Daylon R Thomas Send Message

Well, 90 is starting to look my norm. Anyway. What-Cha had almost every variety of tea that I’ve been hunting for, and all at pretty good prices. I’ve also had the tendency to pick vendor favorites. This is not one of them, but don’t worry. I’ll be writing about them in the all too near future.

I like yancha’s and I wanted to compare this rendition to the stuff I got from Berylleb. Every tea is different, and every Shui Xian I’ve had has definitely been different. Actually, kinda similar to a Dark Roast Tie Guan Yin and a Big Red Robe. This one is incredibly smokey, and very sweet. The caramel note here is thicker, almost like a cooked or a burnt caramel. Maybe brown sugar. There’s also a little bit of tobacco and coffee in the notes. Plus something kinda boozey. Whisky or rum. So many re-steeps…

Bottom line: a good, complex Shui Xian. If your looking to try one, or a fairly smokey tea that has some nice sweetness, you want to start with this one. More for experienced drinkers or the mildly adventurous, but newbies might like the subtleties and odd sweetness.

I like this tea A LOT. Though I rated it an 85, this is just a beginning rating based primarily on taste and price. I’ll definitely raise the rating later in part depending on cup yield, and in part not to screw with my other teas ratings (I tend to rate higher because I pick teas that I KNOW I should like, but steepster adjusts it lower grrrrrr). Tastes very similar to a Yunnan Moonlight, but a hint lighter. It reminds me of kettle corn popcorn a little bit with caramel drizzled on top. I do get cocoa notes every once in a while. I’m also getting the maple, sweet potato, sweet corn, hay, and other notes that people already mentioned. Definitely sweet, but sweeter when steeped for less time at first, and more time later. I am so trying Gong Fu.

This is probably one of the better white teas I’ve had, and it may be the best. Considering that I got so much flavor from a small tea spoon of this, I definitely place this higher. Now, to see how much more I can get out of it. Let the sip down begin.

Damn, spicy! The combo is freakin’ awesome. The strawberry, lime, sencha, and chinese green tea are great together. The jalapeno is an unexpected compliment, then a boast. This is for people who like spicy things. I am one of those people who likes spicy and sweet. Like teasipper said in his review, I think a little bit less jalapeno would let the other flavors play more. A lot of people would probably be turned off by the spiciness and savory nature of this tea, but I also think that a lot of people would appreciate and enjoy it. Most of the Quarter to Tea’s blends are guiltless deserts: this is a guiltless snack.

Wow. This reminded me of the few Butiki’s teas I had. It literally tastes like a vanilla apple cider panna cotta. The vanilla is incredibly strong and the crisp apple after taste comes from oolong itself. Coconut and pineapple linger around too in the notes. Overall, immensely sweet and MEGA creamy. I got to steep it four times, and the vanilla flavor remained until and in that last one.

The pastry flavor itself was what was a little bit more iffy for me. There were times were the flavoring did taste like a yankee candle or something artificial. However, that taste was not there at the first thirty seconds, and definitely not there in the rest of the main steeps. It was natural every other time allowing the jade oolong and vanilla to dominate. A more experienced drinker would appreciate the oolong itself and the careful flavor blend. Newer drinkers would definitely like this tea and so would oolong lovers, but a lot of people might be detracted by the creaminess and sweetness. If you like panna cotta, cheesecake, and not feeling guilty about it, this is your tea. But if you don’t like those desserts or sweets in general, I would not recommend it.

I got to say, though, this is one of my favorites from A Quarter to Tea so far.

Not bad, not great. Too astringent to stand on its own. Cream and sugar enhances the rest of it, and I’ve had better offerings from Rishi. I definitely got the caramel note they described it with, but that’s after two minutes. Otherwise malty, bitter sweet, woody, and astringent. Your usual English Breakfast, really, and a tad overpriced.

I will try this one again and again. The oolong is decent and very similar to a white tea. But the description was totally off. Saffron and bits of the almond with the oolong are the only things I can taste. The Vanilla is basically nonexistent. I tried steeping with more and less leaves and time, but the result renders dry, saffron crackers for taste. Considering that the price normally is also close to 30 bucks for 100 grams, totally overpriced for what they say they sell you. Luckily I got this for 14, but I have yet to be satisfied with this one. All of their other teas are incredible though, which also pushes the review subjectively down.

There might be hope for this one, but so far, I’ve been extremely disappointed. This is one of the first teas that I’ve been hypercritical of, which is saying something.

Here I thought I disliked Darjeelings, but then this well priced tea comes along and proves me wrong. It has all the kinds of notes I love: muscats, guava, roses, sweetness, plums, with a ‘touch of fire’ exactly as Teabox describes it. Actually, it’s like a juicier version of a Laoshan. Again, this one is undeniably a Darjeeling, but fairly complex. I also got five good steeps of it, with the same flavors present but exchanging in dominance. There was a lingering cocoa note here and there, and I would say it’s mildly astringent, but in a tart way. That profile is more owed to the muscatel and grape than anything else. This one and the Glenbury Spring Chinary Black are my favorites from Teabox thus far, and maybe my favorite Darjeelings.

Now I know that I prefer muscatel teas and like I’ve said in my previous reviews from Teabox, they are one of your better bets to get a great black Darjeeling tea. I’d recommend for black tea lovers, Darjeeling lovers, lighter tea lovers, and newbies. As for that one Oolong…I still have issues with it. No vanilla to be found whatsoever.

I was incredibly impressed with this one. I’ve had very few other floral teas, and man, does this taste like sweet orchids and honeydew melons. I steeped for about 3 minutes the first time with a heaping tea spoon and it was fairly vegetal at first with a sweet pea sweetness followed by the florals, but then I steeped it again five more times and it got sweeter and sweeter and sweeter. It has a black’s bold body, but the orchid is more like an oolong note, and the color and overall sweetness is a lot more like a green tea. This is really a black tea for green tea lovers. I personally tasted little astringency, but that mild astringency is again closer to an oolong or a green astringency being grass like. If you otherwise steep it lighter, it’s not nearly as astringent. This is perhaps one of the best teas that I’ve had from Teabox just by it’s sheer sweetness, strength, and full profile. I’d only say it’s complex because of the little nuances from other teas it offers, but an expert would better answer the question of complexity.

Like I said before, Darjeeling Blacks are Teabox’s specialty. I’d recommend a try, but to those who like unusual, grassy teas, green teas, and unconventional Darjeelings.