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well, i tried. i mean, it’s not like it’s YUCKY or anything like that, it’s just, there. green. so….boring. it tastes light and ok, and as it cools (but before it gets too cool) it ALMOST swerves into “good but not great” territory. as it misses that target, it gives up and slumps down into a wet green pile of “meh.”

this thing ROCKS! when my brother got me a gift set from Teavana for my birthday, i for some reason didn’t bother with it for a few months….but once i started using this wondrous strainer, i couldn’t stop with the tea! there’s no way i’d have gotten re-addicted if it weren’t for the PerfecTea, i blame it completely. LOVE IT.

oh yumminess! this particular tea is particularly floral, so much so that the scent of the tea brewing was making me anticipate a perfume-y (yucky) taste once i sipped…but no! hooray! just a thick rich oolong flavor accented with the floral notes in quite a delicate manner. just yummy.

admittedly, this is the first oolong i’ve had since undertaking the Big Tea Experimentation of 2013, but DARN if this isn’t one of the yummiest teas i’ve ever had! Rich, chocolate-assam-redcurrant-esque depth with just the tiniest TINIEST smoky flavor, just yummy. even the smell of the tea leaves makes me happy.
Next time around, i shall try a splash of milk and/or sugar, however just plain, this is delish.
(evidently not available on their website – i was there in-person and had to actually ask for it from behind the counter. it is one of Those Special Select Teas.)

just make sure and brew it about 1-2 minutes longer than the instructions call for. also let it cool just a bit – and then the lovely flavors are allowed to come out and play.

well this is an odd bird, although i should have expected that. pu-erhs are infamous for their oddness, after all! i didn’t think to rinse the leaves, so my first infusion was 2-3 tsp of tea in 16 oz of boiling water, steeped for around 5 minutes. HOLY silage, batman! the scent hits your nose first, a rich multi-layered combination of wet soil, compost, tobacco smoke, and rotten vegetation. the first sips were incomprehensible, but once the tea had cooled a tiny bit, similar flavours roll over the tongue delightfully. after the tea had cooled a bit more (still hot, mind), the flavors all collapsed into the taste of damp sand, which was disappointing. poured out the rest of that cup, started on the second infusion. boiling water, about 5 minutes again, the brew is just as inky brown from the moment the water hits the tea – does this stuff not dilute? the aroma of the tea this time around is a little sweeter – more rotting vegetation than tobacco smoke, less peat and more compost. this is not a bad thing, mind. the flavor has calmed down a bit, it is a bit less sharp, a bit less complex; it tastes more like a tea now. this is definitely not an everyday tea for me, however i can imagine it being an amazing after-dinner drink, served in small cups, shared amongst friends, like a fine sherry.

PGTips has to be the most all-round well-made, durable tea of all time. it puts up with whatever you throw at it (although i prefer to stop steeping around 3-4 minutes) and keeps on going. even iced, this tea is just the nummiest. add a TON of sugar and you’ve got sweet tea that would make a southern belle smile! now, pardon me while i go have me a cuppa…