Madeline Send Message

Just got this from amazon. Hoping for a cheaper/easier-to-brew alternative to my favorite jasmine pearls.
Opening the bag, I got a very strong jasmine smell, which was promising. I was expecting to smell less jasmine. Right away, the tea started turning a deeper yellow than the pearls when I started pouring the water. After two minutes, it’s a strong, bright yellow color. The smell is weird, though. There’s some sort of chemically-ness or sharpness. It kind of reminds me of crayons, weirdly. Like, melted crayons. Maybe candle wax, kind of chemically and burnt. Weirdly heavy and not good. The tea itself is stronger and more bitter than the pearls – a little earthy/grassy. Overall, not an enjoyable experience. My beloved jasmine pearls would never do this to me. Definitely a sign I need to quit dilly-dallying and just order more pearls already!

Update: My girlfriend can’t smell the crayon thing I’m complaining about and says it just smells like green tea, so maybe it’s a personal thing.

I picked up this tea in a tin of 15 sachets last night at target. I was hoping to find a jasmine green tea of some sort, but they didn’t have any and this was only $3! It says it’s a mix of black tea, oolong, and green with peach. I definitely smell “peach flavor”, and taste a very generic, mildly bitter/astringent black tea. It’s not bad – would probably be a lot better with milk/sugar/etc. I could see the peachiness growing on me, but for now, I’ll give this one a 40/100. Not mad about it for $3 and a reusable tin.

I’ve been drinking this tea every morning while I work – I’m hooked! Very floral/fragrant. I’m not even drinking coffee in the morning any more. I can’t put my finger on exactly why I’m so in love with this tea. I kind of wish I liked it a little less so I could drink my other teas at a more even rate!

This tea is good, but after drinking so much of the milky oolong and jasmine pearls, I have to bump it down a couple notches. I appreciate the caffeine though!

Wow, this tea is good. Made several cups towards the end of my work day, brewing no more than 2 mins each. The leaves expanded so much! It was cool to see and the smell/taste is similar to a sweetened milk. It reminds me of vanilla, but I don’t think it tastes like vanilla.. (haha, it’s a hard flavor/smell for me to pinpoint!) Very very enjoyable and light. The smell of the loose leaves is super sweet to me, so I was worried it would taste overwhelming and artificial, but it was very pleasant. I could ramble about this tea and the Jasmine pearls I got for a long time, but I have to get back to drinking the tea!

Second Pu-erh, first time packaged in a fruit like this. I poured boiling water over the entire thing after rinsing it quickly and let it steep for 3 minutes. It came out a color as dark or darker than my dark roast coffee. Immediately, it smells strongly like black pepper to me (without the spiciness). I like the wet earth and woodsy tastes and smells but the bitterness and pepper taste is too overwhelming for me to enjoy it properly. Not awful but not good. Will finish it and try a shorter steeping time :)

Update: Removing the number rating because I steeped it for waaaay too long

My girlfriend visited Yellow Mountain Tea House today and brought me back some tea! This tea was one of my requests. I’ve never had jasmine green tea before so I was excited to try it. The floral fragrance is strong. It caught me off guard at first, but I really enjoyed it. I found the tea to be very light and mild. Perfect for relaxing and playing board games.

I really liked this tea! (Another one from Martin – thank u!) A good balance of ginger and lemon. I’m going to have to get some more of this or something similar – probably my favorite caffeine-free tea right now.

(Thanks to Martin for sending!) Brewed for 3 minutes in a makeshift gaiwan while attempting to watch the presidential debate. Flavors and smells may be affected by how disoriented I am by Trump’s blabbering, it was nice to have a hot cup of tea to stabilize myself. I notice a strong peach smell and sour peach taste. The rose smell blends strangely with the peach. Rose always tastes a little soap-y to me so it might be different for other people. A very different-tasting tea overall, not my favorite, but might try it with milk and sugar and see how it tastes later :)

Smells like and tastes like cocoa powder. That’s pretty much the only smell/taste I get though. Compared to the Emperor’s Pu-erh this one has has hardly any flavor. Drinkable, though. I just find the chocolatey-ness annoying. Might be better with creamer/sugar.