Tealyra

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Recent Tasting Notes

83

The dry leaf smells very roasted, and is tightly rolled into small, dark pellets. I want to preface this note by saying that heavily roasted oolongs are generally not my thing, though I do enjoy them on occasion.

Steeped for 2:15 in 90C water. The leaves are just starting to unfurl a bit. The liquor smells roasted and nutty, almost coffee-like, and steeps up to a dark brown with purple undertones.

My first impression of my first sip was NOT GOOD. This sip I tried quite hot and I got smacked with strong roast and mineral notes. Not inherently bad, but it evoked the worst association. The first sip tasted the way outhouse chemicals smell. Dear god. When I’m drinking tea, I do not want to be transported to a well-used port-a-potty.

Fortunately, that first impression was fleeting and did not continue with subsequent sips (yes, I’m stubborn, I continued to sip a tea that made me think of outhouse.) Now that the cup has cooled, the roast and mineral are still there, but they’ve been joined by a creamy nuttiness. Added another 30 seconds of steeping, to get just a bit more flavour into my cup.

This is actually really nice – The roasted flavour doesn’t drown out everything else. If my initial impression hasn’t turned you off completely, worth trying.

Flavors: Coffee, Creamy, Mineral, Nutty, Roasted

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
teamaniac

OMG. I am horrified that I gave you a tea that tastes like an outhouse

Anlina

Oh don’t be! It ended up being good, and I sometimes have really strange associations with stuff.

I would totally drink it again. Besides, what’s good for one might be terrible for another person, so there’s just no way to know until you taste something. :)

K S

heavily roasted oolongs are probably my least favorite tea type. Never had one make me think port a potty. lol And you kept going… that’s awesome.

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57
drank Lychee Peach by Tealyra
894 tasting notes

Cup of the morning.

Lychee is one of my favourite fruits – we used to get them fresh when I was a kid and they were such an awesome treat. I keep wanting to find that same juicy, sweet, fresh flavour in lychee teas. Yet, while just about every lychee tea tastes distinctly lychee, there’s usually something lacking, as there is with this tea. Something about lychee and the black bases it gets combined with almost always lacks the juiciness, and has a pronounced harshness that makes me think of cheap black tea. This harshness lingers into the finish in a way that’s a hint vegetal and artificial.

I’m not getting any peach from this either, so it tastes like a pretty average lychee black. Ah well.

Flavors: Artificial, Lychee, Vegetal

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Cameron B.

My favorite so far has been the Lychee Barley from Lupicia. :3

Lindsay

I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the lychee black pearls from Tealux.

Anlina

I’m really looking forward to trying more Lupicia teas. I’ve been so impressed with the quality of their fruit flavours.

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85
drank Dragon Lychee Pearls by Tealyra
353 tasting notes

Oh man, now I wish I counted how many pearls I used for my cup! All I remember is measuring out a teaspoon, then adding one pearl, then removing a little one, to make 2.5g. It’s always fun to watch pearl teas unfurl as they steep, and this one expands into what seems like quite a lot of leaf! It has an amazing lychee smell as it steeps. The lychee flavour is quite strong – sweet and juicy and no weird artificial taste. I love lychees (though it has been years since I had a fresh one, boo) so perhaps it’s predictable that I would love this tea. The base tea is malty with a bit of cocoa. Very nice.

Flavors: Lychee

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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I’m not sure what it is about lychee flavoring on teas, but often it makes it smells…. cold? It’s certainly an odd property of the scent, and one that is much better diluted out over several infusions or in a pot rather than in a mug. Today I did two pearls in 16oz, and I did two infusions into a liter thermos. This helped diffuse the flavoring so you’re not overwhelmed with the lychee and can appreciate the black tea base more. I like it hot, but I kept leaving my desk and it was mostly cold when I managed to get back. I suppose the ‘coldness’ of the lychee flavoring also lends itself well to iced tea. It is the season, although my mom was telling me that it was miserly and raining all day in San Francisco, while at my work it was 77 while I was driving home and I told her I was melting.

I feel like next time I’m in the market I need to pick up some canned lychee. It’s been too long since I’ve had the fruit, and maybe I can put one or a few into a cup with this too.

