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This is not at all what I was expecting when I heard ‘blend of Yunnan teas’, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it! This is very woody, burnt woody. Like you took barely smoldering remains of a cedar wood campfire and added them to your tea. Not necessarily smoky like Lapsang, though. It tastes quite like Tao of Tea’s Vietnamese Wild Black or Wild Black from Titan Commodity (on Aliexpress). It’s delightfully strong even though I brewed it a full minute less than recommended. Deep but smooth. I think this is going to be a rainy day tea for me.
And honestly, even if I didn’t love it, I probably wouldn’t regret the purchase due to how well-designed the tin is. Highly recommend if you enjoy strong teas with heavy wood notes.

What an interesting tea this is. I have to say I’m never disappointed with the products I select from What-Cha! Even when they aren’t teas I would select for another purchase they are always such high quality and always worth a try.
This is one of those teas which I wouldn’t consider for a large purchase, but that I’m very glad I had a chance to try. It has a very unique flavor. Smooth and mellow, a bit fruity and a little bit of liquor. No astringency at all. A bit light for my personal taste but I did enjoy my cup.

Yet another delightful tea from Mountain Tea Co! This one isn’t as quite floral as I expect LiShans to be, but it’s incredibly tasty. There are still a good deal of floral notes hiding out in there, but there is also a nice brothy character and a bit of cream. It’s more savory than I usually find these types, and I really enjoy it. I’ll definitely be trying the 2015 as soon as I create some more room in my cupboard.

After reading all of the rave reviews of this matcha I had to give it a try. So good call with that experiment, Red Leaf! It definitely worked on me :) I was specifically interested in the floral notes Lion promised in his review. I do love matcha, but some of them can be very vegetal which I don’t love, so floral sounded like a nice option.

So I decided to just go for the full pound option thinking I could toss it in smoothies or baked goods if I didn’t love it. Thankfully I do! It is truly as delicious as the reviews stated. Not bitter in the least and intensely floral, like a concentrated high mountain oolong. It is beautiful shaken in water (a way I generally don’t like matcha) and so so sooo good as a latte. I can’t get enough of it. I do have to say I’m almost convinced it has to be a powdered oolong though, right? I can’t think of any greens (even Chinese greens) that have such intense floral notes.

Admittedly I was unsure of whether to give it 100 or not. On one hand it is absolutely divine! But there are a few cons. Besides the small sample size, it is only available in a 1lb non-resealable bag. And because the floral notes are so strong it really clashes with any syrups I may want to flavor it with. While those are both kind of big issues for me, overall the tea is so tasty I decided to give it the full 100 it deserved. I definitely recommend picking up a sample size if it sounds like something you’d be interested in.

My 200th tasting note! And I can’t think of a better tea to review. I’ve loved every oolong I’ve tried from Mountain Tea, and yet I was still surprised with how divine this one is. Just perfect buttery mountain oolong with incredibly potent spice notes. Cinnamon and nutmeg seem to be close to what I’m tasting. It’s a bit difficult to describe so I highly recommend just buying some for yourself!

Long time no see, Steepster! I’ve been hard at work on a few projects, and have thusly blocked all fun sites from my computer! Yes, ALL. So no Steepster or Chatzy and I miss you all terribly, hopefully I’ll be back soon :)

Anyway… long days of work need lots of caffeine, and I’ve been getting it mainly in the form of cold matcha (soy) lattes. Protein and caffeine, what else do you need? I’ve ordered quite a few flavors from Red Leaf and found I’m not a fan of their fruity flavors, but their dessert ones are always quite nice. So I was a bit unsure about this one since Stephanie mentioned it tasted more like the candied citrus found in panettone, rather than the cake. Well, she was right! Total candid orange peel taste, and it’s divine. Absolutely one of my favorite Red Leaf flavors. Not artificial at all like I find most of their other fruit flavors. This is spot-on and I’m loving it. I’ve tried mixing it with French Butter Cookie and Bavarian Cream matchas to help give some of that pasty flavor, and they’ve both been wonderful. This is definitely a reorder for me. Probably in the large size.

Mine was distinctive flavoring with their standard matcha.

This tea promises honey and it certainly delivers it! I find some sheng incredibly complex where you can list off a dozen different notes. This isn’t especially complex, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly yummy. There’s some hay/straw (are they the same thing?) hiding in there but mostly I’m just getting sweetness. There’s a bit of bitterness that comes and goes, but for the most part it’s entirely pleasant. Though I’m getting to the point where I appreciate a bit of a bite (within reason). It counteracts the sweet aspect well.

Also, I love the cute mystery wrapping. https://instagram.com/p/zvffQCRWFJ/?modal=true You get four of these in the pack and get to pick one at random. I guess it’s not incredibly convenient if you’re looking for a specific tea, but I love the surprise factor. I’m very excited to try the rest of the teas. I’ve been slacking as I got a ton of teas at the same time last week on top of the pu-erh TTB. But these are definitely at the top of the list.