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Oh wow, this is quite a different tea indeed. Take the Dancong Aria tea base flavor, and replace the flowery orchid taste with strong roasted coffee and chocolate tones, and that’s what this tea tastes like. Moderately astringent, high on body, yet light on mouth feel. The leaves are whole, large and very dark, but the brew is relatively light considering this…maybe I used too little? It tasted fine though. Definitely one of my favorite exotic flavored oolongs.

This is a great multi-cateory tea! It has the unmistakable sweetness and muscatel of a malty second flush darjeeling (despite the description mentioning that it is a first flush) with the flavors of a golden amber Formosa oolong…namely the peachy notes with a hint of aromatic spices. Together, the flavors combine and create (what I think is) a whole new level of flavor that one wouldn’t ever consider possible from the two types of teas separately. I smell and taste rather strong examples of cinnamony clove…without it actually being flavored with either spice. Needless to say, I bought a big tin of this and am enjoying a cup right now. :)

I got a sample of this because even though I did enjoy Rooibos, I found the flavor a bit dull and uninspiring. Well, when I first opened the container, I thought this sort of smelled a bit like tobacco with a hint of…a sickly sweet, almost spoiled smell maybe? A proper description of the smell eludes me. When brewed however, it mellows out with a very pleasant and sweet aroma and taste that only gets better the longer it’s steeped. I usually let it steep for at least 10 minutes.

Like Rooibos, this plant has an insane amount of supposed health benefits (via antioxidants, nutrients and more) and lacks the tannins oxalates and caffeine of tea.

Both Honeybush and Rooibos are 100% great for insomnia, relaxation and reducing anxiety, especially when combined with Lemongrass. The combo will knock me out in 10-15 minutes after the first cup, especially if I’m already laying down.

This is an interesting plant. The dry product in the container smells of pipe tobacco…although a bit more earthy and not nearly as strong. Brewing it brings out the flavor a bit but remains a bit shallow compared to the complexity of variants of the actual tea plant. However, due to the insane amount of supposed health benefits (via antioxidants, nutrients and more) that this plant has to offer, and the lack of tannins oxalates and caffeine that tea does have, I’d recommend frequent consumption of Rooibos simply to promote better health, and then have your favorite teas to please your senses and taste buds. :)

For those not fond of the taste, I’d recommend trying Honeybush, as it tastes worlds better, and since it is from the same family of plants, it shares the health benefits. I’d highly recommend it over Rooibos in terms of taste.

A few more things…neither this nor Honeybush can be oversteeped, (the flavors only enhance with steep time) and both are 100% great for insomnia, relaxation and reducing anxiety, especially when combined with Lemongrass.

This is a very great and very unique black tea. It’s one of the smoothest and least astringent black teas I’ve ever had. There is truly an umami meaty thing going on in this tea, but not in the MSG powered traditional sense. Upon tasting, I think it could best be described as an extension of and/or a twist on the typical malty sensation and heavy mouth feel of a malty black tea but with a more savory taste/aftertaste attributed to the heavy maltyness. Great stuff!!

Shorter steeping times are the key to good 1st flush Darjeeling brews!! I was unaware of this at first, creating very bitter brews, but since I corrected my prep methods, I’ve found a new love for them. This one is excellent. For all of you who know the taste of 1F Darjeelings, this one has all the right characteristics in the right quantities…the sweet floral hints (different than those of light oolongs) light mouth feel, light astringency, not bitter at all, with that lovely Darjeeling “trademark.”

Oh my lord…….it’s BBQ water. If I wanted this flavor in a liquid, I would grill a few porterhouses, scrape the grill with the traditional wire brush, and then collect and brew the particulate matter left over after all the scrapeage. DEFINITELY not what a tea should be in my opinion haha.

Kudos to all of you whose taste buds can handle (let alone enjoy) this!!! lol

Ooooooh this is a good one! While adding the water, I noticed that natural sweet aroma that makes a malty black tea wonderful. It has a much heavier mouth feel and maltier taste (I love both qualities in a great Assam) than Ceylon Sonata from Adagio, my other daily black drinker. I accidentally oversteeped a cup yesterday by two minutes. I was surprised to find that the extended steep time did not make it bitter, but made the tea that much more malty. Excellent! :)

This is a great light oolong. I much prefer amber and darker oolongs, but when I feel like having a lighter oolong, this is the first I think of. It has that slight hint of green tea flavor, but with that distinct light oolong characteristic and a high level of floral hints. It’s the floral hints that make me enjoy this lighter oolong so much more than those with a more grassy flavor.

This is one of my favorite black teas. It has a vivid and deep brown brew, a nice classic black tea flavor, very low bitterness, wholesome and satisfying mouth feel with a nice malty level, making this a terrific daily drinker for me.