Edit: it seems odd but I think since others have reviewed this tea, the form factor may have changed, because the pearls are maybe around a centimeter in diameter. I could be completely delusional to say that two pearls is equivalent to 1.5tsp/8oz, but it was quite enough tea to water in my opinion. The leaf certainly bloomed enough to make it look like a good 3-4 tsp in my infuser

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More backlog….
I had a small sample of this last time, but I finally sprung for the 100g pack in my last order!!

The lychee flavor is definitely not as strong as regular supermarket black lychee loose leaf, but that’s kind of nice too, it’s not as overwhelming. I still think the second steep is better than the first.

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TeaLux is now TeaLyra. I wonder if I will remember that next time I brew up one of their teas.

For some reason, while I was perfectly aware that it was a black tea when I was ordering, I was expecting a green base when I brewed it up. The fault of this is that the dry leaf don’t really smell deep and cocoa-y as I tend to look for in black teas. Not much of this shows up in the brewed tea either. Is this what they call a China Black?

It just tastes like tea to me. Like that sweet mild familiar taste of tea with a hit of lychee on it. I guess this would be the closest to the type of teas I grew up on, because I can’t think that it’s anything but Tea, and why mess with such a wonderful descriptor like that? It also makes it a great tea to pair with food, because it doesn’t overwhelm my sense of the food, but it’s strong enough to cleanse the palate.

It’s mild, sweet, comforting.

The first brew was mildly artificial though, I might have to do a initial rinse with this tea from now on. It used to be a habit, but as I tried more and more flavored teas I dropped the habit. The second brew was wonderful and perfect. I used 1 tsp for a small teapot (12oz). The pearls were quite large to my eye, perhaps .7mm in diameter.

I can see myself drinking this alot and wonder how it’ll stand up to grandpa style brewing.

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70
drank Dragon Lychee Pearls by Tealyra
193 tasting notes

I don’t know why I continue to buy flavored blacks. They always sound so good on the website, so I buy them and then they get here and sit around until I force myself to drink them. You’d think I would eventually learn…

Anyway, Cameron just reviewed this one so it inspired me to take out my bag and try to get rid of some more of it. Now, I’ve never actually had a lychee before, so my only knowledge of the fruit comes from tea. I find it a bit floral, quite sweet and juicy. Almost grape like, but not quite. Honestly, I feel it would be more at home with a green tea, but it’s nice here too. It’s a very refreshing flavor that reminds me of summer. In this tea the flavoring overpowers the base a bit, but it still manages to be quite lovely. I probably won’t rebuy, but I greatly enjoy it whenever I make myself brew some.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Cameron B.

I still like Lychee Barley from Lupicia better! :D

Stephanie

lychee oolong from Butiki was fantastic…le sigh

cookies

I bet barley goes well with lychee. I’ll have to stick that one on my to-buy list

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78
drank Dragon Lychee Pearls by Tealyra
4298 tasting notes

Another one from cookies! I’m excited to try this one, as I’ve heard good things about it from a few different people. I don’t have a ton of experience with lychee, but I really liked the Lychee Barley from Lupicia so I’m intent on trying more lychee-flavored teas! These pearls are about a centimeter in diameter, and they’re more loosely rolled than other pearls I’ve seen. Dry scent is strong, sweet lychee! I used eight pearls for my 8 ounces of water.

The steeped tea also smells strongly of lychee, but it’s not overwhelming. I can smell some cocoa notes as well. Wow, there is a lot of lychee going on here, and it’s very tasty. I would describe lychee as being sweet, juicy, floral, and slightly musky. The base tea has nice cocoa and malt flavors, and a touch of wood. Tasty!

Flavors: Cocoa, Floral, Lychee, Malt, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 236 ML

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drank Cantaloupe Pleasure by Tealyra
69 tasting notes

Well!

Hmm. So I just received this, and added it to Steepster since it’s so new it didn’t have an entry. At the Tealux website the ingredient list is as follows: apple pieces, date pieces (dates, rice flour), cranberry slices (cranberries, sugar), melon pieces, almond pieces, apple cubes, flavoring, cinnamon rods, pistachios, freeze-dried pumpkin pieces, fig pieces and cranberry slices, beetroot.

