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Long time no see Steepster! To be honest, this is only my 2nd cup this week. I was very very sick and couldn’t even smell tea without getting a little woozy. I picked this up at a local shop yesterday after looking through some pretty awesome cheeses.
This is my second look into Iron Goddess; my first being from Chinese Tea Shop.
I have to say the overall smell of the dry leaf on this one is less floral and far more barley or some kind of grain. I think that this was the small downside to this one. I find myself surprisingly drawn to the more floral of the two.
The liquor is very smooth with some very creamy notes that are highly satisfying. I find that this is a more vegetal offering of Iron Goddess. I think I will play with steep times some more to find that proverbial sweet spot. Until next time, I hope everyone is doing well!

MMMMmmm I decided to have a late night cuppa and this fits the bill! It was my little splurge for Black Friday weekend.
This is so, well, crisp! I think it reminds me more of grapes and green apples than pomegranate. I know they mentioned cherry in there, but I was not able to find it. Maybe on the next brew. The mouth feel of this is very different. It has a kind of heaviness that can only be explained as somewhat like juice as compared to plain water. Very interesting. This is not a punch in the face flavor, but it is nice and light.

Thanksgiving day tea! :) Semi-gongfu style. The dry leaves have this really distinct luster.
1st steep (1min 30sec)
The liquor has a distinct pea smell. It is very light and has that sweet tone I love. Oh this would taste perfect with melons or strawberries paired with it. This is actually stronger than I was expecting it to be. It’s very smooth and has no bitterness. This steep really woke the leaves up! They smell so different after the 1st steep. Very verdant smelling.
2nd steep (2 min)
Still very light and green. This time there was a bit heavier taste on the palate. It is still very sweet and reminds me of spring. This time it also seems to be begging to be paired with green fruit. I’m totally sad I don’t have any of these things lying around. Good thing I have a lot of this left! :)
3rd steep (2min 30 sec) final steep for now because I have to get going to Thanksgiving!
Light and sweet. I love this tea! I wouldn’t have picked it for myself, but got it for free from a member of another board. It really hung in there and I think it could do more steeps if time permitted.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I’m doing something new this time! Since I just finished up my sociology class I decided to celebrate by trying to do some kind of gongfu. :p I’m not experienced so these were all guesses on my part. I was using my tiny 150ml houhin shaped random piece I found at the Chinese store at my local mall. It could be something else, but I have no idea. It was just cute!
1st steep (1 min)
Buttery, soft and much more green than other times I’ve had this. My last sips were very sweet!
2nd steep (1min 30 sec) p.s. ouchies my fingers! lol
The liquor is much more yellow/green this steep. The smell is far more grassy and less sweet. Brighter flavor this time and the grassy notes are really peaking through this steep. Very, very soft mouth feel; almost silky.
3rd steep (2min)
The leaves have completely unfurled now! So very pretty! I’m really liking this method. It’s giving me time to relax. This time it smells much sweeter with almost no grass. The flavor is full on sweet; my favorite cup so far. Small amount of something almost spicy in the very back of this. Just as buttery as ever!
4th steep (2min 30 sec.)
Starting to mellow down again. Stronger hay smells with this steep. Much lighter liquor. So. Very. Tasty. Still very sweet and light (getting lighter!)
5th steep (3 min) Final steep
The smell is so light on this steep. Sweet, but fading. Very light and creamy as the very 1st steep. Lovely tea, really, I think this is a great introduction for people to unflavored oolong.

Ah late night tea time! :) I seem to have run out of rooibos and that Swiss Vervaine still hasn’t been sorted out; so this will be my night time cuppa!
I noticed this time that the color on this is actually quite…swampy? Maybe it’s the hibiscus in this. Still, it is my go to sleepy time mix. :)

I took a break from playing Skyrim to take a sip!
This stuff is awesome. Simply amazing really. I think that I’ll up my rating on this because it is really exactly what it is described as. Smooth, sweet chocolate without the guilt. There is some nutty notes this time around. I think that out of the Teavana teas I’ve had this one would top my list for something to give to newcomers to tea. It’s simple to brew and it is pretty much foolproof flavor wise.

Mmmm I brewed this to try an combat my inability to get temperature correct in my house today. I kind of overdid it this time! I added a few too many leaves/too long brewing/too high temp and somehow this still turned out nice. It is incredibly smooth; despite the temperature issue. I think that I need to watch my stupid pan like a hawk so that my water doesn’t do this again. This is darker than some coffee I’ve had, but so much nicer!

I got this sample in my swap with DJBooth. :) The dry smell has an almost alcoholic note to it. Needless to say, it smells interesting! I needed something to celebrate since I just did so well on my test! This seemed to be sweet and citrusy so this will be my cup of celebration.
The dry leaf is very fragrant. The name says jasmine, but I can’t smell any jasmine; which is fine with me b/c I don’t always like jasmine.
The liquor is just as sweet smelling as the leaf was. I’m actually looking forward to this because it is not something I would pick for myself, but smells very nice. Holy cow! This stuff is super super tasty!!! The sip I took has so many different flavors. I can’t exactly tie any of this down, but dang! It has a very light and bright flavor profile.
Even though the end of my brew was done at a higher than usual temperature this tea has no bitterness. Very solid citrus-type flavor. No jasmine to be seen! >:)

This is a tea that really has to suit my mood. Since it is pretty bold on the citrus overtones I tend to take it slow. What it almost reminds me of is chocolate oranges, which I hate, without the chocolate. I love the spicy/citrus-ness. (It’s the chocolate that I dislike..)
But on a cool night like tonight, closing in on the holidays, it is a nice cup. I think I feel bad because this is an obvious B list tea for me; despite my liking for it. I think that the reason is the flavor can be just too powerful at times. Occasional sipping is where this one gets points for me.

This is another tea that I recently was able to get 2 free oz of at Teavana. These were not picked out by me at all and so far the flavors of these free teas are…well..meh. Not great, but not bad either. Even though I adore green tea I don’t see myself picking this one on my own.
The buds have a very peppery smell. Very interesting to say the least. They also, to me, remind me of the smell of say, a bai mu dan. I’m not a big white tea person. So before I overly judge this tea on smell alone lets get to tasting!
The liquor is very light. The suggested steep time was only 1 min. The liquor still has that peppery smell and also a bit of something almost floral.
Hm. This is interesting. It does carry that pepper flavor into the tea. The flavor is a lot more full than I expected due to short steep time/liquor color. It has a pea overtone in the end of the sip.
Overall I think it’s okay. This flavor isn’t really what I’d be looking for in a green. I think that if I needed something in a pinch this would be fine, but overall I’m not overwhelmed.