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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 2010 Mt. Wu Dong Red Tea (black tea) Dan Cong

2010 Mt. Wu Dong Red Tea (black tea) Dan Cong from Life in Teacup

Style: Dancong Oolong – Region: Guangdong, China

67 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 16th, 2010

Very unlike any other dancong I've tried. The dry leaf of this dancong has a savory, smoky quality, but is nonetheless recognizable as a dan cong. The aroma of the dry leaf is reminiscent of some Darjeelings (ones that I am not a fan of, incidentally). Not even a hint of floral or fruity qualities.

Upon drinking ...

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Picture of English Breakfast

English Breakfast from Stash Tea

Style: English Breakfast – Region: Blend

53 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 14th, 2010

This is astonishingly smooth (perhaps weak too) for a Breakfast tea. A little bit, but not much strength. There's a mild tannic aftertaste and I almost wish there was more. Odd, as this tea brews a very rich, dark color.

Aroma is mostly malty and not very complex.

Pleasant, but somewhat boring.

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Picture of Black Pearl Tea

Black Pearl Tea from Lipton Tea

Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Sri Lanka / Ceylon

57 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 14th, 2010

Surprisingly different from Lipton teabags, and surprisingly high quality. Rich, malty aroma, some bitterness in the aftertaste but smoother up front. A remarkably pleasing, full-bodied tea. I recommend brewing for about 3 minutes...more and it becomes too tannic.

My main complaint about this one, like all of Lip...

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Picture of Tie Guan Yin traditional charcoal roast

Tie Guan Yin traditional charcoal roast from Life in Teacup

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

70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Jun. 9th, 2010

A very aromatic tea, full of flavor, but light.

The aroma has a lot of different elements to it...the dominant tone is a woody quality...there is also a strong fruitiness, which I'd describe as most closely resembling apricots, and a lot of floral tones--most closely resembling the floral character of some black tea...

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Picture of Himalayan Black | Intensity™

Himalayan Black | Intensity™ from Ineeka

Style: Black Tea – Region: ?????

73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 8th, 2010

Very malty aroma, but smooth flavor, almost sweet, like a smooth Assam. Aroma and dark color of the cup suggests a strong tannic character, but I found this tea to be far from overly tannic. Aroma has a hint of raisins, and some herbaceous tones too. Some bitterness and astringency, but overall, much less than I'd e...

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Picture of Organic Premium Green Tea

Organic Premium Green Tea from Stash Tea

Style: Green Tea – Region: ?????

53 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
Jun. 7th, 2010

As with most of Stash's teas, I am quite impressed with the level of quality that is available in these inexpensive tea bags which are available in most supermarkets.

Aroma is slightly toasty, slighty grassy...almost like they've blended a Chinese pan-fired tea with a Japanese steamed green tea. Not terribly comple...

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Picture of Premium Oolong Tea

Premium Oolong Tea from Royal King

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: ?????

37 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Jun. 7th, 2010

Very flat, cardboard-like aroma. There's some bitterness...a slight suggestion of roast in the aroma. Full-bodied. Astringent. Seems fairly highly caffeinated, especially relative to the lack of flavor.

I think I would prefer most of the mainstream supermarket teas to this tea. It was pretty uninteresting and b...

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Picture of Bai Ya Qi Lan Oolong traditional green style Superior Grade

Bai Ya Qi Lan Oolong traditional green style Superior Grade from Life in Teacup

Style: Qi Lan Oolong – Region: Anxi, Fujian, China

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jun. 5th, 2010

I've only had dark Wuyi Qi Lan oolongs before, and I like them very much, so I was eager to try this greener one. I've heard that in general, more tightly rolled teas are higher quality, and this tea was rather loosely rolled, with the leaves taking up a lot of space. But the aroma suggests otherwise...the dry leaf h...

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Picture of Large Leaf from Old Trees Pu-erh

Large Leaf from Old Trees Pu-erh from Chicago Tea Garden

Style: Pu-erh Tea – Region: Yunnan, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jun. 4th, 2010

I really enjoyed this tea.

