LiberTEAS

Thanks DaisyChubb for adding this listing and thank you to Azzrian for this 2nd day of Christmas tea inspiration! It is YUMMY! I prepared it as a latte, using mostly hot water and a splash or two of half & half to make a latte, and it turned out amazing. AMAZING. It is truly strawberry and champagne, and I think I like this better than the straightforward strawberry matcha … the champagne complements the strawberry perfectly… truly is a match made for life! :)

Thank you Azzrian, for participating in the 12 Days … and for such a creative way to think of Day 2!

On the Second Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas sent to me … this tea!

This is a backlog, since I do “cheat” a bit and drink the tea a day or two early so that I can write the review for the SororiTea Sisters blog and have it publish on the day that the tea represents. So, here is my full-length, now-published review for this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/15/on-the-second-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/

I really liked this one. I liked that it was similar to many of the sweet-hot cinnamon-y teas, but there was a certain mellower attitude to it that didn’t assault the senses.

I’m liking this a lot!

It has a very soothing kind of taste to it… the peppermint, which is usually a very perky kind of herb, tastes a bit softer here, thanks to the rooibos and chocolate. The tulsi seems to accent and highlight the peppermint, but, at the same time, it slightly diminishes the sort of spicy notes of the peppermint, softening it somewhat, giving it more of an herbal-y/earthy kind of taste. This benefits the rooibos too, because it has less of that weird woody kind of taste to it, instead, it’s subtly nutty with more of an earthy character.

If I could change anything, I guess I’d want more chocolate in this. But really, when have I ever not wanted more chocolate? More chocolate is always better.

It’s a very soothing, comforting kind of tisane, but with a delicious crispness to it. It’s yummy!

This is wonderful!

Thank you Autumn Hearth for taking part in the 12 Days of Christmas tea swap and for this tea. It’s absolutely lovely! I love that this is truly not just a pear tea, but also a tree tea, which makes it a stunning tea to celebrate this “first day of Christmas.” (yeah, yeah, I know it’s not really supposed to be today, but we’re celebrating it today, so deal with it)

The first flavor that I notice really distinctly is the jasmine, which kind of surprised me a bit because I didn’t expect it to be so pronounced in a blend with so many other things going on… but I think the sandalwood-ish notes sort of bring out the jasmine a bit, these are two very heady, fragrant types of flavors and I think that bringing these two notes together added emphasis on the jasmine.

I love that there are so many elements to this tea, and yet they all seem to work well together. I don’t know that I taste all of the different fruits here, but I definitely taste pear. I taste faint hints of citrus, and a slight tropical note from the pineapple and papaya. But, really, rather than singing out on their own, these notes seem to harmonize with the primary pear notes to emphasize the delicate sweetness of this fruit.

I love the juniper in this too, and the very subtle hint of vanilla adds a smooth, roundness to the cup that makes this such a really wonderful tea.

Autumn Hearth … it’s going to be difficult for the rest of us to top this! You opened up our 12 Days of Christmas swap with a real BANG! I love this!

On the First Day of Christmas … Della Terra Teas sent to me … THIS tea!

This is actually a backlog. As I am writing the reviews of each tea to be published on the day that they are to be opened, I decided to start a wee bit early so that I could write the review without feeling rushed to get it out on time. The sacrifices I make for my blogging … I tell you!

Anyway… this tea is really very nice. A beautiful dry leaf that smells as good as it looks … and has a delicious pear flavor.

Here is my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/14/on-the-first-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/

My second infusion of these leaves … the leaves unfurled completely with this infusion, and the leaves are quite a bit larger than I expected based upon previous experiences with Bi Luo Chun.

The flavor is lighter this time around, that is to say, it’s not quite as vegetal as the first cup… this has a smoother taste, and more delicate of a profile. Still deliciously nutty/grain-like in flavor, maybe more so, since the vegetative tones have waned somewhat. Still really wonderful.

Nice!

