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Second sample, also from Indigobloom! I was feeling bad for not trying many of the samples she gave me, so I’m making an effort today :)

Eep. The dry teabag had a hint of soapy smell to it. Not a good sign! (Although now that it’s in the water, I’m smelling just oolong. Much better.)

Uh oh! Minus points – I just tried to remove the teabag and the string came off!! An extra minute of steeping followed. Hopefully it can take it. I have to note that the little pyramid teabag is like a poofy pillow with the expansion of the tea leaves! Kind of neat :)

The steeped tea smells mostly of oolong. That’s actually quite promising, because a lot of tea blends are short on tea flavour. I don’t smell pomegranate at all though.

Hmm, ok. The oolong is a bit buttery, but there’s also a bit of astringency. If I try really hard, I can taste the pomegranate weakly in the background. Ok, didn’t even taste it at all that time.

Well, that’s kind of disappointing. The base here was actually pretty promising, but the pomegranate flavour is horribly lacking :( Maybe it’ll show up more when I try the other teabag? As an straight oolong, this is rather mediocre, so the rating will reflect that.

Oh well. Thanks for the sample, Indigobloom!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Indigobloom

Ahhhh so glad it wasn’t just me!!! I couldn’t find the pomegranate either…

Kittenna

Darn, I guess that kind of dashes my hopes for the other teabag. I think I’ll take it to work though – it was an ok oolong, and no-fuss being in a teabag already. Definitely appreciate the sample though! Just wish they were a bit heavier-handed on the flavouring (or pomegranate chunks)!

Indigobloom

yeah the oolong part is good enough, but I to was hoping for more fruit flavour. I’m trying to use up the rest so I can have the tin! lol

Indigobloom

erm where did my note go!? I saw it there yesterday… I went back to check my review… and now it’s gone? :/

Kittenna

I was looking for your review and couldn’t find it! (And was surprised!)

Indigobloom

It must be a bug. Not the first time that’s happened to me but now I know for sure it isn’t my imagination!

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Indigobloom

Ahhhh so glad it wasn’t just me!!! I couldn’t find the pomegranate either…

Kittenna

Darn, I guess that kind of dashes my hopes for the other teabag. I think I’ll take it to work though – it was an ok oolong, and no-fuss being in a teabag already. Definitely appreciate the sample though! Just wish they were a bit heavier-handed on the flavouring (or pomegranate chunks)!

Indigobloom

yeah the oolong part is good enough, but I to was hoping for more fruit flavour. I’m trying to use up the rest so I can have the tin! lol

Indigobloom

erm where did my note go!? I saw it there yesterday… I went back to check my review… and now it’s gone? :/

Kittenna

I was looking for your review and couldn’t find it! (And was surprised!)

Indigobloom

It must be a bug. Not the first time that’s happened to me but now I know for sure it isn’t my imagination!

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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