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Oh this is an absolutely delightful tea.

It smells sweet and creamy, like a lemon candy or dessert.

The sencha base is fresh and grassy. The lemon flavour is delicate at the beginning of the sip and then in the middle builds to an almost candy-like sweetness that’s creamy and bright but not at all artificial tasting. For all the lemon, it’s not tart, just delicious, through and through.

The finish mellows out, with just a hint of sweet cream on the back of the tongue, and hay notes. There’s only the slightest bit of astringency that’s not noticeable until well into the cup.

I love this tea in the afternoon. A cup goes down incredibly easily and it’s just sunny and fresh tasting.

Mmm second steep of the same leaves has less apricot but still a hint and that nice sweetness. The grassy, vegetal characteristics are still there, but the tang mellowed out.

Impressed once again.

Hmm, not really feeling this one. I think maybe my water was a touch too hot? This smells a bit fruity but mostly tastes bitter with a touch of astringency and soapiness. A bit floral on the finish.

I added a bit of sugar and maybe it helps, but I’m not excited by this cup.

Meh. I feel bad saying too much about the Bulk Barn teas in my cupboard, because I’ve had them stored for quite a long time in very poor containers.

When this was hot all I was getting from my sip was sweetness. Now that it’s cooled down, I’m getting some tea maltiness, fruit and floral notes and a bit of vanilla and caramel on the finish. This might be quite nice iced, and that might be the way to finish off my old leaf.

I’m a big fan of Lapsang Souchong, and this is a delightful blend. The pine smoke is very much there, but toned down. There’s also some lovely floral and fruity notes. It’s a more mellow and lighter cup than straight up Lapsang, and a very nice evening sip.

I’ve had this in my cupboard in an unsealed box for a long time, well over a year. I very nearly tossed it in the garbage, but I’m glad I didn’t, because this is goooood.

I often find flavoured white teas disappointing, but this is delightful and well balanced. The green and white is fresh, crisp, grassy and vegetal, with a touch of tang. The apricot is sweet and delicate; not even a touch of tartness and it tastes very natural. The fruit doesn’t overpower the tea at all.

I would drink this again in a heart beat, and I’m disappointed that it’s been discontinued.

Mmmm. The dry leaf smells sweet, fruity and floral, with blueberry notes. In fact, I was so distracted by the smell of this that I forgot to put my strainer in my cup and just dumped the leaves straight in. Oops, not so good for this style of cup.

Steeped, it smells very light, with the same fruity, blueberry notes. On the palette, the start of the sip is kind of boring. There’s more floral notes, and then on the finish, things get more interesting, with berry notes and a hint of caramel. Very light and easy to drink. It’s pleasant but it’s not really exciting me that much.

Malty, bold, thick, dark, smooth. A touch of cocoa, a touch of astringency and bitterness on the finish. All in all pretty good, and not as generic as I was anticipating for a CTC tea.

So I’m not giving this tea an optimal first taste, since I’m sipping it while eating pizza with a lot of olives on it, in an apartment full of smelly camping gear that’s airing out. But I need my tea and I can’t resist trying something out of a newly arrived package. And even with all this other stuff encroaching on my palette, I’m still really enjoying this.

I don’t usually drink mates, since I’m not a huge fan, but this is nice. There’s a lot of dragonfruit and pineapple on top, and then the earthyness of the mate and the woodiness of the rooibos comes in as more subtle flavours. Its a touch tart, in a way that compliments the dragonfruit very nicely.

The dragonfruit is a bit subtler than Teavana’s Dragonfruit Devotion, and much more natural tasting than DAVIDs Magic Dragon.

Last cup of this! I guess it really is a surprise, because there’s no ingredient list on the bag or on their website :P But looking at it I’d say there’s rooibos, lemongrass, pink peppercorns, cornflower, dried apple and some other stuff too.

Grumpiness about ingredient lists aside, this really is a lovely tea. Lemony, woody, fruity and a hint of spice. Very well balanced, and definitely something I need to restock.