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The dry leaves smell fruity. This is good – one of the first Ceylons I had tasted strongly of raspberry and, while I am not a huge raspberry fan, that tea pretty much set the standard for ‘good’ Ceylon in my world. Something beyond a plain ‘tea’ taste. This one isn’t quite raspberry smelling – the scent is a little bolder and thicker than your average raspberry. I can’t place it but I like it. The leaves are pretty, too. Long and wiry twists each at least an inch long.

The cup smells a bit darker than the dry leaves. Nothing excessive. There’s a bit of brown sugar smell, or something similar. The taste is sweet and mild with a hint of dryness at the end that might develop more with a longer steep (if you’re in to that sort of thing). The main flavor is tea but it’s got some fruity or honeyed hints about it. I can’t specifically pick out what type of sweetness is in there, but it is close – I feel like it is teasing me.

I haven’t had a ton of straight Ceylons (4 or 5 maybe) but I’d have to say that this one would rank #2 in that grouping. Not quite the dripping with raspberry but not flat and fully default tea either. Overall though, I’m just not all that into Ceylons. I think I want to try this with milk as Samovar suggests. So rating subject to change.
2.8g/8oz

I had to up the rating just a squidge because this? Is just so good. Sweetly nutty, floral and just a great delicate but powerful flavor. Mmm.
4.1g/8oz

Smoky, sweet, complex, fruity, spicy… I’m so glad I have a tin of this coming to me from Samovar (should get her today actually – yay!). It’s smooth bold but not stout or heavy – I can easily see this becoming a favorite comfort tea. In fact, it might already be. Could even go heavier on the leaf. I don’t think this would oversteep easily, just get bolder.
4.6/12oz

The dry leaf smells like cocoa powder and a little dark chocolate. The tea smells pretty much the same but with an added dimension – which I’m pretty sure is the tea but it isn’t strong enough to pick up on smell alone.

The taste is milder than the smell (not hard as the smell is pretty powerful), but it is definitely dark chocolate. I can pick the tea out a bit while it cools but there isn’t a whole lot of nuanced flavor. It’s just dark chocolate and tea. But it isn’t thick, fake or overpowering so I’m really enjoying this cup. It’s almost like having sipping chocolate but without that feeling that I might go into a sugar coma afterward.

It is smooth with zero bitterness and I’m a bit curious to see how it would be with sugar and milk, though it needs neither. This is is easily the best chocolate tea I’ve had.

5g/14oz

Very old, now gone. Buttery and pungent, this makes me think of gyokuro but with an edge. Which makes sense since the tea’s notes say it is ‘natural gyokuro’. I’d say that’s pretty accurate. This is one I’d get again.

4.3g/6oz

It took me a bit of searching to finally figure out/find what plant it is that this tea reminds me of. But it is shampoo ginger: http://bit.ly/9ldoxp This plant was all over Maui when I was there, particularly on this day trip we took. So this tea reminds me of that trip. I sniff and sip and think of rough roads, waterfalls and tropical lushness.

4.7g/9oz

My Firefox crashed and I lost my notes. Blerg. Was just typing as I sipped so I really don’t know what all I wrote. Something along the lines of:

Stout, smooth, thick, sweet, malty with chocolate and fruit, would be perfect for a breakfast time tea. With that in mind, added a little milk and sugar to my cup (Samovar says it is good so let’s try it out).

Yeah, it’s goooooood. Just a hair smoother/softer/less tannic at the end. This would be a super morning tea to take to work. Rating going up for that. Mmm.

6.2g/17oz

I don’t know what lychee is supposed to taste like, but there is a pleasantly musky and sweet scent to this tea as it brews. Almost nutty but juicy, too, with a little bit of floral.

The taste doesn’t hit me as a fruit so much as roses. It tastes like a rose tea. A soft, pretty, gentle rose tea. So I like that but at the same time, I’m not a big rose tea gal. So while this is nice and I enjoy it, there’s no reason this is a must-have for my pantry.

Giving this one another go with the hope that, now that I know the rooibos taste in it isn’t evil, I can pick up some other things going on in the tea. So far so good – along with rooibos, I smell a twinge of cinnamon and some sweet something or other that is almost (but not quite) fruity. While the cup sits next to me to cool, I’m getting a clove-like smell. And something like cooked carrots. Don’t know why.

Sipping, I still get a lot of rooibos but I’m getting at least one other taste as well – cloves. It comes in more on the front and it’s nice. There are other spices that are obviously there but I can’t really pick out what they are. But it adds a nice fullness to the taste. As it cools I’m getting even less of a rooibos taste and more of just a spicy swirl on wood. It’s sweeter but for once with rooibos, sweetness doesn’t make me think of moldy/sour wood.

I don’t think this tea is ever going to be something that I crave (too rooibos for that) but it’s certainly one I enjoy. And since I typically detest anything with rooibos, I think it’s safe to say that those that actually like rooibos would really enjoy this one.

4g/12oz

Last of this one (still attempting to finish of drips and drabs – go me!)

Super lazy – used a steeping ball in my tea pot so I could make two cups of this without having to worry about a slow pour making it bitter. Go steeping ball. Yeah, I feel a bit like a loser when I use it but hey, it worked well so I’m going with it.

For being so freakin’ old, this tea’s still pretty decent. Good mouth feel, nice full(ish) flavor. Still don’t get sweet potato out of it.

9.5g/18oz