I tried brewing this in two different ways...one, as recommended, more leaf, shorter steeping times. The second, using less leaf, but longer steeps. I had much better results with this second method using longer steeping times (I recommend starting with 2-3 minutes and going from there)....

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Picture of Himalayan Green | Artistry

Himalayan Green | Artistry from Ineeka

Style: Green Tea – Region: Himalayas

57 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 4th, 2010

Unusual and different, even among green teas from the Himalayan region. This tea does not have any immediate bite, unlike most Chinese and Japanese greens of a similar overall strength. I think "dry" is a very good term to describe this tea, not just the finish but the whole experience of drinking it...it's somewhat ...

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Picture of Oolong Tea

Oolong Tea from Wei-Chuan

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: China

47 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 2nd, 2010

Overall, slightly flat...typical for a relatively generic oolong from a big box of teabags. Full-bodied...aroma is toasty and roasty, has some depth but also is a little bit reminiscent of cardboard. Some bitterness.

I've had a lot better oolongs from teabags. But this stuff is still better than a lot of the stuf...

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Picture of Arya Topaz - Organic Darjeeling Oolong Tea 2009

Arya Topaz - Organic Darjeeling Oolong Tea 2009 from Thunderbolt Tea

Style: Darjeeling Oolong – Region: Darjeeling, India

53 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 28th, 2010

Thank you Synth for sending me this one, and Marlena for sending some more. =)

This tea is VERY difficult to brew well, and is affected in major ways by subtle differences in water temperature and steeping time. That said, I've tried brewing this one multiple ways and I've gotten significantly better at brewing it,...

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Picture of Golden Osmanthus Oolong (Huang Jin Gui) traditional style

Golden Osmanthus Oolong (Huang Jin Gui) traditional style from Life in Teacup

Style: Golden Osmanthus – Region: Anxi, Fujian, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
May. 28th, 2010

Mostly floral fragrance. This is the first huang jin gui I've tried, and it really does resemble osmanthus flowers in aroma, but I find it has a very different overall character from osmanthus-scented tea. Also, unusual among light, aromatic, greener oolongs I've had. This tea has some interesting surprises.

I tr...

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Picture of Three Kingdoms Mao Feng Green Tea

Three Kingdoms Mao Feng Green Tea from Teavana

Style: Mao Feng Green Tea – Region: Fujian, China

63 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
May. 23rd, 2010

This is a very mild and sweet green tea, similar to Teavana's Pi Lo Chun but less aromatic and perhaps slightly grassier. Pleasing but bordering on bland and boring if brewed as instructed. I find that with a very long steep time (8+ min), however, it acquires nuances in the aroma that are absent otherwise...includin...

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Pi Lo Chun Organic Green Tea from Teavana

Style: Bi Luo Chun – Region: China

63 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
May. 20th, 2010

Aroma is grassy and fruity. The aroma is light and very pleasing...not the most complex I've had for a green tea but certainly very enjoyable. Flavor is very smooth...almost no bitterness and only the faintest hint of astringency if you let the cup brew for a very long time.

I settled on a very different method of...

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Picture of Organic Ho-ji Cha Kamakura

Organic Ho-ji Cha Kamakura from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Hojicha – Region: Kanagawa, Japan

70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 13th, 2010

Noticeably different from TJ40...more heavily roasted (tending toward the dark side among all hojicha's I've tried)...very dark brown cup. The aroma is not overwhelmingly roasty, however...there are still a few of the fresh green tea tones present.

Flavor is sour...which I don't like, although there's also a hint o...

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Picture of Awake English Breakfast Filterbag

Awake English Breakfast Filterbag from Tazo Tea

Style: English Breakfast – Region: Blend

57 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 3/5
May. 12th, 2010

Aroma rather complex...there's a hint of maltiness like an Assam, and a fairly strong presence of the light, clean quality of a high-grown Ceylon (as from Nuwara Eliya), and there are some spicy tones as well, including a hint of clove...and it oddly also has a suggestion of orange in there too.

