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A big Thank YOU to Kittenna for this sample!
Well I am a self proclaimed Not a DT fan but this is just darn fine!
I did add a little german rock sugar from Butiki to my tea.
Its perfectly sweet, tastes like blueberry jam and not one little bit tart which is one thing I do love about this tea! Sometimes blueberry can be a tad too tart for me.
I got a nice sample with tons of blueberries in it! Either Kit was very generous or this tea is riddled with lovely little blueberries!
Seemed to be an equal ratio of blueberries to tea!
As good as the blueberry is a nice simply black base comes through.
Not very complex of a tea but really does take care of the sweet tooth craving!
LOVE IT!
Thank you Kit and I do hope one day to place a DT order. Its funny that I have managed not to as of yet.

My daughter and I made lemon cupcakes with buttercream frosting thinned a little with fresh lemon juice.
Instead of adding water to the cake mix (yeah we didn’t go homemade we took the lazy way out) we added this tea.
Let me tell you these are the best cupcakes E V E R.
Like fluffy airy clouds of melting lemon yumminess floating on your taste buds.
Yay for Lemon Zest!
:)

I am exhausted and the day is only half over considering I got up at a reasonable time today. However I know I will have my second wind around midnight so I have a ways to go.

So I began my day with this tea by accident. I had ordered two yixing pots from Mandala and one was called Black Pearl. Instead of that I got this but I am not unhappy about it. I almost ordered this with my yixings and other offerings but took it out of my cart to stay under my budget. You see the black pearl tea in the 4 ounce quantity is almost the exact same price as the yixing pot! Needless to say I wrote Garret and said I would keep this tea and get the second yixing soon. So happy accident. The best kind!

The first thing I thought when I saw the tea was “wow those are some big balls”. Okay if you are done laughing – they really are large when compared to say gunpowder green or jasmine pearls etc. So I now have a very immature and yet affectionate name for this tea.

I had two steeps this morning then ran errands, went to our tiny local Asian shop, grabbed some Pad Thai noodles, some siriacha sauce, ube ice cream, and white rabbit candy. No really knock out teas there but its not like I need more tea.

Then I came home, seasoned my yixing pot which is now soaking, and am having my third steep.

The tea is awesome. Toasty, chocolate notes seem to be what really grab me. I also enjoy the malty notes and the grain notes as others have mentioned. It has more than endured three steeps and I project can go at least 2 if not 3 or so more.

I stepped 4 pearls in my Kali Tea cup with infuser (8 ounces).

First steep 1 min, then 2 min on steep two, steep three I was distracted by several things, my daughter’s soup I was making, neighbors dog loose, a fire truck showing up down the road at another neighbors, (hope she is okay), etc and so on.

This steep got a good 10 minutes or more and it is SO rich SO yummy yet it is not astringent, nor bitter! WOW!

Perhaps I won’t be able to get those other steeps since I totally over steeped this one yet on smelling the leaves they still seem to have far more to offer! The leaves now have a lovely vegetal aroma to them! The following steeps will be interesting indeed!
More to come if I remember to note more.

Well dang – again – a tea that is riddle with hibiscus flavor and fails to impress. I am so disappointed at this point I am done ordering ANYTHING that has hibiscus in the ingredient list unless I have heard from others that FOR SURE the hibiscus does not take over the whole tea!
Disappointment.
I should have read the other tasting note BEFORE ordering my fault.
BAH BAH BAH!

This is delicious! Thank you Missy and Dylan for sending me a sample of this!!
You know I have not had the best of luck with coconut flavored teas – with the exception of several good coconut oolongs and pouchongs. This however is a really good tasting tea! I like that it is a mix of rooibos and black as I enjoy a soothing morning cup now and then.
The flavors are vanilla, coconut, and cocoa.
Not over powering, very smooth, just YUM!
Steeped the same way that Missy had in her notes and while I was skeptical about the short steep time it works perfectly!

Indigobloom shared a sample of this one with me. Thank you Indigobloom for all your generous samples!
I am not sure this is my cup of tea.
Its naturally sweet and has a nice body of flavor but it just has a flavor that is not hitting me right today.
Its a little sour tasting but not bitter or astringent at all – a little like something that sat out on the counter for too long.

My gut said not to use boiling water and upon checking a few notes here of others I was validated in that so went with a 195 degree at 3 min steep.
Results:
Smell – I am picking up the green tea aroma quite nicely! Peach is lush and juicy smelling, a small aroma of the black base coming through as well.
Mostly smelling the lovely green tea base however then peach.
Color is a light reddish brown – I can see the bottom of my cup.
Flavor – the green base is most present, peach is light, a little too light for me but I will say not artificial whatsoever. Very fresh, juicy tasting ripe peach. The black base does not over power at all but is lightly present minding its manners.
After taste of the peach is more present now which is lovely. I may have to take back what I said about wanting it more predominant, this is nice to have this light fresh after flavor.
Very bright cup, I know I keep saying it but VERY juicy.
No astringency, no bitterness, I recommend this temp and steep time.
Flavors become more predominant as tea cools somewhat but I find that with many teas.
Not sure how it would fair iced and since I only have the sample I will remain unsure but I agree with the other person who suggested the Joy’s Ocho sampler! I love my little tins and have washed some of them out to send others samples in! Great for the crafty sort of people who want to store gems, beads, pins, buttons, etc.
This is an excellent tea for those who like a light flavor that is very authentic tasting in a lovely mixed green and black base.
Personally when I have a flavored tea I like a tad more punch – I either go ALL natural with straight teas or all the way to the other spectrum with super sweet teas. The ones that lay in the middle are just not my thing but I can sure appreciate this tea for its super good quality, excellent flavors, and wonderful base. Artfully mastered!

So delicious!
When I ordered it I THOUGHT that it was Strawberry Rose not Rose’ – I did not pay attention when ordering on Lupicia I guess.
Order frenzy you know – things just get added to the cart sometimes.
I am not huge on Rose teas but at the time thought oh well I’ll give it a shot.
Boy was I confused and surprised when I first tried this one!
I have to say I am SO THRILLED I LOVE champagne and wine infused teas!
This is by far one of the best I have tried to date!
Really good when it gets cold too!

This is something I must have more of!
Now I am not sure why – maybe my palate is just different from others but I get a definitive spicy element in this tea! Chaiapple tea perhaps? I know that the description says nothing about spicy but I was absolutely getting a chaiesque flavor in this tea! The delicate floral oolong base was outstanding and came through loud and clear. The pineapple – superb! Not one artificial flavoring element within this tea whatsoever – perfection!
I ate all the pineapple out of the leaves after the second steep and I do not recall ever having such tasty juicy sweet delicious pineapple before!
I will absolutely get me more of this wonderful stuff!
I still am confused over the spicy element in this tea but I loved it – was a nice surprise!

I have only skimmed the tasting notes on this one as I am not feeling well. This is my comfort tea for today. I did notice in my skimming of the notes that many people seem to turn to this tea in times of illness or emotional upset. This seems to be the go to tea for that sort of thing.
It sure is interesting for a green tea. Its one everyone should try.
I just want to slink back onto the sofa and indulge in this one.
Roasty, toasty, vegetal yet chocolaty – a bizarre mix that just works for me!
Sorry for such a lame tasting note, need to get rid of this incessant headache and clear the sinuses.
Next time I will use less leaf and or lower the water temp – seems to be a little finicky but I love it none the less.