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I’ve really enjoyed this the couple times I’ve made it, but yesterday I had a friend over for some New Year’s Day laziness and made several cups of tea for us, including three infusions of this one. I was shocked by how well it held up in re-steepings! The bubbly, soft, juicy qualities of the base and the peach and tangerine flavours just kept giving. Delicious, and bumping the rating a little!

I had afternoon tea on New Year’s Eve at a place that included a glass of one of their jasmine-fruity whites made into sparkling tea. I love that idea, and I think this one would be amazing that way. It already makes me think of champagne.

I’m not sure exactly when or how I got this one, so I think it may be rather old. However I brought it to work with me today and it’s serving me quite well. My current work tea set-up right now is typically using my 400 ml tea glass and having my 500 ml (awesome) Zojirushi thermos/travel mug full of hot water. I let the water cool a bit, add the leaves, and keep refilling with the thermos. Light Oolongs are my favourite this way, not surprisingly.

This started off very sweet, green, and floral. As I go on a nice creaminess is developing. I used the entire sample so I regret that I won’t be able to try this gong fu style, but I’m really enjoying it this way and it’s yielded a litre of tea so that’s pretty great. It could keep going if I had more water.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I was always very into Earl Greys. Actually, until my tea obsession blew up big-time about a year and a half ago, it was my go-to. These days, though, I rarely drink any form of Earl as so many seem to be made with sub-par bases and sub-par bergamot flavouring. I love bergamot but prefer it to be pretty subtle (read: not strong enough to cover up a boring base). Yunnan golden buds have become my go-to black in the interim, actually. It’s become apparent that it’s my ideal morning tea, with their velvety smoothness and re-steepability.

So, this is brilliant. What a combination! I had to order it up during the Black Friday sale (can I also compliment Verdant’s not only free but actually fast shipping to Canada?). I was saving it to give it proper attention, and that’s what it got today. It’s lovely! I am drinking a cup of Verdant’s excellent Yunnan golden buds, which I already drink and love. But on the second half of the sip, a lovely citrusy flavour blossoms. The bergamot is just right, and I can just feel the lemongrass on my tongue. It’s there, supporting the tea, but not bossing it around. So far I think the Alchemy teas do exactly what they set out to do; the added flavours complement the teas beautifully without overwhelming them in the slightest.

I’m on my second steep of this (first at four minutes, second at five in the Breville) and the Yunnan has been tamed slightly while not dissipating at all. It’s still rich and creamy, but the sweetness has come out more.

I’ve been drinking this occasionally over the past few weeks but forgot to log it. I rather like it! It’s much milder than the powdered sencha. Sweeter, and hay-like. My boyfriend is a big fan of Den’s powdered sencha and stands by that, but I find this more pleasant to drink in the winter. It’s like gently flavoured water when I use it with more than the suggested amount of water, and even cold it’s warming somehow (I haven’t tried it hot yet). Plus, perfect format for work.

Yep, fresh and fruity. Mango and pineapple, fairly equally balanced. It’s the same sencha base I like in their other flavoured greens, but Coconut Blossom still takes the cake for me when I want a tea in this vein (the fruity sencha vein). Very tasty, and it’d be great iced. And mixed with Coconut Blossom! Yum. Too bad I never feel like cold drinks in the winter.

This is a lovely, lovely tea that does exactly what the description promises. The additions complement and enhance the already fabulous base perfectly. I’m drinking this from my tea glass at work. I used cooler water than I would normally since the leaves wer left in. I’m shocked to have got to the bottom after a good 30-45 minutes with zero bitterness! Very rich, sweetly floral, and delicate but not timid!

Not bad, but not as good as my recent Tealish winning streak. I’ve come to expect really natrual fruit flavours from their blends, but I think that is harder to accomplish with melon flavours. Also, I’m more finicky about fruity black blends. Tasty, but not exciting.

Ooh, yes. No additions is definitely the way to go with this one. The milk watered it down terribly. Today it is much fuller-tasting. The base is nice and light, and it tastes exotic and homey at the same time. The pistachio and almond come through loud and clear, and the spice notes mingle around the nutty ones perfectly. Nice!

I was so thrilled to receive my first tea of the month package from Verdant yesterday! I had a long day and night of studying and these teas kept me company. I am terrible at keeping count of how many infusions I’ve got out of the tea. I just keep going as long as I’m enjoying it. I think this must have been in the range of 15-20.

I’m quite inexperienced with puerhs and they are overwhelming and frightening still. But, I managed to enjoy this one rather than just thinking “yep, that’s puerh” at least part of the time (especially in later infusions). I brewed this in my gaiwan and, I think, used too much leaf. It was a touch bitter through the first several infusions. I also think I will take up the suggestion of two rinses next time.

Otherwise, this was quite smooth and had a touch of sweetness. I definitely found it nutty, maybe a little woody, and smokey but not in the way smoked teas are. More in relation to whatever woodiness I mentioned. Very complex, and full of flavours I don’t think I’m able to grasp yet!

I’m enjoying another cup of this at the moment. But, Steepster, I have the actual worst tea news ever: my Breville carafe broke about an hour ago. I had the shakes from a quick drop in blood sugar and somehow managed to drop it. I don’t really understand how, but it was absolutely heart-wrenching! Even worse, while you can buy the base and assorted other parts for the tea maker, it looks like, for some reason, you cannot buy just the carafe as a replacement part.

Please wish me luck in coping without it/plotting a replacement strategy that seems impossible this time of year!