Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Fujian Province, China – Spring 2012 Harvest
Tie Guan Yin or Iron buddha is perhaps China’s most famous Oolong. We sourced this handmade version from a small farm in Anxi County, in China’s Fujian Province, and believe this to be one of the finest Tie Guan Yins, or even teas, any of us at driftwood.
Tie Guan Yin is another tea that, depending on where you are, is know by many different names including: Iron Buddha; Iron Goddess of Mercy; Ti Kwan Yin and several others. However, what remains constant is the fact that this tea is among China’s finest, and probably its most well known oolong – no matter what it’s called.
Key Flavours: A sweet honey note, lively florals with a smooth buttery finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Driftwood Tea delivers with a delightful aromatic cup of sweet buttery goodness. Steeped this tea is a bright lively golden cup that is very light in color yet full in mouthfeel. There is almost a heaviness in the mouth but the flavor is light and creamy at the same time. Amazing how both can be elements in one wonderful tea. I would never usually describe something buttery or creamy as bright or light. Its such a cheery tea – a real mood lifter.
This tea however is not just a cup of creamy buttery goodness. There is far more depth to this tea, layers of flavor, including floral elements that are not perfume like. There are notes of honeysuckle that remind me of my youth, picking the honeysuckle flowers and sucking out the gooey nectar inside. There is also a note of sweet green veggies.
The lingering after taste is my favorite element in this tea. It is sweet but has savory elements that are outstanding.
It is quite a refreshing cup as well once the after taste does wear off it does not leave you with a drying sensation in the mouth or throat whatsoever.
For me, this is not my absolute favorite oolong, as I like one that is a bit heavier and more roast-y but it is a very good quality oolong that I will enjoy revisiting.
Temi First Flush from The Tea Horse
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black, Orange Pekoe
Where to Buy: Tea Horse
Tea Description:
Temi 1st Flush is officially a black tea, but is less oxidised and much lighter than usual blacks – to drink, somewhere between a black and a green tea. Its grade is SFTGFOP1 (standing for Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe grade 1). A bit of a mouthful but it makes for a lovely tea!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a good Temi First Flush. I recently sipped down the last of my favorite first flush from another company so I was excited to dig this sample out of a box of teas from my SororiTea Sister Anne.
I was waiting with anticipation to fully immerse myself in this cup. The first thing I picked up was the astringency which was not unpleasant but more prominent than what I am used to in this style of tea.
Then the notes develop into a background flavor of straw that has been sitting in the sun light which is a note I personally enjoy, added to that a slightly vegetal flavor but not as one expects in greens, not that prominent. More of the flavor of fresh straw blade that you picked out of a field to stick in your mouth to chew on like country folk. The tea is in fact quite “sunny” in its flavor and has a bright mouthfeel.
This is a light tea and I don’t think I would try adding any milk or cream to it however it could go quite well with a little sugar, or honey.
As for spicy notes, they are present but they are not very intense and while I appreciate subtle notes in teas this tea somewhat leaves me wanting just a little bit more. Its not a bad tea by any means and I would not dump it out so I don’t want to give the impression that it is unpalatable but it does seem to lack some of the complexities and fruity notes I appreciate in my regular Temi First Flush. Now with that said, while I do not pick up the fruit notes I was desiring, it is a “juicy” tea. The tea does tend to have a burst like sensation in the mouth that is quite lovely.
So there are some high notes and low notes to this tea in my opinion however for me, ordering this tea may be more trouble than it is worth due to it being a U.K. company, and I am in the U.S.A. I would love to try some of their other blends though as they have a couple that caught my eye. I would say that if ordering were a tad easier this tea was a good introduction to their company and would indeed make me want to order from them again.
Its just that sometimes we love another tea of the same type and that love can be difficult to beat. That is the case with this specific tea.
It is however light, bright, and quite thirst quenching, and there is nothing wrong with any of those things.
Special Reserve Green from Shang Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Shang Tea
Tea Description:
2 oz (57g) makes 60+ cups, 33 cents per cup
Ingredients: Wild Harvested Green Tea leaves- Antioxidant Rich
This special reserve green tea is a wild harvested tea that grows near the farm of Shang’s friend. The leaves are plucked and then processed on Shang’s farm to produce a truly unique green tea.
This green tea exudes a beautiful, vibrant green color that demonstrates the freshness of this tea. As with most green teas, this one has a green, grassy taste to it, but with an amazing umami sweetness and no bitterness or astringency. And being wildharvested, it is full of great flavor that lasts for at least 4-5 good steepings.
This is a tea that you will not want to miss and this year’s crop will likely sell out fast, so order today to enjoy this tasty treat! Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
There are not many tea houses, or places to buy quality loose leaf tea in my area, however about one hour from my home is what I consider to be one of the best tea places anywhere in the United States. Shang Tea is on my top 10, perhaps even top 5 list of the best places to get quality teas. I found them online before I even knew they existed so close to my home! I do not get to go to their store often, but when I do I always feel welcome. If you take the time you can sit down and be served gongfu style all of their teas free for sampling and speak to the owner, Mr. Shang, about the teas, how they are sourced, and where they are sourced from. It is an educational experience. 
As for this tea, it is funny because Shang Tea gets the short end of the stick when it comes to me and my lack of reviewing their teas. Shang teas are the teas I grab when I really need to unwind, relax, decompress from a stressful day. When my life feels like it is in chaos I grab one of their teas. Often it is this very tea. I know it will never let me down and has meditative qualities I appreciate and desire in tea. More often than not, when I am reaching for my Shang Teas, especially Special Reserve Green, it is in those times I am not in the mindset to review or write about tea, rather I simply want to indulge and fully immerse myself in the cup. So my apologies to Shang Tea, if it were not for the stead fast, calming nature of your teas, I would have been spreading the accolades far sooner! Yes, in fact your tea is so good that I have lacked giving back. As the tea wipes my cares away it also erases my thoughts on telling everyone just how wonderful it is.
This tea is quite simply, clean, brisk, refreshing, glorious! There are of course the grassy notes as in most greens, and a lovely buttery, creamy, mouthfeel. There is the noticeable taste of gently simmered veggies, giving off almost a toasty flavor. I also detect the slightest sesame, nutty, note in the after taste.
The steeped leaves are delicate and pretty, with a mixture of light green and darker green hues.
The aroma of this tea takes me away to thoughts of the rolling tea fields and mountain landscapes that Shang teas come from. It’s bright and cherry but the depth of the aroma allows me to escape, its not a morning wake up tea as much as a focusing and centering tea that allows you to clear your mind and cleanse your spirit.
The complexities of this tea are subtle and it causes you, without pressure to sink into the tea and focus on what it has to offer, which aids in taking your mind off of your worries.
Its difficult to hold a cup of Special Reserve in your hand without just sinking back into your seat and taking a deep cleansing breath soaking in the aroma, and flavors.
As you can imagine, with how this tea makes me feel, I was not rushing back to the computer, or to technology in a rush to pound my fingers to do a review, but it is a tea that so deserves a review so that others can get a chance to get in on this tea while it is still available. I have so many favorites from Shang, and they offer sample sizes both in store and online.