Mercuryhime

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.

I’m trying to create a new tea for the Spinach Chive, but it keeps bringing me to that “kettle was left on” page. Argh!

Anyways, I got this as a sample from the NYC Coffee and Tea Festival. I was really intrigued and hopeful about this since I do love soup and the idea of having soup whenever I want sounds pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I don’t much like this. There’s a reason why I rarely cook with dried herbs. They don’t taste good to me. The concoction here actually does taste like a soup made from bouillon cubes, but it also has that bitter medicinal quality dried herbs have.

Anyway, I definitely taste the chive. The spinach is a milder flavor. I think I would be pretty interesting to use in cooking, maybe. But I wouldn’t drink it straight. Maybe good as a base for a potato soup?

Went for this after my last attempt at creating a tasty cup of Laoshan Black. sigh. You should have seen my face at the first sip. I was completely taken aback by the syrupy sweetness. The honey. It was just a bit of a shock to go from one flavor profile to another. It’s also toasty roasty like a roasted dark oolong. Minerally as well. I can also detect that dark cocoa nibs. As I continued to sip, the novelty of the honey notes wore off and was peeking out a bit behind the heavy roasted flavor and the malty chocolate notes.

Not sure that this tea is to my taste as it’s a bit more roasted than I prefer and the honey note isn’t strong enough to make up for it. Might be good as a cold brew.

Aaargh! I can’t do this! This…just isn’t tasty. Barely at all! I tried everything! Various temps and times. Gong fu and western. Water filtered and not filtered. This batch just doesn’t taste good to me. I see from the description on the website that this is from the autumn 2012 harvest. So, note to self: don’t get autumn harvest of Laoshan Black ever again. It’s just too heart breaking.

So is there a summer harvest? Or do they just do spring? I need to know which harvest produced that nectar of the gods I had the first time I sampled it. As for the autumn harvest version, if you want it, let me know. It’s maybe 1.5 oz at this point. I can’t deal with this batch anymore. I’m also removing my rating because it’s too confusing for me to rate. It’s good sometimes but not always…what? See? Too confusing.

Sadness.

Buttery fresh green oolong. Sweet tropical pineapple. A hint of creamy rich coconut.

Mmm… Green oolong, my true love.

Brothy mouthfeel. Refreshingly cleansing feeling on the tongue. Eminently slurpable. There should be more flavored green oolongs. Especially from Lupicia. Utterly fantastic ripe luscious pineapple flavor. Love. And it’s not trying to mask the tea base. The quality comes through and supports the fruitiness, keeping if from being too sweet. I would certainly enjoy this without the pineapple, but it wouldn’t fulfill my desire for a light fruity tea.

:)

It was not long ago when I discovered a love for black tea. But the more black teas I try, the more I realize that I only really like the quality unflavored Chinese ones. I’m not sure why this is. But ah well. It has been fun. My flavored black tea experimentation will likely slow to a few select blacks. I may occasionally crave a milky black tea, but for those instances, I’m happy to stick with EGs or chai. I’m still keen on exploring the world of quality unflavored blacks though. :)

As for this tea, it is pleasant enough. Caramel and vanilla are evident from the beginning. The fruity qualities don’t really show until the cup has cooled. Nice enough with a smooth base. I wish I loved it as much as other Steepsters seem to. :)

Thank you, AlphaKitty, for the sample!

Hm. Not a highly rated tea, but I did not find this as offensive as some others did. I actually quite enjoyed it with a heavy dose of milk. :) I had brewed it strong to have a nice milky tea with my breakfast scone. Perfect combo. Tea base was quite nice. Better than the other EGs I’ve sampled from Upton this far. The bergamot was pretty intense. I find myself wondering once again what a real fruit smells like.
Overall, the best of a mediocre bunch. Still have hopes for the Sacher Blend.

Thanks AlphaKitty for a sample of this! Definitely nutty sweet and pretty tasty. However, I am reminded of why, for a long time, I thought I did not like black teas. Love the flavor. Not sure I like the combo of black tea with this flavor. Not sure I’d like the black tea base at all unflavored. I guess I’m more sensitive to black tea quality? In any case, love the caramel flavor and hint of rose. Nicely done.

So yesterday, I walked into work and my boss tells me “You’re working from home tomorrow.” And I was all stupid and said, “Huh? Wha? Why? Who said so?” I hope his respect for me didn’t just disappear after that senseless string of questions. Turns out the Friday before Easter tends to be real quiet since a lot of people take off to be with family and stuff. Neat! So here I am this morning, sipping my second cup of tea before work even starts because I still wake up at 7am, even though I don’t have my 1.5 hr commute today. :(

But this tea is really tasty so it’s okay to be awake! Last night I had taken a trip to DT since my bro in law is in town from Germany and his wife is addicted to two blends from David and needed refills. So of course I had to get some samples to try. And they were doing this promo where you get a free cup to go if you buy at least 2oz of tea! But I had to go to dinner straight after tea shopping so they put the bagged teas into a pouch for me to drink later. How nice is that!

So anyway, I had a cup last night before bed. It was tasty. Green and fresh, but also syrupy sweet in the way only rose can be. Smells and tastes just like my dad’s roses actually. Love it. The green base got a bit astringent but not so much that I didn’t enjoy it. Plus, I saved my leaves and cold brewed it overnight. I’m drinking that result now and it is divine. I’ve had rose congou black teas before, but I think I really prefer the green base. Tastes fresh and summery.

The end. :)

Lemongrass and coconut is a classic combination so how could things go wrong. And the spicy hint of ginger. yum! This tea is quite tasty. I tried a few sips from my bro in law’s cup last night. Then I saved his bag and cold brewed it over night. Just had the cup this morning. even tastier! Great iced tea. :) It reminds me a bit of Exotica, but instead of tasting like thai food, this tastes like a refreshing lemony coconut tea. Much better. :)

Wasn’t paying much attention as I had a guest over, but this was quite pleasant. Definitely like apple cider. Yum! With a bit of spice. I’d definitely stock up on this if I needed more tea. Hah!

Edit: just realized this is note 400! :O What a short uninteresting note for this milestone. :(

I dunno you guys… This current batch of Laoshan black is not as tasty as the sample I had just before they sold out. It’s nowhere near as chocolatey and tastes way roastier. Is this a spring picked version? Maybe I only like the autumn or summer picked batches? It tastes more like plain tea than awesome tea. This tea as it is would not have converted me over to black. This is my third attempted since getting this pouch a few weeks ago, so I’m pretty sure it’s not just my brew style. :(

So after finding a bunch of things kleptoed from my work’s supply cabinet, I decided it was time for a nice comforting drink. And what’s more relaxing than sweet cinnamony oatmeal cookie? And this tea tastes amazingly like cookies. Buttery with brown sugar and slightly caramelized edges. Mmm cookie… I don’t taste much raisin but I’m fine with that. This is the most convincing cookie tea I’ve ever had. Love it!

Thanks so much for sharing Alphakitty!

Not bad for a rooibos earl. Strong on the bergamot. Very fresh and lemony. I really want to smell a real bergamot one day so I have a better feel for what realistic bergamot is like. Anyway, rooibos behaves in here. Good hot cup before bed. :)