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This is an incredibly sweet tea that fills your mouth leaving a syrupy coating that you need a glass of water to wash out. Seriously, I had to put down the gaiwan after a few cups and reach for something salty to cleanse my palette. Verdant aptly describes the flavor of this tea as “sweet lingering…juicy lychee”. This tea is heavy on the sweeter notes and if you pay attention, there is a bit of floral background and some mineral notes that begin to emerge with subsequent steepings.

Overall I liked this tea but wasn’t blown away by it. It’s high quality for sure but is a little lacking in complexity. Yunnan’s Wu Liang Gao Shan Oolong (last year’s harvest) remains my favorite green oolong. Like Verdant, it’s intensely sweet, but that sweetness is balanced with creamy vanilla and florals.

I brewed this gongfu style per Verdant’s instructions (5g of leaf, 205 F water, short steeps) and found it lackluster. It fared much better when brewed western style following a quick rinse at a slightly lower temperature.

Another green tea redeemed! I had all but given up on this tea due to it’s flat astringent taste. Usually I brewed it between 165-170 F, which is within the standard temperature range for green tea. Yesterday I used slightly cooler water, about 160 F and brewed the tea 1 minute. It tasted like a completely different tea – buttery, smooth, and sweet. Second and third steeps for 25 and 45 seconds respectively, though were fairly non-descript .

Dialing down my rating after a few lackluster steeps. I’ve found this tea to be wildly inconsistent. Sometimes it’s floral. Other times I get a blast of cardamom or the lemongrass flavor will dominate. It seems the taste of each brew depends on the pieces of flavoring and how many you them you scoop up.

I don’t care for hibiscus on its own, but do use it when making my own blends. The hibiscus adds beautiful color, ranging from light pink to crimson red depending on quantity used. It also lends a nice tart flavor to tea, that pairs well with other herbal teas like chamomile.

I feel I owe this tea an apology for the disappointing review I previously gave. It wasn’t you it was me. I brewed this tea again today in a gaiwan with two small modifications – I didn’t preheat the gaiwan and acting on a tip from Teavivre, I kept the lid off while steeping. That made all the difference in taste. There is virtually no bitterness anymore, just a smooth, subtly sweet flavor that a fresh spring tea should have.

This is much better than the stuff you’ll find in teabags but not quite as good as the chamomile I’ve had from Rishi and Arbor Teas. It just seems to be lacking a little something. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but its missing that sweet chamomile flavor and tastes a bit stale. Although it was cheap and is a very drinkable tea, I wish I hadn’t bought 100 g of it on Amazon.

Regardless, it is good on it’s own and mixed with other flavorings.

Another winner from Taiwan Tea Crafts! A remarkably fresh green oolong bursting with the taste of crisp florals and a sweet creamy body.

I brewed this for 2 minutes using near boiling water after rinsing the tea leaves. Unfortunately it doesn’t hold up well to additional steepings.

I’ve searched far and wide for a Wuyi oolong that doesn’t taste like burnt toast and after trying many teas, I found what I was looking for in this light roasted Wuyi from Verdant which has gone on to become my favorite dark oolong. It is an incredibly rich and complex tea – roasty and woodsy but without any hint of bitterness or ashy charcoal taste. The mouthfeel is smooth and coats the tongue with a lingering honey and dried fruit sweetness.

I brew it gongfu style per Verdant Tea’s instructions and then chill it to make a fantastic iced tea. For hot tea, I use a little less about 2 grams. It gives about 3-4 good steepings before the flavor runs out. This definitely goes on my short list of teas that I want to keep on hand at all times.

Decided to finish off a few remaining tea samples and started with this one. Plainly put, I did not care too much for this tea. It is earthy and has a a swampy-vegetal taste which doesn’t feel pleasant going down. Doesn’t even come close to some of my favorite silver needle teas.

I tried a sample of this tea today and I’m not angry at it. That pretty high praise considering most Adagio flavored teas I’ve had in the past were nothing short of revolting. The coconut flavor isn’t artificial or cloying and the background oolong is bright and sweet. A fairly tasty tea, but not something I would purchase.