818 Tasting Notes

This sounded good, but it’s a bit boring. The base is a nice thick, smooth black. There is a hint of tangerine and a hint of spice, maybe nutmeg, but it’s not knocking my socks off. Maybe I expect too much?

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drank Mango Sticky Rice by ETTE TEA
818 tasting notes

This is the tea that convinced me to go in on the group order. My husband and I always get mango sticky rice when we go out for Thai, which is usually at least once a week. We Love it! So, when I saw there was a tea that tasted like it, I couldn’t resist checking it out!

We just got back from Thai for lunch, and guess what we ate? ;) So let’s see how this compares! I love genmaicha, so this should be good. It smells amazing. Actually, the aroma of the steeped tea is exactly like mango sticky rice! Sweet, creamy coconut, mango, rice…it’s all there! Unfortunately, the flavor doesn’t pop in your mouth. It’s kinda blah. I noticed I was tasting it more after I drank it all, like it lingered in my mouth, but you really gotta inhale the aroma as you are sipping to really get the flavor.

Kittenna

Too bad – this sounds really interesting.

Stephanie

Yeah this one sounded amazing…

ETTE TEA

Hi Tealizzy,

Thank you for the honest review of our Mango Sticky Rice tea. The dominant flavour would be that of the roasted rice & I am really glad that you waited for the finish for the creamy coconuts & slightly tart mango aromas.

Just like how Mango, sticky rice & coconut coulis are served somewhat separately in the actual rice dish. One has to allow the 3 flavours present in Mango Sticky Rice tea to interact in the palate. You have to wait for the magic!

Thank you and have a great week ahead!

Regards,

Victor, ETTE TEA

Kittenna

OH MY GOODNESS. So I actually had a sample of this tea from someone (I have absolutely no idea who; it was probably a secondhand sample from Sil or VariaTea), and I was crazy about it. It smelled AND tasted absolutely amazingly creamy/ripe mango-y. I definitely found that the flavour lingered in the finish.

Sorry for hijacking your post; I just know I have this written in a backlogged tasting note somewhere, and wanted to share it. I seriously steeped the one serving I had of this like, 4-5 times.

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From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

This is a fairly aged shou, which means musty-ness; however, after a couple of rinses/steeps, that went away, and I was left with a fruity sweet and spicy shou. Pretty good!

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From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

Only 4g of this tea was left in the TTB when it got to me, but I’ve been wanting to try this one so bad, so I grabbed it!

Caramel shou…that’s all you really need to know. Smooth, delicious, caramel shou. Cocoa notes appeared in later steepings. Man, I wish I had more! On the wishlist it goes…wait, it’s already on there! ;)

BezoomnyChaiVeck

That’s a very nice shou, I think.

I’ve been hoarding the last bit of my sample for a while now, perhaps I should have it again this weekend! =)

Tealizzy

I definitely recommend enjoying it! :)

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Thanks so much to boychik for this sample!

So, 10 years old, huh? Interesting! I love my new Jian Shui pot, so all 8g went into the pot. It brews up a nice orange color and smells like dried fruit, like those dried fruit bars from Trader Joe’s my mom used to get…it’s like a more natural kind of fruit roll-up. Turns out, it tastes like them too! Like dried apricot and berries! Yum! A couple steeps in I also noticed some floral and tobacco notes. This is very nice, and mid to low range on the price-scale. I think this one is going on the wishlist.

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From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

I was excited to see this one in the box, after seeing all the reviews from all the folks who received it in one of the monthly subscription boxes from white2tea. This tea took awhile to open up and I started it late in the day, so I enjoyed it over a two-day period. In the beginning it was strong, savory, buttery, a little bitter, with a fair amount of tobacco smoke. The liquor is definitely a touch darker in color than young sheng, showing the little bit of age. The second day it sweetened up nicely and still had a good buttery texture. I liked it, but I wasn’t head over heels in love with it.

Brian

i read somewhere this tea is blended with the bigger sun leaves (forget the name) which are more mellow in the caffeine department. So this could be an alright tea to drink later in the day and not be up all night.

Tealizzy

Ya, I don’t think I noticed a huge energy from it. :)

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Delicious! Tastes like raspberries and cream, with a hint of dark chocolate. So smooth. Mmm! This is the first unflavored black tea that tastes like raspberries to me. Usually fruity black teas taste like cherry or stone fruits. It’s also extremely affordable. You probably could get about 20 servings out if it for the cost of one fancy drink at Starbucks! I didn’t really notice a tea drunk effect…maybe I need to use more leaf. I’ll try that next time!

AllanK

I have this one, it is good. Bought it a while ago. I think I have the 2013 anyway.

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Finishing off the rest of the generous sample boychik sent me in my new Jian shui pot. :) I used more leaf this time and I got a raisin sweetness. Very yummy. I also have a whole cake of this now…came the other day! Lots of experimenting on leaf amount is in my future!

AllanK

I have a cake of this but have yet to try it. I have to move it to the top of my list but I have less time for gongfu now.

