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574 Tasting Notes
Another find on eBay and yet another small company to try out. This was advertised as a valentines tea but it looked nice and I thought “What the hell” and bought it anyway. We all need love on more than one day a year.
It arrived this morning and will be the first tea I shall try. The tea is as shown in the picture and has a very sweet scent…strawberry? It’s nice but synthetic smelling. It has the little sweets in so I wouldn’t expect anything less for this blend.
Once steeped this tea is dark brown in colour with a sweet and strong mixture of fruit and earthiness. Not as sweet as it’s raw scent but still pleasant.
Flavour is thick and the black tea is rather strong but avoids becoming bitter or harsh. Still slightly sweet with fruity and floral tones. I still think it’s strawberry. It’s very delicate though and my husband is having a hard time finding any real flavours other than sweet black tea.
Overall I think it’s nice, worth the cheap price and a nice novelty…plus it’s something I could drink every day with ease.
Unrelated Side Note – I made some lip balms this morning using Boysenberry Matcha and natural vegan ingredients as gifts to send. So if anyone does any large tea trades with me then be aware that you may find one amongst your teas. Working on more scents too :)
Just quick notes – This tea is not a strong Earl Grey in terms of bergamot but it does cure my fix for a strong black tea with a touch of sweetness. No bitterness and sweet enough to not require milk. It’s a cheap and cheerful cup of tea that is very well suited for all day, every day drinking.
Thank you Angel for this sample.
In raw form this tea is a lovely blend of dark brown, light brown and silver green leaves. It has an earthy, wooden scent.
Once brewed the tea is brown in colour and has a slightly spicy and toasted, earthen scent.
My husband had a sip and said he could taste pasta and pizza in this tea. The most bizzare statement that he has ever made. I found this tea to be spicy and warming with a gentle toasted almost fruity and floral essence. Very beautiful and elegant. Each sip brings forward different flavours but each one is as tasty as the last.
Side Note – I don’t think I have ever had a spicy natural Oolong before.
I was a huge fan of this tea a year ago and stumbled across a batch left in my cupboard and thought I would try to cold steep it. Most of the fruity teas I have cold steeped worked well, the hibiscus fruit teas however were undrinkable.
Scent is sweet and soft with noticeable pineapple tones and a generic fruit background. Taste is sweet with grassy tones and a light, refreshing fruity mist. Not overly strong but at a nice level, I steeped this slightly over what I intended to (7-8 hours) but it worked out nicely. Also slightly creamy and smooth. The more I drink the easier it is to detect a perfume, floral like taste.
All in all I’m glad I found this tea and will remember to keep it handy for my cold steeps. It’s cheap and delicious…couldn’t ask for more.
Still trying to carry on as normal just to keep myself busy. I have done my house chores and worked from home and thought it would be nice to treat myself to another cold brew as my reward. I forgot all about this orange brulee but found it in the back of my cupboard.
I think this was the first Oolong that I have cold steeped and I did notice when separating the steeped leaves the Oolong balls had fully unravelled and resembles seaweed. It has been steeping in my fridge for roughly 5 hours.
It has a delicious caramelised, sweet orange scent. Very brulee like and delicious. The flavour is very creamy and sweetly orange with a slight toasty caramel and floral after taste. Very clean and silky smooth with lots of flavour.
So far it’s turned into one of my favourite cold brews and it would be interesting to see the difference of trying it hot. I may have to do a pot steep later today to see.
I have had this blend for a while and only just noticed that I haven’t reviewed it…that may be because it has a very unique flavour and I’m just not sure whether I like it or not. It says on the ingredients list that it contains cranberry but I just can’t taste it, there is fruit there in a sweet and tart kinda way but it resembles more citrus fruit tones than anything else. Like a strong lemon or lime that has an edge of bubblegum about it.
