Lupicia

A first class Taiwan oolong. Steeped for two minutes in water at 90C. Great tea.

A very good high grade Formosa oolong. I steeped this for only one minute to begin with, as recommended, but the flavour works better – for me, anyway – if it’s infused for several minutes. This tea has a beautiful smooth, almost milky flavour, with some lovely floral notes. It reminds me a lot of my favourite Gin Shan Creme Oolong from teas.com.au, though this one is slightly milder all round.

The honey and pear are mostly in the aroma, and just add an accent to the roasted flavour of the houjicha. This actually works pretty well, and I was really liking this tea by the time I got to the bottom of the cup.

Backlogging from yesterday…

Grabbed this for my morning tea and forgot that it wasn’t as bold as I like (for a morning pick-me-up). It’s a really pleasant blend-light and smooth-but not quite strong enough to really wake me up. I have to remember to pay attention to its name next time!

This is a nice, lighter black tea blend. I really like the taste and I can imagine it would be good with milk as the description says.

I’m not a big fan of Tamaryokucha in general. Carried though with this tea.

I would have preferred a non-bancha base for this tea.

Goes well iced. Not a big fan of this tea hot.

Pretty good, it’s the cheaper of the Yutakamidori options from Lupicia, not much difference in taste between the Chiran and the Ariake, I tend to favor the Ariake on price.

This tea is a bit odd in my opinion. Flavored oolong teas are a bit of a rarity (most that I have seen are from Lupicia). Pretty tasty, well flavored, but a bit expensive.

Prepared this tea hot this time. It’s got a very subtle sweetness now, not too vanilla, but lends a nice light flavor to your standard black tea.

Very sweet as an iced tea. Didn’t taste much of the vanilla. Will have to try this brewed hot.

Had both carbonated and hot, but I think it’s better iced.

This is, I don’t know, the fruit punch of green teas. If you like tropical flavors in your tea, this is the way forward!

Heaven! Oolong and peach are a perfect match.

I have my darjeeling with milk, and this darjeeling maintains its character even with milk added.

I always have this in a teaball with a little sugar and milk. It smells AMAZING and it’s a very delicate flavor for a black tea.

This tea is wonderful! When you smell it, it totally kicks you in the face with lime flavor, but the actual liquor is soft and gentle with subtle lime flavor. Oddly enough, for being a black tea, the leaves unfurl into a pretty green color.

I was kind of craving this today (which doesn’t happen often), so it tasted especially good. I really appreciate the strong banana note with the much more subtle chocolate in the background (I’m not a huge chocolate fan, especially in teas). I think the two flavours work really well together though. Perfect for a not-quite-spring-but-still-could-be-around-the-corner kind of day.

I brewed this for almost 5 minutes but it tastes very watered down. I’m only getting the slightest hint of chocolate and not much flavour overall. My mistake, but quite a disappointment!

I am not a huge chocolate fan, and was a tad worried about trying this blend. The chocolate is definitely there, but thankfully it’s not overwhelming. I like the way it blends with the banana, and the marigold petals are really nice. This is kind of a special occasion tea—very different!

Last of this tea, which makes me feel really accomplished. Not so much because this tea is gone but because I’m getting rid of the little drips and drabs I’ve had around for so long because I don’t want to use them up. Well, time to purge.

This one is very peachy, but not Jolly Rancher peachy. More Japanese fruit gummy peachy. I like it. Probably won’t get more of it right now because peach-flavored things aren’t huge in my book (this one was purchased for the husband – he’s a huge peach fan), but I WILL be getting more Lupicia flavored blacks in the future. I love how they flavor things. They have the rare flavored black teas that I can actually drink with no milk or sugar. Good stuff.