The aromas of this white tea’s dry leaves are quite sweet and grassy. Fuzzy, short, white twists intermix with small green leaves for an enjoyable looking tea.  Canton Tea Co’s packaging suggests using 2 teaspoons of leaf per cup of water and infusing the tea for 2-3 minutes. Accordingly, 2 teaspoons of the tiny leaves went into my cup for a little over 2 minutes. The resulting aroma of this tea was somewhat different than the dry leaves suggested.

My cup of tea still maintained its grassy aromas, yet felt deeper and stronger with a light, roasted smell. I was further surprised when, upon tasting it for the first time, the flavour burst in my mouth, both sweet and fruity and without a lot of the formerly smelled grassiness. Impressed by the full flavour, I continue drinking.

This is one complex white tea…the flavour is not, in any way, straightforward. Slightly reminiscent of half a dozen different white teas, this is a must-try for white tea lovers. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it a 91/100.

You can purchase the Ye Sheng Wild White Tea directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful blue flowers interspersed into this tea. They definitely added an enjoyable element to the presentation. Following the suggestions of the package, I steep this tea for two minutes, using three teaspoons of leaf (in a two-cup teapot). The water was heated to the point where small bubbles were forming on the bottom of the kettle.

I am really impressed by the aroma of this tea. I have drunk a few blueberry white teas before, most of which tasted immensely of blueberries, but in an almost-artificial manner. This tea is different. The blueberry flavour does not jump out at the drinker. Instead, it meshes well with the flavours of the Pai Mu Dan base. The blueberry flavours are everywhere throughout the tea, when it is first sipped and in the aftertaste, but the flavours do not dominate. Thankfully, they also do not underwhelm. It may sound like this is a lot to say to merely describe the way in which this tea is well-balanced, but it is my opinion that this tea deserves the accolades. I really enjoyed drinking this tea. It is indeed worthy of the 93/100 I give it on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Blueberry White Tea directly from the TeaFrog website.

Wow. The aroma of the dry leaves, an intensely sweet and grassy smell, was incredible. I opened the package and it wafted instantly to my nose from a foot away. That, I must say, was impressive. I went ahead and steeped two teaspoons in one cup for a little over 2 minutes.

The aroma of the steeped liquor retains some of the same sweetness, but it is also much more mellow. The flavour suprises me. It comes out much more light and subdued that I had expected. I think that perhaps the second steeping I shall try for three minutes to see how it changes the flavour. There is not much aftertaste, but the small amount that lingers on the tongue is soft, and not overly vegetal at all. Traces of the original aroma of the dry leaves hang for a moment in the throat before they are gone. It is time for the second steeping.

The leaves dance about in the tiny glass pitcher for three minutes more. These leaves are beautiful, tiny buds with the slightest small hairs. The aroma of this second steep seems to be thicker, somehow, yet not stronger. The flavours remain much the same as they were in the first steeping.

While this tea was good, I am left with the impression that my taste buds missed something significant that this tea had to offer. It certainly is a tasty green tea, and I would recommend it for fans of more delicate greens. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it an 80/100.

You can purchase the Snow Buds (Xue Ya) directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

I really like grapefruit. As a small child, I always wanted my mother to get me those sweet smelling grapefruit bath products from the overpriced but immensely-fascinating-to-children bath product shoppes (whose quality could be told with the extra, pretentious “e”). And as an adult, I continue to gravitate towards grapefruit scented items and grapefruit flavored things. To me it combines the juicy satisfaction of an orange with a little extra edge, that little hint of sour. If a grapefruit were musical, it would not be top 40, but a harder rock, maybe tinged with punk. A Gwen Stefani of No Doubt as compared to the more sweet and Miley Cyrus-eqsue orange.

So, it was with great anticipation that I got this tea sample. I had some amazing luck with the Blood Orange Black from Drink the Leaf (the blood orange – another edgy citrus relative), and I was hoping to repeat it with this tea. The packet I got however, left me a little concerned. The tea was not in an air-tight packet. And when I opened it to sniff, you could very much tell; no aroma other than the glue for the sticker. I steeped my two teaspoons of tea (which did have visible chunks of peel, getting my hopes back up) in 2 cups of boiling water for 3 minutes, and the resulting brew was a light amber color.

This grapefruit? This is repressed grapefruit. This grapefruit was teased in elementary school and ignored at home. Whether the result of exposure to air or something else, drinking this tea is… well… boring. There is no grapefruit flavor to the tea. The tea itself tastes like it just remembered an important appointment somewhere else, and gee, sorry, it’s got to run. There is a slight hint of sweet behind the mild tea flavor, but I couldn’t discern if it was from the leaf or a very light citrus sweetness. A second steep with sweetener didn’t bring out any additional flavor. Either way, I have no other way to say it – I’m disappointed.

You can purchase the Pink Grapefruit directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

This tea? This tea moved me to buy a tea scale.

