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I have to finish this bag as I bought it few months ago and I discovered that I’m not a big fan of chocolate in my tea. This bag has been progressing slow but I’m almost done with it. Just another serving is left so the next time I reach for Banana Dream Pie it will be a sipdown.

I remember I ordered this tea because of allure of the banana. I can’t say that I taste much banana though. It’s mostly black tea base and chocolate flavour.

Overall a tasty tea but not my favourite.

Sipdown!

I got this sample with my first ever Teavivre order last week. Only one packet… 7 g of tea… I wanted to make sure I did everything right. There was no room for error.

I opened the package and smelled the dry tea. The scent was largely vegetal with a hint of creaminess. I wanted to compare so I popped open the package of Quangzhou Milk Oolong from David’s Tea, the only other milk oolong that I’ve tried. DT’s milk oolong dry tea smells very sweet and milky.. there is no doubt about it and very different from Teavivre’s.

I agonized how to prepare this milk oolong. Teavivre calls for boiling water, whereas I’m used to steeping milk oolong at 82C. After reading some of the reviews on Steepster I decided to steep it at 82C because some people did notice that the subtle milkiness of this tea was compromised when steeped over boiling water.

1st steep: 7g of leaf, 8 ounces of water, 82C, 3 minutes. I wanted to do shorter steep but noticed that at 1 or 2 minutes mark the leaves didn’t even unfurl. Given that I was steeping at a lower temperature I decided to give the first steep full 3 minutes.

The resulting liquid was pale green/yellow with delicate vegetal and floral scent. The tea itself tasted delicious. It was smooth, vegetal, slightly floral with a hint of a cream. The milkiness of this tea is definitely more subdued than that of David’s, you can’t really compare. I’ve come to the peace with a fact that David’s milk oolong is probably infused at some point of production, just like many other milk oolongs probably are. What I’m tasting in Teavivre’s milk oolong is natural milkiness, I’m quite sure of that.

2nd steep: 82C water, 4 minutes. The leaves are beautifully unfurled now… they take up most of the space in my little steeping pot. The liquid is still pale yellow but stronger than the first steep. All the flavours from the first steep are still present although I think it’s less creamy now. Still very delicious though and full of body. I detect lovely, very well balanced astringency throughout the sip. Given another chance I think 3 minute second steep would have been sufficient. This tea packs a lot of flavour.

Overall this is delicious tea definitely deserving of a shelf space. It’s so different from DT milk oolong though, I would have to own them both to be perfectly content. I definitely couldn’t replace one with the other.

Edit: 3rd steep 82-85C, 3.5 minutes. The milky flavour is back in all it’s glory. I think I definitely over did the second steep, should have stopped at 3 minutes.

Today I’m taking a hike through a forest. It’s early spring, the air is warm and the sweet, wet wood scent is emanating from every pore in a ground and every single tree around me. Delicate, new arrivals are poking their heads through the fertile forest floor ready to thrive and bask in sun’s life giving rays. The world is awaking, the early spring flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping.

When I open my eyes I realize it’s all an illusion. The world around me is covered in a foot of snow, the air is cold and unforgiving and there is no trace of sun rays anywhere. My illusion? A cup of hot, tasty, smooth Master Han’s Shu Pu’er.

I close my eyes again and continue sipping and dreaming…

Sipdown!

I’m kind of sad that I only had one sample because this was quite delicious. I tasted predominantly pineapple and coconut with a hint of citrus along the way. I steeped it hot but I can imagine this would be amazing iced like other reviews suggest.

I think I might keep this one in mind for future purchases. Very yummy.

Mmmm… this is good. Aromatic, smooth, perfectly balanced pu’erh. Delicious every time. :)

Mmm… this is exquisite tea. I’ve only ever drank the Teavana Silver Needle and was waiting anxiously for Teavivre one to arrive to finally be able to compare.

The first difference that struck me was that Teavana Silver Needle buds are of yellow-green color while Teavivre Silver Needle is more green in color. It also smells more vegetal and steeps more vegetal.

I used one full tablespoon of buds for 8 ounces of water and steeped it for 5 min. The result was pale yellow color liquid with fragrant, floral scent.

This wonderful tea is slightly sweet, vegetal, floral and full of delightful honey notes. Oh, how much I love the honey notes in Silver Needle. Comparing it to Teavana’s, it has more flavour. Putting it simply… it’s better.

It’s delicious… just so incredibly delicious. A+ Teavivre.