But I’ve just opened up my 25 gram pouch, and it has white tea in it. I mean not JUST white tea, it also had some of the other ingredients listed (definitely apple, date, melon, almond, lots of fruity bits, and chamomile buds, which weren’t on the list either). But the white tea base was a surprise since it wasn’t in there! And the tea itself isn’t in the white tea section on the Tealux site, it’s filed under fruity tea. And as you can see in the picture that went with the listing, white tea isn’t visible.

This is a puzzler. Did they send me the wrong tea in the correctly labeled bag? It does resemble what’s pictured here, only with the addition of white tea leaves, possibly a bai mu dan.

On to the tasting! Dry the leaf had a vaguely fruity scent, a muted melon that was more watermelon than cantaloupe. Steeped the scent is all chamomile! I’m afraid to take a sip, but in the interests of science…well, it’s alright. Flavor-wise I’m getting very mellow fruit, but it’s a whisper under the warring tastes of white tea and chamomile. More of the fruitiness peeks out as it cools. I had dazzling visions of this being a bright sparkling fruity marvel of an iced tea, but I don’t think reality will see that through.

Let this cool to barely lukewarm and it just tastes like chamomile now. :(

Going to contact Tealux about this tomorrow and see what they say!

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45

With the dry leaves in a warm gaiwan, this purple leaf oolong from Tealux smells very heavily roasted with a hint of vinegar. My only experience with purple leaf tea has been with a Kenyan purple oolong that had a nice plum and berry kind of flavor but was easily over or underbrewed, getting a dirty or bland taste if you went much over or under 170F (I have no idea why this temperature is the sweet spot, but it is the one the vendor recommended and I tried many others to ensure this was the best). The tea was fussy. I also had a purple tips loose leaf raw puer from that same vendor and it had a very heavy woody tastes that was simply not for me.

Not really sure what to expect from this Taiwanese version of purple tea, the smell is priming me for sort of a Wuyi Oolong experience.

The brewed tea has about the same color as the Kenyan purple oolong I had. There’s a slight rosey tint to it. Where most oolongs would be yellowish, orange, or even greenish, this one has more of a peach/pink hint to it from the purple tint of the leaves (caused by high levels of the antioxidant anthocyanin).

The taste is just what I expected from the smell! It is really similar to Sea Dyke brand Shui Xian, a heavily roasted Wuyi oolong you can find for a really low price at Asian grocery stores. There is a great deal of roast flavor along with just a hint of dill. There’s a good deal of char taste like you’d taste on the edges of pan-fried blackened food. It has a bit of a salty finish. If there is any sweetness in this tea it is barely detectible.

Repeated infusions yeilded more of the same flavor, but stronger.

I didn’t find the flavor particularly enjoyable. If you like really roasted flavors you might.

Flavors: Char, Dill, Roasted, Vinegar

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 45 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Parsifal

What a shame!! I would like to try it because the review is intriguing if not slightly disgusting… haha.

Lion

I wish I had more! I’d send you some. I haven’t had a purple leaf varietal yet that is impressive. The Kenyan Purple Sunset oolong (from Butiki Teas) was better than this one, but not particularly intriguing. Its flavor comes off really mild and kind of sweet and woody/nutty like rooibos or honeybush.

TeaTiff

It is so interesting how we all taste things differently. I had this tea back in the spring and remember tasting deep chocolate. Dill and vinegar how interesting.

boychik

i really like purple teas of Dehong fr Yunnan Sourcing.

Terri HarpLady

What Boychik said :)
I’ve really enjoyed all of the purple teas I’ve gotten from YS

boychik

Thanks to you Terri I’m hooked

Terri HarpLady

Happy to contribute to your addiction!

TeaBrat

I have a purple oolong from Art of Tea, it definitely does have a roasted flavor as well.

Lion

TeaTiff, I think the whole concept of tasting notes is really subjective, which is really the entire reason Steepster is here for reviews rather than just having one written description from the vendor. If there was one correct set of flavors present that we’d all detect we wouldn’t need the reviews.

It can be both fascinating and frustrating when people’s notes vary widely. What’s really the most odd to me is that I find if my friend Amanda and I write separate reviews of the same tea on our own sometimes there’s an overlap in descriptions and sometimes they are really different, but if we sit down to have a tea together, we seem to agree on the notes we’re getting.

I think somehow certain qualities of the flavor can slip your mind or you can find them impossible to describe, but if someone makes a suggestion you didn’t think of while you are able to still try the tea, you can make the association and say “Ah, that’s it!”

