World Tea House

I must preface this tasting note by stating I know absolutely nothing about black tea. To me, it all tastes like orange pekoe (other than Earl Grey).

This is a really NICE cup of what I expect black tea to taste like. My taste buds are not refined enough to distinguish what makes a darjeeling different from a Chinese black tea. Anyone care to offer a lesson?

I am on my second steep (4mins, as opposed to 3 for the first). The second cup is less “orange pekoe”-y to me . I think it’s that after-taste thing that reminds me of OP. It’s decently thick, decently strong, and just what I needed to wake up on this cool, way-to-fallish, August morning. Lovely.

finally brewed up a cup today. The sample has been tempting me for awhile, but today was the day!

It’s a very nice honeybush… it has the flavor I expect, but also an unknown fruityness to it. Unfortunately, I got occupied, and my cup cooled, but it’s still good. Will do a second steep!

I read a DavidsTEA FB post yesterday about chocolate chai and decided to give this a try. Because I am in the office, I heated up my vanilla rice milk in the microwave with about a tablespoon of Cocoa Camino dark hot chocolate. Then I steeped 1 heaping tsp of Tali’s Masala Chai in just boiled water for about 4 minutes.

YUM! I could have went a little easier on the cocoa, but this is by far my best success with this chai tea.

Had this again today. Steeped for 10 minutes in 96ish water + vanilla soy. I found it weak. So I boiled more water, topped off the cup and steeped another 10 minutes. It still was not overly satisfying. Perhaps I was too heavy on the milk?

ok I do need to really add a lot of vanilla soy milk to fully enjoy chai.

steep time: 5 minutes
temperature: ~96 degrees

I feel uncomfortable writing about chai, as I have practically no experience with the stuff. This is my third cup ever. Once was in an Indian restaurant (and that was amazing). The second time was with this stuff. I made it myself (didn’t follow any proper steeping techniques), I added oat milk and no sweetner, and I hated it. This time I tried vanilla soy milk (a bit too much actually), and steeped it correctly (well, as close to correctly without a thermometer) and it was really really good.

I recognize the cardamom, but beyond that, I find the flavors blend together, and are bit masked from my overabundance of soy milk. I will have to try some other chais to compare, because I am SOLD on this stuff now!

This is the last of my white peony, a friend had given me a sample. It is the only white tea I’ve had, so I can’t compare it to anything. I just threw the leaves into my travel mug, as that was my only option. (I really need something with a basket).

The leaves are darker green than I would expect based on the picture. When steeped, most of the leaves unfurled, although some stayed rolled up. It smells mostly of hay, and for the first while tasted like sweet hay (or at least, how I imagine hay tastes). The longer it steeps, the more bitter it is getting, but it’s not even close to being unbearable.

I used to think it was really creamy, which compared to my chinese green tea, it is. It’s quite thick, in a good way. I can’t really get much of a feel for the colour in my mug, but it seems quite dark, and amber. Again, it’s now been steeping about half an hour.

I will definitely get more white tea!

ETA: second steep. The water was not so hot this time around.
There is no longer any hay taste, and it is not bitter at all. The taste is very mild and “green” tasting (not green tea, just green). It is definitely thick, and maybe not so creamy as I remembered. This cup is much better than the first.

This is the last of my Bao Zhong. I will miss you, my first oolong!

This tea is so so good! I’ve bumped up the rating. But, I’m having a hard time describing it…
It smells somewhat of grass or hay, but the taste is very subtle. I am not sure I can really describe the taste, but I really like the mouthfeel. It’s slightly thick, but not in a bad way. In fact, since I’ve started drinking more green/white/oolong teas, my old favorite herbals seem so watery. I can’t say much for color, as I can’t really tell in my mug, but it’s not cloudy.

This was just a sample, and I will be sorely disappointed when it is all gone. I think I’ve only got one or two cups left.

I’m thinking outside the box this morning, so I made a cup of Bao Zhong from a sample. My oolong experience is limited, but until now I didn’t remember liking it. This is a nice, mild cup. I am sure if I had steeped it longer, the flavor would be stronger, but I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much.

threw 2 tsp into my hubby’s travel press to take with me for an early morning out. It tasted like coffee, due to hubster’s beverage of choice – not good.

The tea itself was more chamomile than I remember… I could barely discern the mint. Maybe it was overwhelmed by coffee taste/smell.

This is one of my favorite teas – I am definitely a mint girl.
The mint is there, but the chamomile is not overwhelmed.