Tealyra (formerly Tealux)

Hey all, I know I have been out of action for a couple days. Sorry about that. I have been dealing with a lot of job stress (I have finally fully realized that the position I transferred into in November is not for me and I’m trying to find a way out into something that suits me better). So, needless to say, I have not been nearly as productive on the tea reviewing front. As a matter of fact, this oolong is the only thing I have been drinking for the past couple of days, which is unfortunate because this is not my thing at all.

For this review session, I prepared this tea gongfu style. I gave this one an extended rinse (10-12 seconds) in the hope of rousing the tea a little. I had tried this tea prior to this and my first impression was that there wasn’t much to it, so I figured I could get a stronger flavor right off the bat if I drew out the rinse and then started with a longer-than-average first infusion. Normally, I start off with either a 5 or 10 second infusion with most oolongs. I started with 15 seconds here. I followed this infusion up with 14 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 18 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 minutes 30 seconds, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes. Can you tell I had no clue what I was doing or where I was going with this one?

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves (which are basically entombed in a sarcophagus of ginseng and Xiang Cao) give off a light musty odor. After the rinse, I could only detect hints of vanilla, ginseng, and grass. The first infusion produced an almost identical aroma. In the mouth, I was just barely able to detect notes of sweetgrass, cream, butter, cucumber, watercress, Chinese vanilla, and ginseng. The next two infusions were virtually identical in every aspect. Subsequent infusions gradually grew smoother and sweeter. The aromas and flavors of Chinese vanilla and ginseng grew more pronounced. Later infusions saw the Xiang Cao merge with the underlying cream note as the sweet, herbal ginseng notes started to fade. The liquor grew slightly more buttery, while a subtle mineral presence began to emerge.

Considering that I do not know what to make of this, it could have been far worse. I think the mistake I made initially was not fully committing to a lengthy first infusion. I should have started around 20 seconds because it takes this one awhile to open up. Once it did open up, however, I did not find there to be all that much to it. The tea, itself, did not have much character, serving as a relatively neutral base from which the Chinese vanilla and ginseng sprung. I guess that was the idea, but I kept looking for additional points of interest and did not find any. It was a very uncluttered drinking experience, but unfortunately, that also means it was a little boring for me. I also have to note that I found the mouthfeel of the tea liquor unappealing. It was very slick, limp, and thin, the liquid equivalent of a dead fish handshake complete with that odd ginseng grittiness on the back of the throat. I am beginning to get the idea that some of these ginseng oolongs just may not be for me.

Sample from Evol Ving Ness more berries! haha i think this one would be a decent cup of tea cold brewed (or maybe just brewed and then cooled…) with some sweetner. As a warm cup of tea, there’s a floral note to this that doesn’t jive with me. You can taste the base through the flavouring, which i like..but that berry + floral note is not for me. thanks for the sample evol!

Tried this one from Evol Ving Ness today and while it was a tasty cup, the flavours seemed a little muted. David’s tea – strawberry rhubarb parfait is more up my alley as i expect POP from strawberry rhubarb versus…oh hey..hi there… :) Still enjoyable but i want moar taste!

Final Count: 106

On par with the 2016 Jingmai black that I got from Farmer Leaf.

I will say, high quality black teas can be amazing.

Probably going to be one of the best three teas I have this month for sure. Smooth cinnamon like tingle with a floral taste in the back while sweetness comes through…. different from the sip to the breathing out after drinking it. Wonderful stuff.

While organizing all of my teas this weekend, I came to the realization that I have a ton of stuff from Tealyra that I need to finish. The thing is they have so many good sales that when I do order from them, I end up with a ton of exciting new teas to try. Since then, I have been taking baby steps toward reducing the number of Tealyra products in my home by working my way through a pouch of this oolong.

For this session, 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 10 seconds. I followed this infusion up with 12 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 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 noted that the dry tea leaves emitted mild aromas of butter, cream, and fresh flowers. The rinse somewhat intensified the butter, cream, and flower aromas, while also bringing out a subtle vegetal scent. The first infusion produced a similar, though somewhat more integrated bouquet. In the mouth, I detected mild notes of cream, butter, and steamed rice underscored by fleeting impressions of fresh flowers, cucumber, and sweetgrass. Subsequent infusions saw the floral aromas and flavors intensify and subtle fruit notes emerge. I began to detect distinct impressions of lily, honeysuckle, and magnolia, as well as hints of tangerine, cantaloupe, and honeydew. The vegetal, grassy notes were also more pronounced, especially on the finish. The later infusions were very mild. I mostly picked up aromas and flavors of butter, cream, cucumber, and sweetgrass underscored by subtle minerals and an extremely distant floral presence.

