LiberTEAS

Oh! This tea is lovely! So very lovely!

The astringency is quite unlike any other I’ve experienced. It affects the mouthfeel in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever really experienced before. At the very start of the sip, I notice a silky softness, and almost immediately afterward, I start to notice the slight twinge of astringency touch the tongue, reaching out toward the inner cheeks and toward the back of the throat. As the astringency dissipates, I notice sweetness. A beautiful, delicious sweetness that is oh so delicate, reminiscent of the delicate taste of spun sugar.

While the aroma of the dry leaf is really quite vegetative, the flavor is not quite as vegetative as this aroma would lead one to believe. There are notes … subtle notes … there, sort of like sweet, buttered lima beans. Very mild.

A really incredible tea, One of the most memorable that I’ve tried from Peony Tea S. yet.

PS: Quite tasty when enjoyed with a Honeycrisp apple.

Oh yummy! This is the last “unopened” Matcha that I have in the house! Don’t cry for me though, I have an order on it’s way that will provide me with much Matcha goodness. In the meantime, I have A TON (well, maybe not a ton, but a whole heck of a lot) of Matcha to keep me occupied. As well as other teas.

This is yummy. While preparing it traditionally with hot water and whisking, I thought, I shouldn’t turn this into a latte, milk with popcorn sounds weird. BUT… I took my first sip and decided while it was good, it needed something else. The caramel needed more creaminess. So a splash (a little tiny splash) of milk was added and this made it just perfect! It is sweet and creamy and caramel-y, but, with a delicious popcorn flavor too, and maybe just a hint of saltiness in all of it. The flavor is really good… maybe even better than the straight up caramel. Maybe. Might need to have it a couple more times … or more than a couple … to determine which is better.

This is incredibly wonderful though. The Matcha offers just a hint of vegetative flavor and the smooth, luscious texture of the Matcha really adds to the caramel-y flavor of the overall taste. I taste butter in this, probably a combination of the flavoring and the Matcha and it is divine. When it comes to butter … I subscribe to the Paula Deen school of thought: Butter makes it better. And in this case, the buttery flavor really does make it better … it enhances the caramel tones, and brings out the popcorn notes.

Oh so good. You’ve got to try this! Well, what are you waiting for? Here’s the link: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-popcorn-matcha.html So now there’s no excuse. Get there … and do it now, and order some. You’ll be glad you did.

My went with my “go-to” specifications for this order, choosing the classic grade of Matcha with the distinctive flavoring. It’s just right. I think that more flavoring, while probably incredible, would end up diluting the flavor of the Matcha too much. The Matcha now is a little obscured, not as strong as it is in some of the other flavored Matcha, but, it all comes together in a really delicious way. I do like to taste the Matcha, so I’m glad I went with the distinctive level of flavoring here.

A really yummy treat. Really glad I got this one. Now… imagine this if you would. Imagine a combination of this, plus some of the chocolate Matcha, plus some of the almond Matcha. Would that not be decadence X3?

Might have to get some of the other two Matcha just so that I can have that. Yep… going to have to do that I think, with my next order.

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! This is what a CHOCOLATE tea should taste like. This is even more chocolate-y than my Chocolate Rose Romance was! Yes… I’m saying that THIS is better than my Chocolate Rose Romance. What this one lacks in complexity (my Chocolate Rose Romance was more complex … more layers of flavor) it more than makes up for with MORE chocolate. Della Terra Teas is after my heart here. If only I could get them to change their name. (Sorry… my step mom’s name was Della and I hated that woman, so when I see the name of the company, I just sort of go red, full of rage hatred for a moment).

BUT… I was able to overlook the name to place an order for the fall sampler pack which included this tea and I’m very glad I did. First of all, I’m VERY pleased with the service. I received my order promptly, I got a free sample of my choosing and it was packaged nicely.

This tea has earned a spot in my permanent collection. I will be buying it again as soon as funds allow for it.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea to try.

