The final sipdown of the night, & another thank you to Azzrian.
I do love Peach, Mango, and Rose, but I have to admit this one didn’t really do it for me. It was ok, but maybe the flavors were just too Mellow. Oh well, can’t win em all, right?
938 Tasting Notes
Azzrian must have read my bio when she sent me these teas, as I love the flavor of peaches, & she sent quite a few peach blends.
This one includes Hops!
A long time ago, in a land far away, I was married for 13 years. We had an awesome garden that included hops, elderberries, & lots of asparagus, plus various other veggies of course. I keep hops in my cupboard, it’s a great tea for headaches or to drink as a sleep aid.
However, I never would have thought to combine hops with peaches, & I must say, it’s a lovely combination!
Thanks Azzrian!
Continuing my sipdown from the Magical Tea Box Azzrian send me! Thanks!
I’ve never had a Zabaglione, but little Terri is convinced that this tea would require stevia & french vanilla coconut creamer. I reserve those for dessert-like teas, & this one hits the spot! We’re taking our tea in the car to pay little Terri’s traffic ticket (Ms Theresa will be driving, while little Terri drinks the tea).
The rehearsal went great!
I found out my guitar player/composer friend is a tea drinker, although his tea experience is not particularly esoteric: put a bag in the cup & steep 3 minutes. But I think most of us started there, I know I did.
So I started a Gaiwan of Autumn Laoshan Green, as he said he liked green tea. He was blown away (of course!), saying something like, “I’ve never had green tea that tastes like this! Where did you get this?”
We rehearsed for awhile on one of the pieces, then a tea break. I went with Golden Fleece, & he was floored! After a few cups of that, we returned to rehearsing. Our next break we had some Ms Li’s Dragonwell.
Again, he was like, “Where do you get this stuff??? I’ll never be able to drink bagged tea again!”. LOL, I love sharing tea with people!
I gave him the URL for Verdant tea, & I’m pretty sure he’s hooked!
The addiction spreads like a virus… ;)
Sipdown #4 from Azzrians Box of Wonders! Thanks girlie!
The first thing I noticed was a taste of cinnamon! That was followed by honey & peaches & a little graham crust! This is very nice, very smooth, & very flavorful. It reminds me a little bit of the oriental beauty, with a honeyed sweetness to it, but the underlying flavor has a robustness as well. I was really careful to brew this at 170, even putting my cup of hot water in the frig for a few minutes with a thermometer in it to get the temp right (unusually anal behavior for me, must have been Ms Theresa’s idea).
Next on my agenda: a rehearsal with a guitarist friend who is working on a composition Masters degree at a local university. He has a concert coming up next month of his original works, 3 of which include harp, so we’re gonna go over our parts together, & I’m gonna help him perfect the harp parts (which are a little lame…). The harp is a difficult instrument to write for. Most people don’t really understand how it works, & there are a lot of misconceptions about what the instrument can & can’t do. Luckily, I’ve played it for a long time, so I know!
He said he likes green tea, so I’ll fix him some.
Sipdown #3 (of the day) from Azzrian’s box of goodies. Thanks Lady!
For some reason that I cannot fathom, I was avoiding this one. I honestly don’t know why. In the world of Oolongs, I tend to enjoy the roasted ones the most, & this is really quite nice! It has a boldness that I enjoy, & the flavor is a mix of roasted carrots, sweet potato, greenbeans, & acorns. It’s been a long time since I tasted acorns! I grew up in San Diego, & in 6th grade we went to camp palomar for a week. We did all kinds of things there, including making acorn cakes, which required us to collect acorns, find a good smooth rock, pound them into flour in the indentations on the rocks made by native americans pounding acorns over time, rinse the flour repeatedly to remove the tannins, make a batter & shape the acorns into patties, & fry them. They were terrible, LOL. I was the only one who liked them. The flavor was unique, although they were still rather bitter. I guess we didn’t rinse the flour enough!
This is an interesting tea, mildly sweet, unique, & I like the flavors.
Continueing my sipdown of teas from Azzrian, this Bailin Gongfu is awesome! It’s a black tea drinker’s black tea! Aroma of chocolate, but the tea itself is more of a caramel & malt taste, & a little fruity. It’s also ridiculously smooth, & mean the whole cup just went down!