Overall, I found this to be a very mild oolong that was easy to drink. I know that Tealyra advertised plenty of dark floral flavor with this one (whatever that means), but I didn’t really get any of that. What I noted was a lot of very bright floral notes balanced by plenty of savory cream and butter notes and mild fruity, grassy, and vegetal qualities. There was nothing deep or dark about this tea. It was a mild, approachable high mountain oolong. I liked it, though I have to admit I found it a little boring. I tend to find many Alishan oolongs a little boring. Still, I would not hesitate to recommend this tea to someone looking for a solid introduction to high mountain oolongs or for an oolong that is basic and drinkable.

Well, it’s getting cold here and I’m still drinking as much Assam as I can manage. I bought this one back in either late spring or early summer and I started on it last week. From the first sip onward, I was not impressed, so I decided to work my way through a couple of other sipdowns and then pick it up again. Allowing this tea to sit for about a week helped it a little, but not much.

I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion I tend to prefer for non-Chinese black teas and many black tea blends. I steeped a heaping teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 5 minutes. Tealyra recommends using one standard teaspoon and only steeping for 2-3 minutes, but I did not get much out of this tea using their brewing guidelines, so I resorted to the method outlined above.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves gave off a slightly musty, leafy scent. There was not much else to note. After infusion, I picked up on faint scents of malt, autumn leaves, wood, leather, and roasted nuts. In the mouth, the flavors were very weak. It took some time, but I was just barely able to pick out notes of autumn leaf pile, leather, roasted nuts, malt, tobacco, cream, and some sort of mild spice.

I have no clue what the deal was here. This tea did not even remotely smell or taste like an Assam. It barely smelled or tasted like anything. I keep thinking that it maybe was stale, but I have not even had this tea a year and I was as careful as always in storing it. I also did not pick up any musty or stereotypically old flavors, so who knows? Looking at Tealyra’s description, they do not mention much in the way of aroma or flavor, so perhaps this tea is just a dud. I know that it still packed one hell of a caffeine wallop whatever the case. The only things I see this Assam being good for are blending into another black tea to add some additional kick, making a very spice forward masala chai, or drinking straight exclusively for the sudden caffeine pick-me-up.

My recent Assam binge has continued this week, and wanting something a little different, I settled on this CTC Assam from Tealyra. To be honest, I grew up with CTC Assams and have long held an affinity for many of the teas produced by the Mangalam Estate. I sort of expected to like this one from the start.

I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion process I tend to favor for non-Chinese black teas and many black tea blends. I steeped around 1 teaspoon of granulated leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 3 minutes. No additional infusions were attempted. Just as a warning, understand that I tend to prefer CTC teas on the brisk and astringent side and I went into this review session trying to bring those qualities out to a certain extent. Reducing the steep time from 30 seconds to 1 minute creates a smoother, silkier brew.

After infusion, the dark mahogany liquor produced the mildly malty, leafy aroma that I pretty much always get from CTC teas of this type. For the uninitiated, that is sort of one of the drawbacks of CTC processing. It tends to flatten the bouquet of any tea. In the mouth, I was rewarded with strong, lively notes of oak, malt, cream, molasses, leather, brown toast, toffee, black cherry, black walnut, roasted chestnut, figs, and raisins. The astringency was pronounced, especially on the finish, which emphasized lingering sensations of black cherry, raisins, toffee, oak, malt, and molasses.

In my opinion, this was an excellent CTC Assam. I know a lot of people do not tend to care for many teas that are processed in this manner, and quite frankly, I understand that. Many CTC teas can come off as bland, simple, and overly astringent, but I did not find that to be the case with this tea. Though it was not particularly expressive on the nose, it was richly flavorful, brisk, and wonderfully textured in the mouth. Personally, I found this to be a near perfect breakfast tea either on its own or with a splash of milk, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a flavorful and affordable Assam to serve as a morning pick-me-up.

Butterscotch Potion. By Tealux

Review:

Western style, 10g/250ml mug

Dry leaf: Strong Butterscotch/caramel

Wet leaf: Strong Butterscotch/caramel, spices

I taste/smell: butterscotch, caramel, hibiscus(?), floral, spices, peach.

all in all, what a lovely tea! i rate a 100 :D

allthough, i’m not much for blends, however this one was yummy! i might order more. who knows ;) Update: its sold out :/

