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A sample of this was sent to me by Teaave, along with an amazing tasting set. By far the most impressive sample set I have ever received. Also, they included a note that said that reviews are appreciated but not expected. That just made me want to review the tea even more.

Oriental Beauty is my favorite oolong, so this was the first sample that I chose. It was a tough work day and I needed some gong fu time, so that is the brewing method. This is my first time using an aroma cup, but I am a believer now. I tried smelling the brewed tea with it and just in the teacup, and there was a marked difference.

The aroma is all honey and nectar, with faint notes of….honeysuckle maybe? I wouldn’t say it smells floral but there is something sweet and intoxicating about it.

Initially I used part of the sample but the first steep suggested I should have used it all, so I did. The mouthfeel is soft and there isn’t the tiniest bit of astringency. There is a great honey aftertaste that has left me sort of smacking my lips.

Overall, a really lovely oolong that has great character. I am hoping to get really tea drunk on it too!

I have to be honest. I didn’t expect much out of the teas that I got from this company, since they were teas that some people who work for me randomly picked online and sent me for Christmas.

Initially they sent a sampler of green teas and I’m not really a green girl, so I took a chance and emailed the company to ask if I could exchange them. The customer service was great. They didn’t even charge me shipping back and were really accommodating about the exchange. Score one!

I bought the sampler that has flavored blacks. I am getting to the point where this lemon is one of my go to teas. It’s really delicious! I was surprised at the POW of flavor since the dry leaf didn’t smell like much. But it is really there. Loving it.

Buddha Teas was kind enough to offer up some tea for reviews, and I accepted. I was surprised when I opened the box and saw that it was bagged tea. Uh oh! Usually bagged teas aren’t very good, but I soldiered on.

Let me say, the packaging is gorgeous. It is definitely eye catching, and of very high quality materials. Really well done.

My next “uh oh” moment came when I read the package and saw that they recommend steeping up to 10 minutes. For this review I went with a shorter steep but at some point will try it the other way.

I have to say, this tea really surprised me. It was really good! I’m not sure that I would have known it was bagged tea if I had done a blind taste test, so kudos on that. In this case, the bag makes it really convenient since it can be used on the go. I love it when I am surprised like that.

I found the tea to have a hearty flavor and that “oolongy” taste (what makes that anyway?) This tea is definitely worth taking a look at. Don’t let the bag scare you!

This is from my 12 Days of Christmas box, which I started ON Christmas Day.

Why? Well I learned that that’s when the 12 days of Christmas actually are (my husband was quite adamant about it since apparently it’s a thing where he is from). Plus, I had the 24 days of Christmas box from David’s Tea, and I liked the idea of doing them both in tandem.

So, today is day 7 of the 12 days. I’m happy so far with all of the varieties included in the box. No tisanes yet! David’s was about half tisanes it felt like, and I gave them away.

Now, one more important thing. I have stopped putting sugar in my teas because I am trying to eat better. But, I still don’t like the straight yet. So I am using Splenda. Yuck, I know. But there you go.

So, on to this tea. It’s not bad! I definitely get pear, but don’t taste the cinnamon. There is a weird aftertaste that I am attributing to the Splenda.

I am sort of amazed at the other reviews of this tea, because I thought it was VILE. Seriously. I am pretty tolerant of most teas but I couldn’t even manage more than a sip of this one. And after that I had to dump it because even the smell of the mug on my desk was turning my stomach. Wow.

The smell of both the dry leaf and the brewed tea was strong, sort of like fake vanilla extract. My husband smelled it and said it smelled like fake butter to him.

After I dumped it I had to put a cleaning tablet in my steeper and completely scrub my mug. I don’t even think I can put this in the swap box, in good conscience.

This was an exclusive, rare, small batch tea and it was great. I feel sorry for anyone who didn’t get to try it. Neener neener.

So I have to have a CT scan in the morning, which means clear liquid diet until about noon. But, tea counts so I’m not even dreading it anymore!

This was from the 24 days of tea calendar, and to,be honest I wasn’t looking forward to it because the reviews are so bad. Surprise. I loved it! 185 degrees, 5 minute steep, some sweetener and this is just a big cup of awesome. I don’t evn eat baklava but I’m considering ordering this.

This is really nice. Sweet, marshmallow, caramel type of nice. I’m not getting much of the base but it seems like a great tea for when you just want something sweet. It smells great, in fact I started to review it before I ever had a drink, forgetting that I hadn’t had a drink yet!

The aftertaste is pure marshmallow, which I’m really enjoying. I don’t feel great today and this tea is giving me a little hug.