Five O'Clock Tea & Coffee Shops

Malty, a bit spicy roma with slight woody character.
A bit of astringency, caramel and honey plut some nuttiness in the background.
Very nice tea. Both casual and rich.

My first ever sipping of a yellow tea.
I really love the smell. It’s distinctly nutty, but also has some roasted grain character, not unlike Genmaicha. Plus traces of wood, earth, maybe even some flowers. It’s deep, complex and very intriguing.
And the taste is equally exquisite. Slight maltiness, almost no astringency, creamy and thickish texture. And this distinct but not overwhelming hazelnut character. I’m very surprised there are so many layers in here, so much richness.
Up until now I was sure that oolong is the ultimate tea type for me. Now I’m not so sure anymore and I definitely need to further explore the Yellow Realm.

It looks really adorable in dry form, with nice oolong swirls and pretty sweet half-moons containing sugar and melon flavouring. Smells only slightly with melon.
After brewing the aroma is still not very strong, equally oolong-y and fruity.
The taste is slightly sweet, slightly fruity, with base oolong not overshadowed by additives. Really decent flavoured tea but not very efficient.

Strong aroma of cocoa, chocolate and raspberry, very warming.
Sweetish, rich taste, not overdone in any way, but complex and balanced, with no acidity od astringency. Good composition for an autumn warmer.

The aroma is surprisingly weak. It is supposed to be predominantly smoky, but the earthy tones are more evident and the smoke lingers in the background.
The taste is definitely malty, full-bodied, solid, with smokiness being a spice, not a basic component. Plus very slight spicy undertones in the background. Minimal sweetness, only a trace of astringency.
Really solid, characterful tea. Could use a bit more smokiness but yeah, I’m a smokehead.

Strong zabaione and fruity aroma from the bag.
Dessert like, warming aroma after steeping, the tea smells definitely more like zabaione than like the candied pineapple or flower petals, but the overall impression is really nice.
And the taste fortunately is not overly sweet, slightly astringent.
Decent dessert tea, but not the one to repeat.

Lovely fruity biscuit aroma from the bag.
Very sweet, fruity, warming aroma after sweeping, with a great combination of raspberries, lemon peel and sunflower petals. Slightly astringent.
It’s not a spectacular tea but it’s not supposed to be.

Dry leaves smell with spices, fruit and honey. A bit unusual for a black tea but really charming.
Very warming aroma after steeping, with honey, a bit of nuts, sweet bread and spices. Very complex and attractive. Malty and caramelly flavour, very slight sweetness, no astringency.
Really exquisite tea. I certainly didn’t expect that much.

Wonderful aroma from the bag. Dried apples, cinnamon, freshly baked apple pie.
And after brewing? More subdued, mellow. Stewed apples, cinnamon, general warming sensation.
A lot of cinnamon in taste, more than of apples. Plus the tea is more on the dry than on the sweet side – I really like that.
Very nice and warming, but not oversweetened brew. I like it. A lot.

Looks really nice before brewing – a lot of dried blackberries, lemongrass, pieces of lemon peel. Smells very perfume-y, with artificial honey flavouring in the foreground and citruses in the back.
After brewing it’s still a bit artificial, but much more mellow. Citruses, flowers, honey, berries create a very warming sensation, perfect on a grey and rainy day.
And the taste is mainly lemongrass, lemon peel, flowers, honey and berries, slightly acidic, a bit perfume-y, at the same time warming and refreshing.
Not a bad tea, but would be better with more natural honey flavouring.

Straight from the bag this tea smells much more like Irish Cream than like crème brûlée, with distinct whiskey and cream notes.
But after steeping the aroma seems right. There is cream, toffee, toasted notes, nuts, Danish pastry. Yep, it’s flavouring, but it gives the correct sweet dessert impression.
And the taste is sweet but not oversweetened, caramelly, toasted, not overdone with flavourings. Satisfies my sweet tooth.

I really like the aroma. Straw, hay, peaches.
The flavour is grassy, woody, slightly tart and fairly astringent, a bit sweet.
As far as inexpensive Chinese green teas go, this one is really nice.

Wonderful aroma from the bag, with dried apple, roasted chestnuts, caramel and toffee.

And after steeping the aroma is dominated with caramel, toffee and fudge plus nuts roasted with sugar. Slightly sweet, malty in taste.
Nice winter warmer. Too bad it doesn’t contain actual chestnuts, but the flavourings are really decent and constitute a fine brew.

Very warm aroma after opening the bag, with caramel, hazelnuts, vanilla, cream and a bit of chocolate.
And all of this is present after steeping, giving a very warming, autumnal and wintry impression.
The taste is full-bodied, malty, velvet, slightly sweet, full of caramel and hazelnut notes. Fortunately they remain in relative balance, so although it’s obvious that the tea is flavoured, they aren’t intrusive. Papaya is only barely noticeable, but I don’t mind, because the rest of ingredients makes this tee a great brew when it’s cold outside.
Yes, the period from November til February is when my inner sweet tea tooth is the happiest. :)

Aroma is dominated by smoke, but not as strong as in pure Lapsang Sapchong. Plus some wood, tanned leather and ash notes.
Slight sweetness, slight astringency, smoke/leather/ash leather combination in taste.
I like this tea. It’s not hardcore enough to doscourage casual tea drinkers and it is still expressive enough to appeal to the dedicated smoked tea lovers.

Wonderful smoky aroma after opening the bag. I really love the smokiness in a tea, so sometimes I specifically choose my teas based on that quality. Here it comes from drying the leaves over the burning wood.
After steeping it is still very smoky. Not as much as in Lapsang Souchong, but still strong. And it has a distinct woody character plus some fruity, jam-like sweet note in the background.
Smoky and sweetish taste, rich with woody accents. Astringency and tartness almost not present after steeping for 3 minutes.
Very good tea.

Sweet aroma with a lot of chocolate and a bit of caramel, very autumnal.
Sweetish taste, with texture thickened by cocoa and chocolate.
Not bad for a warming, autumnal tea with flavourings, but seems a bit too one-dimensional. Maybe some dried apple bits would be a good choice to add more dimension?

Distinct smoke and wood in the aroma.
Subtle tartness and astringency in the first sip, giving way to moderate malty, woody body with a slightly spicy bite.

Beautiful dark colour, dark brown-reddish.
Strong malty, slightly spicy aroma.
Very rich taste, mainly malty, slightly sweet, slightly spicy, slightly smokey.
Good quality Ceylon black tea, a bit different from your average Indian black teas, but certainly worth trying.

Distinct earthy and slightly smokey aroma, rich and strong.
Malty, slightly astringent taste with long finish.
Not as good as the Superior version, but still great.

First of all, I really like the concept and appearance of Genmaicha. It contains beautiful, dark green leaves, small balls of roasted rice and small puffed rice clouds.
Brews into a very aromatic tea, full of base Japanese tea notes, roasted and nutty flavours from rice.
And, as one may expect, the taste is also complex and rich, with characteristics from tea and rice balanced into a really compelling mixture.

Wonderful milky aroma with hints of grassy, strawy oolong in the background.
Very rich taste, especially after it cools down a bit, milky, grassy, with distinct butterscotch character.
Wonderful milky oolong.

Wonderful aroma of roasted rice, milk chocolate and a bit of coffee, plus very subtle green tea notes in the background.
Velvety, mellow texture, with all the ingredients fully detectable, but nothing stands out too much. Great warming and soothing blend.

Pure smoky perfectness. No need to say anything else.