faeries finest

Thank you Liquid Proust for this sample!

Tasting #1 – Steep Time 2 Minutes
Excellent color already, slight metallic flavor with roasted qualities. I’m absolutely amazed at how this tea has turned out already.

Tasting #2 – Steep Time 4 Minutes
This reminds me of the Iron Goddess of Mercy with the darkness of the flavors, but not being black. Delicious and soothing

Tasting #3 – Steep Time 6 Minutes
The aroma and flavors have stayed consistent all the way through. I am loving this tea. As soon as my cup is empty I’m ready to fill it again.

I wondered if this one is what an Oriental Beauty tastes like. It was interesting, but pretty close to a Darjeeling. It tasted like super dry raisins and apricots to me. It’s a good tea, but not my preference.

This is a nice toasty and flavorful oolong. The flavor is relatively full and complex, but it’s also purely from the tea.

‘Supreme Oolong’… this is a Darjeeling oolong.
The first brew is dark and stronger than I like. The second to fourth brew has a slight sweetness to it that I really enjoy. While this could probably brew more, I stopped at the fourth steeping. I decided to brew this after the Yunnan Gold because I was somewhat disappointed with Faerie’s Finest with that tea… this made up for it. I think my taste for Darjeeling oolongs are forever altered after drinking the Formosa Champagne Oolong by Art of Tea because that stuff is just so smooth.
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This is the first Faeries Finest product that I have not liked… rather bitter brew. I am actually going to use this to create a coffee grapefruit black tea blend for my bestfriend.
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So happy I brew this way I do; because I dislike black teas I steep them at 190 for 2/3 of the time that they should.
This brews a light gold cup that has a nice cocoa taste to it that is actually attached to the black tea taste which is actually wonderful as I brewed it mildly.
I am rather excited to compare these to other black dragon pearls. I think the only way this type of tea can have a higher score is if there was a buttery or honey taste somehow that mixes with the cocoa, though I still like it the way it is now.

If this was a white tea only it would make me angry at how subtle it would be. However, the green tea adds a nice hint of difference in this tea. For what this tea is, it is great. Knowing what to expect when drinking any tea is important and since I knew that this would be very mild I found it to be quite pleasant. Still a little dry and just ‘so’ ‘so’ as far as tea goes.

This is what I would call a mid range gyokuro. It’s bright green and has a nice sweetness to its vegetable taste but it isn’t the best yet it isn’t bad nor could I make any remarks to anything I dislike about it; I’m just simply comparing it to other gyokuros I have tasted.
Ice steeping this tea = YUMMY!
I take a teaspoon of this tea and let it fall to the bottom of a cup and pile ice on top of it while I decide to neglect it for 30 minutes. When I return to the cup there is a nice cool liquid in the cup that I can drink with a smile and repeat by throwing more ice on top. Not only is this unique and fun, I get to eat this gyokuro at the end :)