Terri HarpLady

I totally agree with you on that! :)
Also, sometimes tastes & smells trigger associations in my head, to foods, colors, instruments, etc. Other times I guess Im not as ‘open’ (like when allergies are prevalent)

Lion

Yes! I get those other associations sometimes too, especially with colors, not always related to the color of the tea itself.

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drank Dragon Lychee Pearls by Tealyra
437 tasting notes

This tea is lovely with good fruity lychee notes that persist through many steepings over cocoa, butter, honey and malt. It has immediately gone on my wish list!

The pearls are about the size of a medium large natural pearl on a pearl necklace. The dark leaves are fairly tightly wound and are very fragrant. I used 7 of them in 150 ml of boiling water.

Once brewed the lychee is strong in scent, very fruity, slightly raisiny and a bit perfumy. The tea underneath smells of cocoa and a bready malt note and butter.

1.2 min: The flavour is soft and creamy, the lychee is very fruity with a hint of dried raisiny fruit among the lychee, there is a good note of honey, and cocoa and butter in the base. The flavours blend well together. The colour is ranging towards oak.

2 min. The tea has a more balanced blend between the fruit and base tea scents. The cocoa is stronger and the lychee smells rich and voluptuous.
The balance is well met between the originally listed flavours as well, with the lychee remaining strong, the honey intensifying and the cocoa and butter notes remaining uunderneath, but are strengthened. A grainy malt note is also becoming apparent.

3 min honey, lychee, cocoa, malt, butter
Lychee is slightly perfumy, cocoa,butter, mmalt, mineral note , opens up to lychee honey and cocoa.

5 min: lychee and honey dominate scent. The base has thinned out and the flavour is of lychee, honey, cream and malt. This steep is a little more tart than the others.

If you enjoy lychee this tea is well worth trying. Thanks JustJames for the sample!

TheTeaFairy

I really like this one.

AllanK

Sounds tasty.

yyz

It really is and the Lychee really lasts throughout the steeping.

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89

This lovely oolong came from Virginia. Huzzah, oolongs! (that’s me, every time I drink one). It’s a rolled oolong, which I enjoy for the presentation, with green leaves and some stems. The smell is very creamy and floral and the brew is a light yellow. It has a wonderfully thick, creamy mouthfeel with a creamy, almost buttery taste to match. It’s naturally sweet and you’re thinking, “oh this is nice, sweet cream tea” until halfway through the sip when delicate florals surprise you and lead to a clean, refreshing finish. You get the best of both worlds! I don’t like this one quite as much as I liked the Gui Hua from Tealux, but it was a fabulous oolong.

Flavors: Butter, Cream, Floral, Nectar, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Ost

Love this tea!

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95
drank Dragon Lychee Pearls by Tealyra
284 tasting notes

I must have forgotten to write about this in past tastings even though I just finished a bag. And not a sample bag either! I love these and I will miss them. I haven’t had a lot of lychee teas but this is a great one. With or without sugar, although I prefer with. I don’t like that I’m running out of a lot of favourites all at the same time because it means I must place a lot of different orders. Hard to do when one tries to adhere to a budget or allow only one order per month. Ha! How’s that for discipline?!?

These pearls are so good though. Great flavour, good base. A tea that makes you think about it even when you’re not with it. The pearls are also very cute to look at. Tiny, black aromatic marbles, not too small either. Perfect size! I don’t like stuff that looks like mouse droppings :)

Skulleigh

LOL, having seen far too many mouse droppings in my day, I can’t say I’ve seen tea that reminds me of them. I can’t decide if that’s good or bad!

Nxtdoor

Big mouse? :) I know, really,I haven’t either. But some pearls are really small. Not these!

mj

I think pearl teas are cute too :)

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94
drank Butterscotch Potion by Tealyra
26 tasting notes

I love tealux purely fir that fact that every tea I’ve gotten from them was good quality and fresh. Even the ones I didn’t particularity enjoy. This batch is no different. Everything from order smelled fresh and delicious, and the leaves were a great color.

Actual review: this tea. I don’t know if it taste exactly like butterscotch but to me this tea taste like a honey/cinnamon bun. Sweet without any sugar and just gorgeous in the pouch to boot. I love that it has a more delicate, vegetal base of white tea that keeps it light and refreshing. I steeped it overnight the fridge and not a hint of bitterness. It was also a hit with the family but this going in my “selfish” stash.

