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I got this in a trade from someone, but it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten who it was. But this seemed like just the thing for a wet, windy day here in Atlanta. Not that it’s cold, but you know.

It smells of cinnamon and mint the most. I admit, I’m a little apprehensive. The scent reminds me of a Yogi tea, which I’m not a fan of at all. Also, it’s a tisane, which sometimes disappoint me. (I like the tea base to be bold!) The flavor is very heavy on the cinnamon. It reminds me of those cinnamon peppermints they sell around Christmas. The ones with the red centers. Mint is the second-strongest taste, followed by a hint of clove. I can’t really taste the vanilla at all, which is something I was looking forward to. And the orange peel is non-existent. All around, this isn’t something I’d drink again.

This had been sitting in my cupboard for a long while, half-forgotten. I decided I needed to try something new today instead of hopping back and forth between Earl Grey, Bailin Gongfu, and Pumpkin Ginger.

I’ve never had a rose oolong before, so this is certainly an intriguing first for me. It smells more of the actual tea leaves than rose as it steeps and cools. Instructions on the back say that it needs five minutes to steep, but I feel like that may be bad advice. Also, it says that this tea is known to enhance beauty… does that mean this tea is supposed to make me pretty? Hmm.

Upon the first sip, I’m glad I only went with two minutes. The rose flavor is subtle, more in the aftertaste and on the exhale. It has a hint of that peppery taste that rose teas tend to have, but it isn’t harsh. This tea seems to showcase the oolong more than the rose, which is something I respect. It has nothing to hide. It’s a quality tea, especially for something bagged.

Made myself one last mug of this tea today. I’m officially out and sad to see it go. This is the tea that made me realize that I actually really do love lapsang souchong. I just needed to associate it with the scent of burning leaves in fall, which is something I hold dear. It’s like drinking that smell, for lack of better words! I’ll miss it!

Wow, so I’m only the third person to review this here on Steepster? I find that sort of hard to believe!

Anyway, I picked this up from the kitchen area of my apartment complex’s office. As it steeps, it doesn’t smell like lemon. It smells exactly like strawberries. As I taste it, yeah, it tastes kinda like strawberries, too. Sort of. The lemon flavor they used sort of shows up at the end and reminds me of lemon candy. It’s not particularly strong and makes me wish I had an actual lemon slice to put in it. And the honey? I’m not sure what they put in it, but it doesn’t taste like honey, either. It’s strange. I don’t like this much.

Another lapsang for the new autumn season. I received this tea in a trade with Spencer a few months ago and have been holding onto it for chilly weather. There’s just something about smoky black tea and being out in the chilly fall wind.

This tea brews up dark and hearty, smelling heavily of pine smoke, as it should. To give an idea of how potent this tea is, it was in a ziplock on my kitchen counter. My boyfriend tossed his work shirt onto it without noticing and left it overnight. The entire next day, he smelled like a campfire. (Be careful where you store your lapsang, kiddies.)

The flavor matches the powerful aroma, with a twist of leather. But it also has a sort of tang to it that’s more like pine than any lapsang I’ve ever had. It reminds me of the scent of pine sap, right after a live branch is broken. I haven’t been impressed with Peet’s until now, honestly. This is a unique and interesting lapsang souchong.

One of my friends gave me this to try AGES ago, and I’m on a chocolate kick, so I decided to give it a try. I should note that on my bag’s packet, it’s called White Chocolate Obsession, but it has the exact same art and it’s still by Bigelow. I dunno what’s up with that. Maybe it’s an earlier/later version.

Good lord, this smells chocolatey! Though what kind of chocolate, I’m not sure. Too strong and sweet to be a Tootsie Roll, but it kinda reminds me of that. You know, like chocolate candy that doesn’t actually involve any real cocoa. Or chocolate lip balm. Or the brown chocolate-scented magic marker from my childhood. This does not bode well, but I’m brave.

I lightly sweetened it and let it cool, thinking about adding a splash of milk even before having a taste. The flavor is less strong than I expected, and slightly metallic under the odd chocolate taste that lingers upon exhaling. It does actually taste a bit like white chocolate, but I’m a dark chocolate kind of girl. The black tea base is very mild and smooth, but it adds a pleasant maltiness. It tastes like it’s mostly there to support and add depth to the chocolate.

After a few sips, I went for the 1% milk. It holds up against my generous amount of milk well, still very flavorful, but still not good. Creamier, but just sort of sad, like it wishes it was a white mocha or hot cocoa.

This is what I took to work today. We’re getting the outer edges of Hurricane Sandy, so the world outside is gray, cold, and very windy. The perfect day for something that smells and tastes of woodsmoke.

I’ve reviewed this tea before, so I won’t go to lengthy detail, but this was pretty perfect for today. Like I’ve said before, it smells more smoky than it tastes. Underneath the smoke, there is the delicious taste of Fujian black tea. Mmmm.

So, for a week, I couldn’t find my metal infuser and I was incredibly frustrated. I finally caved and bought myself a new one on Amazon, plus some Harney & Sons consolation that I had been wanting for a long time. The day after I ordered it, yes, I found my damn infuser. Of course.

Anyway, I’m still very happy to have this pretty blue tin in my cupboard. I popped it open and it smelled amazing. Strong! Peppery! Lemony! The bergamot isn’t as strong as their Earl Grey Supreme, but it’s still definitely the dominant flavor. This is a perfect standard for Earl Grey. Not too bitter, not too astringent, on a satisfying black and oolong blend. And also not so heavy on bergamot that your mouth goes numb.

Again, about the bergamot, Harney and Sons have set a bar for me. They use this Italian bergamot that just makes other blends taste cheap to me.

So, I decided to give this another go with the same leaves. This time, it got a longer steep time and hotter water. I wanted to see how this liked being treated more like a traditional black tea.

The liquor came up a bit darker, but not by much. Not amber or anything like a regular black. More like the picture shows here: http://www.nuvolatea.com/upload/product/14l.jpg It smells more like a black tea. Heartier, with a hint of smoke. The taste is slightly more toasted and astringent, but oddly not much different from the first infusion. It seems like the more I treat it like a black tea, the more it tastes like one, and the same when I treat it like an oolong. But the change is very subtle. Interesting.

My first thought when I picked this tea to try was “Oooh, black oolong. Now this is interesting.” Honestly, as long as I’ve been here at Steepster, I had somehow never heard of such a thing. I ripped open the little packet and inspected the leaves. Dark and thin, rolled into long narrow strips. It looked like a fine black tea with a few hints of golden brown here and there.

I treated this one gently as well, and may or may not have used a bit too much water in my ceramic teapot. The liquor is a pale tan, and smells like black tea with a hint of sweet fruit. The taste is very, very interesting. While it does have hints of floral, spring-like oolong, I can taste the black tea oxidization more. It’s caramelly and much more robust than a traditional oolong. Malty, even. Like a light golden tip tea… sort of. This is hard to describe and delightfully complex, and I love it.

Also, after checking the website to see how much this tea is, it’s listed as $60HK for 50g… I was horrified at how expensive it is. But then I checked a converter on Google. It’s only about $8 USD. Whew!