Kally Tea

1.5 tablespoons of dry leaf for 375ml of water.

Detecting sencha flavour on the sip. Seaweed-y saltiness is present and slightly overpowering. Slight cocoa flavour and sweetness in the background. Very unique flavour combination.

As the tea cools, there is a creaminess to the taste and mouth-feel.

Thank you to Indigobloom for passing on some of this to me!

Hmmm. It seems 3 min was too much. Better stay with 1-2 min!
Too thick and not enough berry goodness. Good to know :)

This is tasty!
Different than the other Bubbly whites I’ve had, in a few ways. I like it.
First off, I was worried that the dominant flavour would be bubblegum and while that is present, it takes a back seat to the other more complex notes. Something in here is most definitely reminiscent of champagne! I credit that partially to the aroma, but also to the mild grape like taste. Grape skins perhaps? Hmmm. Most surprising is the sparkling sensation on my tongue. How on earth did they achieve that?! Yup, I even get a wine/drying sensation in the aftertaste.
Second, the white tea is blended beautifully. So delicate, and yet not overpowered. There is however, something odd going on… as there is an odd bitter note right in the middle of the sip, and lasting into the aftertaste. Heck, even the aftertaste is complex!

EDIT:
Second infusion was terrible. Milky!! Hopefully it was a one time thing. Bad water? spilled milk from Mums coffee? (my cup was clear… so likely not)
Bah. Lowering the rating a few points. The first steep was great. I’d rate the second one at 65. So reducing it by 4 points is more of a principle thing than anything else. On the plus side, I won’t feel bad taking this one out and about with me! (ie, since I can’t resteep anyhow)

This is my favorite creamy Earl Grey. It’s a stronger tea than most cream EG’s use, and it has more bergamot flavor. The blend fits together perfectly. I love it with milk and sugar. And the scent of this tea is wonderful, I can sit sniffing it for hours.

Thanks Nicole for sending me this, when I can afford and justify buying more tea I’m gonna order some more.

Slight bitter note at the beginning of my sip. Milk and sugar fixed that right up though. Good as ever.
Without additives, never go beyond 3 min.

Sighs. So it appears Steepster ate my note from this morning and I can’t recall what I wrote!! Not exactly anyhow, and what would have been the follow up is going into my next post so stay tuned. It involves high tea! :D

OK so I seriously intended to write a proper review this time but my cuppa today was beyond amazing and somehow ended up guzzled down before I even had a chance to log in here.
Thus, I’ll have to wait til next time. Needless to say, I really do love my Ceylon Osmanthus.

I’m at a friends place so this won’t be a long note. This darn keyboard is wonky and keeps eating my words. It’s been interesting typing to say the least.
Now this tea… I like it. Do I love it? I don’t know!! I need to play around with the parameters. It’s really tasty.
The floral part is pretty mild and almost marshmallow like. It also reminds me of chamomile, in that soft light way. Dancing on my tongue like little clouds that disappear into thin air and beckon for me to have another sip. Second steep was had without milk and it was creamy despite that! wow.
This is a rather different experience to what I expected. It tastes more like a darjeeling(yes it is black but I consider it a class on its own, being rather unique in profile) or flowery oolong. Lovely! and odd all at once

It has been a very cold morning, and while the morning is about over (six more minutes to go), the cold doesn’t show any signs of letting up. That’s OK, of course, because it makes the hot tea all the more appealing to me. But, I also like that this strawberry tea from Kally is taking me on an adventure of sorts, even if it is all in my head. This tastes so much like mid-spring when the first strawberries start to appear (well, at least, the first strawberries that are worth eating, anyway!)

It has such a fresh, sweet flavor with a lovely strawberry taste and a hint of pineapple. I love the way these two flavors meld together. It’s sweet, a little bit tart with a tartness that lingers into the aftertaste … but not too much that I find myself puckering. The green tea is sweet and creamy.

A very nice strawberry green!

I’ve become accustomed to drinking particular teas “grandpa style” (or “Laoshan style”?). I don’t think gs is an “official” term in the tea drinking world but I read it on a very well-written blog (whose author is also on Steepster, btw):

http://www.marshaln.com/whats-grandpa-style/

and decided to try it. I’ve found that I actually prefer drinking particular teas straight from my glass rather than steeping my tea in a separate infuser or my dinky little $12 ceramic yixing. Drinking good tea this way feels more natural, like I’m more connected to the process. Yes, the process of brewing the tea and focusing on the steps and being more “centered” and “in the now” but…also the connection to the farmers, the tea bushes/trees themselves. Drinking this way makes me feel like I’m the last link in the chain that started, literally, in the roots of a plant in the ground of another country on the other side of the planet. Does anyone else feel that way or think about that? Am I losing my mind? Contemplating metaphysical dualism after a few cups of good tea wreaks havoc on your existentialistic philosophy.

Anyway. I’m pretty sure this is a Wen Shan Bao Zhong (or Pouchong) Oolong. The leaves are not rolled up tightly into small, dark green and sometimes glossy nuggets like traditional Dong Ding. The tea is literal loose leaf, shards and thin twirls of dark, almost black pieces. Its an amalgamation of textures and colors that took me by surprise. Looks good, though, different than what I am used to. I’m always willing to try new things.

