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Ok, another tea by DAVIDsTEA… oops sorry, it is by Tea Forte! Now all teas that contain coconut remind me of DAVIDsTEA because they are using too much coconut in their blends!!!

As I don’t like coconut (apparently, the excessive use of coconut by DAVIDsTEA has strengthened my aversion…), it’s natural that I don’t enjoy this tea very much. The sharp smell of coconut isn’t very pleasant and appears synthetic to me. I think it’s a waste to use “rarest Pai Mu Tan” as the tea base because coconut is so dominant that I can’t taste the white tea at all. Disappointing.

If I didn’t know this is a flavoured tea, I probably would take it as a plain green tea – the mandarin orange flavour was sooooo light when the tea was hot! In fact, the orange flavour manigested as only a trace of bitterness… which would be easily neglected. But since the green tea base was good (I love Lupicia’s green tea for its lack of bitterness and slightly sweet aftertaste), I found this tea ok on the whole. Oh yes, the orange aroma and flavour became stronger as the tea cooled. It was a bit artificial to me so I was glad that I drank the tea hot!

I love, love, love this tea! The aroma and taste of chestnut was beautiful. At first I expected the sweetness of honey-glazed chestnut, but instead it was the mellow sweetness and nuttiness of roasted chestnut. It’s good that it had a smooth green tea base instead of black tea base, cos I think the strength of black tea might overwhelm the delicate flavours. :)

Wow this is a great one! Lupicia suggests using boiling water for brewing, which worried me a bit but I followed anyway… I just kept the brewing time as short as possible. The brewed cup turned out to be fine and free from bitterness – whew! Fresh Japanese apple aroma and taste, which was wonderful. Remember the Karel Capek apple tea I tried years ago, the apple flavour was soooo artificial and sooooo overpowering, but this tea tasted completed natural. Great job Lupicia! I enjoyed this after having a bowl of salty instant noodles and felt totally refreshed :)

Contessa Grey is one of the most creative blend I’ve ever tasted. Who would have thought of blending shiso with Earl Grey? ;) I’d say this is a successful, tasty formula! I don’t know how to describe the unique taste of shiso, but it’s refreshing, somewhat herbal (taste of leafy herbs), and very fragrant. When shiso and bergamot go together, the result is a cup with such refined, elegant aroma – just like some kind of new Asian perfume! Taste-wise it is like a stronger version of Earl Grey. I don’t like eucalyptus but since it’s not terribly present, I don’t find it a problem in this tea. I feel sad that this is my last bag! :(

Interesting combination of houjicha and toasted rice! The aroma of toasted rice is very powerful when brewed (just like regular genmaicha), but the taste of rice is much less strong in the liquor. Rather, the sweetness and roasted flavour of houjicha dominates the cup. The perfect autumn drink that warms you up.

This is a very light tea even by the standard of Taiwanese oolong. Love the floral oolong base. There’s a mild citrus flavour in my cup which resembles tangerine candy. Would be delicious when iced!

I thought this was just a fruit-scented green tea but my guess was completely wrong. It’s a honeybush and green tea blend!! Plus there’s peppermint and ginger root!! What can I say… it’s just very, very weird, especially when I expected none of these (who would have thought about that!?). Being a mint lover, I found the mint acceptable… but certainly I wanted stronger mango and peach flavours. I tasted something slightly bitter and tart in my cup and wasn’t sure what it was. Could it be due to the strange combination of honeybush, green tea and ginger? God knows why Tea Forte threw in so many random (at least in my opinion) ingredients into this tea… I didn’t even want to finish my cup.

This is enjoyable even though it is less fragrant and less intense flavour-wise than I thought. You know, Lupicia’s blends are always so powerfully fruity/flowery! The houjicha is delicious by itself and the roasted flavour is further enhanced by mildly sweet honey (I really don’t think there’s anything like pear in it). It makes me happy! :)

A nice genmaicha with everything that it should have: intense aroma of toasted rice, beautiful jade colour (the liquor), mild straw-y flavour. One of its ingredients is reportedly high-quality rice by the brand “Kirara”… though I can’t really tell its difference from other cheaper genmaicha. Anyway, this is quite enjoyable. :)