Canton Tea’s Anxi Rou Gui Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Da Ping Village, Anxi County, Fujian Province
Price: Sample (regular price – £14.99 for 100g)
Vendor: Canton Tea Company
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 190°F-200°F, steeped for 2-3 minutes
Overall Score: 4.2 out of 5

The leaves smell grassy with some background floral notes. It smells more like a typical green tea than a typical oolong tea. It also has a slight nutty aroma. The color of the leaves is an overall dark green with some light green specks throughout.

The liquor is a deep yellow color. The tea is starting to smell like a typical oolong now. It smells clean and vegetal with a nutty background.

The taste is a little more bitter than expected. It has a nice crisp flavor. It is fresh and vegetal, but the nuttiness is more in the aroma than the taste – I barely taste it. The after taste is buttery and lingers for a moment. The tea is quiet astringent, also.

The flavor is around medium body for an oolong, I would say. However, I think it is slightly stronger in flavor than some oolongs I have had. For green tea lovers who are looking for a more pungent flavor than what plain greens have to offer, this would be a good tea to try. It’s definitely a greener oolong and has more punch than a regular green.

Canton Tea’s Jasmine Yin Zhen Review

Type: White
Origin: Fuding County, Fujian Province
Price: Sample (regular price – £13.99 for 100g)
Vendor: Canton Tea Company
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 160°F-170°F, steeped for 1-3 minutes
Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5

Jasmine Yin Zhen is white tea infused with jasmine. I barely opened the package and I could already smell the sweet floral jasmine. The leaves are long, rolled, and fuzzy – tiny hairs cover each strand making them soft and silky to the touch. They are a light green color with some dark tips here and there.

The jasmine scent really comes out during the steeping of the leaves. The liquor is a very light green color. There is actually tea in those cups in the picture, but the liquor was so light that it was really hard to take a good picture of it.





The taste is very sweet and floral. The jasmine is really all I can taste, but it’s not overpowering. Overall, the tea is smooth and mellow. Bitterness isn’t an issue, but there is a faint hint of astringency. The brew is quiet refreshing.

I was nervous about trying this tea because I was not a jasmine fan – notice the past tense. This tea, in my opinion, is perfectly infused with the jasmine scent/flavor. There is not too much in which usually engages my reaction of sip, grimace, swallow, cough, curse, and then make a small effort to find a tea lover with a jasmine fetish that may enjoy that particular over flavored crap. However when I hit the bottom of my cup, this time, I was ready for more.

Canton Tea’s Pouchong Review

Type: Green
Origin: Xu Family Farm, Wenshan, Taipei province, Taiwan
Price: Sample (regular price – £13.99 for 100g)
Vendor: Canton Tea Company
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 180°F-190°F, steeped for 1-2 minutes
Overall Score: 4.1 out of 5

The dry leaves of this Pouchong smell very fresh and grassy, however the aroma is very subtle – I had to stick my nose in the package in order to find the sweet smell of the leaves. The leaves are huge, long, rolled strands with an overall dark green color.

The liquor is a very nice green color. The aroma of the freshly brewed tea reminds me more of an oolong than a green. It smells vegetal with also that fresh, crisp smell that oolongs have.

The taste is lightly grassy. It has a taste between a green and an oolong – brisk, lively, and vegetal. The tea was a little astringent, but not bitter. Overall it kind of tastes like steamed green vegetables, especially in the after taste.

I would say this is a nice, plain, everyday green. There is nothing special about it, but it not a bad tea either. If you want a step up from the everyday Sencha... this is a good one to try.

Canton Tea’s Bai Ling Gong Fu Review

Type: Black (a.k.a. Red)
Origin: Bai Lin, Tai Mu Mountain, Fu Ding County, Fujian Province
Price: Sample (regular price – £11.99 for 100g)
Vendor: Canton Tea Company
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 190°F-200°F, steeped for 3 - 4 minutes
Overall Score: 4.6 out of 5

The Bai Ling Gong Fu leaves are very beautiful to look at. They are long, twisted, rolled strips painted with yellows, oranges, and browns. Tiny hairs can be seen on the leaves. The leaves feel very soft and silky to the touch. The aroma of the dry leaves is subtle, earthy, and slightly smoky.

The liquor is a light yellow color. The aroma is a little smoky and woodsy. Along with the aroma of the dry leaves, the freshly brewed tea’s aroma is also subtle.





