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Oolongs are semi-fermented and most come from Taiwan. This is a Jin Xuan Milk Oolong from Fujian in China. It's a handmade tea so has a certain rarity to it. The leaves are first withered, then heated in milk steam. They're then hand-rolled then dried gently. Steeped for 3 minutes at 75°c it has much more character than the colour of the brew would indicate. It actually tastes creamy and a little 'hazelnutty'. I loved it and while it would probably be a touch too indulgent to drink daily, I think a weekly treat wouldn't be too flash.

A full 5 minutes and 100°c gives a really outstanding tisane. It's full of all kinds of wonderful. As well as the Chocolate (cocoa peel) & Strawberry (dried pieces) of the title, there's rosehip peel, orange peel, apple pieces, and marigold petals. It tastes divine and so full of flavour. I'm seriously considering using it for icecream or maybe for making an Almond Milk Latte.

I have plans for a House of Cards binge tonight so decided on this Lung Ching No 1 Dragon Well. Apparently it's particularly good for keeping you awake and alert, so I'll get back to you on that. I gave it quite a long (4 mins) steep-time at 80°c. This wasn't deliberate - I put the infuser mug down and couldn't remember where. As a result it was a little chewier than I'd usually like - lovely flavour though. A fairly typical Chinese green tea; earthy with a slight cashew taste.

Day 75 in my ‪#‎yearoftea and it's a Formosa Choicest Fancy Oolong. Another semi-fermented and 90°c with a steep of 4 mins made quite a dark amber liquor. Quite 'grapey' and an almost toasted flavour. Really distinctive.

Stinging Nettle is one of my favourite herbs, it makes a delicious tea and if you pick the bright fresh leaves in the Spring you can make a lovely pesto too. According to Culpeper, today's ‪#‎teaoftheday is an effective treatment for gangrene, manginess, and the bites of mad dogs. I've been drinking this tisane all day and can safely report that I'm showing no symptoms at all. ‪#‎phew

With a nod to St Pat's I've been channeling Mrs Doyle for today's‪#‎teaoftheday it's an Irish Breakfast Blend. Made up of a selection of Assam teas it's malty, robust and is fantastic with milk.

 Very fragrant (in fact it makes me sneeze when it's a freshly opened packet.) delicately floral with the slight cashew nut taste you find in certain other white teas. It's scented by making six layers of high quality tea leaves and open Jasmine flowers then leaving them to suffuse overnight. The leaves are then hand rolled into pearls. I used 80°c water and then got completely distracted watching them open. It's called jasmine dragon phoenix pearl because apparently the leaves resemble fire breathing dragons and flame-licked phoenixes as they unfurl in the hot water.

The precious Chinese porcelain cup, also known as the “chicken cup” among art collectors, is decorated on both sides with a rooster, a hen and chicks walking amidst lilies and roses. This cup is representative of the height of the Chenghua Style in Chinese Art. The particularity of this style can be found in the paintwork, which is applied in several layers and which allows the cup to be dated between 1465 and 1487. There are only 17 known specimens worldwide, four of which are privately owned, the rest can be found in museums.

The Chinese collector Li Yiqian purchased one of the rare cups at an auction in Hong Kong in 2014 by bidding the unbelievable record amount of 36 million US dollars for porcelain. Moreover, he paid with his credit card. Li Yiqian has led a colourful life, from taxi driver to businessman, and is renowned as an eccentric art lover. In 2012 he opened a museum in the Chinese city of Pudong, where he exhibits the treasures he has accumulated.

(courtesy of D&B)

No 65 takes me to one of my favourite tea-growers: the Rukeri Cooperative in Rwanda produce this lovely organic and fairly traded F.O.P. The long leaves produce a dark russet brew which is strong, but not so much that it feels like a battle (more a good-natured tussle?) Like all Rwandan tea it's rich, nutty and a little biscuity. It works equally well both with and without milk (although it really benefits from a much shorter steep time if you're taking it black) I used 100°c and steeped for 2.5 and 3.5 minutes respectively. 

 This is another of those instances where I wish I could make this post 'Scratch & Sniff'. You're just going to have to take my word for how gloriously scented no. 66 in my ‪#‎yearoftea is. It's Sweet Cherry Rooibos and it tastes as good as it smells. Not only that, it's super-healthy and choc full of anti-oxidants; I started out this morning with a mini-lurgy and after drinking this all day I genuinely feel loads better (and my throat isn't sore anymore.)

 Think I may've spoken too soon on the lurgy-busting front...so decided on the 'big guns' of Kombucha Sencha. To be fair there is little scientific evidence to support any health claims so it's a good job it tastes nice innit? Kombucha is also known as a SCOBY (a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) That sounds quite ropey whereas it's actually really tasty - sweet and fruity mixed with the fresh grassy taste of the sencha.

