Mercuryhime

I had these a while back and didn’t log. I’ve been neglectful. :(

In any case, I found these pearls to be disappointing. The jasmine was pretty mild and the base none too exciting. I think my expectations were a bit high. I love the look of the pearls, but the taste was not memorable. It was a tad malty with a honeyed flavor. Nice but I won’t be buying again.

I received a bit of this from my swap with Josie Jade. Thanks a lot! This one is unexpectedly tasty! I’ve been having a lot of lackluster experiences with earl greys lately and I sort of thought of this tea as a fancied up earl. Not to mention that I’ve not been enjoying black teas so much lately in general. So I wasn’t expecting too much. I was totally surprised to like this one a lot.

First of all the dry tea is interesting. Black CTC leaves with a few long silver needle leaves scattered in. I didn’t know there would be white tea in this. The fresh citrusy scent is also super appealing. None of that fakey furniture polish smelling stuff that I had been drinking. It’s lighter than just bergamot, which I will attribute to the lemon and grapefruit. The tea itself is brisk and medium bodied. Just very enjoyable all around. I had wanted to try using coconut milk as a creamer in this tea, but it tastes so good plain that I didn’t want to add anything. But then I reasoned that I could add coconut milk to my first steep and have the second steep plain. And I have to say, coconut milk, while giving less of a thick texture, is perfectly tasty, if a bit distracting.

In conclusion, this is a blended black tea I would not mind having more of. Which is highly unusual for me as I prefer chinese blacks. British style teas tend to be interchangeable for me. I’m glad I’ve found the exception.

I actually really like this! My coworker introduced this to me. I probably would not have purchased this if left to my own devices. There’s definitely a nice lemony brightness and lots of spicy ginger. There’s also a bit of hibiscus in this, but it works here. This an example of hibiscus done right. A perfection of taste and convenience. Not to mention that its good for a variety of ills. :)

I’ve been doing a lot of drinking without logging lately. There’s too much going on. :( And I fear my obsession is waning. Though I do still crave a tasty cup and tons of variety. Maybe I just don’t have time to sit down and really appreciate a cup anymore.

Anyways, lets try and get backs the boat! I had a cup of this a few days ago. Sweet vanilla nuttiness! It was like a liquid cookie! Tasted best with a splash of cream. A great dessert tea! Thanks for sharing Josie Jade!

I’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors with my pups, exercising and gardening lately. I’ve started a miniature container garden! We had a few days of fantastic rare sunny warm/cool days here. Now it looks like we’re going back to the usual disappointing weather in the NYC area. I hate humidity. And work days have been busy. This weekend, unfortunately, is busy as well. I’ve signed myself up for a party today, and then it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow. I’m going to enjoy some tea while I can.

I’ve tried a variety of puers in my life. I’ve decided that I’m not really a fan. While I can drink the cups down quite easily, I never find myself craving them as I do for oolongs, greens and blacks. I’d drink more white but they often make me shaky. But Mandala has a great puer rep so I thought I’d give this a try. I received this sample when I ordered a bunch of puers for my dad’s birthday. I decided to keep this to educate myself. Two months later, I’m finally diving in.

My first thought is that I’m shocked at the smokiness. I didn’t read any descriptions before trying so I was not expecting this aspect. It’s also lighter than expected. Oddly fresh, which is not something I’d expect from a puer. But maybe that’s just because I don’t have much experience with shengs. This is tasty. I don’t think I’ll be craving it ever, but I am enjoying this current cup.

This tea smells amazing. I got some from AlphaKitty from our meet up swap a while back. I decided to go with a paper filter for this tea since I didn’t feel like cleaning sprinkle gunk off my filter basket today.
The resulting brew is okay, which is a bit of a let down after the amazing scent. I don’t really get chocolate but the marshmallow and caramel are totally there! It has a weird bit of latex aftertaste. And the black base isn’t my favorite, but it’s good enough. Needs a spot of cream to smooth the slight harshness over.

Very tasty Dragon Well! Fresh, crisp and sweet. Savory and vegetal. This is the ideal Chinese green. Well, to me anyway. :) And I’m getting in some greens again. I’ve missed my green teas. Blacks were starting to take over my life! Next, I must rekindle my love for white teas.

Holy cow is this tasty! Sweet roasted chestnuts! Exactly like chestnuts! Amazing! I keep expecting a mouthful of actual chestnut when I sip this, but all I get is tea. Working with this luscious chestnut taste is the lightly grassy green tea that balances out the richness of the flavor. Absolutely wonderful! I love chestnuts, but they are so very seasonal. Now I can have chestnuts whenever I want! weeeee!

