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Alex Zorach

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Member since Sep. 1st, 2009. Reviewed 1448 teas.

Reviews of Pure Tea (Camellia sinensis)

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Picture of China Congou Panyang (Panyong)

China Congou Panyang (Panyong) from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Panyang Congou – Region: China

67 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
May. 2nd, 2011

Clean tasting, mild, with a slightly bitter caramel-like quality. A bit flat, simple tasting, but very pleasant. Has a cooling quality, even when hot, and I think it would make a very classic iced tea.

I was expecting this tea to be similar to Upton's ZP20, Panyang Congou Select, because of the similar name, but i...

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Picture of Golden Kenya GFBOP/TGFOP

Golden Kenya GFBOP/TGFOP from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Black Tea – Region: Kenya

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
May. 2nd, 2011

Surprisingly interesting aroma of the dry leaf....fruity but in a way distinct from any other sort of black tea.

Brewed cup is very complex: initially malty and very fruity, with a strong fennel aroma. Not much bite up-front, but there is a strong but pleasing bitterness, and a very bold peppery finish like a Yunna...

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Picture of China Green Sencha

China Green Sencha from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Sencha – Region: China

20 / 100 Aroma: 1/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 1/5
Apr. 24th, 2011

I never thought I'd say this, but I encountered the first truly bad tea from Upton. The dry leaf had a stale smell, none of the fresh grassy tones that sencha usually has. I would not recognize this as sencha from the aroma of the dry leaf, nor from the brewed cup. The leaf and the color of the cup looks more like b...

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Picture of Panyang Congou Select

Panyang Congou Select from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Panyang Congou – Region: Fujian, China

87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 22nd, 2011

A delightful and complex black tea. Very robust and full-bodied, moderate bitterness, but not overly caffeinated. Aroma simultaneously a little smoky, fruity, and malty, with no one quality dominating the others. Very balanced. Very pleasing.

I can see this becoming a favorite everyday black tea for me: it is mu...

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Picture of Dejoo Estate TGFOP(S)

Dejoo Estate TGFOP(S) from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Assam – Region: Lakhimpur, Assam, India

67 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 15th, 2011

Dry leaf's aroma is more suggestive of a Keemun than an Assam. Brewing, I find this tea fits Upton's description very closely:

It's deep and malty, a faint hint of fruitiness (less than the dry leaf suggests), dark, but very smooth, and with some fresh herbaceous tones. Strong but without being overly bitter. Som...

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Picture of Darjeeling Estate Organic Black Tea

Darjeeling Estate Organic Black Tea from Wegmans

Style: Darjeeling Black Tea – Region: Darjeeling, India

60 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Apr. 6th, 2011

I suspect this is from Makaibari estate, not just because of the fair trade and organic certification, but because it bears the familiar aroma of black teas from that garden.

This particular batch is exceptionally fruity, one of the frutiest Darjeelings I've tried yet. There is an intense grape aroma, so sweet and ...

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Picture of Tie Guan Yin traditional charcoal roast Master Grade

Tie Guan Yin traditional charcoal roast Master Grade from Life in Teacup

Style: Tie Guan Yin – Region: Anxi, Fujian, China

100 / 100 Aroma: 10/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 6th, 2011

(2009 Harvest) This is an impressive tea, and the first perfect rating I've ever given here. Life in Teacup provided me with a sample generous enough to experiment a bit with brewing.

This tea is so intensely flavorful and aromatic, that I settled on using a little less than 1 teaspoon of leaf, and brewed four infu...

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Picture of Jade Oolong Tea

Jade Oolong Tea from Wegmans

Style: Jade Oolong – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

67 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 5th, 2011

A solidly good, classic, but perhaps slightly boring Taiwanese Jade Oolong. Sold for a surprisingly reasonable price!

Aroma is mostly of butter with a little honey and some faint floral tones. Buttery-smooth flavor: sweet, with no bitterness. To my tastes, a bit too buttery, and not very tea-like.

