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Peach seems to be one of the most ubiquitous flavorings used in tea these days yet most of the time it tastes artificial and cloying. This tea from Lupicia though is the first I’ve had that tastes like a fresh white peach. It’s a subtle peach flavor and I’m cool with that – I prefer lightly fruity tea. It may not be for you though if you’re looking for a powerful fruity taste. The peach flavor lasts through multiple steeps and although the oolong base isn’t detectable, it mingles with the rose to add a hint of floral in the background.

I had this with a pomegranate and pistachio Turkish delight and it was the perfect accompaniment. Thanks to Equusfell for another great sample.

This is one of those teas that tastes better when you combine all of the infusions. I brewed it gongfu style following TeaVivre’s instructions (rinse, 30s, 30s, 35s, 45s, 1m, 1.5m). I poured all of the infusions into a pitcher and tasted them as I went along. The individual steeps were unimpressive. Flat and slightly bitter with some unexpected milky notes. Combined though, a honeysuckle sweetness began to emerge. The milkiness was no longer there but some bitterness remained in the after taste. This was a meh sorta green oolong for me. Palatable, but nothing to write home about. Glad to have finished my sample so I can move on to other teas.

This is the 3rd dragonwell I’ve had this week, the other two being Teavivre and Yunnan Sourcing. All 3 had very different flavor profiles:

Verdant – sweet with a hint of fruitiness
Teavivre – fresh and grassy
Yunnan: – vegetal with more astringency

This was definitely the sweetest dragonwell of the bunch and had an interesting fruitiness that tasted weirdly enough like banana. After the 2nd infusion, the fruity notes begin to fade as the tea takes on a smooth, more vegetal flavor.

Of the three dragonwell I sampled, I preferred Teavivre as it brewed the cleanest and most balanced cup.

Thank you to Equusfell for sending me a bit of this to try!

I had been curious about this offering from Verdant for a while now and thanks to a swap with Equusfell, I finally got my hands on some and it sure didn’t disappoint! This tea reminds me of why I love green tea. It has a crisp, clean taste to it with notes of vibrant spring vegetables and no hint of bitterness or astringency at all.

Having tried this side by side with Verdant’s other signature green tea Dragon Well – an excellent tea in its own right – I enjoyed the Laoshan more. Although both are similar, this had a mellow sweetness and refreshing finish that I really liked. Just a all-around lovely green tea.

Got this recently in a swap with Stephanie. Simply put, it is THE most incredible flavored oolong I’ve ever tasted. From the first steep to the last, it bursts with sweet, lychee juiciness. And the aroma smells exactly like the flavor profile. I was amazed at how long the fruit flavor lasted. Most flavored teas are good for only 1 to 2 infusions but this bad boy kept going strong into the 6th/7th steep!

This is one of the few teas where the flavor actually tastes like the fruit. It’s intensely fruity, something I ordinarily dislike in tea, but here the flavor is just so delicious and perfect.

When it comes to green tea, I’ve always been partial to Japanese tea. For a long time, all I ever drank was sencha and gyokuro. But this particular dragonwell has completely upended my perception of Chinese green teas.

This tea tastes like spring in a cup. It has a bright, crisp flavor reminiscent of freshly cut grass and a sweet vegetal note as it goes down. Just a wonderfully delicate and very clean tasting tea that refreshes the palette. It reminds me a lot of some of the top Japanese green teas I’ve had more so than your typical roasted Chinese green tea. I much prefer this dragon well to Yunnan Sourcing’s which has a tendency to become astringent.

Like most green teas, this one is a little fussy. You have to pay attention to steep time and temperature. Followed Teavivre’s instructions, I brewed it for 2 minutes in 185 F water and found it bitter. Dropping the time and temperature to 1 minute and 175 F gave the best results. I increase the steep time for each subsequent infusion. The first two infusions are excellent and then the flavor starts fading by the 3rd.

Meh. This tea left me sorta disappointed. There was little to no milky flavor to it at all. I gave it a quick rinse and then brewed around 205 F for 2 minutes, followed by subsequent brewing at the same temperature with longer steepings. The flavor of the tea was vegetal and somewhat burnt. No milky/creamy notes at all. The second time I brewed it at lower temperature (185 F) and that began coaxing out the milk flavor from the tea. Still it was weak overall and prone to bitterness on subsequent steepings.

Honestly, it just tasted like a generic green oolong and lacking other aspects of flavor. It could all be me though so I’ll keep it around and report back if anything changes.

Received this in a swap with Stephanie.

My last cherry blossom tea was a bust. Teavana’s Sakura Allure was super tart and hibiscusy. I didn’t care for the artificial flavoring they add to their teas either.

But this tea was on point. It has a bright cherry flavor that intermingles harmoniously with the natural grassiness of the sencha and notes of spring blossoms. Normally I find cherry flavored anything too overbearing but the cherry here is delicate and light.

I brewed it per Den’s instructions. 1 min @ 175 for the first infusion, and 15 seconds using hotter water for the second. The first steep is grassier while in the second infusion the sencha takes a backseat and really lets the cherry blossom flavor shine through.