Fake chocolate scent and flavor :( otherwise a nice EG. I’m going to have trouble getting past the fake flavor though. Maybe my friend might like it …

Tastyyyy! It’s smells like cereal. And tastes like the toasty rice at the bottom of the pot. The longer this soaked, the better it tasted. I also ate a few grains before adding water. Tasty crunchy snack! I could totally see this as being delicious served as a hot cereal with cream and sugar. It’s also deliciously pure and satisfying as a tea. I want more of this. Moooooore! Where do we find this in the US? :(

Thank you for sharing this with me Sil!!

Am I allowed to write about Matcha Pocky on here? Cause I found some in China Town yesterday and I’m eating some now and they are delicious. Even the biscuit part has matcha in it! Anything made with matcha is just so pretty. That green. :)

Anyways, I’m having this Sweet Harvest Pumpkin thanks to Josie Jade. I’m just tearing through that box of samples from her today. :) Plus I really have a craving for buttermilk pumpkin soup, but I don’t have any pumpkin. :( I do have buttermilk though. I think I’ll make a pudding with it later today.

I saw a lot of negative reviews about this due to the stevia. I actually don’t much mind stevia. It’s not as tasty as sugar or honey, but it’s better than Equal or Splenda. So I added a splash or almond milk to this since spiced teas really do taste better milked up. This particular tea tastes like the inside of a pumpkin pie. A bit of that delicious orange squash flavor. Lightly spiced with cinnamon and ginger. brown sugar? Not too bad. It’s a bit thin though. Next time, I might have to use two bags per cup.

EDIT: Husband just came by and made off with my cup of this. haha I think I’ll leave the rest of these tea bags to him. :)

I’m agreeing with Josie Jade on this one. Needs more coconut flavor. The sencha in this is thick and grassy. Is it really Japanese sencha? Maybe I’m just spoiled from Den’s because this is not what good Japanese sencha tastes like to me. This reminds me more of the cheap Chinese sencha that I really don’t like. It doesn’t seem to get astringent, which is good, but neither is it fresh and springy like a quality sencha should taste like. This is overall, a pretty meh tea.

Unless you’re not picky about green tea quality and don’t mind a weaker coconut flavor.

I’ve been wanting to try this for a while now. I’ve read so many rave reviews about this blend. Thankfully, my book club swap buddy Josie Jade had some to share. :)

Heavy and earthy. Reminds me a bit of keemun and yunnan. Smokey and sweet. Like rock sugar and raisins. Savory umami flavor as well. This is an intriguing blend indeed. I have to say though, I don’t like it all too much. Too much savory for me. I’m still learning so much about black tea. :)

This tastes much like a milk oolong, only roastier. Creamy fresh afternoon treat. :)

Thanks for the sample Sil!

Meh. This green tea base seems to be the typical cheap Chinese sencha base that I don’t like. The oddly cooling mentholy and piney lavender is retry well balanced with the sweet fragrant rose. If you like rose and lavender, you’ll like this. And it’s all enhanced with berry flavoring. I’m tasting cherry.
I’m not too impressed with this but I’m grateful to have tried it, thanks to Dustin’s generosity. :)

Another tasty sample from SIl! Thanks! :)

Naturally honey flavored oolongs are a favorite of mine. This one smells very promising.
Mmm…yes. Honey dipped apples. Specifically, skin on green apples. Barely toasty. Floral sweet, like lychee. This is like a middle ground between green and dark oolongs. I like.

I think all those black teas I’ve been drinking are ruining my taste buds. The lighter teas I used to enjoy are tasting too light! Ack. How do I retrain my taste buds? :(

Thank you, Sil, for a sample of this!

I can’t say I’m a fan of Indian teas. Maybe I’ve never had a great one, but they do not interest me. But Taiwanese teas, those are amazing. Love those. So let’s see what happens.

Hmmm… dark hint of cocoa. Mineraly. Veeery smooth. A hit of floral sweetness.

The taste is a like a cross between a dark oolong and Chinese black tea. Is this a result of where the tea was cultivated? I don’t think assam from India tastes like this.

Anyways, tasty but not too interesting. I do think my fascination of black tea is slowing down. I’m gonna go back to basics with some green teas. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing. :)

I approve! Tastes like those candies in the neon yellow wrappers on a malty black base. Only lightly astringent. It has the same flavor that’s used in the Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake but without the tasty spices. For that reason, I prefer the pumpkin version as I looove my spices.

