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Not quite as high on my list of favourites as the Quangzhou Milk Oolong or Gyokuro Yamashiro, but definitely a close competitor!

I finally splurged on a tin of this after getting a $100 gift card for Christmas. In the same trip I also picked up an adorable glass gongfu tea pot. So I’ll give a quick recap of both my steeper-and-mug tasting and my gongfu session (as I finish off my last couple gongfu steeps)

First, my steeper-and-mug. I used the lowest setting on my new Breville Variable Temperature Kettle (not the tea maker, just the kettle). 175F. Because it’s such a delicate tea, and I wanted to do a decent steep (3m30sec) I didn’t want to go the next step up to 185F. It was a good call because I ended up over steeping a bit (almost 5 minutes), but it didn’t go off because of it. The beautiful vegetal notes came through first, followed by a slight butteriness, and finally finishing with a sweet alfalfa taste. I felt like I was sitting in Java’s stall, sharing it with him, inhaling his soft alfalfa-laced breath. It was a very comforting cup of tea!

Now, tonight, after a really negative dinner with my parents and sister, I shut myself in my room and pulled my sencha ashikubo off my shelf and sat down to do some gonfu steeps. I used a heaping Perfect Spoonful, and the second setting on my kettle (185F).

First steep: 30sec. bold vegetal qualities, like steamed asparagus? overwhelmingly vegetal, couldn’t pick up on the sweet butteriness I loved about my mug.

Second: 45 sec. Alfalfa and butter lettuce. Grassy, slightly less “steamed vegetables”. Sweet, like Java’s breath after he eats a handful of alfalfa pellets. Comforting!

Third: 1m20sec. PEAS! I actually had a bit of a flail over this one, it was just like eating buttery sweet peas at family dinners! This is possibly the best flavour profile I’ve gotten from this tea!

Fourth: Final steep. 3min. I had to run and pee, so it went a bit longer than originally intended, oops! Peas, but with a slight bitterness (without being astringent/drying), kind of like eating peas straight from the pod after they were on the plant for a little too long. You know, when they’re over ripe, kind of hard, and not as sweet as they were at peak ripeness? Still enjoyable though!

This is definitely the nicest sencha I’ve had. I generally prefer gyokuro or korean seyjak when I want a straight green, but this may be my go-to green for a while, at least until DT restocks the Gyokuro Yamashiro!

This gets a perfect score because not only is it delicious, it never fails to make me ridiculously happy! It’s like a cupful of rainbows and unicorns and glitter.

This is, by far, the “gayest” tea I’ve found, in both meanings of the word. Not only was the play it’s named after full of men dressed as faeries and the like (because at the time it was written, only men were allowed to be in theater), but it’s a cup of supercharged fruity/sweet/tangy/refreshing goodness that just makes me think of my very flamboyant buddy every time I smell it (and even more when I taste it). It also happens to be said friend’s favourite tea, which makes it more meaningful.

I find that the tartness and a slight creaminess are most prominent when it’s hot, but the cool and refreshing quality of the mint makes it an incredibly satisfying iced tea too, complimenting the lovely fruitiness and accentuating the sweetness of the blend.

I enjoy mixing in a bit of Guayusa for a supercharged morning cup of rainbows.

I think next year, I’ll throw a tea party during Pride week, and make Midsummer Nights Dream cocktails!

Oh. My. GAWD!!! YUM!

Being a HUGE fan of the Gyokuro Yamashiro (Gyokuro being one of my favourite greens) I was really wanting to try this one, but my local DTs didn’t get it in. Lucky for me, as a “congrats on being famous” gift, a lovely friend (and manager of my favourite store) gave me a generous sample of this from her own personal stash!

There’s still the freshness and buttery flavour that’s there with the green, but there’s also a nutty richness that made me melt after the first sip! The smell of the liquor reminds me of an aged oak wine barrel, with some almost grassy notes underneath to lighten it up.

I need more ASAP! This is, hands down, my favourite straight black now, actually beating Lapsang Souchong!

When Teaopia was having their closing out sale during the Teavanna transfer, they had this on for 75%+ off, so I bought 1000g. Yes, you read that right, I bought an entire kilogram of milk oolong! Only cost me $40 and some change after taxes too!

