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Great aromas here! This tea is bursting with lilac like a great jasmine tea. This tea also mentioned hyacinth but I’m not familiar enough to tell. First steep created a wonderful golden cup and the scent jumps right out of the cup.

From: Steepster Oolong Sampler

Really liked this tea and the blooming aroma from the tea pouch, the teapot, and the cup itself. Felt like a great fall tea and really enjoyed the orange rind that added to the aesthetic.

From the Steepster Select Box; October, 2014

Really enjoyed this tea with its well balanced flavors and warm hints of nutty roasted rice. I enjoyed this a lot at a lower temperature and got great flavor which mellowed nicely after a few additional steeps.

From the Steepster Select Box; October, 2014

Have to agree with the other review here … something about this is just unsettling. The burnt flavor is overpowering and grows the longer you steep it. It seems like they left rice in the pan and just forgot about it until it singed black at the bottom. I’ve done this myself and the memory is all too clear here.

I thought this would be very interesting as I am a fan of Oktoberfest. I really enjoyed the earthy pu-er like fragrance from the leaves and the malty flavors that developed right away. I tried to steep the tea a little longer than recommended and taste it a few times as it developed. The malty flavor definitely is up front early on and melds into the background as the black tea qualities emerge and take center stage. Overall a nice blend and worth enjoying on a nice fall day.

Really surprised to find this tea in the Steepster select pack but curiously decided to try it on a busy Thursday afternoon. Firstly the tea has a real chocolate aroma but it smells like they had cacao nearby when they dried it not like artificial flavorings (i hope). Also since it was later in the day and I didn’t want a burst of caffeine I decided to rinse the tea twice and let it open up (hopefully washing some caffeine away). First off there is a mellow chocolate aroma and some notable earthiness. Later as it steeped the chocolate gave way to some astringency and finally to a stronger black tea flavoring. I liked the evolution as it brewed and will try another steep slowly sipping some chocolate along the way.

Tried the recommended steep time and temp. First notes are of a firm tea and notes of malt or the corn-like sweetness that accompanies some fine green teas. There is a nice up front grassy flavor and a clean and a light crisp tea flavor afterwards with light astringency. I’m missing some of the depth I find from longer steeped teas even though I lightly rinsed the tea to open it up. The leaves do smell largely of a nice roasted savory leaf which is quite pleasant.

Really enjoy the name of this tea in my Steepster Select samples. “Organic Buddhist Tea” has a great ring to it and after opening I was happy to find a very nice bouquet and a little tea dust like matcha. My first steep was a bit too much water and had a savory and vegetal flavor, good color and a slight astringent after taste. A very nice every day tea.

First steep was quick and colorful with a light almost neon green color and a slightly earthy scent with a burst of green and fresh cut grass after sipping. The tea has a full bodied floral element to it in the background both in aroma and in taste.

I ran the second steep a bit quick to see how the flavors develop but I find it to be a bit astringent on the second pass without as much of the florals or grass. Still a very clean bright color and good taste

Very subtle but fragrant tea leaves left a smooth and nutty cup of tea after the first steep and a pleasant second steep with similar nutty overtones and a corn-like sweetness which is very pleasant!