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I needed a more diversified hit of caffeine this morning, and as always, Dinosara provides! The raspberry scent of this one is very strong and juicy. It’s cut with the smell of orange-flavored vitamin C tablets in the dry leaf, but gets a little better when brewed. The raspberry blends well with the rose undertone (neither of which are too strong in the tea, just a pleasant compliment). The citrus really only lends a brightening hand. I’m just super glad there is no hibiscus in this. I feel like I’ve never had a raspberry tea without hibiscus, and I keep expecting it, but it’s not there and I keep being pleasantly surprised!
Overall a very drinkable tea. The flavors are coming out more as it cools. Reminds me of the raspberry jam in the middle of filled donuts!

Hmmm… Not that great. I just had a big cup of my Upton Rose Congu in the morning, then this in the afternoon, and it reminds me a lot of the not-so-great aspects of the congu, namely the heart-burn-y black tea-ness, minus all that is malty and good about the congu. Drinkable, but not a fan. It has a touch of minerality like many oolongs, but if I had drunk it blind I wouldn’t have classified it that way. The truth is that I just like green oolongs. If it isn’t tightly rolled, it isn’t for me?

This is a really good flavored tea. I don’t taste the oolong much, but it is unobtrusive and serves as a smooth, perhaps slightly floral green base for some really good flavor. This combo is very refreshing, but also stately. Imagine the scent of a potpourri made from rose petals and citrus peel. Now imagine neither of those were dried and you were tasting them in a slightly muted form instead of smelling them, in addition to a brightness or zesty-ness that makes you think of soda-fountain dresses and bright sunny days. I really, really like the flavor of this tea!
And the flavor just keeps on keepin’ on as well: three un-timed steeps, well over 7 minutes cumulatively and these leaves still have flavor to give. I believe the first time I drank this I did a 45 second steep, which was very intensely citrus-y, followed by two or three more additional steeps, adding 30 seconds each time. The citrus mellows out but the rose and sweet citrus keeps on going.
Best part about this tea is that it is super cheap for how good it is, 2-3 bucks and ounce, I think. I am all over it!

I just got a sample of this and I’m glad I did. Dry, this tea smells like bergamotty cookies!
The taste is pleasantly strong if you steep it for half the time recommended on the package. The flavor reminded me of lemon biscotti with vanilla icing on it, and was improved by a dot of sugar. It’s not a zesty or tart lemon, much more like lemon that has been baked in a cookie. The vanilla became more evident with sugar and when the tea had cooled.
Overall it is a pleasant experience, but it is so flavorful/robust that I have a hard time drinking it without milk, and I’m not a fan of milk in my tea!

Sipdown of this sample, which I have really enjoyed. If brewed improperly (too hot of water), it’s a bit too roasty (at least that’s what I remember from months ago).
This is a slightly roasted green and tightly-rolled oolong with a sweetish osmathus scent that tends more towards jasmine than did the Osmanthus Tea. The base is much better, though: a decent oolong with a nice long aftertaste that is minerally, like cucumber. A very pleasant cup.
I got two steeps out of it, just so the leaves would unfurl all the way, but the second wasn’t as sweet.

First things first, I think this tea is either a replacement or renaming of the pineapple oolong from the same company. I created a new tea to reflect what I ordered off their site: www.tealicousllc.com
This tea looked to have a lot of potential for me. I love my oolongs on the greener side, and this was one of the few samples I bought from Tea Licous that was not on their formosa base.
Unfortunately, this tea is artificial-tasting while hot. It smells quite nice and tropical, but the flavor has that chewable vitamin-c tab/flinstone vitamin flavor of ‘fruit’ smoothies that have no actual fruit in them. Sugar helps a little, but just masks the bad a bit.
On the other hand, this is tasty business when cold-brewed! I brewed about 1.5-2 tsp in 24 oz for 10 hours last night and it came out sweet, lightly floral, and definitely tropical. The flavoring was toned down quite a bit in favor of the florals, and that helped a lot. It was very yummy and I drank it up quicker that I usually do (I couldn’t keep away from it at breakfast time, so refreshing!).
Another quite cheap option that I may consider just for the cold brewing shelf!

I really hated this tea when I first tried it. It was bitter and awful, with the overwhelming flavor of burnt flower petals, like someone boiled away a generic Chinese restaurant tea until nothing but the bare kettle remained.
I realize now that I was just destroying a perfectly fine green tea with boiling hot water. Now that I have my fabulous fancy kettle, this is a decent osmanthus scented cup.
The osmathus is not terribly strong. It reminds me of a less perfume-y jasmine, much sweeter, but I still wound’t describe this tea as sweet like I would some oolongs. More like the memory of sweet, like how you can almost taste a sweet smelling flower without physically doing so. The flavor is also most prevalent on the sip. The aftertaste is slightly astringent but strongly reminiscent of steamed veggies. Like you ate stem of a steamed artichoke.
Pretty good overall, I’d like to find it at an upscale restaurant, but nothing I would buy quantity of. Now that I have the brewing temp right, I think I will enjoy the rest of this sample.

This tea smells so amazing. No other tea has captured the passion fruit smell quite so perfectly as this. The florals blend well, also. My problem with this tea is the base, which contributes a slight sweetness but also bitterness that is difficult for me to get around without sugar. As it cools, it is much fruitier. The blend reminds me of a lighter-flavored Bali, but with a base that I just cannot brew right. Dinosara has suggested taking some home and cold-brewing it, which I most definitely will be doing, because with the smell of this tea when it was brewing, cold brewing can only be awesome.
I got a second brew out of it, but it was more bitter. Full sugar cube went into the cup and it is much more tolerable, fruity, and a little more rosey than the first steep.