Well I cold steeped it tonight and it’s much more refreshing and lighter than it’s heated form. Therefore I think cold steeping is the way forward with this tea for me, it still has that strange fruity taste but at a minimal level and it’s just enough to leave a tasty sweet taste in my mouth.
I should also mention it’s perfume like quality that is noticeable particularly in the smell. Perhaps also a little floral because of that too.
I shall not rate it because I am still just not sure but either way I recommend cold steeping this tea for any iced tea fans.
I have been a little quiet on here in the last couple of days and may be for a while longer. On Thursday night my beautiful baby boy Ebony passed away, he was only 1 year 3 months old. He came to me for fuss so I stroked him and then he clawed the carpet and within a few seconds he fell down onto his side and he was gone. The vet said it sounds like he was born with a heart defect that wasn’t caught in his examinations.
He leaves behind his brother who needs extra love and support as he has never been on his own before. Both me and my husband have taken some time off, for us this death is personal…I am unable to have children so my cats literally are treated like my own babies. To lose one so young and without warning is beyond shocking.
I post this message on this tea because the first post I made for this tea was me mentioning that I bought it because I had a beautiful black cat called Ebony. This was the first thing my husband could get me to drink after his death. He will always be missed and was taken much too early.
I may be on, I may not be… I just don’t know. So just to let people know I’m here from afar but just not ready to review yet. I don’t know when I will be.
Thank you Sil for this sample. I love orange and nothing sounds yummier than orange Sencha.
The raw blend smells strongly of orange and citrus with thick waxy tones. Also sweet and perfumey. I can see why people say this smells like Pledge or any sort of orange furniture cleaner/dust spray, has the same almost chemical perfume like scent. I did notice on the ingredients list that it contains ‘tangerine orange flavor’ which based upon the smell I am lead to believe is artificial.
Once steeped the tea is orange in colour and has a waxy orange and tangerine aroma. Flavour is strong and dry with a sweet and sour citrus tang. Very perfume like and with real artificial elements in the citrus flavours.
I decided to steep this tea different to the recommendations made on the packaging. They suggested to use boiling water for 4-5 minutes which in my opinion would have made it too strong and bitter, perhaps even undrinkable.
It’s an ok tea but my tongue and the roof of my mouth feels dry and powdery which is very off putting. Sencha is sometimes powder like so perhaps I should have done a quick rinse before hand. Never mind, one pot sample and I’m not sad about it.
Thank you once again Sil.
The tea in raw form consists of small Oolong balls that are very dark brown/black in colour. They do look mature by the dark appearance alone but the rich toasted floral scent would have given it away had I not known before hand. Mature Oolong is always a treat and with age it becomes smokier and thicker but also more mysterious and interesting.
Using my Gongfu teapot with roughly 4g of Oolong and following the following instructions as taken from the Lu Lin Teas website.
Using boiled water cooled to 85˚C. Infuse for 30 seconds and discard first brew. Re-steep and infuse for 1-3 minutes, depending on taste. Re-steep up to 3 times.
First Steep – 1 minute – The tea is light orange/brown in colour and has a thick smoky, roasted/toasted aroma.
Flavour is rather delicate but has strong smoky tones of wood, flowers and leather. It’s also slightly sweet which tones down the richness of flavours. The consistency is smooth and overall a very pleasing first steep.
Second Steep – 2 minutes – A little darker in colour and with a richer scent. The Oolong balls are also starting to unravel and open up and expand to become twice the original size. A little deeper in flavour now with more smoky leather tones becoming more dominant and the floral notes are becoming weaker to detect. It does however remain sweet and honeyed almost.
Third Steep – 3 minutes – It’s amazing how quickly a tea can start to weaken in both smell and taste. We went from being fairly weak to moderately strong and back down to openly weak. That would conclude that this is the last steep so around three steeps per pot is correct (at least for me). The scent is mostly toasty now compared to the previous much smokier steep. Flavour is also much sweeter and resembles toasted flowers.
