Bluegreen Send Message

I had this tea in my cupboard for a couple of month and it has changed quite a bit – despite being in a well-sealed Ziploc bag. It lost the fierce smokiness in both taste and aroma that precluded me from drinking it more often as it called for a very specific mood to enjoy it.

Now it comes off as very full-bodied, expansive and incredibly sweet. A lot of complexity and a good strong finish. This tea reminds me of fall, bountiful harvests, Thanksgiving, big dinners and camaraderie. I like it even more than before and will certainly reorder (bumps the original score up a notch).

A pleasant smooth black tea with lingering sweet fig finish. Not much of complexity and I did not taste a prominent cheesecake component. This is the tea that comforts but does not distract you from what you are doing : a good choice for a late-night cup while browsing the Internet or reading.

Personally, I prefer more complex and luxurious desert teas, though.

It is an interesting concept and seeing little chunks of carrots in a tea pouch is quite charming. The tea smelled and tasted rather muted and it was reminiscent not so much of a carrot cake but of a lemon cake. It has a nice balance of sweetness and lemony sourness with just a tiny hint of carrot. A clean, fresh taste that lasts.

This tea did not do much for me but I generally prefer a more robust base for desert teas than the white tea. Still, it was a nice change of pace.

It’a probably the best out of 52 Teas that I have tried so far. All of the flavors blend seamlessly together. The rose sweetness predominates but without being over the top. Sweet, malty, a bit sour and spicy. The flavors are evolving as you drink.

The taste is very thick and long lasting: this tea is almost like a meal. Very filling. This is what I ea desert tea should be.

This long-leafed tea has a very comforting aroma and taste of malt, sweet potato and baked bread: Thanksgiving in a cup. It’s not astoundingly complex but is very reliable in bringing relaxation and a happy smile. At least, it does it for me. And this tea is also priced quite below other offerings by Whispering Pines, which helps.

Given all that, this is a good choice for a daily drinker at work or on any busy day when there is a need for a short mindless relaxation break.

An unusual tea. This is a Yunnan Red that is fruity and sweet as an oolong. A lot of apple skin and baked apples in it, plus some caramel and berries. If you steep it longer it gains some malty backbone but never gets bitter. It’s very smooth. and flavors are well-defined.

It’s quit a unique tea if not super complex.

I had higher expectations about this tea based on the quality of packaging (a pretty neat sachet ) and the tea leaves in it, which were relatively large and unbroken. The tea tastes pretty generic for a bagged Ceylon, i.e. does not have any memorable taste at all. The bergamot component does not come off as particularly fresh or interesting.

I expected it being a step above similar products from Stash and Bigelow and it wasn’t the case. In short, there is nothing that differentiates this Earl Grey from others and makes me want to come back. It’s drinkable and it is definitely an Earl Grey but that’s that.

This is a well-reviewed tea so I will not go into specific details: they have been exhaustively captured already. Just my general observations.

This is the best Golden Snail/ Black Bi Luo Chun I have tried so far: intense aroma, strong, fresh and complex taste without any hint of bitterness. It resteeps well. Also, this tea is well-suited for both gaiwan and Western preparations and in general rewards those experimenting with times, temperatures and amounts.

Few reviews of this tea could be found on Steepster, which probably reveals that not that many folks are into smoked Lapsangs. And I can’t blame them to be honest: this tea is a fine representation of the type but its complexity cannot compete with other Whispering Pines reds. One has to be really into the taste and smell of campfire to enjoy it – and, luckily, I kinda am.

The dry leaves are quite small and not very interesting. This is one of the fairly strongly smoked Lapsangs, so the taste of the tea itself comes out only at the end of a sip: initially it’s all about smoke. Now, the smoky component is great: strong, clean, very natural and “real”. A lot of complexity in the smokiness but it is not a usual tea palette at all. I know it’s a cliche but the Islay Scotch fans would find plenty to enjoy in this Lapsang.

The tea taste comes later and it’s all about the honeyed and fruity sweetness, which goes fairly well with all this smoke and softens its austerity a bit.

Ashes of Autumn is a very nice representation of the type, with no corners cut and nothing artificial or one-dimensional about the smoke – which is, regrettably, very common with many Lapsangs. Still, this tea is certainly not for every day but for a very specific mood. As the name aptly suggests the late fall could be a good time to sip it, while looking at fallen leaves, starkly naked tree silhouettes, and caravans of birds flying away.

I really wanted to love this tea but something did not click on our first date. Which is strange, because this puerh does display many positive traits: a fairly complex taste with no funkiness, decay or excessive bitterness, a pleasant long aftertaste, resistance to over-steeping…

It just that I did not see any appreciable personality and uniqueness in it. Nothing controversial, eccentric, charmingly odd. This tea was assiduously virtuous, proper and careful about not displaying any negatives. You cannot go wrong with it but you will never get excited either. And why bother then?