Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Oolong
Where to Buy: The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Description:
Our Winter LiShan coats the palate with orchid, pineapple, and vanilla bean. “LiShan” means Pear Mountain and in the past, the most sought after pears came from this place. This highland climate with an altitude of more than 6600 feet above sea level produces especially superior teas. LiShan oolongs are the most fragrant, smoothest, butteriest oolongs, incredibly sweet with a taste of toasted fruit.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have only recently discovered tea from The Mountain Tea Company but I am so very glad that I have.
I have enjoyed every tea I have tried from them so far.
The aroma of this tea in dry form is amazing. Such a strong delicious scent yet so difficult to explain. There is something quite roasty and toasty about this tea yet it is a green oolong. There is a smokey aroma but that does not convey in the steeped cup.
Steeped it is fresh, grassy, vegetal, and crisp. Refreshingly delightful and just simply splendrous cold brewed!
There is such a sweet honey like flavor with a bright clear finish. The sweetness does not linger in a cloying manner but rather leaves behind the flavor of fresh cut grass.
There is a lightly floral note of orchid and some fruity notes mixed throughout the flavors on the palate and a lovely lilting vanilla note that drifts over the taste buds but dissipates quickly making me want more.
While the cup is fresh and bright there is a deep creamy mouthfeel before hand – so the initial taste is that of deeply creamy and buttery followed with the clear cleansing finish.
I know I am just not doing this tea any justice in my review but I am just so very excited to be sipping on this tea right now. I want to sit back and enjoy it yet my excitement to share information about this tea with everyone can’t wait. I just want to get it all out and written down right as the flavors and notes come dancing forward for me so that you can experience in its truest form – outside of having it for yourself. I want you to be in the moment with me while I have this spectacular tea!
I do hope to get more of this before I drink it all, and it won’t be difficult to justify as it is one of the more exquisite teas I could invest in.
As a reviewer I can drink upwards of 10 cups of tea a day, some days more, some less, and I don’t review them all. I only review those teas I would suggest to others. Be it a solid beginner tea, a tea for those who are looking only for the best, or something in the middle. Even though I may not particularly like every tea personally, due to simply perhaps not enjoying a flavor element for example, I try to be quite fair in my reviews. Regardless, this is a tea I would recommend to everyone. Beginners should use this tea as a baseline for all other teas, specifically Oolongs if you are finding you love Oolongs. For those who have been drinking tea for some time you won’t be disappointed in this tea, or The Mountain Tea Company. I certainly am not as experienced as some but thus far I have to say this is one of the most enjoyable oolongs I have had the honor of sipping.
Sometimes we just get so excited about a tea – after drinking one after another – one simply stands out above the others. As for Oolongs, I would stand behind this one hands down as supreme.
Creme Brulee Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Matcha
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
When exotic, oriental and velvety Matcha is combined with the wildly popular Crème Brulee, the resulting taste can only be described as mouth watering. Crème Brulee Matcha is the desert of choice for those very warm and balmy days when guests are assembled and their tastes buds are primed for an unforgettable treat. The rich sweet burnt cream taste combined with Matcha’s uplifting touch, can turn an ordinary bland day into an extraordinary adventure for the palate. When served cool, this delectable and aesthetic looking desert always exceeds its expectations.
Crème Brulee Matcha is ideal for many settings where both adults and children are gathered. This is because, its creamy sweet taste makes it a favorite among young children, while Matcha’s balancing touch gives adults the extra edge that they need to make this excellent treat truly outstanding. With Crème Brulee Matcha nobody can go wrong irrespective of their surroundings. It blends perfectly with many other well loved deserts but quickly becomes a favorite because of the lasting feeling of pure pleasure in the mouth. Although it is best served cold, Crème Brulee Matcha can be taken at any time of the day or night despite the changing seasons of the year. It always leaves the lingering feeling of wanting more of the same.
100% Pure Matcha, Ceremonial Grade, Natural Flavors, No Artificial Coloring, No Sweeteners, No Preservatives, MSG/Chemical Additive Free.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Most of you probably do not know this about me yet but I am a matcha junkie. If there were a support group for matcha lovers – I would be in it! My support group however consists of other tea and matcha lovers so they enable me rather than hold me back and I am just fine with that!
I have quite the collection of matcha and I have my favorites but yet at the same time, I have yet to find a flavored matcha from Red Leaf Tea that I dislike! So I am absolutely biased – I just wanted to get that on the table.
So this particular flavor Creme Brulee, is very buttery. When I opened the package BUTTER is the first thought that came to mind. I offered it to my daughter to sniff and she said the same thing “smells buttery”. Now another admission of mine is that I love butter. Straight butter, I will always steal a taste directly from the stick when cooking, but it has to be real butter – no margarine for this girl!
When I sampled this tea for the first time just a bit ago, I gulped it down so fast I had to make a second to finish the review. Poor me, haha!