I’m finally cleaning out the backlog with this one. I started working on a sample packet of this about a month or so ago and finally logged a proper review session at the start of the weekend. I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this extremely affordable maocha.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. I think Tealyra has changed their brewing parameters for this one over the course of the last year. They used to recommend brewing at 190 F and starting off with 10 second steeps. Now they recommend brewing at 205 F. I used the latter temperature for this session. I also started with a steep time of 5 seconds, as I like to start off with shorter steeps for shengs. So, my first infusion after the rinse was 6 grams of loose tea in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. I then conducted 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 5 seconds, 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 8 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted a musty, smoky, and somewhat vegetal aroma. After the rinse, I picked up strong aromas of seaweed, raw mushrooms, roasted vegetables, sea salt, forest floor, and black cherry. The first infusion produced a similar, perhaps slightly fruitier, earthier aroma with just a hint of petrichor. In the mouth, I easily detected notes of raw mushroom, moist earth, wet stones, black cherry, sea salt, pickled seaweed, and roasted vegetables. There was also just a hint of wildflower honey and petrichor, as well as a subtle impression of wet wood. Subsequent infusions gradually grew fruitier and more honeyed on the nose and in the mouth. The flavors of wildflower honey and black cherry became stronger and were joined by distinct impressions of lemon zest and bitter orange peel. Later infusions downplayed the fruit and honey a tad and began to once again emphasize the raw mushroom, forest floor, roasted vegetable, pickled seaweed, and moist earth notes, although honey and citrus continued to be a balancing factor. The mineral aroma and flavor of wet stones began to amplify, as did the impression of wet wood. I also began to pick up on a note of birch bark in place of the black cherry. The final extended series of infusions were mostly stone, wood, sea salt, and roasted vegetable heavy, though I could still just barely detect impressions of citrus, wildflower honey, raw mushroom, and birch bark.

I have not been reviewing many pu’erh teas lately, and I am still quite new to reviewing pu’erh in general, but I rather liked this tea. Given the price, I was not expecting much, but this had more staying power and considerably more complexity than I was expecting. Though my experience in evaluating these teas is limited compared to a number of other reviewers, I do not feel that this would be a bad everyday sheng, and I think that if one were to approach it with an open mind, one would perhaps be pleasantly surprised.

I’ve had some time to seriously evaluate this tea. When I first tried it, I did not care for it in the least, but it has grown on me to a certain extent. I think that it is a tea with which one has to be realistic and evaluate it for what it is.

First, let me be clear. This is not a Zheng Yan Da Hong Pao. It is a Ban Yan Da Hong Pao that comes from an area of Fujian Province just outside of the Wuyi Mountains. That should be obvious. If this tea were a true Zheng Yan Da Hong Pao, I would not have been able to acquire 1.76 ounces of it for $6.50.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After performing a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this initial infusion with 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 15 seconds, 22 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 15 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes. My steep times were a little weird because I kept getting distracted, but overall, I found that this method worked well enough.

Prior to the rinse, I noted that the dry tea leaves produced a musty, slightly vegetal aroma with pronounced hints of char, minerals, wood, and tobacco. After the rinse, I noted strong aromas of limestone, burnt molasses, wet wood, moist earth, leather, and tobacco with hints of nuts and flowers. The first infusion produced a similar, though slightly more floral, fruity aroma. I found that the mouth did not follow the nose. The tea was initially bitter, offering a wash of bitter chocolate, burnt molasses, black walnut, hickory, leather, fresh tobacco, pipe smoke, char, wet wood, and moist earth chased by limestone. Subsequent infusions grew gradually lighter and somewhat sweeter. Aromas and flavors of dates, raisins, yellow plums, chrysanthemum, and marigold began to express themselves as the earthiness, leatheriness, bitterness, and char began to fade a tad. The limestone presence seemed to increase on each subsequent infusion. By the final couple of infusions, a mild, mineral-laden nose was chased in the mouth by dominant flavors of limestone, wet wood, bitter chocolate, nuts, and tobacco, while fleeting impressions of flowers, dates, burnt molasses, and raisins were just barely detectable beneath them.

So, as far as Da Hong Paos go, I found this one to be rather odd. I have been a bit spoiled when it comes to this type of oolong, as I have grown accustomed to sweeter, more layered examples as of late. Comparing this tea to something like the Da Hong Pao offered by Whispering Pines Tea Company (which is the most recent tea of this type I have consumed) makes an interesting, albeit unfair comparison. This tea is sharp and to the point. It lets you know more or less exactly what it is about up front and it proceeds to present you with subtle variations with each infusion. By the time it finally fades, you’ve known where it was going from the start. The latter was more nuanced and mellow. It offered new, intriguing, and often highly pleasurable twists and turns over the course of a session. This may sound pretentious, but in my mind, drinking these two teas and then diving into a back-to-back comparison kind of struck me like listening to something like Marquee Moon by Television and then jumping straight into something like Hex Enduction Hour by The Fall. I went from a tea that was poised, sophisticated, and nuanced to something that was at times harsh, jagged, repetitious, and confusing, but not without its own charms. Getting back on track here, I can say that I ended up rather enjoying this Big Red Robe. It was interesting and oddly satisfying in its own weighty and slightly prickly way. Perhaps strangest of all, I could maybe see myself drinking a tea like this more frequently than something presumably higher grade just because I enjoy its quirks.

Sipdown (216)!

Finished this one off right after work, meaning I steeped the cup on my way out the door and then drank it on the bus ride/walk home. The walk home where, I might add, it started to snow! Like, it’s almost May! Can’t we be done with snow now!?

