Tea Type:
Black Tea (Red Tea)
Where To Buy:
Yezi Tea
Product Description:
This smoky black loose-leaf tea is grown in the majestic Nanhu Mountain range on the outskirts of Fuqing City in the Fujian province of China. These mountains might be covered in dense fog for two hundred days a year, but one thing remains clear: for the last 250 years they have been home to some of the finest teas to come out of China.
Yi Fu Chun is an organic tea, and Yezi is proud to bring you this offering sourced, like most of our teas, directly from the farmer. You will find drinking this golden brown brew as smooth as riding in a Rolls-Royce on a newly paved highway. A light and natural sugarcane sweetness is a distinguishing characteristic of Yi Fu Chun. Notes of apple and peach add to its complex flavor.
Tasters Review:
By now you know I LOVE the taste of tea as well as LOOKING and SMELLING the tea leaves prior, during, and after infusion. But I am also a fan of tea for the history as well as the Farming aspect of tea. All of those elements are brought together in teas offer by Yezi. Specifically speaking…their Yi Fu Chun Black Tea – or as Yezi calls it – Red Tea.
This has a semi-mellow black tea strength to it with hints of natural sugar cane trying to hide underneath. I could also pick up on the peach flavors playing around towards the middle to the end of the sip on to the aftertaste. This tea is smooth and somewhat sweet but has a lot of character! Plus…it’s seems to work well for multiple infusions, too! A dandy cuppa!
Lemon Mango From Tea Licious
Tea Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Licious
Product Description:
Black tea with lemon and mango.
Tasters Review:
I love lemon and I love mango – so when I saw this offering from Tea Licious – I knew it was one I HAD to try! Thanks to my SororiTEA Sister LiberTEAs for sending me a bit from her stash!
I really REALLY enjoyed this! It’s the perfect combo of Lemon, Mango, and Black Tea! It’s very aromatic and very pleasing to both the nose and tongue!
I had 3 successful and sturdy infusions from this! This is FAB both hot and cold and it’s a flavored black I would order again and again! Dee-lish!
Halo Tea from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Type:
Flowering Tea/Blooming Tea (White Tea)
Where To Buy:
Direct link to this tea in their store: http://www.persimmontreetea.com/halo-tea.html
Product Description:
A beautifully hand-crafted blooming white tea that displays a ring of jasmine and amaranth flowers, with blueberry and peach essence.
* Characteristics Mild * Flavors Fruity * Steep Temperature 180˚ * Steep Time 3-5 mins
Tasters Review:
Halo from The Persimmon Tree Tea Company is just outstanding and AMAZING!!!
It perfectly opened/bloomed the first time around without any imperfections whatso-ever and smelled of blueberry and peaches and that’s on top of the floral aroma…how awesome is that for a blooming tea!!??
I could taste the blueberry, peach, and flowers and it’s very yummy!
I tried a 2nd infusion on this and it was still very tasty! The only notable difference was the 2nd infusion was more floral. It was still an overall wonderful flavor tho!
This is probably one of my favorite blooming teas or flowering teas I have tried to date! This is VERY special!
Rose Tuocha from Tao of Tea
Tea Type: Pu-Erh
Where To Buy: Tao of Tea
Product Description:
Origin: Southern Yunnan, China
Introduction: The Tuocha refers to a family of bowl shaped teas, commonly available as Green tea Tuocha, Black tea Tuocha and Puer (aged) Tuocha. More recently, Tuochas have also become commonly available by compressing the tea leaves and flowers together, or by heat infusing them together. In making the Rose Tuocha, more mature leaves of the tea plant are selected in summer, sun-dried, steamed, oxidized to turn dark, then compressed along with rose petals into small bowls. Wrapped with paper, the Rose Tuocha are an ideal size (3 grams) for individual serving.
Flavor Profile: Sweet, smooth, very mild rose flavor with little astringency.
Tasters Review:
I decided to do an infusion test with this tuocha! Here are my findings:
The 1st infusion was incredibly smooth with slight rose aroma and flavors. It reminded me of the aroma of Seitan/Vegan Bacon! Before infusing. The taste is VERY good…VERY smooth and almost sweet! An awesome Pu-erh!
2nd infusion was completely different from the first…still good tho!
It’s darker in color (I could have over infused) and bolder taste-wise.
Not as sweet….more woodsy…I can also taste more of a floral rose too. It’s Malty yet smooth!
3rd infusion was still dark in color a little more wormy/woodsy and less sweet but more floral. There is a hint of something fruity…perhaps plum?
Not as malty – not as smooth but still strong!
4th infusion smells more like a plain black tea now…still dark in color…about the same darkness as before. There is a stronger fruit-like flavor…I’m thinking raisin, plum, maybe a berry of some sort…OH! Maybe Strawberry…yeah! It’s like if you were to take plums, strawberry, and raisins and create a hybrid fruit! This is very interesting and the sweetness has come back in full force!
I was going to stop with this infusion and switch teas but not I am wondering what the next infusion will bring! 🙂
5th infusion is much lighter in color. It has a Hay-Like Aroma. The taste is a paler strawberry and plum combo but a little bit of the sweetness returned!
I really like this infusion for the smoother and sweeter yet fruity notes! Still a good cuppa!
Puer Toucha (Xiao Tuo Cha) from The Tao of Tea
Tea Type: Pu-erh
Where To Buy: The Tao of Tea
Product Description:
Mini Puer Tuocha has a characteristic full-bodied and earthy flavor. Can endure long steeping times without gaining any astringency and can be re-infused at least three times.
Tasters Review:
I’m continuing to tinker and try messing around with Pu-erh’s. This one – Puer Tuocha (Xiao Tuo Cha) from The Tao of Tea – is so involved and so complex that the only way I can describe it is to break it down by infusions. Each infusion had a mind of it’s own. This aspect alone intrigued me! So without further a due here are my findings…
For the 1st infusion I went 2 minutes and found that the post infusion liquid color was a Lighter Brown. The aroma isn’t as wormy/fishy as most pu-erhs and I was very happy about that! The taste was VERY velvety and smooth and lighter tasting with slightly earthy yet honey and cocoa type flavors mixed in.
My 2nd infusion I went with 3 minutes and thought it was much darker in color. It had a bit more earthy/wormy scent to it and the taste was a hint sweeter. It was still quite velvety and smooth.
At this point I KNEW this little guy was the “Little Tuocha That Could” and I was eager to taste the differences from one infusion to another!
As for my 3rd infusion I decided to go with 4 minutes. It was even darker than the first two color-wise! This specific infusion did smell earthy but not wormy at all. It was a bit sweeter than the 2nd infusion but there is a ricey-type taste hiding underneath this time. It’s interesting…the aftertaste is a little nutty but malty and more like a bold black tea.
I moved on to a 4th infusion and stuck with the 4 minutes. I found it to be jJust as dark as the 3rd infusion. It smelled like black tea with a hay-like aroma as well. It was more woodsy-tasting and more malty and less sweet but still velvety.
This is a Very Sturdy Tuocha! And darn tasty, too! If you are into playing around with Pu-erh’s – I would suggest you spend some time with this one!