#‎teaoftheday 68 is Chrysanthemum Tea . It's widely used in Chinese Medicine for it's health benefits such as alleviating cold symptoms. It tastes very similar to Chamomile - unfortunately... Maybe if I added a shedload of sugar it might be a little more palatable but that kind of defeats the object of a healthy tea. I may be in a minority as here at Gently Towers it's quite a popular tisane. It's a bit like me: quite fragrant and a little bitter.

I don't know why but I expected this Georgian tea to be proper hefty. It's actually remarkably delicate with a lovely aromatic woody aftertaste. Brewed at 100°c it needed a good 5.5 minutes mashing so if you like tea you can stand your spoon up in, this one's not for you. 
You don't need to be particularly eagle-eyed to spot that I took this with milk; I think next time I'll do it without.

90°c and 5 minutes steeping was the method for ‪#‎teaoftheday 70 'Red Rosepetal' Absolutely gorgeous IF you like Turkish Delight (which I do because I'm normal...) It's obviously a perfumed tea but doesn't taste 'soapy'. It has the added advantage of being super high in both Vitamin C and anti-oxidants. Apparently it does something with free radicals too but in truth I stopped reading as I got distracted (really?) If you have a yearning to know, Google is your friend. I was just concentrating on how delicious it was and how I'm looking forward to using it for an iced latte. (ooh yes it's also really economical too )

Oh my, this is a bit spesh. Day 71 comes from Jeju Island a self-governing province of South Korea. A green tea 'Seogwang Woojeon 1st Flush FOP',the 'sparrow tongue' leaves only needed a steep-time of a minute and a half at 60°c to produce five infusions of an aromatic greeny-yellow brew. No astringency but a slightly grassy, and pronounced umami flavour. The particular production methods are specific to Jeju and the Japanese island of Kyushu.

 Week 9

Day 58 in ‪#‎yearoftea is a Maghrebi Tea which is a blend of Moroccan Spearmint and Chinese Gunpowder (rolled green tea). Usually taken for it's calming effect and it's improvement on digestion, although I know people who have it as a 'go to ' tea. I think it could be good with a white rum in the manner of a Mojito. **trundles off to do some research**

A fabulously fragrant Formosa Orange Blossom Oolong is the 59th‪#‎teaoftheday Oolongs are semi-fermented and this one is flavoured with orange peel and flowers. I've spent most of the afternoon guzzling this - it's really refreshing and the orange flavour combined with the bit of sunshine was proper summery.

Okey Dokey - so following from my previous success: this one is a Coconut Tea Latte made with coconut milk!!! So it's not only DELISH it's also vegan☺I'm really looking forward to summer when I can have a bash at some iced latte. If you pop over here, I've noted my method (you can't really call it a recipe..)

Day 61 in ‪#‎yearoftea and I've popped over to the Northeast of India (where it borders Burma/Myanmar). Green tea from India is far less usual than from China or Japan. This one is an Assam Jonktoollee TFGOP Grade 1 - it's rich with loads of flavour. It's slightly floral at first with a toasty honeyed aftertaste. This was brewed for 2.5mins at 80°c and if you struggle to like green teas, I can recommend this one as it's not even slightly challenging.

Technically it's just cold and wet but it's a bit grim so I thought Stormy Weather would be a great choice for ‪#‎teaoftheday 62. A really warming blend of loads of different leaves, herbs and flowers. It's got a really nice woody taste (think that's the blackberry leaves) and the peppermint is subtle but there's enough there to give it a 'lift'. I'm not sure what (if anything) are the properties of sunflower and peony petals but they make for a very pretty tisane.

When I embarked on this daily tea post malarkey, I promised myself that I'd say if I didn't like one. Well, up to now I haven't needed to keep to the promise. Enter: Earl Grey Sencha Decaffeinated ...really not my cup of tea as it were - to me the grassy Sencha taste combined with the orange of the Earl Grey really wasn't favourite. I drank an entire cup, then realised I hadn't taken a picture  so made a second infusion. I'm really glad I did. I frequently have a preference for the second infusion but I've never known it as marked as this. So the moral of the story is: If in doubt, always have a second cup.

 Day 64 in ‪#‎yearoftea and I'm all over this GORGEOUS Java Sunda Purwa Pekoe Souchong. If you want the run down on that terminology you can read about it here All you really need to know is that it's almost buttery to start and then with a lingering rich and oaky aftertaste. Ooh and check out me lovely infuser- thanks Estelle !