Jessica Send Message

I got this as a sample with my Tao Tea Leaf order. This review is for the first steep which was done in a 7oz mug with a Finum brewing basket.

The smell of the steeping tea really surprised me! It actually smells buttery or maybe more like caramel corn.

The taste is pretty different from the smell. I can only taste a hint of buttery-ness (which is good, since I don’t know how I would feel about buttery tea). It definitely tastes creamy and floral and is much more of a “green” tasting oolong, which I’m fond of. Oddly enough, the aftertaste reminds me a lot of apricot.

Drank this tea at the shop in Toronto. It was absolutely wonderful. I can’t wait to order more from their website.

Delicious! Even better than the tie guan yin I got from verdant tea this summer. Very floral and slightly astringent, but not too much so. Springtime in a glass.

I really like this tea! I’m inexperienced with unflavored green tea, however, because it seems difficult to find where I live. I bought this at whole foods in the bulk tea section. I steeped each batch of leaves 3-4 times and while they began to lose flavor around the end, it’s possible that this is my own fault for not properly adjusting the steep temperature and time for each steep.

Also worth mentioning is that there is no temptation for me to add anything at all to my tea once I taste it. Usually I want to add a touch of honey or light agave to my tea, but not this tea. There was no bitterness, even though some of the leaves escaped my porcelain steeping-strainer-cup-thing (what are these called?) and I let them sit overnight in the bottom of my unfinished teacup. I drank some in the morning before running out the door and was surprised to find that my tea wasn’t bitter in the slightest! I will be buying this tea again.

I bought this tea in the bulk tea section at whole foods. This is my first non-flavored white tea and I’m in love! This is my new favorite tea, period. I know I’m not an expert and I also know I haven’t tasted the best there is to taste, but that’s the only thing keeping me from giving this a higher rating.

Additionally, I should state that I am rather imprecise in my steep time and my water temperature. I steep until it looks beautiful and smells delicious. I heat the water until the bubbles are “shrimp eye” sized but not “crab eye sized”.

The second steep was even better than the first. I highly recommend this tea to anyone who likes white tea!