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Returning to this standard Dragon Well tea, now nearing 8 years in my tea cupboard, and today brewing as directed by the label: western style, 2g leaf in 8oz 175°F spring water (yes, I used a thermometer) for 2.5 min in a stainless micropore infusion basket. The first steeping produced a pale yellow liquor with the lovely umami/nutty fragrance we associate with Long Jing. (The wet leaf had not yet fully expanded, so I know it has more to give.) The flavor was a smooth floral mouthful of mineral and umami, filling the sinuses with a long-lingering aroma, as the flavors also lingered on the tongue. In the second infusion, the now relaxed olive-green leaf burst forth with floral fragrance and flavor in a golden broth that was both slightly bitter (in a good way) and astringent, as expected in a green tea. The umami nuttiness was intensified here and the aroma distinctive. As I continued to sip the cooling tea, it remained almost chewy in nature, and I got hints of sweetness. Flavors remained on the tongue for several minutes and this is a tea worthy of the time spent preparing it! I wished I was sipping with a friend this morning, as conversation would have elicited further enjoyment of the flavor and aroma on the palate. Long Jing is my favorite green tea. I hope you get to soon enjoy some!

I’ve had this bag of shôu carefully stored in its sealed mylar bag for 8 years and it has not appreciably changed in that time, now being 28 yr old. This is a loose-leaf tea that was never compressed and consists of clean chopped leaf dried into short brown threads (<1cm). I brewed as directed by the label: western style with 2g leaf in 8oz 205°C spring water for 1 min, using a stainless micropore infusion basket, after a 10s wash in the same water.

The resulting liquor was deep red-brown in color, and both flavor and aroma were fairly one-dimensional. Petrichor earthiness, autumn forest leaves, slight sweetness, a touch of bitter, and a caffeine kick. Just as Tealyra promised: “drinkable”. No fishiness or astringency, and I couldn’t quite get the mineral notes mentioned by Tealyra. Once I added sweetener and milk. the flavor came alive to present a creamy vanilla taste and fragrance that was quite nice and coated the mouth. That is how I’ll drink this in the future. Offered multiple steeps (more than I cared to drink). I’ll rate this as 50 and recommend it as a value introduction to ripe pu’erh, good for blending and free of major defects.

Followup Edit: I’m obliged to report some sad news— I poured a cup of hot water and added milk and sweetener, only to discover the same notes of creamy vanilla and nuttiness. So I cannot credit the tea for the flavors at all. Generic yellow packet of sucralose and generic lactose-free ultrafiltered dairy milk. :-(

March Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea that taught you something

I have returned to this, now 34 yr old, shôu pu’erh as snow is in the forecast, and a metaphorical chill has broadly fallen upon many of us. As was written by AJRimmer here about a different brew, “I liked it but didn’t love it.” So I added (dairy) milk and sweetener (which I never do for tea), partly in sarcastic humor. “And it was quite tasty!” A creamy aroma with a potent vanilla flavor and unidentifiable nuttiness arose, which was totally unexpected! I may try these additives to other pu’erhs with enthusiasm rather than wit. I learned, thanks to reading the notes here!

Followup Edit: I’m obliged to report some sad news— I poured a cup of hot water and added milk and sweetener, only to discover the same notes of creamy vanilla and nuttiness. So I cannot credit the tea for those flavors at all, and have removed those from my flavor listing. Generic yellow packet of sucralose and generic lactose-free ultrafiltered dairy milk. :-(

Wow this is nice! I had been trying a handful of fruity teas and tisanes from Tealyra, with mixed results. This Ginger Ginseng Chamomile tisane blend made the best fruity infusion I’ve found. Anywhere. I followed the label directions for a western-style infusion of 1-1/2 tsp dry tisane (wonderful dry aroma of chamomile, orange and ginger) in 8oz boiling alpine spring water in a micropore stainless infusion basket for 5 min. Single steeping.