This looks a bit different from what I was expecting from a Bi Luo Chun … I think I’m used to smaller leaves? These leaves are a little longer, deep, forest-y, emerald green and wiry. They brew a pretty light yellow-green liquid that smells very vegetal, almost kelp-y. Like a cross between seaweed and steamed vegetables … and just a touch of freshly cut grass. It’s a very green aroma!

The flavor is also quite green, although the vegetative flavor is not as aggressive as the aroma might suggest. It is crisp and very pure tasting, with a flavor that is a little like very lightly buttered veggies. There is also a citrus-y tone that emerges toward the end of the cup … it isn’t really a strong, obvious citrus note, but more like a refreshing, sunny taste that tastes of citrus. It has a warmth to it too, slightly nutty taste. It’s a very invigorating drink!

A really rewarding cuppa … I’m very glad I had this opportunity to try it!

This is awesome!

I think that the brief description of this tea on the Far Leaves website pretty much sums up my first impressions of this tea: it has qualities that remind me of green, Oolong and black teas … and even a white tea. It is rich and flavorful, but, there is a certain delicateness and sereneness to this that reminds me so much of a pure, crisp white tea.

It is smooth and it has a sweet and sour kind of composition, reminding me of a plum … it has that sweetness of a plum, but also the tartness of it. A really enjoyable, complex tea. Earthy with hints of flower, but it isn’t an overly floral Oolong. Not a strong vegetative tone, but there are hints of vegetation in the background.

Just a really lovely, interesting Oolong that is a delightful departure from the Oolong teas that I’ve been drinking lately. Not that I’ve disliked what I have been drinking – they’ve been amazing – but sometimes, its nice to find something that is just different and off the beaten path.

OK, so I held off on trying this one again until I felt it had some time to cure … and it’s been a little while so I think it’s had the time it needs.

Today, I brewed two cups of this tea … the first, I served straight up with no additions just to see how it turned out after a couple of weeks left to cure. Then I had a latte with this tea, and while it is tasty served straight, it is even better as a latte. The milk brings out the creamy notes of the caramel and the sweet, luscious notes of the almond.

This is really yum. I’m very happy with this!

This is my first known experience with a Kyobancha … it is sweet and toasty, reminding me a bit of a cross between a white tea and a Houjicha. It is roasty-toasty like a houjicha, and light and sweet like a white tea.

The sweetness here reminds me a bit of raw sugar cane, it is so sweet and yummy. The roasted flavor is slightly nutty, and there is very little vegetative tone to this tea … it’s slightly vegetal … a hay-like vegetal tone … but it is barely there. This tea is light in body and texture as well as taste … and it is so lovely … relaxing to sip!

I like this a lot!

This is lovely! I’m on my third cup (the combination of the fifth and sixth infusions) and I am loving this cup even more than I enjoyed the first two. Those were good … this one is great! The flavor is less earthy/smoky now than in the first few infusions, but there is still a pleasing woodsy tone that reminds me of a walk in the woods just after it rains (and there is plenty of opportunity for these kinds of hikes here in the pacific northwest, let me tell you!)

There is a fruit-like sweetness to this cup too – something between a peach and a plum with the faintest grape-y note … sweet, juicy, and not too floral. This is definitely a masculine cup of tea. But a smooth masculine … not what I’d call rugged. Like a charming gentleman.

Very nice way to spend the evening all wrapped up in this Big Red Robe!

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

This is fabulous! I was not expecting it to taste as wonderful as it does. I don’t know, but the idea of jasmine and coconut just doesn’t seem to mesh well in my brain … but, these two components worked it out and they taste amazing together.

I think it has a bit to do with the fact that the tea is not an overly floral one, and no one component overwhelms the other … with the possible exception of the rooibos, as in, the Pouchong, coconut and jasmine nearly obliterate the flavor of the rooibos. And that’s fine with me. Being one who is not so fond of rooibos and more fond of Pouchong, I’m liking that I am tasting the Pouchong and not the rooibos here. I taste maybe the faintest note of an earthy tone from the rooibos … but, it is very faint.

