694 Tasting Notes
I received a sample pack of this from boychik. Thank you for allowing me to try this one!
From reading the tasting notes I think I am going to try this one again in the morning with a lower water temperature. This was a light fruity tea, but I didn’t taste many of the other notes mentioned in the description. I will come back to this one.
Preparation
I received a few bags of thes from bluebelle in our swap from February. Thank you!
I was freezing today at work. I am not sure why. I was teeth chattering cold. So I had slurped down my 2 mugs of tea for the day by say like 9am. So I resorted to some of my rooibos/honeybush to help minimize the caffeine intake for the day. I had 2 bags of this. It was pretty tasty. Mostly orange with a bit of spice at the end of the sip. Not something I would purchase again, but a warm enjoyable cup.
Preparation
I brewed an afternoon cup of this yesterday and wasn’t really feeling the hot tea thing. I came back to it for dinner and poured it over ice. Yummy. This is awesome cold. This will definitely stay on my wishlist. Thanks again boychik!
Preparation
I bought 2oz of this back in December with my last order from Gong Fu. I really liked the milk oolong and wanted to try something similar but different. I have had this a few times and there is something about it that just hits me wrong. I am not sure if I am brewing it incorrectly but I always get a “bitter” flavor. I am not sure if it is actually bitter or just a flavor in the tea that is hitting me wrong. This tea looks like it has won some prizes and although that doesn’t mean anything for my palate, I just wanted to like it.
This smells very floral/vegetal. The first part of the sip is very buttery followed by the flavor that I dislike. I have a few tsp left of this. Maybe I will try lowering the water temp even more?
Preparation
I am loving just the concept of the tiny amount of tea at a time let alone the range of flavors I am getting out of one sample of tea. This is a really good. It started out nutty and almost like a roasty toasty oolong and now has turned into a very sweet delicate, almost green oolong. I was too busy pouring and sipping to keep track of all the “notes” that I tasted but this was yummy!
I will be having my first gaiwan experience soon. What did you use for proportions, tea/water?
Shang’s samples come in 3.5 grams so I put the entire sample in the 140ml gaiwan and did a little hoping that it worked out. I have since been searching the internet in hopes there was a magical chart somewhere. Most info just seems to say 1/4-1/3 full vessel of tea to water.
Then how much water in each infusion?
I have just been filling the qaiwan so I am unsure of how much water that would be. ~140ml – the value of the tea. I have watched a few of Verdants videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YsXwuQPdmE
With this method short steeps recommended 5/10/15 sec. Some tea require immediate pour
Thanks for the review Teatiff! We love brewing tea in a gaiwan and think that it is a little more art than science. What we love about gaiwans is that you can really get a good sense of the color of the tea by dipping the lid into the tea as it is brewing, and you can get a good sense of smell/taste by sniffing the bottom of the lid (which captures most of the flavor). Happy experimenting and enjoy your gaiwan!
Shang, Thank you for the suggestions on how to experiment with the gaiwan a bit more!
Enjoying the last of this February 2014 Steepster Select tea as I sit and wait for the race start. Tea, time to read,and my morning run in before 9 am. It is one way to rock a Saturday morning.
I am enjoying this one a bit more than last time. I still get tannins and a dry finish, but this time I get a bit of citrus/fruit in the middle. Not one I need to keep in my stash, but I wouldn’t turn down another cup.
Tea, reading, and running?! Three of my favorite things! Yes, that would be my definition of a PERFECT Saturday. Hope the rest of your day is just as fantastic!
Running and reading are harder to come by now with the little one so the trifecta in one morning. Yep, perfect Saturday morning agreed!
I had the rest of the small sample that I took off of the TTB from NayLynn today. I keep coming back to this tea. I am tempted to order a 3oz pouch. Maybe if someone reads this and they are interested in trading out half of a pouch it would put me over the top. This is a nice vanilla, coconut and fruity blend. Definitely a tea I need to be in a bit of a mood for but one I keep finding very enjoyable.
I received this in BrewTEAllySweet"s tea stash sale. Thank you!
I am just starting to try some green tea now that the weather is getting warmer. When I am at home and not sitting shivering at my desk at work it seems like a nice refreshing drink. Although this was not fresh green tea, it was very nice. It was very buttery and smooth with the slight vegatal taste. My palate is not developed when it comes to greens so I am not sure how else to describe this. The cup cooled off about half way through and it was just as delirious cold. I look forward to finishing this small sample.
Preparation
I received a sample of this from boychik. Thank you!
The peals are so big! They are also very pretty with the dark brown and copper tones mixed in. This is my second time with this tea. The first time I felt the tea was very weak. This time around i tried to remedy that by steeping at just under boiling and for the full 2 mins. The tea turned out well this time around. I am getting a lot of cocoa and hay flavor. For me this tea is not very sweet like some have mentioned. This is a tasty cup.
EDIT: The 2nd steeping on this one might be better than the first for me. This is almost like the dark roast of black tea.
Preparation
I agree it’s not sweet like golden monkey or Dian hong, more like cocoa and maybe even some spice. I like it gong fu style;)
It seems quite a few of the black teas I have been enjoying lately might enhanced by the gong fu style so I just broke down and purchased my first gaiwan!
Oh, you are going to enjoy it. There is no way back for me. Except for Indian teas that’s western.
Yay for Gongfu Cha!
Enjoy your new gaiwan!
Thanks guys. I am excited!
It has been a while since I have had a cup of this. I do not like brewing the “fancy” tea at work and so I end up neglecting it more than I should. I started taking a thermos of tea to work again this week so I can not feel as bad about drinking some of my favorites at work. If you haven’t tried this tea you should. Hands down one of my favorites. Its like drinking cinnamon honey bread or something like that. Just amazing.
