Author: Michelle

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Naked Teas Galore’s Organic Dragon Well

Organic Dragon Well (Lungching) by Naked Teas Galore
Green Tea / Straight
$9.45 for 50g

First Impressions

Naked Teas Galore has a cute storefront in Langley, BC. I wandered in one day and had a lovely time shopping. Each tea had a little sample jar for you to see and sniff the teas, as it all came prepackaged. Organic Dragon Well was one of the first teas that I wound up picking out because I love a good, classic Chinese green tea and this certainly fit the bill.

Organic Dragon Well came prepackaged in a sealed matte black pouch that is resealable. There’s coloured labels on the front and back that describe the tea and provide steeping instructions. Organic Dragon Well is described as being a certified organic green tea that is “imperial grade” from Zhejiang Province, China. The leaves themselves are long, flat, with a green colour to it. There’s light grassy notes, with a hint of roasted cashews.

Preparation

Naked Teas Galore recommends steeping Organic Dragon Well in 70-80°C (158-176°F) water for 1 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was in 79°C (175°F) water for 1 minute.

First Taste

Organic Dragon Well steeps to a light yellow. It has a sweet grassy fragrance to it. The tea itself is sweet, has a slight grassy flavour to it that serves to highlight the nutty flavours in the tea that are more towards the tail end of each sip. I found it to be quite pleasant with zero astringency or bitterness when steeped for 1 minute.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Dragon Well four times (five steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the tea became more golden yellow in colour with each steep. The flavour profile stayed consistent, getting strong with each steep.

This may be a good tea candidate for the gongfu method of steeping since it would benefit from short steeps.

My Overall Impression

I loved Naked Teas Galore’s Organic Dragon Well. I appreciated the easy to understand labeling on the packaging, and the packaging itself. The tea was pleasant to drink and had a well-balanced flavour profile that stayed consistent throughout, which made for a nice drink. I would definitely recommend resteeping this one as the leaves do beautifully in being resteeped.

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DavidsTea’s Jasmine Oolong

Jasmine Oolong by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$14.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Jasmine Oolong came in a familiar silver sealed, resealable pouch from DavidsTea. The label consisted of all the information I needed about the tea. I always love to try new-to-me oolongs, which is why this one in particular was added to an order that I did earlier this year. The aroma that I got when I opened the bag was nothing short of floral. The fragrance from the jasmine is strong, and I can make out a bit of the oolong in the background.

The leaves themselves range from dark green to brown, with scant jasmine buds throughout. Jasmine Oolong consists of oolong tea from Taiwan, scented with jasmine flowers. However, there were jasmine buds that had been left in.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Jasmine Oolong in 90℃ (195℉) water for 4-5 minutes. My initial steep was for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Jasmine Oolong steeps to a light yellow, which has a strong jasmine aroma. I found the tea itself to be sweet, with the floral flavour and a light creaminess in the background. It’s quite pleasant to drink, the tea is smooth – no bitterness, no astringency. It has a nice mouthfeel to the tea and it makes for a nice drink overall.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Jasmine Oolong eight times (nine steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour stayed fairly consistent throughout, waning in flavour by the fifth and sixth resteep, but it was still palatable.  The dark leaves open up a considerable amount, so be sure to take a look at your tea leaves!

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Jasmine Oolong. I thought that the flavour was beautiful, the floral notes were not overly perfume-y for me and it made for a smooth cup of tea. While the cost may be a bit off-putting, it’s definitely more worth it since the leaves can be resteeped so many times and still have a considerable amount of flavour (you get what you pay for!). I also had some of this iced as well, and found that it did nicely as an iced tea because of the bright floral notes from the jasmine. I would consider the tea to be overpriced if you weren’t going to be resteep the leaves, but it does very well resteeped and would highly recommend doing it.

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Snapdragon & Thistle’s Earl Grey

Earl Grey by Snapdragon & Thistle
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.00USD for 2oz

Snapdragon & Thistle has provided me with Earl Grey for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Use coupon code INSTA03 for 10% off your order of Earl Grey from Snapdragon & Thistle! Coupon code valid for May 2019.

First Impressions

I’m always quite honest about the fact that I love Earl Grey. It’s one of my favourite classic tea blends and I love it. Because of this, it constantly makes me nervous yet excited about trying new-to-me sources for Earl Grey because of the fact that I never know if the blend is going to be the way that I like it. So when Snapdragon & Thistle offered to let me try their Earl Grey, of course I said yes.

Earl Grey came to me in a sealed, resealable plastic-lined kraft paper pouch with matte product labels on the front and the back. The blend itself has a beautiful bergamot aroma to it. The leaves are dark brown and a nice size to them for a blended black tea. Earl Grey consists of Chinese black tea and bergamot flavouring.

Preparation

Snapdragon & Thistle recommends steeping Earl Grey in 100°C (212°F) for 2 to 4 minutes. My initial steep of Earl Grey was for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Earl Grey steeps to a golden orange colour. The tea has a bright citrus aroma, the bergamot fragrance is really nice. I found that the tea had a nice strength behind the flavour – the black tea base is smooth and I found zero astringency in the tea when I steeped it for 3 minutes. There’s a slight sweetness to the tea that is mostly present with the beginning of each sip. It makes for a pleasant cup of tea.

I also tried Earl Grey with a bit of honey and evaporated milk and found it to be quite pleasant.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Earl Grey twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour of Earl Grey weakened a bit for the first resteep, but the bergamot flavouring wasn’t present enough for the second resteep. I would say that Earl Grey is good for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Snapdragon & Thistle’s Earl Grey. The flavour of the bergamot is enticing and delicious, it balances well with the black tea base. It does well both straight and with a bit of sweetener and milk, so it’ll do well for people who belong to either camp – fans of the London Fog and fans of the straight Earl Grey. Definitely give this cup of tea a resteep, as the leaves do nicely to be resteeped and you’ll want to taste a bit more of that bergamot.

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