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First time with Work Fu, or fuzhuan steeped western style at work. Lots of vanilla overtone here on top of a fairly smooth autumn leaf base. Slightly drowsing but complements today’s cold rain.

This kind of tea doesn’t have the deep, grounding character thatother heicha can have. It’s lighter and more gentle for my constitution.

Found this while Christmas shopping at a totally bougie store in our tiny downtown. Think bougie World Market but small and curated, focusing quite a bit on Japan. Some people lose their money to gambling; if I were a more foolish derk, I’d lose thousands at this store that carries fine worldwide goods. It’s bad enough that I spent $12 on 8 sachets.

The yuzu here isn’t distinct but it does blend well with a lighter roast, grassy hojicha. Full flavor and aroma. Lots of roasted buckwheat. Bright, citrusy, mineral, roasted grass, tangy with some tolerable astringency. It was difficult to time the first steep to get it where I wanted and so I could do a second steep.

Overall, I’m kinda meh on this yuzu hojicha because of the price I paid. It’s also a daytime brew, high in caffeine. A snack or meal was necessary as I could get jittery.

I bought this sometime in 2023 to give to my coworker who was trying to manage her pre-diabetes. I saved a mere teaspoon and it’s taken this long to get to it!

Sparkling sweetness mixed with very light vegetal taste. Calm and vibrant. It’s simple and unassumingly soothing. Tonic and moistening. I’d love to try jiaogulan again!

This is another tea I drank through recently without much thought. Not until the last mug brewed with 4g:300mL did this tea really stand out as a well-roasted Anxi oolong.

Strong, sweet and fleshy floral aroma. Heady. All kinds of exotic flowers, sweet and spicy. White lily, gardenia, ylang ylang, tuberose. Good dose of galangal, a hint of cinnamon. Toasted coconut and vanilla. The roast amplifies the sweet nose and does not stand apart. Mouthfeel is not notable and the taste is mostly carried by that heady scent. One with a preference for strong aromas would appreciate this tea the most. Pretty high energy, somewhat uncomforable for me like a lot of tieguanyin from Anxi.

Better western than gongfu, so it did make a nice work tea.

Drank through 50g of this over the course of a few years without much thought. Strong purple black tea aroma. Fluid, thinner body with less pronounced taste than aroma. I love the presence of eucalyptus and mugwort mixed with the malt and juicy purple/blue fruits. Would consider buying this again if my favorite yesheng hongcha were to be out of stock.

2022 harvest

Somebody brought this into work a couple winters ago.

Smells like a combination of clove-spice cookies, molasses-gingerbread and orange sweet rolls without the really sweet frosting. While clove heavy in the aroma, the clove is much milder and smooth in the mouth, no mouth-numbing or anything. Tastes like a mulled wine tisane. Chicory gives a base to the hibiscus which is tangy-tart but not sour. Can’t say I pick up any orange. Easy to drink.

It appears my little sample of “tea you’d drink with a granny after taking her to the Walmart” has gone missing, along with the sturdy reusable bag it was probably in, whose last use was probably a few weeks ago.

So I’m having an imaginary cup of this classic orange spice black tea in a slow moment at work.

Bah!

Teabg

The bergamot nuances I get in the regular Earl Grey are lost to orange. The two tastes blend well. A somewhat serious disposition peaks from behind the sunny face. Overall, a lighthearted tea.

US teabag version.

Much better than the English Breakfast. It doesn’t hold a flame to the memory of their tinned leaf I had 25 years ago but it’s good enough in a pinch. Rather drying and woody! I get hints of lime-cream swirling within the surprisingly complex bergamot taste.

A tisane I’ve had in years past; giving a new box a go.

This time around, I can taste more than turmeric. The honeybush and/or rooibos come through a bit with honeyed sweetness and a woody, dry texture. Vanilla is soft and mild. I suspect cinnamon and cardamom round out the flavor but they are separately imperceptible. Overall, this tisane is mild, fairly thin and watery.