Kamyria

This is my second time drinking Sencha Ashikubo by DAVIDsTEA and for the second time I’m blown away how good this tea is. The moment I open the package it smells delicious and vegetal. The tea leaves appear silky… they are dark green with lots of shine to them, simply gorgeous!

I steep at 82C for 3 minutes and it’s perfect. The smell is strong and vegetal with a hint of butter just like I like it. The taste is smooth with a welcome slight astringency at the back of my tongue.

I love this tea… love, love, love it! David, you are welcome to send me more samples! ;D Despite the price tag I’m thinking of splurging and ordering 50g.. it’s well worth it. :)

Thank you David for the sample of this tea in my latest order. It was yummy. Dry leaves smelled sweet and dessert like… Vanilla and white chocolate…

I steeped it according to instructions in boiling water for 5 minutes. Once steeped the tea was smooth, mild tasting with no astringency. Cocoa and anise was in the front seat now and remained there for the rest of the tasting.

Overall very pleasing tea. :)

I have more detailed review of this tea on my blog if you want to check it out. :)

http://paradiseinmyteacup.blogspot.ca/2013/02/ceylon-star-by-davidstea.html

Drinking my Japanese Sencha this fine morning… Perfectly prepared and delicious! Divine, just divine…

I just got this in the order this week and I’m drinking it for the first time right now. I’m logging it in but I don’t have time for a proper review. All I can say at this point that it’s a divine tea! I love it!

Today’s choice for the evening was Creme Brulee… I’m really enjoying this tea. I love to add to it a splash of milk… just a little to not overpower the tea, but enough to give it creamy flavor. Yum!

Sipping on this lovely tea this morning. I have to say that japanese sencha is really starting to take over my heart (I’m sorry dragonwell!). I find myself loving it more and more. The main difference for me between dragonwell and sencha is that sencha seems to have more full bodied flavor and that little something, something that I love… :)

My package from Verdant Tea finally arrived yesterday and I was able to taste my first pu’erh. My longer review with photographs is in my blog:

http://paradiseinmyteacup.blogspot.ca/2013/02/of-personal-notes-and-2004-willow-grove.html

I didn’t know what to expect… Knowing all I know about pu’erh and reading other peoples reactions to pu’erh I was prepared for all: the good, the bad and the ugly. It turns out I was only faced with good.

In the package the tea smelled very mildly and a bit sweet. The leaves were big, bunched up together and very dark.

I steeped it according to Verdant Tea website for Western Brewing: Rinsed the leaves at 208F, then steeped for 3 min at 205F. Resulting liquid was dark reddish brown and very clear. It smelled of woods and mushrooms and pine. As a matter of fact, I got an instantaneous flashback of the mushroom picking trips with my grandpa as a child. The taste was mild, full bodied with that woody, earthy flavor. There was even, ever so mild astringency building up on the back of the tongue towards the end of the sip, but which disappeared when the sip was over.

It was getting really late at night so I only re-steeped it once more. Once again at 205F for 3 minutes. I was shocked to find out that the tea was actually darker and stronger with this second steep. Still full bodied with a wonderful earthy flavor. Next time I will definitely start this a bit earlier in the day so I can steep until the flavor runs out.

All in all I really enjoyed this tea and I’m glad to be in the club of people that drink pu’erh! Now I have to try sheng and compare the two. :D

Edited to add: I almost forgot!! While I was sitting and enjoying the cup, all of a sudden I got a head rush. I’ve heard about pu’erh doing this to people but I totally forgot and it took me by surprise. It was mild, but I definitely felt like I was on something… lol

No notes yet.

It’s been oooooolong time since I had this tea… A week precisely. I’m regarding this tea as a treat and I thought I deserved a treat today. To my horror, I’ve come to the bottom of the bag already and I have maybe enough fresh tea for one more steep. Not good.. I happen to enjoy it a lot!

Every time I take a sip it amazes me how unique of a flavor this tea has from all other teas I’ve tried. I sit there with a cup in my hand, sniffing the sweet and earthy aroma over and over… then I take a sip and rinse and repeat.

I think I know what I’m ordering next week… And here I thought I might squeeze by without a weekly order… Think again!

