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Smells exactly like a rich caramel frappuccino from Starbucks. It tastes a little more subdued, like some kind of “health” drink. I wouldn’t drink it straight, but it might be baller with some milk. Love it as a decaf version of a breakfast coffee au lait.

Was browsing green teas at Red Blossom Tea Company this weekend. The dry leaves of the Spring Mao Feng 2015 smelt beautiful –– even nicer than the super buttery premium Dragon Wells. It was a harmonious blend of grassy and buttery.

Unfortunately after steeping, it tasted mostly grassy. Slightly toast buttery but more grassy. Not a bad green, but I went with the Pre-Rain Dragon Well instead.

My sister bought this.

Much too sweet for everyday drinking, but probably good as a dessert digestif… except that it’s a black tea and I’m sensitive to caffeine so I won’t drink it after dinner. It has a very artificially sweet smell like a cheap chocolate candy. The odour of this tea clings to my Thermos and it took me 5 days of washing and soaking to get the smell out.

I’ll try it with milk at some point, but I’m guessing this one won’t be coming out very often.

Got this at Contraband coffee shop, nice loose rolled leaves in a large infuser.

Tasted pretty subtle and bland, with a nice fragrance. Am beginning to realise that all Jasmine greens are pretty bland so I might give up on them unless I find something really great.

UPDATE: Brewed it with correct parameters this time and it’s just a very mellow, pleasant comforting vanilla rooibos even if nothing to write home about. Increasing rating to 65.

Fairly smooth and drinkable, but a sort of dull, earthy, acidic aroma as opposed to a truly inspirational fragrance that the best rooiboses have. I used boiling water with maybe double the leaves required. Will try again with the proper amount. Rating: 62

Didn’t like it. Bland with a slight medicinal / mushroom odour. It wasn’t totally undrinkable, but I can’t think of a time when I would actually crave this tea. I wish they would make this more like a soup broth. It could potentially be pretty good with more umami in general… but I have tried adding salt and pepper and it was disgusting and I had to throw it out.

After steeping, you’ll notice a lot of bigger stems in the leaves. This tea smells sensational, there’s a strong flavour of butter popcorn and it’s smooth to drink. Probably the butteriest oolong I’ve ever tasted.

This was only my first time at Red Blossom Tea Company, but they seem to carry a lot of buttery tasting teas (greens and oolongs at least). My partner bought this so there will probably be future tasting notes as we brew this at home.

This second time brewing Eighteen, I lowered the temperature (waited 1 minute after boiling) and steeped it for a shorter time (1 minute, adding 15 seconds with each infusion).

First infusion: Smells wonderful. Still tastes a bit bitter, but the bitterness disappears when I pair it with my blueberry scone and it becomes a nice drinkable breakfast tea.

Second infusion: Perfection. No trace of bitterness any longer.

Third infusion: Similar to my first tasting of this tea, the fruitiness / sweetness is mostly gone and there’s just a fragrant vegetal tea scent remaining in the leaves and liquid.

A straightforward, wonderfully drinkable black tea. Very smooth, not bitter, full-flavoured and not weak. A go-to decaf tea for me. It smells more fragrant and tea-like than my Harney & Sons Decaf Earl Grey.