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I tried looking this up and the website suggested “Winter Tongue”. So if sticking your tongue out and putting it on a lamp pole in the cold were a tea, this would be it?

No. Winter Tongue is not this tea. This tea is liquid cinnamon Altoids. I like them very much. Mint teas are hit or miss for me. The mint’s got to taste fresh. Otherwise, the tea needs a few other ingredients to offset the dryness. This mint tea was not that dry because Andrew used peppermint, but its natural dryness blended nicely with the cinnamon and the occasionally roasted qualities of the Da Hong Pao. I did not taste the oolong so much the first time, but I tasted the mineral rock oolong in the far background when I’ve used more leaf. Emphasis on the profile being in the FAR background.

I think this tea would have wide appeal. One of the teachers I work with really enjoyed it and he is more of a coffee drinker, though he has his own tea cabinet in a Star Wars and Harry Potter themed class room (#my teacher goals). If you have had cinnamon Altoids, or just Altoids, then you know what this tea tastes like and weather to buy it.

I am finally getting to this tea never mind I’ve drank it for the past month. There is a long relationship I’ve had with roasted Tie Guan Yin.

Here’s the story. When I started my Steepster quest, I was an ex black coffee drinker trying to give up my old habit. Dark roasted oolongs were often recommended to such a drinker, and thanks to Andrew, I got into the world of oolong. He was nice enough to teach me with a series of samples. A few of those samples were aged and roasted Tie Guan Yins, which had the oddest taste I’ve had in a tea. I can dig some roast and some vanilla in the natural profiles of my tea, but this particular variety tastes and smells like mahogany paint stain. Ever since, there was only one dark Tie Guan Yin that I really enjoyed was one from Whispering Pines. Andrew and I both liked it, and while he was far more experienced and became even more experienced with aged teas, I was still left wanting. I continued to drink coffee anyway.

So while he is concocting his experimental blends, he decided to use some of his vanilla flavoring skills (insert white joke here) to revive something out of this old Tie Guan Yin. The antique table taste is still there with its charred texture, but sweetened by the vanilla. The vanilla might be just enough to convince a tea nooby, but a newbie who drinks black coffee. A more experienced or intermediate tea drinker who loves roast and vanilla are the best targets in my opinion. The wood and char taste might dissuade a few.

Summary: If you are one of those old souls who loves the smell of leather books, mahogany, and the taste of a warm, roasted drink in the morning, this is your tea.

Thank you so much Jeff! My Unytea order was very aesthetic and very considerate. I smelled through the bags of course and I am oddly really excited for one of the blends.

This particular was recommended for a non-stomach upsetting nuclear green oolong, and I’ve been really curious to try this varietal. The large nuclear emerald leaves smell green and clean. Tasting it, this tea is the embodiment of orchid floral from Tie Guan Yin and Bao Zhong. I was surprised that the florals were a little too strong for me. it had the World Market organic luxury soap thing going on.

So I did a five second rinse for my wopping 6 grams for 6 fluid ounces, then I brewed up the first steep at twelve seconds. I think that steep was too short because I got ORCHID and STEM. I’m not getting creamy so much. The later steeps were more enjoyable with a good balance between the green flower stem taste and some fruitier, more lemon and pineapple qualities. It also has some staying power ‘cause I’m still drinking it after steep seven. I used short steeps, however.

I have to play with this one more, and luckily, I have the amount to do so. It does not quite have the balance I’m looking for, but it is still a great quality tea and I am excited to see what else I can do with these lovely leaves. I am looking forward to other goodies I have. I also need to write so many more reviews…

Lovely tonight. Less leaves. I am so temperamental about this tea. Butter and thick coconut oil are strongest this time with some arguable spinach in the background. Of course I love it. I swear it was slightly different the first time I had it. More florals and a tad less buttered greens would be perfect. Oh well. Still happy.

Thank you Alistair for this provision! This is one of the best Brandy or red style Jin Xuans I’ve had of late. Alistair picked this tea becaue of its similarity to the Red Buffalo. Incidentally, Andrew recommended the Red Buffalo when I was exploring the world of red oolongs. I find myself a little more partial to the Red Buffalo, but if I had this tea prior, I think I would have bought a considerate portion.

This had a very clean and sweet honey note with the roast and cherry pie crust going on more in the background. The roast was stronger than the cherry for me personally, but I dig that honey. I Gong Fu’d this tea, though I need to try it again Western. What I really need to do is a side by side comparison to the Red Buffalo to see if I pick up on distinct differences and if my preference for it is even fair. Compared to other red oolongs, though, this tea is so much cleaner in its profile and so much more balanced. It was not overwhelmingly sweet or filled to the brim with char. The texture is also not too thick, which is a little bit of a problem that I have with darker Jin Xuans.

Again, the description is spot on: “A smooth sweet grassy tasting Sencha, produced from the Taiwanese cultivar Qingxin Da Pa, which is usually reserved for Oriental Beauty giving the tea a smooth sweetness which isn’t found in other Senchas.”

There is no doubt that this tea is a Sencha Green tea though. Unlike others, it has a very clean tropical taste that is more breezy than seaweed like. So highlights are clean body, a sweet healthy green taste, and great re-steepability. Of course I brewed this gong fu. Sencha lovers rejoice :)

This is not the same English Breakfast that What-Cha had before, but this tea is doubtlessly English Breakfast in taste. I tried to Gong Fu it, but my attempts didn’t work. It did however have a nice malt and cherry aftertaste going on. It was more suited for cream and sugar, however. I will probably try it again to see if I missed something straight. I had high hopes given the varieties of teas blended in this particular breakfast, but it is still a very English tea. At least to me. What-Cha is an English company, so you would have to ask them.

Alistair, know that I greatly enjoyed this sample.

The notes written in the description are pretty spot on. I would add that this tea was like a combo between a Darjeeling and a Japanese Black. It had the elusive cocoa and chocolate notes for sure, but its raisin and citrus profile was closer to that of a Darjeeling while its grassy roasted qualities were closer to a Japanese black. I’ve never had a tea with this odd combo before.

I will try it again to see if I get anything else.

I am happy with my larger purchase of this tea. I am still figuring out how I like it Gong Fu, but so far I’ve gotten a very Guinness tasting tea. The cinnamon raisin rye notes are strong with this one.

What deeply impressed me was the buttery , chocolate notes I got Grandpa styling it in my tumbler. Malt, chocolate, yams, bread, smoke, and buttered toast were the things popping. More “chocolaty” in the first brew of it. Five brews grandpa in a portable bottle=happiness.

I will update this note later, but I wrote the basic idea behind the tea. For someone newly trying a golden Yunnan tea, this tea tastes like a malty, somewhat smokey buttered black tea.

DAMN this tea is yummy. Anytime I have a Darjeeling with muscatel wine AND chocolaty notes I am happy. Here’s how he describes it: “A wonderful Darjeeling with a smooth honey sweet caramel taste which shifts towards a sweet chocolate maltiness with subsequent and longer steeps.” Emphasis on the honey-it was sweet enough to remind me of mead. I would not be surprised if you sweet tooths would serve this tea with honey or honey crystals. I got three good cups out of it western, and you might be able to Gong Fu this, but it was too light for me personally. I wanted the elusive chocolate notes that make me so happy. In short, this is an excellent example of a Darjeeling.