Tealux

puerh from this morning courtesy of dexter not a lot to say about this one beyond it’s really earthy and not quite the sort of puerh I love. it was tasty, but the earthiness was a little overwhelming in the initial steeps. It mellows out!

I’m not usually a fan of flavored Tealux teas. This would be an exception. I LOVE this. Awesome. It’s dark oolong, it’s chocolate, it’s strawberry – not really getting the mocha, but I’m in a forgiving mood.
Yep I will restock this one – it just works in every way for me.

Vegetal tone. Medium-thick mouthfeel. Oceanic note. Sweetness in aftertaste. The aftertaste has a not reminding me of a milk oolong.

Thanks to Kittenna for sharing!

Not the best tulsi tea I’ve had but it’s okay. I can’t seem to pick up the lemon verbena or lemon grass, the two things I was looking forward to in this tea. The tulsi is a very strong tea and it dominates any of the ingredients added to this. Still, it makes a pleasant cup of tulsi tea.

More citrus today please! Also in a Japanese mood which could be because I’m watching anime.

This tea has a super strong scent, specifically orange, lemongrass and eucalyptus. Very refreshing and I certainly agree with the ‘cooler’ side of the name. Unusual scent but wonderful. Lost my train of thought now, I have a blackbird nest in my guttering which I’m happy to keep since it’s not doing any harm, well my cats look out the window and start chattering their teeth. How to explain chattering to those that aren’t sure, it’s like meowing but without sound and their mouth moves up and down a lot like they are trying to speak. I can’t help but laugh when they do it. This warrants a Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crfm0gbSNZg

Once steeped the tea is red/orange in colour with a toned down but still potent orange and eucalyptus scent.

Flavour wise It’s sweet, slightly tart/sour, herbal and citrussy. Also has a creamy after taste. The first instance is hibiscus and orange peel which quickly fade into a sweet and strong citrus with refreshing tones and a creamy lemon grass after taste. Though I’m not a huge fan of eucalyptus I find this blend covers it’s thickness very well, it’s present but not overpowering. Also the orange though present is not thick or stodgy in any way which works well to tone the lighter ingredients in together.

Not all ingredients are noticeable so don’t let the likes of beetroot or carrot flake scare you away.

I really like this one, could drink more of this. My sample gave me two large pots worth of tea so I have one remaining which I may have after dinner, I’m sure my husband will like this one too.
I will be ordering more of this next time.

I have not written many new notes recently as I’m in the process of trying to use up samples that I have already reviewed. As I am part way through buying a house my next step is to start packing in anticipation of the move, my tea cupboard needs a jolly good sort out and I have many that I really should finish before I move. So that is what I have been doing with my time. In turn I’m finishing the last of this Hot Cinnamon Orange tea, previously I said it was more of a night time tea yet this morning it’s my first pot of the day. It rained last night very heavily and it still smells thickly of fresh rain, it reminds me of cinnamon hence why I chose this tea for my first pot. Another sample down but many more to come. At least it’s giving me the space I eagerly wanted on my tea shelf, plus the new house has an amazing kitchen with lots of space and I can hold even more tea!

My last tea of the night and it’s spicy orange, not sure why I wanted spice but I suppose I see it as more of a night time tea. I’m very nervous as it’s my first driving lesson on Friday, booked and paid for so it’s happening…frightening thought though.

I smell cinnamon and orange at equal levels of medium strength. The long steep was due to me eating an Oreo ice cream cone and forgetting about the tea, though by smell it has not stewed.

Flavour wise I can taste the warm yet sweet and spicy cinnamon infront of sour yet also sweet orange that meld in the after taste. Very cinnamon heavy but I love that in a tea, as long as it’s not too powdery and dry (which this one isn’t). Again despite the long steeping time it tastes very good, not astringent or foul in any way. Nice to know this tea is forgiving. Honestly this tastes pretty much as you can imagine, it’s nice but not original or special. Still I do like this one a lot.

Thank you so much Sheherazade for sending me this lovely Oolong.
This is a delicious Milk Oolong but I am a huge fan of this type of type of teas so it may biaise a little my opinion…no it doesn’t !

Pretty pale yellow liquor so typical of milky Oolongs.

This one is less strong on milk and butter notes than several others I had and it is interesting as the flowery notes are emerging on the top with a mellow flowery texture.

It doesn’t beat my dear Theodor Milky Oolong but it is very very nice tea in a different category.
Delicious.

I’ve had this tea in my cupboard for awhile. It’s a wonderful comfort tea and a good blend of gunpowder with peppermint and spearmint. A mid-eastern restaurant nearby brews up what they call a mint tea. I just love it and order it whenever I go in the restaurant. This tea is the closest thing to that. The peppermint is punchy and the green tea is a strong .

This was my tea of choice at work today. This is by far the oldest pu’erh I’ve had. The aged pu’erh I was drinking yesterday was really mellow and smooth. I was expecting this one to be more of the same. NOT.
This is really BOLD, EARTHY (not fishy), and a hint of something that seems minty to me. I don’t do mint, but that’s what it reminds me of. The hotter this is the more minty it is, as it cools it becomes more like a “traditional” pu’erh but it’s big and bold and in your face. There is nothing offensive here, but this isn’t my favorite. I like the one I was drinking yesterday much better.

From the queue

Prior to my recent swap with Courtney I was asked for requests as one does. I was attracted to Butiki’s Irish Cream Cheesecake, and while reminding myself what Courtney had thought of that one, I noticed a mention of her finding it quite similar to this one. Therefore, I said I would like to try a sample of either this or that, but one of them would be fine if she didn’t have enough to share. Luckily for me, she had enough to share of both of them, so now I get to see for myself if I find them very similar too.