I can’t say that I’m as excited by this tea as she was, but it is good. I guess I’ve just become spoiled with teas like the Chocolate “O” from The Tea Spot and Double Chocolate Decadence from 52Teas … and I think that the black tea base provides a much better base for chocolate-y flavors than does rooibos. This tastes too much like rooibos to satisfy the chocoholic in me.

That’s not to say it’s not good, it is… I just want more chocolate.

It smelled very rich and chocolate-y when I opened the pouch, and it does taste chocolate-y too, but I also taste the rooibos and I guess that’s sort of what’s making me less than excited about it. It’s good … not great, but good.

I have to agree with TeaEqualsBliss (who sent me some of this tea – thanks!) … this does smell like buttered squash. It’s really a mouthwatering smell. It’s been a while since I’ve roasted a squash and the smell of this and my taste buds reaction to the scent is telling me I’d better add a winter squash to the grocery list.

The flavor is delightfully complex. I taste buttery, creamy notes, hints of butternut squash and roasted chestnuts. Sweet floral notes – orchid? Perhaps … A very light astringency to this one, it leaves the palate feeling clean and invigorated. But mostly what I taste with this tea is the buttery tones. It’s a sweet … almost browned butter kind of taste. Savory yet sweet and very yummy.

A really good Oolong.

I am LOVING this tea! It tastes like a big, fluffy, mint flavored marshmallow that’s capped a cup of green tea and slowly melting in it … infusing the flavor of the cup slowly with its sweet, creamy, minty goodness.

I definitely get the whole “Graveyard Mist” thing from this blend… the marshmallow and the malt sort of give this a very haunting kind of feel. The mint is kind of wispy and ghostly as seen through the veil of the marshmallow. It all works together so amazingly well.

This is really good. Frank is so brilliant, it’s spooky!

Are you kidding me? I’m the first to log this one? It’s available here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/maple-syrup-matcha.html

OK… so this is really good! This is the time of year that I find maple so appealing, and I guess it is because I can readily find maple candies and such in Whole Foods. (I love those maple candies) I mean, I love maple just about any time of year, but, it just seems to go with autumn.

I went with the Robust flavoring with this particular matcha, still sticking with the classic grade of Matcha, but I decided that I wanted robust with this because I REALLY wanted to taste the Maple. And I’m glad I did, because the maple flavoring is a transparent enough of a flavor that the Matcha taste still comes through … even with the robust flavoring level. I taste the sweet, delicious taste of maple and the Matcha, with its smooth, vegetative tone. The Matcha is slightly bittersweet in this particular flavor, but I think it works to this flavor’s advantage because the hint of bitter offers a hint of contrast to what otherwise might be something that could end up tasting a bit too sweet. I also do taste just a hint of that chemical-y kind of artificial-ness that sometimes I taste with the flavored Matcha … but it isn’t a strong taste … I don’t notice it a lot … only when I’m really focusing on what I’m tasting for the purpose of review. I don’t know if this is because I chose the robust flavor, or if it’s going to be there no matter which flavoring level I would have selected.

I prepared this traditionally with hot water and whisked – it frothed up really nicely, although now that I’m about halfway finished with the bowl the froth seems to have disappeared. I bet this one would be awesome as a latte. I also look forward to mixing it with the chai matcha which I have coming my way next.

A really enjoyable Matcha and I’m already starting to feel extra energized – which is good, I have to get busy with some house cleaning!

Chai Time! Now that autumn is officially here for me – it’s wet and cold outside, which means it’s the perfect time for warm, spicy chai inside.

This is a really nice chai. The black tea base is a little weak if it were to be compared to some chai blends that I’ve tried, but, the combination of spices makes up for it. I love the vanilla here, it negates the need to add milk to make this a latte, it’s sort of like a built-in latte without milk. And I think that milk here might weaken the flavors a bit rather than enhance them. But it’s all good because that vanilla is giving this the latte-ish kind of taste that I want.

The spices are nicely blended. The cinnamon, ginger, and pepper are balanced out with the cardamom and cloves and anise. The anise gives a hint of licorice-y flavor that melds together into the unified spice tones … it doesn’t taste “licorice-y” although I can taste the note there. I like the way it all comes together.

Very enjoyable.

