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This tea brews very consistently. I won’t be changing my various ratings. One thing I will say is that I accidentally used boiling water on my third resteep today, and left it in for over 4 minutes. Rather than being bitter/astringent/foul as would be the case with most teas in my experience, it was smooth creamy and even more yummy. Carry on.

This is the last rating under my old scheme.
Tasty, just discovered that the amount of tea to use in my new tea cup is less straightforward than I had previously thought. In this case I used two teaspoons to achieve the suggested “generous teaspoon”. The taste is mellow and dirt-like, maybe a muddy version of the frontal bright Darjeelings. The astringency is coming out, but that’s due to oversteeping and cooling. Good for a rainy mild day like today.

I am still at a loss to describe that “white tea” tea flavor. Much like Darjeeling has its special flavor, the white also has its own special flavor. It’s kind of creamy and it kind of reminds me of the taste in the air around a wood-shop when fresh hardwoods are being cut. Maybe “resiny” is the right word, but it has a light somehow lumber like taste. It’s a, shall we say, delicate flavor though. Better for mid morning or even evening. Yes it can be resteeped, and several times, but it is just a much mellower kind of tea than what I would start my day with. Something like a cruising speed type tea, but not something to turn over your engine if you know what I mean.

I couldn’t be precise with the temp as my thermometer is on the fritz (and in the waste bag now), but the water was definitely in the 165-180 range.

I drank this last night, had to have something right away from my quarterly tea restock. Definitely much less hearty than my usual Assam, but not a wilting flower of a tea at all. Raisiny, earthy (but like dry earth, not loamy soil). Nice flavor. I’ll do another note when I’ve tasted it again.

This is my first white tea, and I am told by my very friendly tea monger… fine, my very friendly loose leaf seller, that this is a great traditional white tea. I was careful to follow steeping and temp directions as well as I could, but I had to eyeball the amount of tea. That being said:

The liquor was vanishingly clear, but the aroma was intriguing. Again this may be my wild imagination, but it had an almost animal smell to it, like a small musky rabbit. Anyway, it wasn’t a strong smell, and it wasn’t unpleasant. It’s hard for me to describe the flavor, and I will attempt it after a few more tries through the week. That being said it’s a good flavor! As it cooled in the cup it became downright sweet.

Not much of a review I know, but it was a wonderful cup, and I can’t wait to enjoy steeping it for the rest of the day!

This rating is more about the method of brewing than the tea itself. I used my new tea cup, which can be found here:

http://www.teatrekker.com/shop/chinese-red-porcelain-steeping-cup/

Along with a perfect teaspoon from teavana.

I think i really got the flavor and the body out of the tea just right. I even measured the water temp.

Well, this feels like sacrilege. A tea grown in the U.S. of A.? And from the south? Well I suppose the climate is good enough for rice. Well how does it taste? I would say it’s a bit mild, hints of nuttiness like almond. It doesn’t have much of its own sweetness. It’s okay. Nothing special, but worth giving a few more tries (since it was a gift) I’d be interested in buying whole leaf and trying it loose someday.

It’s certainly better than any number of bagged teas though.

I put milk and sugar in it.

Iced today, to celebrate the first day where the warmth of the sun overpowered the chill in the air. No sweetener, no milk, just poured hot over ice in a steel water bottle. Sharp, bitter, delicious.

So, what, I went to a new tea monger and you didn’t think I would get a little bit of everything? Sure, it was hard to find the tea among the the “delightful mixtures” at Teavana, and it’s pretty clear they want to sell you with their accouterments, but they have some good teas. This tea, this one is okay.

The pearls have an almost cloying sweet raisin, leather, barnyard smell to them. A smell and taste profile those of you who’ve read my reviews before know that I like quite well in my black teas. The pearls themselves have a really nice feel in the hand and are very attractive in appearance.

The brew is kinda okay. The scent profile didn’t transfer over quite true, but it has a nice natural sweetness with some of the barnyard leather. Almost a dry hay smell, but only the kind you get from a hayloft. A little bitter at the end, a little sediment on the tongue, but definitely an enjoyable tea. Also a light mouth feel.

I’m just now taking my last sips from my mug and I swear I taste cinnamon or clove, something in that kind of range.

Good for a midday cup.

Well it’s the morning after. I peeked a glance at my new glass within glass (kwisatz haderach) tumbler and the MPO was still there. 8:03 a.m., and time for a fourth steep. By now the liquor has taken on a brownish color, and the mouth feel has become creamier. Still, mostly what I taste is bitter and mineral, but the fault for that lies in nor running the water long enough.

All in al it does well to reach a fourth steep a day later, and this hasn’t been the fairest most scientific review process for this tea.