What is so interesting about this tea, and it may sound gross, but tiny insects take their time and nibble on the leaves. What results is an initial oxidization while the leave is still attached. Due to the damage by the insect, chemicals are released by the plant and an aromatic honey flavor is produced.

I followed the European brewing instructions for this tea, brewing a tablespoon of leaves in 8 ounces of water at 190 F for 4 minutes.

The first time I had this tea I was at a loss of words in how to describe it. Different than any other oolong I’ve had thus far. It is medium bodied, the scent is of cinnamon and an almost woody, smoke scent. There is a lasting finish of sweet honey and fruit.

The second brew at 4 minutes is so sweet, almost plum like as Sophie noted. I couldn’t stop drinking! A longer steep at about 7-8 minutes is amazing! All I can say is you have to try this one for yourself. This is a very layered cup with flavors of smoked wood, cinnamon, sweet honey, and plum. This tea makes me hunger for summer and honey bees! (As well as fresh honey from friends!)

The dry leaves are long and twisted and a dark chocolate brown. The aroma they give off is that of molasses. Once brewed, the liquor is a dark amber and the aroma is still that of molasses but with some spice too it now.

This tea has a very silky texture to it with a bit of dryness at the end of each sip. It has a very rich flavor with malt, spices and dark molasses which becomes even thicker as it cools. Very tasty indeed.

This is a tea that takes to being resteeped with grace. I was able to get resteep it four times with a fifth being very possible as the leaves had more to give. And at just over $4 an ounce, this tea is a real treasure at a very low cost. I know that I plan on picking some up the next time I order.

Water temp: 195 degrees
Steep Time: 2 minutes

This is a super premium White tea plucked from the 100% pure and young AV2 clonal bushes of this prestigious plantation in Darjeeling. Only one leaf and a bud is plucked by the expert pluckers of this garden during the early hours of the morning as a result of which the made tea has a very attractive ornamental look in this state. The dry leafs also gives out a refreshing aroma of fresh fruits and flowers.

This is a very pretty tea with the long wiry leaves that come in colors of gold, greyish green, olive and a dark blackish green. I don’t agree about the aroma however as to me it gives off a sweet grassy aroma with just a touch of fennel. Quite appealing but nothing fruity or floral about it.

Following the suggestions of the website I set the leaves up using 185 degree water and a steep time of 4 minutes. (Actually they just suggested the time so you will probably have to play around with temperatures.) The resulting brew is a darker gold. The liquor has a light fragrance of spice and citrus playing nicely with the sweet grass.

This tea is rather interesting. When sipping I am really reminded of a crisp white wine. There is the dryness to the tongue, the whispers of different flavors that you coax can tease until they fade or morph into something else entirely. This would be the perfect tea to introduce wine lovers to white teas. Perhaps serve it to them in a wine glass?

This incredible tea has put Tea Emporium on my list of vendors to stalk and I am really looking forward to enjoying more of their teas. Would I purchase this tea? In a hot second. The fact that they offer free shipping if you order over $59 worth of tea makes it all more appetizing.

I only recieved one bag of Tea Can Companies Raspberry Oolong so I chose to brew for 5 minutes in about 6 ounces of water at 190 F, your typical oolong temperature. There were no brewing times or temperatures listed on the packaging and this tea comes in pyramid sized bags. Surprisingly the tea tag attached had no design or marking on it at all, a bit disappointing. Maybe you can customize this part if you were to order? The ingredients listed are partially oxidized Ti Guan Yin oolong tea with raspberry flavoring, apple bits, cranberry bits and hibiscus. When ever I see flavoring to a tea I get a bit discouraged.

You can smell the hibiscus and sweet notes of this cup, as far as flavor this cup is really lacking for me. The flavor is nothing spectacular. It’s not horrible though, it’s a good simple easy drink. The Tie Guan Yin is a faint taste, the fruity flavors take center stage with a strong cranberry bit to it and a hint of sweet apple. I could see this being more of an iced tea for summer with the fruity flavors.

Overall, I’m not completely disappointed, but I’m not thrilled over this cup either. I’d give it a 6.5.

Bah ha ha the bai cha for the leaves are, of course, green. However, the slender needles seem a bit brighter green, like fern, with some variation in their hues rather than the more army coloured sometimes seen. Likewise, the leaves aren’t as pine needle like, appearing kind of flat, less curved in and smaller. All about the same size, the leaves’ fur adds more texture with some looser and tight whole bud and leaf sets. Their bouquet is as delicate as their sihouettes with a similar sophistication. With a twist of floral and a touch of wax or pollen to dried grass aromas, the scent has an herbal, meadowy air. It’s not strongly green or sweet but the scent has a pleasing freshness.
Upon infusion as JING Tea recommends at 70°C for three to four minutes, the colour of the leaves lightens further, rather strikingly, which brings the bai cha into sense. Making up the pale brew requires one tablespoon of leaves that they say affords fifty cups for the two ounce size but with the tablespoon at near two grams, the sessions are more likely half that.

