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Teakan’s Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin makes up 15g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin came as part of the Volume 5 Exploration Kit. This oolong tea comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. There’s a simplistic white and black label folded over for the front and back. This particular oolong comes from Anxi, Fujian, China, and was harvested in spring of 2021.

The leaves are dark, very deep brown with hints of green throughout. The aroma has a strong nuttiness from the roasted component, with a fruity undertone that strongly reminds me of plums. It has a nice aroma, I don’t really get much of a charcoal feel to it, but the roasted nuttiness does come through in the aroma of the dry leaf.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin in 96°C (205°F) water for 2 minutes 30 seconds for western style steeping, and 45 seconds for gongfu style steeping.

I opted to do an initial steep of Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin in the western style of steeping for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

First Taste

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin steeps to a golden orange, very clear, and has a nutty aroma. On first taste, I get the nuttiness, an astringency, and just a touch of fruitiness that reminds me of plums, but the nuttiness is much stronger. The astringency leads to a dry mouthfeel, but there is no bitterness. I find the astringency and that dry mouthfeel makes me want to drink more, just to quench that thirst that it creates. It has a pleasant flavour though, with just the tiniest hint of sweetness.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin a total of six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I kept with the same steeping method and water temperature and I found that the flavour stayed fairly consistent. I found it to remain lightly astringent with plum-notes throughout, along with that dry mouthfeel at the end of each sip.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I saw the name Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin, but I don’t think this was it. I was pleasantly surprised in the fact that it was had more roasted notes than what I had assumed it would be like, which would have been something closer to a lapsang souchong (and honestly, not one of my favourite types of tea) because I saw charcoal and thought smokey. The nutty flavour carries through well, and the plum notes really carry with each steep. I would highly recommend resteeping this oolong as much as possible.

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Dessert by Deb’s Thai Banana Cake

Thai Banana Cake by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.00 for 25g

First Impressions

Coming to me as part of the bimonthly Dessert by Deb subscription box (no longer available! The subscription box, not the product itself – you can put together a box of goodies yourself via the Dessert by Deb website), and is in the brightest berry pink metallic pouch. I’ve never had a Thai banana cake, so I really can’t tell you if it resembles the actual dessert. I know what banana bread smells and tastes like, but somehow in my mind cake ≠ bread, so I’m going into this review with no existing ideas of what I’m supposed to find in this organic tea sample.

The blend is pretty – I can see the coconut, black tea base, banana chips, and lemongrass. The aroma is strongly coconut and lemongrass – probably because both of those ingredients are quite strong in comparison to bananas. Thai Banana Cake consists of certified organic: black tea, natural banana flavour, bananas, toasted coconut, and lemongrass. It’s pretty. I’m not overly familiar with Thai tea products, or banana cake, but it smells like a lemongrass blend and I can smell the coconut. It’s inviting, doesn’t remind me of banana bread, but that’s okay!

Preparation

No preparation instructions on the sample, but on the Dessert by Deb’s website I found the following recommendations: steep in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes. The website also recommends preparing as a tea latte.

First Taste

Thai Banana Cake steeps to an orange, with little bits of tea dust that escaped the stainless steel infuser that I had used. The aroma is Thai Banana Cake is primarily lemongrass and coconut, with just a touch of oil across the surface of the steeped tea – I imagine that comes from the toasted coconut. The flavour is primarily lemongrass, coconut, and hints of astringency from the black tea base. There’s a slight sweetness, but I find that it’s not very banana-forward or banana-heavy. I found myself wishing for more banana flavour to get that banana cake feel to it.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Thai Banana Cake, adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep. I found the first resteep was primarily lemongrass, with hints of coconut, and the black tea base with the touch of astringency. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, because it was further lacking the flavours that I was hoping for. I wouldn’t recommend Thai Banana Cake for another steep.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Dessert by Deb’s Thai Banana Cake. Allow me to preface this with the fact that I didn’t get a lot of banana flavour in my cup of tea, I received a sample and that can be influenced by how well the blend was mixed or how well I redistributed the ingredients in the sample pouch. I liked the lemongrass and coconut combined with the black tea base, and would have rate it higher, if I hadn’t been expecting banana in the blend, along with the sweetness that one would expect from dried fruit. I think a heavier hand with the banana (chips or flavouring, or both!) would result in a more banana-esque flavouring (and more hearts).

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DavidsTea’s Roasted Chestnut

Roasted Chestnut by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Coming to me in a bright pink pouch with red chestnut illustrations, Roasted Chestnut comes in a tea that came out as part of the holiday collection (and was also found as part of the 2021 tea advent calendar). I did try it then, but I had also purchased a pouch of this tea because I hadn’t checked the list of teas that came in the calendar.

Roasted Chestnut is a black tea blend, which comes with plenty of other ingredients. Roasted Chestnut consists of: black tea, apple, candied pineapple, brittle, brown sugar, natural flavouring, roasted chicory root, honeybush, chestnut, and stevia extract. The aroma is a mix of apple and brown sugar. I don’t really smell the chestnut, or the black tea base, although I can see the black tea in the blend. There’s a lot of the apple and pineapple throughout.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Roasted Chestnut in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Steeping Roasted Chestnut results in a deep brown tea. The aroma is sweet, lightly fruity. The flavour of Roasted Chestnut is primarily sweet lightly fruity, and I don’t get a lot of the roasted nuttiness that I had expected to find in the cup. It’s underwhelming compared to what I was hoping for based on the description of the tea blend, and the ingredients.

A Second Cup?

While I did attempt to resteep Roasted Chestnut, I found it underwhelming – even compared to the initial steep. I wouldn’t resteep Roasted Chestnut.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Roasted Chestnut. While I had high hopes for the black tea blend, based on the ingredients, I was underwhelmed and disappointed by the aroma of the tea, and also the way it steeped. It was just lacking in flavour, and was primarily just sweet (thanks to the dried and candied fruit). The lack of nuttiness was apparent with the initial steep, so it really didn’t remind me of roasted chestnuts at all.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.