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I tried the Summer 2020 version of this ‘bug-bitten’ tea. While not heavily roasted, the leaves are a dark brown colour and the brew is rich gold. It has a very nutty, sweet flavour that’s complex and strong without being overwhelming. The texture is smooth and full.

This is one of my favourite oolongs, though some dan cong oolongs provide close competition. It’s certainly my favourite roasted oolong. I originally had it in a sample pack, but ordered a larger quantity afterwards.

A lightly roasted oolong with a classic taste. I had the 2020 version. There were some nut flavours and some astringency – kind of a standard mixture. While I enjoyed it, I didn’t find it as interesting as some of this company’s other teas.

This was a somewhat darker roasted oolong, but it didn’t have much of a roasted flavour. Very mineral, with some tart dried fruit taste. A good quality tea, but not up my alley.

Brewed according to the instructions, I found it unexceptional and somewhat overly mild. In a gaiwan, it had a very odd, slightly toasty taste – almost like genmaicha, but milder and possibly less complex. It reminds me vividly of the breakfast cereal puffed rice.

The leaves are slightly more broken than I think is ideal, but that seems to be typical of tea from this particular farm. Not prone to bitterness, which is surprising for broken green tea. It has a slightly roasted flavour with notes of caramel, and no particular sweetness. I actually prefer it Western-style over gongfu; it comes out milder, but a bit more complex.

Another tea found at my workplace’s coffee station, lurking among the Lipton Green majority. It’s not bad at all – heavier on the cinnamon than I prefer for a chai, but the other spices are still detectable. It reminds me more of a ‘Christmas tea’ type blend than of a standard chai. As such, I think it works better black than with milk and sugar/honey.

My workplace had this tea at the coffee station, so I gave it a try. Despite quite a lengthy ingredient list, I mostly just taste almonds, chamomile, and licorice. The flavour isn’t unpleasant, but it’s not something I’d buy for myself.

It’s presented as an evening tea to help with sleep, and contains the mild depressant valerian root; I did indeed feel very tired after drinking it, but that might have been because I had just wolfed down a sizable lunch, so I can’t attest to its effectiveness.

This one runs the gamut of flavours. It takes a while to open up. Early steeps are fruity, growing more tart, then slightly yammy, and at last very floral and almost reminiscent of perfume. It’s interesting, but none of the flavours stood out as great examples of their type for me. Possibly a good choice for days when you’re not sure what tea you want!

The leaves smell amazing, dry or wet. The scent initially comes across like strawberry, but after a moment it’s possibly to detect the individual notes of pear, guava, and what is apparently soursop (which smells like pineapple). Brewed Western-style without sugar, it’s not great; to be fair, I don’t usually like unsweetened fruit tea blends. With sugar, it’s excellent – one of my favourite fruit teas.

This is a very nice tea – my favourite so far of the green tea sampler pack from this company! It was unexpectedly sweet when brewed in a gaiwan. It has some caramel flavour, and possibly mango? I brewed it according to the instructions as well, and the results were similar, with a vaguely roasty taste as well. The flavour profile is not what I’d expect from a green tea, but not in a bad way at all. A surprising tea, and definitely enjoyable.