Tealyra (formerly Tealux)

This was a spur of the moment, post-work choice when I got home this afternoon. I’d originally intended on trying one of my samplers from Jolly Brew, but after a traumatic walk home that involved passing a house on fire and numerous fire engines arriving at the scene, I lost all track of everything and just grabbed the first tea I spotted. It so happened to be the Pu’erh Maple Chai I seriously hadn’t cared for the first time I tried it. Arghh! Still, the leaves smelled wonderful in the packet (the spices and the maple syrup, with just a hint of the pu’erh) and even though my nose had convinced me it would taste as amazing as it smelled the first time around (damn you, nose!) I decided I’d make a big pot of it and make a start on using the packet up. As I waited for it to steep, it dawned on me that this tea was my first ever experience of Pu’erh. Coupled with the fact I’m almost sure I accidentally oversteeped the first cup I tried, I started to hope that this time around it might be OK. And it WAS! Yes, the Pu’erh is there, but it’s not as strong as I remember it (possibly because I’m more familiar with Pu’erhs now?) and the maple and spices give it a gorgeous kick without being too overpowering. It’s actually quite a smooth, cosy drink and I enjoyed it way more than I was expecting to. So much so… I drank the whole pot! Is it a blend I would re-purchase? Probably not. But I’ll enjoy using up the rest of my packet.

Thanks so much for this one, Mastress Alita! Tealyra sometimes has a high turnover rate for teas….but this one is still available on their website. I’m just happy they keep a few of my favorites around. This one seems like a unique blend I haven’t seen being sold anywhere else. The ingredients: Pumpkin cubes, apple pieces, cinnamon pieces, ginger cubes, turmeric root, cinnamon rods, cloves, whole cardamom, pink pepper, natural flavoring. There was a HUGE pumpkin sliver that went into the infuser. The blend already gets points for that. I don’t think I’m a fan of turmeric and there was definitely a hit of turmeric at least at the top of the first steep. The turmeric must have floated to the top. Otherwise, the resulting flavor is a mix of the other ingredients to create a mild pumpkin pie flavor. Nothing in the blend is really standing out, it’s pretty equally represented. But I’m wishing for more flavor here. With that big pumpkin piece, I certainly expected more flavor. It’s one of those herbal blend situations where the weight of the ingredients (and the price) takes into consideration the amount of flavor that results. But maybe this one just needs two whole teaspoons to brew up a decent cup. Next time will be a sipdown!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 7 minute steep

I wanted to try Tealyra’s Earl Grey because I feel like I haven’t found the perfect EG that is currently for sale. It’s like bergamot is just disappointing now, when a few years ago so many bergamot teas were delicious. For example, Zen had the BEST cream earl grey, but then their supplier changed to a very different EG. This EG seems exactly like that replaced EG, and I don’t mean the perfect delicious EG…. I mean the bad replacement. The bergamot is just not the bergamot I’m looking for. There should also be a cream flavor they mention in the description, but I’m just tasting the unappealing bergamot. At least the black tea is brisk enough for me. Maybe this Earl could be the perfect Earl for someone else, but it ain’t for me.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Sipdown! This was a sample from one of the Toronto tea peeps, but I’m not certain who. Possibly Indigobloom?

Anyhow, despite age and being in a tiny bag, this was really yummy. Steeped up to quite a pale yellow, but plenty of flavour. Sadly, I drank this a few days ago and am blanking on exactly how to describe the flavour, but it was on the beany/sweet side as opposed to grassy or mariney.

Oh my gosh guys, I just discovered the most magical of Carrot Cake blends… but Tealyra stopped selling it shortly after I bought it. No other tasting notes even! So if anyone finds this blend selling anywhere else, please post a comment. Just opening the bag, this blend smells like dessert. It seems like some real heart went into this blend. So many fantastic Carrot Cakey ingredients: ACTUAL carrots (points just for actually including those), raisins, cinnamon, white chocolate chips, candied ginger, safflowers. All on caffeine free base of honeybush, red and green rooibos. The description also mentions snowman sprinkles and orange sprinkles, but I don’t see any of those in my blend. It tastes plenty sweet without them anyway. This is truly the most dessert flavor in a tea I’ve ever sipped. The only thing is that it might have slightly mouth drying qualities or the rooibos is small enough to escape the teabag into my mug, but this quality only seems to happen in the first sips. I feel like this is an unusual and unique Carrot Cake blend, as the others I’ve noticed have coconut or walnuts. Overall, especially with the second steep, the flavor is mostly SWEET rather than carrot cake but that makes this tea a true dessert.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6 minute steep