I’m loving this tea. It tastes very coconut-y and it’s authentic tasting. It doesn’t taste artificial. The black tea is robust without being too aggressive, and the coconut flavor is smooth and creamy. I did not make this in to a latte, just enjoying it straight up and there’s lots of coconut flavor. I imagine that the milk would only enhance the creaminess of the coconut.

Really yummy.

Edited to change the rating … it deserves much higher than an 86. As this cools, it becomes so creamy and coconut-y delicious.

Revisiting this tea this afternoon. A nice tea with which to unwind. My full-length review of this beauty can be viewed here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/10/23/2009-shou-mei-from-life-in-teacup/

I held off trying this tea even though I bought it at the same time as the Keemun and the Bai Mu Dan from this company. Why? This jasmine is really quite good. Much better than I had come to expect from this company. OH, don’t get me wrong, the Keemun and the Bai Mu Dan were good teas, but they weren’t great. Of the three teas, this one is definitely the best of them.

The jasmine is soft. Not sharp. Not soapy. Not perfume-y. The tea is smooth and supple, with a soft, silky mouthfeel. It is sweet, even a little creamy. The jasmine is sweet and exotic tasting … and a bit on the lighter side of things. It is not in your face.

This reminds me of a jasmine tea they might serve you with your meal in a fine Chinese restaurant. The flavor is soft enough not to disrupt the flavors of your meal, but instead will compliment them.

A very pleasing Jasmine.

OhMyGawdOhMyGawdOhMyGawd! I figured I’d like this one but I was in no way prepared to like it this much. This is awesomeness. Pure awesomeness.

I can’t eat Tiramisu. Why? Because it’s made with coffee. Did I mention that I love tiramisu? It’s so yummy. One of my favorite desserts. But, in case you’ve already forgotten, I can’t eat it. Coffee is the evil of my life. It makes me sick. Even when I eat something with coffee in it. I can enjoy coffee flavors, no problem. But if a food or drink is made with actual coffee … I get sick. So, it’s hard to really enjoy tiramisu knowing that in about two hours or so I will begin to feel like my stomach is being turned inside out, wrung out, and ripped apart by Bruno the strong-handed Brut. It might taste delicious, but nothing is worth that feeling. Not even tiramisu.

sigh

So, I was excited when Red Leaf Tea announced its tiramisu (and now even more excited with the announcement of Creme Brulee & maple flavors … I think I might be in Matcha Paradise and Robert from Red Leaf Tea is the King of Matcha Paradise), and… this is EVEN BETTER than the dessert. Not only does the Matcha offer an exciting, dynamic layer of flavor to the exquisite dessert … but I can drink this without worrying that I am going to get sick in a couple of hours from it.

And this is so good! It’s creamy and decadent. I can taste the creamy, rich, sweet marscapone cheese – it tastes rich and custard-y. And I can taste the cocoa – deep, dark, rich cocoa! And I can taste the coffee too. Together with the sweet, creamy, thick Matcha it is absolutely sublime. A perfect dessert.

I prepared this traditionally, using hot water and whisking… but I added just a little less water than I normally would, and replaced that with the same amount of warmed milk to make a thinned latte. The addition of milk enhances the creaminess, making it so rich and decadent. Amazingly good.

I’d tell you just how good this is but I think I’m supposed to keep these tasting notes Rated G. Or at least PG-13.

If you’d like to experience your own rated R experience with Tiramisu Matcha, you can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/tiramisu-matcha.html

A while back Handmade Tea was featured on one of those flash sale sites, and I ordered this from that sale. This was apparently their tea of the month for March, but they remade a batch for the sale. It is a combination of Yunnan black tea, Guajillo Chile Peppers, Saigon Cinnamon and Cacao Nibs.

I was a little hesitant with the first sip. As much as I love spicy food and drink, I am always a little worried it will be too spicy and flames will shoot out my nose or something. However, this isn’t really too spicy at all. The heat develops, with the first couple of sips tasting relatively tame. As I continue to sip, I feel the heat develop a bit on the back of the palate, but it never becomes an overwhelmingly SPICY kind of tea. It’s gentle and warming, and even soothing. Comfortable.

