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Overall this is a nice ripe tea. The fermentation taste has nearly completely faded despite the fact that there is no taste of wet storage. The tea liquid stayed a nice clear amber throughout all seven steeps. I am going to brew some more for photographs with my two flash setup but probably won’t end up drinking the rest but who knows sometimes cold shou tastes good. This was not a spectacular tea but was overall a good performer. I didn’t get any chocolate notes but there was a distinct fruity taste even if I can’t pin it down to a specific fruit. This was overall a sweet tea with little bitterness. At only $35 this one is definitely worth the price. I would not be surprised if it could be found cheaper on Taobao but then you have to pay an agent.

I steeped this tea seven times in an approximately 180ml Yixing teapot with 11g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. This one I gave a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 25 sec.

Today I am drinking Earl Grey from Adagio Teas. I didn’t buy online but found this at a local Bed, Bath, and Beyond that has a decent selection of teas including some loose. This one is reasonably good but nothing spectacular. It has a strong taste of bergamot oil.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Teat Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 minutes.

This is a reasonably good ripe tea. But it did not taste as good as I expect an $85 tea to taste. There was a strong bitterness initially along with a mottled sweet note. The bitterness was noticeable for about three or four steeps. There was a fair amount of fermentation flavor. I would say it lasted five steeps. Only gave this six steeps so far as I was steeping it in a big tea pot. I have been buying teapots lately that are too big for gongfu but look good when I photograph them. My endeavor in tea photography is going quite well. I have not bought many new teas lately because I have been spending my money on upgrading my camera gear. The new camera I am waiting for has nearly medium format resolution. In the end I did enjoy the tea and will probably go back for more after I photograph my tea session. The pictures I release on Instagram do not do justice to what I am able to print in large 13 × 19 format in very high resolution.

I steeped 14.8g of leaf in boiling water in a 200ml Yixing Teapot. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, and 20 sec.

Bought this again and I am told it is a new formulation. It is a very nice flavored black that I bought more to make iced. This morning I am drinking it hot. It has passion fruit, mango, and kiwi as far as the fruit goes. They blend well together so I can’t pick apart one flavor. Overall this is a very good tea.

I brewed this one time with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 minutes in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker.

This is a nice mildly sweet tea. The taste of the pear is not as strong as I would like. It is good though. I am happy that Clipper Ship Tea Company is back in operation even if it is only a small store with limited selection.

Brewed this one time with 6 tsp leaf and 175 degree water in a 16oz glass Teavana Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper for 5 minutes.

Went to Clipper Ship Tea Company’s temporary store that is located in the back of an art gallery. Their store has still not been brought up to code after the fire. They had a more limited selection but I found a few teas to purchase. Decided to try this one to see if I liked it. Trying it now because it is caffeine free. It is a fairly decent mix of flavors with the lemon flavors the strongest and a bit of a sour tang from the grapefruit. It does not taste heavily of chamomile. It also doesn’t taste heavily of rooibos. It is a nice tea to drink when it is too late for caffeine.

Scott has made another good one in this. There was still of course a lot of fermentation taste. But I didn’t find that taste unpleasant or fishy. There was very little bitterness and a nice slightly muted sweetness. Not really sure if I would say chocolate notes as I was not paying close attention to this one I was just enjoying it. The sweet taste after eight steeps might be characterized as fruity but that is an interpretation. Overall this is a very nice tea. I could see myself picking up a tong of this at some point.

Brewed this eight times in a 180ml yixing teapot with 13.5g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 seconds.

Bought this a few weeks ago when Tao Tea Leaf was having a sale. It is a fairly nice tea. It is probably not as strong as I expect a breakfast tea should be. It has a malty note and I would say a bit of a fruity note. Overall a nice tea. I am being lazy this morning and steeping my tea western style. But breakfast teas were really meant for this kind of steeping anyway.

I brewed this tea one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

Got a free kg of this tea from Vahdam teas today in their 500cups contest. I had hoped for ten different teas but they sent a kg of the same tea. This tastes a little different to me this time. It is still good but I am noticing some grassy notes to it. Not something you expect from a black tea but in my mind first flush Darjeelings are not black teas. They are definitely processed differently. I think in fact that First Flush Darjeeling should be considered a seventh type of tea. They are that unique to my senses. I have drank all of the six types of tea and these don’t taste like any of them. I don’t know that I can finish this amount of one black tea but I will certainly give it a try. The only black tea that I can remember buying anywhere near a kg of would be the pressed black tea cakes from Yunnan Sourcing. This is overall an excellent tea.

I steeped this tea one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

Picked this cake up from King Tea a month or two ago. It is a pretty nice ripe overall. It had some fermentation flavor but not much. What was there was not unpleasant and certainly not fishy. I wasn’t really paying attention to the specifics so it is hard for me to say that there were chocolate notes, but drinking this last bit that had time to cool as I was photographing my tea there is a fruity note that developed. Hard to pin it down to a specific fruit though. Overall this was a very nice tea and if I remember correctly it was not too expensive. I will certainly drink this again.

I brewed this tea twelve times in a 175ml Yixing Teapot with 13.6g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes.