Inkling Send Message

This tea smells SO good…like some kind of rich, cream-filled pastry. The flavor is heavy on the cream and caramel with just a hint of chestnut coming through. My only complaint is that the base tea is slightly bitter, which messes with the rich sweetness of the caramel. I may have to break down and try some sweetener in this one!

This one wasn’t what I was expecting: the “syrup” (maple) flavor really dominated the blend for me, with just a light spiced pumpkin flavor coming through. It was good, but not my favorite.

I went ahead and ordered a full 2 ounces of this one and I’m glad I did! I shared a pot with my sister over a game of Dominion last night and it made for the perfect indulgent evening treat: light as a cloud caffeine-free vanilla sweetness with none of the dreaded woody rooibos aftertaste. It’s even better with a splash of milk!

I’m not a fan of coffee, but all the raving tasting notes convinced me to order a sample of this one with my recent AQTT order. I can see why others enjoy this one so much: the base is a high-quality silky-smooth roasted oolong and the flavoring is subtle and well-balanced (mostly cherry with hints of dark chocolate and coffee coming through at the end of the sip). But personally, I would love it a lot more without the lingering bitterness of the chicory.

This is nice! Smooth, roasty oolong, a very fresh sweet-tart apple flavor and the lightest hint of sweet caramel. I wish the caramel were a bit stronger, but it’s still a lovely tea!

I received a bag of this tea in a care package from a friend. I’m guessing it must have been a special edition autumn tea, because I don’t recall ever seeing it in store. When I opened the tea bag, the scent was an appealing blend of pumpkin and cinnamon. But the tea itself tasted like licorice and cinnamon with a slight kick of black pepper in the aftertaste. Not a fan!

Another fantastic Chinese black tea from TeaSource! This one is very similar to Golden Snail from Whispering Pines: tightly curled black leaves with tons of golden tips that give off a rich, malty scent. It has a dense, chewy flavor with notes of baked bread and honey. It can be re-steeped multiple times before it starts losing it’s flavor. I don’t love it quite as much as their Golden Mao Feng, but it’s definitely a lovely option and very affordable!

I’m going to be honest here and admit that I’m quite picky about green tea and have only found a few over the years that I really liked. But I had high hopes for this one, because I really enjoyed the Laoshan Black. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. This certainly isn’t a bad tea…the leaves are tightly curled and unbroken and hold up to re-steeping and the tea is nice and smooth with no bitterness and little astringency. But the flavor just wasn’t my favorite. It has such a strong green bean taste, I felt like I was drinking the cooking water from a pot of beans! Definitely not something I’d repurchase, but I’m still glad I had the chance to try it.

Tried this one at work today. When I opened the tea bag, I was hit by a wave of peachy sweet scent, but the flavor turned out to be much lighter. I get mainly honey notes with the peach coming through mainly in the aftertaste. The white tea base is very smooth. Overall, this was surprisingly good for a generic-brand bagged tea!

This tea is absolutely divine! I already knew I loved TeaSource’s Black Mao Feng, so I decided to sample this one when I was in Minneapolis over the weekend. Oh my goodness! The leaves are super long and twisty with TONS of golden tips and the aroma is delicious: malty sweet goodness. Steeped, the liquor is a warm golden brown and the flavor is out of this world: notes of malt and sweet potato with a lingering honey sweetness and just the slightest hint of astringency that keeps you taking another sip…and another…and another. It’s also super smooth, with an almost velvety feel on the tongue. I didn’t have a chance to re-steep, but I’m quite confident from the quality of the leaves that this would hold up to multiple steeps. I can’t buy more tea right now, but next time I place an order this one will be at the top of my list!