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This sample came from Nicole. Thanks to her and to everyone else who has been willing to send me these Yunnan Sourcing samples. I really appreciate it! I know I have tried this tea before, and I remember enjoying it, so I’m excited to give it a second try. The leaves are medium-sized and they’re rather thin and twisty/curly. Color is jet black. They have a very mild dry scent, just a bit of malt and some sweetness and hay.

The steeped tea smells rich and caramel-y with fruit and floral tones. Mmm delicious. The texture is thick and silky smooth. I can taste a bit of baked bread, but the main flavors for me are honey and caramel, thick and rich. Even though it’s such a rich and sweet tea, it doesn’t seem all that heavy. Perhaps it’s the airy floral notes that start to pop up midway through and linger to the end. It’s a very light and inoffensive floral. Aftertaste is all honey and flowers, yummmm.

Time for black tea! I picked another random Upton sample, and this is what I got. Oddly enough, the dry leaf reminds me a lot of Chinese black tea, both by look and by scent. The leaves are on the small side, but there are a lot of golden tips and a bit of magical fairy fuzz on the inside of the bag. Dry scent is thick and somewhat savory, and it reminds me of the Yunnan sweet potato aroma. There’s a syrupy dried fruit scent that brings me back to Assam as well.

The steeped tea smells quite similar to the dry form – there’s a rich sort of sweet potato-y aroma as well as sweet dried fruit notes. Ooooh! The beginning of the sip is quite savory with a rich flavor that does remind me of a Chinese black. However, the end is all Assam, with strong molasses and raisin notes and a touch of astringency. What a cool tea! The molasses flavor lingers on my tongue in the aftertaste, and it’s so rich and authentic. Tasty. :)

Morning matcha milk! This sample came from cookies, thank you dear! I’ve been using my lovely new Blender Bottle for these, and it works beautifully (plus I love that it has measurement marks along the side and a really wide mouth so I can sift right into it). This matcha milk was 1/2 teaspoon of matcha and 4 ounces of unsweetened soy milk.

The verdict: very tasty! I can actually taste the pumpkin part instead of just spices (although the nuttiness of the soy milk itself probably helps with that). The spicing is quite mild, so honestly this reminds me more of a roasted piece of squash or a baked sweet potato with a bit of brown sugar and spice over the top. Delish! :)

Another late-night tea from What-Cha. I’ve been interested in their Malawi teas since I found them on the website. However, this was the only one that was inexpensive enough to add to my order (I was sticking to teas that were $5 per 25g or under). The leaves of this tea are huge – they’re full leaves and they’re flattened. Color is a warm red/brown with some darker leaves. Dry scent is hay and apricot.

The steeped tea has a very mild aroma, but I can pick up on hay and some stonefruit. This is definitely a very mellow tea (maybe next time I’ll use my usual white tea temperature of 185 degrees). The flavor is very sweet with strong hay notes. I can also taste autumn leaves which makes me think of oxidized oolongs. The package mentions a “gentle apricot taste”, but I don’t seem to be picking up on that. Overall, this has a simple but nice flavor, especially for an evening tea.

Ahhh… So nice to relax with a cup of tea after a long day of being in the kitchen. I generally crave green teas more in the evening, and I remember seeing Oolong Owl’s review of this and thinking it sounds amazing. The leaves are light and fluffy and they vary quite a bit in size; their color is a muted grey/green. Dry scent is hay and an almost vinegary tartness.

Hmm… This is fairly tasty, but I was hoping for those lovely nectarine notes that Owl described. The beginning of the sip is mostly straw/hay and a touch of grass. The apricot (and dryness) starts to come out near the end, and the aftertaste does taste like fresh apricots. Overall, it’s tasty enough, but I was expecting more fruitiness.

Whew, spent a lot of time in kitchen today (and there’s more to come), so it’s nice to sit down and relax with a hot mug of tea. I chose this one to try because it was the first black tea I saw in my What-Cha sample pile. And I’m happy that it was, because now that I think about it, a smooth Chinese black sounds particularly good. The leaves are fairly large and quite twisty, and a dark, warm chocolate brown in color. Dry scent is amazingly sweet with hay and molasses tones.