I really like this a bunch! Completely YUM!

Thank you to Azzrian for sending me some of this tisane. I’ve already had two black teas this morning, so I don’t really need the buzz that Guayusa delivers, but, I randomly selected a tea from Azzrian’s box, and this is what I grabbed, so I’m going with it.

This smells really kind of odd, but, in a very alluring kind of way. It is such a weird smell, but, somehow it is enticing me to sip it. It doesn’t exactly smell like vanilla or lavender or mint … but there are elements of each of these ingredients in the aroma, as well as an earthy/vegetative overtone … like the smell you might experience if you were gardening in the spring, and then somehow a light breeze came over the garden that held notes of vanilla in the air.

But it tastes really good. I am in agreement with TeaEqualsBliss about this one, the flavors sort of jump around. In one sip, I’ll notice the vanilla as the strongest note, and then in the next, the earthy notes of the guayusa and the mint really emerge, and then the next, I notice lavender. It’s like the flavors in here juggle around, and you never know which flavor you’re going to notice next.

I like this a lot. No surprise there, really, since it’s from Butiki Teas!

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this chai. I visited the Shanti Tea website and I can’t find it … it must be discontinued already.

This blend has a lot of lemon grass in the blend … something I mention only because I don’t think that my SororiTea Sister, Azzrian, would be happy about that. :)

The aroma of the brewed tea is ANISE-y! Yay! I love anise. I also smell hints of clove and citrus, but the primary scent is anise.

The taste … it’s surprisingly smooth. I guess I expected more tartness or something from this tea called Lemon Chai, but, it is a smoother, sweeter lemony note, with only a slight twinge of tartness arriving on the palate in the finish.

And the anise is strong here! Yippee! I love this blend. Boo hoo! It’s not on the website any longer.

I am glad that I got to try it though. The black tea is smooth yet strong, pleasing notes of anise, clove, and citrus. I don’t get a lot of the elderberry here, perhaps though, it is the elderberry that provides that twinge of tartness, because as I explore that a little more, it does seem to be more of a berry tartness than a lemony one.

Very nice.

Backlog:

A huge thanks to Geoffrey for sending some of this tea my way. I tried some from the previous harvest, but am glad to try this harvest as well. This is really a delightful white tea. I love that it is grown here in Washington State, I love how refreshing it tastes – sweet, light, and a wee bit creamy. So nice.

I think I’m going to up my rating on this, just because I remember really enjoying it last night.

No notes yet.

Backlog:

Mondays tend to be my craziest day of the week, my husband is usually off on Mondays (sometimes he gets called in), and we seem to always be running, running, running. I don’t have the kind of time I’d like to have to enjoy a pot (several pots!) of tea, so, I usually grab a bagged tea and gulp it down before we start our running. Instead, today, I brewed some of this and poured it in a travel mug and drank it while running around. It was certainly a welcome part of the errands run. Rich and bergamot-y. I like this Earl Grey quite a bit.

This is an unusual blend. The first couple of sips, I assumed that it had pretty much lost its flavor (it is an old tisane) because I tasted nothing but rooibos, but, now I taste pepper. It’s like pepper and rooibos, with a lovely hint of magnolia. I actually quite like this… the flavor of the rooibos goes nicely with the peppery note. Different, but, enjoyable.

Having this tea again today. It’s kind of a busy day for me, it’s our thanksgiving in my household (Hubby works every Thanksgiving, so, we postpone ours until a more convenient time), so I’ve been busy preparing the bird and trimmings.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/09/no-25-morning-light-from-steven-smith-teamaker/

Hmm… this is really quite tasty. I was skeptical because it is a white tea base, and I usually prefer chocolate-y teas to be with black tea bases, but, this all works together pretty well.

