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This is part of a YS sampler pack. These notes are a compilation of about 6 steeps.

Tasting details: 6grams of tea / 100ml per steep / 208 deg F / steep time starting at 20s increasing 5-10 sec with each infusion.

Color is a light orange amber. The wet tea leaves smell of cut wood and sweet hay.

Aroma of the liquid. Oak/wood scent with a touch of leather and slight sweetness (not honey, sugar, or floral).

Flavor: this tea starts extremely smooth with a slight cream flavor in the first infusion. This cream disappears in later infusions, and instead this tea starts very clean, turning into smokey oak with a touch of leather and the barest hint of sweetness. This is a viscous liquid that coats the tongue with a nice texture.

There a mild astringency that starts just after the oak, but it is not bitter; it is the astringency I associate with tannins in oak casket Scotch/Napa Valley Red wines. There is a bit of dust in this tea as it is a small sampler and part of it was somewhat crushed in transit. There was a slight bit of dust in the tea server after each pour, which could have attributed to the astringency.

This tea has an extremely long finish.

The cha Qi is mild, but consistent in nearly every single cup. By the 3rd steep, I felt heat flushed (not from the ambient temperature ) and I could feel heat rising from my chest towards my head.

Surprisingly, this is a fairly well-balanced tea esp in infusions 2-5. It’s easy to drink and super smooth.

Having said all of that, this is not quite to my preferred flavor profile but I enjoyed the experience. For anyone who likes the oaky flavor of Scotches or wine, this might be a good tea.

This is a gorgeous bright sunshine yellow tea that reminds me of early summer.
The color is that of sunshine yellow as it moves through the day. The first infusion was a summer morning, 2nd infusion moved to a mid-morning yellow, then lightened up by the 4th & 5th infusion.

I brewed this gong-fu style, despite TS’s recommendation of brewing for a longer period of time. Start @ 20 seconds at 208 deg F, then increased 5-10-15 seconds per infusion

It smells of cream and light florals.

#1-2 infusion: Light floral notes of chrysanthemums. It’s a very bright team with a light cream & citrus aftertaste. It has a short-medium clean finish. There’s hardly any drying sensation. It has a nice light mouthfeel.

#3-4 infusion The aroma starts off citrus then finishes milky. This infusion starts off with a light astringency that I associate with most oolongs. It still has a lot of bright notes of florals, citrus…it has a nice light cha qi. It finishes with that nice creamy aftertaste.

It’s quite an enjoyable oolong for those days you want something bright, not too heavy, but a nice finish.

First, I don’t know if this is Summer 2017. There’s nothing to indicate harvest time or year on my sample.

Second, I brewed this per their recommendations. 100ml-5-6 grams @boiling water temp, with steep times of 3 min/3min/4 min respectively.

1st brew: the aroma is of mossy wood but the flavor is bitter dark cocoa nibs — no sweetness just the bitterness of the nibs. There’s a mild astringency aftertaste and medium mouthfeel. Overall, it has a good medium mouthfeel and is very smooth.

2nd steep @3 min: I smell camphor and mossy wood. The flavor is a milder bitter note that evens out towards the end. There is a slight astringent finish but still a good viscous mouthfeel. The tea soup is very smooth and not harsh.

3rd steep @4 minutes. I had to reboil water for this steep. I am unsure if it’s the water temp (I suspect that the water temp might have been slightly higher this time around) or if it’s the 3rd but this one is the most balanced of all three brews. I still smell the camphor and mossy wood aroma, but the bitterness has softened as the astringent. The mouthfeel is still good but the flavors are balancing themselves out.

Overall, I’m on the fence about the tea. It’s a good tea but different from what I normally prefer in its tasting profile, but it’s very smooth and has a really good mouthfeel. Others might enjoy it better. I’m going to play with different brewstyles to see if it speaks to me more in other ways.

I brewed this western style

1st infusion: 1 minute @ 208F. This has a pale green color with a faint smell of nuts, roses followed by a rich, sweet scent. It tastes of delicate rose with a delicate fruit (peach?) and notes of cream. It finishes extremely smooth.

2nd infusion: 2 minutes: The color is a light green with heavier scents of roses and cream(!!). It tastes of peaches followed by roses with still that light creamy finish.

3rd infusion: 2 minutes. The color is a light amber with scents of cream. it has medium notes of cream and roses with an extremely clean finish.

I plan on trying this GongFu style to see if it changes.

This is not a traditional Earl Grey, but it is quite good.
The color is a deep dark amber, and smells of bergamot and good tobacco leaves.

The flavor is deep and rich. It starts strong with notes of chocolate, smoke, and tobacco. There’s no flowery taste, which I like. It’s a pretty darn good tea. Is it the best Earl Grey in the world, as boasted by the company? I wouldn’t go that far, but it is good.

This is a small tin of tea that I picked up at a local craft fair. it’s a mix of black tea — oolong, keemun, and lapsang souchong .

The tea leaves has a strong aroma of lapsang souchong — a very strong smokey scent.
I brewed this in a strong Western Style.

The color is of a dark rich amber with a slightly smokey scent (I expected a much heavier smokey aroma, but was surprised that it didn’t have it). The flavor are hints of keemun (chocolate/malt) followed by smoky aftertaste

This is a very drinkable tea. I also tried a longer steep for a slightly deeper flavor. It became every-so-slightly bitter, but adding the tiniest bit of Hawaiian honey evened out the bitterness and brought more flavor out.

I brewed this per the Lupicia’s directions.
This tea is pretty darn good. The tea leaves look like tiny evergreen needles.

The color is a delicate cloudy light green. The brewed tea smells of damp chestnuts.
The tea starts of very delicate in flavor — a light green tea — with a nutty finish. There are flavors that I cannot quite discern, but read to me as Asian (growing up in an Asian household).

This is a sipping tea and requires some thought to really taste the distinct flavors. My palette isn’t mature enough to discern all the flavors yet, but I hope to explore it more.