This was a really nice cuppa though; it had a light to medium roast overall and soft undertones of caramel and cocoa in between all of the toasty goodness. Also hints of other toasty/roasty things like brown rice and barley. The finish did have a weird sort of lingering taste on the tip of the tongue; kind of the taste/feeling of licking a copper penny? If that makes ANY sense at all. I still really enjoyed it though, and that warming toasty feeling was the perfect ‘hug’ while it was gradually getting colder/snowier.

I’ll miss this one!

Drinking a mug of this currently, though it’s now gone cold because I had sort of forgotten about it. I’m trying to finish this one off at the moment because I just got my Camellia Sinensis order and I added a lot of Hojicha to that order and I really don’t need two on hand…

My breakfast this morning is a Peanut Butter and Banana Crepe topped with salted peanuts, from this local crepe place. I swear to God delivery crepes are kind of the best thing ever. I mean, screw ordering in pizza – this is where it’s at! It’s also a really smart food pairing with the Hojicha because the tea already has a nice, pronounced nuttyness to it and the addition of both peanut butter and salted peanuts really exaggerates that in a truly lovely way. The roastiness is also just very complimentary overall.

Apart from that general overall nuttyness and roasty quality, this tea also has the faintest caramel/honey notes and a surprisingly fruity/jammy undertone. I do very much enjoy this Hojicha and when it’s gone that will be sad but Hojicha doesn’t tend to be too drastically different overall from company to company, so I’m sure I’ll love this new one quite a bit too.

Western style on the commute to work.

Really enjoyed this one Western, though I struggle to remember much of my thoughts of it from when I drank it Gong Fu so I don’t feel confidant saying which prep style worked better.

I will say, this was nice and medium bodied with a smooth and very even feeling roast. Didn’t have any astringency or ‘char’ and I do definitely recall somewhat of a char taste when I drank this one Gong Fu so that change is definitely interesting. It was also quite sweet with both scrumptious caramel notes and a sweetness that reminded me a bit more of agave or just generic-ish sugar? Or maybe, in a distant way, the sugary sweet taste you get from a crisp, ripe Fuji apple. Not the taste of the apple itself, but the clean sweet fructose quality of it.

Very pleasant overall, though!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdD8Emu-T64&index=7&list=PL8Aq0uFRC43exfgj2s4qm5qJymscpRTN5&spfreload=1

Finally got a chance to sit down with this tea that I plucked out of the fifth round of the Great Canadian Travelling Tea Box a few months back…

I actually brewed this one Gong Fu today in my Hojicha dedicated yixing pot. God, I just love the feel of that pot in my hands. It’s the perfect size and weight, and it pours so smoothly. I don’t use this pot enough; and it shows a bit because brewing this today there flavour of the tea was light enough that I imagine there’s still some flavour being sucked out of the liquor into the pot. It’s hard to say definitively though ‘cause I actually haven’t tried this Hojicha yet outside of the yixing pot as a “control” infusion. I likely should have done that first…

But despite some possible flavour sucking, I actually thought that this was a REALLY enjoyable session. The first half I enjoyed while listening to some good music. In this case, I was rocking a couple different songs by The Inkspots. This was my favourite from the session though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC_VzbtRGr0&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=2

The Ink Spots are just so smooth and melodic, and I think the tone of their voice matches the smooth qualities of the tea quite well. Sometimes there’s a hint of that “char” sort of note with Hojicha, but this was just so beautifully smooth and evenly roasted/toasty in flavour. Apart from the familiar, comforting toasty notes I felt there was also some sweetness in this tea; maybe a bit of honey and cocoa hidden underneath that soft roast? I liked that I couldn’t taste any “greenness” from the tea either.

After four or so infusions I took a break for supper, and then when I returned to the session I switched things up a little bit and instead of listening to music I watched the Season One finale of Scream Queens. I have to say; I wasn’t surprised by the final reveal but only because I had it spoiled for me ages ago. It was a good finale though! I’m not really sure what direction season two will take from here, but I think I’m on board with continuing with the series to find out…

Final infusions were much lighter; the flavour of this one definitely deteriorated quickly into the session. I’m not overly surprised; I’ve never managed to pull off super long session with Hojicha. Even the last infusion I did (I think number seven?) did have a mild roast to it though, even if it was mostly watery. So I feel like I definitely got as much out of the tea as I could have. So it was very enjoyable overall.

After taking a day off from writing reviews, I decided to get back on track this morning with a new oolong. Yesterday, I finally finished the last of the Silver Buds Yabao from Verdant and the Margaret’s Hope First Flush Darjeeling from Tealyra. Both were teas I really enjoyed, but neither were the sort of tea to which I would be in any rush to go back. I needed to try something a little different. Enter Tealyra’s Dong Fang Mei Ren Formosa Oolong.

First, allow me to state that I have virtually no familiarity with this particular type of oolong. My experience with Formosa oolongs is limited to baozhongs and rolled oolongs. Second, I had actually tried this one before. I did a short gongfu session with this tea back in the middle of September. I recalled liking it to a degree, but did not remember any specifics.

