World Spice Merchants

This is a really good caffeine free chai. I love the Star Anise in this, it gives it a lovely licorice-y sweet yet snappy flavor, and it has a STRONG anise tone, so it gives it a very different flavor from most rooibos and/or honeybush chai blends that I’ve tried.

But, even though the anise is strong, it still allows room for the other spices to come into focus, which is what truly makes it unique. I can taste each of the components, and it has a zesty, spicy flavor that is sweet with some heat.

I like this one a lot.

Inspired by SimplyJenW, I am attempting my own Sample Reduction Plan because I really need to reduce the size of my stash. I have a whole drawer of pretty much nothing but samples, and it’s kind of out of control. So I am happy to be able to throw away the pouch that once contained my sample of this tea. I suppose I should have waited until I got my gongfu setup up and running, since that was my plan with most of the reminiants of the oolong samples in my stash, but I didn’t think of that until just now. Oh well!

Nevertheless, this tea still impresses me. It’s a Jin Xuan, meaning it’s an unflavored “milk” oolong, and you can definitely see the resemblance here. Jin Xuans can be pretty hit-or-miss for me, but this one is a hit since it’s light, floral and almost fruity, and then also has richer, buttery, honey-ish notes to it. Very lovely.

I got this tea a while ago in my envelope-o’-tea from TeaEqualsBliss. Thanks! When I looked this one up I was surprised to see that Golden Lily is also known as Jin Xuan, which in turn is also known sometimes as “milk” oolong. I have tried two Jin Xuans from Tea from Taiwan, so I’m really interested in how this one turns out!

The dry leaf smells like a fairly straightforward floral green oolong. Steeped, the aroma is pretty different than anything else I’ve come across… there’s some high top note I can’t quite place. It’s almost fruity, but not quite. The tea also has a fresh “green” scent to it, and some low, almost hiding nutty notes. I didn’t quite know what to make of this tea at first, but I think I like it! It’s not quite what I was expecting, I guess. It’s a bit floral, a bit buttery, a bit nutty, a bit vegetal. I get some honey-ish notes as well. They all come together in a way that kind of reminds me of Gardens of Anxi from Verdant Teas. I think I might drop the steep time to 2 minutes next time to see how it fares because there’s a hint of overcooked tea leaf in here. Otherwise it’s pretty tasty! It’s also pretty different from the two Jin Xuans I tried from Tea from Taiwan, and I like this one better. Thanks so much TeaEqualsBliss, I’m glad I got to try this one!

Special thanks to Liberteas for this one! This is a lovely-florally-sweet! Honeysuckle-reminiscent! It’s creamy, too, almost…like milk! This is quite special!

I love World Spice Merchants – I get most of my spices from them. They also have great teas. This Oolong has a great honeysuckle-esque aroma and a smooth, creamy taste to it that is buttery and flowery and amazing.

Sweet and delicious.

I was surprised that I had bought just the spices; as such, I could whichever tea base I wished (I used Upton Tea’s decaffeinated Assam). Since I’d only bought a few ounces, I brewed the concoction too strongly this first go (and I like my tea strong). The spices were good: strong and pungent, and held up wonderfully with milk and sugar. Good aroma, too, and I enjoyed having control over the amount of spiciness I wanted in a particular cup of tea.

This is a rich, smooth golden monkey with dark chocolate overtone. Utterly delicious and is an incredibly low price