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This was my first ever taste of dark tea, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The dry leaves didn’t really have a smell so I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, as soon as I brewed the leaves it had a pungent cigar odor. The taste was very much the same – cigar smoke and wood.

Short but simple, I liked this tea and I didn’t brew it again as I didn’t have time. I will be sure to order more dark tea in the future.

Anyone who knows me will know I love rooibos redbush tea. I drink it every day since I don’t drink milk and I like to keep as decaffeinated as possible, however I really fancied a change from my daily vanilla and original flavours.

I saw that NBTea had a creme brulee version and decided to try it out. I think I’ve had creme brulee once in my life before, meaning I had no idea what to expect.

I don’t really think this is the type of tea to be observing notes, but whatever creme brulee is it certainly tasted of it. I steeped it for 5 minutes in boiling hot water. This tea didn’t steep twice very well and the second steeping was light but refreshing

It was a nice change from the usual, but nothing that totally blew my mind.

Silver needle. I’ve heard a little about you.

I’m been into this tea thing for around two months, constantly seeing ‘silver needle’ whispers between the roars of ‘PU ERH!’. I decided to check it out, since the leaf looks like cute baby caterpillars. I made an order with What-Cha and the bag is so satisfying to press, it’s like a cushion.

The leaves smelled weirdly like Carmex lip balm and grass. I brewed the tea in my new Yixing 100ml teapot for a quick flash brew as previous brewings had been very strong. It produced a lovely light brew with a slight yellow tint. As soon as I tasted the brew I fell in love with white teas. It had such a delicate citrus taste with notes of grass.

I left my second steeping for around 3 minutes to see if it improved the flavour. This time the citrus and grass notes were much stronger and it also had a strong lavender finish.

I decided to leave my third steeping in for 7 minutes. I forgot about it, meaning I left it in for 12 minutes instead. I was worried it was going to be super bitter, but it wasn’t. It was a tiny bit bitter but not enough to stop me drinking the tea. It is lovely on long steeps and I will probably try and steep it for 5-10 minutes for my first steeping next time. This tea also has a lovely lasting finish, perfect for an after-dinner treat.

Overall, I’m very happy I made this purchase and finally experienced the joys of white tea.

I made some tea orders from both What-Cha and my first order at NBTea. I was given a gaiwan for my birthday so decided to try it out on my new oolong!

After absolutely loving the Thailand Bai Yai Assamica Green tea, I decided to order the oolong version to see if I liked it.

To be totally honest, I haven’t done that much research into how to use gaiwans. I put around 4g of oolong into the gaiwan as I had seen that most people put 1-2tsp in theirs. Rinsing is a new concept to me and I used my first steeping to rinse the tea and warm up the cup. Strangely enough, the wet leaves had a hint of strawberry scent!

My first tasting steep I left in for around 30 seconds. I had NO IDEA how long to leave it in for, however on most tea podcasts they usually leave it in for as long as a short natter takes. I definatly think I oversteeped it as it tasted incredibly bitter but I could taste fruity, nutty tones.

My second steeping wasn’t so successful either. I decided to flash brew, thinking this would reduce the bitterness. It actually INCREASED the bitterness and I wasn’t so sure what I had done wrong. I took out around half of the leaf and tried again.

My third steeping was a little better. It was still bitter, however I could taste the nutty tones and a fruity sweet aftertaste.

My fourth and final steeping was pretty watery and I could tell that this oolong was coming to it’s end. The taste was quite pleasant and fruity, however the finish was very bitter on the back of my tongue.

I still have a little bit left so I’ll use that to give a proper rating when I’ve done some better research. I don’t want to rate this tea in case I hadn’t brewed it properly, however any gaiwan tips would be appriciated!

I received this tea as a sample alongside my gaiwan and metal tea caddy birthday gifts. I was very excited as I had recently become fond of green tea after owning my own pouch of Thailand Bai Yai Assamica Green Tea from What-Cha. That tea was truly a taste experience and it would be hard to compete with.

I hadn’t actually tasted jasmine flavours before so wasn’t so sure what to expect. The sample pack smelled so amazing and sweet, but I wasn’t so sure if I’d like that smell as a taste. The packet recommended 2 minutes brewing time, however my cup was quite large and it wasn’t very strong so I brewed it for 2 minutes 20 seconds.

After taking a small sip of the tea, the overwhelming taste of jasmine hit me in the face (or mouth…). The flavour was very one-dimensional and incredibly floral. It was nice, however I did expect more than just feeling like I had stuffed a bunch of jasmine flowers in my mouth. This is my first experience of jasmine so I could have brewed it incorrectly, but even so I couldn’t really taste much but flowery notes. I guess it’s nice if you like that sort of thing, but I think I’ll give flowery teas a miss in the future.

I was quite unsure about this tea as I’m not a big lover of raspberry. I find it’s usually very tarty and bitter.

HOWEVER! I made sure to only brew this tea for 4 minutes and found it had a lovely refreshing raspberry taste, not bitter at all. I added half a teaspoon of sugar, however it didn’t really need it as it’s already quite sweet. This tea would be lovely cold too!

The third tea I’ve tried from my variety box, and I’m certain I’ve found my favourite! Even though it’s cheap, it has an AMAZING peach taste and the smell of the brew fills the room. I always have to add at least a teaspoon of sugar to my tea, however this one only needed a pinch to offset the bitterness.

This flavour is perfect for those looking for a sugary snack replacement!

Another artificially flavoured tea from the London Tea Co. This one was quite surprising as to me it tasted more like raspberry than strawberry, I’ve yet to try the raspberry variety though. Good for those sweet cravings, however I wasn’t a huge lover of this bitter brew.

Your average low-quality dusty tea. I received this in an assorted pack and I haven’t really had fruit tea recently. I can’t see the price anywhere but according to the website it was probably around £1.50-£3.00 a box, cheaper than a lot of 16 pack teas.

For something so cheap, it was okay. It lacked dimension and the overbearing taste of artificial blueberry was enough to satisfy my sugar cravings. I put in half a teaspoon of sugar to kill the bitterness.

If you’re after a cheap brew and not bothered about quality, this one’s for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

When opening the pack, the tea smelled incredibly sweet and flowery. I brewed it for 2 minutes and added another 20 seconds for my taste. I added half a teaspoon of sugar, tasted, added a quarter of a teaspoon more.

I could taste refreshing citrus and it was a little bit floral. The website describes the texture as ‘creamy’ and I certainly agree. I couldn’t really taste much else, maybe because I’ve just woken up. The finish and aftertaste of this tea is what made me so unsure, it left my mouth tasting like I had just sucked on a cheap lemon cough sweet. I usually get this with over-brewed green teas, however I stuck to the 2-3 minutes it said on the packet. My second steeping will give me a better idea of my opinion.

Second steeping: I was looking forward to the second steeping and monitored the time very closely. I steeped for 2 minutes, the minimum that was recommended. It still tasted very bitter, so I steeped for an extra 10 seconds which made the bitterness stronger. It was disappointing as I love the actual taste of the tea but the finish and aftertaste pretty much ruin it for me.

However, I’m really new to tea tasting so my review should be taken with a very large pinch of salt.