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I bought this one to share with the BBBB ladies in the next round and couldn’t wait to try it. I’ve been eyeing it for months and finally caved since I wanted something good to share with the ladies. I brewed this up while I was seasoning my insanely cute new yixing mug. Photo here: http://tastybrewtea.blogspot.com/2013/10/crazy-cute-new-yixing-mug.html

Brewed up, this tea is super chocolaty. And almost like a keemun in its smoke flavor, not bbq flavor, but smokey. I like it and am enjoying it, but am not as blown away as others who have reviewed it. It’s definitely interesting though, very very chocolatey. The keemun notes throw me for a loop though.

My teas arrived from Easy Tea Hard Choice today. The box and packaging are very cute. I pulled this one out first simply because I didn’t know what it was. I brewed up a cup and started drinking it before I read the notes on it. I agree 100% with Dinosara. It’s a little astringent per the brewing instructions and none of the other Taiwan teas I’ve had have had much astringency. Doesn’t work for me with this tea. I think next time I’ll use the same leaf amount but shorter steep times. It’s also not as juicy as the teas from Taiwan Tea Crafts. But maybe if I do shorter steeps I’ll be able to pull out some of the hidden flavors. So far not in love.

I really like this one. It tastes like a cross between a roasty taiwanese oolong and a taiwanese wild mountain black. It’s light and juicy, but with a nice roasty flavor to it. This is definitely going on the reorder list.

Hmmm… I made this one a few days ago and it was amazing. Then I made it just now and it’s not so great. Not sure what I did differently, but I’m not tasting any of the fruitiness of a few days ago. I’ll have to keep track of my steeping parameters from now on.

This is the premium version and is sweeter, lighter, fruitier, and more buttery than the other. Can’t go wrong either way. This one seems like a cross between a Taiwanese Assam and Yuchi Wild Mountain Black. Really delicious.

I’ve had this tea and the premium one a few times now and decided to have them side by side today. What I’ve decided…. This one is definitely more bold and more “Assam” like. Still fruity and super delicious, but bolder and deeper in flavor than the premium one. That being said, I think I actually prefer the premium. I think. I’m not sure. The premium one is a bit sweeter and is really buttery. Tastes so similar to the Caramel Vanilla Assam. It’s also a bit fruitier. I love them both. The #147 is a good first morning tea. I think the other is a great second morning tea :-)

After trying a few new teas that weren’t hitting the mark, I made this. This is such a delicious fall afternoon tea. There is something about it that reminds me of pumpkin pie. I also need to grab one of those “I love leaf hopper” magnets, because I seriously do. Such good little hoppers.

Another tea that’s not for me. I actually liked the first few sips of each steep, but as it cooled, the smoke flavor emerged more and more.

I have really enjoyed my order from TTC. All except this one. If you like raisins, and I mean the really sweet and juicy ones, then you probably would like this tea. But as I don’t like raisins at all, not even remotely, this tea had to be dumped. The second steep wasn’t as raisiny but it still lingered in the background and I couldn’t get past it. This is their most expensive tea, so my tea budget is happy I don’t like it.

My husband just returned from a trip to Singapore and brought me back a few teas. One of them was labeled a Lapsang Souchong. I thought, oh crap, I seriously do not like them. But when I opened it. It smelled amazing. Rich chocolate. Dark roast. Is that normal? I always thought LS were just meat smokey. And I don’t eat meat, so I really don’t like my tea to taste like it. But this one was either mislabeled, or maybe there are different kinds. Cause this one was amazing. Anybody have any insights?

I used my new favorite glass steeper. Perfect 8oz glass mug with glass steeping insert. Pictures here:

http://tastybrewtea.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-favorite-new-steeping-cup.html