Tealux

Thank you Liquid Proust for this sample!

Tasting #1 – Steep Time 2 Minutes
Has the aroma of a black tea, very light but smooth flavor. My mouth feels soft just drinking this tea.

Tasting #2 – Steep Time 4 Minutes
Now more earthy flavors are coming out, like cedar bark. My mouth still feels soft even though these flavors tend to be hard. Its an interesting balance that I’m enjoying.

Tasting #3 – Steep Time 7 Minutes
It smells very much like the kuki hojicha now. How do I describe such a smooth bite? Its very distinct and pleasurable to drink.

Tasting #4 – Steep Time 10 Minutes
Almost a metallic aroma now. Very hard flavors, like steam rising from rocks. Absolutely delicious.

I love this tea. I love how complex these flavors are and how they change. I love how these hard flavors give me the mouth feel of something lighter and creamier, like a milk oolong. I love that the longer it steeps the more of a bite I get but it goes down smooth. This is in no way a simple sharp tasting tea, this is carefully roasted so that the natural flavors of this tea can still come through without making you reach for a glass of water. I tend to prefer greener oolongs because I find the roasting process makes it difficult for me to continuously drink the darker oolongs unless I drink them cold. I’m not only amazed but very happy to drink this tea hot as I’m going on 20 minutes of continuous tasting now.

From the Not My Cup O’ Tea TTB

Fruity but not particularly rhubarb. I wouldn’t choose this if I were looking for rhubarb but it is ok as a fruity beverage which can be just fine.

Got this tea in a swap with Amanda ‘SoggyEnderman’ Wilson! Oh goodness girl, I keep having to copy and paste your username because it’s so long! XD Thanks for sending me this though!
This one wasn’t my absolute favorite, but it wasn’t bad. It had strong woody notes, as well as strong bready notes. I drank a whole cup and a half of it. It helped break up the milky/creamy notes in the ice cream oolong this morning. :P
Was the perfect contrast haha!
This tea wasn’t super flavorful but it was decent. Not my favorite, but a pleasant cup of tea. I enjoyed drinking it. And I mean, I probably would have spent my own money on it one day but I am glad I didn’t. Too much woodiness for me personally, but that’s alright. It was a pleasant cup still and happy to have tried it through a swap. Thanks again! (:

I’m unsure why I chose this tea out of everything I have available to me, but I did.
Tonight I am flooded by emotions and I fear they will keep me up. This weekend was great as I was able a good friend stayed for a few days. It has been 5 years since I have seen him… it was a clear reminder of how often I have moved throughout my life and how unstable my friendships are. Every few years it seems as if I am somewhere new and start to lose communication with old friends. Anyways, tea:

Tealux/Tealyra has been hit or miss with me so far. Thankfully this tea is a hit :)
The smell does not lead on to what is about to be tasted. This brews one smooth cup that would be classified as medium on a scale of light to dark. What makes this tea above ‘good’ is the mouth feel and how it goes down. Unlike a teiguanyin (or most of them that is) this tea warms up my body and I feel it from the mouth and down. Sensations linger in my mouth from the tea and I don’t want to take another drink for a good minute to savor the feeling as it slowly fades.
I’ll be looking for more oolongs like this.The stems with green leaves are the most beautiful as they have two full leaves on them and the dark brown ones look like burnt cabbage…

A very serious and mature tea, with which one must tread carefully. The bag is almost empty, but after sensitizing myself over time to try what I would consider the maximum amount of leaf/strength, I finally feel this tea to the root, so to speak.

If I had no clue of what to call it, I would call this “chocolate malt” puerh. When made strong, there is an ineffable chocolaty flavor that stands out even through the heavy and pungent marshy peat flavor. It pairs very nicely with the rich malt for a sweet, thick cocoa cream taste. I still have not pinpointed the subtle note of fruit, and doubtfully ever will, but it is a pleasing note—leaning toward sugary date, perhaps sour plum.

My only caveat, the tinge of earthiness; not the pleasant soil-ish mushroom taste, but the unwanted dirty mud-earth taste muddled with it, that you sometimes find occupying your ripe puerh. However, the mouthwateringly sweet aftertaste, married with the satisfyingly lingering dry mouth-feel makes all the difference. If you like a dry, rich chocolaty malt, give this loose leaf a brew!

