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Sipping this while seasoning my new Yixing travel tea tumbler. Thank you hugely to Bonnie on both counts. It’s sweet and very smoky. It makes me feel good. I love it. Thank you, Bonnie.

Sunday afternoon and feeling a bit frail. No, I did not have a skinful last night! I just have a bad back and a few other aches and pains. It’ll clear up soon enough, so no worries there. Anyway, I felt in need of a bit of colour, so I made a pot of Canton’s Dancing Dragon in my large glass pot. I love watching flowering teas unfurl and this one does not disappoint at all. The green leaves fold outward and allow a string of jasmine flowers topped by a red globe amaranth to pop up and wave gently in the warm currents of water. Now that’s the sort of gardening I like! Better yet, I don’t have to wait weeks or months for the crop to ripen. A few minutes later I am able to harvest my crop, and it was well worth the wait. It’s a delicate jasmine green tea. The jasmine is not overpowering and the green tea flavour shows through quite clearly. The whole is sweet, refreshing and lightly floral. Perfect for making me feel better. Better yet, the tea meets the approval of Mrs Roughage too. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

The dry leaf smells grassy and is a light olive colour. It is almost flat and looks great. The wet leaf smells meaty but retains the light olive colour. It looks fantastic suspended in my glass teapot. The liquor is almost clear. For all the colour it has, it might be plain water! But then the tasting proves this tea. It has a silky smooth mouth feel. It is light and refreshing. The meatiness of the wet leaf does not come through in the taste until the third steeping. Instead it is really light, sweet and a bit floral. All in all, this is a lovely, refreshing cuppa that is perfect for days when you need a light pick-me-up.

Sample from Bonnie. Thank you.

The dry leaf smells of sesame oil. The tea tastes of sesame. Although light, it has a very round flavour that is silky in the mouth and pleasant. I suspect this is a tea that I need to be in the right mood for. Still, I am enjoying this pot of it and shall no doubt enjoy the next pot too. Thank you, Bonnie.

Well, that’s the end of it. I have loved this tea all the way through the packet. It is smoky and sweet, like drinking a packet of smoky-bacon flavour crisps. Lovely.

I bought a beeng of this because it was in the sale and I had heard good things about it. I’m glad I did. The dry beeng is warm and inviting with a grassy aroma. The tea, when brewed, is mellow, with a slight tongue puckering astringency that I really liked. I should note at this point that I was destruction testing this tea and brewing it western style per the instructions on the packet. I would not normally make it that strong or brew it for that long. Anyhoo, the astringency was quite pleasant with no hint of bitterness. The tea was earthy, mellow and slightly grassy, and I really enjoyed it.

Still enjoying this one. It is floral with a tiny hint of caramel at the back. I may have made it weaker than last time I reviewed it, but the flavour is still great.