Daylon R Thomas Send Message

I’m so close to rating this one a hundred. I mostly get the same profile every time, but it’s so comforting. Butter, chocolate, smooth, malt, sweet potato, caramel, florals-it’s my favorite tea that I got over 300 grams of. I wonder how long it’ll last me.

*Orange Blossoms.

I wanted to try this one in the UK, but Kiani Tea was converting to its physical shop in the Royale Exchange (mispelled), and I wasn’t able to find it quickly enough at the British museum.

I got this one with shipping costing $28 US with the Gilani Glory, totaling out to close to $74 for a hundred grams of tea including the shipping cost, and….I’m kinda dissappointed. The Iranian black tea is not super forward, and a little green bordering on a softer oolong bell pepper flavor. The cardamom pops out more in the second steep, and the orange and rose are not super forward. It’s a relaxing tea, but I need honey or sugar to bring out the rose and orange blossom. I like floral black teas that are lighter, but it’s kinda flat on its own.

Because I’m lazy, I’m just going to write about the Gilani here too. It’s got a slightly different base, and it’s more floral with blue borage flower, yellow roses, and orange peel, it’s a more vague citrusy black tea. It’s like a Belgian Blue Moon in tea form, and not a whole lot of aroma or flavor.

I hope I change my mind on it because I was hoping for something unique, but I feel like a paid a whole lot of extra money for just ok tea. I’m sorry to be so critical of tea that’s trying something different and unique, but I’m not impressed for this price point.

I am so glad I got some before the tariffs. I’ll be good for a while…I think.

Served 3 bags in a large pot to D and D guests. I only let the bags soak for 3 minutes. It’s a little bit artificial, but not bad. I brew it individually to keep the jasmine softer at 2 minutes. It was easy for tea newbs to like. Can do two rebrews for the bag before it gets bitter when keeping it short. Not the best jasmine, but does the trick.

I kept coming back to the Mango Green they sold. There’s bergamot in that blend, so I keep going back to it because you don’t notice the bergamot. It’s more of a zesty/sweetening finish that shines with some honey.

Backlog:

I’ve got to say, I’ve been going through these bagged teas more often than a few others that I got from England. I only may have gotten a Mason and Fortnum tea at the cafe in the undercroft for Windsor Castle, but this Earl Grey is pretty reliable. It’s balanced, and can go without sugar when I brew it for too minutes with just enough malt and acidity to balance itself out. I actually like more than the Numi teas…

I’m trying to remember if its a 24 or 23 season one, but thank you Leafhopper! I plowed through this one quickly. Both sessions, it required longer steeps or higher temperature in the first few brews to push out the flavor. Afterwards, I shortened it to 10-25 second intervals getting roughly 8 the first time and six the second time. Earlier flavors were floral, creamy, and vaguely Jin Xuan tasting, and then the fruitier notes were peachy with the shorter steeps. Osmanthus and lily (of the valley) were the main notes I got, with some complexity in texture. Kinda light in flavor overall, but not a boring tea.

Fake review-I wanted to try this one, but then, it sold out. Anyone want to trade some?

Thank you Leafhopper! I plowed through this one in a single swoop of gong fu. I paired it with some salmon I baked with sage and garam marsala that had some mango in it. This was a good food pairing.

I had the tea on it’s own, and I get drying elements with fruity ones. Blindtasting, some mango by association, bell pepper, florals, straw, and a bit of astringency. Shorter steeps cut some of it up. I’ve honestly been picky over Darjeeling type teas lately, but I liked this one. It was flavorful enough to stand with the salmon and compliment it, and I finished this in four rebrews with each no longer than 30 sec.

Last one that I may have overleafed, but it was very satisfying.

I usually go crazy for every Tieguanyin black I drink. Pretty much every review I’ve done of one from anywhere I rate a 90% minimum. This one, I need to get to know more. It’s very good and has a lot of layers, but was more brisk than I expected. I need to play more with the parameters.

The fruity and floral components are there western after 2:45 and maybe too many leaves, giving off more purple and orange fruit vibes compared to the red ones I’ve gotten from previous TGY blacks. Passionfruit, baked peach, and rose are their notes. I get the passionfruit and baked peach for sure. The rose, not yet. I get more gardenia personally.

The malt overpowered the other notes a little bit into a thick fruity and viscous drink. Sometimes, I got breakfast tea vibes from this one even though it’s medium in caffeine. That could be psychological since one of the reviewers is a breakfast and Earl Grey person that ranks this one above those two, and it has a lot of qualities in a good breakfast black. It’s malty with a fruity edge and a nice energy. This one has more muscle to the malt tones, whereas the other two teas I got were more luxurious. This one woke me up more.

Hence why I need to reevaluate the tea with less leaves. I likely put 8 grams in my pot, and got a briskier result that was not totally unwelcome. Some of the florals were kinda heady though, so I’m curious if they’ll be just as heady or oily when I use less leaves, tumbler style it, or gong fu it. Not regretting buying this one at all, though.

I’ve wanted to try this one for years, and this is easily one of the most decadent Taiwanese Black teas I’ve had yet. This is what I thought Sugar Glider would taste like.

I expected it to be sweet for sure, and maybe fruity like Nectar from Whispering Pines, but this stuff….is like a Lishan Black. Funnel Cake notes come up. It’s sooo sweet that I thought I added brown sugar to it. It’s what people want their vanilla blacks to taste like because it’s soo smooth and sooooo sweet, even though there’s no vanilla in it. It’s a sugar flavor bomb, and weirdly, it’s not fruity. Their notes do it justice. It’s like a vanilla extract sugar water concoction. I got 4 brews out of it western before it got more woody. The sandalwood, I can kinda see. Sometimes, I got kinda a bamboo feel in some of the wood notes. Malty though, a touch astringent, but barely. This one had no tannin in the taste.

I got a little tea drunk from this one after the Jin Jun Mei. I’m a light weight.