These long twists, amber and brown with white tips, are stunning. They are also sort of difficult to measure out with my “perfect teaspoon.” So what you’re getting with this review is a BEST GUESS at how this should have been made.
Regardless, this is a sweet little number tastes like white grape juice. It tastes like sugar, and flowers, and grapes, and candy, and ribbon-dancing.
Do you remember ribbon-dancing? There was a product called Ribbon Dancer.
My mom wouldn’t let me have it, so I took a stick, tied some braided-up yarn to it, and made do.
This tea is like if I’d RECEIVED a Ribbon Dancer. I would have been the most graceful ribbon dancer of all time. This tea is has an airy, swishy ballerina vibe to it. I might have under-leafed it a bit, but I genuinely think that it’s meant to be delicate. (It says “delicate” on the bag. I’m cheating a little bit here.)
You can’t buy this tea directly from Dachi’s site, but you can take a moment to look around the site. (And consider a subscription!) The site has graphics that show not only the tea itself but what it tastes like. Which is a wonderful way for a visual learner like me to discover the properties of different tea. I mean, look at this.
I daresay that’s the Ribbon Dancer of tea photography.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Dachi Tea
Description
Premium-grade, single-origin, direct-trade tea delivered to your desk or door, month after month.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Super Fancy Oolong from Solstice Tea Traders. . . . .
The outside of the tin for this says “Super Fancy Oolong,” which meant I had to show it to everyone in my office AND put it on my Snapchat. I curse like a pirate, dress like a goth, and look like a Muppet, so no one really bought the act. For a moment, though, I felt like maybe classiness was within reach.
The dry leaves are long and curled. They are brown and amber, and some ends have white bits. While you’re steeping them, they don’t uncurl as much as you’d expect, but don’t worry: the tea taste is definitely entering the water.
The taste is fragrant, orchid-like, flowery, and buttery. It leans more toward the green end of oolong than black. Which is great for the afternoon, when I want something chiller.
The flavor of this tea very delicate. I could see a French person sipping this during the Rococo period (think: Marie Antoinette). She’d gush something problematic like “one of my SERVANTS brought this from the ORIENT — HOW QUAINT.”
And a peasant from Horse-Butt, not-Paris (think: beginning of Beauty and the Beast), would spend the rest of his life wondering what this tea was like. He’d wonder about it while mucking the straw and sleeping on a bed of straw. He’d ponder it while pulling on itchy britches and a hilarious hat. He’d whisper of it to his livestock.
You, in the modern era, don’t have to fret about such things. You can calm your thirst by just purchasing it here. It’s $32.79 USD, and if you have prime, it could be to you immediately.
Aren’t you glad you aren’t a French peasant during the Rococo era?
In 2017, we can all live like royalty. We can all be “super fancy.”
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Solstice Tea Traders
Description
- Deluxe Loose Leaf Tea Set #3 Oolong Tea Sampler includes Formosa BT Black Oolong, Ti Kwan (Kuan) Yin Oolong, Magnolia Oolong, Super Fancy Oolong, Formosa Standard Oolong, and Fujian Jade Oolong.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Enjoying A Pumpkin Tea. . . .Out of Season! #bluebirdteaco.
There is literally no “wrong” time of year for pumpkin spice. I will never let such trivialities come in the way of a delicious taste or a review thereof.
Feel free to pat me on the back for journalistic integrity. I boogey to the beat of my own drummer.
Go ahead. Incorporate this into your own life. Drink tea “out of season.” Wear white after labor day. Wear black in the summer. Have visible panty lines. Go to a water park in the winter. Celebrate Halloween with a Gothy holiday tree. Adopt a squirrel and wear it as a hat.
Just kidding. I was checking to see if you were paying attention.
This tea totally nails the buttery, creamy, slightly-spicy nature of pumpkin pie. There’s even a caramel note that I am going to declare as “crust.”
