1379 Tasting Notes
This morning I received 4 tea parcels from Teavivre, Tea from Taiwan, Dragon Tea House and Nothing But Tea which has left me drooling and busy putting things away. Unfortunately Steepster is not letting me add new tea’s so I’m stuck with reviewing tea’s that already have a page.
I ordered White Plum purely for it’s aesthetics and you must all agree that the little tied flowers look ace. I try this first as it was the first thing I added to my shopping cart on NBT and it already has a page.
As I open the bag I can smell light and fresh grassy tones. Each piece is tied as pictured with a beige coloured cotton cord and it’s a nice novelty to have such beautifully hand crafted tea.
The instructions state to add 10 flowers per cup and use 70-75 degree water for 4 minutes. I put the flowers into an empty tea sac and despite the steeping time the flowers have still managed to stay tied together.
Once brewed the tea is a very pale yellow colour with a fairly strong astringency. It smells similar to a black Yunnan tea..but this is green tea…how bizzare! It does say this green tea comes from Yunnan so perhaps it has gone through similar processing as their black?
The taste is the same as the smell, dark and smoky with a floral kick. If I was blindfolded I would never have guessed this was a green tea. Definitely a surprising punch from such pretty flowers.
All in all it’s very nice. Smokier than Gunpowder but a much cleaner taste. It gets a little stronger further down the cup and mimics Lapsang Souchong. Very pleased with this unique little ditty. :)
Preparation
Steep 1 – 10 seconds
The tea leaves whilst raw is dark green and brown in colour and curled into c shapes. They smell earthy yet sweetly floral.
Golden yellow in colour with an earthy and floral scent. The first few sips are toasty but fresh with a little sweetness. The notes state this tea to be ‘honey toned’ and I can understand why, it’s an earthy sort of honey.
For further steeps and pictures please read my blog.
http://kittylovestea.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/in-the-mood-for-hawaiian-oolong/
What could be better than a slice of pumpkin pie? A cup of Pumpkin Creme Brulee to wash it down with that’s what. :)
Oh sacred pumpkin
you taste so yummy
as you slip down
into my tummy
your orange in colour
and full of delights
oh sacred pumpkin
I could drink you all night
Preparation
It’s my day off from work and my husband wont be home until around midnight as he is going to a football match straight after work and he has to travel by train. That leaves me alone for the day (well your never exactly alone when you have four cats). The first thing on my daily agenda is to make the most of my time off and be as lazy as possible, that is why I have been playing Dead Space 2 all day. My second agenda is to eat some nice food as I enjoy cooking so I made myself from scratch a tofu and vegetarian prawn (yep there is such a thing) thai coconut curry with noodles. My third and final agenda is to drink a lot of tea and as I am currently eating my above meal I knew instantly which tea I wanted to compliment it, and yes you guessed right I chose Yunnan Jig – Adagio.
The malty richness goes well with chilli spice and coconut and it refreshes me with each sip. I am growing on this tea more and more, been in a malty mood recently.
Mixing Thai food with Chinese tea…very naughty :)
Preparation
Another sample to thank *Stacy*for. I have been tempted to drink this one at night but I managed to remember about it this morning. Last night I went to bingo with my aunty Ann which is a regular thing on a Monday night and we were chatting and having a couple of drinks whilst playing. We were far from the mark and had no chance of winning until we got to a special Christmas game, one by one my aunty marked off the numbers and she was saying she would never win it but she did. My wonderful aunty won £185 (around $300)! I had such a busy night that I need something to perk me up this morning.
Then comes this tea which smells of sweet lemongrass and is golden brown in colour. The lemongrass tastes creamy and sweet but also light (the last thing I want in the morning is something stodgy). The guayusa is not very noticeable and is suitable for those of us who are not too keen on the taste. A few sips is all it takes to notice the rocket fuelled energy that comes with guayusa and already I feel a little perked up. It reminds me a little of Gooey Butter Cake – 52 Teas as both are creamy and lemony.
I’m glad I got to try this tea but I don’t think I would buy it but only because I prefer the Cider Guayusa – Butiki Teas for the morning. The energy has kicked in now so I’m off to play Sims 3 :)
Preparation
Thank you Sare for the sample of this tea. Although I am not a Leo (Aquarius for those of you who were wondering) I chose this tea purely for the orange and vanilla factors. It sounds delicious to me, even if it is a rooibos blend. Adagio Tea’s don’t sell the starsign blends on their EU website and postage overseas is over $50! :(
The raw tea is a beautiful mixture of browns, yellows, oranges and reds and does reminds me of a lions mane. It smells like dried orange peel and a little earthy.
Once brewed the tea soup is reddy brown with an orangey fragrance.
Diving in and burning my lip (which serves me right for being too eager) I can taste sweet orange peel (which I may add is not waxy) and an after taste of creamy vanilla. It is rather rooibos heavy but the blend of orange and vanilla is balanced enough to keep down the rooibos sweetness.
My trouble with rooibos is the strange almost chemical tasting sweetness that it has. That taste overpowers everything else and ruins a lot of tea’s for me. I suppose you either love rooibos or hate it, I have to be in the right frame of mind to drink it.
Having said the above statement and my dislike for rooibos I am truly enjoying this blend. It’s not the best blend I have had but it’s nice enough to be drank happily.
Preparation
Gaiwan 3oz Tea: 5g 5 steeps: rinse, 25s,45s,1m10s,1m40s,2m30s 90ºC / 194ºF
The leaves are a nice quality with a fresh and gentle green smell.
Once brewed the leaves gain strength and sweetness.
The tea soup is pale yellow in colour.
Flavour wise it’s sweet and fresh and a little green tasting. The sweetness is almost like subtle sweetpea.
During the second and third steeps the colour becomes golden yellow and smells gentley floral, like flowers in a breeze.
A green vegetal flavour becomes prominant during the third and fourth steeps.
If only I had something sweet to nibble on right now (sigh). This cinnamon roll honeybush will have to do. Cinnamon is a favourite of mine but at the same time I have to be in the right frame of mind for it. This has been un-opened on my shelf for a couple of months now so it’s about time I tried it.
The tea is a mixture of light browny/reddish finely chopped pieces that smells like cinnamon bark (earthy and spicy).
Colour is browny red.
Smell once brewed is pure delicious cinnamon with a slightly sweet and toasty combination.
The taste is interesting, it’s not as strong as the smell but contains the same characteristics. A combination of sugar, cinnamon, honeybush and something that I just cannot put my finger on. Almost raisiny/curranty in taste. It’s a nice enough cocktail of flavours but I believe a touch of sugar would bring out the bun part.
For now I am happy enough with this warming cinnamon liquid. Yummy on cold, dark nights like tonight.
Sounds awesome.