Category: Review

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Murchie’s Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea

Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea by Murchie’s
Yellow Tea / Straight
$16.50 for 2oz

First Impressions

I bought a couple ounces of Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea at one of Murchie’s retail locations – the tea came in a plastic lined paper pouch that closes with a wired tab closure. This is my first experience with yellow tea, so we’ll see how it goes! The tea leaves are a mix of shades of brown, with some feathery downy bits on the leaves. There’s a very mild aroma to it, I find it a mix of fruity and sweet that reminds me a little bit of plums.

From what I can tell, Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea is a straight Chinese tea – I wasn’t able to find a product page on Murchie’s website.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping yellow teas in 79-82°C (175-180°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was for 2 minutes at 79°C (175°F).

First Taste

Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea steeps to a deep orange colour despite the short steep, which I was impressed with. I found that the steeped tea had a pleasant sweetness to it, with some plum notes to it. I found that the texture of the tea was smooth with a full-bodied mouthfeel. The flavour of this yellow tea had a nice mixture of fruity plum notes, sweetness, and some grassy notes. It’s overall very pleasant and tasty.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea three times, adding an additional 30 seconds with each subsequent steep. I found there was a light umami flavour that came out when resteeping the same leaves – it adds a nice level of complexity to the flavour of the tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved Murchie’s Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea. I enjoyed my first yellow tea experience – I found that the flavour was nicely balanced with the complexity in the flavours, the plum and grassy notes that I found in this not-green-tea were nice on the tongue and I really enjoyed drinking it. It resteeped nicely, which is always a nice touch with any tea.

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Oteas’s Rooibos Vanilla

Rooibos Vanilla by Oteas
Rooibos / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Rooibos Vanilla for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Rooibos Vanilla came in a shrink wrapped cardboard box that holds the 12 tea sachets – made of biodegradable material. There’s a bit of information on the box regarding the origin of rooibos – from the South African coast near the Cedar Mountains and how it’s been cultivated since 1930. There is a strong rooibos aroma, with light notes of vanilla in the background.

Rooibos Vanilla consists of the ingredients in the name: rooibos and vanilla. The strong rooibos aroma is medicinal to me, which is great for people who enjoy rooibos.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Rooibos Vanilla in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 8 minutes. My initial steep of Rooibos Vanilla was for 6 minutes.

First Taste

Rooibos Vanilla steeps to a golden red colour. There’s a strong rooibos aroma from the steeped tisane. I found that the taste was primarily of the rooibos – it has a strong medicinal flavour to it. There was a light sweetness of vanilla throughout. I enjoyed the vanilla flavour, but not so much the rooibos base – but rooibos isn’t my favourite.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Rooibos Vanilla once, and found that the vanilla flavour was mostly gone in the second steep of the same leaves. I would have enjoyed more vanilla notes.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Oteas’s Rooibos Vanilla was just okay. I think the vanilla flavour was great, but unfortunately I’m not a huge fan of rooibos in general. I found that the rooibos flavour was strong throughout and it did resteep well with strong rooibos flavour in the second steep. For fans of rooibos, you may enjoy this one because the vanilla notes are very pleasant and the flavour of rooibos is smooth.

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DavidsTea’s Lavender Swirl

Lavender Swirl by DavidsTea
White Tea & Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$10.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Lavender Swirl is one of those teas that I smelled in store, was super intrigued, and decided to buy. Oh, and if you’ll notice the label was printed in March because I somehow misplaced it and recently rediscovered it – and here we are now! I purchased this tea at one of DavidsTea’s retail stores, which is why it came in a silver pouch with a printed label. The tea itself smells really inviting – I mostly get the fragrance of lavender and vanilla. It reminds me a lot of walking into a bakery that specializes in cakes and pastries.

Lavender Swirl is a very pretty tea to look at, which is always nice. This tea is actually categorized as a white tea on the DavidsTea website, but it also contains oolong. Lavender Swirl consists of: apple, candied pineapple, white tea, oolong tea, blackberry leaves, lavender, and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Lavender Swirl in 90°C (195°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep was for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Lavender Swirl steeps to a lovely honeyed orange colour. When I pulled the infuser out of my cup, I did notice that some of the debris from the tea came through the infuser – if something like that bugs you, I’d recommend putting the leaves into a filter bag. The tea itself has a very fragrant aroma – I smell lavender, vanilla, and fruity undertones in the background. On first taste, I note the lavender and vanilla notes, followed by the fruity sweetness. I found that the tea has a bit of a thickened mouthfeel, which is pleasant. The lavender notes made for a very relaxing cup of tea.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Lavender Swirl and found that the lavender notes just weren’t strong enough to make me want to continue drinking it. I would say that Lavender Swirl is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Lavender Swirl. I really enjoyed the lavender and vanilla notes that I found in this tea, and it had a nice level of sweetness that I appreciated as I could drink it as-is and not need to add anything to it. The strength of the lavender was very pleasant in the initial steep, and I found it to be nice to smell and to drink – it didn’t end up being overly floral in that way. The thickened mouthfeel of the tea was a pleasant quality that I wasn’t expecting, but liked.

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