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Thank you to Sil for this sample, that I am only now getting around to trying. And omg I’m glad I did because this is delicious!

Incredibly rich and creamy – not at all watery tasting like I half expect from anything that’s supposed to be a chocolate tea. I thought I was going to have to add milk and sugar to this, but it’s pretty perfect the way it is (though I’m sure it’d be amazing with milk and sugar.)

Smooth, creamy chocolate, with a hint of nuttiness and yes, I can even see the cherry, though it’s subtle enough that I wouldn’t have picked it out without prompting. Not at all bitter.

So tasty. I think I will need to order some of this when my sample is done.

1tsp, 8oz, 96C, 10min.

I feel like I’ve probably had osmanthus before, but if I have, I don’t recall it.

The dry leaf is small rolled balls of green oolong sprinkled with small bits of orange flowers.

Steeping, I was hit by an intense sweet caramel fragrance, that I initially thought was contamination from last night’s caramelly tea, till I realized I made that in a different steeping basket.

Along with the rich caramel fragrance, there were also notes of peaches and apricots.

The tea brewed up to a clear gold colour, and on the palate tastes of peaches, apricot, hay and that vegetal note that’s unique to minimally oxidized oolongs. A sweet floral note is present in the first steep and became much bolder in the second.

There’s a slight buttery quality to this tea which makes it smooth and creamy. Not a bit of astringency.

A delightful and unique (to me) cup. I used about 1/3 of my sample, and I look forward to trying out the rest brewed in my gaiwan, and with the aroma cup.

Thank you to Tea Ave for the free samples and lovely tea set.

What an interesting tea. The dry leaf looks like a white tea with lots of jasmine flowers, so the intense caramel scent on opening the package is quite a surprise.

The wet leaf and tea soup maintain that intense caramel, but there’s also a vegetal note that’s green beany, which I’m not really loving.

However, the flavour is excellent. Nutty and caramel sweet, with enough of the white base coming through in a vegetal note. Clear golden soup with a medium body and not even a bit of bitterness or astringency.

Definitely not what I would have expected from looking at the leaf – there’s not a hint of jasmine to be found in the flavour or smell, but all in all really lovely.

Oh, I really enjoyed this today. It was smokey, rich and meaty, like broth, with thick dried fruits flavours – dates, prunes and raisins. No bitterness or astringency, just a very satisfying cup.

1tsp, 8oz, 3min, 96C

This is a delicious and unique Darjeeling blend.

The dry leaf is small green pieces of flat leaf and twists. It smells of malt, flowers and that “tea” smell.

Steeped 1tsp for 3min offers a clear amber brew with sweet honey fragrance. The taste is very light, with notes of honey, flowers (rose in particular) and a fruitiness. Quite delicate. There’s a bit of bitterness and astringency that appears at the start of the sip and fades out quickly – I think a slightly shorter steep would serve this one well.

I’ve never had a Darjeeling with honey notes in it before. I’m really enjoying this.

I drank this tonight with lemon juice. I’m not sure the intensity of the lemon and rose work super well together, but it was worth it for the intense purple colour of the tea.

I think I drank this this morning – I barely even remember, it’s been such a long day. What I do recall is that I used the recommended 2tsp, steeped for four minutes, and it was good, but I think it would have been better with 1tsp. It was floral and quite mellow for a Darjeeling – maybe a bit malty? And just a hint of bitterness creeping in.

I’ll need to try it again before I rate it, but I did like it.

Mmm this one is so delicious. Lovely citrus and pineapple candy notes, but not too sweet. Light and refreshing. Pretty perfect for after a children’s birthday party, which was fun but totally overwhelming. I’m not a kid person and being in a room with 15+ kids under 8 was… totally overwhelming. I didn’t even have to do anything but I feel like I could sleep for a week after that.

Drank this last night and it was a lovely cup. A blend of earthiness, herbal and vegetal notes. Very unique.