The resulting liquor had a strong golden-orange hue, was crystal clear, and delivered a mostly chamomile and orange aroma. The first sip gave a chamomile overture, with backup melodies of mixed spice. The melodies resolved as a softer chamomile drone with a fugue, starting with a prickly tingle of ginger on the top and sides of my tongue, followed by mint in the nose, sweet orange across the mouth, a gentle zing of slightly sour rosehips, and a whiff of mint. This was then followed by a returning ginger heat on the tongue as the other notes rose into the sinuses. Really, all the flavors and aromas were so well balanced that I’m sure the ginseng flavors were in there, but I wasn’t aware of it taking the lead. Even ten min after my last sip, there was a sweet and warming tail of flavor lingering to be enjoyed. Once reaching room temp, the flavors had flattened out and was mostly ginger and chamomile.

I recommend enjoying this tisane hot and/or warm. I’ll rate it as 95, it was soooo good! I’ll enjoy this on spring and summer evenings, when I need to avoid caffeine. Hope you get to enjoy it!

The more I drink this shou pu-erh, the more I like it! I steeped up several cups of this every morning for the past week. ~5g in 8oz boiling water for about 45 sec. With 4 – 8 resteepings. Each time I was rewarded with dark, thick, creamy and smooth teas, and the chen pi (aged tangerine peel, present in big chunks, 1cm^2 or larger) was a consistent flavor the whole way thru to the final steep, without overpowering! Any wet pile notes are now totally gone, as I’ve kept the broken up cake in a pint mason jar fitted with a filter paper cover to allow air exchange, in my darkened tea cabinet. I’ve been enjoying the other flavors of tea, geosmin, leather, and fresh-sawn oakwood, along with the absence of astringency, lack of putrefaction, non-fishiness and a lovely mouthfeel. It is a potent tea, and one time I let the 5th or 6th infusion oversteep for 10 min, and the brew was so strong I couldn’t drink it! In retrospect, I should have just diluted it threefold, which may be a strategy in the future. Again, I’m upping my rating to an 88, because it is so reliable and yummy!

ICED. Brewed as directed, at double strength, then added an a tablespoon of white sugar, an equal volume of cold spring water, and chilled in a sealed jar 24hr. Result: Cloudy pale yellow liquor with very floral fragrance, but tastes like apple juice with a hint of berry. Flat apple juice, without any bite or zing. Really boring and not recommended—just drink real apple juice! Rating this style a 20, as it may have utility as an alcohol mixer, but choose something high-proof!

COLD BREW. Put 3 tsp dry tisane in a pint jar and added a cup of water. Sealed and let sit on counter overnight, then 12 hr in refrig. Added a cup of cold spring water (no sweetener) and tasted. Result: Cloudy golden liquor. Cidery aroma and the most foul tasting somewhat sour and slightly bitter infusion I’ve ever had. Yuck! Don’t do this! Had an appley aftertaste, but not worth the trouble or nastyness to get there. Rating this style a 5, for a average rating of 31 for the hot, iced and cold brew concoctions together.

There are interesting changes in this year’s lot (Best before 07-2026), compared to previous lots in the past 4 years. The dry leaf in this pouch gave me a wonderful nose-ful of malt and a fleeting whiff of black walnut! I steeped 4g leaf in 8 oz boiling alpine spring water using a stainless micropore infusion basket for 30s, 45s, and 120s, successively without pause.

The first cup was rich with sweet, nonastringent malt and as it cooled, a hint of wintergreen on the sides of my tongue. There was also a stewed stonefruit flavor, a touch of raisin, and every bit of the “assamica” taste that I like and expected. The aroma was lovely, but not as exciting as that of the dry leaf. The second steep was a bit more subdued in flavor and aroma. the wintergreen note was gone, but the stewiness intensified, as a woody flavor arose. The third infusion was disappointing as the leaf had given out and there were only hints of assamic malt, and even the stewiness was diminished. Next time I’ll increase the leaf to 5g, reduce the water temp a bit, and decrease the second steep to 30s. Overall, this a good Ruby Eighteen, even if billed as an oolong. It seems more of a black to me, though there was never any bitterness even in the longer third infusion. I’m going to reduce my rating to 95 for this lot. Still highly recommended!

