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Teavana’s Dragonwell

Dragonwell by Teavana
Green Tea / Straight
$15.00 for 2oz

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First Impressions

I snagged a large bag of Dragonwell when I went to a local Teavana storefront earlier this month (180g at 75% off) due to their Canada-wide store closing. This was the last bit of Dragonwell that the store had left and I was more than happy to take it off their hands. I’ve become a big fan of Dragonwell (also known as Dragon Well, Long Jing, Lung Ching) so I was happy to get a good amount of this green tea.

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Dragonwell is a straight green tea, with some decently sized pieces. Each piece of dry leaf is pressed and quite flat. The dry leaf has a very soft aroma to it, it’s very subtle and so easy to miss. It smells a lot of dry grass, a bit vegetal at times. The subtly of the aroma of Dragonwell makes it a very unassuming tea.

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Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping in 79°C (175°F) for 1 minute. I followed the steeping instructions for the initial steep of Dragonwell.

First Taste

Dragonwell steeps to be very pale after just a 60 second step. The tea itself is a very pale, clear yellow. It has a light aroma to it that reminds me of grass and vegetables. The taste of Dragonwell is just as it smells – grassy, vegetal. There’s a surprise honey taste at the end of each sip that is quite welcome. There was no astringency noted as I drank this tea, so 60 seconds was a good length of time for steeping.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dragonwell four times for a total of five steeps, increasing the steeping times by about 30 seconds per steep. I found that the colour was deepest for the second and third steeps of these tea leaves. The aroma becomes stronger and the taste becomes more bold compared to the first steep. Steep four was beginning to get a little bit weaker while the fifth (last) steep was woefully boring. I would say that Dragonwell was good for three resteeps.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Teavana’s Dragonwell. The subtle changes in the flavour profile of this straight green tea are a delight for the senses, and I quite enjoyed drinking this over the course of a morning. It resteeps decently well, and I did manage to get it at a good price (hello, clearance prices), which makes it an even more attractive tea. I’ll be quite bummed out when I run out of this tea (although I suppose it will be a while before I finish up the entire bag). The best part of Dragonwell was the honey finish to each sip.

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Grand Tea’s White Down Silver Needle – Fuding

White Down Silver Needle – Fuding by Grand Tea
White Tea / Straight
$56.00HKD for 25g

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Grand Tea has provided me with White Down Silver Needle – Fuding for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I’ve become such a fan of white teas over the last couple of years that it was really exciting for me to see that Grand Tea had sent me some white tea to try! White Down Silver Needle – Fuding is a straight white tea from the Fujian province of China. As per the Grand Tea website, this is one of the more expensive types of tea due to the young buds being picked early in the growing season.

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White Down Silver Needle – Fuding came to me in gold sample packet, the material feels a little thinner than previous experiences with Grand Tea’s sample packaging but that it is really neither here nor there as it does it’s job – holding the tea. The dry leaf of this tea is amazing – the tea leaves are soft and downy. You can really see the individual hairs of the down on these young leaves and the tea leaves are soft to the touch – soft like kittens. The smell that comes up to me from the dry leaf is also a delight – the fragrance from this white tea reminds me of honeyed floral sweetness.

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Preparation

Grand Tea recommends steeping White Down Silver Needle – Fuding in 70-80°C (158-176°F) for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep of this silver needle was in 175°F for 2 minutes.

First Taste

White Down Silver Needle – Fuding steeps to a very, very, very pale light yellow. The aroma that comes up from this tea is very much like the dry leaf – there’s some honey notes to it, floral notes, and something that reminds me a bit of honeydew melon. The tea itself has a thicken feel which lets all the flavour coat the inside of my mouth. The sweet floral notes are tasty, and so is the refreshing quality of the honeydew that I found in there.

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I poured off a cup to be iced and I’m happy to report that White Down Silver Needle – Fuding does well as an iced tea as well

A Second Cup?

I resteeped White Down Silver Needle – Fuding a total of 8 times (9 steeps total) before the flavour began to be too watered down. The texture of the tea thins out by the second resteep, and the honeydew actually comes more forward while the floral flavours take a step back. Throughout all the steeps of this white tea, the honey flavours remain quite strong until about the sixth or seventh resteep.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Grand Tea’s White Down Silver Needle – Fuding. This tea does so well from the initial steep to all of the resteeps that follow. You can definitely resteep it at least six times, you could push it further like I did if you don’t mind the fact that the tea really begins to lose some of that beautiful flavour. I loved how complex the tea was with the chances from being mostly honey and floral to a switch to being mostly honey and honeydew. Definitely a tasty tea and one to be enjoyed throughout the day, since it holds up to being resteeped repeatedly so well.

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Davidstea’s S’mores Chai

S’mores Chai by DavidsTea
Pu’erh Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

When I first heard about DavidsTea putting out a S’mores Chai, all I could think was the fact that I really wanted to taste some marshmallows over an open campfire (huge fan of s’mores here!) so of course I had to get my hands on some of this tea. S’mores Chai smelled delicious in the store, the dry leaf honestly smells like a s’mores with the smell of chocolate and marshmallow. I don’t really smell graham crackers, but it’s forgiven because it does remind me of s’mores. The pu’erh base gives it a nice nutty aroma.

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S’mores Chai consists of: pu’erh tea, brittle pieces, cinnamon, sugar, marshamllow, chocolate chips, natural and artificial flavouring. The label suggests that the tea contains hazelnuts, but where? Perhaps in one of the flavourings.

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Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping S’mores Chai in 194-203°F (90-95°C) for 4 to 7 minutes. I steeped it at 200°F (94°C) water for 5 minutes.

First Taste

S’mores Chai steeps to a cloudy reddish brown, with an oil slick on the top from the melted chocolate. The tea smells like s’mores, which is quite delightful. On first taste, there’s an oily mouthfeel (from the melted chocolate) and it tastes a bit chocolately with some nutty flavour. It’s a slightly watery version of hot chocolate, with the sweetness of marshmallows. I didn’t really enjoy the tea straight so I added it some sweetener, and milk to make it a latte. It’s delicious as a hot latte and would highly recommend it.

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If you’re interested in learning how to make tea lattes at home without the use of a fancy machine to froth the milk, check out my tutorial on how to make lattes at home using a glass jar (and a microwave).

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A Second Cup?

I steeped S’mores Chai a few times and found that the flavour wasn’t as rich as the initial steep. I would say that S’mores Chai is good for only one steep only.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked DavidsTea’s S’mores Chai. I loved how this tea smell, it smells just like s’mores! This tea is excellent as a hot latte, and would highly recommend it. However, this tea didn’t taste remarkably well as a straight tea and I didn’t enjoy it. The addition of milk helps temper the oily mouthfeel that was the result of the melted chocolate chips and make the tea more enjoyable. A s’mores-flavoured tea is okay in my books and I greatly enjoyed it as a treat. I think this makes a great dessert latte.

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