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Let it steep overnight to see if that made it even more “intense”. Well, yes, it did, but not in a good way. The mint got sharp and a touch bitter, so I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. Lesson learned. I mean, it’s still spectacular, just not as much so. That’s okay, because frankly, I’ll just make another cup soon that’ll erase away that taste. :)

Much better left to steep quite some time than just steep and drink it. I find this quite mild with both the ginger and the lemon, although it’s still nice… it’s a “nice” ginger and lemon, not a “no-holds-prisoners” kinda ginger and lemon, which I much prefer.

I’ve had this at least four times in the past week, as evidenced that I only have one package left. Boo. Still junky/fake food tea, but oh-so-yum.

I don’t know how to tell you guys this, so I’ll just say it: this is one of the best teas on the planet. It tastes EXACTLY like a buttermint, like you’d expect one to taste. Creamy, dreamy vanilla and a hint of refreshing mint at the end. Like, well, a buttermint. Like a hard candy, but in liquid form… I’ve already had six cups today. It’s that good.

This be some weird ass tea. Hay and burnt apples, that’s what I get from it. Pear? Hm…. pushing it. I’ve cleaned the kettle of all limescale/hard water deposits, so I know it’s the tea. I might? save some for Sil & co to send back, but I’ll likely just leave it here for the family to try out, since tea isn’t terribly easy or cheap to get in Switzerland.

The Australian family that I’m housesitting for loves this chai so much, they had their eldest daughter bring back a few boxes with her, to Switzerland. So, I had to try it.

It smells divine, although it has really large bits and pieces, which I never really find appealing other than to smell – it’s hard to brew a whole cardamom pod or anise star with a tea and not have it overtake the entire cup. I found it… okay. Underwhelming. Didn’t really get much chai anything out of it, and wondered if perhaps I should have brewed it longer? Also though, and this is notable, there’s a ton of limescale here in the water, and I’m sure it’s affecting the taste.

Glad I tried it, doubt I’ll ever go out of my way to again though.

I do love this… I do…. just not brewed with water in kettles swimming with hard limescale deposits.

There’s another Twinings Yunnan in the database already, but, the description, bag and flavors differ greatly, including the packaging, so I’m creating another.

I want to say it’s a standard, solid black tea, yet I’m getting dog flavor again… Have to wonder if it’s the limescale buildup or the fact that I’m housesitting another dog (this time in Switzerland). Otherwise tasty though, nothing terribly exciting.

No idea what this is, as it’s all in Chinese characters except “Yunnan Tuocha Thé”. I’d expected a bunch of mini tuocha’s (which is what I’ve only come across so far) but instead it’s one mondo tuocha, and hard as a rock. Fellow lovely Steepsterites suggested cutting off a chunk with a dull knife, so this is what I did. Well, more like sawed it off, as it was ridiculously dry and hard.

I knew just before I took the first sip that I should have rinsed it first, because it was FISHY. Oh my goodness, like drinking straight fish sauce fishy. FISHY. I can still smell it hours later. Once it mellowed a bit though and cooled down, this was a really elegant, full-bodied, rich puer that I savoured. Nothing WOW about it, but really nice way to spend my afternoon, nursing this one and re-steeping it.

Thick like coffee (well, chicory in this case) I get mostly chicory and ginger, with the feel of cinnamon (as if you took a bunch dry in your mouth?) and that’s about it, although there is cardamom in here I’m sure… it reminds me of the coffee my son’s grandparents make, where they grind cardamom with their coffee before brewing it. Hearty. The darkest brown of any tea I’ve encountered so far (including that mondo tucha I cut up earlier today).