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I realized rather late that hubby and I really had not had supper. I steamed a good plateful of asparagus, added a bit of butter and lemon pepper, and made a pot of this tea western style. It was very mild, almost too mild. I didn’t wash the leaves. Perhaps I should have awakened them. It was good, just….very quiet. I also understeeped a bit because I didn’t bother to read the instructions for this one.

Second steep: now it is a bit stronger! Boiling water, five minutes, just like their web site says, rendered a medium yellow liquor with a hint of orange color. The flavor is now more woodsy without tasting like a dark oolong. For some reason I thought this one had osmanthus flowers dried with it, but it does not. It has a natural osmanthus flavor. We have had 44 ounces of this and I must confess to having had the most.

After the asparagus was gone, it was sipped along with a Tibi marzipan creme chocolate bar that my daughter brought me from Hungary. Only two squares, though! I will savor this slowly! Delish!

My friend who is trying to learn to like green and oolong teas is on spring break right now, so we are getting together to do yoga and drink tea every day!

Yesterday’s tea was this oolong from Tin Roof Tea. They used to source everything from TeaGeschwender but now use several different German companies for their tea.

We steeped this western style and made two pots. We have another winner for our tea convert. Hooray! She really liked it. And what’s not to like? This has such rich, full flavor. It is very smooth, not astringent, and resteeps well.

I sent some of Teavivre’s Jasmine Dragon Pearls home with her and based on the text received last night, I will probably be ordering some of that for her as well! Since I have lots of ironing to do for hubby, I better go make a pot for ME right now. :)

My friend who is trying to learn to like tea other than black tea and puerh came over today to try this. She loved Silky Green from Bird Pick and asked me to order some for her but she wants to try even more. This one was on her list to try because she loves to buy organic and the honey is supposed to come from bees kept around the tea plantation.

I used one pouch of leaves in a six ounce gong fu pot. We probably made six steeps before we stopped. The first steep tasted strongly of oats to me, like Cheerios. Each steep became sweeter until I was getting that plum aftertaste I had with their Chun Mee. And the best part is that my friend really enjoyed it and is expanding her horizons! We have agreed that we want to protect our arteries so we will still know each other’s names when we get old!

I served this last at tea time today. I didn’t want the pineapple flavor of the tea competing with the lemon flavor of the tart. My guest said that she doesn’t like green tea as well as black, but that this one was good and is her favorite green so far.

It is very smooth and I find no bitterness at all. It has nice, light flavor without being bland.

I made this to be the first tea for our tea time today. We had White Chocolate Meyer Lemon Tart, thanks to gmathis describing Meyer lemons last year so enticingly that I had to try them and find recipes to use them! I wanted a good, strongish, unflavored black tea to accompany the tart and this was a delicious choice. This Hao Ya A is very mild compared to others I have tried but we enjoy it and it is especially good paired with food. It can definitely hold its own.

This was very well received at tea time today. My guest, who loves both Paris and Tower of London, felt that it was deliciously fruity and enjoyed the apricot and cherry flavor enormously. She felt it was smoother than Tower of London. I find it similar to ToL but fruitier. Definitely a thumbs up and worth a try if you like the two aforementned teas.

I don’t want to bore anyone, so I will just say, “Silky Green resteep, butter, butter, mmmmm……”

A friend came over today who used to only drink coffee, then she started drinking black tea and shu puerh with me, and now she wants to start drinking green for her health. I made this to see if she would like it better than the grocery store greens that have turned her off. I guess it is easiest to just say that she has asked me to order some for her when I reorder mine! Resteeps beautifully, so that four ounces for $15 goes a long way.

Back logging from last night: I made an Asian stir fry last night and this to go with it. Hubby used to drink nothing but Tetley or Ceylon, heavy on the milk and sugar. Last night he drank this plain, refilled his cup, then sat back and said, “That is GOOD tea.” I am so pleased that he likes this one so much, partly because I love it, too, and want a good reason to never run out!

You can’t say the word “buttery” too many times when describing this tea. It is amazing, sweet, and creamy. Today I started wondering if it is possible that this is steamed over milk like a milk oolong sometimes is, because it is so hard to conceive that this could naturally be this creamy. Excellent, excellent tea. Again, I have to say thank you to Quiltguppy for getting us hooked in this one!

I don’t usually give a numerical rating, but I just have to do it for this one. It is too good not to do so.

I was a little scared to try this. My daughter said her boyfriend bought this in Ireland and he said it “almost killed him.” So they decided to pass it on to me, a total wimp when it comes to spicy things.
My daughter thinks it was the fact that it was green tea that bothered him, as he likes spicy food and therefore shouldn’t mind spicy tea.

I used an average amount of leaf and steeped it for only 2 1/2 minutes. It really isn’t bad. Because I don’t get into chili peppers I am not likely to drink this much more, but I am pleased to have found it for the most part palatable. Anyone want a sample? Send me your snail mail! I am thinking of you, K S, but I already have your address so I shall get some out to you.