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First and foremost, I received this as a gift for my birthday – thanks Madison!

The blooming buds of tea are delicately tied into small bundles. The smell of the dried tea is enchanting – delicate white tea, light floral peach and jasmine scent. I do not have a clear pot for flowering teas, but I do have my large infusing pitcher. Added one ball to the bottom, and gently tipped the hot water down the side so as to not damage the tea. Filled about 10 ounces of hot water, no other additives.

The ball floated to the top, but as it began to unfurl after about a minute, it slowly sank to the bottom. The liquor started to turn a pale green color and the peach and jasmine aromas were released. I allowed it to steep for four minutes. Then gently poured the tea so that I could get another visual infusion.

The flavor is sweet, light, floral, very slight peach, definitely more floral and jasmine. It is not so jasmine or floral so as to have that flower petal taste, but it is gentle and delicately added in such a way that it is delicious without being overwhelming.

I managed a second and third infusion (four and three minutes respectively) with similar results – however, I have to say that the beauty is lost if the tea ball is jostled too much, there is a seed packet or twist of seeds inside the center of the flower that is actually quite unsettling, (I will not unsettle you with such details) but if you do not shake the bloom too much, there should not be an issue.

Overall, the tea is very good. Enjoy!

Many thanks again for the birthday wishes all, and to move forward, I needed to wake up today for my extremely early commute to work. The best way to do this was with a hot steaming mug of this one from LeafSpa!

Infused (hot) with no additives, 5 minutes. A darker brew has the rich, yet delicate aromas of the pepper and black tea, and with a longer infusion time, some smokiness that I love :)

Perfect pick-me-up this morning, enjoy!

I received so much tea in the mail today, you would think it was my birthday (wink wink, nudge nudge). Of them, I was extremely excited to try this one and be the first reviewer on Steepster. I have to say, that all of the reviews (shantitea.ca) and hype (facebook) about this tea are completely justified! The tea is visually BEA-utiful: tiny spears of perfectly rolled tea, a dark color with highlights of silver (tips) and gold and cinnamon-red colors. The smell of the dried tea is very faint oolong, clean, light, wonderful.

I put three of the “horns” into my infusing basket, used water just below boiling (as I typically do) and infused hot for 4 minutes with no additives. The spears unfurled a little, in that time and released a new aroma; still clean and light, but a little more body and a typical sweet oolong scent. The liquor is pale yellow. The tea is almost divine, it is like no oolong I have had before, it is light, sweet, a slight crispness at the end of each sip with an overall cleanliness that is more typical of white tea. The slight undertones that are similar to champagne also help to round out the flavors.

Second infusion, same three horns, brewed hot, 3 minutes. Liquor, aroma and taste is similar, no overdone or “burnt” flavor of the oolong. Still wonderful.

Third infusion, same three horns, brewed hot, 2 minutes. Liquor is slightly lighter, but aroma and flavor remain unchanged.

This tea is so wonderful that it can only be harmed by additions. Absolutely wonderful-highly recommended.

It has been an insanely stressful couple of days, to help relax (and apparently celebrate Iced Tea Day!) I had an icy cold bottle of this today. As always, it is sweet, without been sweetened, the jasmine is subtle yet floral enough that you do not miss it. Overall, a wonderful tea, if you spot a bottle, I highly recommend buying it.

Today, I steeped two cups of this to get in the zone. There is a ton going on over here, test taking, appointments, planning, scheduling, applying, so much and I needed to focus.

First cup, add cake, unwrapped, not that it is important, but I really must say that I LOVE using the Golden Moon steeper mug for this (link: http://www.goldenmoontea.com/Whole_Leaf_Steeper_Mug_With_Te_P84.cfm) I only use it for rinsing the pu-erh, because the cup can get very hot if you are drinking out of it. Nonetheless, I rinsed 25 seconds, at this point it was a little too light and a little too wet-dog, so another 25 second rinse – no dog, liquor is almost black and looks thick. Finally, one 30 second infusion, no additives, hot, no dog again, but the earthy, chewy thickness I have grown to love and enjoy. Drank that cup in near 3 minutes.

Second infusion, 30 seconds, liquor dark and thick, same earthy aromas and flavors. Finishing up the cup now. I’m officially, in the zone.

Walked outside to get the mail, not expecting anything, and I have a box…YAY! This box contained my Memorial Day 52 Teas order that I did not expect until tomorrow. In celebration, I brewed up a cup almost immediately.

This is the tin, and though I never received the pouch, the tin is FILLED to the brim and it is layered with big slices of coconut! The smell of the dried leaves is delicious: coconut, vanilla, black tea.

I did a quick brew in my in-cup basket, heaping scoop of tea, hot water, no additives, three minute infuse. The tea is a dark honey-amber liquor with aromas of fresh coconut and vanilla. The flavor is perfect, a slightly sweet blend of coconut and vanilla, a creaminess that you would expect from coconut cream pie and a blend of mind-blowing black tea with a little bite at the end to make sure you know it is there. Absolutely wonderful!

After a long, but very enjoyable day yesterday, I brewed up a large pot of this around midnight. Hot, no additives, two minutes. The simplicity of this tea is divine, it is slightly sweet, with a hint of vegetal flavor, yet a light, almost floral fragrance.

Two cups in, I was fully relaxed and ready to go to sleep.

Had this again today with the orange juice. It is really, really growing on me. I added a full tablespoon of matcha and 8 ounces of orange juice, whisk the hell out of it, get a dark green thick, foamy matcha. Wonderful.

I raised the rating on this today because I am seriously considering buying some more because now I am almost out.

Previous rating: 72.

Needed a pick me up a little while ago, took a generous tea-spoon of matcha, added about 8 ounces of orange juice, whisked for a minute or so, making a nice gentle foam and breaking up all the little chunks of matcha.

Sweet and though it is orange flavored from the orange juice, it is not bitter or tart like I tend to find with Mandarin Matcha. This was nice, cool, refreshing and got the job done. Feeling another one, really soon.

Extremely long story short – I was in NYC last night and went to a decent restaurant. Excellent selection of food, beer, wine, sake and tea. Fantastic! Had this tea and was extremely disappointed. It was bitter and burnt, did not have any decent flavor at all. Actually had to add sweetener to try and finish it.

My best guess is that the restaurant did not follow correct parameters – temperature, time, infusion instructions, etc, etc or that they simply gave me a different tea than I asked for.

sigh Will have to get some and brew it myself. Am I becoming a tea-snob? Sounds like it…No rating until I have a proper experience.