Mmmm… Dragonwell… Yummy! I can’t get by the morning without a cup of lovely green tea and today it is Dragonwell. Lately I’ve also been drinking sencha and I can now see clear differences between the two but I still love them both. That’s the reason why I alternate… One day Sencha, one day Dragonwell. Taste wise Dragonwell is definitely on the lighter side, definitely more mild.

Happy snow day to all affected! :) It’s really blowing out there, first decent storm in my area in the last three years… Hence… I’m sitting home and sipping on green tea.

It’s sencha time! I got this with my order yesterday and couldn’t wait to get my paws on it after today’s breakfast.

Dry leaves smell delicate, mild and vegetal.

I steeped it at 74C for about 3 minutes. To my horror I forgot to set the timer but it felt like about 3 minutes.

After steeping the aroma was mild, vegetal with hints of cooked spinach in butter. There was some other aroma I couldn’t put my finger on…

Taste wise very pleasant, full bodied with a welcome hint of astringency at the back of my tongue. My taste buds are getting their workout. Similar to the aroma, I’m tasting something besides the spinach, but what?

Second steep, 74C for 5 minutes. Still lots of flavor left but noticeably less than in first steep. Definitely prefer the first steep but won’t turn my nose on the second one.

Overall very delicious tea. I have to say I prefer sencha ashikubo taste wise but when you take into consideration the price and the taste together, this could definitely take a spot as my everyday tea. :)

I’m sitting here with freshly baked raisin scones and a cup of this yummy tea. It just arrived today with my weekly order.

It smells beautifully… Sweet with notes of caramel and rum cake. The taste is very pleasant and mild. Having it with scones is a perfect marriage. My seven year old added a splash of honey into her cup and gobbled it up. Yum!!!

Creme brûlée is one of my favorite desserts and this tea didn’t disappoint. :)

I’m drinking this lovely darjeeling and previewing books about tea… Paradise!! :D

I got this last week with my order. While it does not set fireworks for me, it is a very tasty tea, delicate and earthy. Definitely something I like to have in stock. I love having it straight up or with additions of sort. For example yesterday I had it with some lavender… Oh it was good!!

Today I added some white chocolate and vanilla bean and then a splash of milk… Mmmmm… exquisite!

I decided to have the Dragon Pearls with my tea biscuits this evening. Thanks to my recent purchase of digital thermometer I was able to fine tune the brewing of this fragrant tea. I noticed in the past that this tea has a tendency of turning bitter fast, therefore proper temperature and timing became crucial here.

I steeped it at 80C for 4 minutes with excellent results. The brew is pale in color, mild on the tongue with prominent floral notes which are not too overwhelming for my taste.

Still one of my favorites but I’ll be curious to try another company when it’s time to re-order just to see how this one holds up in comparison.

For this afternoon I decided to dig into my High Mountain Oolong that I got last week. During my first tasting I couldn’t rate it because I wasn’t sure how I feel about it. I liked it but it wasn’t the over the heels love from the first sight (or taste… lol).

I steeped it at 94C for 5 min.

This tea intrigues me. I don’t know what it is, I can’t put my finger on it. The taste is slightly vegetal and buttery although different than the green tea… different vegetable perhaps? I detect mild and very pleasant astringency at the back of my tongue. There is something else though… Underneath it all I taste and smell something sweet… and floral, and that really intrigues me because I’m not sure what it is. When I close my eyes I see flowers in the wooded area after a pouring rain…

Overall this is a very delicious tea. I enjoy it a lot. What I don’t enjoy is the price. From time to time though this will be a lovely treat. :)

Sipping on Dragonwell this morning… Yum!! Still one of my favorites. Wonderful vegetal flavor with a slight note of astringency at the back of my tongue. Delicious. :)

I got a sample of this in my latest order and this morning decided to try it out. I am new to loose tea overall but have been already introduced to straight green tea via Dragonwell.

This one did not disappoint. I love it. It has a beautiful light green color and a delicious aroma that I can compare to vegetables with butter. The taste is mild, vegetal with a hint of grass and spinach. There is a delicious aftertaste that lingers on the back of my tongue for a while… It reminds me of wood burning over the open fire, toasty and smoky somewhat.

The price tag is the only disappointment I have. At almost double the price of Dragonwell I don’t see this as my everyday green tea especially since I enjoy Dragonwell just as much… This one is simply too expensive. I would like to keep a small stock of it for special occasions though.