Tealizzy

I’d love to hear what you think about it, Allan!

boychik

Glad you like it and not regretting buying this ;)

boychik

Allan, you should try it. I want to know your opinion

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drank Pandan Chiffon by ETTE TEA
818 tasting notes

Ah, Ette Tea. Had to get in on the group buy, because the flavors sounded so amazing, even though I’m not drinking flavored teas much anymore!

I started with this one because it was lighter in caffeine and I had it later in the day. Steeped it at 180F for 2 minutes. It smells amazing! Tastes sweet, light, cake-like. I can get a hint of osmanthus and cinnamon if I think about it while sipping, although I probably wouldn’t know they were there if I hadn’t read about it. It does leave some sediment in the cup. The liquor is brown in color. Overall, it’s not as complex as I was hoping, but enjoyable. The sweet cake flavors lingers in my mouth. :) I think I might try this one steeped for 3 minutes next time.

sren

Thanks for posting this— I have been wanting to know what others taste. I steeped 3 minutes and didn’t get a sweet, light flavor at all, so I will try again for 2 min.

Tealizzy

Oh, interesting. What temperature did you use?

Stephanie

Lots of these sounded amazing!

ETTE TEA

Thank you for the lovely review Tealizzy! Pandan Chiffon is indeed a cake dessert which is very popular in South East Asia. We were trying to make a liquid version of the cake, so we are very happy that you felt that it was taste like (assuming that you have not tried Pandan Chiffon). We totally agree that it is not too complex a blend since it was meant to be literal more than an inspiration in mimicking the original Pandan Chiffon. You should really tried it cold brewed too, we would recommend 10 grams in 1 L of distilled water, overnight in the fridge between 8 – 12 hours. We have had many thumbs-up when we did the cold brew sampling in Singapore.

Tealizzy

I will definitely try the cold brew. Thanks for the tip, Ette! And no, I haven’t had the pleasure to try the real thing. :)

ETTE TEA

Hi Tealizzy, if you ever come by Singapore for a visit we will bring you to try the real pandan chiffon cake!

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From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

This is good shou. Smooth, clean, with caramel and cocoa notes. I really liked it. If I hadn’t already found some other good shou, which I plan to buy, for half the price, I would consider getting this. As it is, the two other 357g cakes should keep me busy. ;)

JC

Hmmm to the wishlist

boychik

JC, i love 2011 Hui Run, i havent tried 2013 yet. very thick consistency.

Tealizzy

I still left this one on my wishlist, even though I didn’t order it this time. ;) There’s always next time!!

boychik

I can send you a sample if you need to refresh / revisit @tealizzy
JC, would you like a sample ? I would love to send it your way

Tealizzy

boychik – Thanks for the offer. I know I like it, but didn’t want to spend the money on that much shou this order. I’d definitely consider getting it later. I’ve been really bad lately! Btw, let me know what I can send you from my stash!!! :)

boychik

No pressure, just sometimes I need a second try . How much did you use for the session? If I use more for shou it’s richer and lasts longer. So now I like 8g for 1oo-120 ml pot. Tastes like chocolate pudding

Tealizzy

I think I only used 5g, but that’s my usual amount for shou. It doesn’t get bitter at 8?

boychik

richer, not bitter. you can increase the amount rinse/pause/ and start from flash steeps. see how you like it. increasing the time slowly. next time do 6g for 100. see how you like it

Tealizzy

I will definitely try that!

JC

boychik, if you do I’ll send you some tea your way as well. :)

boychik

JC i will send you PM after 3pm. need to run ;)

looseTman

Tealizzy,
“If I hadn’t already found some other good shou, which I plan to buy, for half the price, I would consider getting this.”
Sounds like a good value. Which shou are they?

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Bio

Another profile facelift! My tastes have changed a lot from when I first discovered loose leaf tea.

I can trace my tea journey back to October 2012, when I discovered DavidsTea. Before that, I had the occasional cup and enjoyed high tea at An Afternoon to Remember, which has since closed.

I went through a period of wanting to try all the teas, and was really into flavored teas, especially dessert blacks, but my tastes have substantially changed over time.

I still enjoy the occasional flavored black or rooibos, but I’m more into unflavored black teas right now and recently, puerh. Chinese black teas are amazing…with their notes of chocolate or sweet potato, who needs a flavored tea? I had a much steeper learning curve when it came to puerh. I used to dump out cups of puerh for tasting like leather. Now, I am really enjoying them. I think it took finding good quality puerh and steeping them gong fu style to really enjoy them.

I also, on occasion, enjoy a good oolong, white, or green tea.

Favorite tea companies right now include: Mandala, Teavivre, Butiki, Golden Moon, Lupicia, and DavidsTea (for teaware mostly).

Just a note: I don’t rate my teas numerically because my iPad doesn’t like the scroll bar. Maybe someday that will change…hint hint, steepster! ;)

P.S. My profile picture is of one of my 2 cats, Holly, who is a little princess but very photogenic, and she loves boxes, including those that bring me tea! :)

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San Francisco Bay Area

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