Leaves are e...

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Picture of Wild tea Orchid Fairy Twig, first day harvest

Wild tea Orchid Fairy Twig, first day harvest from Life in Teacup

Style: Green Tea – Region: Wuyuan, Jiangxi, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 24th, 2011

I have only tried one other green tea from Wuyuan, but there was something very distinctive about this tea that reminded me of that first tea, Upton's ZG36, as soon as I took the first sip. Both teas share a particularly distinctive grassy aroma, with both floral and vegetal tones.

This tea, on the other hand, has...

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Picture of Finest Darjeeling

Finest Darjeeling from Jacksons of Piccadilly

Style: Darjeeling Black Tea – Region: Darjeeling, India

70 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 17th, 2011

Generous on the leaf--the teabag reads 2.5 grams, an amount similar to what I'd use for one cup when using loose-leaf tea, and it makes me realize how much a lot of companies skimp on the leaf.

This is a broken-leaf Darjeeling, with smallish pieces of leaf . The leaf is highly heterogeneous in color: many of the le...

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Picture of English Breakfast

English Breakfast from Red Rose Tea

Style: English Breakfast – Region: Blend

53 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 17th, 2011

I had the opportunity to sample this a couple times. The second time I had a fresher sample and it tasted noticeably better. The tea bag smelled malty, which was a good sign!

Brews a rich, dark color. Flavor is weaker than I expect from this style: not very bitter, and aroma is less malty than I like. Compared t...

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Picture of Mt. Wu Dong Mi Lan (Honey Orchid) Dan Cong

Mt. Wu Dong Mi Lan (Honey Orchid) Dan Cong from Life in Teacup

Style: Dancong Oolong – Region: Guangdong, China

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 15th, 2011

I often find Dan Congs to be fascinatingly complex teas, and this one is no exception. This tea I also found a bit easier to work with, in that it was easy for me to bring out the qualities that I enjoy most. It was a little more like a Wuyi oolong in overall character than other dancong I've tried. The dry leaf is ...

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Picture of Om

Om from Tazo Tea

Style: Green and Black Tea Blend – Region: Himalayas

63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 14th, 2011

A bit of a muddled aroma, but it works. There are some fruity tones, like a muscatel Darjeeling but with a more tangy flavor. Upon drinking more of the cup, I can notice some grassy qualities, and a brightness that I associate with high-grown black teas. Flavor is fairly sour, and only slightly bitter. There's a hi...

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Picture of Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green

Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green from Life in Teacup

Style: Green Tea – Region: Yunnan, China

73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 13th, 2011

This is an interesting tea. I tried brewing two different ways: with longer, and shorter infusions. Both ways, it brews a clear, pale green cup.

With a 3-minute infusion, the cup had a toasty aroma, with hints of cooked vegetables. Very clean flavor, but with an extremely pleasing, mild bitterness in the aftertas...

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Picture of Classic

Classic from Wissotzky

Style: Black Tea – Region: Blend

40 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 11th, 2011

Thank you to my friend Morgan for giving this one to me to sample! I had the 1.5g sample--a little less tea than I normally use for a single cup, but similar to the amount in most other mainstream tea company's tea bags.

Overall, smooth and somewhat flat flavor: not very bitter, a hint of a savory quality, and a sl...

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Picture of Bancha

Bancha from McNulty's Tea & Coffee

Style: Bancha – Region: Japan

70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 11th, 2011

This tea takes on a very different character depending on how much leaf you use and how you brew it. If you break it more weakly, is light, simple, and eminently pleasing, with a fresh, slightly vegetal aroma, and clean taste. Brewing it stronger, it takes on considerable bitterness and a very astringent aftertaste.
...

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White Tea from Trader Joe's

Style: White Tea – Region: China

50 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 8th, 2011

Brews an amber color. Trader Joe's recommends brewing 1-2 minutes and then discarding. I brewed 5 as I like a stronger cup. The tea was not too strong for me--still milder than many greens or blacks.