This matcha is creamy, and yes, buttery, and sweet. It does taste like the custard part of a creme brulee, however the burnt sugar crust is not totally lacking, its there but subtle. If you are a die hard, culinary backed goods expert you MAY find fault in this creme brulee matcha creation, however if you are like me, and only lucky enough to get your hands on some real creme brulee every great once in a while then you should be more than pleased! Granted this IS matcha, not the actual dessert, and in all of Red Leaf Tea’s matcha I feel that the true flavors of whatever is being recreated is done quite well! This one does not beat out my love for Caramel Popcorn, or Butterscotch, or even Macadamia Nut Matcha from Red Leaf Tea, however it would make my top 10 list, easy!
Huo Shan Yellow Sprouting from Mark T. Wendell
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Mark T. Wendell
Product Description:
This rare yellow tea from China’s Anhui province is comprised of beautiful hand-crafted leaves and downy silver buds. This tea is notable for its rich, full and smooth tasting floral infusion. When brewed, our Yellow Sprouting produces a naturally sweet and refreshingly clean tasting cup of tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very lucky to be introduced to yellow tea early in my loose leaf tea drinking experience! It was the first time I had ever stepped foot into a real tea house, in St. Louis, Missouri. The London Tea Room. At that time they had a lovely yellow tea which was not on their regular tea menu as it was a special tea not normally sold in the store. They told me about yellow tea and gave me a good education on it. I was sold and bought it on the spot not even really knowing just how precious yellow tea was. So that was my introduction and how I fell in love with Yellow teas. Even still yellow teas seem to be quite rare, and while they can be found online and in tea shops, I find people are still not quite as aware of them as they could be. I was thrilled when I received a sample of this from my SororiTea Sister LiberTEAS.
I am finding this cup to be every bit as delightful as my first experience with yellow tea. As I do not currently have many yellow teas, perhaps one or two, in my own stash, having a new one to try is a lovely gift!
This tea, from Mark T. Wendell, is captivating! Its creamy and buttery, but also there is this really nice savory element to it as well and many know how much I love a savory tea! The mouthfeel is heavier than the color of the cup may indicate. Don’t let the beautiful, delicate, golden tone fool you, its quite rich. There is a natural sweetness just as the product description says, but the fresh floral and grassy notes make it pleasing and healthy tasting. I get a note that speaks towards wheat grass flavors.
It is not as buttery as many oolong or green teas, which of course it is a yellow tea and has its own voice. Yet, these elements are present. There is a juiciness and freshness to the cup making it quite bright, a “happy” tea. To me, this is not a tea you choose when wanting to sit down and get absorbed into a great novel, but more of a tea for when you want to have loose fun conversations, or enjoy a sunny day, or brighten up a dreary one. And again, being in a category of its own, you won’t find this tea as vegetal as some greens, yet in the under layer of this tea – toward the base of the flavor levels, does exist a slightly vegetal flavor, which learns more toward a salty seaweed like note.
Also, if you allow this tea to cool quite a while you will find a light candy like note, sort of like a meringue cookie flavor or perhaps the curst on a creme brulee although its not going to jump out at you that flavor is in there.
Yellow tea is such an interesting thing to me. I always love trying any yellow tea I can get my hands on and I hope that more people become aware of how wonderful yellow teas are. Why not start with this one? I am finding it to be my favorite so far.
Strawberry and Vanilla from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green with Matcha
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
Green tea with matcha is flavored with sweet fragrance of strawberry and vanilla.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When you open the bag the aroma that will strike you first is strawberry cupcakes! So amazingly yummy of an aroma to be greeted with! It makes me feel joyful and child like!
I was almost giddy the first time I sipped this tea and months later I still get that same feeling when I treat myself to this Lupicia offering!
I have several teas from Lupicia but to me they are like the champagne of teas and I only tend to bring them out when I have enough time to truly savor the cup! Then I am faced with the dilemma of which Lupicia tea to enjoy! I have yet to be let down by any flavor I have chosen when ordering from them!
Now granted I have not loved every sampler I have received in their tea magazine that comes with any order over 30.00. You will get the magazine for a year. More information on that here.
However, when I have selected my own teas based on my flavor choices I have absolutely never been let down! But I digress, back to this selection.
Strawberry and Vanilla from Lupicia is a delight! If you love strawberry tea I can not stress enough how well Lupicia has captured this flavor in all its natural glory in this and every strawberry tea they create! Add to that a lovely vanilla backdrop and the beautiful presence of roses, a perfect green tea with matcha base, and you have magic in a cup! It takes well to sweeteners although I find them unnecessary. The rose lays perfectly in a gentle unassuming manner gently scenting and flavoring the cup yet would not offend those who are not partial to floral teas. The matcha lends a gentle grassy flavor that is not overwhelming and does not come across as too vegetal. The soft buttery note of the green tea lends toward the bakery sensation this cup provides.
At Lupicia you can opt to get this tea in 50g or 100g in a tin or bagged. Prices vary depending on your choices.
The end result is – I love it – there is no other way to say it other than gentle sweet bliss. Try some. It is light, delightful, and refreshing! Also wonderful chilled!
Tie Guan Yin (Iron Buddha) from Driftwood Tea
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.