A little while later….

I just made my first successful resteep, although in less water than the first steep. The aroma is still buttery and vegetal and the taste still packs a punch… Lots of wonderful flavors going on there. The woody aftertaste that I noticed during the first steep is still there which makes me happy. Overall this tea is more cost effective than I previously thought. I resteeped at 82C for 5 min. My steeping times are usually longer and I tend to suck most of the flavors out of my teas during the first steep, if one doesn’t count the rinsing of the leaves which I do first for 15 sec or so. This tea is different though… It packs a lot of flavor in a little sample.

I just got this in the order yesterday, my first time trying out oolong. Not just any oolong either, High Mountain Oolong at $10 for 25g. This stuff better be good.

I’m not sure I want to rate it yet, I think I should give if a bit more time. After one steep, it smells slightly vegetal and a bit floral, very delicate smell though. The taste is vegetal with a hint of astringency at the back of my tongue. The color: very pleasant, bright yellow.

I don’t know yet how I feel about it. Very nice but my socks are still on my feet.

This is one of the teas that could surprise you and then… surprise you again. At least that’s what happened to me. You can check out my interesting introduction to Dragonwell in my blog:

http://paradiseinmyteacup.blogspot.ca/2013/01/my-journey-with-dragonwell.html

I just love this tea. It is my every day after breakfast tea. My morning doesn’t seem right without it.

After steeping it smells vegetal, a little grassy with a hint of spinach I dare say. The taste is very gentle and vegetal and the color bright, delicate green.

If you’ve never tasted loose green tea before it might surprise you, and then, work it’s magic on you like it did on me.

Ahhh… this tea sings to my palate every time I have some. The aroma and the delicate taste gets me every time. I just love this tea. Tonight I made a nice pot after dinner and enjoyed it together with home baked cornbread cakes. Mmmm… so good! :)

I received a sample of this tea in my latest order from DAVIDsTEA. I wasn’t sure what to expect because I never had rooibos before.

Glad to say I was pleasantly surprised. The tea was delicious. The dry sample smelled great of cinnamon and coconut and I liked the visual touch of pink peppercorns.

I steeped it according to directions: in boiling water for 7 minutes.

After steeping the tea continued to impress me. It filled my kitchen with beautiful smell of cinnamon and spice and it tasted delicious. Coconut was less pronounced now and instead I got a strong taste of apples with cinnamon. Kind of like eating apple cinnamon pie. Yum!

My only problem with this tea was that it contains artificial flavouring. That something I definitely want to avoid in my teas. I really like the taste though and so I will probably look for something similar but with all natural ingredients.

You can see my review of this tea with pictures in my blog below.

http://paradiseinmyteacup.blogspot.ca/2013/01/coco-chai-rooibos-by-davidstea.html

This was the first white tea that I tried in the loose form and the tea that made me understand that I have to switch from bags to loose tea. I’ve tried many different brands of bagged white tea before that and every single one was turning into dark brown liquid in under 60 seconds of steeping time. This one was first to brew into a golden color.

Overall taste wise it’s a very pleasant tea. I enjoyed it quite a bit until I stuck my head into the premium department and realized what else is out there. It’s sitting a little lower on the quality scale for me because the leaves in my tin came quite broken up and I even got a stem or two.

This was my first Jasmine tea and I have to say I really like it. I was a bit nervous when buying it because I heard that the scent is too powerful for some but I decided to take the plunge. After all how can you say no to these beautiful hand rolled pearls and the name that has the word ‘dragon’ in it. This tea simply had to be tried.

The tea is very fragrant but not too overwhelming for me. It has a very pleasant, delicate taste but have to be careful to not over steep or it will turn bitter. My first couple of brews were a bit on a bitter side. After refining my steeping procedure, I now get it perfect every time.

For some reason I love to have this tea in the afternoons… I don’t know why but it just seems perfect that way.

This is my favorite white tea by far. It’s simply delicious. I love having it after dinner. The steeped aroma reminds me of raw honey and the taste is smooth with a bit of sweetness. I once forgot about this tea brewing and seriously over-steeped it but to my astonishment it never went bitter, it was still delicious. If you’re used to strong teas then this one will seem a bit light at first but once you get used to it you will discover its amazing taste.