Not terribly aromatic, but flavorful. Aroma is like a bai mu dan, but much weaker: mostly of soft grain, with a h...

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Picture of Pure White Tea

Pure White Tea from Twinings

Style: White Tea – Region: Fujian, China

20 / 100 Aroma: 2/10 Flavor: 1/5 Value: 1/5
Mar. 7th, 2011

Among my least favorite bagged teas that I've tried. Aroma very weak: vaguely floral and then dissipating into a stale, tea-like aroma. Pale cup has a muddled flavor, with a little bitterness and more astringency than I'd like, and a little sourness too. I would not drink this again.

My advice is to stick to Twin...

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Picture of Huang Shan Yun Wu (Yellow Mountain Cloud)

Huang Shan Yun Wu (Yellow Mountain Cloud) from Life in Teacup

Style: Clouds & Mist (Yun Wu) – Region: Huangshan, Anhui, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 3rd, 2011

Another sample from Life in Teacup, this is my kind of tea: a classic Chinese pan-fired green tea wild a bold flavor. This tea looks typical at first, but as I started experimenting with brewing it, I found it had a lot of personality.

After a few trials, I found that I achieved the best results for my tastes by us...

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Picture of Ceylon Orange Pekoe

Ceylon Orange Pekoe from Twinings

Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Matale, Sri Lanka (Dimbula)

63 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 28th, 2011

A classic British-style Ceylon tea. Medium-strength black tea with a fairly clean, cool taste. Moderate bitterness and astringency, little sourness. Maltier and deeper than some Ceylons.

Above average among Twinings offerings and better than what I typically expect from a tea bag. This is an example of a tea tha...

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Picture of Jing Mai Moonlight White

Jing Mai Moonlight White from Life in Teacup

Style: Moonlight White – Region: Lancang, Yunnan, China

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 23rd, 2011

This is a strange tea that requires proper brewing if you want to appreciate it. It's not even remotely like any other white tea I've ever tried.

I received a generous amount of sample of this tea from Life in Teacup. I experimented brewing three different ways, using many infusions, starting at 1-minute and gett...

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Picture of Estate Blend Tea

Estate Blend Tea from Bromley Tea

Style: Black Tea – Region: Blend

50 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 22nd, 2011

Impressive for a simple paper-wrapped tea bag.

Typical black tea aroma, not terribly complex. Mostly deep and malty, like an Assam, but with some of the tones characteristic of Ceylon. Slightly smoky. Significantly lighter than a pure Assam.

Surprisingly, this tea has a substantial savory or umami flavor. It ...

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Picture of Yunnan Golden Bud

Yunnan Golden Bud from Life in Teacup

Style: Yunnan Gold – Region: Yunnan, China

70 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 15th, 2011

The initial aroma is malty and deep, typical for a Yunnan gold, but with more fruity qualities, especially of dried fruit. Upon drinking the cup, the aroma becomes more fruity and vegetal, sharing some of the wine-like qualities of a Keemun with some of the vegetal qualities of some Darjeeling, even Darjeeling oolong ...

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Picture of Organic South Indian Select Tea

Organic South Indian Select Tea from Novus Tea

Style: Black Tea – Region: India

70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 2/5
Feb. 13th, 2011

This tea was outstanding but I did not find that it fit its commercial description. I don't notice any wood-like aroma nor would I describe this tea as brisk. It shares many characteristics with a highly tannic Assam, but it is smoother, with little bitterness or astringency.

Aroma is mostly of sweet, dark dried f...

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Picture of Tomo Sencha

Tomo Sencha from Wegmans

Style: Sencha – Region: Japan

60 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 2nd, 2011

Even with a small quantity of leaf, this turned out nice and rich.

Aroma is typical for a sencha: grassy, and somewhat vegetal, with some mild toasty tones. The cup is a rich golden color. There's a fair amount of sweetness, and some pleasant bitterness and astringency. An above-average sencha with a classic char...

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