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Caffeine boost for an all-nighter study/ homework session!

Second Tea forte tea, hope this one fares better than the last.
Not commenting on the dry leaves here since I really can’t see them all that clearly, but it did smell nice, hint of nuttiness?
The brew is yellow/greenish in color, smells nutty, tastes nutty. Very mild, the oolong taste isn’t very strong, but still nice.

I wish this came in loose leaves, cuz the leaves are all squished up in that tiny pyramid and look absolutely miserable. Maybe I’ll cut open the second sachet whenever I get around to it.

Early morning study session before going to lunch/ meeting.

The dry tea smells really fruity, with a hint of coco. The almond pieces, raspberries and the yerba are easily visible.
The brew smells nicely of coco, the raspberry merely a wisp. Drinking it, the raspberry flavor is more dominant, the coco an aftertaste, and not getting the almonds and other stuff. I’m also getting a…I don’t know, banana? Some other fruit? Can’t identify it, but it’s quite pleasant.

Light but flavorful. Quite nice.

Not feeling the energy rush yet, but hopefully it’ll hit me sometime soon.

Sipdown!

I have been drinking this since 10 this morning. This is such an awesome tea.
The taste is light, creamy, and very aromatic. While it does give you the creamy feel and taste, it doesn’t weigh it all down (like some cakes…ugghhhh), but instead just glides through.
It also tastes differently when cold (yes, I accidentally left it when I was preparing lunch). The taste of oolong is more noticeable compared to the hot version, and instead of softness, it gives you a crisper, fresher feel.

I’m happy now that I left it and got to try it cold. Will try it cold brewed once I get around to ordering from American Tea Room again.

Something before bed-time. Also to sort of compensate for the disappointment of earlier (I hope)

The dry tea smells really fragrant. You can definitely smell the peach and apricot, and there is a sweetness to the smell.
The brew smelled delicious when I poured water over it: the peach fairly came alive and was like dancing around my kitchen. The taste is sweet, but I don’t find it overwhelming, and I can taste the fruity parts quite well. I was delighted to find that the rose petals aren’t very noticeable, since I hate floral with a passion.

Good.

My first straight mate! Done for the week (in terms of homework), so decided to experiment!

First off, the leaves look so nice. Evenly chopped, and such a bright green. The smell is weird though not unpleasant, reminded me of straw, sort of.
The brew looks green, a bit muddy, not the clear colors one usually gets with tea. It now smells even more like straw, and wet ones at that. The taste is also weird, and aside from that it is slightly bitter and…smoky?, I am really at a loss at how to explain it.

Maybe if I try it cold I might like it better. We’ll see.

Breville try out session! And my fav tea to accompany me on a mini Big Bang Theory marathon;) (I can almost imagine the disapproving face of my roommate since I supposedly have a 1250 word paper due tomorrow, but whatever)

So anyway, this is as delicious as ever. Actually, it was even better than last time since this time, it wasn’t overbrewed at all.
The dry tea smells like candy, as usual. The brew is a beautiful light green color and the sweet aroma just envelopes you, in a very very good way.
The vegetal notes are reduced to a minimum, and you can’t really taste it this time round. The sweet, cotton candy-ish, caramelly awesomeness is however enhanced and you can really feel the sweetness, mellow and smooth. But you still get the tea behind all this, so you aren’t overwhelmed by the sweetness of it, nor do you get tired of it since the flavor profile changes slightly as the temp changes and cools.

Upping the rating to 100 because it is now as awesome as I remember it (unlike last time, when I sadly sort of ruined it a little by oversteeping)

Late night tea session! I wanted something warm before I went to bed, but somehow none of the decaf teas I have appealed to me, so here I am with this (you can say my go to tea-ish)

The dry tea is thin in shape and most have a little curve, so I’m guessing thats where the name came from (Although I have to say translation is really an issue here as the Chinese says sparrow’s tongue, not beak). The dry tea also smelled very fragrant, however not intensely so.
The brew is a light yellow color, and the fragrance is more prominent. The taste is much in line with this observation: a whisper of jasmine that doesn’t overwhelm. Clean, refreshing cup of tea.

Can’t help but compare this to Red Blossom’s Dragon Pearl Supreme, which held stronger scents in both dry and wet tea form. However, Dragon Pearls are also a heck lot more expensive than Sparrow’s Beak, so for anyone that’s seeking a cheap (yet not so cheap) alternative to the Pearls, this is the tea you want. Personally, I feel that I would rather have the pearls when I’m fully awake and able to appreciate all it’s beauty, but during other times when I’m too busy, tired or just distracted (or even when I’m alert but just not feeling it), this is my go to jasmine. Sure, it isn’t as wow worthy, but it will never disappoint.

One of the few teas that doesn’t suffer from oversteeping IMO (since I accidentally left this a tad longer than I was supposed to) A great tea for anytime.

This was a sample from DavidsTea.

The dry leaves looked like thick pine needles, with white fur (okay, I’m not sure what the heck that is, but it looked white and furry to me). It smelled really really weird, a bit musty and old? The smell is really off-putting, but I’ll go ahead with it ( oooo bravery!).
The leaves look a lot more normal after I poured water over them, but the smell is still a bit weird. The brew however, is nice, almost transparent looking. The taste…I’m not sure if this is just me or what, but I’m not getting anything here, just mildly scented water, with a tiny bit of grassiness that I’m not liking too much.

I did not oversteep or use water that was too hot, so the result was disappointing. I guess I was expecting more flavors and scents? Anyhow, not a fan, and definitely will not be something I’d buy.

Midnight study session….ughhhh. Since I’m cutting down on sugar I’m substituting my usual Mountain Dew for this.

The dry tea looks very pretty, although more like dried grass/wood bits than tea, which I’m assuming is typical of rooibos. I’m seeing lemongrass and lime skin here, as well as smelling all that citrusy flavor, along with a hint of sweet condensed milk type smell (I’m guessing that is the cream flavoring).
The wet leaves smell really strongly of lime, as does the brew. You can really taste the lime when you drink, but theres also a refreshing, sort of minty? taste and a subtle underlying tone of sweetness. It’s not as tart as I expected.The tea brings to my mind the sort of airy, insubstantial feel one gets when eating chiffon cake.

I’m really impressed with this! Can’t wait to try their other, more well known/liked lemon chiffon.