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The writing on the package is all in chinese which I can’t make head nor tail of, so I looked at how everyone else was steeping this tea. Since this is a green oolong I went for the lower end of the temperature spectrum and it seems to have turned out well.

The first steep was a very pale yellow shade with an extraodinarily flowery scent that made me think of lilacs after a spring rain. There’s some of that in the taste aswell, though the dominent flavour makes me think of honeysuckle blossoms instead. It isn’t all floofiness though, there’s substance to this tea that keeps it from being too light or perfumed.

Soooo much better at a lower steeping temperature! I thought that this tea would be a bit creamier and sweeter-tasting from the way it smelled dry, but it isn’t particularly – because of the white tea, I think. That said, I can clearly taste the strawberries – and they’re real strawberries, not some vague strawberry flavouring. There’s a bit of a cakey note too about midway through each sip.

The dry tea is very fragrantly cherry-scented but it’s more of a cherry-candy scent than the smell of the actual fruit. Someone else said that the taste reminded them of cherry cough-syrup and while I don’t think the taste is that bad it is more than a little fake-tasting. The resteep was better, with more of the grassy taste of the sencha coming through and the cherry flavour was mellower.

Go read my previous tasting notes for my thoughts on this tea.

I agree with the other people who say that there’s matcha in with this tea, it has that same sort of creamy, thick mouthfeel. It has quite a grassy taste and there’s a slight hint of bitterness at the beginning – I’m not sure if that’s the tea itself or if I oversteeped it a bit. The end of each sip is sweet, however, and leaves a pleasent aftertaste. Not rave-worthy but still a good tea, IMO and of descent quality aswell.

Full-bodied, cocoa goodness. I think I like this one as much or maybe even more (le gaspeth!) than A&D’s Yunnan. ;)

The last bit of the pu-erh Takgoti sent me. I got three good steeps out of the leaves, the first one dark and earthy, nothing much new there. The second one (@ 3:30) was lighter but still deeply earthy and reminded me a bit of a yunnan tea. The third steep (@4:30) was lighter still and it had some surprisingly sweet, almost fruity notes.

I don’t think I’d buy this tea, at least not in large quantities – though I would love to try other pu-erh teas and see how they compare. This tea is something I’d consider an aquired taste and for that reason I’m not going to knock it even though my palate still isn’t entirely sure if it likes it or not.

I thought the first sip of wine I ever tried was absolutely wretched, but I gradually got to like it and now I enjoy a glass with meals. I think the same philosophy might apply to pu-ehr teas. ;)

I’m trying this blend in its teabag form, although I did get some of the tea loose-leaf aswell as part of the Green Tea Beginners sampler-thingy. The tea bag was just covered it matcha and the tea turned the water a bright green shade that looked very much like watered down matcha tea. The taste is an interesting mix of the matcha’s grassiness and the genmaicha’s roasted, malty flavours. I think the matcha has the edge in this tea, especially as you get down near the bottom when some of the powder has settled.

This seems to be a similar idea to Samovar’s Ryokucha, but I think the Samovar version is superior simply because it has more complexity and depth of flavour and because the malty genmaicha is the dominent flavour note.

This tea is very dark-looking to the extent that it could pass for a black tea. Having learned my lesson with the NecessiTea’s Strawberry Shortcake I made sure to research the recommended steeping time/temp before I started. I am surprised that Den’s Teas recommends using boiling water but it is a pretty robust tea for a japanese green.

Looking at the tea I can see how it got the ‘Gold’ part of its name. The taste is a bit like a genmaicha but without the malted, grainy quality. There’s a hint of…not quite charcoal but something like it in the flavour.

The second steep @ 15 seconds is smoother and slightly sweeter.

I have nothing to compare this tea against but it’s interesting and certainly not objectionable.

I’m picking up a bit more oranginess in the taste this time around, but it’s being mostly covered by the tea itself. So yeah, needs moar cowbell orange. ;)

EDITED TO ADD: It yields a pretty good, if mild second steep aswell (4:30 min).