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Well, this is the first time I try a tea from A.C. Perch’s, and it seems to be a tea house with potential!
I have tasted some white teas before, but not many at all, to be exact this is the 2nd white tea I try, which is to say that it isn’t a lot.
The tea itself is Pai Mu Tan, can’t be anything else, the other white tea I’ve tasted was a silver needle, and it didn’t had much flavor. The dry tea smells nice. Fruity, exotic, sweet and so on. The leaves are quite big and flat, and the steeped tea got that characteristic, almost silvery color to it. White teas are so adorable in color. I steeped this tea for a long time, 6 minutes, maybe 7 minutes, but it doesn’t seem to be a too long steeping-time. I can not clearly tell which fruits it smells of in it’s liquid form, it is just one fruity orgy, but there’s clearly strawberry and pineapple in it.

The taste is sweet, which may be caused by the candied fruits added to this tea, and of course the white tea itself, which tends to be sweet. I almost only get strawberry and pineapple when I drink it, and it is also tart due to the pieces of fruits added to it. Great tea, but it really is a fruity orgy. I don’t think it overtakes the best Kusmi-teas I’ve tasted.

Overview:

Appearance: Big, flat white tea leaves, orange peel and candied fruits.
Dry tea-smell: Fruit. Strawberry, pineapple and papaya.
Color: Silvery.
Brewed tea-smell: Strawberry and pineapple.
Taste: White tea, sweetness and tartness. Strawberry and pineapple.

Grade: B.O.P. (Broken Orange Pekoe)
Chocolate and mint, is a winner-combination for me, I just love After Eight Thin Mints, but this tea is nowhere near the taste of After Eight, it is more like eating a christmas sugar cane covered in milk chocolate! To be honest I was a little disappointed, that this tea didn’t contain peppermint. The mint in this tea is spearmint, a sweeter and more chewing gum-like herb than peppermint, so if you love strong mint, this tea may not be for you, since it really is a sugary extravaganza; milk chocolate and sweet mint from a christmas sugar cane!

The dry leaf is chocolatey, and very similar to Spicy Chocolate when it comes to the smell of the chocolate itself, their plain chocolate tea is to me much more stronger and more cocoa-y. The mint is definitely there, but the chocolate is the primary part.

The smell of the liquid tea is exactly like the dry leaves; dominating chocolate, and less dominatig mint. I would consider the chocolate in this tea to be a little weird. Still a great cup of tea. Tastewise, the mint is way more dominatig than the chocolate, but the chocolate is noticeable anyway, which I’m very thankful for. This is a great cup of tea, but better teas exists.

Overview:

Appearance: Lightly broken black tea leaves, cocoa beans and mint leaves. I really like the addition of cocoa beans, it makes it much more interesting to look at.
Dry tea-smell: Chocolate and sweet spearmint.
Color: Brown with an ever so lightly green glow.
Brewed tea-smell: Mint and chocolate. Most chocolate, least mint.
Taste: Non-bitter black tea, sweet mint and subtle milk chocolate.

Grade: O.P. (Orange Pekoe)
Finally I’m going to taste and smell Tsar Nicholas II’s tea, it has always sounded exciting and special to me. The dry leaf smells very citrusy, to be more exact they smell of bergamot and lime, perhaps also something a little sweeter. Maybe it’s mandarine.
The tea itself also shines through, which I like, overpowering teas are so vulgar and non-exciting, so I’m glad that some tea-fragrance is noticeable in this tea. I don’t know exactly which flowers there are in it, but there are lots of it. Maybe the flowers are lavender and ylang ylang, it’s not rosy in any way. After the tea’s done steeping I’m going to find out, if Tsar Nicholas II had taste for tea, hopefully he had.

Well, strangely though, all the remarkable aromas of the dry leaves, simply doesn’t translate into the brewed tea, you can’t smell any of the essential aromas, it just smells of black tea. Almost. For me, it isn’t negative that a tea has subtle flavourings, I like it even better when they have. Teas just needs to have a hint of flavouring, if you ask me.

The taste of the liquid tea is not that subtle, here the citrusness and the floweryness, is quite noticeable, especially all the flowers, but the citrus is also there, adding exiting flavors to the tea. It has a tiny bit of bitterness, but it is a light tea, lighter than their Russian Morning #24, and lighter than their Anastasia. The color is quite dark, even though it’s a light tea, with a body between light and medium. Goes well with milk too!
Bouquet of Flowers #108 is one of the best teas I have tasted, and it’s just great, great, great. Must buy a 125g later on.
Tsar Nicholas II had taste for tea, obviously.