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94
drank Butterscotch Potion by Tealyra
26 tasting notes

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86

TTB&C 2

So good! This oolong is more on the grassy side with some minor flowery notes. The mouthfeel is not exactly creamy although it might get there with the next steep. Very refreshing and “green-tasting”, perfect to sip on on a rather warm afternoon here in PA. I am ready to make another infusion!

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Ost

I love this tea! :D

Kat_Maria

It’s pretty awesome!

TheTeaFairy

My favourite green oolong!

Kat_Maria

You mean this specific one from Tealux or Da Yu Lings in general? I must check it out from other places.

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95
drank Dragon Lychee Pearls by Tealyra
390 tasting notes

grabbed this with the father’s day discount….. soooooooooo worth it! proper review will have to come later…. essay calling!!!! (48 hours from now i’m free for 5!) that didn’t used to be a big number….. somehow that changed?

LYCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
TheTeaFairy

I’m glad someone else finally tasted this tea, it is sooooo gooood!

JustJames

i loved it! so awesome!!!!! teafairy? you’re magic…… can’t you do something abut my essay? (=0) puh-leez?

TheTeaFairy

Haha! Well unfortunately, my powers don’t reach to BC yet, I would have to be a much wiser and older fairy for that… But I can wish you good Fairy luck, it has been know to work…sometimes ;-)

JustJames

you are a very kind fairy…. i’m tired. i don’t feel like writing 1200 words of sociology. i don’t wanna. i could be persuaded to write about tea…. =0) maybe. in exchange for a lovely cup. lol

TheTeaFairy

But you must :-O
Oh, I’m sure you’d wish you had more than 1200 words if you’d be writing about tea!! I know I could write countless words about it :-)

JustJames

gender, race, sexuality, inequality, parity, inequity and sexual identity. oof. no original thinking. all regurgitation from the text. i just don’t want to. i’m tired, lol. and obviously- i’m whining!

TheTeaFairy

Me think you need to regurgitate some tea instead of existential words, just stop and have a nice cup :-) :-) :-)

Stephanie

Sounds good!

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89

Welcome to the dark side.

The leaves of this oolong are some of the darkest I’ve seen. And so is the brew, a beautiful deep amber.

This type of leaf opens a little but never really unfurls. It’s good for a multitude of steeps!

This is as roasty as it gets!

There’s a lot of charcoal in this cup, no smoke though, for me it’s a huge distinction.

It’s musky and spicy, hints of cinnamon and clove.

Strong burnt and sweet caramel, bitter chocolate all in one sip. Like many heavy roasted oolong, there’s a lot going one here.

The fourth steep is spectacular, it’s loosing some of the bitterness and the sweetness has intensified. The chocolate is very persistent.

I’m a fan…decadent, a dessert tea.

TeaTiff

Ooh, I am remembering this one. It was almost like drinking an oolong mixed with hot chocolate! This one was definitely a book and blanket tea:)

TheTeaFairy

Haha! Yes, if I could, I’d spend the rest of my life this way…a blankie, tea, bookie, and puppy at my footy!
(sorry’ had to make it rime)

Dexter

Weird – I thought this was CRAZY smokey – like almost offensively smokey.

TeaTiff

Smokey, that is really interesting. I love how all our taste buds are so different.

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89

Backlog:

So….Got this from the last Tealux sale. Forgot how buttery this one is!
Not as big of a fan of all this butter in this one….Think I actually like the floral oolong from Verdant more…the one I totally can’t remember the name of. xD
Probably won’t be getting more of this one, mainly because it’s so expensive. And plus, Verdant’s floral oolongs are better, in my opinion. Not as buttery, and not as likely to make me sick. xD Anyway, this is still a good tea. Still like it.
Just wish it wasn’t so buttery!

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Smooth

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89

Man…I got expensive tastes apparently. I love way too many oolongs, I just want all the oolongs in the world xD Least that’s what it feels like. But they’re so expensive it seems. >< Oy. But this is SUCH a good tea. Ahh, it’s perfect. This is a good day for teas.
Thanks, Virginia for this sample! I’m gonna have to find more somewhere!

