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If tea had a gender, I would call this a manly tea. The dry tea smells woody, and I could pick out some hints of grape. Not sure where that came from. There’s a warm vanilla scent, and an unidentified note that I believe is the saffron.

The brewed tea smells warm, and reminds me of a cozy night spent reading in a comfy chair by the fireplace. I am happy to drink it in the Spring, but I will definitely be buying more of this in Autumn because it just seems like it would fit with cooler weather!

This tea is expensive, but I have to say it’s worth it. I mean, real vanilla beans and real saffron are expensive, but I think you get what you pay for here.

I had a rough day, and this tea is giving me a warm, fuzzy feeling. I think some of that is also due to the fact that I am drinking it out of the most awesome Dr. Who mug ever made, but the tea is definitely contributing to the happy.

I’m so bummed about this one. The dry leaves have a sharp chemical smell, and the brewed tea just tastes off to me.

When brewed for 30 seconds, the aroma smells like bandaids. Then a little floral, like jasmine. Then minty bandaids. When I taste it after 30 seconds: bandaids

30 more: floral bandaids
3 min: bandaids and pine

I SO wanted to love this. The lotus is the most beautiful flower and I spend my summers at the nearby park whose lake grows American Lotus flowers for as far as the eye can see. They are a creamy yellow and contrast beautifully with the purple loosestrife growing in the lake.

But this tea… a bandaid-like flavor is well-known to home beer brewers, because it indicates that your brew is “off”. Some wild yeast or bacteria has infected it. I don’t know what it indicates in tea, except that there’s something wrong with the tea, or with my taste buds!

I tried this again with one long steep, and this is how every sip goes: chemically start, unidentified floral in the middle, with a bandaid finish.

Wow, what a tea! I was a little worried because the dry tea smelled like chocolate, but there was also a sharp scent I couldn’t quite identify. Once steeped, I could just smell the chocolate. Yum.

The cocoa flavor is pronounced, but not overpowering. The tea has a lovely sweetness and doesn’t need any additives to be excellent. I’m really happy with this one. I’ll definitely repurchase.

This had a very green aroma and flavor, and while I liked it, I didn’t pick up on any special scents or tastes. It just tasted like a slightly sweet greenish tea.

Absolutely drinkable, but there are several teas from a yezi that I like better, so I’ll be sticking with those.

Edit 5/19/14 – I made this grandpa style at work last week and I thought it was especially well suited to this method. The tea tasted mild and pleasant, but never became bitter. I got 3-4 steepings out of about 3/4 tsp. of tea in a 10 oz. mug. I’m adjusting my rating because I was very happy with the result.

The dry tea smells like matcha, with vanilla. I brewed this for 4 minutes using water at 205 degrees. The aroma while steeping smelled like hay, with hints of jasmine and another floral. Maybe it is the orchid that is mentioned in the tea’s description. Not sure.

This has a mellow flavor, and the same florals from the aroma can be tasted in the tea. The tea is mild and has enough sweetness that no additives are needed. I’m really impressed with this one! Apparently I should stick with Yezi’s teas because I have liked them all!

When I opened the bag of tea and took a deep inhale, I was not immediately impressed. It smelled like tea.

But then I boiled the water and started to brew this, and wow, it’s gorgeous. The tea is a lovely amber color and the brewed tea smells exactly like the malted grains used in brewing beer. I mean exactly.

When the tea finally steeps and cools, and I take a sip, it tastes like it smells. Any homebrewer or beer aficionado would know this flavor. Grains can be malted a million different ways into colors from light to dark, and flavors from mild to strong. The flavor of this tea was in the mid-range, which happens to be my favorite.

I should have brewed this gong fu style, but I wanted a nice sip while I watched a film, so I used boiling water for around 4 minutes. There was a slight bitterness, but I made a second infusion, poured it into a tall mug with the first (gasp!) and drank it that way. It was excellent and less bitter than the first steep alone.

I also tried adding just a hint of rock sugar, maybe just 1/2 tsp, which cut the minimal bitterness and really let the malty flavor shine.

I didn’t really pick up other flavors, but whatever. It’s probably because I am malt-obsessed, so when that appeared, I didn’t care about anything else. I was thrilled with this tea.

I greatly prefer this EG to Adagio’s Earl Grey Moonlight. This is a basic EG, and that’s ok by me. The tea has a good aroma and flavor, but without being overpowering. I’d call this one solid.

I had the sugar and milk out, but it didn’t need either. This was great on its own and I can see this being a tea I drink as my morning cuppa.

The brewed color of this tea is gorgeous. It’s a bright pinky red. But then the first sip: WOOO Sour!

It’s hard for me to imagine anyone enjoying this without a sweetener. I added a tsp of rock sugar and suddenly all was right with the world. The tea really shines!

People not into sweetening teas should probably avoid this one, but once the sourness is cut, the hibiscus and rosehips are quite pleasant and this is a great sipper for after dinner when caffeine is not desirable.

I wanted to love this, but I can’t taste anything past the chamomile. No banana or coconut. And I was really trying! I even stirred up the dry tea, because contents settle during shipping, and I thought that perhaps all the chamomile just made it’s way to the top of the tin. Unfortunately, this didn’t help. The chamomile is overpowering here. In fact, I don’t even smell banana or coconut in the dry tea.

I am expanding my herbal tea repertoire because I enjoy drinking tea after dinner, but I do not want caffeine keeping me awake at night. This would have been perfect, because chamomile is known for its relaxing properties.

I will keep this and drink it for that purpose, but I won’t repurchase and the search for evening teas will continue!

I’m going to stop drinking the Kusmi teas for awhile because every time I open the little tin, they smell amazing, but after steeping, there’s not much aroma, and not much overall flavor. Maybe these need to be sweetened to bring out more flavor. I will try that next.

I do think that if something is called “Spicy Chocolate”, then it should taste like chocolate which is also spicy. When I saw this tin, I had visions of either a chocolate chai or a chili chocolate bar kind of flavor. But no.