Flavor is very sour....

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Picture of Assam Gold Rain Black Tea

Assam Gold Rain Black Tea from Teavana

Style: Assam – Region: Assam, India

67 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
May. 2nd, 2010

The dry leaf is by far the fruitiest-smelling Assam that I have yet encountered...but upon brewing it's a little less fruity. This is a very strong tea...when brewed it's maltier than fruity, and has a fairly tannic aftertaste like Teavana describes. Bitter and somewhat astringent...I've had much smoother Assams.

...

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Picture of English Breakfast Black Tea

English Breakfast Black Tea from Bigelow Tea

Style: English Breakfast – Region: ?????

57 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 2nd, 2010

In my opinion, this is the best straight black tea from Bigelow and it really stands out among the rest of their offerings. It's a fairly powerful black tea, but it also has some complexity in the aroma...some of the tones suggest that there's a bit of Darjeeling mixed in with whatever else is this blend.

Fairly bi...

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Picture of Organic Pure Green Tea (Premium Green Tea Organic)

Organic Pure Green Tea (Premium Green Tea Organic) from Bigelow Tea

Style: Green Tea – Region: ?????

37 / 100 Aroma: 2/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 2/5
Apr. 29th, 2010

Brewed for 4 minutes with water that had cooled well below boiling, it brews an opaque golden color.

Aroma is mostly flat. There's a hint of a very pleasant floral quality, but it's overshadowed by a cardboard-like quality that basically ruins it for me. Ignoring the aroma, the flavor is good. Slightly tangy, wit...

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Picture of Pure Oolong (Formerly China Oolong)

Pure Oolong (Formerly China Oolong) from Twinings

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: Fujian, China

50 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Apr. 28th, 2010

The first sip of this oolong was delightful, but upon drinking a whole cup of it I wasn't as much of a fan. Significantly lighter than a black tea, the aroma is very floral, bordering on perfumey. Upon drinking more than a few sips, however, a lot of unpleasant qualities develop...there's a sourness, and some off qua...

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Picture of Koslanda Estate OP

Koslanda Estate OP from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Uva, Sri Lanka

63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 26th, 2010

Upton suggests that this tea has "raisin like nuances" and I'd go even father and be more direct: it smells and tastes a like raisins, and leaves an aftertaste of raisins! Smooth but without being weak. A fair amount of the rice-like quality that I find in many Ceylon teas, and almost a hint of wintergreen. Medium-b...

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Pure Ceylon Tea from New English Teas

Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Sri Lanka / Ceylon

60 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 24th, 2010

After being highly disappointed by the English Afternoon Tea of the same brand, this was a pleasant surprise. Again, very fine dust/fannings in the teabag, so I wasn't expecting much.

When I brewed the tea though I tasted an astonishingly complex, gentle Ceylon with a distinct high-grown character reminiscent of te...

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Picture of Japanese Ku-Ki Ho-Ji Cha (Roasted Ku-Ki Cha)

Japanese Ku-Ki Ho-Ji Cha (Roasted Ku-Ki Cha) from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan

77 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 23rd, 2010

Aroma powerful and enticing like a dark roast coffee. This tea foams when brewed, and the brewed cup is clearer and lighter in color than you'd expect from the aroma and dark color of the twigs. Unlike some kukicha, this tea seems to be made exclusively out of twigs with not even a bit of leaf.

Surprisingly, relat...

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Green Tea from Hsin Tung Yang

Style: Green Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

53 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Apr. 22nd, 2010

The dry leaf is flaky in appearance, meaning it is probably a steamed tea like a sencha. But the aroma is totally unlike sencha.

Brewing as I would Sencha, this comes out a cloudy grayish green, more yellowish than most Japanese teas but greener than most pan-fired teas.

This tea is packed with flavor: a rich, c...

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