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I drank this for breakfast. Nice plain breakfast tea. This helps me wake up without puzzling my taste buds. No additives, 2 tsp, 12 oz boiling water, 4 minutes 1st steep, 5 mins 2nd.

I’ve been drinking this all day, trying to make myself like it as much as the A&D Caravan. My best effort was 1 1/2 tsp in 8 oz boiling water steeped for 3 minutes, then a second steep of 4 1/2. It is delicious but I don’t find myself gulping it down as greedily as the Caravan. Oh well.

This is my second go at this tea. Actually, it may be the smell that is so vegetably and oolongy for me. Today the taste seems more like squash. Not Brussell sprouts.

I’ve used a 4 oz pot both times I’ve tried this. I wonder if that’s made it more like an oolong. Also I’m not sure how much leaf I should be using. I’ve been using a small clump.

I’ve upped my rating a little. Not such a taste shocker today.

ETA: The wet leaves are stunning, like crushed silk.

I don’t think I’ve been using enough leaf for this, previously. The Samovar directions are usually very generous for amounts of tea and I’ve been automatically decreasing them. I’m frugal! Today I used a heaping tsp in 8 oz of water. This was delicious. Sweet, and slightly fruity. Very mild but tasty. I didn’t think I liked this particularly before, but suddenly I was craving it, and now I really like it. Weird. I’m on my 4th steep, which is taking it a bit too far, but there are still hints of what I was enjoying.

I drank this a week ago at my local Wholefoods. I keep wondering when I’ll be able to go back at try it again. I wasn’t paying much attention at first. I just wanted something wet. I dumped in half and half and started sipping – a very nice, mellow breakfast blend with a surprising and delicious caramel in the finish. I found myself slurping. Very nice.

I’d read the tasting notes but had forgotten what was said. I brewed for 2 minutes, then 2:30 for the second steep. Next time I’ll try longer as recommended!

I had the opposite problem to those trying to get more oolong though. From the rich amber brew I expected something malty and sweet. Although malty and sweet wasn’t what smelling the dry leaves suggested I was going to get, I couldn’t seem to let go of that expectation. What I got was vegetable – not roasted and caramelised, but something fresher, maybe lightly cooked sprout, the kind of thing I would have resisted eating when I was 3. I’m not saying it tasted like Brussell sprouts, but it troubled me that I was having to fish through my mental flavour library to try to get closer to it. Then I got it! It tastes like oolong, green oolong, not the complex buttery, floral or fruity notes but the underlying oolong tea taste.

I think I’d rather have an oolong. Or a black. I’ll see how I like this next time, now that I’ve got a better idea of what to expect.

I really like ATR’s sample packs. There’s masses of leaf in this packet, so I’ll have plenty of chances to make up my mind. I nearly didn’t write this note. I was feeling a little embarrassed about the number of new teas I’ve acquired lately. I had to fight down an urge to keep this one a secret. There’s no need to be shy here, right?

This is my first puer without lots of fruit, spices, or other stuff added to it, so I had no idea what to expect. I don’t have the experience, palate or vocabularly to attempt to describe this. It doesn’t taste like anything else I’ve tried and it tastes of things I don’t recognize. So I’ll just say, made first pot at midnight. Whoowho, wild and crazy, no work in the morning. Beautiful rich, dark colour. Tasted good, fell asleep mid-pot. Heated remains of first pot in microwave this morning. Amazingly, still tasted good! Second steep, still good. Added cream. Yum, made cream taste extra creamy. I’m about to make 3rd pot.

I think I’m going to really like this as I get to know it. I don’t know what this tastes like, but it tastes right somehow, as though this will become a taste other teas will aspire to and that I’ll search for.

I don’t like this much. It tastes a little soapy, which I think is the tulsi. Not much spice, and what there is is mostly sweet cinnamon. It contains unspecified flavouring and sugar. I’m working on decupboarding!

I’m so annoyed with myself that I’ve fallen for this one. I knew better than to buy a limited edition. I love it. What am I going to do when it’s gone? It has a fullness and sweetness, along with the smokiness, that made me guzzle down my first pot yesterday. I woke up at midnight and got up and made myself another pot, even though I had to be up at 5. All day I looked forward to getting home and guzzling some more.

I’m cutting off my nose to spite my face. I’m trying to blend my own replacement. My first attempt is 1 part Lapsang Souchong, 1 part Keemun, and 2 parts Andrews and Dunham Holiday Blend. I refuse to fall in love again.