For the purposes of this review, I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water. I followed this infusion with 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 5 seconds, 1 minute 35 seconds, and 2 minutes. Please note that if this method seems strange, it does so for a reason-I made it up as I went along. I could not find much consensus about how to prepare this tea gongfu online, so I just tried to push it as hard as I could.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted a wonderful aroma. It reminded me of a combination of peach, white grape, and honey. After the rinse, the aroma changed slightly. The honey, peach, and grape scents intensified, but they were joined by a melange of flowers and citrus. The first infusion produced an almost identical aroma. In the mouth, I noted a pleasant mixture of peach and honey underscored by flowers and white grape. The next three infusions produced a somewhat more intense citrus and floral quality on the nose and in the mouth. I began to note distinct plum, lime, date, mandarin orange, magnolia, and lily tones on the palate. Subsequent infusions were more balanced, producing well-integrated floral, fruity aromas and flavors with a hint of minerality. The last three infusions were extremely light both on the nose and in the mouth. The mineral notes were more pronounced, though I could still detect fleeting impressions of flowers, peach, and citrus in the background. Though the tea was not quite flat at that point, I ended the session after the eleventh infusion as I doubted the tea had much more to offer.

Immediately after I ended the session, I was not quite sure what to make of this tea, and really, I’m still not. I enjoyed the way the intense peach and honey aromas and flavors mingled with the floral and citrus tones. To me, this gave the tea an elegant, exotic quality that is hard for me to accurately describe. Still, I think I prefer the Formosa oolongs with which I am more familiar. Just to be clear though, I do think this is a good oolong. In this instance, I think it admirably served its purpose as an introduction to oolongs of this type. I could see it doing the same for others, though I also do not doubt that those who are more familiar with this style may still enjoy this one.

Finally getting around to trying this one. It’s been in my cupboard long enough, that’s for sure. I followed the recommended parameters, and used 1.5 tsp of pearls (which amounted to 12, some smaller than others). I gave them 3.5 minutes in boiling water, no additions.

I’d heard a lot of good things about this one, and fortunately it’s as delicious as I hoped. It has a strong, fruity, juicy lychee flavour right up front, followed by the smooth, malty chocolatey flavour of the black tea base. It’s an amazing combination! Although the lychee is strong, it’s not overpowering or cloying, which is always a bonus when it comes to flavoured teas. I wish more things were lychee flavoured, actually. I think it could only improve my life, in all honesty.

I have some of Tealux’s unflavoured Black Dragon Pearls to try next, and it’ll be interesting to see how they compare with both this blend and with the Teavivre pearls I tried a while back. I love that there are still new tea discoveries to be made, even though I’ve rated 900-odd individual teas in my two years on here. Hooray for new tea adventures (and more lychee!)

Margaret’s Hope Estate is one of the most renowned tea estates in India and the producer of some of my favorite Darjeelings of all time. Prior to trying this tea, I had yet to try a first flush from Margaret’s Hope, instead focusing all of my attention on their lovely second flush teas. When the opportunity to purchase 4 ounces of tea leaves from one of my favorite estates at a very reasonable price fell into my lap, I jumped at the chance.

I’m still working my way through the big bag of this tea, so I have yet to exhaust all of my usual preparation methods. For the past day or two, I have been sticking to a one step Western infusion, though I would just about guarantee that this is the sort of Darjeeling out of which one could get at least 1 or 2 more infusions. I will definitely give that a try in the very near future. For the purposes of this review, however, I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 3 minutes, as Tealyra recommends starting with 2-3 minutes for this one.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaves gave off a lovely, inviting aroma that resembled a blend of musk and Muscat grape. After infusion, the liquor showed a dark gold in the cup. Honestly, the color was darker than I expected, but whatever. On the nose, I easily picked up aromas of herbs, straw, wood, musk, honey, toast, cream, malt, and Muscat grape. In the mouth, I immediately detected an intriguing blend of citrus and herb notes. It was almost like a mixture of lemon and bee balm. These flavors were soon joined by pronounced notes of straw, wood, malt, cream, almond, toast, musk, Muscat grape, and honey. The finish was surprisingly smooth, offering lingering notes of Muscat grape, toast, cream, honey, and musk backed by a slight citrus zestiness.

At first, I did not really know what to make of this tea. The flavors were so strong that I was taken aback. It was not what I was expecting at all, and at the time, I was not all that certain I enjoyed it. After giving this tea a few more chances, however, I can say that it has really grown on me. It is just a little rough around the edges, but it displays nice complexity and depth in the mouth. Even though I have not tried all that many first flush Darjeelings this year, this may be my favorite to this point. If you are looking for a truly nice first flush Darjeeling and do not mind a few minor quirks, then by all means give this tea a try.