A very pleasant cup of tea. I am really liking this.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this tea.

Yikes! Hibiscus!

Actually, the hibiscus is not too terrible in this. It does look VERY hibiscus-y once it’s brewed, but after six minutes of steeping, it doesn’t come off as too syrupy. It is a wee bit tart, but, it’s not too tart for me.

This has a tasty citrus taste, with notes of berry. It’s not bad, but it’s nothing I’m going to get terribly excited over either. Just OK.

Backlog: I just realized that I did not log this tea from the other night. This is really quite tasty. It is a darker Ti Kuan Yin, with hints of roasted flavors that meld nicely with the toasted hazelnut flavor and touch of creamy vanilla. It is sweet, nutty and really quite a comforting tea. Very autumnal. I quite enjoyed it.

When I first opened the pouch, the rice scent was there, but it really came to life after I started brewing the tea in my gaiwan. It really smells like rice.

Wow… this tastes so good. As I sip on my first cup of this tea, I’m thinking that this could easily become my favorite Oolong – I love this tea. It tastes so much like the rice that … after I cook rice for my family’s dinner, some rice gets stuck to the bottom of my rice cooker, and gets slightly overcooked. Not burnt, but it does get browned and caramel-y. It has a wonderful, chewy texture and a flavor that is a combination of caramel and rice … top that with just a drizzle of melted butter and you have the makings of one of my favorite treats. This becomes dessert for me on the nights that I serve rice for dinner!

And this tea tastes so much like that! Oh yum! It is sweet, just a little caramel-y, buttery, and absolutely wonderful. The Oolong has a hint of vegetal and floral tones, a slight jasmine-esque note, and notes of kettle corn!

I am loving this stuff!

These leaves are beautiful – long, slender, and wiry. They are so dark … deep green. Such a dark shade of green, in fact, that they almost appear black. The liquor that they produce is very pale, though. Pale and delicious. Soupy, brothy… like a delicious vegetable soup without the vegetables. Very comforting and lovely to sip. Satisfying.

Mao Feng is one of my favorite green teas, and if I were to choose just one green tea to stock my tea cupboard I’d likely choose a Mao Feng, because I love that it tastes like what I expect it to. It tastes like green tea. Beautiful and comforting. Cozy yet exhilarating. Very refreshing.

OK… I dumped out my first chawan of this (as you’ll notice from my first tasting note, it was not suitable to consume), and after reading through some of the other notes on here for this tea, I thought I’d go with Azzrian’s idea and turn this in to a latte. I used warmed milk instead of hot water and prepared it with my hand held latte frother, and it turned out quite good.

It isn’t a strong peachy flavor, but, there is a peachy flavor there. The milk does mute some of the peachy tones, but more importantly the milk also manages to mute out the chemical-y taste that I was experiencing and found really distasteful. Not all of the chemical taste is gone, I can still taste ever-so-faint notes of it, but it doesn’t disrupt my enjoyment of the peach and matcha flavors … and fortunately, the peach and matcha flavors are stronger than the chemical-y taste which was not the case with the first bowl.

Now I taste sweet peaches along with sweet, vegetative Matcha all in a very creamy latte. It is tasty, although, I’m afraid I can’t go all gushy over this tea because of the fact that it had to be served as a latte to get a good flavor from it. I would really rather be able to enjoy this served traditionally. But, the chemical icky taste prevents me from doing so.

My order specifications for this Matcha were the classic grade of Matcha with the distinctive level of flavoring. The fact that there is a strong chemical taste to this one isn’t going to taint my overall experience with Red Leaf Tea – because for the most part, I’ve really enjoyed all the Matcha that I’ve received from them. There have been a few unfortunate experiences – particularly with this Matcha and with the Apricot – but, the others that I’ve tried, I’ve enjoyed.

If you’re interested in a Peach Matcha Latte, you can purchase your own Peach Matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peach-matcha.html

Oh dear… this one isn’t good. I’m sad, because I had wanted to try the Peach and Watermelon Matcha together as a combination, but, I do not want to try this in anything. This is very chemical tasting, just like the apricot. It is just not good. Horrible is more like it.