Summer Vacation! When I saw Tealyra had this, I had to try it, since I’m a huge fan of both Houjicha and Genmaicha. The idea of Houjicha that included genmai, the toasted rice included in genmaicha, intrigued me, because I imagined it would just add to the roasty flavors nicely. So I picked some up some time ago on a past Tealyra order. Apparently when my friend was visiting last winter, I made him a cup of this while essentially sleep-walking during a migraine — I have no memory or recollection of actually “waking” and brewing tea during the long period I was in the throws of “death pain” during the migraine attack. Now he sings the lyrics of The Romantics “Talking In Your Sleep” with the lyrics I drink the tea that she steeps / When she’s brewing in her sleep…

I’m having another migraine today (chronic migraine condition + forest fire smoke as a trigger + hormone fluctuations as a trigger = RAWR) so it seems only fitting to try this one today during the tail end of my Japan Week of the Summer Vacation theme. The aroma has a very deep, roasted houjicha scent, very woody, slightly nutty, and I pick up very subtle aromas of cinnamon and deeply bittersweet cocoa.

The flavor is quite nice for a houjicha. It’s very smooth and doesn’t come off quite as bark-like as some houjicha I’ve tried; the wood notes have a much nicer, earthy quality. It has a deep rich quality with an almost coffee-like slight bitter touch left on the tongue just after the sip and mild drying astringency, but it isn’t unpleasant; the flavor of the aftertaste is very nutty, like the genmai is amplifying the natural nutty notes of the houjicha. Reminds me a lot of a dark roast nutty coffee. I’m a bit surprised that a houjicha I didn’t order directly from Japan is so nice; despite being so low in caffeine, this is really making for a nice breakfast tea, just because it has such a pleasant robust roasty flavor.

Other than my maple-infused houjicha, I’d say this has to be one of the best that I’ve tried so far.

I encountered these in my constant search and trials of Jasmine teas. Price was good and smell upon open was pleasant and inviting, more sweet than floral. I am able to get 2 rich steeps out using a 4 oz Gaiwan and 5-6 minute steeps. 3 steeps is pushing it. The taste is sweet and ‘toasty’ – lacking the vegetal quality of typical greens – quite satisfying and never exhibiting any astringency. The tin has stayed at my office as my ‘back-up’ for when I forget to bring anything else or just want to mix it up during the day. I’ve come to look forward to these in that capacity and would reorder it as an alternative.

Sipdown (262)

Thank you Evol Ving Ness for sharing this with me! It’s one of those teas that I tend to forget about a lot but it has a nice tropical punch to it today. Fruity, sweet, but also with a crisp tart note to round things out. I don’t like that it’s a black and green blend but the base teas are smooth which is nice.

This is a green/black blend and to me those never make sense. Do I steep them like I would a black tea? Or a green tea? I ended up splitting the difference a little bit and the end result was fairly unremarkable. Fruity and mild but nothing that was truly amazing. Still, I am grateful to Evol Ving Ness for the chance to try it so thanks Evol for the share!

Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2018/03/28/magic-moon-from-tealyra/

I just had to buy some of this one recently. I usually don’t have chai in the hot weather, but it was raining today and I was in with the air conditioning. Not only does the blend just LOOK gorgeous with the green and the red of the pepper slices, but the ingredients are amazing too: Black tea, ginger bits, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon bits, chili bits, anise, vanilla bits. I love when a tea has those big slices of vanilla and I’ve never seen a tea that has actual slices of pepper before. There are a ton of spices here, a lot more than the black tea itself. Upon brewing, the tea itself is a very light brown, which I was afraid of. I really love a deep chai, and this ain’t it. But it’s spicy. Just not as spicy as I would expect from actual pepper slices. So I don’t think anyone has to be afraid of this one. Sadly I wasn’t tasting much vanilla either but I like that it’s in there anyway. Maybe the other spices overpower the vanilla. And if the black tea is too light, I can always add a half teaspoon of another black tea to toughen it up.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 minute steep

Additional notes: I really like this one and now it’s gone. It’s cozy on a rainy day. More spicy/sweet than apricot. I’d love more apricot! But I wouldn’t mind having this unique blend around again at some point. Raising the rating from 82.
2020 Sipdowns: 18

I just deleted my last tasting note… for the second time. sigh. ANYWAY This was received as a lovely sample from Tealyra recently. They are discontinuing my beloved Tiramisu blend so I had to order some more. They also have quite a few new blends since last year. I like that they get new blends but it’s also sad to see when favorites disappear. The blend here is full of goodies: cinnamon, fennel, pink peppercorn, apricot, ginger and cloves. It’s like a green fruity chai. I can hardly tell there is any green tea within the blend though… which I think is gunpowder green. The flavor is certainly sweet and spicy. Though I’m not tasting as much cinnamon as I’d expect from the name. The other spices are balancing out the cinnamon. I’m also not tasting as much apricot as I’d expect, but I’m glad it isn’t that fake apricot flavor.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 31 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

A Berry Frui-tea July! I made a strong infusion of this warm, added just a touch of honey, then popped it in the fridge to chill overnight into an iced tea.