Amidst all the details JING Tea gives on their teas, which are truly appreciated, they describe the tea’s aroma as “soft spring flowers meet gentle tropical fruits”. However, I found the scent had more likeness to a metallic tipped, vegetal than a floral, with a seed undertone and a margarine bit of oiliness. It brings to mind artichokes and pumpkin seeds, enticing in its rich subtlety like a coquettish wink. Its pale beigey green hue ushers up a similar tease, flirting with a protein richness without a strongly vegetal flavour. Its light body has a nice structure as it lingers on the palate rather than a swifter stride which seems to make it all the more satisfying despite its mild flavour. It tastes of mineral water with a tug of a protein rich vegetal, like pea, but it is ever so subtle and not so green to be almost eggy that collectively brings to mind ferns. Yet, it has enough of a brothy savour to sustain the light flavour that has a tickle of polyphenols to almost seem like carbonation. As it finishes, it’s light to medium aftertaste cascades with a leafy, seed-like echo.

Back to the kettle for another brew ha ha, the leaves fully open spawning another pale cup. The tea remains just as fragrant, yet slightly different from the first cup, a bit more honed to a sharp seed with a horseradish flourish, reminiscent of arugula but rounder at the same time. The scent leads the way into the light to medium body which is just as animated. The body is equally light but the flavour winds through the sip, not silky, with a slight dryness, but still amply engaging. The tea also tastes kind of sharper, but not bitter, while maintaining a sense of protein from an immature pea or fern shoot like flavour that extends into the light aftertaste.

A third infusion is still lively, emanating a light scent that seems nuttier, but in a corn nuts kind of way, across a subtle vegetal to be a bit like a warm oil. Despite a lighter body, the flow and feel remain inviting with a pleasantly round finish and a tickle on the tongue that also accentuates the light sprinkle of mineral flavours across the light fern and vegetable stock body.

After all, JING Tea’s Anji Bai Cha would be one heck of a gal, if Anji was Angie that is. More remarkable than the high school acquaintance one might struggles to remember at the hardware store, even as a bai cha, it doesn’t pale in the face of other green teas. It isn’t a sipful of sis boom bah but ‘tis a ballad of a brew that seems rather spa-inspired in its cleansing refinement. Although, its price is also kind of spa-inspired, its fresh elegance does have the makings of a treat.

Verdant uses the He Family Farm’s Laoshan Black tea as a base and goes beyond your average chai ingredients adding tulsi (holy basil), cinnamon, ginger, galangal (thai ginger), fennel, peppercorn, vanilla bean, saffron, goji berries, clove, and elderberry. What comes from this combination is a deep cup full of flavor layered on top of one another. I brewed one tablespoon of leaves in 6 ounces of boiling water and steeped for 4-5 minutes. The smell of fennel, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon quickly reaches my nose, such a bright awakening scent. The liquor is amber gold and the scent of the leaves themselves is similar to ginger-bread, especially if you move the leaves around under your nose to get the full scent.

This cup is surprisingly balanced; the Laoshan Black provides a malty chocolate background for the spices. The ginger is not overpowering, it provides a nice bite and is coupled by the tang of tulsi. The spiciness of the peppercorns and fennel are then noticed paired with the fruitiness of goji berry and elderberry.

This chai is what I look for, there are so many typical run of the mill chai teas out there, though they are good in and of themselves, you can’t really put down tradition, but for those that are bored with your average chai Verdant’s Laoshan Village Chai is one to put on your list. They have recently created a whole page dedicated to chai and offer a chai kit in which you mix yourself (sounds like a fun gift) as well as another, Chai Spice, a caffeine- free version of the Laoshan Village Chai. Their caffeine free version can also be used in combination with Laoshan Black, as discussed, Yu Li Yan Cha, or Anxi Fo Shou Black. It would be interesting to see how all these different bases accentuate the spices.

Overall I’d rate this chai a 9.0, unique, flavorful, and full of depth and curiosity. Not to mention all of their herbs and spices included are certified organic.

Named for the way tea farmers used to package this tea, (four to the bag and then four bags wrapped together to form a rectangular shape,) it is the least oxidized of the oolong teas.  As Beautiful Taiwan Tea Co. (BTT) says on their website, “it blurs the line between green and oolong.”

The line was less blurry for me, a lover of heavily oxidized (dark) teas.  The dark, dense, twisted green leaves looked almost black in the package.  But they smelled of very sweet grass–decidedly green. Once brewed, it released more flowery notes, and posessed creamy, buttery, undertones.

Unlike oolongs that undergo more oxidization, the creaminess of this Baozhong blended, rather than competed with, the other flavors. All at once I tasted orchids, kelp, grass, milk, flowers, rather than the flavors waltzing in and out, one at a time. While this was a pleasant sensation, my mouth felt rather lonely once I swallowed the liquid.  The aftertaste was too mild and rested on the edges of my tongue. I prefer a tangy aftertaste, one that finishes more on the center of my tongue and lingers there.

To see if I could get the flavor of this tea to move from the sides to the center, I brewed it longer–six to seven minutes instead of the recommended four or five. The floral character intensified and I did feel more satisfied at the center of my tongue.  BTT’s website says, “If you are getting a floral smell and aftertaste you nailed it!” So I guess I did it right.

I enjoyed it, though teas this light are not my favorite. Still, it has a lovely taste. I rate it a 9.