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While this tea was steeping, it certainly smelled like perfume. No surprises, then, when it turned out to taste like perfume. None of the bergmont flavor from the earl grey was present. As far as I could taste, I was drinking lavender tea and not lavender earl grey. Not really what I expected…

This was my first darjeeling tea and I must say, I liked it. The taste was strong, for lack of a better word, especially when I didn’t drink the tea immediately, but not as strong as assam or some chinese teas I liked.

I didn’t like this tea, mostly because it really didn’t taste like lychee. While the tea leaves smelled like it, that smell didn’t carry over to the taste or the hot tea. All that I could taste was mediocre black tea, most likely the base.

This is one solid tea. It’s hard to describe what it is but what it isn’t is: smokey, harsh, needing sugar or milk, or weak. Just straight, this tea has a good “black tea” flavor and is easy on the tongue.

I thought this tea would be good iced, but so far this tea’s only been ok. I don’t like the stevia added; I want to be able to sweeten as I please and stevia isn’t my sweetener of choice.

Using up my last bit of this tea until it goes back on sale
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The first steep is smooth-incredibly smooth- and I’ve finally managed to get the buttery flavor other reviewers mentioned. Also, it smells wonderful. It smells floral without smelling like perfume.

1 tsp @ 135 F for 45 seconds
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The (fairly) cool water makes for a smooth tea. I can’t taste any bitterness at all, just floral hinted sencha. Almost too hinted; the trade off between temperature and bitterness means that there isn’t enough sakura in my sip at such a low temp.

What a smooth tea! The smell while the tea was steeping was fairly strong, leading me to expect a bitter tea, but it isn’t at all. Not sweet, but no hint of bitterness. It is a bit disappointing; the jasmine smell is stronger then the taste. It’s a decent bagged jasmine tea, and I would give it to people who never have had jasmine and those who love it.

This tea is the very definition of Irish breakfast, in tea bag form. Strong, well-paired with milk and sugar, while capable of giving some get-up-and-go. I don’t find it to be overly bitter, but admittedly, I’ve only had this tea with milk and sugar.

This is a solid, every-day drinking kind of tea. It took a bit of tinkering to get this tea to taste good, but it was worth it. When made with boiling water, the flavor of the rice comes out in full force, to say the least of the aroma. That said, I do wish the taste of the tea was a bit, well, stronger. I tried fiddling with temperatures, using cooler water (180 F ish), but not only did that not bring out the taste of the tea, it made the tea taste overly-watery. If you like your genmaicha heavy on the genmai, don’t be delicate with this tea; it can take it!