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I really wanted an oolong after coming home from work today. It was quiet all night and I got a lot of reading for school done (we have 30 books to read in one semester, so I’m trying to pre-read each of them before school starts) – I finished one play, and almost finished another! Aaaand then I have another three I’m in the process of reading, and a whole list to start after that. Oh well. At least my professor has good taste!

I wanted something creamy and smooth and buttery, but unfortunately my oolong stash is really low right now. Digging through samples, I came across this one. It’s labelled as oolong, but it’s honestly more peach and fruit than tea. It might be because the fruit is sticky and coats the tea, but I can hardly find any leaves in the mix!

It has a very light flavor. The smell is kind of buttery and a little bit fruity. The liquor, however, is beautiful. It’s a light pinky-orange, like a peach that’s fuzzy and just ripe enough. It doesn’t taste so much like peach as it does kind of like nectarine or tangerine or orange. I like it more than I expected to, though! It’s not want I wanted… but after drinking it, I think it was what I needed.

Thanks to Rachel for this sample!

Cold-brewed this in my little infusion pitcher – I regretted buying it at first, since I didn’t think I’d use it much (I was in Teavana, and I’m ALWAYS buying things I don’t need there!) but I’ve been using it daily this summer, so that’s good.

I don’t love this. I get the mint first and foremost, and there’s the smokiness of the gunpowder behind it, but the entire experience is just a bit lacking. I think I’ll leave off a rating until I hot-brew it though!

I had a sample of a Lapsang from DAVIDs the last time I placed an order with them, and I was intrigued by it. I only got to try one steeping of it, but now that it’s summer I’ve been craving that smoky sort of flavor. Yesterday I picked up Virtuous’ Lapsang, and I was in a British candy store with my sister today, and I decided to get this one as well.

Not a huge fan of bags, although they are terribly convenient, but a friend (English, raised in France) swears by ToH.

I do like this though! It’s my second Lapsang, and it’s been awhile since I had the first. It’s a bit light, but I didn’t measure my steeping time (it was probably only a minute or two). One bag, 16oz TARDIS mug (because hey, it’s British tea, so I’ll use my British mug… right?). I brewed it hot, but then realized just how hot it actually was outside… so added ice cubes in to cool it off.

Light black tea flavor, dark brown liquor, lots of smokiness. Lighter than I’d like, but next time I’ll steep it longer or add another bag. One thing I’m happy about is the utter lack of bitterness. It’s dark, but it’s smooth.

It’s my 100th tasting note!

I picked this one up on a whim today. We went to Virtuous to get rosehips (our chinchilla likes to snack on them!) and this just looked beautiful in the jar – bright colors streaking through a crisp green leaf. It smells amazing – perfectly fruity. And brewed – wow! The scent is SO sweet, like gummy bears or fruity candies, but completely natural.

The first steep is surprisingly light, with more of a scent than a taste, although as it cools the buttery oolong comes out. It’s a very pale gold, so light that it appears clear as I’m pouring but in the teacup it takes on a color of light honey.

Second steep: Oh! So good. The taste is all buttery oolong, and the scent is still really sweet and fruity. Notes of pineapple and mango and apple and raspberry.

Right now I’m writing the first short story I’ve written in a long time, and listening to the INCREDIBLE music from the recent National Theatre production of Frankenstein. It’s a wonderful night!

So let me first register my utter hatred with temperatures over about 80F. I mean. I would MUCH rather the winter weather when it’s so cold that my feet go numb through my shoes than this utterly unbearable 90+ weather. Especially since we don’t have air conditioning. I just… it’s awful.

#Rant over.

Cold brewed a mixture of Boston Tea Company’s English Breakfast and Twining’s Irish Breakfast. I was going to originally do just the IB, but the tin was a lot lower than I thought. So I figured I’d just go ahead and orchestrate some positive race relations while I was at it. (Sorry. Irish history is a bit of a favorite of mine.)

It’s a good black tea! Not remarkable, but good and solid with a bit of milk and sugar! Really good for cooling off :)

Another lovely sample from a friend! Sadly, no product information available online for this one either, although the label on the little baggie says “Lemon Souffle: To reorder, visit evermoreherb.com.”

It’s delicious though! I haven’t had a lot of rooibos lately, but I was feeling good about this one, so I brewed it hot and then poured it over ice. Fantastic! There isn’t too much of that “rooibos” taste, but the lemon shines through without being overpowering either. It smells sort of like lemon cake, which is just fantastic. And the tea is beautiful to look at as well – red and gold with strips of calendula and marigold petal.

Upon opening the tin, my first impression is that it’s bagged tea… unbagged. The leaves are very tiny and uniformly cut. The smell is pale, but if I stick my nose into the tin I get notes of a standard English Breakfast.

Trying it plain before I add anything to it, I find that it’s very strong. It’s malty and a bit astringent. Adding milk smooths it out. It’s decent. It’s nothing special, but it’s a good English Breakfast.

I got a box of this from a friend. Looking online, I can’t find anything about the tea on its website either, so it looks like it’s been discontinued.

I don’t know if it’s the tea or if it’s my tastebuds that are shot, but I can’t taste this. Same with the Raspberry Royale from earlier – I just can’t taste it. It’s the first time I’ve had bagged tea in a month or two.

It smells great – very fruity, a little tart. But I feel as though I’m drinking scented water, even after the bag’s been in for 30+ minutes.

Sad!

I got this in a fantastic care package from a friend of mine today. I was feeling especially lazy when I got home from work – short-staffed tonight, and lots of work to do. (Although I did really well today – picked up others’ work and sold more than the storewide quota for passes just on my shift alone! Not bad, with reviews coming up…) And then I came home and found a huge box for me on the table!

As much as I wanted to like this tea, I really didn’t. The directions on the packed said steep 1-2 minutes, so I followed those directions for the first cup I had. I could hardly taste it. The second cup, I added a bit of sugar and left the teabag in as I drank, and it still basically tasted like hot water with sugar. The smell is vaguely raspberry and I taste a very light black flavor, but it’s hardly there. Sad, because the dry bag smells great!

Thanks again to Fong Mong Tea for this sample!

I tried brewing this one Western style. Didn’t feel like going online to check brewing instructions, so I used the whole six-gram sample, water somewhere around 180-190, steeped for 4ish minutes. Sort of my general oolong parameters.

It’s good! Online I see that Fong Mong recommends a 6-minute steep, and I might push it up there for a second steep. It’s a bit weak. But then again, I don’t mind pale teas.

The scent is creamy and almost like fresh-baked bread. It’s not butter so much as it is wheat. There’s a floral taste at the tip of the flavor, and a light vegetal aftertaste. I’ll probably update after a second or third steep, but for now – delicious!