I’m sad … I really wanted to like the peach because I love peaches. But I don’t taste peaches. I taste icky chemical-y taste. Not good, not good at all.

Foxfire strikes again by eating my tasting note, and isn’t it crazy that it happened to do that with a Foxfire tea?

Anyway… after my Ernest Hemingway tea FAIL … I decided I wanted to brew something I was fairly certain I’d enjoy. Since I figured Foxfire wouldn’t let me down with their Earl Grey, I thought I’d try that. While there have been a few Earl Grey fails in my past, I was confident that this Earl Grey would not be one to join those failures.

This is really AWESOMELY good. Definitely one of the upper echelon when it comes to Earl Grey. Maybe not #1 for me, maybe not even in the top 3, but, probably at least in the top 5.

The bergamot is remarkably smooth … it is almost so smooth that it is almost creamy, but without a vanilla or cream flavoring. This isn’t an earl grey cream. But, it is smooth like one. The bergamot is not at all sharp. No soapy notes, no perfume-y notes. Just smooth, rich, delicious flavor. This is like the smooth-talking Mr. Grey.

And the black tea base is rich and full-flavored. A really wonderful Earl Grey. Mr. Grey has restored my faith in tea again.

I am absolutely shocked that this tea was already in the database. I found this tea at World Market last night when I was there shopping for a friend. I’m not really sure WHAT I was thinking when I put it in my cart. I must have known that I wouldn’t care for it, I must have known I was setting myself up for tea dust in a tea bag, and pretty much, that’s what this is.

It’s a Ceylon tea. It’s nothing all that spectacular. It’s kind of verging on horrible. Not really rich, or flavorful. It tastes astringent and nasty. Maybe I must have thought I needed to revisit what bad tea tastes like? I really don’t know what I was thinking when I bought this. But I won’t again.

The company that sells it is actually Vision Pack Brand, and they seem to supply to gift basket companies, So, if you’re buying a tea gift basket, and you happen to see this tea in it, do your gift recipient a favor and skip the basket in lieu of better tea.

The one redeeming factor of this tea? The package is kind of cool. I might use it in my art at some point.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea to try. It’s yummy!

This is also my 3200 tasting note! Wow. Do I drink too much tea? nah … perhaps the issue is that I spend so much time writing about it.

This tisane is indeed tasty. The coconut and almond flavors are well pronounced … the cookie is not quite as obvious, but, the sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos sort of give a bake-y kind of flavor that could translate into “cookie” I suppose. I think a buttery note might take this tisane to another level and really give it that cookie taste.

As it is, though, it’s really tasty. It’s a nice, cozy kind of tea.

Oh… this is so good. So very, very good.

There was a time … early in my tea years when I first tried an Oriental Beauty … and I fell instantly in love with it. And for several years after that tasting, I thought that Oriental Beauty was the ONLY Oolong that there was. I didn’t know of the many different types of Oolong that I know of now (and I’m sure that I’m still rather ignorant when it comes to Oolong tea, because they still continue to amaze me, and I still seem to discover Oolong teas that are new to me). Since that time I’ve discovered many other Oolongs, some that I might enjoy even more than an Oriental Beauty (Ali Shan comes to mind), but, of the many Oriental Beauty Oolong teas that I’ve tasted, this one deserves to be right up there as one of the very best.

It is SO good. Sweetness touches my palate first, a sweetness that is somewhere between brown sugar and honey … leaning more toward the honey than the brown sugar. After just a moment of the sweetness, I notice the intense peach tones to match the wonderful peach-like aroma of this tea. By mid-sip there is a sharpness to contrast the soft sweet notes, a flowery note … this floral tone is sharp yet sweet, almost perfume-y. As the floral note heads toward the finish of the sip, the sweetness of the honey comes back so that it may linger in the aftertaste, which is light and sweet and delightful.

A truly lovely tea.

I resteeped the leaves and am loving the second pot of tea as much as I enjoyed the first. The flavors taste even smoother now than the first time, and the first time it was remarkably smooth.

This tea is incredible. Definitely one worth checking out.