sweet yet slightly tart and creamy strawberries with a lovely green base. Wonders never cease.

I can’t believe I have some of this left over. Most of it wasn’t affected by our flood… but when the flood happened the packet was left out in the open air for a few weeks, and I think some flavour was lost? that means some cups are amazing, others not so much. Oh well, there is only about a third of the packet left. Maybe a quarter after today.
Thankfully, today was a good cup. I really needed it. I partook in four other teas today but this was the only one to brighten my mood. Well this and the Nilgiri from Tea Boss.
Depression sucks haha. Spent all day wishing I had energy to actually do something. Or motivation. But Thursday is my doc app so I just need to get through tomorrow and then I’ll have a better idea of my plan. Only one more hoop to jump after that, I need to go see my family doc who will prescribe the meds. Well, after he speaks to my specialist. Sighs. I need a serious distraction tomorrow.

Not as stellar today. Oh well. Still quite yummy. Maybe I oversteeped.

Ok seriously. this is like a milky oolong, only its green tea and there is strawberry goodness mixed in with the milky.
It’s kinda like drinking strawberries and cream. Sighs. Happy place.

I picked this up at the CNE. $4 for 100g. Too bad I only had a ten left on me, the prices were sooooo cheap, I could have made some serious change reselling their bargain teas! seriously!
For that price? wow. This was a STEAL.
The tea itself is a little overflavoured. But then I haven’t had the chance to get to the second steep yet. This is my third try already and life just keeps getting in the way?! Maybe next week… I get the impression (distantly) that there might be something floral hiding underneath. We shall see!
Bah. Either way, this is SO going in the TTBA, which ships out on Tuesday! fyi! This one’s for you Ssajami:)
Anyhow, I don’t taste much of the green base, if any, but that’s ok. Creamy strawberry campino candy anyone? Yeah, it’s pretty sweet on it’s own! Very sweet. SO much so that I doubt even a young kiddo would add sugar.
There is a hint of waxiness in there as well, but not much. So bare that I really don’t notice it, and in fact I don’t mind it at all because everything else about it is so lovely.

I received a sample of this tea from Kasumi no Chajin! Yay!

I steeped this up while I’m boiling eggs for lunch and picking off tea tin stickers. Yep, totally glamorous.

Of course, I didn’t add enough water, so it was really strong and bitter until I topped off my cup with some more water. Now I think I got too much water in it! I didn’t add that much extra water!
The green is has a bit of butteryness and I get a bit of tangyness at the end. A little echo of fruity, but I’m not sure what.

Looking at the pic here on Steepster, the packaging looks cool! Yeah, ROCK TEA! Contains no actual rocks though.

this IS a smooooooooooooooth black! thanks for the sample, Kasumi no Chajin – sensei ^^

it is my first pure ceylon tea and i like it. it is not too strong (i didnt let it steep for the full 3 minutes).

the liquor is a beautiful golden brown (in my teaspoon) under the yellow light at our dinner table ^^’

i will have to note the aroma next time! (stands up for a resteep)

(edit)
ok, aroma is dark, rich, kinda bitter-ish but in a good way, like coffee (altho the aroma is not coffee-like, only the bitterness)
taste is the same! reminds me of toast…?

Ok this tea is frustrating me!
What is it? It’s called “White Magic” It’s labeled as a green tea on the tin. and is listed as an oolong on steepster. Ingredients: Milk Oolong Green tea. Huh? Add to that they list no steeping instructions on the tin or bag and I’m winging it here.

It’s smells woodsy with a hint of grass/hay.

Well whatever it is, I didn’t mess up the steep too badly. Mellow brew. light brown appearance. Smoooooth. I know you are supposed to sip tea but this one is smooth enough I could gulp it without issue lol. Tasted a little nutty also. I think I like it though it’s not WOWing my socks off.

I’ve been going so crazy with flavored tea recently I just had the urge for some nice normal green tea tonight! (yeah, I know, who craves green tea at midnight?)
Anyway, big sample of this via Kasumi no Chajin (my green tea lifeline).

Smells real grassy, lighter golden liqueur.
First sip? Hmmmm….I’m not sure. I may have steeped this too short. Though that’s still much preferable to leaving it too long. No bitterness, but light on flavor. I keep going back for sip after sip trying to place the flavor. It HAS flavor (though light) but I can’t place it. It doesn’t taste grassy, or smokey, or bitter. It’s smooth and mellow with something. But damned if I can name the something.
Still trying to decide how I want to rate this guy so I’ll ramble on for a few more sentences while I brew up my 2nd steep. It does have the “shredded” leaves that I hate so much. Probably mechanically picked (blah!). Ok, final guess for me is it’s fine in a pinch but nothing to rush out and try.

My second cup of this tea. It is not only less citrusy than Twinings Ceylon, it also maltier: perhaps the malty taste covers up the citrus notes.