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Dry leaf are nicely rolled balls of white tea that have a surprisingly salty aroma.
Smells a bit like sheng and produces a fairly clear liquor,,there are the little fuzzies from the tea leaves floating in there and a champagne color to the liquid.
The tea is not very sweet and it has a bitter note that is not unpleasant, like bitter melon.
It is pretty smooth and no astringency but I have had a much better example of this type tea and found that this one was a bit one-note. No sweet, no fruit, cream or any other flavors but the bitter melon so I didn’t like the lack of complexity or balance.

From the Steepster Select Box; November, 2014

Dry leaf smells so woody and soil-like. I am not a big fan of shou :( so this is not to my taste.
The liquor is fairly clear and it’s pretty smooth. If I was ever going to drink shou, this would be pretty good for that type of tea. It is just a type that I really don’t care for so I am not a good judge of it.
It tastes like sweet wood growing out of the ground.

From the Steepster Select Box; November, 2014

The dry rooibos mix is very fragrant,,smells like vanilla marshmallow treat.
Liquor is red colored and has that rooibos scent and flavor. It is sweet with vanilla notes and a touch of honey. It’s very sweet and rooibos tasting.
If you like rooibos, you would like this. I don’t really care for rooibos so I am not a good judge of it.

From the Steepster Select Box; November, 2014

Dry leaf is really nice smelling, just like jasmine growing in your garden. The tea is also very pretty, silver needle buds with bits of flower mixed in. The only thing not pretty was that it was very crushed and had lots of tiny bits and pieces instead of whole, intact buds.
Despite all the broken pieces and particles, the tea is quite clear and a nice champagne color.
I have an aversion to Jasmine tea and pretty much won’t try any of them, so I was quite surprised that this is actually kind of tasty!! It’s more white tea flavor with subtle jasmine. It has a jasmine and cream flavor.
I actually enjoyed this jasmine tea and this was the one I was dreading in the Steepster Box and didn’t want to try, lol.

From the Steepster Select Box; November, 2014

Got this as a sample and I thought I would review it but I should have brewed it Western style as I think Teavana teas are meant to be brewed Western style.
The tea mix itself is really pretty. The tea looks like a green tea but it is supposed to be white. The leaves are a dark moss green and twisted. There are peachy-pink colored dried roses all throughout and it is very pretty to look at.
I put a bit into one of my small gaiwans and only steeped it for a few seconds. This was super bitter :(
Of course, I have been spoiled by the super high quality teas that I have been drinking for a while but I thought this really smelled medicinal cherry syrup and was so bitter— so I don’t know how they get it to taste good. Probably lots and lots of water and sugar :(

Dry leaf smells very much of sweet cinnamon. There are tiny little pieces of orange in the black tea mix but I wasn’t getting much orange, just cinnamon. The little orange pieces are very cute and tiny.
Brewed this as instructed, 195F Western style, for 4 minutes.
This tea tastes like you took a Red-Hot Candy and steeped it in hot water for a bit.
There is a lot of cinnamon on the nose and more of a sweet subtle cinnamon in the flavor.
The liquor is a clear orange color.
I really didn’t catch the other flavors that are suggested on the package because I was tasting mostly cinnamon. This is definitely the tea for cinnamon lovers :)

From the Steepster Select Box; November, 2014

Dry leaves smell like sweet raisin bread and they are all perfectly uniform with tons of golden color mixed with tan medium sized twists. The leaves are really perfect looking.
Did a very quick rinse in my gaiwan with their suggested 185F temp. This lower temp produces a clear auburn broth that also smells like the dry leaves,,,sweet raisin bread.
Wow! This is super smooth!! And the flavor of sweet raisin bread as well.
At this low temp, you can steep it for a pretty long time to extract more flavor. This tea is super super clean. Love it.

I have really been impressed with What-Cha teas because all of their teas are perfectly intact-there are no broken, mishapen, or dusty pieces in the bags-just perfect tea leaves.
These dry leaves are really pretty, long purple needle shapes.
If you like young sheng, this is one for you to try!
Crazy scent to the leaves after I rinsed them in my gaiwan a couple of times. Really smells like a young, very stern sheng. Very petrol scented with a little bit of edamame to it. Liquor also smells very petrol. (I used green wood in the flavors section, as Steepster doesn’t include petrol in it’s choices) (I didn’t bother trying to add petrol to the Steepster choices :)
Wet leaves reveal themselves to be long, gorgeous green super buds.
Flavor is definitely like young sheng but it is very smooth and not bitter or astringent, just hard core petrol flavor. It has a thick and creamy mouth feel as well. Later as I am done drinking it, I feel it coating my chest area so it does have a biting and a bit of a burning effect so could be a good one to drink if you want to open your chest area for deep breathing.
This is not my favorite tea from What-Cha but I love that I was able to purchase 10g of it to try without the risk of buying a huge amount and not enjoying it. So I really like that about What-Cha as a company.

This totally smells like licorice candy. I happen to like natrural licorice candy every once in a while but not licorice tea.
It has pretty chamomile flowers and fennel seeds. Also looks like a bit of lemongrass and orange citrus peel in there. It all smells like licorice though.
The brew is a bit cloudy and it is a light golden color.
This smells like licorice and the flavor is straight up licorice. I am getting a hint of the orange but that’s it.

From the Steepster Select Box; October, 2014

Dry leaf is very dark roasted chocolate colored little rolled balls. Smells really good like mocha.
I like that this is a low temp at 180F so I’m intrigued. I’m doing a cup Western style as Steepster suggests and also some in my 4 ounce gaiwan bc that’s how I would choose to brew this.
Steeped the Western for 2 minutes.
This is very mochachino-like to me. Both my Western and gaiwan brews taste like dark cocoa mochachino. This is a very interesting flavor,,,it is dipping into the coffee realm of flavors.
I’m getting a dark black cherry but definitely baked/burnt sugar and mocha. The spice I taste is black pepper.
Liquor is a clear golden tan color. This is a completely different Oolong, there is no floral,,which floral has made me quit drinking Oolongs.
This is Mochachino with burnt cherry taste. Really interesting flavor. I’m glad I steeped for only 2 minutes—it doesn’t need to go any more it is too roasted for that.
This one is SUPER roasted so watch your stomach—eat your breakfast before tasting this one.
I can feel it on my stomach even after my usual daily breakfast.

From the Steepster Select Box; October, 2014