This has proved to be a lovely iced tea brew. There is a strong coconut aroma from the glass, and it has a very smooth and sweet coconut flavor that blends really nicely with the touch of citrusy bergamot. The black base is on the stronger side but carries the flavors well; at least in the iced cup, it is quite smooth, lacking bitterness, and only slightly astringent (though I do probably need to revisit this as a hot cuppa to get a better read on the base). The only thing that I’m a bit disappointed about is that I don’t really get any of the pineapple flavor that should be in this blend; it just tastes like a coconut-flavored Earl Grey, and I have a few others of those around (because I love the coconut/bergamot flavor combination). I really wish I could taste the pineapple, but it seems to be overwhelmed by the other flavors.

So, while I do love this tea, as it’s a flavor I really enjoy, I’m a little disappointed too… it just isn’t giving me anything new, which is what I was hoping for when I got it. I think the pineapple would’ve really brought this as an iced tea over the top, too. Still a nice, refreshing glass of iced tea, regardless.

Additional notes: Sad sipdown of this one. It’s just a really tasty late night blend. If you steep it for half an hour, it really almost could taste like a shake in both the texture and sweetness. I’ll miss this one. I really hope I’ll find this selling at some other tea shop someday.

Thanks so much for sending some of this along, Mastress Alita! I really wanted to try it. This is one of those clunky herbal blends, where the weight of the tea itself makes it pricey and you sure better like the result! I sure do. I’ve never had a date shake before (sounds AMAZING) but this does taste like what I imagine a date shake would (except possibly minus the creaminess of a shake and according to Tealyra’s description, date shakes have a ton of vanilla). But the flavor is in the mug and it is VERY sweet. It’s a perfect dessert tea. The flavor is fruity with a hint of tang from the sour cherry (without having hibiscus) with hints of cinnamon, spice and tons of sweetness. To be honest, it doesn’t taste like dates as much as I’d like it to, considering the name. But the result is scrumptious anyway. It’s just an odd little blend that works. It’s one of those blends I just want to snack on… probably shouldn’t though. I just really have to steep the crap out of it to get that delicious flavor. The second half mug tasted almost just as delicious. Sadly, this is no longer available from Tealyra.
Steep #1 // // just boiled // 20 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled (half mug) // countless minute steep (maybe 30-40 minutes?)

Sipdown (212)

Another from Evol Ving Ness alas this has suffered from flavor deterioration over time. Per my last note, there was maple flavor but more black tea flavor. This cup smelled mapley but is really quite bland. Not much maple or black tea. Really nothing of anything. That’s on me though. Thank you for sharing, Evol!

Thank you Evol Ving Ness for the share! This smells very mapley both dry and steeped and though there is definitely maple flavor here, the black tea base is a little stronger than I would like and is almost overshadowing the maple.

Sipdown (377)

I am working from home today because (a) my client is a fucking asshole who can’t get me the documents I need but insists I send her the draft of a letter I need to write (based on the documents she has only partially provided) and (b) my boss doesn’t like confrontation and is overly stressed and as a result made a bunch of promises that now require me to work on the weekend. I’m not happy but at least I have tea..and flower bouquets my sister brought home from work.

Alas this tea isn’t so exciting. I am grateful Evol Ving Ness was kind enough to share this with me but its lacking. It has minimal berry flavor over a boring black tea. It is not bad but also doesn’t deliver much of anything.

May Flowers! This tea is a delight! It tastes just like a sweet lemon sugar cookie that has been infused with just a touch of lavender, and it hits me in aaaaaaaaaaall the right ways! Sniffing the leaf, it has a very strong lemon scent; there are aspects to it that are tangy and citrusy, but others that are creamy and sweet like a lemon dessert, and it all sort of hits the senses at once.

Brewed up, the tea has a strong, lemonade tartness, but beneath that is a layer of creamy vanilla sweetness, and they play off each other nicely. Beneath the strong lemon is a subtle floral hint of lavender, and my only complaint is that the lavender comes off a little too softly because the lemon flavor is so strong in this tea, and lavender is such a nice compliment note to lemon, so I actually will take a pinch or two from my lavender bud stash that I use for mixing and add it to my infuser just to give the lavender element a little more strength. If you aren’t a big floral fan, then the lavender here should be subtle enough beneath the lemon and vanilla that unless you are particularly sensitive, it shouldn’t bother you much.