TheTeaFairy

I’m so glad people are starting to review this tea more, my favourite oolong EVERRRRRR!!!

Lee

Cool! I have a sample from Yezi Tea of Da Yu Ling that I still have yet to try. Now I’m excited to try it!

TheTeaFairy

Lee, I have tried three so far, Tealux is my #1, Butiki very close #2 and Teavivre was good but not at par with the other 2. I’ll be very interested to read your review of Yezi Da Yu Ling :-)

Lee

Cool! I will have to check out Tealux website,,,haven’t looked at that one! Thanks!

TheTeaFairy

OMG, you’ll have lots of fun, I got lost on their website the first time I checked! One of my favourite straight black and oolong supplier. Love their Darjeeling, if your into those…

Lee

Ost,,you have inspired us lol!!

Lee

Oh cool!! I am drinking what I have now bc desert is so hot that mail will just cook out in the box. But come fall!!! Look out!!! lol

Ost

Aha well, a little inspiration never hurts :P
Glad to know others also have expensive tastes! XD

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Drank this absent-mindedly while chasing the baby and taking a variety of potentially harmful things out of her way only to find that she had a whole bunch of paper in her mouth. So I can’t say that I was really paying attention but I really did enjoy it. More on this one another time I guess.

ohfancythat

Sounds fun, and like I have some hilarity to look forward to

Virginia

Yes, well if there’s any mommy to mommy tips I can give you it’s:

1. No matter how much you clean, your baby will ALWAYS find something suspicious to eat on the floor. It’s not that you don’t clean well, it’s that babies seem to have incredible vision with unlimited zooming ability.

2. If you have a pet, be concious of the location of his food bowl in relation to baby at all times because babies will eat dog food with surprising enthusiasm.

How old is yours? :P

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I don’t really like green oolong – I usually find them to be too floral for my tastes.
I love swapping because generous people send you tea that is outside your comfort zone.
This is the second green oolong that TheTeaFairy has sent me that I’ve liked.
Am I rethinking my position on green oolong? Not really, I still prefer the darker ones.
I don’t know enough about this type of tea to be able to choose one that would be green without being crazy floral. I liked this one because it’s not floral.
I like it, it’s light, refreshing, easy to drink – thank you for sending me one of your favorites (I would have thought this isn’t floral enough for you?)

Ubacat

Now that sounds like my kind of tea. I’ll have to get a sample of this on my next Tealux order.

TheTeaFairy

Oh, I missed this post of yours! Am I so happy you did not hate this one, my most prized oolong :-)
Pssst, I think you’re right, your tastes might be changing missy, lol. To each its own experience of course, but to me, this one is quite floral, lilac and orchids with a minty finish, it tastes like the mountains… i am really surprised but so glad you enjoyed it!

Ubacat, you should definitely give this a try ;-)

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88

Good morning Steepster!

When I woke up earlier, I had a lychee craving. I happen to have some in the fridge. And I happen to have these delicious lychee pearls, so why not create a lychee feast?

This tea is very unusual. I personally don’t know any other lychee Dragon Pearls.

They are big and fragrant, but not soapy. The taste is so juicy, just like plump lychee. I get this lovely chocolaty smooth and malty Yunnan taste which makes this lychee tea so different than all others out there. I get none of that heavy perfumed lychee after taste you get in most black lychee flavoured teas.

It’s like drinking chocolate lychees. Not that I ever had any, but I’m sure there must exist some chocolate lychees somewhere. After having this tea, I can totally see their sweet floral taste work perfectly well with dark slightly bitter chocolate.

(And I just realized I wrote the word lychee way to many times in this review)

I other news, today I’m seasoning another one of my Yixing clay pots. Fun times!

MzPriss

I LOVE lychees. I wish I had some in my fridge right now. I haven’t had any lychee tea yet, but I did recently acquire some Lychee Oolong from Butiki I need to try. I’m going to season a Special Dark pot and I think maybe do my other pot for shous that are not SD today and when my purple pot comes, have it for my straight blacks. The SD pot will be that new Mandala one with the bamboo design.

CK

Chocolate lychee sounds really good!

TheTeaFairy

MzPriss, Butuki is my favourite lychee tea ever! That oolong she’s using is spectacular on its own…and yay! You seem to have a good plan fir your pots :-)

Ck, I guess having this tea is the closest I can get to chocolate lychees for now!

