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I think Missy got this with her last set of samples from Angel, so thank you to Angel :)

Hoooo boy, this hit my tart button good and hard. Wow. I think this one needs a couple gallons of sugar and some ice before I think I’m going to want to keep it around. I’ll have to grab a bit of this and try it sugared up. Until then… I think I’ll skip a number :)

Mmmm… I’m pretty happy with this one. Very, very pear with some nice vanilla flavoring to it. More of a bosch pear than an anjou, which I think may be why it’s hitting the tart button for a bunch of folks. Though, to be fair, I’m drinking this sample and Teavivre’s Water Lily, which is far more tart. The apple surprisingly didn’t seem to overpower the pear, which may defy all rational consensus.

So yeah, if you like a good fruity pear flavor, this is one for you! Sweetened and iced, I’m betting it’s remarkably refreshing.

A very generous sample from Anny Oxidant & the Tea Bullie. Also my first Verdant, strangely.

The Tulsi on this seems to be the most prominent flavor to me, followed by the mint and coriander. I seem to be experiencing this tea backwards from everyone else, like it was made for me by the Time Traveler’s Wife.

It was a very good quality blend, an interesting combination of flavors that was fairly enjoyable. I’m glad I had a chance to try it, but I don’t see myself stocking this one.

Thanks again, Anny!

Hrmmm… not really sure what to say about this one.

The pepper on this is interesting. It hits my throat well before it hits my tongue, which doesn’t seem to make a lick of sense.

It’s very mango, which is unfortunate, as I’m not very fond of mango. Ashmanra once sent me a sample of a pepper mango (I can’t remember from where!), and it tasted more pear-like, and it was fantastic. This one does not taste more pear-like. Due to my general displeasure at mango, I don’t think it’s quite fair for me to rate this.

Unlikely that I’ll buy this one again ;)

Have you ever seen the Friends episode where the guys are avoiding Central Perk because they don’t want to get in a fight with some other guys there. So they make instant Cappuccino at their house, only its not working right, so Chandler yells “Keep stirring, keep stirring… never let it settle!”

I feel that way about this tea… kind of. Except less with the compulsive stirring, and more with the compulsive drinking. It’s getting less tasty as it cools… like… noticeably by the minute.

Although, let me back up about ten minutes. Freshly brewed, this tea SMELLS DIVINE. If judged by a panel of tongueless… uh… tea judges I guess, this tea would win all the awards. All of them.

The first sip almost lives up to the promise that the aroma offers. It’s good, it’s actually very good, one of the best non-minerally oolongs I’ve had (I’m not terribly fond of green oolongs, TGYs and the like… no real reason, they just don’t do it for me). It’s sweet, and creamy, with the tiniest hint of that juniper-y oolong flavor, and a faint aftertaste of lemon. It doesn’t quite live up to the aromatic pleasure that you’re expecting, but close.

But each successive sip… the sweet creaminess waned, and this sour bite started coming in stronger and stronger. Had I chugged this like mad, I would probably rate this really highly… but for a slow, sipping kind of tea that I expect oolong to be… no sir, I don’t like it.

On like my third glass of this iced right now. This was a part of the wonderful surprise tea care package that I won from DaisyChubb’s blog summer iced tea swap contest. A quick plug for her blog if you haven’t checked it out yet (DaisyChubb.com), it’s very entertaining, and she posts some really awesome recipes.

I’m going to withhold a ‘real’ review on this one (I know, I’ve been very lax on my reviewings lately). This one came out a little light in the flavor department, but I think we can remedy that if we step up the reactor power input by three more doritos.

However, even with a light flavor, let me say that this thing is delicious. I was hesitant at first because of the apple/carrot beginning… but the flavor comes off as a really, really tasty blend. If I could get juice from my juicer to taste like this, I’d totally go for it. Actually, I might be able to. Hmm… apple carrot watermelon… I think I’m going to try that this weekend.

Another big thank you to Daisy for the tea. I’ll give this a better rating (and a number!) after the next batch.

I wish we would have had these to compare to the other pearls, as they seem to be very similar. Both extremely good, but I honestly can’t remember much difference at this point.

This was another great sample from Teavivre, so thank you!

I’m enjoying this while watching The Producers. All said, a very enjoyable night!

Mmmmmm…..

Okay, so my first experience with Lapsang, the sample I got from Upton, made me think that it (surprisingly) wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. I expected smokey, but I didn’t expect my fire alarm to go off. Okay, I kid, my fire alarm didn’t go off, but I feel like it should have.

This? Whole different story. The smoke is much lighter on this blend, which means it actually tastes like a good, quality black tea with some smokiness. The flavor here is almost indulgent, sweet, lightly malty, and just enough smoke at the end to make you think about what you’re drinking.

Congratulations, Lapsang, you have been redeemed. I’m curious as to whether the steeping parameters from Teavivre (195 instead of 205) could make that much of a difference on the smoke aspect. Maybe the Upton one is better with a slightly lower temperature? I’ll probably never know.

I’m not sure I will keep this around as a permanent tea. Both the keemun from Teavivre I want to keep around, and the Baker’s Street blend from Upton have enough of a smokey aspect that it will probably satisfy my smokey tea cravings, without keeping this one on stock. But, I will definitely pick a few samples of this up every second order or so from Teavivre, just as a special treat.

Man, I just cannot say enough about the quality of Teavivre’s teas. These are so good.