This brew is a melancholy visit to the marsh. The musty scent of wet, even boggy soil accentuates the essential woody flavor. Shorter steeps present the mellowly sweet, twiggy flavor, with a damp earthiness and smokey finish. The gentle smokiness smooths the liquor, while the rich, earthy taste is softened by malty flavor… Some floral notes are at play, but these are subtle, mostly dominated by the marshy dankness.

The tea is pleasant, but somewhat reserved with revealing flavor. After an entire bag, I don’t feel as acquainted as I should. Using less leaf, about 1/4 the volume of the gaiwan, reduces the intensity of the malty flavor, and lingering fishiness. So, if you don’t like fishiness, I would rinse for five seconds, or slightly more, and avoid using too much leaf!
Quite tasty, if you like the smell of woody marshes. I enjoyed it after meat.

A good casual tea, not very remarkable. It’s also strongly stimulating, good for getting level-headed, and super-boosting your digestion.

Matcha/Green TTB #2

Dang, this is a really dark matcha! I took this one out because of the color of it :)
This actually whisked really easy, maybe because it is a 2-go matcha? I don’t know, I didn’t read anything about this so I am unsure if it is one that is to be put in a canister and shaken or not.
Either way, this was nice brisk sip down down. I had to rewhisk this one though which was fun because the bottom was even darker than the matcha!
This one left a dry mouth feel that continued to my throat which I am not a fan of.

This is a fine, fine tea. It requires a load of leaf, and very, carefully cool water. Water that is too hot will scare off the flavor. Light, crisp, sweet, the flavor really grows on you after the first steep (or should). I enjoy the creamy honey sweetness. I think it plays on the grassy taste of the white tea.

At first, I didn’t realize the note of cucumber that slowly loudens with each steeping. Near the end, it is an obviously cucumber flavor and scent. Lovely. And mysterious.

A fresh, sweet and tangy pearl. This tea is very sensational, yet it is soft and temperamental. The jasmine scent is wonderful and satisfying! The taste is somewhat creamy and lemony.
Use very little leaf, a small amount of water, very low temperature, and shorter steep times (after pearls have began to unfurl and release their flavor).
Beware of bitterness. Don’t use too many pearls, or steep for very long. Also, it is important not to burn or overcook these sensitive leaves.

This was a delicious, satisfying yellow tea for all its affordability. Crisp, sweet, mellow but pungent! A fine yellow tea. I would insist on a temperature no higher than 170. 160 is probably safer for the first steep. This delicate yellow tea requires very low temperature and a short 5-10 second initial steep, using a generous portion of leaf (filling half of cup or gaiwan). Too hot water, or not enough leaf, and the infusion will lack the sweet, pungent flavor and take on more vegetal and astringent tastes.

I wanted a dessert tea and this is it! Smells so sweet.

Creamy. A lot like the same from DAVID’s tea.

I wish I had grabbed more of this during my last tea haul from TeaLyra (TeaLux in Canada, TeaLyra in the US). While I’ve been craving sweets like CRAZY, I’ve not been feeling up to super sweet teas. This naturally fragrant oolong fulfills my craving just enough. Although the big box of cookies helped too.

The strawberry note in this is quite subtle, and is more of a young strawberry fragrance with a creamy green oolong. The other review said it was more a milk oolong, but the unflavored milk oolong I’ve had from Tealux reminds me of raisin bread, so I respectfully disagree.

I’ve been making teapots after teapots of this stuff. That’s how much I’ve been drinking it. And because it’s not artificially flavored, I find that the strawberry scent lingers far longer. I’ve steeped the same 2tsp in a 24oz teapot at least 5 times and I could still detect the strawberry. It’s quite pleasant hot and cool.

This might be the smoothest darker green type of oolong that I’ve tasted thus far. It reminds me a lot of the first oolong I drank which entered me into the world of tea slowly. I’m unsure what roman letters to align together in creation of English words to conclude remarks for this tea… I just really enjoy it.

Very green TGY that brews a light cup. The taste is mild but very clean. This would be a great cup of tea to sip on while walking through a flowery area since it wouldn’t obstruct the senses from perception of beauty in nature, aka it’s a nice tea to sip on while you walk.
I believe I like my TGY on the mild side or roasted so this is nice.

