Art of Tea

TTBC2 #16

I generally prefer my white teas to be fruit flavored rather than dessert-candy-creamy flavored, but this blend is pulled off real nicely.

I have noticed that if I like the look of a blend’s dry leaf, I usually like the steep it makes. So was with this one. Adorable little peppercorns among beautiful, intact white tea leaves. And gorgeous-smelling. Just like butterscotch. And I am not even a great fan of buttercotch, but this tea smelled heavenly.

It turned out to be delicious as well. Strong buttescotch, caramel and cream notes that nevertheless did not overwhelm the delicate nature of white tea. What’s not to love? A very well done dessert white blend!

Earl Grey, green version indeed! Fabulous.

Sweet, thick, very good oolong

Steeped it for about 4 minutes and the taste was very subtle on the tongue, with hints of Asparagus & Escarole. It also had a very calming effect on me, so it’s probably loaded with l-theanine.

It’s named aptly as it steeps to a jade color, and has a wonderful Bergamot scent, but overall, I found it a bit lacking in taste. Slightly floral with hints of green grass and green beans.

This tea is definitely made for anyone who smokes cigarettes. It has a pronounced taste of tobacco with hints of Morel Mushrooms, alongside a hint of Musk. It is definitely not a tea for the faint of heart. If you like strong, woodsy teas, then dial this one up.

Tea #29 from Considering a new TTB
This is the last caffeine free option in the TTB. It’s an interesting combination of ingredients, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the pink peppercorns in the blend, but they don’t seem to lend much of a flavor. The florals are present, without being soapy with a slightly tart flavor from the rose hips. Overall, this isn’t a bad tea to end my day with, but it isn’t something I’m likely to order for myself since there are so many chamomile blends that I prefer over this one.

Additional notes: Thanks so much for this one, Mastress Alita! It’s a favorite I discovered years ago (under various names), but I don’t have much in stock so it was awesome to revisit. The flavor is very unique and delicious, like a creamy lemon. The base oolong is more vegetal than I remember, but nothing the flavor can’t sweeten. I might be steeping this one differently that I once was years ago. So the first time I had this tea was The Tea Merchant’s Silk Dragon. They had a lovely Earl Grey that I wonder had the same source/seller as this one? If so, does Art of Tea have that awesome Earl Grey? Hmmm… wait… a search brings up Art of Tea Earl Grey Cream. sigh.
GUYS I must mention that book I’m reading at the moment: I’m not even half into The Overstory by Richard Powers but it is so good. I’ve never read any of his books before and I have a feeling this is different than his others. I just love this book.

Thank you QueenOfTarts for a sample of this one a while back! As I expected, I’m pretty sure this is the same blend as The Tea Merchant’s Silk Dragon. Same ingredients, same taste. Not a bad thing! I have a bit of the sample left of that one, and I’m happy to have a bit of this one left. It’s a nice oolong with a hint of lemon and vanilla. This blend seemed to have less vanilla, but maybe the Tea Merchant’s blend was as fresh as possible when I first tried it. It’s a nice one! I just wish it had more lemon or tasted more like creamsicle like another tasting note mentioned.

Very delicate tea. Mild coloring. Not like a typical oolong at all. Color is mild, but feels very full and thick on the tongue. Smell is sweet yet slightly vegetal.

another one from awkward soul via Terri. This is a pelasant enough oolong, but it remains a green oolong. Just not one worthy of making me want to keep it around.

Not sure…… need to give this more time, maybe it will grow on me. Disappointed that it is not creamy and coconutty. It smells good

This is the tea that pushed me off the coffee wagon for good. I look forward to my morning brew as much as I did for any cup of coffee.

I do add a tad of german rock sugar. It really pops and blends the flavors. Very smooth.

Slight smoky flavor. It reminds me a lot of pu-erh, which I later learned that Yunnan used in this blend is aged longer to form pu-erh blends. This is really my favorite of the black teas. That’s saying a lot when previously my favorite was chai.

This is almost like a tart creamsicle and if you add a little sugar to it you have full creamsicle flavor in a cup of tea. I think that anyone who enjoys orange and is looking for a caffeine free option will enjoy this tea. It also makes a very tasty iced tea, I ran out of time to sit and enjoy my tea and put it in the refrigerator for later. When I noticed that the temperature was hovering in the mid 50’s I decided to pull it out and give it a second chance. In Wisconsin mid 50’s is definitely iced tea weather, for us that is a regular heat wave! It’s such a shame that we’re expecting snow and cold weather the rest of the week, but the warm weather reminds me that iced tea weather is almost here. I can’t be the only one excited about this, can I?

You can red the rest of the review on my blog
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/3/11/tuesday-tea-lemon-meringue-art-of-tea.html