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This not-so-little ball has a bomb dry leaf aroma: it’s malty but also sweet, warm and a bit spicy. It’s like smelling really old books or dried flowers as mementos. I kept smelling this ball for a looong time, it was almost addictive.

Unfortunately, the taste is a bit of a step-down. The chrysanthemum is understated, which is good and the tea itself – a very solid dianhong – takes the leading role. It’s bitter-sweet, malty and spicy, with a bit of medicinal herbal teas taste. While the same dragon balls with roses blends together seamlessly and compliments each other, this dianhong with chrysanthemum i s not such a perfect match.

You also have to make sure you find the right balance between the steeping times since the taste of the tea tends to overpower the chrysanthemum if you are not careful. The aftertaste is pretty forgettable.I steeped it Western but it’s certainly well-suited for a gaiwan. The saving grace for me with this tea was its enchanting dry leaf aroma and the good quality of the base.

This tea seems to be universally loved so I will be a contrarian in my review: I did not like it that much. I prepared it western style. The wet leaf aroma was very good: grass, spice, some hints of green vegetables and butter.

The taste story was altogether different. It is a finicky tea: my first steep proved to be too long or hot and it resulted in a very grassy and bitter product. The other steep proved to be too short so the tatse was rather bland. Only my third steep hit the fine balance and I did get all of that combination of grass, restrained bitterness and creaminess. The aftertaste was long and rather pleasant for those who prefer it quite astringent.

However, even when you hit the elusive balance of time, temperature and leaf amount you get a representative but not a particularly complex Long Jing. Aside from its wet leaf aroma nothing really was that impressive to me.

On the other hand, this tea is already 9 months old and I am not much into green teas in general, so you may want to take my review with a sizable grain of salt.

I bought this tea from a local tea shop because I feel guilty for purchasing almost all of my teas online. Local tea shops have a hard time and if tea drinkers like myself will not buy teas there once in a while they will sadly completely disappear.

This tea is probably the one that Arbor Tea sells as its Organic Vietnam Nam Lanh Estate Black Tea. It is grown by a cooperative in North Vietnam.

It’s interesting. Has a nice dry leaf smell of honey, raspberries and ripe blackberries. If you brew it for shorter periods it tastes like a decent Yunnan, with a fairly typical honey, chocolate, malt and berry profile – but with an additional kick of body and bitterness reminiscent of Indian Assams. If you steep it for longer (or use more leaf, which worked better for me) it becomes much more like an Indian Assam enriched by the dianhong notes. Or you can go for something in between of those two extremes. By adjusting the steeping time and the amount of water you can get at least three different teas out of it. Does not resteep well, unfortunately.

It’s a robust tea, the Yunnan palette is not very complex but clean it blends well. A breakfast tea. If anyone is looking for something in between assams and dianhongs this is a tea for you. I liked it.

I find it to be a good alternative for smoked lapsangs, which I initially was a big fan of but cooled over time. Unlike them, this Rou Gui is less abrasive and more friendly and cozy.

This is a well-reviewed and highly rated tea and deservedly so. It has a charming aroma of greens, spinach, broccoli, butter, and spice. The taste is fairly pronounced for Taiwan oolongs, with the dominant notes of grass, spinach, minerals, and seaweed. Spice, salt , and nuts as secondary flavors, with a lingering herbal and spicy aftertaste.

I usually prefer “louder” teas that grab you and this is still an oolong, which requires you to concentrate and pay an undivided attention to it to appreciate all it has to offer. But it was one of the more assertive, and, frankly, better oolongs that i have tried, without any obvious weaknesses.

This tea was a wonderful disappointment. Generally, I am not a big fan of teas with flowers/herbs added (ginseng, jasmine etc.)- the additions usually overpower whatever tea they are grafted on and the tea used for the base are frequently not the best quality. But I make exceptions for roses because, well, I love roses. And I wanted to reorder another Teavivre’s rose tea where the smell and taste of roses was bordering on obscene (and which pleased me greatly!) Instead I ordered these dragon balls because they were on sale – and also because I thought it was the same tea mix, just rolled up into balls.

When I opened the balls I was shocked since there was no overpowering rose aroma out of the package and each ball contained just a couple of rose flowers. Then I was shocked again by how balanced the tea these balls produce. The dianhong used for the base is pretty good and it hits you with a typical Yunnan sweet bitterness, which immediately softened and smoothed out by the rose petal smoothness. It results in an incredibly well-balanced, smooth drink. Its like dianhongs and roses were made for each other to represent a study in bringing together Yin and Yang.

Among less impressive observations: this delicate balance does not last for multiple steeps, the aroma is fairly generic for Yunnan teas and the taste is not especially complex. Anyway, it is a memorable and generally enjoyable tea.

This is a nice, dynamic Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong that reminded me of some equally strong Keemuns. It has a typical wet leaf Keemun aroma. The taste is mostly dark chocolate and malt, with some conifer tree sap and a touch of sweet potatoes. A strong backbone and a defined bitter-sour aftertaste.

This tea does not exhibit much of complexity and barely has any sweet or floral notes. Simple, bracing, piney. It’s not for everybody but it does have some character. It works nicely for me as a wake-up tea at work or later in the day when I need a jolt of energy and concentration.

I am slowly making my way in the world of Liu Baos. This is a good one. Tightly pressed, with not much of dry flavor besides some herbal pungency. As all hei cha teas, it produces multiple resteeps. The taste is bold and invigorating, with herbal undertones, fermentation, savoriness, bay leaf, some muted pungency and spiciness. It possesses a pronounced pleasant aftertaste.

This is definitely an acquired taste, somewhat similar to raw puerhs but more subdued. I am kinda like young puehrs, but prefer Liu Baos more especially in the cheaper price segment. Raw puerhs are too often fit only a very specific mood for me while this Hei Cha I can enjoy more frequently. Some people would probably say that it’s due to a lack of character… but it works for me: a very defined, unique taste is a blessing only if you are really into that combination.

Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong is one of my favorite type of teas so I opened the bag with teas with quite a bit of anticipation. I was surprised: this tea was different from all other its relatives. The dry leaves smell surprisingly strong of vegetables: sweet potato and carrots. And the taste is a veritable vegetable stew: fried cabbage, roasted carrots, baked sweet potato and, for some reason, grapes. And oh my, it is REALLY sweet: it’s hard to believe there is no added honey or brown sugar in the cup. On the negative side, the aftertaste is minimal and the tea does not resteep well degenerating instead into a vaguely sweet mush of tastes.

I tried to like it but after trying it 3 times I still not into it. I like my Zheng Shan Xiao Zhongs with some structure, bitterness and with a lingering aftertaste and this tea is completely different. But if you are into unbridled sweetness and roasted vegetables this would be a good tea for you.

One of many Yunnan assamicas that are typically processed into puehrs but Yunnan Sourcing is now offering as regular red teas. Large wiry leafs, fresh floral malty aroma, which is being nicely complimented by a pronounced sweet potato note as a wet leaf. The taste did not appear very complex to me: very sweet, in a honey and flower ways. Plus some chocolate, sweet potato and baked bread. The aftertaste is not particularly remarkable nor strong: some rather generic honey and chocolate.

It is a simple but pleasant tea, “not that there’s anything wrong with that”. The type that you are certain to finish (and enjoy!) but equally certain not to re-order because it does not stand out in any way.

P.S. I feel somewhat intimidated because the template for this tea had been created by eastkyteaguy and he has it in his cupboard…which means that soon he will post here a detailed review that would meticulously document about 20 other aromas and flavors for that tea that I had failed to pick up…but I feel bold today.