Overall it’s been a beautiful tea on a beautiful day and I could not have asked for more. This is toward the early end of the mature scale so it’s not as mature as it could be but it’s at a nice level. Mature enough to have flavour but light enough to be refreshing. It would be a great example tea for those interested in trying aged Oolong without throwing themselves into the deep end and buying something too strong.
Please visit my website for pictures and more information on this tea.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2013/05/06/oh-what-a-beautiful-morning-oh-what-a-beautiful-day/
Thank you Fiddling for this sample.
In raw form this looks like any other honeybush tea until you smell it and take in the sweet and light fruity aroma. Not like kiwi as such but definitely exotic.
I cold steeped this for roughly 6 hours (as a side note this is my last cold steep for a while..I think). After the long 6 hour steep this tea is brown in colour and has a much stronger fruity scent that is so sweet and delicious it’s making me salivate. Reminds me very much of 52 Teas – Breakfast Smoothie blend which I adore.
Taste is similar to the Breakfast Smoothie blend too but lighter and with less fruit tones. It’s very sweet and tastes like some sort of tropical fruit gobstopper. The mild tones are like cucumber in as much as it’s light, refreshing and subtle in flavour but it’s not something I would be able to pick out if I didn’t know what it was. Same as the kiwi really, it’s not sour like I usually associate with kiwi but there are gentle fruit tones in there.
Overall it’s a perfect blend of light, sweet, fruit that remains refreshing throughout and leaves the most amazing taste in my mouth. Would make a great iced tea on very hot days, a true treat. I love it, as much as the Breakfast Smoothie Blend.
ps. If anyone has any of this to trade please let me know. :D
Thank you NofarS for this sample.
My first cold steeped jasmine tea. I usually brew my jasmine tea hot and leave it to cool anyway as to my preferable taste. This was left to cold steep for roughly 4 hours.
This has a thick and sweet jasmine fragrance that’s so strong it smells like jasmine perfume. I sell jasmine perfume made from essential oil at work and this is exactly the same, uncanny.
The flavour is as thick as the smell and I’m glad that I didn’t leave it to steep overnight. It edges on being too strong and perfumey with a little bitterness but it quickly subsides. It’s nice to have a jasmine tea with some punch to it. There is also a grassy taste amidst the jasmine.
Glad I cold steeped this, it’s fresher than I thought it would be. I have enjoyed cold steeping so much over this weekend that when I return home tomorrow the first thing I’m going to do is buy a couple of these funky sealed large mugs so I can make them whenever I please.
I couldn’t see this on the Le Palais Des Thes website any more. :(
Thank you Lala for this sample.
My third cold steep, I have caught the bug and will be trying them out all day. The weather is bright and warm here today so it’s just as well.
In raw form this tea smells lovely, very orangey and sweet. Not quite blood orange but more tangerine like. Still nice though.
Cold steeped for roughly 5 hours this tea is orange in colour and has the same juicy tangerine scent. Flavour is delicious, delicate and juicy, refreshing and sweet. Orange is one of my favourites and I was curious to see what the cold steeping would do to it. It tastes like a tropical orange juice that suits the hot sun perfectly. The sort of thing I would enjoy daily…may have to pick some of this up.
Thank you Lala for this sample.
In raw form this tea had a delicious sweet strawberry scent, juicy but somewhat artificial. I decided to cold steep this one and have left it in the fridge for roughly 16 hours. My previous cold steep worked nicely so hopefully my second one will be just as nice…
The tea is a fairly dark yellow/green colour and it has the same yummy strawberry scent. Ooohh that’s lovely! It’s light and refreshing with sweet fruity tones and a gentle grassy green after taste. I was worried that the green tea would be steeped too long but it’s just right, not bitter or harsh in anyway but thick enough to be noticeable.
This would make a delicious cocktail if mixed with fresh strawberry pieces, a bit of mint and a splash of vodka over ice. :)
Thank you Sil for this sample.