I started with this one because it’s morning, it’s the first tea of the day and it’s a breakfast blend. That’s fairly straight-forward, isn’t it?

It smells quite strong and also a bit creamy. Mostly though I’m finding it to have a very strong strawberry-y note. Peculiar. Was the pot perhaps not rinsed out properly from the Queen of Berries last night? I thought I was pretty thourough with that. Or is it the cream that does it, maybe? I think I can also detect something quite malty underneath the cream and the mysterious strawberry, which adds to the impression of it being quite strong. Husband didn’t think it smelled like strawberry at all, so perhaps that’s just me.

It is indeed a good strong blend, this one. It’s also quite smooth and fairly malty with a good buildup of aftertaste. A sort of oaky note there, I think, and quick flash of something a little more harsh. Like it’s a generally well-behaved blend, but showing teeth now and then to remind you that it’ll only be nice to you so long as you are nice to it.

I’ve had a cream flavoured black once which tasted pretty much just like a generic black with some cream poured into it, which, when you are not accustomed to adding anything to your tea at all EVER, wasn’t particularly pleasant. I was a little curious about how the cream note would behave in this one, but not sufficiently scared away by previous experiences to not give it a go.

I think the cream flavouring adds to the smoothness of this blend, but it’s really quite subtle. It’s there more in texture than in flavour and then I get a little swish of cream on the aftertaste. This is infinitely preferable to my previous experience. It is, in fact, very very nice.

I’m glad I asked Courtney if she could spare a sample of this for me. And once again, I find myself sort of wishing I hadn’t shared it with Husband as that means less of it for me.

I don’t usually mind smokey teas, and I’ve liked other Lapsang Souchong – but not this one. It’s REALLY smokey and it seems piney to me. Not a lot piney, but a little bit. I tried rinsing it a couple of time before steeping and that really helps cut back on the smoke. It also is less smokey and piney as it cools. The other thing I didn’t like was the charcoal (?) smudge that was left around the rim of your cup. Too smokey when I have charcoal bits in my cup.

I think this is the one I’m drinking… But anyways.. another cold brew. Wooooof this is a super sweet\tart fruit tea. It’s tart but it has a nice coconut note at the end that lingers. It’s nice and would be yummy mixed with lemonade or iced black tea.

linty flinty fluff
floating then soaking it sinks
weightless ashes turn to broth

I am a bit confused now about Bi Luo Chun or Pi Lo Chun. Are there two or more versions? I ask because I’ve now experienced the somewhat dense little snail shell shapes and also this lighter, fluffy, very voluminous version from Tealux (and also Teavivre), which almost looks ashen on the edges. Maybe these are two different grades of the same tea? There is no way that these light filaments can be interpreted as snail shells, so I’m thinking that maybe the snail shells are the higher grade, and these filaments are what is left behind in the wok?

Anyway, the good news is that the flavor of this Bi Luo Chun is fine. It is subtle, and today I weighed the tea to ensure that I was using enough. The liquor was pale peachy green and the flavor gently sweet. I’m still not convinced that this tastes like pastry, but it is enjoyable to drink.

As I was eating toasted raisin bread with butter for my first meal today, I decided to brew up a medium-sized tetsubin of the Tealux Dong Ting Bi Luo Chin. I was looking for something less savory and vegetal, and this was an excellent choice.

The flavor is quite subtle, so I would not pair this tea with very forceful foods, but it works well for this kind of light, slightly sweet meal.

I’m still not at all sure how much dried tea should be used as it weighs nearly nothing! I tried three heaping teaspoons today, but I may have to break down I get me a tea scale—yet more confirmation that I am officially OCD (I already have a thermometer, lol)!

I believe that this is my very first experience of Bi Luo Chun, this being Dong Ting from Tealux. The leaves have a distinctive appearance: light and fluffy but curled and covered with white fuzz. Because the tea is so voluminous, I used two heaping teaspoons for this pot—the equivalent of three.

The liquor is pale gold veering peach, and the taste is subtle and faint. According to the Tealux description, the flavor is akin to a flaky pastry. That might be a fair assessment, but it is not at all buttery, so I am not sure. I guess that I associate butter with pastry.

Anyway, this is not a hard-hitting, vegetal green tea but a mild one closer to white tea. I need to imbibe another pot or so before I’ll feel qualified to attach a number to my tasting note. I’ll be brewing a second infusion of these leaves later today, once my caffeine deadline has elapsed.

Got to use my Teavana App for steeping herbal teas this time. It was a nice lively salsa to dance to while this tea was steeping – a good 6 minutes of dancing.

This tea is pretty much the same tea as David’s Forever Nuts. I can’t taste much difference. It’s got that beetroot coloring with an apple/almond flavor to it. Early in the day to be having non-caffeine one but I’ve had my dose of caffeine for the morning. I’ll have to try this along side of Forever Nuts to see if there’s a difference. I don’t think there is.

Dexter3657 sent me some of this one in that awesome package a while back! thank you! I added quite a bit of leaves to the mug… after three minutes it actually wasn’t an explosion of hibiscus, therefore this herbal is great just for that. A standard fruity blend. Very punchy and there was a flavor to it that reminded me of syrup, so it actually IS probably punchy. Quite good!

I was drinking this at work today. It’s light and fragrant but does have some earthy pu’erh on the top of the mouth and the back of the nose – this comes out more as it cools.
This is just ok for me, I like pu’erh to be big and bold – this is too mild.
Any white tea fans that are interested in pu’erh should give this a try – it would be a good stepping stone.

Last of this one tonight, now I really have to place an order! :D

Sitting down to read after a long shift :)
It’s been quite some time since I’ve had this one. I get mint out of this one.