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I drank this one immediately after the “Vietnam Red Buffalo Oolong”, and in that one I detected what I thought was a hint of cinnamon. THIS one also has that taste, but much much stronger, so I thought for a second I’d somehow cross-contaminated! But nope, it just really has a strong spicy-cinnamon note to me. When my roommate smelled it however (she didn’t taste) she said “smokey” instead. So I drank again, and after thinking on it, I suppose it’s possible I’m interpreting certain “smoke” flavors as “cinnamon”. I’ve had some bad run-ins with icky “smoke” tasting teas, but I like this one, so perhaps my mind is just trying to give the “good” ones a different word than “smoke”. Anyway…food (or drink) for thought!

First steep of this I get a very prominent floral taste. No astringency or bitterness, just flowers, flowers everywhere, up my nose and in my mouth. Haha. It’s also a wee bit cinnamony/spicy, sort of in conjunction with the floral.

This is an interesting tea. What-cha describes it as “aniseed” and I agree, but it’s very subtle and you forget about the licorice taste easily. It also has a faint, faint scent/taste I’ve come to associate with pu’erh. Earthy/green/barnyard. I am not at all a fan of pu’erh, but the taste/scent here is so subtle I’m intrigued by it instead of repulsed (as I usually am). I wouldn’t make this a daily-drinker, but it’s good if you want to change things up.

Note: I believe I reviewed a version that came from a different source than the other reviews. What-Cha’s site said this year’s (2016) is from a different supplier, and I didn’t encounter the issues others had.

So, I was looking for a chocolatey tea, and this hits the spot. I managed to set off the fire alarm while making dinner, which meant my first pot of this steeped far longer than I’d intended. Despite this, no bitterness at all, just smooth and rich with a cocoa taste.

…and it goes better with frozen pizza than you’d expect.

I used 4 pearls for an entire pot of tea, and there was plenty of taste.

My first steep of my new batch had a slight floral scent, and a somewhat nutty apricot-like taste. Second steeping the nutty taste was gone and apricot was stronger.

I like how the scents/tastes are distinct and change so much between steepings. You won’t necessarily get the same thing as you tasted before, but what you get next will be good too.

Interesting tea. It has a complex and strong scent to it, but the taste itself is somewhat bland to me. I can’t quite articulate what the scent is, except that I’ve smelled it before…I almost want to say mineral chocolate without there actually being any chocolate smell. Would that maybe be malt instead? It’s not earthy, it’s not nutty, it’s “not” many things…

I don’t know. It’s not a terrible tea, I just struggle in explaining what it IS, instead of what it ISN’T.

You know…I think the scent is similar to a cinnamon-tasting tea I had, except there’s not really a cinnamon taste to the tea. It’s has a similarity to the scent of a cinnamony tea I had, minus the cinnamon. But I suppose that’s another round of saying what this tea isn’t, instead of what it IS.

This’ll be my new puzzle as I try to figure it out in future steeps. I’m pretty sure it’s just because I haven’t had enough organoleptic training…

Has a chocolate taste. Delicious.

I’ll elaborate once I’ve tried it a few more times. But my first impression is definitely, “Yum!”

An ok tea. I mistakenly got this thinking it was NOT flavored (it does not mention flavor as an ingredient on the site), but the label says it has flavoring in it. So I’m a bit disappointed in that.

Floral and creamy scent and taste. It’s a very mild, non-bitter, non-astringent tea. It does taste like there’s a bit of cream or milk in it, even though I only added sugar to mine.

It’s not a bad tea, but given there’s added flavor and the price is higher than other teas from this vendor, I probably won’t be getting it again once I finish the 50g I bought. It’s not quite the flavor profile I was looking for either…I wanted something that tasted “nutty” and this doesn’t quite get there.

Get this if you want something smooth, mild, and pleasant. It’s sort of like getting a hug from a well-mannered grandma.

Delicious. The other reviewers have already given reviews/tasting notes more eloquent than mine, so I’ll keep mine short. It’s a great tea, no bitter or astringent tastes at all even when I let it steep for forever in an effort to wring the last little bit out of the leaves, and smells and tastes like cocoa. It’ll be going on my “must buy” list for the future.

A little goes a long way!

So, I got this Tie Guan Yin because I wanted to see how well it matched another Tie Guan Yin I’d had previously. I actually think What-Cha’s Ding Dong Oolong matches what I was looking for better, but not because THIS tea is bad.

The tea comes rolled into little dry balls. I made the mistake of adding too many to my teapot, and when I came back to look at it—leaves, leaves everywhere! Almost spilling out of my diffuser. The little balls had rehydrated into HUGE tea leaves. I felt a bit put-out I’d used too much, but I recovered the leaves and will use them for a second pot later…I’ll just use fewer of them. (Still surprised how big they are…two or three teaspoons of dry ended up being split between FIVE small teacups when I took them out to save for later.)

Anyway, the tea itself has a wonderful floral aroma. I steeped a little longer than I intended to…I was aiming for 2 minutes, I think it ended up 3 or 4. Didn’t harm the tea, it had no bad notes and no bitterness, just ended up stronger than I’d intended.

It’s a good tea. I use sugar with my tea, so I don’t know what it’s like without it, but it definitely matches the description—vegetal with sour finish. Not an unpleasant sour. And the floral smell/taste is great. It’s a bright, cheerful tea, if I can say that. :)