This is my first cold steep and I have been so excited to try it. I steeped 2-2.5 teaspoons (double amount I would normally use for hot tea) and used filtered water. Stored it in an airtight liquid storer (I think it’s for soup but works great for this) and left it in the fridge for approx 15 hours.
I’m glad I prepared these yesterday because I have the start of a hangover thanks to the JD I was gulping down yesterday. Big mistake!
Separating the leave out was easy with a strainer and piece of kitchen cloth to catch the small pieces. Left behind is a pale yellow tea with a very gentle and fresh pear scent.
In flavour it’s a delicate and refreshing as it’s scent. The Bai Mu Dan is still sweet and ever so slightly floral but in comparison to it’s warm form this is much milder in flavour. I think it works though, softer than an iced tea made traditionally but keeping enough flavour to be tasty. Instead of a tea this is more like a flavoured water drink, could be because it’s white based.
I think I preferred this being cold steeped than I would the usual hot method. I will definitely experiment with cold steeping in the near future. :)
Thank you Sil for this tea.
I have tried one or two teas before from Kally and have been impressed, it’s a shame they don’t ship to UK. :(
Usually I don’t deal with Chai but there are times I make an exception to the rule and this is one of them. In dry form this smells like spicy cola cube sweets, it’s amazing! I have never heard of cola being mixed with Chai in a tea before. Also reminds me of a strong ginger beer.
Once steeped the tea is orange in colour with a thick cinnamon and cola essence. Yummy! The Rooibos is noticeable but down down slightly by the spice medley. It’s sweet and spicy with cola candy elements and a light, refreshing after taste. Luckily for me it’s not cardamom heavy :)
It might taste more like cola cubes and less like Rooibos if I were to add a sugar or two which I will try next time. The first cup is good though, I’m glad I gave this one a try. It goes to show that you can’t judge a tea by it’s ingredients alone.
Thank you Sil for this sample.
I have the start of what I call ‘tea belly’ so something light would be best to continue my tea marathon with. As a blend it’s attractive and fragrant, nice to see the tea pearls blending in nicely. Scent is very floral and sweet, like a secret rose garden with one bench and your sat there in the sun with your eyes closed just absorbing it’s beautiful aura.
Once steeped the tea looks mushy inside the teapot and weird..not as attractive as it’s raw form. The tea soup is golden in colour with a sweet rose scent.
Flavour is stronger than I thought it would be and I wish I opted for a weaker steep time (maybe around 2-3 minutes). As it’s so strong it has a little bitterness and a sort of waxy tone but only on a minor scale.
The rose is sweet and natural tasting and there is something sweeter in the background that I believe to be jasmine. I think as a blend it’s too floral, the rose and jasmine are competing against each other for dominance and I just don’t think it blends as smoothly as it should. It’s alright but just not for me so I wont be rating this one. Would suit someone that loves strong flower teas.
One of the more interesting shaped teas that I have experienced. It looks like some sort of grassy shell, I like the different shades of yellow, brown and silver.
The scent is very gentle and hard to detect other than a slight hint of flowers. A gentle sweet pea, jasmine medley.
Brewing this in my Gongfu for the suggested three steeps.
Steep One – 80°C – 4 minutes – The tea is pale yellow in colour and has a gentle peony type floral fragrance. For the first steep it’s quite strong which is probably a result of the long steeping time. It has some astringency but only slight at this point. It’s quite light and refreshing.
Steep Two – 90°C – 4 minutes – Yellow in colour with the same peony flower scent. The tea itself has fully blossomed now and looks like some strange tropical underwater plant. Flavour is thicker and more flowery with sweet honeyed tones. Still refreshing and peony like.
Steep Three – 100°C – 4 minutes – Paler slightly in colour but still yellow. Deeper in scent. Still no bitterness and now very light and hard to detect much apart from an extremely subtle floralness.