I’ve known for a while that if you really want to get serious about making sure you’re able to get good, repeatable results from your tea that you need to watch all your parameters. But I hadn’t bothered to get a scale, until I met this tea.

I got the package, and thought, meh- I can just wing it. So I did. And the tea was awesome. And then my brain finally kicked it and thought – hey, if you can get awesome tea by winging it – what would happen if you actually did it 100% right?? I ordered a scale 5 minutes later.

The dry leaf is very silvery, the large needles are covered with that silvery down that gives this style of tea it’s name. In aroma, it’s got a lot of hay overtones – like summer fields. The liquor is a very light yellow once brewed, with only traces of summer fields. But – the flavor on this tea is where it really shines. It’s got a rich, silky feel in your mouth, and a flavor of newly mown hay and just a hint of honeysuckle for a delicate sweet note on the finish. This is light and clear – not a tea to be drunk with a heavy meal, but a tea to be savored on it’s own or maybe with light fruit. It has almost no astringency, but the very little it does have just invites you to sip more.

Delicate yet rich; smooth and clear. This is an amazing example of a silver needle.

You can purchase TeaGschwendner China Yin Zhen Silver Needle directly from their website.

Hmm, the scent of this dry rooibos is legit. And by legit, I mean it legitimately smells like vanilla. Not fake vanilla like is used in various desserts, but real vanilla. Adding three teaspoons of this tea and steeping it in two cups of water for six minutes, I was left being tantalized by the aromas of vanilla wafting from my teapot as I waited. The tea smells sweet, but not in a fake sweetener way. It is more like the sweetness that comes from plants like mint or various fruits. The liquor is clear, yet a very dark red-brown.

My first cup smells warm. And not just from the hot tea. It just has a warm, and soft, aroma about it. It softly caresses the senses and lingers in the nose. Eagerly, I take my first sip and am immediately surprised by how sweet it tastes. The sweetness is very passive, but it is definitely there, and a quite pleasant surprise. This tea’s mouthfeel is thick and smooth. The flavour of vanilla is, of course, at the forefront. The rooibos, sadly, seems to have taken a backseat in this brew, as it does not show its head much, except in the aftertaste.

The flavours do not change much throughout the rest of the pot. I very much enjoyed drinking this tea. It is good, it is unique, and it is well worth a taste or two. I give it a 77/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Vanilla Rooibos directly from the TeaFrog website.

Today I’m trying some Melon from Golden Moon Teas and I can’t wait. I love white tea and I love melons, sounds like a good match.

Opened the sample and was surprised by how little was in it. The directions only say how long to steep it and how hot the water should be, doesn’t tell me how many cups this sample is meant to make. Looks like about two teaspoons of tea in the packet. Going to try for two cups…

Opened the pouch and the dry white leaves are really full and long, mostly buds. Can’t see the melon in it though. Took a deep breathe and inhaled. The smell is nasty. It smells like an over ripe (rotten) honeydew melon. Ugh. Thinking the scent will lighten, I poured boiling water over it and steeped it for two minutes. Brew is a nice golden, honey color, smell is still horrid.

You can purchase the White Persian Melon directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

The shape of these rolled oolong leaves was reminiscent of an Alishan oolong I once had – small, compacted clumps of leaf. They carry quite a vegetal smell, almost more like a green tea than an oolong. I started out by steeping two teaspoons of leaves in two cups of water for three minutes.This resulted in somewhat of a weak brew, so I put the leaves back in for another minute or so (I like my oolongs stronger).

This completed brew is delightful. Light and creamy oolong scent with just a hint of that original vegetal strength with a bit of peppery smell too. The liquor is a very bright and clear light brown, and the taste….ooooh my. Light and soft, it caresses the tongue while still putting out moderately bold flavours including floral, vegetal, and peppery notes all wrapped into one tasty package. If this oolong went to school, it would be said that it was a very well-rounded individual, as this is a very well-rounded tea, encompassing a variety of different flavours that all serve to complement each other.

The second steep brought out the floral notes in the tea to a much fuller extent. The taste overall mellowed out a lot and brought out a bit more of the vegetal side as well. I could easily see this tea going for at least one or two more steepings. I really enjoyed this tea, and am giving it an 80/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Imperial Gold Oolong directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.

There are toys you can get – the “amazing expanding dinosaur” or “mermaid that really grows” – compressed sponges that once soaked in water grow something like 400%. This tea is just like these toys. Put in two teaspoons of tea, get an entire cup of giant whole huge tea leaves. A co-worker asked me why I had a cup of wet spinach. And the leaves are good ones too – unbroken and high quality.

And the oolong these beautiful produce is pretty high quality too. This tea tastes like a less oxidized, greener brew, and has a lot of vegetal notes to it. But it also has the buttery mouthfeel you get in some oolongs, the floral notes, and the spicy aromas. Lots of things going on in that cup! It’s a complex tea, but manages to balance the various flavors into a cohesive whole.

Or, to put it another way – Yummy! This is a really nice, solid oolong.

You can purchase the Imperial Gold Oolong directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.