Little bit of peach fruitiness, the light sting of muted acidity. Then there’s that lingering sweetness on the lips, light and pleasant. Sometimes with Dong Dings, I get a thicker sweetness and less acidity. I like this better. There is more of a nuanced lightness. This is a delicate and simple tea and one I find myself passing over in my tea library because I always want to save it for later. I might have a new favorite.

Apparently, Empress Dowager’s story is pretty sad. Long story short: her decision and obligation to keep imperialism and ancient tradition active, rather than accepting the change knocking on the doors of the Forbidden City from the outside world, resulted in “not only the downfall of her dynasty, but of the entire tradition of imperial government” <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Empress_Dowager_Longyu&oldid=800342>.

Now she has a tea that breaks typical oolong tradition named after her.

Ironic, no?

backlog from last week!
Wow, the cola flavour was almost entirely absent from the cup. I had to add milk and sugar just to make it interesting enough to drink. Sad.
Rating cut…

This reminds me SO much of a tea I’ve had before! But I can’t recall which one. Actually, it reminds me of two. One being Rise n Shine(RnS) from Teaopia, which was awesome. The cola really popped. Mmmmm.
And the other… gah it’s driving me nuts!!
Anyhow, this is sortof a cross between RnS and your average rooibos chai. I’m somewhat unimpressed actually. I used my premium water… and still it turned out to be a boring cup! Hmmm. Not that it’s terrible. Just not all that memorable is all.
I’ll let it sit for awhile. Maybe now that I’ve opened the package it will settle differently. That’s helped with a number of other teas I’ve tried lately, fingers crossed that it does the same here!!

One last cup of this before i send it off in a swap! YAY for sipdowns! I’m glad i got the chance to try this, and man Kally tea has got some super customer service and some incredible boxing day specials…take note! lol

The tastebuds they are a changing! I’m less of a fan of this one when I first had it. Now, part of that may be the cold brew that i decided to try with this one but i’m just not loving it as much anymore. I’ll try and have a cup of it hot later but i’m just not feeling it. That’s likely because of the whole white tea thing i suspect since it’s just kind of a wimpy tea lol

So i’m not really getting the bubbly out of this one but it is a really nice white tea. I don’t drink too many whites because i find them on the lighter side of things. The berry flavouring in this one, however, is quite nice.

SIPDOWN! (276 though that will change again tomorrow) I figured i should finish this up and get the rest in a bag for Tastybrew who wanted some. There was just enough to make a small cup after packaging up a few cups worth for her so i said what the heck! Still a lot of teas to get through in the next little while so it’s nice to be able to cross a few off my list. Maybe i’ll have time to re-organise my overflowing cupboards tomorrow after gym and costco :)

Still really like this one, it’s tastier than your average green caramel, which i think is because of all the stuff going on. Happy i got the chance to try this one from Kally tea.

Mmm still find this one quite tasty :) I like what’s going on with all of the bits that are in this one. Busy working from home while also trying to re-organize my teas cupboards. Figured i’d take some time to revisit a few teas that have been in there that i haven’t had in a while. That way i can figure out if they need to be swapped out or if i need to put them somewhere i’ll drink them more often :)

So this tea? This tea totally reminds me of the persimmon tree’s green caramel. Though truth be told, i think i prefer this version. This version seems to be less….watery? than green caramel. Maybe it’s the rice that i happened to notice this time around hahaha. Not honestly sure how i missed it the first time around. :)

I sometimes get this one confused with Kally Tea’s “toffee and cream.” I have to say though, this one is better, though they’re both delicious. There’s something to be said about how this one blends together to have that creamy caramel taste. mmmm!

Man this is tasty tasty. I’s not overly sweet in your face kinda tasty, but it is delicious! I really like the flavour of this one from kally tea. the cocoa isn’t strong but it blends really nicely with the caramel. I also like that this isn’t a black tea :)

mmmm made some of this as a cold brew on the weekend and just getting around to trying it. As expected i love this way more cold! I will likely finish up the rest of my small amount of this tonight to have tomorrow after work. Even my other half was onside with this as a cold brew, so if there’s a kally tea order in future it will include this one :) tangy, tart and sweet all in one :) (though less orangey this time around to be fair)

mmmmmm i really like this one. It’s sweet and tangy and vanilla and orange and wheeeee! Hold on there lil’ lady. Yeah that’s right. it’s work from home day and i’m in a giddy (up) mood! lol alrighty then…now that i got that out of my system….for a herbal blend this is pretty darn rootin’ tootin’ tasty! and no, no i haven’t been watching toy story 2. anyway, i digress. I do love me some orange and cream. I’m looking forward to trying this as a cold brew in the summer :)

Treating this one as a sipdown because there is no way i’m going to finish this tea. Might drop it into my swap box (or just toss it), though i’m not sure i want to subject anyone to this tea. It still tastes like i licked a pile of potpourri, so yeah, not a fan lol

yeeesh….i dunno how i feel about this one yet. There are stores that I wake into and then promptly walk out of because they smell like potpourri. This tea smells like one of those stores. I’m not sure i can get over that smell to enjoy the tea. Apparently I’m one of the few that found this with this particular tea. I’ll give it a whirl and try it again maybe cold and see how it goes. But for now? I’ll just be having a few sips of this before i move on to another solid tea to clear my nose and mouth (loashan black maybe?)