Holy Bergamot Batman!! hahaha, I saw this as an oolong earl grey, and I just had to have it. I am fascinated with the varieties of Earl Grey because of their diversity. This is definitely a unique one. I brewed this up as my morning cup in my press. The aroma was incredibly strong and refreshing. A sweet floral bergamont filled my tea room. The taste is spectacular. The oolong adds a light base in which the bergamont lies on top of. This is some powerful earl grey since the the bergamot is unaffected by a heady black tea. However, the jasmine was almost absent except for a slight grassy and floral undertone. This brew did the job for the morning cup, and I’m so happy to be able to try another Earl Grey!

This is an interesting tea. I know I tried it western style before, but I think I was distracted while drinking it so I didn’t write a tasting note. This time I decided to make it in the gaiwan. 4g of leaf in a 100ml gaiwan, and it almost filled it, it’s such a fluffy leaf. The first couple of steeps were 30sec and then 60sec with 80C water. Then I tried 60sec and 30sec with 90C water. I’m still trying to figure this out. :)

The dry leaf smells kind of grassy and musty. Wet leaves smell like, well, wet leaves… like a pile of autumn leaves that has been sitting for a while and starting to decompose. The tea brews up a lovely golden colour.

The mouthfeel is almost syrupy, and there’s a slight nectar sweetness. I spent quite a while sipping and trying to decide what this tastes like, because it’s an odd blend of musty and grassy and slightly floral. Eventually I decided that it reminds me of alfalfa hay that has been sitting in the barn for a while. Like, that aroma when you cut open a new bale of hay and pull off a couple flakes, and you’re slightly jealous of the horse/cow/whatever you’re feeding because it smells so good.

Sipdown (112)!

Finished this one off last night as well; in a timolino. It was reminding me an awful lot of catnip tea – but in a half decent way (I was not a fan of catnip tea). I feel kind of bad I never really wound up using this for any blending, like was intended, but I just wound up liking it a little too much as a straight, herbal blend.

Pretty sure my landlord has an evil, evil sixth sense.

I’ve been curled up on my couch all day with one of the worst migraines I’ve ever had in my whole life; I can only think of one time when my head hurt worse than it does now. I’ve left the couch a total of three times todays; to get advil, to take a hot shower, and to make tea. What’s he doing? FUCKING VACUUMING THE SHAG CARPET ON THE STAIRS AND RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DAMN LIVING ROOM DOOR! Why is it that he only does loud things when I’m either A) hungover or B) have a terrible, terrible headache.

Anyway; this was something I picked out to drink because it “supposedly” helps relieve chronic headaches. I’m not buying it; it’s simply just not doing the trick. Oh well, at least it tastes good.

So I received the Butiki sponsored herbal box this week, and it was such a dramatic influx of tea – most of it I just added to my cupboard under the header “Butiki Sponsored Herbal Blending Box” or something like that, anyway. Some of the things in the box were really clearly labelled from specific companies though, so I’ve added those things into my cupboard separately – such as this tea.

This is one of a few ingredients in the box that I’ve either never had or never had plain; the latter in this case. Before mixing it with anything else, I wanted to try it on its own to know what I’m working with flavour wise. I brewed up about sixteen ounces of this and had half of it hot, and the second half iced. Steeped up this has a very dark, swampy olive green colour. It’s both pretty and kind of intimidating.

Of the hot and iced versions of this, I disliked the hot more than the iced. I found that while it tasted very, very grassy with a bit of sweetness and also a bit of bitterness that the hot version had an almost unpleasant medicinal tint to the flavour.

And on the note of ‘medicinal’ stuff – apparently there are a whole lot of health claims for drinking nettle leaf tea. I want to be really clear that I’m no expert on the health claims here nor do I necessarily believe all of them; and that’s definitely not why I’m drinking this tea. My personal belief is that any ‘health benefits’ I get from tea is a great added bonus, but I completely drink tea for the taste – and I review it for the sense of community, and to learn from other people’s experiences.

The iced version of this was very similar; incredibly grassy with sweet and pleasant bitter notes – however I didn’t taste anything especially medicinal. It was just the taste of very obviously herbal tea. I’d definitely drink this plain again were it iced; I’m not so sure I’d be as willing to try it hot again unless it was sweetened, and I don’t normally sweeten my tea so that’s probably just a safe no on that front.

At least it gave me some good ideas of what to blend this with for my next herbal mix!