MzPriss

I don’t think you wrote “lychee” too much – it’s a word I love to SAY leeeeeecheeee

TheTeaFairy

Lol, it’s one of those words that will have me make funny noises too ;-)

SarsyPie

Lycheeeeeeeeeeeee! Yum!

Which pot are you seasoning, TTF?

Also, good morning, my lovelies!!!!! I am making Alia for breakfast in my new black tea pot wheeeeeeee!!!!

MzPriss

I just finished some Snaily. I think I’m going to give the Dragon Balls another chance and try them the Stephanie way to see if I like them better

TheTeaFairy

Mmmmm, will most certainly catch a cup of Aila soon as well! Let me how it turns out in your newly seasoned pot!!

I will season my green oolong pot. It’s much larger than my other pots, that’s why I chose it for oolongs.

TheTeaFairy

Which ones MzPriss?

MzPriss

The Teavivre ones

Marzipan

We call those dragon poop.

SarsyPie

It’s deeeeeeelish in the new pot, but was there a doubt that Alia would be good? :p

MzPriss

I’m trying to learn to love this dragon poop – but I’m not there yet. And of course there was no doubt the Alia would be good :D

MzPriss

OK the dragon poop is tasting a little fruity to me at the moment – I’m getting zero chocolate and zero malt. Maybe zero chocolate because I’m eating toast with chocolate almond butter?

MzPriss

Sars – does it taste different to you in the pot? And if so, how?

SarsyPie

Well HoneyBelle, I’m not sure. I got enough for two cups from Cam, and I tried the first round in the new pot, yesterday. I liked them! I am really starting to think that there’s something to this whole thing about the clay influence. It was very smooth. I definitely found malt and cocoa.

Mmmmmmmmm choco almond butter!

MzPriss

The choco almond butter is new obsession. I was in my little hippie co-op grocery and you know those machines they have that are full of peanuts or almonds and you grind your own nut butter? They had one with chunks of roasted almonds and dark chocolate chunks. OMG – blissful. I’m having it on my Canadian Squirrely Bread – it’s full of nuts and seeds and is so good toasted. It’s in the frozen section at the co-op.

SarsyPie

Squirrelly bread??? OMG. I want a hippie co-op.

Speaking of squirrels and Canada… Have you ever been and seen those huge black squirrels they have? The first time I was there, I saw one near the water out if the corner of my eye and couldn’t tell if it was a squirrel or a beaver. So I decided it must be a hybrid: The elusive Canadian Squeaver.

TTF: do they have these in your area?

MzPriss

I have never been to Canada. Yet.

SarsyPie

Well when you go… Beware the Squeaver!!!!!

MzPriss

LOL I will be on the lookout

TheTeaFairy

Haha! Sorry I was off the computer for a bit…dragon poop. And Squeavers!!!

Lol, yes, we have huge squirrels! And I have a thing for them. I even name them. This is the most special one. Mr. White. Very rare. Been around for the last four years.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/11969474573/lightbox/

SarsyPie

WHITE SQUEAVER!!!!!

this is especially awesome, Foxy, b/c the unofficial mascot of my mom’s town (Palmyra, PA) is an albino squirrel. They call him whitey and it’s quite the honor to see him frolicking in your yard. I see you’ve met his cousin. :p

TheTeaFairy

Haha! So awesome :-)

hippiechick 42

What does lychee taste like?

TheTeaFairy

Very hard to describe hippiechick. It’s very sweet and juicy, a bit like grapes can be, but a lot more perfumed.

Terri HarpLady

Dragon Lychee Pearls…this sounds amazing!
I have to agree, Butiki’s lychee oolong is the best lychee tea I’ve had so far.

mj

SQUEAVERS!! ROFL

Marzipan

It makes me think of the Anthony Bourdain episode in the bayou where they ate “sqweazel”.

Dexter

(just for the record – considering some of you think I eat eat weird – or least unheard of things – squeever and sqweazel are not on the menu in my house)

hippiechick 42

Thanks teafairy, for the description. :)

Marzipan

Dex you can cover anything in yumyum sauce and make it good. :)

SarsyPie

Squeavers are no laughing matter! They’re bloodthirsty beasts! They’ll bite your ankles off!!!! :p

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