Overview:

Appearance: Extremely long black tea leaves.
Dry tea-smell: Bergamot, lime and flowers. Ylang ylang, lavender and a tiny bit of black tea.
Color: Reddish-brown
Brewed tea-smell: Aromatic black tea and a tiny flower/citrus smell.
Taste: Slightly bitter black tea, but still light. Bergamot, lime and flowers like ylang ylang and lavender.

Grade: B.O.P. (Broken Orange Pekoe)
Aahhhh… relaxing, comforting and tasty, that’s what this tea is. The dry tea smells of roasted sugar, butter and cream… does it get better than that? Not really. I brewed this tea for 5 minutes which I think is a great steeping time for Kusmi’s flavored chinese blacks. I’m not joking. The liquid tea smells exactly the same as the dry tea, but here the butter/cream notes are less dominating. Still very, very pleasing. The black tea itself is smooooooth, and doesn’t even has a hint of unpleasant bitterness. The caramel flavor is medium/strong, and absolutely not synthetic, I’m seriously in heaven right now, but it is even more delicious with sugar and hot milk (the one with 1,5% fat, or letmælk as we call it in Denmark). The tea is orangish-brown when brewed. I will DEFINITELY buy this tea again, no doubt there!

Overview:

Appearance: Broken black tea leaves, not very broken, just a bit.
Dry tea-smell: Caramel (roasted sugar, butter and cream).
Color: Orangish-brown.
Brewed tea-smell: Caramel (less butter and cream, than in the dry leaves).
Taste: Smooth black tea and heavy caramel.

Usually when I buy Kusmi Tea, I buy their more special blends, their Russians, their flavored etc., and why I do that seems clearly in this tea, because it’s not very flavorful. Combine that with my preference about jasmine, and you have a slightly disappointing tea. The dry tea smells of course of jasmine flowers, but the green tea itself also shines through as an aromatic, grassy smell. The green tea base is, as i can see, a chun mee tea, which isn’t my preferred green tea. I prefer sencha and gunpowder over chun mee. The chun mees from Kusmi Tea I have tasted were all lightly anstringent. The brewed tea smells pretty much like the dry tea, but here the jasmine is even more subtle, which is positive to me. The color in the cup is orangey-yellow, and the taste is okay, I would say, but the aftertaste is slightly tannic, it’s not much, it’s just a hint of tannin, but what’s worse, is that the tea itself is boring. Kusmi did a slightly disappointing job here, and I don’t think it’s a tea, that I’m going to buy in big amounts.

Grade: B.O.P. (Broken Orange Pekoe)
Prince Vladimir, an unbelievable great Russian blend with an unbelievable great smell, that really screams: I AM RUSSIAN!!!
The smell of the dry tea is primary dominated by citrus and cloves, but also has a clear vanilla note on top of it all. The combination of citrus, spices and vanilla somewhat smells like Coca-Cola. The color of the brewed tea is light brown with a touch of orange, and it’s body is light verging on medium. It mostly smells of cloves when it’s brewed, but it also has a subtle lemon/grapefruit note over it, and a sweet vanilla smell too.

The taste of Prince Vladimir is mostly cloves, cinnamon and vanilla. The citrus notes do only appears at the end of the sip, especially when oversteeped. The aftertaste is very peppery, because of the cloves/cinnamon. As you would expect from Kusmi Tea, the tea itself is not bitter and tannic. All in all I would say that this is one of the best Russian blends i have tasted. Kusmi Tea is an expensive tea, and it really isn’t to buy around every corner, but it is well worthing the effort and the price. I also like the fact that the whole tea company is a relic from the ancient Russia. You really feel like a tsar when you drink Kusmi Tea, it simply can’t be more tsar-y!!

Overview:

Appearance: Lightly broken black tea leaves and grapefruit peel.
Dry tea-smell: Lemon, grapefruit, cloves and vanilla. Coca-Cola.
Color: Orangish-brown.
Brewed tea-smell: Cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and citrus.
Taste: Cloves and cinnamon, vanilla and grapefruit, lemon, light pepper and of course black tea.