The leaves are tightly balled and almost a deep auburn color and very pretty. There are some stems but I don’t find them detracting from the quality of this tea.

This Light Roast Iron Buddha is clearly a take on a Ti Kuan Yin (a very popular Chinese Oolong). The liquor brews to a nice bright gold with subdued floral notes reminiscent of lilac amidst a stronger roasty-toasty collection of scents. The aroma is actually fairly similar to that of a Japanese Hojicha.

The taste comes alive with a surprisingly smooth  but roasted flavor profile. Thre’s a slight sweetness in the finish not all too different from roasted leeks or bok choy (both Chinese vegetables).

The roasted flavors have a long tail and thus hang around for a bit. This tea is not very astringent, but the prominence of roasted flavors combined with the staying power of those flavors increase this teas’ boldness.

I would recommend this tea to fans of Ti Kuan Yins, Hojicha, Genmaicha, roasted flavors, other oolongs and Autumnal Darjeelings.

Please Support This Advertiser

When we think of white teas we’re mostly thinking of Pai Mu Dan. This gentle tea is the very definition for most people’s views on what a white tea should be.

This particular Pai Mu Dan from Kokomo Tea has a light aroma reminiscent of hay, wheat or Autumn grass.

The liquor brews to an extremely light yellow-green. The difference from simple water is nearly imperceptible unless you’re paying attention.

The flavor is equally light, containing only the softest hints of honeysuckle. There’s a buttery texture which coats the tongue but the light astringency oddly seems to dry the top of the palate.

This Pai Mu Dan isn’t particularly strong, but it’s a wonderfully light brew any fan of white teas will like.

Please Support This Advertiser

This fruity blend of florals, fruits and a Chinese Sencha smells floral, looks like green tea and tastes fruity. It’s quite the party to be sure.

Looking at the loose leaves you see mango bits, sunflower petals, cornflower petals, choppy Sencha style green tea leaves and a cacophony of other ingredients. This makes for an interesting, if busy visual to take in. Brewed, the liquor shows as a nice yellow-gold.

The aroma of the dry and the spent leaves is very fruity. I get guava and mango with a hint of passionfruit and marigold in there as well. The tea liquor however smells more vegetal, almost like steamed leeks. My guess is that comes from the Sencha base.

This tea seriously dries the palate. The finish twinges of guava. However, rolling the liquor in the mouth provides a more apricot taste. You can tell this is a Sencha even through all the flavors. There’s the vegetal tones inherent ni the green tea, a nuttier lightly roasted sense I get which would be a more southern grown plant. The gritty bitterness from a Sencha is clearly present.

It’s nice to have a blended tea like this where you can actually taste the base tee. Often the base tea is overrun by hoards of ingredients all vying for the top spot. The one major issue with this tea keeping it from a higher score in flavor and a lower score in boldness is its penchant for reminding me of having cotton balls in my mouth.

I would recommend this tea to fans of guava, passion fruit, mango, Earl Grey and Sencha teas blended with fruit.

Please Support This Advertiser

Wednesday is Green Tea, White Tea, Rooibos, Oolong and Tisane (Herbal) Review Day!

I won’t lie. I’m a sucker for raspberries. In fact, pretty much anything raspberry. But I am not a fan of ginger. It just doesn’t tickle my fancy. Regardless, this Raspberry Ginger tea from Kokomo Tea is delicious!

The immediate appearance of split raspberries, ginger chunks, white tea leaves, cloves and some stems makes this tea a beautiful sight to look at.

The tea brews up a very very light orange liquor (color) and provides an aroma ginger laden with a faint sweetness & fruit compunction. Notes of a light astringency were also present.

Lightly bitter with clear ginger flavor dries the mouth while providing smooth texture. This tea has a very very light bite and a tail which fades quickly.

I recommend this blend to any tea drinker who enjoyes fruit teas, spiced teas and a captivating flavor experience which isn’t overpowering.

Friday is Black Tea, Floral Tea, Fruit Tea, Chai and Pu’erh Review Day!

This smooth vanilla black tea blend from Kokomo Tea is interesting. I have very high hopes for this company I found on Twitter!

I was very excited when I ran across this blended black tea. Vanilla is almost a holy grail for me, it’s subtle but firm and exquisitely creamy and smooth. Vanilla is just one of those flavors for me personally (like Raspberry).

The aroma for this blend isn’t as strong as I would have liked. Clearly it’s vanilla, but more resembling a vanilla blend of Masala Chai than say, a vanilla Ceylon or Chinese black tea.

True to Vanilla’s nature however, this tea is very smooth, almost melting in the mouth like a chunk of white chocolate. Not so subtle tones of Masala Chai overpower a more pure vanilla experience, but certainly don’t do any harm to this tea, providing a unique blending of Vanilla with a lighter CTC style Assam.

This tea is soothing, not brisk and the body follows suit as very balanced. It brews up a beautiful cider red.

While I personally would have preferred a stronger tone of Vanilla this blend was refreshing and soothing to my palette. I’d recommend it for anyone who happens to like vanilla as a rule, or to someone looking for a well balanced black tea without much of a bite or any pronounced astringency.