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189 Tasting Notes

Jade Oolong - Huan Jin Gui from Silk Road Teas
86
Dragonwell Style Laoshan Green: Autumn Harvest from Verdant Tea
96

Made this for someone new to loose leaf tea tonight. I love sharing the goodness! She was amazed at how the flavor changed after each steeping, and liked each steeping very much. Hopefully she’s hooked! :P

Gardens of Anxi from Verdant Tea
93
Steamed Green Tea (Gen Mai Cha) from Silk Road Teas
93
Three Cups Fragrance (San Bei Xiang) from Silk Road Teas
82

Upping the rating on this one; adjusting the steeping times to longer made the difference. The sweetness stood out more, and that nummy sesame seed oil vegetable taste stayed longer.

Organic Silver Needle White Tea (Bai Hao Yin Zhen) from Teavivre
92

Finishing up my sample of this from Teavivre. It smells so good! I grew up across the road from a farm where they bred and raised Percheron horses; when we mowed our lawn we used to bag it and run over to the fence and throw it over for the horses. They loved that stuff, and we reveled in being so close to them! This tea smells like the fresh mown hay. And if this is how hay and grass tastes to horses I see why they like it! :)
The first time I drank this I didn’t pick up on the saltiness as much; now it’s apparent to me, especially in the aftertaste. Numm.

Berryblossom White from Tazo
68

I wish Tazo would make this tea in their loose leaf line. Its one of my favorites by them, and one of my favorite bagged teas. It’s pretty light, with a nice fruity aroma. It’s easily oversteeped; good with milk and honey.

Steamed Green Tea (Gen Mai Cha) from Silk Road Teas
93

I was all afraid this tea wouldn’t be as flavorful today; I discovered waaay too late that the seal on the bag it was in wasn’t sealing properly. :( So then I put it in a container and this is the first time I’ve had it since. Thankfully, it’s still good! It may have lost a teeny weeny bit of its butteriness but I still like it. Phew! Lesson learned to double check seals!

100% Organic Tulsi Signature Blend from Davidson's
81

Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for this one!
When I first got into loose leaf I didn’t think I would ever appreciate tea bags again! But, they do have their place. I don’t like brewing up my favorite loose leaf when I’m heading out the door, for example, because then I forget to put the leaves in the fridge to brew later. And that’s very sad. That’s where tea bags come in!
I’ve never had tulsi before and I’m really enjoying this blend. It starts out minty, then lemony, then gingery, and then finishes off with cinnamon and pepper. I am a big fan of cinnamon! And pepper. This would be the perfect beverage for a sore throat or stuffy nose. It’s rainy here today, which is welcome relief from the heat, and it’s perfect tea weather. Mmmmmmm. I think in the future I would like to try more tulsi!

Little Melon Seed (Lu An Gua Pian) from Silk Road Teas
81

Went camping in the North Dakota badlands this weekend! We go there to mountain bike the Maa Daa Hey trail, which is always an adventure! We brought along several friends, some who had never done anything like it before. It started out so great..and then it got BLAZING hot. We were about 5 miles from our campsite when it was over 100 degrees. And when I say 5 miles, I mean 5 miles of crazy difficult uphills and hairy downhills. Being from up north, we just aren’t used to that kind of heat, especially while exercising!! Let’s just say, even though I brought along my tea, I didn’t get any tea this weekend. Too stinking hot, and no energy to make iced tea. Advice for any aspiring bikers: go in the early morning, or evening! Even though we felt like we had just survived the end of the world by the end of the bike ride, we had seen some pretty amazing scenery. Stuff you just don’t see unless you get out there and find it! I was hoping to see mountain lion tracks, but alas. We saw some scat however that we thought was probably mountain lion..that’s just not as cool. :P We did see a little horned toad tho! Everything else was probably too smart to be out in the sun. :)

On to the tea. This is my first Lu An Gua Pian. The leaves are dark green, long and twisted. Aroma of the dry leaves is nice.
First steep, I am sadly underwhelmed. Perhaps I didn’t use enough leaf? It has a very nice full mouthfeel but little flavor. Any flavor I am picking up is mildly vegetal and sweet. I notice the leaves haven’t un-twisted yet, so maybe that’s why.
2nd steep I went for two minutes. The leaves are unfurling more now, so maybe now the taste will amp up a bit……..There is more flavor than the first steep but it’s still very light. My tongue is tingling a little, and the sweetness is still nice. It’s just so mild! It’s a little strange. It feels so full in the mouth but the taste is so quiet……I am liking it more and More as it cools. The mild vegetal taste reminds me of good garden cucumbers. Very fresh. No bitterness as of yet.
3rd steep 3 minutes. This is probably my favorite steep. Very pleasant. Very silky. Nothing about this tea is over the top. I would view this as a contemplative tea, one to take the time to sip while sitting on the front porch. I don’t have a front porch, but that’s what this tea is made for. :)

