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I would write about the aroma of this tea, but I can’t even open the tea before my nose starts to itch. Then I inevitably start sneezing. I think its just a pepper thing. I’m not allergic to pepper, but there’s something about this tea. It’s a strong black tea base. I sweetened it with stevia leaves. You can taste the spice in the back of the throat, but I wouldn’t say its in your face. To have a stronger spice profile, you might need to steep it longer.

I like this tea. It’s rather mild, and it doesn’t seem to have a overwhelming Puehr flavor. I’ll write another note when I drink it again with a rating. It is good, though. It does well with sugar.

This does taste a lot like kukicha. I haven’t had many versions of the latter, but this really has that same flavor after the first steep. I don’t really get any of the spice flavor in the two steeps, and right now I don’t know why I would buy this over a kukicha or even a hojicha. It is interesting to see how oolong teas can vary so much in flavor, but I don’t think I would buy it.

Adding another review. I’ve drunk quite a bit of this tea, and it holds up well to resteeping – and I use a large mug, so that’s always good. I decided to try making some to put in a travel mug. I usually find that my teas aren’t as good this way, but this tea held up well, and it was almost like drinking coffee. I did use a a mug wasn’t used recently for coffee, so I didn’t actually have lingering coffee flavors leak in. It’s just further proof that the tea really does capture those flavors well.

I do find more and more that the smell of the tea reminds me of an ash tray, but I don’t like this tea any less. xD

Oh, this is delicious. I took a while to make this, and so I’m not certain when I say this, but I’m fairly certain it’s from NayLynn. (I checked the notes, and yes, it’s from NayLynn.) I only just started liking the idea of chocolate teas. I realized that I want more of a cocoa flavor in teas than chocolate flavor, mostly because when I drink it, I don’t want it to taste so much like melted chocolate chips, but the bitter flavor of dark chocolate or even like raw cocoa. There’s a flavor here that’s almost like a malt beverage – not that I really know anything about those.

In any case, I think this is closer to what I want in a tea. Not so much the sweet top notes, but the deeper flavor of the cocoa. I wonder how adding cocoa powder to a tea would affect the flavor of a tea as it brews – not to the hot water, but to the tea bag. I want to roughly grind roasted cocoa beans and add them to an assam tea with clove and chile pepper.

I do like this tea. I enjoyed it more than I thought, but I want more of some flavors and less of others. I want less of a dessert tea and more an ode to bitter cocoa.

I bought this tea after I learned about it in the Butiki thread. I am so happy with it. I got it in the mail today and immediately put it in a tin. I only have three tins right now… It has a strong Pu Ehr smell. It’s very earthy, and kind of reminds me of the smell of tobacco, though I don’t smoke. I just remember smelling flavored pipe tobacco once in a head shop. It’s very strong, but in a good way, and you can smell the coffee notes under the smoke.

I rinsed the tea in the tea bag that I put it in, so I don’t know if I did it right, but the tea doesn’t have an overwhelming earthy taste. I like how the creamy notes really shine through. I haven’t sweetened it, but it has a nice sweet taste as is. I think I’ll sweeten it when I brew it a second time, but I really love this tea as is. I’m so sad that I can’t buy more in the future. I would probably have to buy more in the next day or two if I want to get more, and I do need to conserve money. It could be sold out for all I know. I just got this tea in the mail and I need more.

It does have this cigarette taste like second-hand smoke, or like how a frequent smoker’s clothes smell. I don’t know how I feel about that. It’s distinct from the creamy taste, and kind of lingers as the last thing you taste with every sip. I don’t hate it. The creaminess, though. It’s so good, I could cry tears of happiness. I’m going to make more.

Ok, third attempt. I think I can smell the vanilla, but the tea bag was really full. I feel like I have to explain. I put my tea in a tin, but couldn’t fit it all in, so I was left with a little bit extra in the bag. It’s hard to measure tea in the bag, though, when it’s that low, so I gave up and poured the rest of the tea in a tea bag. It was maybe enough for a tea pot. Anyway, I used my large mug. (I still haven’t replaced my elephant tea pot, but it’s a waste to brew tea in a teapot of that size if I’m going to pour a majority of it in one mug.)

Anyway, I don’t really taste the vanilla. Though, I did have a salad earlier with sautéed mushrooms, so I’m really picking up on the mushroom flavors in this now. On a side note, I do want to try the tea with the morels as well. This tea has a depth that I think fits a great forest – not that I’ve been in many in real life. North Carolina is 97% pine forest. I feel like this shows a real forest’s intensity, so now I’m wondering if Mirkwood could possibly taste any darker. Darker, like thick tree canopies and wet soil, not join the dark side, Luke. I imagine that would taste more like vanilla and caramelized brown sugar. Cookies. It would taste like chocolate chip cookies.

Anyway, what I really want isn’t vanilla. What I want is a vanilla drop kick to the face. Maybe I should try vanilla rooibos.

Can I say this tea tastes like Groot? Like the frosted flakes slogan, but instead “It’s Groot!” That sounds worse out loud than in my head. Trees have feelings too. The Ent will never talk to you now.

Second attempt. I used a full tablespoon this time. Steeped it too long, because I forgot about it. I realized what it smells like, though. It kind of smells like barbecue. This does get bitter. I’ll need to be careful with it.

I received this in the mail today. I was pretty excited about receiving this. I even got a North Winds sample with it, so I get to try that tea too. I opened Elderwood, and it smells sort of like sweet potato, but there’s something indescribable about the smell, sort of savory like chips. Maybe like sweet potato chips.

The tea is really lovely. It has a nice golden color. The flavor is pretty dark, and I don’t really taste the vanilla in the first steep. I think the next steep might have a darker color. So, I left it in a little too long. It’s not much darker. I don’t taste the vanilla either, so I might have to use more tea. I am using a large mug, so that could be the issue. So I’ll try more tea next time. I certainly have plenty of it.

I do think this tea has a nice woodsy taste to it. It’s definitely going to the top of my strong black teas list. I’ll write a new review later.

Nicole sent me a sample of this. I do like Milk Oolong, because of the subtle flavor and the floral notes. It’s light like a green tea, but it’s sweeter and doesn’t have an overwhelmingly vegetal flavor. It has a nice buttery taste. It smells a bit like jasmine, and I was able to steep it successfully three times. I’m sure you could steep it more, but I tend to let it sit a while. I enjoyed this.