Anlina Send Message

Second steep of my leaves from the other day, 3min, with hotter water (probably 90ishC?)

Ah yes, I think this is paying off now. The liquor is a deep gold and on the nose I’m getting plum, caramel and chestnuts, even hints of baked bread.

Once it cooled enough to drink, it was still a bit weak, so I put the leaves back for another 2 minutes. I still feel like there’s more depth to this tea than I’m getting. Notes of plum and baked bread are there, but still faint.

Further steeping added a bit of astringency but not much else.

Hopefully try three will be better. I can tell this tea has a lot to offer if I can get the steeping right.

Mmm this is such a lovely tisane. It’s not overly sweet, but the fragrance and flavour reminds me of lemon and orange candy – citrusy and tangy.

The lavender and sage aren’t really identifiable or distinct in this one. There’s maybe a hint of the herbals on the finish, but they seem to mostly balance the sweet and tart of the fruit, making this a lot more interesting and unique than many fruit tisanes.

It has a nice cooling sensation.

I wish this tea wasn’t so pricey, because it’s amazing, and I want to keep it around all the time.

I drank a cup of this at IKEA today, with water of questionable temperature and milk and sugar into the cup at the same time as the tea bag. It was actually better than I was expecting it to be. Kind of comforting and pleasant.

I wouldn’t choose this if there were more interesting options, but it wasn’t loathsome or even bad like I was kind of expecting it to be.

I tasted this tea when I was visiting Verdant’s store, but this time around it’s quite different from how I remember it.

A rinse with boiling water, and then very short steeps (pour on and immediately pour off.)

On the nose I’m getting minerals and a whole lot of lilac with some earth and smoke.

The start of the sip is woody, almost getting into nutty, but that quickly shifts to spectacular amount of the characteristic mineral taste, so much that I can feel the minerality on the back of my teeth.

With subsequent steeps there’s a bit of creaminess on the back of the tongue developing, and a very tangy vegetal finish, that includes some grass and spinach (which is reinforced by the mineral teeth feel.)

I really like the experience of this tea, even though the woodiness at the start of the sip isn’t a flavour I’m really into. But holistically, this is lovely.

I think I got a little bit spoiled by how amazing and evocative my first yellow tea (Darjeeling 2nd Flush 2014 Jungpana AV2 Yellow Tea, What-Chat) was, because while this was nice, I just kept thinking about the other one.

This one was roasty and astringent, with lots of corn and a bit nutty. A touch bitter on the first steep, though that mellowed with subsequent steeps. I was hoping that the character of this would develop some more but each of my steeps (four?) tasted pretty much the same, with strength and bitterness being the only major variation.

I’m having trouble brewing this one right. The rolled leaves are incredibly long and fluffy, so measuring a teaspoon was a lot of guess work, and then some of my leaves were clumped together and didn’t really separate and open up properly on first steep. 3min at 80C didn’t yield a lot of flavour, so I pulled apart the clumped leaves, added a few more from the bag in case I underleafed it, and steeped for another minute.

I still feel like I haven’t done this tea justice. More flavour is coming out as it cools, but it still seems far too mild for an oolong. I’m getting some malt, fruitiness, some floral notes and a touch of honey, but they’re all so, so subtle and not distinctive.

I need to give this another try before I rate it, because I can tell there’s more to this that I’m just not getting on this steep.

When this collection came out I wasn’t even remotely interested in trying this one, but a few favourable tasting notes and it being cleared out convinced me to give it a try, and I actually quite like it.

They really nailed the flavour inspiration with this one. It has that tart, cherry candy flavour of a snowcone (and no overwhelming hibiscus!) Straight it was missing a tiny bit of sweetness, though half a teaspoon of sugar in my cup was overpowering. Just a pinch I think would have done it nicely.

I don’t think this is a flavour I’d be in the mood for often, but for what it is, it’s good.

This will be my first yellow tea.

I’m really enjoying the smell of the dried leaf – very strong notes of sweet hay, that remind me of farmland in autumn or being in a clean barn.

The liquor is a warm yellow, and there are notes of hay, malty sweetness and a hint of vegetal on the nose.

On the tongue it’s rich and nutty, sweet and malty, with hay, fresh corn and a hint of green grass. There’s a slight tang on the finish, and dry leaves.

This is beautiful, and a perfect tea for the beginning of autumn. It evokes cool breezes and warm, bright sun and being outdoors in the prairies, bundled up in warm clothes with pinking cheeks. So good.

Resteeping my leaves from Wednesday. I enjoy this so much. It’s a bit buttery, with lots of jasmine, bergamot. Earthy, floral, hints of goji. So well balanced. The finish is floral and slightly perfumey.

I think this needs to be a staple in my cupboard. It’s so unique and wonderful. <3 <3 <3

Another from my What-Cha order. The dry leaf smells very malty with notes of chestnut.

Steeped, on the nose it’s very fruity and malty, with a bit of floral notes. Also picking up some soapiness, which makes me worry that I didn’t rinse my tea ware well enough when I did the dishes, but I think I did.

On the palette it’s floral and malty, and very smooth. Three minutes left it a bit on the weak side, but an extra minute has given it more depth.

This is a nice, easy to drink tea. Not terribly distinctive, but enjoyable, and a good first cup of the day.