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Good initial impressions. I need to use the rest of the sample and get a few more cups before I make a decision as to how I like it, but it smells nicely of cinnamon and home-made cookies.
Actually, it almost reminded me (in a good way) of caramalized carrots (with cinnamon and brown sugar).

Looking forward to giving it another try.

The idea of this tea is really brilliant, and it seems like it would be a great evening tea, as its little or no caffeine.
However, the execution wasn’t exactly as I’d hoped. The vanilla smell is present in the leaf, but not quite as strongly as I expected. Then, in the cup, there is a creaminess, and perhaps a little vanilla present, but again, not enough. The houjicha is of course delicious.

This tea is good, but it would be even better if the blend was more balanced (a good mix of both vanilla and roasted leaf).

The loose tea smelled like olives to me! It was very strange, but since I like olives I actually liked the smell.

I think this tea is a pretty good idea (as in, they came up with clever ingredients to achieve the flavor they were going for), and its probably as chocolatey as you can get without actual chocolate pieces in the mix. However, while I enjoyed the cup, I found myself thinking – "if I want something chocolate flavored, I might as well drink hot chocolate! Chocolate is just one of those flavors I don’t think can (or rather, should) be imitated.
To me, it’s like fake sweeteners – either drink real sugar (honey, agave, etc.) or drink/eat something else!

Anyway, this is an enjoyable tea, well made for what it is.

Unfortunately, so far, the taste of this tea does not live up to the smell.
You smell the open tin, and it knocks you back, it’s like fresh baked cookies.

But so far, each time I’ve actually brewed and tasted it, the tea itself seems mostly smooth with much less flavor than expected. Adding sugar/milk does make a difference, but without those, this tea has actually not tasted as strongly (vanilla) as I hoped, so I’m lowering it from my initial impressions.

I can’t taste the nutty flavor (that supposedly comes from the sesame seeds), but the caramel is definitely present. I’m not sure how well it blends with the bancha…meaning, it almost tastes like sweetened Japanese green tea.
However, it is better than if you simply added sugar to plain bancha. I really have enjoyed it, the butteriness and caramel-sweetness. It is a fun alternative to the fruit-flavored greens I’ve had.

Woah! I think this is now my favorite black tea!
I’ve had a lot of Keemun, sampled one kind of Darjeeling, and had other black blends, etc, but as an unflavored, single source black tea, this was delicious!

I thought I even tasted a hint of honey and chocolate (yes, it almost tasted like it had a hint of sweetness, but no, not the bitterness of chocolate, but something about the way it smelled) It was really smooth.

It’s not exactly cheap, but not terribly expensive, either. Definitely going to have to get more of this some day.

As opposed to my first trial of this tea, this time is it awesome!
Very sweet (but not at all sickeningly like fake sweeteners), but also has elements that remind me of sencha, the tastes that made me love Japanese greens in the first instance (steamed veggies, thick, lingering aftertaste, slight bitterness, etc.)… but this has no bitterness of course. It also has that marine/seaweed flavor that to me is really delicious.

As I drink this, I finally have that moment of, ‘Aha! Now I see why gyokuro is (typically) prized over all other kinds in Japan.’
Before this (and of course the sample of the Award Winning gyokuro I had earlier this year), I wasn’t really sure why it was considered better… rather than just different.

Very good; so far, after only 2 trials each, this beats Den’s Gyokuro Suimei….we will see after a few more!

I opened the free sample today, that I got from Life in Teacup, of my “An Xie Tie Guan Yin Oolong Traditional Charcoal Roast”. It came in a red vacuum-sealed bag, and had written in pin-yin on the side “Ou Nan Cha Ye” and “Hao Cha Hao Ren Sheng”.

Anyway, when I opened it, I was very surprised, because the color of the leaves was green, and not the brown roasted color I expected.
Not only that, but they smelled sweet and fruity, rather than roasted, smoky, etc. (more like a houjicha).

Going right along with that, after rinsing the leaves, I did the first steep…. AND it tasted very fruity, delicious, etc., but NOT roasted at all. It was delicious, but I assume this was actually the Grade II modern green (hence posting my note here). I still have more steepings left, but as of the 3rd steeping, this is awesome. It leaves a very nice taste in the mouth afterwards.

I also got a free sample of the Grade II modern green (at least, that’s what the package says), but I sure hope the charcoal roast is in there instead!

Gingko, is it possible that a sample could have been accidentally switched, or is it more likely that because of my inexperience with oolongs, this actually is the charcoal roast (though there are no hints of it having been roasted)?

Either way, this is delicious!

So after the first 2 steepings yesterday, I filled the 12oz kyusu with ice and let it sit all day. The resulting (room temperature by the time I got to drink it) infusion was delicious!
A little creamy, not overly sweet, just right!
I tried another steeping (4th) afterwards, 180 for 30 seconds. It was more subdued but good. I’m going to give it an initial rating, but perhaps I’ll adjust it up or down after more trials.

More vegetal and a little less sweet than the “Kotobuki no Tsuyu” Gyokuro by Bird Pick Tea. I enjoyed it more than the Bird Pick, but I need to try both a few more times before rating.

This was yummy though, especially after I increased the amount of water to 3oz (the 1st steep was good, but a little intense for me at 2g for 2oz water).

With the exception of the Award Winning Gyokuro that Den’s Tea had earlier this year, I’m actually having to learn to taste Gyokuro. I like it, but it hasn’t been the same eye-opening taste that my first Sencha and Shincha were. However, I’m still new to it, so I’m going to wait until I’ve experimented a bit more. I look forward to doing a real comparison between this and the Bird Pick one.