Overall – It’s a pleasant enough blooming tea that goes well with summer/hot weather. It’s floral, delicate and refreshing and a great introductory piece for people that are new to blooming teas. As always it’s a great show off drink, friends and family would love this.
PS. Thank you to Lala for the lipgloss.
https://twitter.com/kittylovestea/status/330628269210742784/photo/1
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Thank you Sil for this sample.
Is there anyone better to sample an English breakfast tea than an English person? This would be my first cup of the day which starts my marathon off quite late today (it’s 10am). I do aim to post as many tea reviews as I can this weekend while dog/house sitting. May the 4th be with you all.
The pyramid bag is nice and see through so I can note the teas quality whilst raw. The Keemun looks to be of nice quality and consists of small, dark black leaves that have a few golden stem pieces amongst them. It has a malted fruit scent.
In true British style I have added milk and half a spoon of sugar to my tea. Once steeped this tea has a rich, dark malt aroma with a gentle floral tinge.
Sipping reveals a delicious dark Keemun with malt and floral tones and no bitterness. A little smoky but soothed by the milk and sugar which makes it easier to drink more quickly. The floral tones pick up further down the cup and it adds more depth and a slight dry perfume taste. That doesn’t really amount to much though, all in all I would say this is a nice ‘cuppa cha’.
When grading teas that claim to be British I always ask myself one thing… would my Grandad drink this? He is Welsh and in his 70’s, he does not drink anything other than traditional bagged black tea. If it would be good enough to serve to him then it must be a true British tea. And with that reasoning I have concluded that this is indeed a true British tea, not strong enough for me to be considered a breakfast tea but more of an all day, every day tea.
I must have watched around 10 episodes of Criminal Minds now back to back…that’s some hard core marathon activity. I have nothing better to do, packed my bag with copious amounts of tea ready for being picked up in the morning and taken to my parents house. They have the largest collection of horror films that I have ever seen so I will be in good company. :)
In raw form this tea is very dark brown/black in colour and is long and thin in shape. The scent is thick with a strong musky fruit tone. A little tobacco like or leather like with a sweet wood finish.
The packaging says to infuse into a teapot for at least 2 minutes so my first steep shall be as such.
Once steeped this tea is gold in colour with a rich, toasted aroma.
Flavour is toasty, fruity, fresh, honeyed and perhaps a little vegetal. There is no bitterness or astringency to speak of and flavours remain thick. I keep picking up a thick green taste like spinach which reminds me of a few Oolongs I have had recently. Food wise it would be a fresh loaf of bread with small pieces of spinach inside and glazed in honey. Interesting and strangely delicious!
ps. I’m still digging Dr Reid ;)
http://tinypic.com/r/33mqw6f/5
Another random Oolong sampler from Tea from Taiwan. My husband is away all day at work and then poker tonight so I’m all on my own…roll on my Criminal Minds marathon. Dr Reid ;)
The packaging for Tea From Taiwans Oolongs is always cute and shiny. Plus the foil backs make for good freshness. This particular Oolong is dark and medium brown with a green tinge. It has a dark, slight smoky and floral scent. Similar to a few of the mature Oolong’s that I have tried before but on the lighter end of being mature.
Using my Gongfu for 1 minute – first steep this tea is yellow/brown in colour and has a light wood and floral scent. Very woodsy really…like being in a carpenters shop.
Flavour is sweet and wooden, medium strength with a green, floral after taste. The sweetness is honey like but is made darker by the dominant wooden taste. It’s starting to remind me of pencil shavings.. that dark, dusky, wooden scent that they have…very similar to this Oolong.
Steep 2 – 2 minutes – Remaining amber in colour with the same wooden scent. It’s perhaps a little thicker now with more sweetness than previously.
I really don’t know how I stand with this tea…drinking wood shavings is not my ideal Oolong but at the same time it’s not disgusting. I suppose I can say it’s not something I would buy again. I can see why this has such mixed reviews. Sorry but I think this one is just not for me.
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