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239 Tasting Notes

English Breakfast from Drink T
51

This is quite a pleasant tea. Not too strong, but flavorful. It’s an interesting blend without any one part standing out from the others. It doesn’t require milk or tea, but I can see how a little agave nectar would do well in it.

Cornfields Shu Tuocha from Verdant Tea
19

First steeping: What the others said about smelling like corn is right. It smells like freshly shucked sweet corn or buttered popcorn. Plus a pleasant earthy tone.

The tea is indeed very, very light. Lighter than I tend to like, really. The flavor is less corn and more tastes the way the shucks smell. That plus a light pu-erh earthiness (no fishy or musty taste to this, just earthy). So far it’s indeed a good tea, but not so much for me, personally.

This has a Very Long finish and is very corn-y. It fills up the nose and back of throat strongly.

Second steeping: This brew is Very dark. Surprisingly so, compared to other pu-erhs I’ve had. Still strong corn and Very strong finish.

I recommend it to others, but not for me.

Bai Mu Dan (White Peony) from Canton Tea Co
23

This one you can get a smell from a couple feet away. Not strong, but there.

This doesn’t have a lot of flavor, to me. It’s a bit sweet in the back of the throat, with a generic “tea taste” on the tongue… but mostly is just seems weak and watery. It tastes like I’d have to use a huge amount more tea for water amount to get a decent flavor going.

Not impressed, not a buyer.

Roasted Kukicha from New Mexico Tea Company
61

This is green and creamy. I like it, there is also a very, very light roasted taste. Barely there. The slightly sweet creaminess is the main flavor.

I’ll have to try it a few times, but this may be a buyer.

Assam Orangajuli FF from ESP Emporium
84
Assam Rani FTGFOP1 Organic from ESP Emporium
83
Assam Orangajuli FF from ESP Emporium
84
Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
88
Silver Bow-Tie from Dragon Tea House
19

The taste is a little sweet but very musty. I’m not liking this much at all.

Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
88
Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
88
Panda Pearls from Imperial Tea Garden
58
Risheehat Second Flush Darjeeling from The Steeping Room
47
2011 Douji "Hong Da Dou" Raw Puerh Tea Cake from China Cha Dao
50

First steep: a bit earthily floral, if that makes sense. With a green factor.

Second steep: a Very roasted taste

Third steep: very earthy with slight fish to it

Fourth steep: a bit bitter with earthy finish

Fifth steep: eathiness is much lighter. a tiny bit astringent.

And so on.

This is a good pu-erh and much lighter than most I’ve had.

Strawberry Ginger Peppercorn from Utopia Tea
85

I bought a bag of this recently due to liking the sample I had.

It’s as good as I remember it. Peppery without being overwhelming, a bit of ginger mouth-feel, just enough strawberry to balance it out. It’s a good casual drinker, especially with a tiny bit of agave nectar.

I’m not one for flavored tea or for putting additives into mine, but this one works. Cold it’s a good post-gym guzzle lol.

Very Berry from Utopia Tea
79

I just bought a big bag of this after a while of going without. I remembered how much I enjoyed my sample and grabbed some while shopping Utopia Tea.

Again, I can’t get over how rich and berry the smell is. It grabs you from a couple feet away and is yummy.

Tasting: Ut oh. The tartness is overwhelming in this cup. Not at all like the sample’s taste. I’m hoping it’s my tastebuds or that I need to mix up the dry tisane some or something and not that I’m not going to like this bag.

Tie Guan Yin Traditional Style Spring 2011 from DeRen Tea
67

First steep: The smell is very nutty. The taste is smooth and with an upward nut/hay taste in the back of the mouth. The is also a big of green to the flavor around the sides and underneath the tongue.

Second Steep: Much more of a roasted flavor to this one. This one is also more green. There’s also something… maybe floral?… inside the nose when swallowing. Also, a bit of a clover taste.

Third Steep: This one is lighter. The roasted flavor is not in the forefront now but is the main part of the finish, instead. The green is the main taste. The clover taste is there just a bit more, but still faint.

I won’t report further steepings.

This is a very nice tea. Not a buyer for me, but well worth the try. I’d recommend it to others, sure.

Silver Needle Reserve, 2010 Crop from Red Blossom Tea Company
51

This smells very sweet like honey, a touch green, a little woody.

