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I can see why they’d equate this tea with champagne: it’s brisk, and fruity with a carbonated mouthfeel. Peach is what I think when I sip, not grape.

Maybe if I were drinking this for New Years I’d get more out of it, but as it stands I can take it or leave it.

Yowza – low rating alert! :O I feel bad when I see a number that low, but I’m trying to base it on the smiley’s and I’m halfway between happy and ambivalent.

Yikes! Hibiscus! I bought this before I realized how strong it could be. It was also $2.50 for a 25g bag so I thought why not?

It’s ok, but the rose and hibiscus overpower it. It was tart and terrible when I brewed it hot, but tart and drinkable iced. I just have to empty this last pitcher and I am done with it!

Weird. It doesn’t say anything about lemons in the ingredients, but it’s all I can taste, along with the black tea base. It’s good, but not amazing.

It IS amazing if you eat it with Devil’s Food Cake Cupcakes…

This is my second sample from Tea From Taiwan. Thanks again for the generous samples!

Dry: it smells really sweet and refreshing.

1st Steep: (5 min, 98C) It tastes very ‘green’ and vegetal but I’m also some getting some roasted notes as well -much like genmaicha green tea. No, correction. It’s very toasty. These notes subside about mid-sip and give way to a pleasant floral sensation.

2nd Steep: (1 min 98C) I thought I would try a shorter steep this time if it wasn’t too late to try gong fu style. It looks as though the leaves have unraveled as much as my tea ball will allow so I doubt I’m doing it right, but it doesn’t matter too much as this still tastes pretty good. It’s far less toasty -there’s a good balance between that and fruity undertones in each sip. Very nice.

3rd Steep: (1 min 98C ) Still a lot of flavour!

Overall it’s good, and it reminds me that I do like toasted flavors sometimes, but if I had to choose I think I prefer the other Zhong Shu Hu sample.

Blech. I don’t know if I realized this was herbal when I bought it but it was a mistake. Down the drain and the rest of the bags are getting dumped. It doesn’t taste like chocolate or Chai.

Mmmmmm. Would I like some tea with my sugar? Yes. Yes I would. :)

Cuz really, this is just a cup of sugary creamy goodness.

I probably shouldn’t order double-double anymore as 95% of the time I drink my teas plain – this is just insane compared to what I’m used to. Insanely good.

Hah! – I just realized that this tea has only been rated on Steepster 8 times in 3 years. I was surprised to see it here.

So I thought I’d drink this to see if I can tell the difference between this and Ceylon. I think this one is more tannic, while the Ceylon was sweeter and possibly creamier. More practice required.

I saw this chart from the aptly named tumble site: http://fuckyeahilovetea.tumblr.com/post/33309787977
Idk about accuracy but it looks helpful.

I think 3 min is the right amount of brewing tea. I’m sipping away at this straight and it’s pretty good, although a little mild.

I think this tea is on the way out as Tea Desire has it on clearance.

It’s a pretty decent black, with a nice base and a fruity/strawberry finish that creeps up on you. It also has a nice mouthfeel (my new favorite word). I like it, but I’m not blown away. Maybe this would be better iced? Or with agave? I have 50g so I’m sure that will last for a long time.

Not bad. I just realized how much tea dust there is at the bottom of my cup. Maybe that’s why I think this tea is so bitter. Guess I should give my tea ball a quick rinse before I put it in my cup.

I hope someday that I’ll be able to tell the difference between different tea blends. I think that I can recognize Ceylon, but that’s probably from years of drinking Tetley’s Orange Pekoe. Darjeeling, Assam etc… Idek…

This is my first real Oolong! I decided to brew it for 5 min each time at 98C because I thought I would mess it up if I tried gong fu style brewing.

Dry: The tea is rolled into little balls, and the smell reminds me of green tea. It almost smells a bit like seaweed? But not in a bad way…

Steeped: It brews into a nice yellow liquor and it smells good! It’s a really smooth tea that I just want to sip away at all day. How do you describe this though? Each sip tastes a little different and I was wrong about the seaweed – I can’t taste that at all! It is sweet and mild and very refreshing.

2nd Steep: I re-steeped the leaves for another 5 minutes. I realise this may make me a barbarian but it still tastes really good. I am getting more vegetal notes this time around, but it makes me think of a really good green tea.

3rd Steep: Is this oolong abuse? I’m now on my 3rd 8oz cup. It’s getting really mild now but the grassy/vegetal flavours are still strong enough. I sipped away at it, but didn’t feel it warranted a 4th attempt at steeping.

And wow. I just realised how expensive this tea is. 75g (2.65 oz) costs $22. Yowza. Maybe I’ll try to brew it properly next time, but… it’s just such a time commitment that it’s hard to do.

I am looking forward to trying more oolong teas though!
And here’s a picture of the tea during the 3rd steep: http://instagram.com/p/SjvfMVtWvp/