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Good for dessert. Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper. All of the flavors come through, but I wish it were a little stronger. I could fix that by using more scoops, but then it would have more caffeine than I want; I can tell that the finely chopped black tea yields a high caffeine brew. The spice and caffeine means it’s a good way to wake up in the afternoon. When soy milk and agave are added, it’s pretty substantial and works on its own instead of having tea plus a snack. I’m going to shop around to see if I can find something a little stronger, but I still give this a very high rating.

This tea immediately reminds me of fruit – maybe plums, peaches, and strawberries. I remember Arbor Teas’ Keemun having a hint of prunes, and there is some of that here. However, this doesn’t have any of the smoke than Keemun had. There is some maltiness, but maybe not as much as the Nam Lanh or Assam. Overall, this Yunnan is excellent, but it’s similar enough to Nam Lanh that I don’t want to buy both. I can’t decide which I prefer, so maybe I’ll alternate between buying the two? The Nam Lanh is caramel with a little bit of fruit, and Yunnan is fruit with a little bit of caramel. I’ll probably just cave in and buy tins of both. :)

One of my favorites. It’s naturally sweet and reminds me of agave and grapes. It’s good by itself, but adding some light agave really brings out the flavor! I would call this a “medium” tea, good for any time of day. It’s refreshing and has a mild aftertaste with no bitterness. Overall, this tea is interesting enough for slow, contemplative sips, but it’s light enough so that just guzzling a whole pot works, too.

Another favorite. This one is smooth, dark, and malty. The maltiness of this tea reminds me of dark beer; if Darjeeling is said to be the champagne of tea, then I guess this is the stout. Other tastes include caramel and dried fruit. Similar to Arbor Teas’ Assam, but I don’t have any more of that one to compare. I like this one better, because it’s sweeter and doesn’t have the hint of spice that Assam had. It’s also similar to Yunnan, and I haven’t decided which I prefer. Finally, there is a hint of Darjeeling in this. So, this tea has a lot going on. The mouthfeel of this one is heavy and thick, giving the impression that this tea is more filling. The brewed smell is comforting and might be my favorite of any tea. I could drink this every day!