The sweet night be a little bit too strong for it to taste exactly like pumpkin pie, but the tea does still retain that spirit.The tea’s flavor has the warmth of a chai with additional sweet milky smoothness, even consumed black. (I drink almost all teas black.) There’s that playful spicy moxie here that I typically associate with chai.
This tea isn’t available at the moment because, well… it’s out of season. That’s really the only downside of reviewing things “whenever” — things disappear! But that’s all right: keep an eye on Bluebird. Those spunky kids are always releasing new goodies, and one like this might be in their fall lineup!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description
This tea is not available right now but click below to see the new teas they have to offer.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
An Interesting Take on a Oolong from Verdant Tea. . . .
Did you ever try a tea and it doesn’t taste like the description? So you aren’t sure if you’re crazy?
No?
FINE.
This tea, 1995 Aged Tieguanyin, is supposed to taste like cream, caramel, marigold, and cherry. I am getting spicy (!) and nectar. So I guess the nectar/slightly flowery taste could be the marigold and the caramel? But there’s definitely a little bit of a hot zing in here.
The flowery nature is definitely in there. According to this tea’s (very frou-frou) description, “Master Zhang’s terraced fields on the cloud-enveloped peaks of Anxi are overgrown with wildflowers, and fed by naturally sweet and clear mountain spring water.”
I see the combination of the flowers, the spice, and the aging as a movie in which a woman gets kidnapped by a salty old pirate (hot). He tries to woo her with flowers (flowery) on his creaky boat (aged). She comes to realize that her old life, with its cross-stitching and frills, was stuffy. She comes out as gay and spends the rest of her life being platonic best friends with the pirate and mastering the sea. The credits roll on her climbing up into the rigging to do some sort of, you know, adjusting the sails thing or whatever. At sunset.
This tea wasn’t what I thought it would be. But if weren’t for the tea, we wouldn’t have that nice pirate story, now would we? Sometimes you have to take an unexpected adventure.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description
This 1995 aged Tieguanyin varietal harvest already has over twenty years of aging. Master Zhang’s terraced fields are overgrown with wildflowers, and fed by naturally sweet and clear mountain spring water. The natural complexity of his tea makes it a perfect candidate for careful aging, which involves yearly re-roasting and sealed storage. The result is a classic rich dark profile that brings out the rich fruity creamy notes in Tieguanyin.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orange Creamsicle Tea Anyway? #plumdeluxe
This tea (available again in May!) is an orange creamsicle confection! It has orange peel bits floating right in the mix, boasting of their bold flavor. The black tea isn’t hiding, though, it’s a nice, slightly tart black with plum* notes. * (Appropriate to Plum Deluxe!)
This blend is recommended as frozen into a popsicle form as a treat. I wish it weren’t 40 degrees out; I’m always into trying out oddball suggestions like that. I’d totally lap at it in a friend’s hammock.
Because, alas, this tea has reminded me of a thing I’ve always wanted, but never had: a hammock to call my own. It’s a first-world problem, I know. But it’s my burden to bear.
If you have a hammock (or convenient access to one), take a moment and think about how lucky you are. Revel in your blessings.
And then revel in this tea. Which is a very nice little blend. It’s not an aggressive blend, it’s just a tart-and-sweet buddy that would keep you company. ON YOUR BEAUTIFUL HAMMOCK. You glorious, bourgeoisie monsters.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
When we set out to make the perfect loose leaf iced tea blend, we knew one of our favorite flavors was orange. With a hint of “creme” vanilla flavor, it makes the most delicious iced tea, the perfect thirst quencher on a sunny day. As the name implies, grab a cool glass of this tea and relax. Reminds you of an orangesicle without all the calories!
All Plum Deluxe teas are hand-blended and infused with love in Portland, Oregon. Each 1 oz tea packet makes 15-20 cups. All organic ingredients — no sulfites, no artificial chemicals, non-GMO.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!