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A nice cup of tea saddened by the realization that this is the last of the tin. I am out of Paris. How does this happen so fast?

Got this as a recent sample. It is very reminiscent of David’s Forever Nuts, but Forever Nuts just seems a little stronger, a little more all around apple-cinnamon-buttery. Still good, but you know, not seeing anything here that would make me want to switch from the original.

Sipdown of this and it was more dust than leaf, but it still held up really well. A nice earthy, roasty kind of tea, tasted sort of halfway between long jing and a roasted oolong.

While roasted oolong is never going to be my favorite kind of oolong, this is still enjoyable. It has a pleasant mellowness. While it’s easy to detect the roast, it’s still a light-tasting roast. Lots of earthiness and a hint of nuttiness.

I always imagined butterbeer as tasting something like butterscotch or caramel with lots of cream. This is nothing like that. The epic sarsparilla notes make this hands down a root beer tea, but it’s such a good root beer tea, who could mind? Really happy to have this. I love root beer flavor, but I’ve never been a fan of the carbonation or the sugar rush. Root beer tea is the best of both worlds.

This seems a little more mineraly than the average milk oolong, probably because it’s winter harvest. Still, great flavor and beautiful leaves. I got a hundred grams and I’m already wondering why I didn’t order more, which is what I wonder literally every time I buy Jin Xuan. You really cannot have too much of it.

I was terribly sad to hear Zen Tea isn’t going to sell any more tea this year once their supply runs out, especially since my all-time favorite, Coconut Oolong, is already out of stock. The prices are so good right now, though, that I snapped up a couple of things from them that I’ve never tried before, including this Taiwan Ruby. Typically unflavored black teas are not my favorite, but whenever I have visitors I find that is what they ask to drink, so I try to keep an eye out for nice ones.

This one is very smooth and has a pleasant maltiness. I think I messed up the directions, because I see on the website they recommend using 2 heaping tsp., but I just used 1 tsp. It was still flavorful, but it might be better if it was a little stronger.

This reminds me of David’s Three Wishes and Buddha’s Blend, but less flowery, which was nice. The fruitiness has a chance to come through, and the white/green base holds up well. It’s slightly astringent, but not bad. I’m sure this would work well iced, it has a classic summer vibe.

Drank this two more times since receiving it, and now I’m bumping up my rating because it’s really growing on me. The flavor notes really didn’t go together the first time I tried it, but now that’s not a problem? The oolong base is playing nicely with the lemon and the ginger. I’m not sure what happened because I don’t think I’m steeping it any differently. Perhaps the ingredients just needed to mix a little more or something? There’s a note on the bag says that you’re supposed to shake it up, but it was so full the first time nothing was really budging. Still no cookie notes, but it is a harmonious cup.

I do get a bit of biscotti, but mostly this tastes like almond extract. It’s well-balanced with the rest of the tea, so it’s not bad, but it’s not exciting either. The Almond Pistachio Cookie tea is definitely superior to this one, but they both have the same underwhelming base.

Reviewing my Capital Teas order as a whole, I would say it’s been mildly good. Nothing was bad, but nothing was amazing. The real bone I would pick with them is price. Their quality is (at best) on par with Harney and Sons, but they are twice as expensive as H&S. What’s up with that? I got this order on sale, so I don’t feel cheated, but I really don’t see myself paying full price for this tea.