Upon opening the pouch of “Organic Pomegranate Raspberry” tea, I immediately noticed two things: an incredibly pungent aroma and major stratification of the ingredients. So I tumbled the pouch around a bit to re-blend the contents to uniformity. The dry aroma was so very artificial, and it took me a while to identify it as the exact smell of Wrigley’s Juicyfruit Chewing Gum! Now I happen to like the smell & taste of Juicyfruit Gum, regardless of the artificiality of it, so I was optimistic. Note this contains no Camellia sinensis, so it is not actually tea, but rather is a tisane. Also, it contains papaya with added sugar.

I brewed it up as directed, western style: 1-2 tsp tisane with 8 oz boiled spring water, in a stainless micropore infusion basket for 5 min. The resulting liquor was golden colored and the juicyfruit fragrance had been driven off and replaced by a rather offputting vegetal scent, likely due to the papaya and drumstick tree leaves (Moringa oleifera). As it cooled, the fragrance shifted toward pleasant raspberries and apple, which remained through the rest of my sipping and lingered in the empty cup. While hot, the taste was reminiscent of apple dumpling (without cinnamon), and though inoffensive was not my favorite. As it cooled, the berry flavors reasserted themselves and I enjoyed the improvement! I never really noticed anything like pomegranate flavor, nor pomegranate flowers. I will prepare iced tea with my next infusion and report back on it. Overall, I would give this a Rating of 68, and recommend it to those who like strong fruity flavors. I’m not sure why the ingredient lists both raspberries and raspberry! Maybe for the same reason the description uses the word “perfect” twice in the same sentence?!

One other issue I note: The tea is labeled (but not on the website) as “organic”. I do not believe it, because of the papaya content. Virtually no papaya in commercial global production can be correctly labeled as USDA Organic. Same under EU regulations. (Though the package omits the term “USDA”.) Personally I don’t give a rats tail about organic foods, but I do care about misleading labeling. So take that label cum grano salis.

Just received a new, fresh batch of this tea (Best before 08-2026) and this is a great “vintage” batch! Intoxicatingly rich aroma on the dry leaf, potent, honey-sweet flavors of malt, raisin, stonefruit and that unique “assamic” character, but smooth and non-astringent.

All three infusions merit my highest rating of 100. I have already placed a followup order for more before this lot sells out. I enjoy this even more than the “different eighteen” from Song Tea & Ceramics which I recently reviewed, even with no weight given to the pricing.

I will admit to having been swayed by the Tealyra description and reviews posted on their site. And I had not seen eelong’s tea note here on Steepster — a note that might have dissuaded me from purchasing Rosy Earl Grey. However, I have been captivated by roses and rose scents since childhood, and was eager to try this blend. And I liked it! Mostly. I do also enjoy jasmine scents (and have before remarked on my memories of summertime play amongst the Star Jasmine bushes as a kid in California).

I do wish tea purveyors would be more strictly precise in their claims and ingredients. When a claim of “bergamot essential oil, jasmine, lavender” is made, I expect to find those precise ingredients listed, and not obscured behind the anonymity of “natural flavors” or a vague compound ingredient like “jasmine green tea”. The dry leaf was nicely fragrant of rose petals (not rosehips), and I was optimistic.

I steeped (a single cup) western style, according to direction: 1 tsp leaf in 8 oz (boiling alpine spring) water, for 3-1/2 min, in a stainless microscreen infusion basket. The jasmine aroma was more pronounced in the tea vapors, though I also detected scents of rose and bergamot. While sipping, I found it easy to identify each of the named ingredient flavors, largely in my sinuses, but with bergamot on the sides of my tongue, and with the lavender arriving late to the center back of my tongue in the finish of each sip. I only saw the green tea leaves and smelled their jasmine, but couldn’t really parse out a distinct taste of green tea. Perhaps the green tea accounted for the slight bitterness and bite with a little astringency that I noted (and which Tealyra described, too). The clear amber color undoubtedly came from the black tea content, though it was only barely detected as a flavor. Finally, in the last few sips of the cooler tea, I got a powdery floral hit on the roof of my mouth. Overall, this was a satisfying springtime bouquet that I would recommend and continue to enjoy from time to time, giving it a rating of 75 today, mostly docking points for the use of generic flavorings rather than actual biological components. I prefer a cup of plant origin, rather than the cheating of chemistry, which steals the magic.

I did not detect any notes of bubblegum, as reported by eelong. Thankfully.