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Aah, so it is better with a splash of almond milk and a teaspoon of sugar. I guess I should start getting bolder with additives to certain teas.

It’s still not something I would be re-stocking. I do want to try to find my one and only chai one day, though.

Thank you, Jennkay, for sending me a sample of this!

I had it last night to crown my Day with Lupicia. I don’t have to tell you that I had huge expectations of this one and that, if I decided it was so good I couldn’t live without it, I would include it in my upcoming Lupicia order.

The wiry and big grass-green leaves (with bits of rose petals) steep into a golden brew. The aroma, at first, wasn’t very pleasing, I must say, it smelled like an extremely generic peach tea with a twist of some bitterness.

Tasting went a little better – it is definitely a light, good quality oolong with a very subtle peach flavoring (talk about Golden Moon level of subtlety – which is nice). There was no bitterness at all, not even on the second steep. It seemed to me like its flavor is becoming more and more sophisticated and pronounced as it cooled down. And that is pretty disappointing to me, since I don’t like iced tea and I never ever cold-brew my teas.

Also, I think I am not just too excited about peach flavor in tea. I do not hate it, I will always be pretty open to any peach teas that come my way, perhaps I will even consider obtaining some from time to time, but, ultimately, it’s not a thing that I am obsessed about.

So I guess I can live without this tea. I think I will be getting something else from Lupicia this time. Next time, I might be tempted to try it again, and actually get it then.

Perhaps I did something wrong when brewing (although I did it for 2 min. at 185 F like the other Lupicia greens) but this is not too spectacular. It tastes like an average jasmine tea, and it is dangerously close to the unpleasant kind of bitter that makes my throat dry up.

I cannot find any redeeming or unique qualities in it. It is just okay.

Holy tea gods! I didn’t expect to get so much grapefruit out of this. Not just the “some sort of citrus, might as well be grapefruit” note but a full grapefruit – citrusy sweetness that ends with a typically grapefruity bitter note.

I think the bitter note is mostly the doing of the actual green tea base and it works so well…

I love the aroma and flavor of grapefruit. Having said that, I didn’t expect this tea to taste so good. It seems that Lupicia might be slightly better at their flavored greens rather than blacks. I mean, so far I’ve only had black Sakurambo and black Lychee, so it is probably not fair to say compare it like that… but the green ones I’ve had are definitely winning. Although I did also have a one serving-worth sample of Cookie and I absolutely loved it…

Okay, apparently Lupicia’s greens can be steeped in boiling water. I am kind of reluctant to try it! So I steeped a bag of this at 185 F for 2 minutes.

When I poured water over the bag, the liquid instantly turned dark gold and I was like “Hey, tea! You’re not supposed to do this”. I was afraid it would be bitter and dark as hell by the time it finished brewing. Well, it stayed the same color and it definitely did not come out bitter.

This is so good! Let me tell you, the strawberry I get out of this is so much better than any of these mutant strawberries they sell at grocery stores when out of season. At first there’s no vanilla… but then it hits you and it’s beautiful! It might seem like a stupid word choice but IT IS BEAUTIFUL. The aroma is gorgeous, too.

The best thing about it is that it tastes so natural. Almost more natural than just having a strawberry with some vanilla cream on it. I am not sure what base they used for this… Somehow I think it is sencha but I know senchas can be pretty damn vegetal (perhaps there’s different kinds?? I’m still such a tea n00b!). The base is just a binder here for the AMAZING flavoring, but I don’t think I mind that – cause it’s a pretty damn good binder. Even though I cannot detect its notes too well.

Perhaps with a second infusion I would get the green tea more but since I am doing this Lupicia flight today, I don’t want to waste too much of my today’s tea cups allotment for re-steeps.

Okay, I already reviewed this tea before but I have no idea how to get to the tasting note without browsing through all my logs and I am way too lazy for that, SO I have no idea what I wrote about it :P

Anyway, today I am having a Lupicia day, trying most of the teas that I got in this year’s Happy Bag, because I am planning to make a big order with them later this week… if I really like the teas that I am trying today.

Sakurambo is pretty unusual and definitely has the flavor of some sort of exotic cherry. The base is quite strong but not overpowering. I actually think it could be a tad tastier as the green version. I am still enjoying it a lot, although I am kind of tentative as to whether I would restock it.

This is an absolutely fabulous earl grey! I am upping my rating. Also, see my previous tasting note about it… I will be definitely re-stocking this after I’m done with my sample.

By the way, Zen Tea’s samples have really decent sizes. Especially if you consider for how cheap they come.

Also, thank you Steepster guys, now every time I see “bergamot” in a description of tea, I always read it “blergamot”.

Aaah, yet another wonderful tea from Yezi. Chinese black tea of gorgeous, golden-licked, swirly, needle-like leaves. It steeps into a dark ruby brew that is slightly more on the copper side than I am used to with Chinese black teas. It is also very clear and I wish I was having it in a mug not quite as tea-stained as the one I am using (the only mug that comes with an infuser that I own!).

The aroma at first made me think of how a forest ground smells when it is moist – slightly needle-piney, earthy and sap-sweet. Later on I am getting complex sweetness of maple and burnt sugar.

But the taste of it… So malty! Did I ever mention that I love malty beers, like stouts and porters? Well, the way this Jin Pin tastes reminds me of sweet maltiness of some of my favorite stouts. It never transfers to the chocolate side, it stays on the sweet syrup side, and the tiny astringency in the aftertaste adds to its complexity. There’s also earthiness that I detect, and that the aroma hinted at. Not really like pu-erh, the earthiness seems more elusive here. I think, in general, this tea is full of notes that are very elusive – but exquisite.

I hope to resteep the hell out of it before I leave for work today :D

This… THIS TEA!

If I had said anything about other dessert teas being delicious, I kind of halfway take it back, because this is truly delicious. This tea defines delicious.

I have been intoxicated by the aroma of dry leaf. And also the way it looks – I absolutely adore the almond pieces! I was also very pleased with how the brewed tea was clear, ruby-red and beautiful with no chicken-soup greasy blotches that flavored teas’ brews sometimes result in. Then I let it cool slightly… And had a sip, then another one… I totally fell in love.

It’s not the cinnamon, it’s not even the almonds, it’s this lovely baked-goods buttery note that I absolutely adore. It is kind of like a cookie, perhaps a biscotti? I have never tasted anything like it.

I want this tea to be made for forever, so I can always re-stock it.

The loose leaf is bancha sprinkled with sesame seeds. It looks pretty lovely, even though it doesn’t smell like anything.

The resulting liquour doesn’t seem to be much more engaging when it comes to the aroma. Actually it smelled like it was going to be very bitter. And there was this other note that I find I dislike in teas – and what I am guessing is caused by the caramel flavoring – that smells to me like old and forgotten socks that you find at the bottom of your laundry basket (Can you tell I was doing spring cleaning today?).

The taste… I really wanted to like this tea. I don’t know why, but I really did. Me and the Tokyo blend, forever. That’s how I imagined it. But it ain’t gonna happen.

Because, lo and behold, it tastes just like some average sencha (or in this case – bancha) with no flavoring whatsoever. It does taste smooth, much smoother than a straight sencha would, so I am guessing that would be the result of the supposed caramel. I think I got more hint of sesame and caramel in the first two or three sips. Then the whole brew just started to turn bitter, although not overwhelmingly so.

Next time I am going to play around with the steeping time – perhaps a minute would be enough? I’ll see how that goes. It is not a bad tea, it just doesn’t deliver what it promises, in my opinion.