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Casey picked this as the tea we were going to drink tonight. In the first steeping I could smell and taste coffee, pipe tobacco, caramel and cinnamon. There was also a bit of rum raisin. As I am writing this, I’m thinking that it is sounding much better than it actually is! It is smooth going down, leaves a dusty texture in my mouth. Casey is noticing a smokiness on the second steeping. I can detect the aroma of burnt sugar. The flaw in this tea is that the beautiful aroma does not match the taste. The taste is not sweet or complex, it is slightly bitter and flat.

Well, crap. The dry leaf looked and smelled amazing, and at first the aroma and flavor of the steeped tea was amazing. But the flavoring that is used in this tea is leaving an aftertaste that vividly reminds me of a lip balm I had as a kid. Oh well. I only had a sample of this, and I am glad that I didn’t order more.

I wanted to log this tea before removing it from my cupboard. I remember liking this pretty well. I would definitely repurchase it, if only because it’s convenient for me to pick some up, and while not cheap, it’s not crazy expensive.

I received my Yunnan Sourcing order on Wednesday. I just couldn’t resist the sale they had at the end of December. This is the first tea I decided to try. The leaves were very thin compared to their length. The shape was more needle-like than any other Dian Hong I’ve had. The colors ranged from golden to brown with some olive-toned ones as well. I brewed this one western style to see what a strong cup of this would be like. The texture is smooth, the flavor is well-rounded. The things I don’t like so much about this tea: the tannins are drying the back of my throat a bit, and the aftertaste isn’t great. I have a strong preference for teas with long sweet finishes, and this unfortunately doesn’t quite deliver.

I had this again tonight at French Blue. Unfortunately, the only other teas they had were chamomile, green jasmine, and bergamot black, and I wasn’t in the mood for anything herbal or flavored. This was still good, but I was hoping to try something new!

I received this as a free sample after ordering some Wuyi Star samples from Berylleb. I was curious to try what they were like (I still haven’t tried them). I’m not sure what quality they are, but from what I read about the Wuyi Star brand I liken it to the Lipton of Wuyi.

This Tie Guan Yin wasn’t sweet or floral enough for me, and it didn’t have a strong aftertaste, but it wasn’t too vegetal either, and I do really appreciate free samples!

I don’t know what made me decide on this tea for this morning. I guess it’s because I asked Casey what I should drink first this morning. He said “oolong” and I was thinking black…So, this mysterious tea came to mind!

I’ll add some notes to this after I am put on hold. Yesterday I spent 11 hours on the phone with both AT&T and Yahoo! trying to fix a problem with my work email. Last time this happened, it took us three days to speak to someone who knew how to help us. Well, here we go again…

So, I’ve been on hold for 1 hour and 45 minutes now. If you’ve ever been on hold with Yahoo, you’ll realize that this means I have been listening to the same redundant “song” for more than an hour of that time. Anyway…This was rinsed for 30 seconds. It brews to a deep amber/red color, but the flavor is definitely closer to an oolong than a black tea. It’s quite fruity and sweet, but lacks body. It’s nothing special, but it did come with a free Buddha statue just like the one in the picture!

This tea was so good that I decided to brew a second pot of it because I was excited for my boyfriend to try it…

I don’t even know how to describe what I am smelling and tasting here. This tea is incredibly smooth. This is one of those teas almost tastes like it’s had creamer added when you’re drinking it plain. This full-bodied assam is incredibly sweet. Pureleaf said this tea reminded them of cotton candy, and I would agree 100%. This is definitely one I am going to reorder.

I bought this tea because my boyfriend’s boss was complaining to me how he can’t find any good, strong black teas. I remembered reading many tasting notes for this one and it seemed like it might fit the bill. I’d also been curious to try it, so I ordered one tin for myself and one for Casey’s boss. I brewed this for the four minutes that A&D suggests, but I definitely overleafed it. It’s supposed to be very forgiving, but there was definitely an unpleasant bitterness at the end of the sip. The bitterness did not last, though. My tastebuds seemed to acclimate to it very quickly somehow. This really impressed me. It has enough astringency to be a strong black tea, but it isn’t the type of astringency that completely dries your mouth out.