I was in the mood for a thick heavy satisfying tongue-coating milk oolong. None of that subtle and thoughtful nonsense for me at this moment. I wanted the sledgehammer to the head approach of the milk oolong world. And this is it.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

We have another oolong sipdown here. This one was a little different from the unflavored oolongs I normally consume. I grow ginseng at home and I am familiar with the smell and taste of it, but had never had a ginseng tea prior to this.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. I have been experimenting with my brewing methods lately and wanted to try something new for this one. I remember reading somewhere that the first infusion for Taiwanese oolongs should be about 30-50 seconds following the rinse and that the steep time should be increased by about 10-20 seconds per infusion after that. This method is supposed to produce a minimum of 5-8 strong infusions. I decided to try it. For this session, I conducted a rinse of approximately 10 seconds and then steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 30 seconds. This infusion was followed by 6 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 10 seconds, 1 minute 20 seconds, 1 minute 40 seconds, and 2 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the leaves imparted a slightly floral aroma that was overpowered by the herbal character of ginseng. After the rinse, the floral and ginseng aromas were joined by touches of cream and butter. The first infusion produced a floral, creamy, and herbal nose. In the mouth, I got strong notes of flowers (lily, saffron, magnolia) and ginseng up front and a smooth creaminess and butteriness on the back of the throat. There was also a lingering sweetness. The next 5 infusions really continued to emphasize the interplay of fresh flowers and ginseng against a backdrop of cream and butter. A slight minerality had begun to sneak in by the fifth infusion. The final two infusions were very mild. I detected fleeting aromas and flavors of ginseng, butter, and flowers with a more pronounced minerality evident. At that point, I cut the session short.

Overall, I enjoyed this oolong. I think it did a very good job of presenting the aroma and flavor of ginseng, and I also thought it integrated this very distinct aroma and flavor fairly well. Due to the simplicity of the tea aroma and flavor, it was rather obvious to me that this was not exactly the highest grade oolong in the world, but it was appealing in its own way. More importantly, however, it worked well with the ginseng, which meant that it accomplished its intended purpose. In the end, this struck me as being a good tea to try for those who are maybe considering taking the plunge into ginseng oolongs.

My schedule has been so tight recently that I have not been able to do many gongfu sessions. That means that my oolong and puerh consumption has seriously declined. Transferring to a new job has unfortunately been limiting my free time. When I have had time to drink oolong this week, this has been the one I have been drinking. It’s a nice rolled oolong that is very easy to drink.

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 10 seconds. I followed this initial infusion up with 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 minutes 30 seconds, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, a sniff of the dry tea leaves revealed a mildly floral aroma. After the rinse, I noted pronounced aromas of cream, butter, custard, apricot, peach, and fresh flowers. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit slightly more balanced aroma. In the mouth, I detected a pleasant blend of cream, butter, custard, vanilla, sticky rice, and honey underscored by perfume-like notes of saffron, lily, lilac, honeysuckle, and gardenia. There was also a very subtle nuttiness that I caught just before the fade. Subsequent infusions amplified the fruit, vanilla, honey, and floral notes. The vague nuttiness emerged more fully, revealing the flavor of roasted almonds. A slight breadiness also began to emerge. Tealyra describes it as a toast note, but I thought it was more reminiscent of fresh baguettes. A note of golden raisin also began to appear around this time as well. Later infusions grew nuttier, creamier, and breadier. I noticed that the baguette, roasted almond, cream, butter, and custard notes began to dominate, though I could still detect soft, yet distinct impressions of flowers, honey, golden raisin, and vanilla. Oddly, I did not detect much of a mineral presence. Normally, I get a lot of minerality from oolongs, but not this one. For the most part, it remained smooth, sweet, creamy, floral, fruity, and buttery throughout the course of the session.

This was an intriguing oolong with a great blend of aromas and flavors. I probably could have gotten at least one or two more infusions out of it, but decided to stop where I did because it was late and I needed to get some sleep. Judging from this encounter though, I would not hesitate to recommend this tea to just about anyone looking for a quality oolong at a great price. I honestly think it would please both experienced drinkers and oolong novices alike.

The second of the milk oolongs I have tried from Tealyra, I actually bought this one with the other three a couple months ago. As some of you know, I utterly loathed their Quangzhou Milk Oolong. In my opinion, this one is considerably better, though I still would not call it great. Hopefully, the other two (which I have yet to try) will right the ship.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. Normally, I will do a quick rinse and then start off with an infusion of either 10 seconds or 20 seconds, increasing my steep times by anywhere from 2-5 seconds per infusion, but I didn’t do that here. I have been reading up on gongfu techniques over the past couple of days and wanted to try starting off with a shorter infusion, so I decided to tinker with my approach for this session. After a quick rinse (maybe 2-3 seconds), I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this infusion with 9 additional infusions. The steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, and 1 minute 15 seconds.