Sipped very hot the taste is… different. Green like chewing on leaves.

Cooled some it is still green but also that woody scent comes forth as flavor. The sweetness smelled doesn’t make itself part of the taste. It’s very lightly astringent.

Lotus from Red Blossom Tea Company
1

The scent is of green tea and bitter black licorice. I’ve never smelled lotus before, so I guess that is what it smells like. It’s quite unappealing. There’s also a medicine smell to it.

The taste is horrid. Something that makes your mouth kind of tingle like some lozenges due, bitter black licorice that sticks in the back of your throat. shudder

Bi Luo Chun Spring 2011 from DeRen Tea
91

This smells dark and spicey, almost meaty. Maybe like brussel sprouts. It’s hard to say but it’s intense and yummy.

Taste: This is a very green green. Brussel sprouts about nails it. There’s also a green sweetness to it. The finish is mid-tongue and still holds that greenness.

Did I mention green?

As you drink more of it a very slight bitterness (again, a green bitterness, again like brussel sprouts) comes out to the back of the mouth and throat. It’s not unpleasant at all; instead, it gives an even fuller taste to the tea.

This may indeed be a buyer. It’s very different from other greens I’ve had… much more green, more full, more rich.

Keemun Mao Feng from In Pursuit of Tea
60
Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
88
Iron Wu'Long from Five Mountains
3

I ended up not finishing the cup. As it cooled the dark roasted taste became overwhelming and unpleasant. I drastically am changing my rating.

2011 Pure Mengsong Raw Puerh Tea from China Cha Dao
58

On the first steeping the scent is very light… almost not there.

It is sweet with a refreshing quality. I’m not well versed in Pu-Erhs, but have tried a fair number and this is different from any I’ve had so far.

It is a bit grassy, but not in an over-powering or putting-off way… Just clean and vegetal. There’s a little of that earthy, almost fishy, flavor at the bottom of the sip but not At All as strong as in other Pu-Erhs I’ve had. Instead it’s gentle and rounds out the flavor some.

Second Steep: The earthy/lightly fishy scent has started to come out. A sweetness, too.

This is still green, but more earthy with that slight sweetness still there. A tiny bit of astingency is coming out, too.

Third Steeping: The scent is a bit more earthy with that light fishyness coming out. Not strong like other Pu-Erhs I’ve had. This is still a very light tea.

The flavor is lighter this time, I feel. Earthy with a touch of green. No sweetness now.

I won’t go on any further about the steepings; I think what I wrote gives a good introduction to this tea. It is a bit green, a bit earthy, a bit sweet… how much and what depending on the steep. It is a Very light and refreshing Pu-Erh, not like anything I’ve tried before.

This may be a buyer. I’ll find out after a few more steepings, probably.

Profile

Bio

Unless otherwise noted, I use 2.25g of tea to 6oz of water for my tastings.

Geeky, vegan, dominant, serious, non-gendered, married, childfree, eclectic, alternatively-styled, friendly and open-minded are good descriptors of me, I think. Also: extremely introverted, but not at all shy.

I grew up on bag teas, mainly Lipton, at my father’s and great-grandmother’s homes. I loved getting up before everyone else and sitting with a hot cup and reading or watching some quiet tv in the morning.

I didn’t bother much with tea for the years of my teenhood because of no longer seeing either of these people and my mother’s house wasn’t one for tea… more coffee drinkers, instead.

During my adulthood I started drinking it again, but still mostly bag teas like Lipton, Tetley, and some herbal mixes. I enjoyed these but went no further…

…until I was at a restaurant one night and ordered a Darjeeling tea to give it a try.

I fell back in love with tea and have since been trying all sorts of loose leaf and some bag teas.

I’m currently delving mainly into white teas, but my tastes wander.

I’m also now in a tea-of-the-month club, dabbling in other loose-leafs here and there, and randomly pick up things that look interesting at a store now and then.

I live in Texas somewhat against my will (we’re here due to my husband’s job right now), though I enjoyed Dallas. I’m now in a tiny town south of there and north of Austin.

Not sure what else to say here… if you like my notes or are interested in chatting about something, do feel free to send a note. I love meeting new folks, especially since we share at least one interest, being on this site and all.

Location

NYC

Website

http://rumpusparable.com/

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