Need more tea! I love toasted rice! And I think Houjicha is a bit underappreciated. This is a good combo! Roasted and savory. It’s also a bit sweet. Very comforting tea. I do feel like classic genmaicha tastes better though.

I’ve got a bunch of unopened 52 Teas cause I bought a bunch a while back where there were sales. Recently, someone asked for some of this one is a swap so I ripped it open and took a big whiff. Mmmm…maple syrup. Decided to have a cup this morning. So tasty. Syrupy sweet. Like there’s actual maple in there! Yummy!

A second steep yielded less flavor. Tasted like just a regular tea with a bit of sweet flavor.

I don’t detect much in the way of butter or pancakes, but I did not think too much about the flavor while I was drinking because I was taking care of my husband who’s sick with a chest cold. Lots of ginger and lemon tea for that guy. I’m gonna have lots of vitamin C now so I don’t catch his cough.

So I got an ounce of this hoping it would taste like Golden Moon’s version. It kinda does! I do think GM’s was better, but I don’t know if this is because I had it near the beginning of my true tea obsession and everything tasted amazing or because it’s actually better. But in any case, it’s close enough if not exactly the same. Creamy sweet coconut and lightly vegetal green oolong. Very nice. It tasted like those coconut dusted mochi balls made with coconut milk that you can buy in Chinese bakeries. Hmm…I haven’t had one of those in a while….Must seek this out…

So yeah! Good tea! I need to start keeping a stock of cold brewed teas in my fridge! Lovely warm weather today! I can also feel the beginning of a very humid summer. ugh, NYC summers are gross.

Okay, I’ve had this sample for over a year. I’ve been afraid to try it. The other notes on this tea have been terribly discouraging. But I just have to do this once and for all.

The leaves are balled up but pretty dark. I find that the dark oolongs tend to be long and twisty and the green ones are balled up like tiny wads of spit balls. (Maybe I should have used a better example…) But these are dark and balled up. It’s a crazy upside down world.

First, the the smell of the brewed tea is like roasted brussels sprouts. It also tastes like brussels sprouts only it’s weird at first because of that honeyed fruity flavor on the front of the tongue. This also reminds me a bit of chrysanthemum tea. The flavors in this tea clash for sure, but I don’t hate it like I feared. I wouldn’t say I liked it either though.

Will have to try a few more steeps. You never know an oolong unless you infuse it a few times. But first, I’ll take my pups out for a walk before the sun goes down. They didn’t go out much in the winter cause they are so tiny that they’d get too cold, even with coats. They are loving this warmer weather. :)

EDIT: Okay, no resteep because I’m an idiot. Took the cup and infuser basket into the kitchen area so that I could pour the hot water over the leaves. Except when I got to the kitchen, I dumped the leaves and started washing out the tea ware. Half way through scrubbing the infuser basket my brain went, “….wait…wasn’t I supposed to do another steep with those leaves? …those leaves that are sitting in the garbage can? …I suck.” I’ve got enough leaf to try again, but that will have to wait for another time. It’s time to move on to herbals and other decaf/noncaf teas.

Finally, cup of black tea that fulfills my cravings. Dark cocoa. Hint of vanilla pastry aroma. Bit of malt. Roasted, but not too much. It tastes a bit untamed and unrefined. Just a bit of unpleasant harshness. But still, Yunnan black! Delicious Yunnan black. Just what I needed all weekend.

Okay, so I’m probably just making is sound really good because this is the closest I’ve come to a black tea tasting the way I want it to in a few days. It’s probably just above mediocre for a Yunnan black tea, at best. There are better ones out there. But I haven’t had any better ones lately, and that makes all the difference for excitement levels.
This reminds me of that time I went camping with my friends and we didn’t have anything resembling fresh veggies or fruits for daaaaays! On the way home, we stopped at a diner and that minuscule side of soggy from-the-freezer string beans was the best thing I had ever eaten. But I digress.

I knew this was going to be what I’ve been craving all weekend the moment I opened the bag. Roasted dark chocolate aromas wafted up to me. The brewed tea is a clear orangey black. Pretty and tasty.

Steep 2: Unfortuately, not chocolatey on the second steep. Just kind of generic now.

Their Gyokuro Black is better.

Fine downy young leaves. I can feel the little hairs prickle the back of my throat as I swallow.

This was a light cup of tea, but then again, I suspect I under leafed my cup. Still, smooth and nectary sweet. Bit delicate for a black tea, really.

Otherwise, this is not too memorable.