57 Tasting Notes
Was gifted a tin of oolong. Couldn’t guess what kind of tea this would be from the name, it turned out to be very rock tea like though it is not from Fujian. The producer is from Wuyi and the tea is from Guangxi, the two places are 900 miles apart.
The dry leaves smell like milk chocolate, this tea taste like a mixture of dahongpao and black tea, it is sweet, toasty, savory, flowery, fruity, and grassy. The aroma and sweetness reminds me of some sweeter dancongs I’ve had. Hydrated leaves are 2 inches long, I don’t see much broken particles. Overall a very interesting tea as in it’s hard to put it in one category, flavor-wise this has a bit of everything, it’s really nice.
sold for $29.99/40g
Flavored black tea. If I had to guess the base might be some unsmoked souchong blend, it is so well blended all the distinctive characters of the black teas are gone. The smell is very peachy but the taste isn’t fruity at all.
The tea is rather expensive in the US, if you’re buying this from the UK then the price isn’t that bad.
sold for $14.40/ 125g in the UK
https://www.fortnumandmason.com/black-tea-with-peach-loose-leaf-caddy-125g
sold for $34.95/ 125g at Williams Sonoma
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/fortnum-and-mason-black-tea-with-peach-loose-leaf-tin
So I got the loose leave version of vanilla comoro, suggested by ashmanra. This does taste better than the tea sachets. The astringency is way lower and it almost taste like a light fruity tea though still not very black tea like.
I definitely recommend getting the loose leave over the sachets.
Sachets: 81
Loose leave: 85
sold for $13/ 4oz
https://www.harney.com/products/vanilla-comoro?variant=46871345926
Loose black tea leaves, I have the one from 2023. Chocolate smell from dry leaves, the tea has malty cacao notes, it completely lacks the honeysuckle flavor a Jin Jun Mei should have. The wet leaves smell like a floral black tea, no burnt notes, they are roughly 0.5-0.75 in long, very skinny.
This is one of the better samples from the Introduction to Jin Jun Mei Black Tea Sampler but still not a real Jin Jun Mei. Tastes fine though.
Sold for $7.25/ 25g
Decaf vanilla black tea, I bought the tea sachet version a couple years ago. The tea smells a lot like boba milk tea but doesn’t taste like one. Being decaffeinated it sacrificed some of its flavors, it doesn’t have wood, floral, or honey notes like regular black teas. On its own it tastes like slightly astringent water with vanilla scent, this tea can make milk taste good and not really the other way around.
sold for $9.45/20 sachets
The loose version is better than the sachet and we overleaf to compensate for the losses from the decaffeination process. If you have any sachets left, perhaps try over leafing a bit to make it more enjoyable? I usually tear my sachets open and measure the leaf for most tea whenever I can.
I should try the loose version in the future. I agree with using more tea because I did think one was a bit light.
I got this pack for free and I’ve been wanting to get this review out. Here we go:
Jasmine Bi Luo Chun(3-Scent):
Jasmine flowers inside the tea. The first steep was very floral, but the jasmine scent from the second steep was significantly weaker. The Bi Luo Chun flavor later came to be much more prominent than the jasmine flavor. Still very pleasant. Hydrated leaves are roughly 1-2 inches long.
Jasmine Mao Jian(5-Scent):
Favorite among family members. Shinny dry leaves, the green tea base has a sweetness that’s almost pastry like. Jasmine lasted significantly longer than the Bi Lou chun but the floral flavor isn’t the strongest from this pack. The green tea did not have the savory profile many Chinese green has, it is not quite vegetal. Hydrated leaves are 0.5-1 inches long.
Jasmine Zhen Wang(7-Scent):
Furry long leaves, very perfumy. The jasmine scent is sharp and very in your face. I think part of the fragrance and sweetness is from the tea base, there’s a juicy, vegetal quality to it. This tea handles brewing very well, one time I reused the same leaves for three days and the tea still came out flavorful. If you want to make jasmine milk tea this will be able to take the milk. Hydrated leaves are roughly 1-1.5 inches long.
Jasmine Bai Hao(9-Scent):
Fur on buds, very uniformed, extremely clean. I expected this to be the strongest from the sample pack but the Zhen Wang was much more potent than Bai Hao. I would describe the drinking experience of this one as “sipping on flower water.” There is no astringency, bitterness, or other unpleasant flavors from the white tea, it’s very delicate. Hydrated leaves are all roughly 1 inch long and have a very faint mung bean scent on top of the jasmine.
I think this pack will please everybody. The uncles and aunties, the ABCs/ABGs/ABBs, the boba addicts, the Chinese restaurant lovers, the moms, it’s a crowd winner. If you are drinking this yourself this is A LOT of jasmine. I’ve been sharing it with people lol
sold for $39.99
Earl grey tea bags. I taste bergamot mostly and a little woodiness from the tea. No tartness, bitterness, or astringency detected, very middle of the road. I would recommend this to friends at a supermarket.
sold for $12.00/50 tea bags
https://www.republicoftea.com/earl-greyer-black-tea/p/v00583/
Rose black tea. Dry leaves smell like Chinese dried plum, the tea taste like charcoal with a bit mint and a weird sweetness, I think they added stevia in this. Rose flavor is not at all presented. No astringency. The wet leaves smell very smoky.
I bought mine for 7-ish dollars and this is a regret buy. I liked the earl grey and had high hope for this. This is the first time I have loose tea with sweetener added and it taste bad. I added milk now the whole thing tastes like burnt rubber. Yeah no.
sold for $11/ 4oz
https://taooftea.com/product/rose-petal-black/
Loose black tea leaves. Sugary smell from dry leaves, yam scent from wet leaves, this one does taste good when you flash steep it and ONLY when you flash steep it. Honey, malt, light fruit.
Problem: The tea isn’t made out of buds, and real Jin Jun Mei is an all buds tea. Most leaves are broken, majority at 0.5 – 0.75 inches, longest at 1 inch.
The tea is reminiscent of a Jin Jun Mei and tastes pretty good if you steeped it the right way, but it’s still not a Jin Jun Mei, like how a good salmon roe is not a caviar. For that reason points are deducted, but this is the better tea from Yunnan Sourcing’s Jin Jun Mei sampler.
sold for $7.50 / 50g
Green tea bags. You can see the rolled up green tea inside the muslin. Gum like spearmint and green tea that’s almost unnoticeable until the very end of cup, this actually tastes fine. This is the best one of the teas I bought from Kusmi, didn’t notice astringency or smokiness.
sold for $12.90 / 20 bags
https://www.kusmitea.com/us/spearmint-green-tea-organic-VMENBIOMASTER.html?v=21651A1120
