59 Tasting Notes

91

Wowie! It’s not often that I taste a black tea that doesn’t fit into any of the taste categories of black tea I already know. The dry leaves are intensely fruity and quite pretty. But the way this tea takes milk is really something special. It may be because I use a pretty-good-quality whole milk, but it doesn’t affect most teas quite like it did this Golden Monkey Imperial. The flavor of the prepared beverage was almost like a black tea ice cream. It’s smooth and not spicy like some Yunnans.

I’m sure this would be a good tea without milk, but it’s a unique experience with.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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89
drank Copper Knot Hongcha by Teavana
59 tasting notes

This is a good tea. It gives it to you straight. Not a bunch of astringency, not overwhelming flowers or spice or unbalanced flavor. It’s a stand-up tea with just the tiniest hint of pepper, and it’s very yummy. It’s still unmistakably a Chinese tea, but it’s a Ceylon drinker’s Chinese tea.

I find a great many Chinese black teas too weak for milk, or just feel that their flavor is balanced in an unfavorable way. Not so with Copper Knot Hongcha. Very smooth. Being a Teavana tea it is overpriced, but it’s still one of my favorite Chinese blacks.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec
Stephanie

Do you think that maybe “Copper Knot” is the same as “Bi Luo Chun” tea? If it is, it looks like there are other less expensive suppliers—like Teaspring.

Harfatum

I definitely like the description on Teaspring’s Bi Luo Chun hong cha page. It sounds like it could be similar, although I don’t see any specific indication that they are the same.

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27

This tea used to be so good! A solid black tea, not too weak, with bananas!

Now, it is lemons. It is bitter, and it is bad. Milk doesn’t help it. I don’t like this anymore.

If you like lemon tea, though, it might be your thing.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
JacquelineM

I was just going to order a sample of this – thank you – you saved me a buck :) I just had another decaf and it tasted to me like…fish! Decafs are rough going.

Harfatum

Eww! At this point, the best decaf black I know is Tetley’s. A bagged, tiny-leaf-piece thing, even. Gotta take it with milk though. If you find any good ones, let me know!

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80
drank Broken Leaf by Gorreana
59 tasting notes

While the Orange Pekoe and Pekoe black teas from Gorreana are quite similar with their deep flavors, this one is lighter in character. It is still strong enough to take milk, which I prefer. I quite like it, but it stands out less in my mind than Gorreana’s other black offerings. It is not flowery or spicy, which is a good thing in my eyes. I’ll add more detailed notes next time I have a cup.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 45 sec

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95
drank Orange Pekoe by Gorreana
59 tasting notes

What a fantastic tea, from Portugal no less! I was very excited to try this European tea – I didn’t even know it existed until recently – and I was not disappointed. It is robust, rich, and flavorful. It is highly reminiscent of The Simple Leaf’s excellent Mountain Malt tea, but doesn’t become bitter when steeped for more than 3 minutes. I don’t feel that the flavor is lacking in any way.

It is great on ice as well, using the method I described in my previous post about Taylor’s of Harrogate’s Ntingwe Kwazulu.

Shipping took quite a long time, but they included an extra tea for me, so it’s all good! I will definitely order more in the future.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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83

I’ve been making this iced, according to the following process:

1. Brew tea, extra strong. ~1.5 times as much leaves in 2/3 as much water.
2. Pour tea into stainless steel water bottle, add sugar.
3. Shake vigorously under cold running faucet. This cools it in just a minute.
4. Add milk (~1/2 the volume of the brewed tea) and then ice.

It’s pretty tasty, and very refreshing on a hot day. I recommend it – whether with this tea, another black tea, or a cooked pu-er.

I use Steepster to log new teas, and don’t generally post unless I try a new tea, or discover something new about an old one. I went on a huge tea buying binge when I discovered Steepster, and have been living off of that since then – so I’ve had little to write about. I’m hoping to get some new tea for my birthday, which is almost here. Then I will have more to write.

On a side note, I’ll be moving to Boston in the fall. Any Steepsterites have a favorite tea place there?

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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57

It’s spicy. Quite spicy. Not very pu-erhy though. Definitely not very chocolatey.

It’s not bad, but I was expecting something else. Earthy notes of chocolate with deep foresty cooked puerh… nope. It’s mostly just a spicy tea. I can appreciate that it’s well enough made, but I’m just not a fan of the genre.

I’m curious about what will happen if I add milk to this, which is my general practice with black teas and some cooked pu-erhs. I’ll report on that later.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
Cofftea

I suggest steeping it longer… like almost 8 min if you add milk. I steep this one for 6:45 clean and 7:45 w/ milk. Hopefully this will bring out the chocolateyness for you that I love so much!

Harfatum

Thanks for the tip, I’ll give it a shot!

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84

Got this one for Christmas. It’s crisp and very slightly brisk without being spicy, and has a full but not overly robust flavor. Classic black tea without a ton of deviation from what I’d expect. It doesn’t seem to be very fussy in how you make it, as long as your steep time isn’t too long – some teas give me results that vary bizarrely, but not Kaimosi. This is one of my favorite black teas.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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33

This has almost no flavor. I used three bags in a standard 12-oz mug and it was barely tea. It’s not actively bad like Lipton or Red Rose decaf, but if you’re looking for a decaffeinated tea in a grocery store go with Tetley’s British Blend decaf which is much more satisfying.

Somewhat disappointing, as I kind of like bagged Twinings Prince of Wales tea.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec

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26

Intensely mediocre, with little flavor. The girlfriend complained that it didn’t just taste bland, but it was actively bad. I finished my cup, she didn’t finish hers. I didn’t think it was quite so awful with milk, but it had little flavor in any case. Not recommended.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec

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Profile

Bio

I work as a web coder guy. I eat primal/paleo; I love math, science, gaming, and of course tea. I’ve been drinking tea since I was 3! I started with looseleaf in 2004 and have had lots of fun trying all sorts of new things since then.

I mostly drink black tea, and that usually with milk and sugar. I also enjoy, in more or less descending order:

cooked puers
rooibos, lighter greens, oolongs
whites, raw puers
some other herbals
darker greens

Location

Somerville, MA

Website

http://www.facebook.com/akrusz

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