This being a flavored oolong, the first thing I noticed was that the dry leaves smelled like a combination of cream and butter with virtually none of the floral aromas one would expect of a greener Taiwanese oolong. After the rinse, I noted that the powerful aromas of cream and butter remained, though traces of fruitiness and floral character were beginning to peek through the murk. The first infusion produced a similarly powerful creamy, buttery nose, though I did pick up on somewhat faint aromas of magnolia, lily, and lilac, as well as a hint of peach. In the mouth, this infusion was surprisingly mild. I picked up on gentle notes of cream and butter underscored by traces of kettle corn, custard, magnolia, lily, lilac, nectarine, and white peach. There was also a slight grassiness. The second and third infusions began to emphasize fruitiness on the nose and in the mouth, though pronounced notes of cream, butter, and flowers remained. The traces of grass, kettle corn, and custard were similarly amplified. I began to note that the peach and nectarine flavors were joined by tropical fruit notes resembling a mixture of mango, papaya, coconut, and pineapple. The fourth infusion saw the tropical fruit aromas and flavors come out in a big way. By the fifth and sixth infusions, this tea was all about the interaction of cream, butter, and tropical fruit. The floral notes had faded, though the grass, kettle corn, and custard notes remained distinct, especially on the finish. The seventh infusion saw the kettle corn and grass notes begin to play a larger role. The previously described floral aromas and flavors had faded, though oddly enough, I thought I could detect a hint of orchid on the back of the throat. The final three infusions saw the tea fade quickly. By the tenth infusion, I was mostly picking up on a wash of cream, butter, kettle corn, and grass with very faint, distant floral and fruity notes.

To be completely honest, this tea really did not do anything for me. It is rather obvious that this is a bland, generic lower grade Jin Xuan that has been flavored by a combination of milk and water in order to approximate the taste of a higher end tea. I suppose if one were to approach it with an idea of what it is intended to do in mind, this tea could be perceived as being decent. I, however, am incredibly picky when it comes to Jin Xuans. This tea is just too shallow and two-dimensional for me, but at least it lacks the overpowering sweetness and (to me) artificial milkiness of the Quangzhou Milk Oolong. Still, this tea bores me, and I cannot say that I would feel comfortable recommending something I don’t find the tiniest bit interesting.

After the horrible experience I had with their Quangzhou Milk Oolong, I have not had much of a desire to review many other Tealyra products. I tried this one for the first time in a gongfu session back in August and remembered really liking it, but for whatever reason, I never got around to posting a review. I was craving oolong all day yesterday though, and when I realized that I still had enough of this left for a couple of sessions, I plowed through the last of it.

I prepared this tea two ways. The first session was gongfu. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. This initial infusion was followed by 10 additional infusions with an increase of 2 seconds per infusion. Steep times ranged from 10-30 seconds. The other session was a three step Western infusion. Following a brief (10 second) rinse, I steeped approximately 1.5 teaspoons of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 195 F water for 2 minutes. Additional infusions were conducted at 3 and 5 minutes respectively.

With regard to the gongfu session, I noticed that the dry leaves produced a lovely aroma of flowers, char, and coffee. After the rinse, I noted scents of saffron, vanilla, char, roasted grain, coffee, and cinnamon. The initial infusion produced a near identical aroma, as well as powerful flavors of saffron, violets, char, roasted grain, vanilla bean, graham cracker, cinnamon, caramelized banana, coffee, and molasses. Subsequent infusions really emphasized the melding of floral, savory, and roasted notes. I noted emerging aromas and flavors of tobacco, leather, and woodsmoke. There was also a slight minerality that emerged on the finish. The last 3 infusions were heavy on the mineral, smoke, char, tobacco, and leather notes, although I was still able to detect traces of violet, coffee, vanilla bean, and cinnamon in the background.

The Western infusion was much smoother with a more seamless integration of flavors. The floral aromas and flavors were milder, and the cinnamon, molasses, char, roasted grain, coffee, vanilla bean, and caramelized banana notes were very pronounced. The tea held its aroma and flavor well, with the minerality only becoming noticeable on the second infusion and not playing a significant role until the final infusion.

Overall, I really like this tea. I’m not really sure how it stands up to some of the higher end Taiwanese Tieguanyins on the market, but for an introduction to the unique Taiwanese take on this varietal, this is truly exceptional. The tea holds its aromas and flavors well through multiple infusions. I’m still far from the most proficient at gongfu brewing, but when even I can produce something that still retains considerable strength and complexity through 8 or 9 consecutive steepings with this tea, I really think that speaks for itself. Even with the longer steep times involved in a multi-step Western infusion, this tea went the distance. All in all, I’m impressed. This is a nice little oolong for the money.