The white tea base has a slight vegetative taste to it, with a creaminess that accents the chocolate and vanilla notes quite well. As a result, the chocolate and vanilla comes through nicely, but I do think that the orange is a little weaker than I would like it to be. The cinnamon is a nice touch.

Overall, a very nice chocolate orange blend. Yummy!

After eight infusions with my gaiwan … curiosity got the better of me, and I just had to brew this in my Breville. Now, I don’t usually brew any Oolong in my Breville because I don’t feel that the Oolong leaves get enough of a chance to really do their thing in the breville. But, after trying this in the gaiwan (infusion four and on are awesome in the gaiwan … the first three are not as great, but, once you get past them, the flavor is really good), I was very curious about how the tea would fair in the Breville, and to be honest, I wanted apple flavor, and I didn’t get a lot of it from the gaiwan (I got some by the fourth infusion, but still not as much as I wanted from a tea called Caramel Apple) so, I thought I’d see how the Breville would do with the tea.

And I have to say – with an huge amount of shock on my part – that the flavor is BETTER with the breville than it is with the gaiwan. Now, this does NOT happen with pure Oolong teas, but with this flavored Oolong, it did happen … and no body is more surprised by it than me.

I taste apple and caramel and slightly smoky, roasty-toasty Oolong. This is fantastic! Seriously! The flavor of the apple is a bit lighter still but, it all works together well. Sweet and tart, it tastes like jonagold apples (rather than the green apple that is in the photo) that have been dipped in a sweet, creamy caramel. If anything, that is the note that I’d like enhanced a bit, maybe, the creaminess. I taste more of the burnt sugar caramel note, but not so much of a buttery, creamy caramel. It’s still incredibly good though.

And the Oolong is PERFECT for this… it is toasty and warm and this is the perfect taste for this cold, wet day. (And I increased the rating because I like it so much better in the Breville)

Drinking this tea while listening to this: http://youtu.be/My0HQ0QkGLQ

I’m trying this two different ways today – this first way is using my gaiwan as the brewing vessel and using short steeps. The first two infusions were a little disappointing, because they tasted vaguely chemical and artificial. These were not terrible infusions, but, they weren’t as good as the ones to follow … so after getting past those first two infusions, I am now getting a pleasing caramel taste, a slightly toasty-smoky note in the background that melds magnificently with the caramel notes, but I don’t get a lot of apple-y taste until toward the tail of the sip. The apple sort of lingers in the aftertaste with that roasty-toasty taste and a faint hint of caramel.

Overall, it’s quite yummy brewed in the gaiwan … it’s funny, but I decided to brew it in my Breville after those first two infusions … but now I’m really liking it gongfu style… but, I am still going to try it in my Breville too … if for no other reason than curiosities sake.

Thank you so much Azzrian for sending me a sampling of this Matcha.

I’m enjoying this as a latte … I used mostly water to prepare it, withheld a couple of tablespoons of hot water, and added a splash of warmed milk in place of the withheld water. This produces a very satisfying latte.

This is a tasty flavored Matcha, but I can’t say that it’s my favorite that I’ve tried thus far. I’m really glad that I got to try it though! (Thanks again Azzrian!)

This has a strong Macadamia Nut flavor, but not as much of a caramel-y praline flavor that I had hoped for. I can taste hints of it, but, it’s just not exactly what I envisioned when I thought “Macadamia Praline”. I also taste the Matcha which adds a lovely creamy element that melds so well with the sweet, tasty, macadamia nut flavor. Definitely good, and like I said, really happy I tried it, but, I’m glad that I tried it as a sampling rather than buying the pouch, because there are others that I think I’d rather have in stock.

Enjoying another cup of this today … I was about to say “this morning” because I did just wake up an hour or so ago, but, yeah, it’s not morning anymore. ha!

Anyway, this is just as delicious the first time I enjoyed it. I love the combination of teas in this blend as well as the touch of Douglas Fir. It’s so lovely!