Qimen (Keemun, Keemum, Pinyin 祁门), grown in Qimen County, in Anhui Province, is a tea I haven’t given enough attention to. Every time I drink it I find that it’s much more interesting and complex than I think it’s going to be, and Keemum Panda #1 from DAVIDsTEA is quite a nice example of a [...]
Bi Luo Chun (literally “Green Snail Spring”) is one of the teas, alongside Long Jing (“Dragon Well,”) that appears almost universally on “Top Ten Chinese Teas” lists. Grown in Jiang Su Province, it is quite a wonderful tea. Teas Etc’s Bi Lo Chun Reserve is an excellent offering of this very famous tea. From Teas [...]
I have not encountered very many black teas that were suitable for brewing using the gongfu method, but as the name would suggest, Canton Tea Co’s Bai Ling Gong Fu is one of them. It is quite a marvelous tea, with a rich, velvet-like character much smoother than most black teas, even Yunnan Gold (Dian [...]
Formosa Shanlinxi High Mountain Oolong is the lemoniest oolong I’ve ever tasted. It has a bright, very clean, slightly acidic taste, but it is also quite smooth and silky. As is the case with most lightly oxidized oolongs, the Shanlinxi Oolong does not start off in the first infusion displaying its full potential, but instead [...]
DAVIDsTEA’s Organic Orange Blossom is a blend that can serve as a nice alternative to pure leaf teas when an alternative is desired. I have a tendency to really enjoy the flavors of foods and drinks that are primarily citrus fruits, so I expected that I’d like this after reading its description, and I found [...]
Mighty Leaf’s Marakesh Mint Green Tea doesn’t taste like the traditional tea that they make in Morrocco. Only a particular brewing technique and fresh mint leaves can accomplish that, but it does taste like something nice and flavorful, especially if it’s cold. And cold, it also tastes like a drink you might relish if you [...]
Mellow Monk’s Top Leaf is the first flush (Spring picking) of a type of Japanese green tea processed differently from most, as a type of Sencha called Tamaryokucha. It is a lovely tea and one that exhibits signs of having been processed with care and attention. Mellow Monk buys all of its teas from small [...]
Black teas from Yunnan Province are my standard everyday comfort teas, and I generally drink them several times a week, so I was interested in trying narienteas’ Yunnan Golden Tips. The first time I brewed a pot of it I was a little surprised by the initial taste because it had none of the carmel, [...]
The first thing I noticed when I opened the package of Canton Tea Co’s Yulan Dancong was that the leaves were exceptionally long, slender, and tinged with gold. They were only slightly curled and twisted, which emphasized their length and shape. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tea that was so attractive before it [...]
Big Red Robe Oolong Supreme (Wuyi Da Hong Pao Wu Long) is Jing Tea’s offering of one of the most sought-after and famous of the teas grown in the Wu Yi Mountains. It’s like a more highly refined, noble and more costly big brother to lesser Rock Oolong or Wu Yi Oolong teas. In general [...]
