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These leaves are small and whole. The taste is full, floral, and very slightly fruity; it has more of a fruit scent. The aroma is very floral. A pretty nice tea overall! Brewed in a gaiwan, it has an almost resinous note in later steeps.

One of my favourite ripe pu-erhs. It produces a very dark liquor with a well-balanced array of classic shou flavours. There isn’t anything groundbreaking there, but it works really well as a very solid and enjoyable drink. It would serve well as both a good introduction to shou, and a great go-to option for fans of pu-erh generally.

I tried the 2017 version of this sheng. I wasn’t thrilled with it as brewed in a standard gaiwan. It smells interesting, but the dominant taste is pretty much just mild bitterness. In a duan ni gaiwan, the smell is wonderful, very strong and almost exactly like apricots, but sadly the taste isn’t much improved.

This is a green-processed yaupon. The aroma is pleasant – almost Christmassy. It’s good! Something about the flavour reminds me of sweetfern tea, but it isn’t spicy. Very faint bitterness. There is a taste of holly.

Of the green yaupons I’ve tried, this one is my favourite; the holly taste comes through most strongly, I think. I wish it came in loose leaf format, rather than only in a bag (though this makes less of a difference with yaupon than with tea).

Chocolatey. Pretty decent. It does tend to shed hairs if brewed in a gaiwan or other coarse-filtering device. It has a lighter chocolate flavour than some black teas I’ve tried, and also has some malty taste.

Lighter and more vegetal – more grassy, maybe – than this company’s other yaupon, it’s got a ‘brisk’ sort of taste. I’m not sure if the caffeine content is higher than that of other yaupons I’ve tried, but there’s definitely more bitterness, which gives it the sensation of being stronger.

Quite a mild black tea, but a nice one. There is something of a chocolate flavour. Nothing objectionable at all, but I think it would be better if it were a tad stronger.

Tangy and not overly delicate. Pleasant, but not among the best Darjeeling-grown teas I’ve had.

Large quantities of this tea do not fit with my budget – alas, because it’s very good. Fortunately, it comes in a small sample size. Faintly floral, with heavy but not overwhelming vegetable flavours. It has some bitterness, but in a way that fits perfectly with the rest of the taste; everything balances very well.

Pleasant, with some holly taste and a definite ‘green’ taste as well. More reminiscent of yerba mate than the darker roasts, but still very definitely its own distinct thing.