Here's the deal

I've been on a modified diet (not weight loss related, allergy related) and haven't been straying from my strict food/drink list to test some theories out.

So, no tea for a few weeks as I get some things sorted. But I love you guys, and I miss posting.

Wish me luck on the allergy hunt.

Aura Teas: Yunnan Pu Er Small Tuocha

 

Steep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients : Ripe Pu Er Tea leaves

Aroma: Smells like darjeeling, smooth, floral, rich.

Packaging: Tea is packed in a clear baggie, leaves are in a fiber ball.
 
Tea Leaf Quality: Large deep rich whole leaves.

Taste:   Funny story! I thought (illogically) that I could just throw the ball in the tea cup, WRONG. So I strained it in a large strainer and poured it into another coffee cup, and while I was washing out that coffee cup, my wonderful husband decided to pass wet chicken over my cup into a bowl... He warned that my tea filled cup "might" have raw chicken goop in it, so there goes my taste test. It smells wonderful, and I had a teeeensy taste, where i felt it tasted like a malty darjeeling, but I didn't get to really sit, sip and think about it. 

-1 hubby... Kudos to me for my smooth moves that got the second full tea cup sitting alone in a busy kitchen.

On a happy note, I will have fresh home made chicken tortilla soup within the next 15 minutes. +1 for my husband.

Aroma: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10
Value: 10/10

Taste: n/a
Tea Quality: 10/10

Overall 10/10

SALONTEA: The Fashionable Dandy - Earl Grey

Steep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients : China black tea leaves, rare bergamot oil

Aroma: Smells exactly like Earl Grey, more citrus-y than most, and the bergamot does smell strong and maybe, spicier?

Packaging: Tea is packaged both loose and bagged, loose tea comes in a tin, bagged tea comes in triangle fiber sachets, in a large clear box.
 
Tea Leaf Quality: Quality tea, large black tea leaves.

Taste:   As we should know by now, my favorite tea - ever - is Earl Grey. This tea had me hoping high (high hopes, get it?...) and I have to say maybe that is why I was disappointed. I'll start by saying Tracy knows her stuff when it comes to her SALONTEA, and her other flavors have blown me away. This blend was bland. A bland blend ...bland blend. In all seriousness, this tea tasted like watered down Earl Grey. I let it steep for the full 5 minutes, (I am sorry I don't have a picture of the tea, and for the horrible quality of the pictures I do have, I was having camera issues, and had to use my iPhone) the tea was beautiful dark brown/black. I had all reasons to believe this tea would be amazing, and I just feel scammed.

Aroma 9/10
Packaging 10/10
Value: 8/10

Taste 6/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 8/10