I am slowly learning that I’m crazy about oolongs, so when Verdant announced they are bringing this one back after it’s been such a success back in December, I jumped at the chance to try it. I ordered 2 ounces and yesterday it finally arrived.

I didn’t want to try it in any way other than gong fu method. I’ve never brew tea this way so this will be a whole new adventure!

1st steep: 4 g of leaf in 6 ounces of water. I’m very clunky at this… I measure the leaf while I boil the water… then I pour the boiling water into my steeping pot and pour right out. The pot is hot. I add the leaves and pour boiling water in again to rinse the leaves…. Pour it out quickly. Pour the water back in wait 3 seconds and strain ready tea into my little teapot. Phew…. did I do it right? I see how this could be a lot of fun once you know what you’re doing and you’re not petrified to screw something up… lol

The ready tea is pale brown in color and fragrant in scent. It also smells a little roasty. Taste wise is delicate and smooth. I’m picking up floral notes.

2nd steep: The wet leaves smell like dinner! No, I’m not joking. They smell like ghormeh sabzi. Sabzi is a persian dish made of mostly greens with some beef, kidney beans and dry lime. I’m smelling the green herbs in sabzi… yum!

Ok, this time I steep for 5 seconds… The resulting liquid is darker brown and the tea smells much more roasty now. It’s very smooth and very delicious, a lot more flavour this time, I pick up caramel notes. I’m liking where this is taking me.

3rd steep: 8 seconds… Pretty much very similar to the second steep… Roasty scent, roasty flavour with hints of vanilla and caramel. I’m picking up some coffee notes as well. I know my palate is not trained enough to pick up everything this tea is throwing at me, but that’s ok, I like what I’m experiencing so far.

4th steep: 15 seconds…. I’m picking up fruity notes now and the roasted flavour has diminished

Overall, this is fun. I could totally steep my tea this way, it’s like an adventure. And this tea… is very delicious, they were not joking. I will definitely play with tea amount and steeping times.. I think I would like it to be a bit stronger so next time I’m thinking to add a little extra leaf.

Mmmm… this is yummy. It’s a brand new arrival to my cupboard and I’m glad I got it. Having not tried this before, I was taking a chance ordering 50 grams… but sometimes you just have to trust your gut, right?

Dry tea smells like mango and vanilla. Lovely aroma.

Once steeped I detect chamomile, mango and vanilla notes. Mango is the predominant flavour just like the name would suggest. I love mangos.

Overall, this is delish. :) Now I have pineapple tisane, mango tisane and if I only could find me something with pear in it… hmmm

Oh, this is so so so GOOD!!

There you have it… my first reaction. Now lets examine this more calmly….

So FRIGGING GOOD!

No but really, this is some great tea. I received it today, my first ever order from Teavivre. The tea was packaged well. First I opened the big bag and found many little vacuum sealed bags inside with about 7 grams of tea in each. I took out one of those vacuum sealed bags and popped that open to reveal beautiful pearls of green oolong tea in another little plastic bag. I popped that little bag open and smelled the aroma. Aaaahhh… Vegetal, grassy, spinachy… yummy! It smelled great!

I used 2 full teaspoons… about 6 grams of tea in 8 ounces of boiling water for 1 minute. The result was pale yellow liquid with a strong floral scent. Simply divine… If it tastes the way it smells, I’ll be in paradise.

Yes it does. It tastes wonderful… Slightly vegetal and very floral at the same time… I detect orchid and jasmine notes. A tiny bit of astringency tickles my tongue towards the end of the sip and I find that lovely.

I’m enjoying this very, very much.

I finally decided to try this after receiving it as a sample with one of my DT orders and reading not so great reviews about it.

I steeped it according to directions, 1 teaspoon in 8 ounces of boiling water over 4 minutes.

I don’t really know what to say because this is first time I’m drinking straight Assam, knowing that it’s Assam. I don’t really know what Assam should taste like. This one tastes ok I guess, but doesn’t blow my socks off. There is a little sweetness to it, as well as some malt and floral notes that I like. There is also astringency typical to tea and I like that as well. What I’m not crazy about is the strong aftertaste and the dry mouth feel it leaves me with every sip.

I’m going to defer my rating for now because I think I’m not qualified to talk about quality of this Assam. Not until I have more experience. I can say though that a good Assam is probably something I would really enjoy so I can’t wait to finish this sample and branch out… see what else is out there. :)