I really love lemon flavor profiles, and while I’m okay with lemon ginger teas, it’s nice to finally have a sweeter flavor pairing instead of spicy. This is a fantastic tea for fans of a sweet-tart flavor on the tongue, and is simply delightful before bed with the soft floral lavender touch.

Well, this is odd. I am the first to review this tea and it hadn’t previously been posted here. The odd part is that the ingredients listed on the label of my pouch are the ones I posted from the drop down menu, ie. rooibos base with spices and fruits. However, the scent and appearance of the leaf in my pouch more closely resemble the current image and description on the Tealyra site which I have pasted here in description: INGREDIENTS: Apple pieces, hibiscus, rosehips, black currants, lemongrass, orange peels, licorice root, lemon peels, cornflowers and natural flavors
. So that is that. And now to drink the tea to reach the final verdict of what exactly is going on here.

Ok, I’ve adjusted the listed ingredients. Hopefully, this now matches what is in my cup.

The flavours are fruity berry with an added tartness, like citric acid, which is mellowed by vanilla and sweetened by the apple. Thankfully, the liquorice root is barely there. There’s a bit of a DT’s feeling to this tea though it is definitely not the same Pink Lemonade DT’s had some time ago.

ok, ok, so it’s an herbal— which means I have officially broken my green and oolong trend.

Also known as: Tieguanyin; Tie Kwan Yin; Iron Buddha
This is my favorite tea for gongfu cha. I brew it in my Yixing clay teapot. It is one of my favorite teas ever! It is organically grown and from the spring harvest. While I usually brew this tea gongfu cha style, it can also be brewed in a western style. It is great for steeping multiple times!
The dried leaves are dark green, and are curled/rolled. They expand to whole leaves in water. The tea liquor is light yellow/gold.
Aroma: floral (orchids and maybe rose). definitely flowery with possibly nutty or flinty.
Taste: floral, sweet, and weedy (notes of wet hay/straw). Possibly mineral/flinty and salty, and slightly vegetal. The taste is complex yet balanced.
Body: round (smooth); full, buttery

boring. this one came my way from Evol via VariaTEA. It’s kinda just a really lightly flavoured faintly strawberry oolong? Nothing strong in terms of flavour…average enough oolong – nothing to write home about but not a bad cup either. Thanks for the share ladies!

Here is another review from the backlog. I was waiting to get through a couple more sipdowns before posting anything else here on Steepster, but I may as well just go ahead and get some more reviews out of the way. I kind of forgot about this one. I finished a 25g pouch of this tea a couple weeks ago, but at the time, I was focusing on getting some green tea reviews out of the way and decided to hold off on posting a review of it until I finished them all. I then ended up moving on to other teas, posted reviews of them here, and completely ignored this one. This all reminds me that I really need to get into the habit of reviewing teas in the order I finish them.

This particular tea was a pleasant surprise, especially considering that I was not expecting much from it. I used to buy from Tealyra regularly, but after finding the customer service to be a little lacking and the freshness and quality of the teas occasionally suspect, I started buying less from them and more from other vendors. With that and the fact that Chou Shi is far from one of my favorite styles of Dancong oolong in mind, I figured this tea would provide a pretty forgettable experience at best. Boy, was I wrong! Not only did the leaf quality appear to be very high, but this was an extremely pleasant, aromatic, and flavorful tea to boot.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected pronounced aromas of sweet cream, vanilla, orchid, sweet pea, honeysuckle, and gardenia coming from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I found an emerging scent of custard. The first proper infusion then introduced a violet scent to the tea’s bouquet. In the mouth, I found expected notes of sweet cream, vanilla, gardenia, and sweet pea as well as a note of butter. The subsequent infusions introduced butter to the nose while notes of custard, orchid, violet, and honeysuckle quickly appeared on the palate. New impressions of minerals, grass, green apple, pear, orange, and sugarcane also started to make themselves known. The last infusions displayed soft and rather muted impressions of cream, butter, vanilla, grass, and minerals balanced by fleeting gardenia, sweet pea, green apple, and violet notes.

Chou Shi Dancongs can often be temperamental little beasts. Water temperature and quality, age of the tea, and even the brewing vessel used can wreak havoc on them, perhaps even more so than many other types of oolong. Sometimes they can be wonderful despite anything and everything working against them, while other times a tea seemingly in its prime with everything going for it can come off like little more than hot, sweet grass water. That being said, this proved to be an immediately gratifying tea on a number of levels, and though I am only discussing and rating the gongfu preparation here, I tried this tea Western and iced and both preparations produced fine results. As Chou Shi Dancongs go, one could do a whole lot worse than giving this one a shot.