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There is just a trace of bitterness in this, but it’s not unpleasant, and it’s not the sort of bitterness I associate with oversteeping. It actually reminds me of the bitterness that you get in salted caramel, and while this tea is salty, it’s definitety not that salty. It’s vegetal, with spinach and seaweed notes.

This is particularly flavorful for a green tea, so if you’re looking for a green with lots of character, I’d recommend this one.

I actually had a chance to try this once before when I won a Tealet contest, but it was nice to get a sample and be reminded of how delicious and buttery it is. This tea, like several of Tealet’s oolong offerings, is sourced from Mountain Tea, and I’m finding I really enjoy the teas from this farm, the quality is just lovely.

I really wish I had some of Teavivre’s milk oolong on hand so that I could do a steep-off, as Teavivre also does a really nice milk oolong and as best I can remember, the teas have very similar flavor profiles. Alas, I have yet to have both brands on hand at the same time.

Many thanks to TheLastDodo for this welcome sample; it was noted in her stash sale that she would throw in some samples based on what was purchased, and I’ve got to say her choices were amazingly on the nose — I’ve been wanting to try this particular tea for awhile :)

In terms of the dried rolled leaf, this is the greenest oolong I’ve ever seen. It’s like an emerald green. The flavor has some floral notes, but it’s not a sweet tea at all, so it’s interesting to taste the floral combined with the savory notes. It holds up well to re-steeping. This isn’t as much to my taste as the Banten Honey oolong, but it is a good quality tea, very smooth and well-balanced. Thanks, LastDodo, for the chance to try this!

As others have noted, there is a leathery flavor to this tea, but it’s not overpowering. It kind of reminds me of Teavivre’s Fengqing Dragon Pearls, though this is not nearly as strong or nuanced as the pearls. It’s like their mild second cousin. Overall an interesting blend and I’m happy to finish off the sample, but I don’t think I need to stock this.

Used the last of my sample on this, but making it stronger did help immensely, it was a very blueberry cup. Bumping up my rating a bit.

Hooray, TheLastDodo sent me a nice pouch of this, and I bet it will tide me through till the spring harvest, so I won’t be dragonwell-less after all :)

So this looks a bit different from the dragonwells I’ve tried before. The leaves are REALLY long and they’re a dark jade green. The taste, though it still predominantly has that chicken broth note that dragonwell is known for, also has a slight floral aspect that you don’t normally see in this type of tea.

I think Teavivre’s buttery approach to dragonwell is still my favorite, but this is a very nice one, glad I got to try it :)

Tastes a lot like David’s Buttered Rum since David’s went and changed it. Not really a fan. The base seems decent enough, though not spectacular. This was actually what I was most curious about since I’ve never had Capital Teas before.

I think this tea is a bit advanced for me. I’m not familiar with Dian Hong, and I certainly wouldn’t have guessed it was black tea, except that it does have a hint of the muscatel you usually find in Darjeeling. The flavor seems to fall between a dark oolong and a pue’rh? It reminds me of a Nepali silver oolong I had once. Anyway, it’s very interesting and I’ll write more about it when I’ve had it a few times, but for now I’ll hold off on rating it. I’m also not sure I used the right amount of tea — it said 4 grams, which was a challenge since I have no scale and the tea is so loose and light. I used a heaping teaspoon and crossed my fingers that it was close.

Many thanks to TheLastDodo. I was lucky enough to pick this up in her stash sale. She sent me a lot of samples too (and even some tea candy!) so I’m super excited to try all this. It’s been awhile since I had a honey oolong, and I’d almost forgotten how amazing they are. This one is particularly delicious. Really high quality leaf and great natural honey notes, along with an interesting nuttiness that I haven’t encountered before in this type of tea. I’m not getting much scent dry, but once steeped, it smells lovely.

Really good! The apricot is nice and strong, the base is punchy but not TOO punchy. Pretty nice for a bagged tea :)