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Finishing up this sample. Now I wish I had thought to taste this one alongside the Indonesian oolong so I could taste the difference, because this is a very oolong-y green tea. :) It comes all rolled up like an oolong, and the flavour is light and sweet the way some green oolongs are. Lightly vegetal, maybe slightly floral, like a breeze across a meadow. :) There’s a little bit of astringency as it cools, and it doesn’t have that lingering creaminess that I associate with oolongs, so maybe that’s what makes this more of a green tea. It’s nice, but I don’t feel particularly compelled to order more. :)

Finishing off this sample from Anlina. This is a very nice yunnan black, lots of aroma and flavour. I’m getting malt, crusty brown bread, something spicy, and that honey sweetness that I associate with Chinese black teas. As it cools I’m getting a bit of acidity or fruitiness. I think I might buy more of this, next time David’s has a sale. :)

I’m trying to finish off some Tea Sparrow samples so I can justify restarting that subscription, lol. This was my first month since putting it on hold, and I missed out on Tisano cacao bean shells. :( Anyway, this is an interesting chai. I think when I’m in the mood for chai, I tend to reach for one of the more classic Indian blends (particularly if they have cardamom, which I love). This one is pretty different, with the licorice, fennel, and rose petals. It’s good though! I find it to be pretty well-balanced: malty from the base tea, sweet from the licorice/fennel, spicy from the cinnamon/cloves, warming from the ginger/pepper, and floral from the rose petals. That’s a lot of flavours for one tea, but it’s not as overwhelming as it sounds. :) I think I’ll finish off the rest of this sample stovetop-style and see if that’s any different.

I’m finishing up this sample, and realising I didn’t actually rate it before. Weird. Anyway, this is a pretty nice green oolong: sweet, creamy, floral, and slightly vegetal. It’s not the most interesting or complex oolong I’ve ever tasted, but it’s very good, and I think it would make a nice daily drinking tea. Hmm, I may have to make another Tea at Sea order after all. :)

Finishing off my sample, finally. :) I actually really like this one, it’s quite aromatic and has a really lovely depth of flavour to it. Today I’m getting notes of malt, floral, cedar, and honey that all linger into the aftertaste. Bumping up my rating a bit.

Yummmm, OMGsrsly sends great random samples. :) This is a very nice chai, spicy and warming, good for a cold winter morning.

Thanks to OMGsrsly for this sample! It’s cool because I probably wouldn’t have picked this, but now that I’ve tried it I’m SUPER happy I got the chance. What an interesting tea! The aroma is amazing – it has this peppery spiciness that I’m assuming is the frankincense, having basically no experience with frankincense up until now. :) It smells like it might be a bit overbearing, but as I sip the tea the other flavours balance it out. The tieguanyin base is lovely and creamy, the citrus peel is bright, and the frankincense/saffron adds this amazing depth and richness. I’m actually not getting much of the jasmine – a bit of a floral note that might just be the oolong, but… oh actually, maybe the jasmine is more in the aftertaste. What a neat combination of flavours!

This is my afternoon tea. It’s one of those dark oolongs that thinks it’s a black tea. :) Malty, sweet, spicy, fruity. Very nice!

This was my first tea of the morning. I don’t think I was fully awake yet, so I didn’t pay super close attention, but I remember it being delicious. :)

The first time I brewed this I forgot it was a green blend and treated it like a black! Wasn’t actually that bad, but I figured I’d wait to rate it until I had actually steeped it properly. I decided on western style (too lazy for gaiwan) but relatively heavy leaf (4g) and short steeps (1min), which I think ought to be good for several infusions. First one is very nice – lots of vanilla and toasted rice in the aroma, smooth and buttery green tea base.