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The first tea to try from my Kusmi order! The tin does not have instructions so I looked on their website. They recommend a 3-4 minute steep at 185 degrees. This seems like a low temperature for a black tea, no? I split the difference on the steep time and did 3 minutes 30 seconds. There was no recommendation for the amount of tea to use so I went with 1.5 tsp (seems like a standard).

While I do enjoy the brew, it mostly tastes like an Earl Grey to me – I’m not really picking up on the fruit flavor or much of vanilla or caramel. I think I’ll try this one later with maybe a 4 minute steep time and hotter water? Maybe more tea? Any suggestions would be welcome! :)

I must say, I am very impressed with this tea. This is my third steeping and I can’t believe the jasmine flavor is still there! It has definitely become milder with each time, but I think I may actually like this brew the best. I can taste more of the green tea and it’s becoming a little less mellow, which is a good thing in my book. Starting to get more vegetal and hay notes too. Delicious with just a small amount of sugar! Big thanks to Yezi Tea for giving me the chance to try this tea for free. :)

I need my caffeine this morning! It took me a little while to fall asleep last night so I didn’t quite get as much as I would’ve liked. Taking it straight up with just a little bit of sugar. I really do love this tea, and it’s still really delicious after it’s cooled down a bit, which is a plus.

Good morning, everyone!

This is my third and final free sample from Yezi Tea, and it is also my first ever straight oolong. The dry leaves had a surprisingly strong peach smell, which made me very excited to try this tea. Since the packet did not include brewing directions, I looked around on various websites and found a lot of conflicting instructions. XD

I ended up brewing it for 4 minutes, which I think may have been just a little too long. Next time I would go for about 3 or so. The brew has a very strong floral smell with just a touch of fruitiness. The tea itself also tastes very floral (a little bit too floral for me, but I attribute this to the overbrewing) and there is also a very noticeable peach flavor, which I love. The tea itself tastes like a strong green tea to me, but it was a little bit bitter since I let it brew too long. I added a very small amount of sugar to help bring out that yummy peach flavor.

Overall, I really enjoyed this tea, and I feel I will love it when I steep it again for a shorter duration (I will most likely try 3 minutes). I will most likely give it a rating after trying it a few more times. I really appreciate the opportunity to try some awesome teas for free. Thanks, Yezi Tea! :D

It’s amazing how the flavor of this tea gains depth with each steeping. This is my third time around and I have enjoyed it each time. This brew has a strong and very deep straw flavor with just a touch of sweetness. There is still a hint of floral in the aftertaste. Thanks again to Yezi Tea for the free sample of this tasty tea!

Trying the second steeping of this one now. It tastes surprisingly similar to the first, although the green tea taste is somewhat stronger (a welcome change in my opinion). I unfortunately overdid it a tiny bit on the sugar, so I think the jasmine flavor is coming through more than it otherwise would have. I steeped this in the same manner as the first time but added another 30 seconds to the time. Tasty! :D

I thought I would try this lovely tea with sugar and a bit of milk this morning (okay, so it’s not really morning anymore, but it’s Sunday, okay?). The creaminess really helps the vanilla to stand out, and I love vanilla. So comforting and relaxing – perfect for a lazy “morning”!

This is the second tea that I got as a free sample from Yezi Tea (yay free samples!). The smell of the dry leaf is amazing, floral and sweet. Let me just say, I am rather confused as to what exactly is meant when the word “teaspoon” is used in tea jargon. Does it mean a teaspoon measuring spoon or a teaspoon as in a flatware teaspoon…? If anyone could help me out on this with a comment, I would appreciate it. So when I brewed this tea, I basically said “screw it” and used the whole five gram sample. Since this is a fairly dense tea, I would say it would have been a slightly heaping flatware teaspoon.

That being said, I thought the strength of the brew was perfect. The jasmine aroma and flavor is quite strong, but I could still taste the delicate green tea flavor underneath. I’m not sure what type of green tea it is or whether jasmine pearls count as their own type. Either way, I really enjoyed its flavor – slightly sweet and light with no bitterness and very little astringency. I took it with a very small amount of sugar.

Thanks, Yezi Tea, for the free loot!

Trying a second steeping of this tea now. I elected to increase the time by 30 seconds just to see how it came out. This time, the fresh hay flavor that I experienced in my first try has deepened to a more straw-like flavor, more roasty and rich tasting. The mild sweetness is still there. Overall, I enjoyed this one just as much as the first, and it’s interesting to see how the taste changes between steepings.

This is my first ever white tea. I’ve always been drawn to the descriptors used to talk about it – delicate, flowery, sweet (to be honest, I feel the same way about Pinot Grigio and yet I haven’t found one I’ve liked). So when I found that Yezi Tea was offering three free samples of my choice, I knew that this would be one of them.

The first thing I noticed about this tea is how large and lightweight the leaves are – I got about three times as much tea by volume for the same weight as my other two teas (an oolong and jasmine pearls). The small sample packet did not include brewing instructions, so I poked around on various tea sellers’ sites and found a good brewing recommendation.

When I first tasted the brew, I knew I liked it but was unsure how to go about describing the taste. There was a touch of floral and a subtle sweetness (which I accented by adding the teensiest amount of sugar), but the main flavor eluded me. I decided to poke around and see what other Steepsters had to say about Bai Mu Dan in general, and then I found exactly the descriptor I was looking for: hay. The smells and tastes chiefly of fresh hay (not the nasty rotting-in-a-pile-in-the-corner kind!). This is not necessarily a flavor profile I have encountered before, and I find it very warming and comforting, which surprises me considering this is such a light tea.

Overall, I don’t feel qualified to give this tea a numerical rating, considering I have nothing to compare it to, but I do enjoy it immensely and I can’t wait to try other varieties and sellers to see the difference. And now I REALLY can’t wait to try that Butiki Cantaloupe & Cream blend that I’ve been eyeing!