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Holy crap, new tea page layout. I don’t know what to think about it (I think I have some complaints, but I’ll leave that out of my tasting notes, I think).

This has been on my wishlist for a very long time, and I finally picked up a tiny 1oz tin from SOKO’s. I think I was considering removing it from my wishlist on account of some people’s reviews on it, thinking maybe it wasn’t for me, but I’m glad I didn’t.

One of the pros I really enjoy about Kusmi teas is their mostly-China bases (China-Ceylon in this case); my favourite kind. You smell the bergamot first, followed by a hint of lime. Brewed, the smell is much weaker (just a hint of bergamot).

The taste is light, the base coming through. Bergamot first, then the lime. Fresh and faintly astringent. I didn’t taste the lemon so much.

Unfortunately, all the big chunks end up on top, and all the tea ends up on the bottom. This means that if you just scoop from the top, your drink sorta just ends up tasting like a watery, faintly sour tisane and it’s pretty boring.

If you manage to scoop actual tea into it, you get more of the added flavourings as well, and the actual tea taste helps balance and lend a good base, and then overall I rather like this tea.

Of course, this is my very last cup of it—which is why I can say all of this, because I’ve finally gotten to the bottom of the bag where all the actual tea is.

The pear isn’t too bad; it isn’t overcome by the tart cranberry, anyways. It’s sweet and nice, and I DO like pear.

This was a Christmas present… Over a year ago. I haven’t been very active on Steepster, so I never logged it when I first got it. This is my last cup, now.

I find it quite similar to Tea Desire’s Seven Green Treasures (which luckily I still have LOTS of); strawberry and pineapple in a base of green teas.

It’s a dark, wiry tea. Very reminiscent of a Yunnan, but also reminds me of the one Taiwan black I’ve tried. Dusty, doesn’t really seem to have many notes. Perhaps cocoa (dry, not chocolate). I think I can get what they mean by “smoke”, but nothing that makes me think maple.

I’ve had it a few times already, both in a mug and in a gaiwan. I was gifted with another variety of it, which I haven’t tried yet, but that I think I should steep side-by-side.

I’ve had this floating around in my cupboard for a while, so I thought I’d finish it off.

It’s definitely the smelliest tea I have. Every time I make a cup, everyone around me perks up and leans in questioningly. I occasionally make it at Game for the same reaction. It stops roleplay for a solid five minutes as everyone squints in my direction.

For a bagged (but full-leaf) grocery tea, it’s not too shabby, and though I have no immediate plans to rebuy it, if it’s on sale or something I’ll probably end up picking it up again. Assuming I really have finished it off—I probably have a few more bags of this floating around in various backpacks.

You get berries, chocolate and bergamot in the smell, but only a faint bergamot and (stronger) chocolate in the taste. The chocolate’s a dry cocoa taste, and I’m mostly glad that the berries aren’t supplemented with hibiscus.

Finishing this off. Gravity pot, one cup, fifteen seconds plus a ten second rinse. More mellow than I remember it. Might just be me. Still enjoyable. Tobacco savoury.

1 1/2 tsp per 6oz gravity brew teapot.
10 second rinse
First steep, 30 seconds

This one smells woodsy.

Now, many a puerh smells earthy, deep, like decaying logs, but this one REALLY smells woodsy. Like fresh peat, or a damp forest.

It brewed lighter than other puerhs, and the leaves don’t look like they were ever compressed. The taste is definitely lighter, not as deep and earthy. Again, light, woodsy—reminds me of the oakyness you can get in some ceylons. Almost mineral. I think that’s where the “vegetal” description comes from. Makes me think of bark.

When I got this home, I was prepared to break out a clip (I’ve a box of them just for tea bags/sample bags), but I was pleasantly surprised to learn, when I turned the bag over, that there is in fact a pull-tab to rip it open (no scissors!), and then, beneath that, a ziplock to close it again.

Despite a paper outside, it is, in fact, foil-lined as well, and all-in-all I give the packaging an A.

When I actually got it open however, and then dished some out into my infuser, all I could remark was “hand-picked my ass”. It’s a step away from CTC. In fact, it might BE CTC, just not quite as “curled”; same size, but irregularly shaped instead of the usual loose “ball” shape of CTC.

At the very least, I can say if they WERE hand-picked, I don’t think they were hand-processed. It’s too broken. No whole spices either; most of the spices are broken up to the point they’re almost ground.

On the plus side, I was pleased that the first smell when I opened the bag was cardamom, not cinnamon.

I didn’t make this on the stovetop, because it’s quite late and I didn’t want to make a racket. Just didn’t want to wait ’til the morning.

Cardamom’s prominent; I think there’s ginger in there too. Brewed at four minutes, no milk, the base isn’t bitter. Solid. Bet this would be wiz on the stovetop.

The aroma’s strong dry, but still there when brewed. Actually carries over into the taste quite well. The sweetness of the honeybush goes very well with that sort of sticky sweet taste of the apricot and peach.

See, to me, this is everything the tea Dorian Grey should have been, but isn’t. Caramel and bergamot. Berries, though not the apple it uses instead.

Picked up a single bag of this when SOKO started carrying it, because they didn’t have the mini tins. Have you seen the next size up? Those tins are HUGE. Might grab one anyways. I’m just used to 1-2oz.