The taste is on the milder side of blacks. It is very smooth, crisp, and brisk. The tea still has the earthy/smoky tones in the taste that I could smell in the dry leaves. It is not bitter and actually rather refreshing. The after taste is a mix of caramel and honey like flavors.

If you are one who likes to add milk to your black tea, you might want to resist the dairy on this one because of the already mild taste.

I Like It Because It's NOT Perfect

While in Chicago a few months ago at the World Market I found this tea cup that I just HAD to add to my collection. It has now become my favorite tea cup! My other cups have been collecting more dust than tea… but I can’t help it… it’s like my personality in a cup!

I love how it is not perfect. It does its job by holding my current freshly brewed tea; however it’s not the perfect round shape of a cup, it’s dented throughout, the handle is an unusual shape, and it also has that visible clay “fold” by the handle. Plus, the inside is green – my favorite color! The price was a steal as well… only $4.99.

100th Post!

This blog reached its one year anniversary some time ago and now it has hit another milestone – the 100th post!

Wow! I have to admit that there were times I did not think this blog would make it that far. I am still in college and this fall will be the start of my senior year (Woot!). Because I am a full time student, free time tends to be a lack there of for me and hence writing blog entries gets pushed back on my to-do list sometimes. The reason for this is reviews can take a better part of an hour to complete because they include making the tea, tasting it, writing the review, taking pictures, editing, and publishing.

However, besides all of the wonderful tea I get to taste, there is one main motive that still keeps this blog on my to-do list at all… and that is YOU! Yes, you! If you are reading this, chances are that this is not the first time you have been to this blog… and I want to thank you for that! All of those who have commented on my blog via the comment section on here, Twitter, and/or Facebook… I want to personally thank you for your comments, encouragements, suggestions, etc.! I never thought I would say this, but I HAVE FANS! That right there is more than enough motivation to keep me going!

I originally started this blog for personal tasting notes and experiences only, which I still continue using it for such purposes today, but I never imagined that I would do formal reviews for vendors, as well. It has all been very exciting!

Since school is out for the summer, I have more time to concentrate on this blog. What I would like to do is work some more on the cosmetics and the layout of the blog, plus come up with ideas for better pictures and make sure I do more thorough reviews.

I have only studied tea for about two years now so I still have a lot to learn.

Mighty Leaf’s Organic Lu An Gua Pian Review

Type: Green
Origin: Anhui Province, China
Price: Sample (regular price - $16.95 for 4oz.)
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 170°F-180°F, steeped for 2 - 3 minutes
Overall Score: 4.7 out of 5

Organic Lu An Gua Pian is simply organic green tea from China. The leaves are very large, long, rolled strands with a mix of light and dark green colors. The aroma, although subtle, is vegetal – smells like grass basically.

The aroma of the tea is very grassy and vegetal. It has that fresh smell, kind of like dew. The liquor is a beautiful greenish-yellow color.

The taste is sweet and grassy. It has this lime-like flavor to it. The tea is not bitter or astringent. I would say that it is very mellow and has a delicate flavor overall. This blend is very simple in aroma and flavor which is perfectly fine with me. If you flavor a tea with too many ingredients then things can get complicated.

This is great stuff. I finished my cup and I am ready for another. Simple teas like this one always take me back to the heart of the tea plant and remind me of what true green tea is supposed to taste like.

Mighty Leaf’s Organic Earl Green Review

Type: Green
Origin: China
Price: Sample (regular price - $9.95 for 4oz.)
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 170°F-180°F, steeped for 2 - 3 minutes
Overall Score: 3.7 out of 5

Organic Earl Green is a base of Organic green tea infused with the oil of bergamot. The leaves for this tea are really dark for being a green tea. They are dark brown small, long strands which are very tightly rolled. The aroma of the bergamot oil rushed out when I opened the package. In fact, that is really all I can smell – the green tea aroma gets hidden.

I can smell more of the green tea as the leaves steep. The bergamot oil is still front and center, though. The liquor is a dark amber color.






The taste is basically a mouthful of bergamot. Because the green tea is so mellow, it stays in the background and all I taste is the sweet citrus flavor of the bergamot. Also, because of the green tea once again, this blend does not pack the same punch as its brother, Earl Grey.

It is not bitter, actually it is rather sweet. However, I am about half way through my cup and it has already dried my mouth out significantly. The vegetal taste of the green tea shows up more in the after taste. If you enjoy the taste of bergamot and do not want the bold black tea in tow, then this tea is for you.