The steeped tea also smells quite sweet with molasses, honey, and raisin aromas. Mm, wow. This tea has such rich and deep flavor with a dark and comforting sweetness. There’s a bit of malt, but the main flavors I can taste are sweet and rich molasses, a touch of tobacco, and some syrupy, sweet dried fruits such as fig and date. Also some raisin perhaps. Dark and delicious! I would recommend this one to any fruity black tea lover.

Next! This is one of the few teas from my Upton order that isn’t Assam or Ceylon. I’m generally a big fan of Taiwanese black teas, though I think this will be my first Keemun from there. The leaves are somewhat broken and pitch black in color, and they have a fragile, feathery look about them. Dry scent is slightly earthy with sweet hay notes.

This is a simple but fairly tasty tea. The flavor is somewhat strong with malt, earth, and wood flavors. It doesn’t have the harshness that earthy teas sometimes have. It’s smooth and has no hint of bitterness or astringency (gotta love that about Chinese/Taiwanese blacks). I can’t say that this would be a repurchase for me, but I’ll definitely have no trouble finishing my sample packet. This is an excellent tea for mindlessly sipping while distracted by other things. :)

Time to try one from my Upton order! I admit, I chose a pouch at random… All of the pouches are identical with a small white label that tells you the tea name. However, this makes no difference to me as I just ordered mostly a bunch of different Assams and Ceylons, and I don’t remember the differences between them. So, random it is! This is a Ceylon from Tea Bank Estate. I was expecting a much smaller leaf size since this is a Broken Orange Pekoe, but the leaves are actually on par with other Ceylon teas I’ve tried. Dry scent is rich and strong on the molasses.

Mm, the steeped tea smells sweet, malty, and rich with raisin and molasses notes. Yum! The flavor is also deep and rich with a very strong molasses presence. The mouthfeel is thick and smooth, and I’m not noticing much astringency here. I can also taste syrupy dried fruits such as fig, date, and raisin. Yum, overall this is rich and intense with lovely sweet notes. There’s a little bit of astringency, but no bitterness.

Good morning Steepster! Gah, I don’t even know what to do with myself with all of these new teas to try. I have so many black teas to choose from in particular. Oh well, gotta start somewhere! I thought this would be a good first tea of the day because it mentions briskness on the package. The leaves vary a lot in size, and there are pieces of stem as well. In the package, the tea smells somewhat spicy and malty. If I dump some tea into my hand to smell, it smells more mellow and sweet. Odd!

This is one of those teas that just doesn’t have much aroma. And that’s no fault of it’s own, it’s just the way it is. Whoa, this is an interesting one. At first taste, it seems very musty and hay-like. But it becomes creamier and maltier as the sip progresses. The flavor is actually really light and not brisk at all. There’s also a somewhat vegetal flavor, I think? It’s odd, the flavor disappears before I have much time to think about it, leaving just a light malty aftertaste.

Good evening! Trying another one from my What-Cha order tonight. I’m glad that I ordered such a variety of tea types, since that means I can keep trying new teas even when it’s too late to drink high-caffeine varieties. I’ve really enjoyed the lightly and moderately roasted rolled oolongs I’ve tried so far, and this one is reasonably priced so I added it to my order. The pellets are somewhere between green and brown in color, with a warmish hue. The dry scent reminds me of autumn leaves and nuts with a sweet edge. I followed the package instructions and steeped this at 185 degrees even though I usually go up to 200 for roasted oolongs.

Yum, this is a tasty one! Definitely one of the best roasted oolongs I’ve had thus far. The roasted nut notes are strong, and I would describe it as pecan. There’s also a nice caramel flavor mixed with sweet and slightly floral honey. Just a little bit of autumn leaf flavor that can sometimes dominate this type of tea. I can also taste a bit of that “ripe fruits” from the description, and I would describe it as plum or fresh grapes. Overall, it’s very tasty! Love those honey notes.