Jasmine #12 from Adagio Teas
76
One Bush Oolong (Wu Dong Dan Cong) from Silk Road Teas
95
Zocolatte Spice Herbal Tea from Teavana
68
Three Cups Fragrance (San Bei Xiang) from Silk Road Teas
82

Beautiful dark green, small leaves. First steep 1 minute. Soup is light greenish yellow. At first I found it rather savory, like vegetables coated in sesame seed oil; brothy and nutty. Interesting.
The aftertaste kind of crept up on me; a delicate sweetness! What a nice surprise!
2nd steep 1 min 20 sec. A bit uninteresting, at least at first. More nutty than the previous brew. The sweetness isn’t as present. I probably just needed to steep it longer.
3rd steep 2 min. It’s ok.
Overall, I like it for general drinking.

Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea (Flavored) from Teavivre
91
Golden Monkey (Jin Hou) from Silk Road Teas
92

Strangely enough I am REALLY enjoying this tea tonight. The first time I tried it I could tell it was a high quality tea but I just wasn’t much of a fan, it being a black tea and all. (It was in a sampler I ordered). I thought I would give it another try. Im glad I did! I can’t find the words to describe it much, other than cocoa; zero bitterness, sweet aroma. Finally giving this one a rating!

Jade Oolong - Huan Jin Gui from Silk Road Teas
86

I bought this to reach the free shipping price. I don’t find it mind blowing but it’s a nice oolong to have with food, or if you want a pleasant, light and fresh tasting oolong. At first sip I was pretty disappointed; it was very light. But as it cooled it really came into its own, very floral. The second steep had the nicest mouthfeel, although I steeped it a little too long I think; it seemed to hit a sharp floral note as I swallowed that I think would been lessened if it was steeped a little less time. Overall, I’m happy.

Dragonwell Style Laoshan Green: Autumn Harvest from Verdant Tea
96

It’s just so unbelievably sweet! Every time I drink it I am surprised again. I think that’s a mark of an excellent tea!

Iron Goddess (Tieguanyin) from Silk Road Teas
89

Trying my new yixing pot that I have allotted for green to medium Oolongs. It was of course immediately floral; By the second steeping it was much more sweet, and i was experiencing this lovely buttery feeling on the roof of my mouth. Third steeping more vegetal notes came out. My sister described it as “tastes like a breath you take in a thick dark forest.”
I am loving this!!

Jasmine Chun Hao from Adagio Teas
52

Bleh. Trying sweetener to make it better…ah, raw sugar makes it drinkable but I’m going to have to lower my score for this one. It’s still bitter after steeping for only 40 seconds. I’m trying to finish more tea before I open some new ones I just got. I think I’m going to give it to a friend to see if she likes it better!

Source Mountain - Ben Shan competition grade from Silk Road Teas
96
Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea from Teavivre
93

Wow, this is the second time I’m having this and I Notice a lot more creaminess this time, and even a little bit of the caramelly sweetness that’s in the flavored one. I had to check to make sure I didn’t grab the flavored one!
Really, I’m finding taste of tea is to some extent dependent on mood. Today, this is perfect. I liked it before but I’m upping the rating!

Iron Goddess (Tieguanyin) from Silk Road Teas
89
Mulled Hibiscus Clove from Verdant Tea
85

Profile

Bio

I love tea. I first tasted loose leaf when my grandpa brought some back from Russia and I remember just savoring it. Not sure what kind it was; all I remember is that it was loose leaf and it was good. =)

I really enjoy oolong, jasmine tea, green tea, and white tea. I have been getting more into black tea, especially those with chocolate notes! Also, chai is a constant favorite.

As far as tisanes go, I enjoy chamomile and occasionally a mint. I am interested to try rooibus and honey bush. I do prefer teas without artificial flavoring but I’m willing to try most things.

I know next to nothing about puerh, but I like what I have tried so far.

I am consistently amazed at the flavors contained in one leaf. I am on a quest to discover all of them! Slowly, though. Good tea is expensive. :P

Other things I enjoy: Books. My family. Truth. Campfires. Animal Rescue. Gardening. Sushi. Mountain biking. Documentaries. Trees. Music. Culture. Sour cream raisin pie. Not necessarily in that order. :P

Location

North Dakota

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