I LOVE milk oolong, it’s the first thing I reach for when I need a cup of hot comfort. DAVIDs Quangzhou got me hooked, and I’m hoping to expand into others soon.

Now, I only have the Quangzhou to compare to, so take this with a grain of salt.

This seems like a greener, crisper oolong than the Quangzhou. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it, as it gave the tea a more buttermilky taste as opposed to the sweet creaminess I grew to love in the quangzhou. That’s when I learned about rinsing the leaves before steeping, and that made a whole world of difference! The sourness was gone and I was left with a nice sweet cup of milk oolong goodness, though not quite as strongly flavoured as the quangzhou.

It almost reminds me of a milky tie guan yin, which I actually quite like, oddly enough.

What does Java think of it? Well, he’s a funny little brat. The first time I offered him an oolong, he flipped the bucket over! Offered him this and he sniffed it for a minute, and then looked at me. I added a bit of cold water to it, thinking it was just too hot for him, and the little stink stuck his nose in and blew bubbles! He did end up finishing it off, but for whatever reason THIS was the one he had to play with first. Silly pony <3

To celebrate Java’s feature in the DT newsletter, he got a very special mash made of oats, bran, applesauce, copious amounts of piping hot Ceylon Star, and alfalfa pellets to bind it all together. He hoovered it right down in no time! Spoiled pony <3 I’m sure he appreciated the warm treat on this blustery day!

First off, I should say I LOVE ceylon! I also despise anything remotely licoricey. So with that in mind…

This is the perfect balance of sweet coconutty, chocolatey, creamy goodness, with just enough of the anise undertone to round it out. Fantastic as a latte too!

I’ve been struggling for weeks now to keep this tea a secret, because the wonderful folks at head office sent me an incredibly generous sample after I sent in an email asking for their input for a tea-related show name for my pony, Java. Well, Java grew quite the fan club at DT HQ, and among the name suggestions was “Ceylon Star”. I really liked it, and it suits him, because he is very sweet but still has a sassy edge to him, he has a big white star on his forehead, and we both enjoy a nice cup of ceylon. So the lovely folks at head office sent us some of this “secret tea” to try, and both Java and I fell in love! Thus, “Ceylon Star”, the pony, was born! haha!

Now DT just needs to release some more ceylon ;)

This is the first green pu’erh I’ve tried, and I’m not sure if I burned the leaves, or if green pu’erh is just meant to be more astringent than black, but it’s got a bitter, sour tang to it, that’s not there in the black tuocha.

That being said, I still quite like it. I’m still on the first steep, and have laid the leaves out on a paper towel lined plate to save for more steeps later when I have more time, but it’s a comforting cup of tea, perfectly matched to the crispness of the weather.

I really enjoy the convenience of shaped pu’ehr, the tuocha are individually wrapped in tissue paper, inside the tin, so it’s easy to grab one tuocha, toss it in my tea-on-the-run kit, and then I can toss it in my cup anytime I want it, no separate bags/containers needed!

I’m going to look around for other green pu’erhs to try, and would love suggestions!

I LOVE jasmine teas, so when a jasmine black tea was released, I jumped on it!

The black base is rich and slightly sweet and creamy, and the jasmine makes its presence known without tasting like a punch in the teeth. One or two pearls makes a great light cup, two or three for a stronger or larger mug.

As my favourite tea from the Wine collection, and having run out of it months ago, I was excited to see that Bubbly was being offered on the tea wall!

As someone who’s not a fan of champagne itself, the alcohol bite combined with the carbonation makes it difficult to enjoy, I was excited to try champagne flavour, in tea form. From what I can get from real champagne as far as flavour, I think this tea is a pretty close match. Hot, it doesn’t need any added sweetener, but iced I found it needed a little something, and oddly enough, Stevia was the best match. I think the mild tartness caused by the slightly astringent green tea lends itself well to hiding the odd aftertaste of stevia. half of a 1/8 tsp was more than enough to sweeten a 16oz cup of iced tea.

someone else described the floral notes as being jasminey, but I taste more hibiscus. I think it’s the floral notes, combined with the unique flavour of the pineapple, that give the palate the illusion of grape flavour.

I really like it and look forward to bringing in the new year with a cup of Bubbly!