Thanks Azz!
Azzrian & I were talking about a trade the other day. We did a tea swap back in the fall when I first joined steepster, & I enjoyed the lovely teas she shared with me, but I realized I still haven’t drank them all! I got caught up in all the amazing black, green, oolong, whites, & puers out there, & wasn’t drinking much in the way of flavored teas. My mood for flavors comes & goes, & I’m glad because I don’t want to be some kind of perfect purist, although I will maintain my right to be a tea snob & stick with high quality teas that aren’t loaded with artificial crap.
So…this tea is nice. I hadn’t read the info on it, & was expecting a breakfast blend, like the founding father’s version of english breakfast. It smells like graham crackers & cranberries & caramel. I brewed it kind of strong, cuz that’s the way I roll, & it’s delicious! The taste reminds me of a cranberry almond granola bar, held together by buttery caramel. I thought about adding some stevia…it is robust enough to do so, & I’m sure the sweetness would make the flavors pop, but I’m enjoying it so much as it is, that I finished the cup plain.
The flavors are nicely balanced, & it’s a Sipdown!
Thanks Azz!!
I’ve reviewed this one before, but it’s been awhile since I drank from these leaves. This tea is a musty redwood forest in the evening, & drinking it feels like that Ent-draught somebody (sorry, can’t remember who) made reference to a few weeks ago. It really is an interesting brew. In spite of it’s woodsiness, it’s very clean feeling, energizing, & ‘fresh’ feeling. There is an underlying mintyness, but not so much in the taste as in the way it makes me feel refreshed.
This is one of the shu’s I’ve bought that gives me a strong Chaqi response, although the effect is not as uncomfortable to me as it originally was (when I felt like I was on the front edge of a ‘shroom trip). I can drink off these leaves for hours, & I’m grateful that I bought a whole brick of this while it was available.
It’s been a long day. Suffice it to say that I slammed down a cup of Assam, left the house early & had breakfast with my 2nd daughter (the breakfast was awesome!), then spent hours at the courthouse on the first day of what is probably going to be a very ugly & expensive custody battle between her & the father of her son. Now I’m home, & I wanted something soothing, something special, this!
Dry, it’s interesting looking little blocks, with multishaded layers of sage, cream, white, black, & gray. The dry aroma is rich, & it took me a few sessions with this tea to identify the very familiar aroma: A very fresh goatmilk. A long time ago I raised goats, & when goats milk is good, it is really really good, but sadly, it is very susceptible to aromas, & also can spoil quickly, so it is best when it is very fresh.
The wet aroma was of malt & canned condensed milk!
I steeped 1/2 cube + 4oz gaiwan (rinse) X 6 sec, then 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 35
The color is a beautiful amber Honey.
The flavors: fresh cream, malt, hint of vanilla, & a gentle fruity sweetness. It is delicious! I usually go for teas that are more assertive, but the richness & creaminess of this tea makes it very satisfying!
I hope that David gets more of this someday. I’ll buy it!
Yes, I’m drinking Elder berry again.
It’s the best protection I know again viruses, & they’re all around me!!
The first time I tried this, I followed the suggestions of 2 tsp & it was kind of meehhhh…
Tonight I was looking for something, anything to drink that didn’t have caffeine, but maybe a little flavor would be nice, right? I tried this again, using 1 T, steeped the full 10 minutes, added stevia & coconut milk creamer, & it was definitely an improvement, & somewhat satisfying.
This was my tea for the afternoon. It’s a nice sheng, with flavors of almond & hints of apricot, but the thing that I notice the most about it is a lemony mouth feel, especially under the tongue!
Sipdown!
7G + 4oz (rinse) X 10sec
I know I keep saying this today about every tea I’ve drank so far, but this is just what I needed! We’re going through a little stress in my family right now, & I’m finded myself exhausted & in need of nurture. The best ways I can nurture myself (so that I have it within me to nurture my family) is by restings, eating well, doing my yoga, & keeping on track. This includes drinking teas that energize & inspire me (and also teas that help me to relax & unwind, but that’s for later).