Milk oolongs are tricky things. When speaking of milk oolong in the traditional sense, one is usually referring to Jin Xuan, or Golden Lily, a tea cultivar that naturally provides a milky, buttery aroma and flavor. Unfortunately, Jin Xuan is not the only milk oolong on the market. You see, it seems that nowadays almost every tea merchant is offering one or more versions of milk oolong, indicating that this tea is very popular with the buying public, and the high demand for quality milk oolongs often greatly exceeds supply. In response, tea producers have developed ingenious ways of meeting the demand for milk oolong-steam oolong tea leaves in a milk water combination or spray oolong tea leaves in an artifical milk flavoring. This tea is not an all-natural milk oolong. It is a Chinese oolong that has been steamed in a combination of milk and water in order to approximate the aroma and flavor of authentic Jin Xuan.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. As usual, I rinsed the leaves and conducted a 10 second initial infusion. I then increased the steep time by 2 seconds for each subsequent infusion. In this session, I conducted a total of 13 infusions (10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 seconds). Again, I used 6 grams of loose tea leaves in my 4 ounce gaiwan, as I normally do for my review sessions. The water temperature was set at 195 F.

Prior to infusion, I began questioning my decision to buy this tea. I knew it was flavored from the get go, but when I opened the sealed pouch, a heavy aroma of cream assaulted my nose. There was something else there too, almost like strawberry flavoring, but I wasn’t quite sure. After the rinse, the aroma was tamed considerably. I detected much milder scents of cream, butter, straw, sweetgrass, gardenias, jasmine, honeysuckle, vanilla, and osmanthus. I could still detect a fruity, almost strawberry-like scent lurking underneath the layers of cream, butter, grass, and flowers. The first infusion yielded a similar, but somewhat milder aroma. In the mouth, I picked up heavy flavors of gardenia, honeysuckle, osmanthus, jasmine, vanilla, cake frosting, butter, cream, straw, sweetgrass, honeydew, peach, nectarine, apricot, and nectar. Yep, I also got a heaping helping of strawberry as well. The second and third infusions continued down this road, but were somewhat milder. With each subsequent infusion, the floral and most of the fruity aromas and flavors faded, leaving me with turbulent, and to me, increasingly synthetic vanilla, cream, butter, and strawberry aromas and flavors underscoring traces of nectar, straw, and sweetgrass.

Well, this was disappointing. I am generally a fan of Tealyra and have had good luck with their oolongs in the past (I’m a big fan of their Wenshan Baozhong Reserve, Tieguanyin Deep Roasted, and Jade Oolong), but I found this to be borderline nauseating. It only got worse for me the longer I spent with it. I have not had a ton of milk oolongs, but I have been a bit spoiled, as I started with some really good authentic Jin Xuans. As a result, I’m at a point where I can kind of tell when something is artificially flavored, even if the vendor chooses not to disclose this information. Now, to give credit where credit is due, Tealyra does indicate to potential buyers that this is a flavored oolong rather than a traditional Jin Xuan. I respect them for that. I fear, however, that there may be a little more going on with this tea than is indicated. To be blunt, I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be a little more than an oolong that has been steamed in a combination of milk and water. I just cannot shake that ridiculous strawberry presence. It could be a byproduct of the flavoring for all I know, but I remain more than a touch skeptical. Whatever the case may be, I do not think that this is a good oolong. There are good flavored oolongs out there, and some of them may even be artificially flavored for all I know, but I just do not think that this is one of them. Getting past that odd, over-the-top strawberry presence that I so greatly disliked, there wasn’t much depth here. The layering of aromas and flavors was rough and turbulent, and more than that, it never calmed. I’ll give this tea a little credit. My experience with it indicated that it has staying power in a longer session. Unfortunately, I just did not find that it smelled or tasted all that good.

I know that I posted a review of this tea earlier, but at the time, I had not finished the last of it. I figured that I would work on finishing it up this week, and wanted to see how this tea fared Western vs. gongfu. Of the two preparations, I think gongu works best for this tea, though the multi-step Western infusion I attempted yielded respectable results.

As one would gather from the above, I prepared this tea in the Western style. I settled on a three step infusion this time around. I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 195 F water for 2 minutes. The second and third infusions lasted 2 and 3 minutes respectively.

The first infusion produced an aroma that was simultaneously vegetal and floral. I noted somewhat creamy and buttery qualities as well. In the mouth, I detected a pleasant mixture of sweetgrass, butter, cream, magnolia, and orchid. I also noted a slight minerality on the alternately buttery and floral finish. At this point, I noticed that neither the aroma nor the flavor of the tea was nearly as complex when prepared this way. The second and third infusions saw the floral qualities fade. The second infusion was relatively balanced, offering pronounced butter, cream, and sweetgrass notes in addition to some lovely, if slightly more subdued floral flavors. The third infusion was mild and more vegetal. The tea was not quite flat at that point; it still had enough flavor to be satisfying. I noted that there was still a little bit of creaminess, though the sweetgrass and mineral notes were much more pronounced.

Overall, I am quite pleased with this experiment. This preparation yielded an approachable and very straight-forward tea that emphasized slightly different aspects of its character on each infusion. Compared to my earlier gongfu session with this tea, this method yielded a smooth tea that was very easy to drink, though there was a noticeable loss in floral character (I didn’t pick up the lilac and violet notes) and complexity. Of the two, I definitely prefer gongfu for this one, but preparing this tea the way I outlined above resulted in an experience that was far from bad.