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I’m not usually a big breakfast tea fan, in fact I’m totally baffled by it and don’t understand what makes a tea breakfast type, BUT despite all that I’m enjoying this cup. I got a small bag of it in bulk while tea shopping in California, figuring I’d give it a try since I wasn’t likely to be able to find sample sizes again. This is a really solid heavy tea, relying on heavier base notes. I get a deep smooth malty flavor which isn’t bitter at all! I’ll be interested to see if it grows on me.

I steeped this then poured it over ice for a cool drink. It is very similar to a genmacha with that roasty flavor, but there is something different at the bottom of the sip. Almost plasticy, but not in a super gross way. I have had roasted buckwheat tea before and enjoyed it, but this one isn’t impressing me the way the other did. It’s okay, but I think there are much less expensive options for this at my local Asian market.

Mmmmmm, smells like sun lotion! Not in a bad way, just in that brings me back to my childhood, laying by the pool with my grandmother in the warm California sun while she oiled herself up with Hawaiian Tropic and toasted to a dark brown kinda way. That stuff always smelled so delicious! I’m glad I never tried drinking it. The scent lightens up when steeped. I tried a few sips unsweetened and it was okay, but didn’t really work for me. With sugar, the whole thing perks up. I don’t get too much on the actual sip, but the aftertaste leaves me with this amazing coconut banana flavor! I can taste the tea on the back end of the sip and it has a light feel to it. If I drink it too fast, I don’t get as much of the flavor so sipping slowly seems optimal here. I do wish the banana flavor was a little more intense, but I am known for my odd love of over the top banana flavoring which often doesn’t translate well to other people’s palates. I have to say, this tea is pretty tasty!
Thanks for the sample with my order Butiki!

I love free samples with my order! Thanks Stacy!
This tea didn’t smell like much when dry, but once steeped it is root beer explosion! The flavor is really dead on. I get a tiny bit of rooibos flavor and it seems to only add to the authenticity of the whole thing. I was enjoying it unsweetened and decided to add some sugar to amp it up. The amount I added didn’t make it better, but before the last gulp I added a little more and that seemed to work. It is like there is a sugar dead zone where it works in reverse making it less enjoyable. I’m liking this one and will have to consider picking some up on my next order.

I have been wanting to try this tea since Azzrian’s review about it that made it sound super delicious (I’m so easily influenced) and thanks to Marcel Duchamp’s generosity, I get to try a cup!

I was searching for the steeping instructions but wasn’t able to find any even after looking on White Lion’s website and that is always a little disappointing to not have any guidance on where to start with a tea. I ended up going with a default 1m steep at 185 because that was the generic white tea instructions that I was coming across.

I’m finding this tea to be really subtle, but very smooth. I can just barely pick out lemon and there is a hint of spice, like curry ever so faintly in the background. Each sip is smooth and fades into a light creaminess. Sweetening it brings out a bit of the richness and after a few minute break from the tea, I think I can pick up on a little more lemon than before, but it is still far from bursting lemon that others mentioned. I’m wondering if lemon is one of those flavors that doesn’t hold up well over time which would explain a lot in my lemon tea experience. Still, I’m super glad to have tried this!

This is Zhi’s top rated tea on Steepster and I have been meaning to try it for ages. I’m not much of a straight tea kind of gal, which is why I have been overlooking this one. A couple of weeks ago I was out an about in the neighborhood decided to drop in to Zhi to buy sample after talking about this tea with some other Steepster folk. After that I found myself around the corner at Springdale urban farm during market hours and they had a gal in town selling fresh French and Italian truffles! OMGOMGOMGOMG!!! Two scores in one day!

When the tea is brewed, it has this grassy note to it which is really hard to explain. It is fresh like wheat grass juice, but also dried like hay with an almost puehr based background. When I sip it, I get all those flavors (minus the earthiness of puehr, but with it’s depth) and a slight sharpness on the far back sides of my tongue. It isn’t an unpleasant sharpness at all. I’m eating a chocolate orange scone with it and it really brings out the orange in the aftertaste in a nice way.

I’m really enjoying this for a straight tea! Looking forward to future cups to see if we can become better friends!

I got a couple bags of this tea to try thanks to Skysamurai!

This tea smells really lovely and spicy. I can smell a little coconut in there too. The spices mesh so evenly and well together that they are hard to pick out on their own. I’m guessing cinnamon, cardamon and clove. Drinking this unsweetened, which is unusual but I have been giving it a go more often lately and it tastes alright on it’s own. The clove comes out a little more in the sip and the coconut is pretty subtle acting more like a background creaminess and comes out in the aftertaste. I like it and it is one I’m glad to have tried, but it won’t be making it as a cupboard staple.

I was so excited to see that Lupicia was selling some of their Hawaii only blends online for a limited time! There were two that I grabbed, but I’m wishing I had got one or two others too.

Dry, this tea smells overwhelmingly like bananas and coconut. So much so that it almost makes me ill, but I’m hoping it translates into a well flavored tea. Once steeped, the steeped leaves have taken on a soapy smell. Kinda gross. The tea has some of that soapy smell but it also has a bubblegum scent too. It tastes a little like both with the addition of banana and coconut. I had to sweeten this a little and I added a splash of milk because it just wasn’t doing it for me plain. Okay, here we go… the soapiness is gone. It is still a little gum like, but I think that is the fruity flavors. I’m liking it a lot better now. I think the aftertaste is the best. I’m left with a really nice creamy conana (that has to be the combo word for coconut and banana, right?) flavor. I think I need to play with this some more, maybe try it iced, but I think it has a lot of potential and packs a flavorful punch. The second steep still has a lot of flavor, but it doesn’t differ much from the first cup.

The first time I tried this tea a few days ago I wasn’t in immediate love, but I started remembering and desiring the flavors later, so I’m trying it again. It still had a little bit of a bitter edge to it, but I’m on the 3rd steeping of it now and am liking this steeping the best! It has mellowed out a bit, but still has a bit of flavor. I’m not getting a bold chocolate flavor from this tea, but the chestnut is distinct which seems to go well with the creamy base. I think I’d prefer this in a green base, but it is growing on me.