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This tea rocks – it’s like a quick of subtly sweet but mostly spicy tea that really perks you up on a lazy afternoon.

I don’t like many black teas, but I’ve been widening my tastes lately, and what better to start off than dragon balls – sorry – pearls.

These are huge. If you’ve had green dragon pearls before, these are about three times the diameter. They smelled good, I dropped two in a mug, and steeped. I was surprised at how floaty the leaves were. It was hard not to swallow them too, unlike green dragon pearls. I think this was due to many stems in the cup.

The flavour was rich but not overwhelming. It had something in there I can’t quite describe, sort of a subtle fullness. Definitely going to drink again, maybe purchase!

On the suggestion of David’s Tea on twitter, I mixed this with some peppermint tea. Delicious. Really nice – just let the pearls and peppermint sink to the bottom of the cup. I’ll be adding some more pearls next time – four isn’t enough, I think, for my teacup.

Nothing to write home about – I see the “buttery” description others have noted. It’s tea, but it’s not really that descriptive. Kind of leafy, I suppose. Wouldn’t buy again.

This has everything that’s great about chai, but with the edge taken off. It’s then married to everything I like about green tea. Very nice in the afternoon at work.

The lower water temperature is necessary to keep the spice from overpowering the whole tea.

First Steep:
The smell is like an underwhelming version of the odor of the dry leaves. There
is a really deep, musky taste that dissolves into a subtle sweetness reminiscent
of large volumes of high-end jelly beans. It’s pleasant without being too sweet
(at all), but after a few moments, a bitterness joins the aftertaste that is st
raight from a cup of bagged, bitter green tea. Enjoyable in the afternoon, but n
ot by itself worth the high price.

Second Steep:
This had a less intense aroma that reminded me of clover after a rain. It’s sort
of muggy. The taste was less intense, but in a good way. The bitterness from th
e first steep was all but gone. The after-sweetness was also gone. This left the
taste standing by itself. It’s sort of a cloveriness, but it’s really hard to d
escribe. Not bland, but not powerful.

Later, the bitterness returned. This is my first Oolong, so I’m not sure if this
is normal. The jelly bean sweetness returned, too. It’s not bad, and leaves the
tounge sort of tingely afterwards.

Third Steep:
Definitely the best steep so far. The harsh bitterness is completely gone, repla
ced by a sort of coppery tinge that leaves the tonge tingling. It’s not nearly a
s watered-down as I expected, despite the light colouring of the water.

Fourth Steep:
A fine metalic taste to it now. It has little aroma to speak of, but is very clo
very and pleasant. Very light in colouring, but very tastey. Maybe not worth it
at first, but I could grow to appreciate it.

I had this tea late last night, and it was a relaxing experience. Unlike other peppermint tea I’ve had, it was an underwhelming peppermint finish that didn’t overpower the tea. However, it still left the tongue tingling after it went down and made for a very nice night’s sleep.

The second steep, this morning, was just as smooth and delicious, but with a weaker finish. It felt odd to drink it in the morning – I’d classify this as an evening tea that’s good for sharing :)

This was a really nice cup of tea; I just let 4 pearls sink to the bottom of my cup and unfurl – that was certainly a show. The tea tasted a lot like it smelled – sort of an fresh, earthy clover. It was very aromatic I drank the tea while it was still quite hot, so I decided to steep the leaves a second time later on.

The second steep wasn’t great – it was a lot less aromatic and tasted bland, with a tart finish. Definitely worth the price for the first cup, but I wouldn’t re-steep again.