309 Tasting Notes

50

Dark, fishy, has sort of pu-erh taste to it, honestly. If I didn’t know better I may mistake it for one.

Very earthy, a tiny touch of floral but I can’t grasp what flower(s)…

Medium length finish that stays mostly as a coated feeling of flavor on the top of the tongue. Bit on the inside of the lips, too.

Definitely very earthy… it tastes similar to a clay pot or cup.

Texture is fairly light.

Not a huge amount to say. It’s about middling-decent, not outstanding in either a bad or good way.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec 5 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Dmitrirex

I used close to 1.5 tsp and let steep for five minutes. Because it came out so strong, it was just passable for me but, when I steeped it a second time (very rarely steep Ceylon teas), it was terrific and would easily score 8 out of 10. My recommendation for the first cup is to only use one teaspoon and steep no more than 4,5 minutes.

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88

Just received this in an Upton Ceylon Sampler.

The feel is dark and heavy but watery, too. Odd mix.

The taste is heavy. There’s a trace of malty sweetness at the very tip of my tongue but an acrid dark brown flavor hits the middle-back of my tongue and slides to the undersides of it, too. It has almost a coffee edge to it, really. That same sort of acidity/burnt/chocolate/brown flavor.

I’m on my third mouthful and I’m not too sure I like this at all.

The tea is puzzling. My very first reaction on tasting was “blugh!!”, but then turned into a “ew, I don’t know”, then “it certainly has its merits but I’m not a fan”, then “this is awfully strong/harsh but I could stand another mouthful”, then “maybe this one just really needs sugar” (I am not one to put milk or sugar in teas unless sick… I’m a straight-tea drinker), then “I think it may be good but I don’t like it”, then “I’ve no clue, totally mixed feelings”.

Long finish.

Oh, and there’s a little fishiness in there in the back of the throat I noticed on this taste.

I don’t think I like it, but I do think it’s a quality tea that certainly has its merits, as said. I could see others loving it.

I’m gonna throw in some of the rock sugar a family member gave me a while back. If updating is appropriate after doctoring, will do so lol.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 5 g 12 OZ / 354 ML

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63

This is really, really strong in flavor… A yellow taste mid-back tongue, very floral rose and pink through the middle of the mouth both tongue and roof of mouth and rolling forward to the tip of the tongue.

Sweet on the very, very tip, too, and just on the inside edges of the lips. There is some blue, like a baby blue, taste inside the mouth against the front bottom teeth.

It pushes a little too far to a perfumey edge in the scent and flavor, so that makes me a bit ambivalent on the tea… But I think the larger list of positives means I like it. But not for an everyday tea… Just once in a while.

Full, round, rolling flavor and texture.

Long, long finish that stays intense.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec 9 g 32 OZ / 946 ML

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51

First pouring had a nice light but rich earthy tone with only the tiniest bit of the fishy taste. As in, I usually have a hard time with that aspect of pu’erhs but it made a nice touch in this.

Second, basically the same but a little stronger.

I won’t go on. I’ll just say this is one I like.

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57

I’d come over hoping to see others having rated this. To me, it tastes basically nothing like Upton’s description and I wanted to compare to other people’s tasting notes.

Ooop, just took a moment to do some googling and it turns out I’m not alone after all! :)

To me, this tea is quite green, a mix of dark and bright grass colors in flavor… tart almost… the lighter green is along the sides and underneath the tongue, the dark is on the top and back of the tongue with that bitter edge dark greens so often have.

It has a long finish, still of that vegetal taste and feeling along the upper back of the throat and down in it a little. An almost dusky tone comes to the green taste.

It’s satisfying, something I can (and am) drinking a couple big pots of over the past couple of days.

A very good throughout-the-day hot tea but this really doesn’t taste like a white to me as the vegetal flavor is so complete and overwhelming. I actually had to go out and double-check the bag to make sure I hadn’t made the wrong tea!

But pretty yummy, yes.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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93
reviewed One Touch Tea Maker by Breville
309 tasting notes

I got a refurbished one with an extended warranty on Amazon.

It is amazing. I love that it can just heat water or do the brewing, too, depending on which I want. I also chose this model over the presets-only one because I absolutely must have the ability to pick my own temps. This heats the water very quickly and the warming option keeps the temp quite steady.

The steeping function works excellently.

I love the fact that I can set it to make my tea for when I get up. Just awesome.

The brew basket is a very nice size. I make a full pot 1-2 times a day and it gives lots of space for my teas to unfurl.

And it’s pretty.

I was concerned about value vs cost, but this has been so worth it. I love to brew my tea myself in my various pots and cup, so the heat-only functions are the basics I need. And for those many times I want to wake up to my tea already made or just want it made conveniently this is just awesome.

Worth every penny so far and with my 3 year warranty I feel comfortable with its cost.

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34

IMO this tea in no way can be called “gentle” or “delicate”. It is very strong to me for a white, very green.

I mean, to where I wondered if I’d put the wrong tea in and double-checked the bag. I was sure I’d accidentally used a green tea.

Vegetal, a fair amount of bitterness around mid and back tongue. Long finish.

Not particularly “nuanced”, either. It’s a pretty straight-forward and simple tasting tea.

Nope, not at all what I’d hoped for or expected from the description. I won’t be buying again and will likely trade this off.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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66

Back of the throat and tongue green flavor… not quite grassy but light green, not something dark or bitter like asparagus or such. And a sweet tone..

…just thought of it: it taste’s sort of like wood sorrel without it’s acidic bite. Just that sweet green.

It also has that tiny bit of a musty taste that some whites have. In this it is a nice balancing richness.

I don’t think I’d call this a favorite at this point and am not even sure if I’ll buy more after the bag is gone, but I would recommend it and will enjoy having it.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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38

First try of this and I’m not really getting much out of it. It’s rather a bland white, to me.

It does have a faint sweetness in the back of the throat as its finish, but I’m getting no citrus, no floral… It takes like a bland sort of musty white. Not one I’m impressed with. Perhaps future sweepings will bring out more in the flavor or another day of tasting it again. But so far this isn’t a white I’d buy again.

Rumpus Parable

Yeah, trying this one again… The finish has some melon warm pink-orange taste with light sweetness. But the primary taste of this? Bland musty white. Gonna see about trading or giving away.

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Bio

I live as a nomad now and my cupboard is no longer huge, it goes from bare to maybe 3 or 4 at a time – whatever I can easily carry in my rucksack. But am ordering samples from places so I can keep trying new stuff or more easily carry a variety for my moods that’ll fit!

Note to those who read my reviews:

I only about a year ago learned I have synesthesia and that is why I’ve always wrote my reviews primarily in colors. Clearly, if you’ve read any recently, that’s still how I write most of the time as that’s still how I best describe flavors. Today I realized that may be worth putting out there for folks who come across my reviews.
Moving on:

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

Geeky, vegan, dominant, serious, non-gendered, 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.

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

SE Asia, at the moment Bangkok

Website

http://wanderings.world

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