I love Laoshan Black. It’s so good, with it’s honeyed chocolate maltedness & I enjoy trying different incarnations of it. This one is quite tasty & elegant, but I must admit, I prefer the ‘original’. Still, it makes for a wonderful Gaiwan full of goodness, & I’ll continue sipping from these leaves until they have nothing left to offer.
It’s been awhile since I had a cup of Genmaicha. It’s so soothing, & this one is especially nice, because we all know that there is no green tea better than Laoshan green! It’s gently sweet, creamy, greenbeany goodness, with just the right amount of toasted rices, like a green bean & rice casserole, only better.
This was my first tea of the day. It’s been awhile since I drank it, my stock is low & I’ve been in hoarding mode, but I’m really trying to rotate through all these amazing black teas that I currently have, & I keep reminding myself that there will be more, “so drink up & enjoy, me hearties!”
I love the savoriness of this tea: Malt with a touch of honey & black pepper! It’s such a great way to start my day, like a reminder that I can be direct, strong, & assertive, but still warm & nurturing.
Thank you, Ysaurella, for this wonderful tea trade! I hope the teas I sent you have finally arrived, & I also hope you enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed the ones you sent to me!
I love the photograph of this tea! It is so graceful, so beautiful, so enticing. As far as Rose teas go, it was nice. I have had stronger ones, & many weaker ones, & this was a very pleasant cup for me, especially because the flavor was a true rose flavor, not artificial tasting at all.
This was my 2nd cup for my bubble bath, & I chose to have this because the scent of roses can be so soothing, & I’ve been out of sorts today, with a headache & a sense of irritation throughout. These are classic early allergy symptoms for me, including itchy eyes. My oldest daughter, who lives a block away, is having some of the same. I can’t believe we’ve had snow flurries on & off throughout the day, & some kind of allergen in the air already. This tea offered the cup of soothing that I needed.
Thank you Ysaurella, for another lovely tea!
This was one of my 2 bubble bath teas this evening, & it is quite nice! I enjoy the mellow smokiness of Keemun, & the fruity & floral flavors with it were very nicely balanced.
On the way to get the Harp, I got a speeding ticket. Dammit!
On my way home I found myself craving this! I love that German Chocolate cake essence. It’s not so much in the taste, as in the aroma, I think, & it includes the nuts, coconut, & caramel that my mom used to frost the cake with (I’m sure everyone used that same frosting, it is what MADE the cake, right?). It’s also in the lingering aftertaste, which I love.
Anyway, I’m headed back out the door to visit my Chiro, & then get a few groceries. I’ll return to steepings of this tea when I get home, something worth coming home to.
I had to go pick up a Harp that is being donated to UMSL, the university where I teach Harp. It’s a sweet, very well cared for older instrument, & is now in my house. I’ll call the music secretary & get her to order a set of strings, & then the harp re-stringing extravaganza will begin!
I wanted a cup of bold & malty assam for my drive to get the Harp, & this one, which is rapidly reaching sipdown level, hit the spot.
2nd tea of the morning, brewed in the cup: 1 min, 2 min, 3min, 4min steeps
I’m on my 4th steep.
This is not a particularly bold brew. I upped the leaf from 2 t to 1 T, and I’ve concluded that maybe I’ll try a longer steep next time. I’m also tempted to cram my Gaiwan full of leaf & do short steeps there.
That’s not to say that this is flavorful, because it is tasty, very mild, but tasty. There is an incense sensation in my sinus, my tongue is tingling, the Chaqi in this tea is wild & beautiful. So maybe I should just keep doing what I’m doing with it, LOL!
I usually start the day with a slam dunk bold tea of some sort, but today I started off with this one because…well, the leaves from yesterday just weren’t really steeped out all the way yet. Not bold, but gentle & flavorful!
I’ve been drinking this for the last couple of hours of teaching, & it is a really nice one. I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer the roasted oolongs over the green ones most of the time.
This one makes me think of sweet summer stone fruit today.
Sipdown!
I love chrysanthemum tea, so I’m amazed this lasted as long as it did on my shelf, & really it’s only because I had so many other teas & forgot about it for awhile.
