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The dry leaf smells like your typical Earl Grey, lots of bergamot. The leaf is small, not CTC but fannings?

Steeped, this tea is very different from any other Earl Grey I’ve tried. On the nose it’s a bit creamy on top of the bergamot scent, and then on the palette it’s very, very light. The tea base is a bit astringent and sweet, malty, almost nutty. The bergamot is light and well balanced.

I’m having a hard time pinning down how to completely describe how this is different from other Earl Greys – I keep thinking light, silky (though the astringency doesn’t actually give it a silky mouth feel), and like I’m tasting the flavours of an Earl Grey but on different parts of my tongue than usual.

I don’t think this would be my go-to Earl Grey, but I always love trying new variations on my old favourite, and discovering new stuff.

I only picked this up because DAVIDs was clearing out their ice tea packs for very cheap and I figured, 30g of tea for harly any moneys? Can’t hurt to try.

I like the look of the dry tea. The slices of cinnamon stick and the popcorn pieces are pretty together. It also smells great – very much caramel and popcorn. Steeped it smells great too, buttery, caramel and popcorn.

I find the taste of it a little on the weak side. I initially steeped for 5 minutes but resteeped for a few more after the first couple of sips. I’m definitely getting popcorn, caramel, sweetness and butter, but also fruity and tart, which seems a bit out of place for the flavour inspiration.

It’s tasty and an easy drink, and I’m glad I got a bit of it before it went away, but it’s not a must have, and I don’t think I’d rebuy.

Mmm, opening up the bag sent a rich waft of butter up to my nose.

Steeped at 90C for 3 minutes, the liquor is pale yellow, and smells buttery, with vegetal, umami and seaweed notes.

On the palette this is interesting. Very, very floral (jasmine?), a wee bit sweet, and very creamy, buttery. A burst of sweet hay mid sip, and then seaweed and umami linger on the finish.

As this cup cools the floral notes develop even further, becoming even more full-mouth, and taking on an almost perfumey quality, that is very pleasant. I also start to pick up some really awesome, round fruity notes – juicy, fresh and tropical, lychee, peach, mango. Toasty notes are blossoming on the finish as this cup develops further.

Continued sipping reveals rich coconut notes at the opening of the sip.

This is very different from the other milk oolongs I’ve tried, and I’m really enjoying the complexity and uniqueness of this. I’ve never had a cup of tea that has changed so much in a single steeping.

The second steep, again 90C, 3 min, still smells very buttery, but the taste is very vegetal, almost grassy, still lots of umami. A touch of tang and astringency, notes of toastiness again. A bit creamy still, though that’s mostly retreated to mouth feel rather than flavour. Floral notes on the finish instead of mid sip and much more subtle, and then lingering hay long after the sip is done.

As I sip and the cup cools, I’m getting more of the butter notes back on my palette. The grassy note is just a fleeting burst as the tea hits my tongue and then mellows right away, and the more it cools, the more the dominant notes shift from vegetal to buttery. There’s also a touch of astringent mouth feel developing as I get closer to the bottom of the cup.

The second cup isn’t as amazing as the first, but it’s still pretty amazing.

Third steep, 90C, 2 minutes, half as much water.

It’s both buttery and very perfumey on the nose. The perfumey taste is also the opening note on the tongue with this cup, which then draws in some vegetal and butter, and a bit of grassy tang on the finish. There’s a slight bitter note which only peeks out for a second before it’s gone.

I think I’m about done with these leaves for now, but I am super impressed with this tea. I think it’s going to be a staple in my cupboard.

Hmm. Well my first cup of this tasted very soapy, and I wasn’t sure if it was the tea or soap residue on the cup, and turns out, it was a bit of both. Definitely less soapy this time around, but still a bit.

Beyond the soap I’m getting some bitterness and perfume, a lot of coconut, which is a bit sweet and a bit toasty, and some berry. I’m not overly enjoying this black tea base.

This isn’t bad but it’s not great. I doubt I would buy again.

Ooh I’m super excited for this tea. I love rhubarb, and I love chai, and on top of that, I had a charcuterie board the other day with the most amazing picked, gingery rhubarb on it, and the smell of this is reminiscent of that.

I steeped for four minutes and the liquor is a gorgeous deep pink. It smells strongly of ginger with rhubarb tartness and some sweet and spicy fragrances as well. First sip was a little too mild, so the basket is going back in for another three minutes – I tend to prefer my chais steeped long and strong.

At seven minutes, I’m getting a hint of tartness, but far less than I would expect from a rhubarb tea, with a bit of apple and lots of ginger and licorice. I don’t think I really taste the black tea at all. I added less than a tsp of sugar, but I think with the sweetness of the licorice even that was a bit too much. There’s a bit of taste on the finish that I’m not wild about, that reminds me of stevia, but I don’t think there’s any of that in here.

I’m quite liking this cup, and I think I’d like this tea even more with less sugar, and a steep time somewhere between 4 and 7 minutes.

I picked this up looking for a replacement for my beloved Pistachio Cream. It’s no Pistachio Cream, but it’s beautiful and unique.

It’s got a lot of really rich, buttery, nutty notes, and then a bit of sweetness, and some vegetal notes that make me think of kale, plus some earthiness and umami. It has similar notes and yet is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

I’m really into these mulberry leaf tisanes, and I’m very glad I picked this one up.

This was one of my first teas from DAVIDs, years ago. My roommate brought this home along with Swampwater and Jessie’s Tea. I remember it being pretty and tasty, so along with a good bit of nostalgia, I picked it up again.

It is so pretty, with the metallic candy balls in the dry leaf, and then with a gold shimmer to the steeped liquor. At four minutes it was a bit weak. After it had cooled a bit, I steeped for an additional minute, and then a third of the way through the cup, for another minute.

It also tastes quite nice – lots of clove, lemon and spice, with some cinnamon notes, and sweetness. The clove endures on the finish, along with a touch of a floral. The nose is a bit fuller and more tempting than the palette, but all in all this is a nice one.

Oh this smells delectable. Rich, sweet, juicy – thick enough to bite into, like a flourless chocolate cake with strawberry jam, garnished with fresh chocolate dipped strawberries.

I’m often a little hesitant about teas that contain actual pieces of chocolate, since they can be hit or miss, but I found out I can buy 12g samples at DAVIDs, and oh, the smell of this! I’m having a hard time letting it cool enough to sip without burning my mouth.

And wow! The taste does not disappoint. Sweet, but not too sweet; rich, full mouth chocolate, and juicy, intense strawberry. A bit of malty black tea, a hint of floral and astringency, but mostly just rich, desserty flavours.

I’m going to finish this cup straight, because it’s pretty perfect as it is, but I also need to try this as a latte, with frothy milk and sugar, just for a thicker mouth feel and more substance.

I think this will be a regular in my cupboard, and it may just inspire me to get back to baking.

This is really nice. A touch of astringency from the black tea, but some really intense blueberry notes, with a lot of floral, getting into some lavender on the finish.

I had a few sips of my sweetie’s cup of this, and compared to the Milk Oolong from Cornelia Bean, I’m disappointed. There are woody notes that dominate the creamy, butteryness that I like in a milk oolong, and just stuff that doesn’t seem like it should be there.

On its own it’s still a nice tea, but there are better milk oolongs.