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I’ve had this tea for about a year and a half or so. I’d say my particular batch is definetly starting to go stale. If you have any I’d recommend trying to drink it up within the first year.

I like a little ginger in my tea, but I’ve had trouble finding a palatable technique for brewing with ginger. Usually I cut a thin thin slice and throw it in the bottom of my thermos, but the ginger gets pretty strong after a few hours. This time I cut (and peeled) a thick slice and brewed it directly with the leaves and it worked out really nice.

“Seek happiness. Be Kind. Drink tea.”

I will do exactly two of those things. Slightly floral, sweet, bitter like most white teas when hot. A little lighter than I expected. I’m curious what it’d be like cold. In my experience that’s usually where white teas shine.

I’ve had this particular batch almost two years, maybe. I’ve essentially been hoarding it because it’s one of the few herbal teas I enjoy(ed). Unfortunately it is not, I’d argue, a tea that ages very well. It now tastes only vaguely of it’s original glory. Drink it up if you’ve got it.

Does this taste vaguely like soap to anyone else?

Regardless the taste is complex. Smooth, a little sweet, a little typical oolong. Personally I don’t care for an overly ‘buttery’ oolong and this one fits the bill perfectly.

OM NOM NOM NOM GIVE TO ME YOUR TEA!!!

This is pretty good stuff. Sweet, floral. If you’re careful with brewing it turns out light, but I can imagine you can make it a little heavier if you try. For me the sweetness didn’t sustain itself through multiple steepings.

Much milder and sweeter than Thomas Samson.

Yum! At first I though I was tasting jasmine, but it turns out this is a magnolia tea (my first). The mild oolong-ness is a nice combination with the sweet flower. The flower flavor is similar to a jasmine, but there’s a sort of burst at the end that reminds me vaguely of a kind of pastel Easter candy. Definitely a must-buy.

I was pleasantly surprised by the A&D Holiday Blend. At first sip my thought was “Fah! I already bought this tea. Damn you Andrews! Damn you Dunham! Damn your pretty labels!” It seemed much too much like their Yunnan. But! Much to my delight there is a kind of fruity twinkly finish that more than distinguishes the Holiday Blend. A very nice black holiday tea (not a tea for depressing morbid holidays, but a black tea for the holidays) for gray snowy afternoons.

Additionally, I’m experimenting with cream and sugar for the first time (successfully). It rounds out the bitterness nicely. I’ve tried in the past and always been disappointed, but I’ve always tried with non-fat milk and it seems that you need something a little thicker if you want a more robust flavor.