Ze_Teamaker

I had some of this at work. It might be because I had to work a 6.5 hour day with no break and was able to take a 10 to eat something, so anything would taste good, but I didn’t find this to be too bad. It just kinda taste like Lipton tea with a lemony after taste; thought that is probably the citric acid use to preserve it.

Basically I wouldn’t always reach for it or want it at all. However if you want just a plain brisk unsweetened tea, it’s not bad. At least it wasn’t super astringent.

Why did I give this tea a lowish rating before? This tea is so awesome. The first note was on the first or second steep that I made. Throughout the day I keep steeping it, and steeping, and more steeping…….AND STILL MORE STEEPING FROM THAT ONE LITTLE BATCH!!! I think I got up to like 10 steeps, and probably could have kept going. What is really nice too is that the tea flavor morphed a little bit every steep. The early ones had a lot of goji, vegey, and a hint of citrus in them. But in the later ones it was more clean, crisp, and floral. The Frankincense was coming out more to; I don’t know how to describe the flavor and I am going of memory rite now, but it is kinda flowery menthol.

I went ahead and bought 2 ounces of this along with others today and can’t wait for it to arrive!

Story Time: Even though my tea budget is non existent at this point I persuaded myself to buy a couple of Sheng cakes from Verdant tea. I got 1 Lao Tong Zhi 2011 Sheng Mini-Cake and 1 Lao Tong Zhi Old Growth 2012 Sheng; also I signed up for the tea club. I picked these because I love spicy,smokey, woody tea’s and old tree ones. I really wanted to also get the Shu Old Comrades 2011 brick, but my tea budget wouldn’t let me……damn. It sounded so awesome too. Hopefully I can convince my mom to go halvesies with me so i can get a regular tea order from them. I need my Zhu Rong and that Yu Lu Yan Cha black sounds interesting!!!

Tea Time:
Dear, Bagged Tea companies

Please stop telling people to pour boiling water over tea bags that have Green or White tea in them. Doing so is just wrong and bad, and you should feel bad.

When I saw this tea come through my line at work, I knew I had to try it. I love eggnog, but can’t drink a lot because it is fattening.

I must say I was at first worried how artificial this would taste. I mean it is eggnog flavored tea… I found thought that this tasted pretty good. It wasn’t as artificial or fakey as I thought it would be. It has that same warm malty creamy flavor like eggnog. It made a nice orangey clearish liquor and smelled just like eggnog spices! It was fine plain, but when I added a little Baileys(non-booze) White Spice creamer and it was unreal; though any creamer would work. It was good warm, but became a little bit more richer when it cools. I can see it being a good iced tea.

I would recommend anyone who loves eggnog to give this one a try.

P.S. The back say’s that it is naturally flavored and is a green/black tea mix.

Specfics:

Water: 20oz
Teabags: 2
Pot: Glass
Sweetener: a little under 1TBL in a 16oz mug
Creamer: Not needed but enhances it

UGH! I CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS SEMESTER TO BE OVER SO I CAN LOG IN MY TEAS!!! I have a lot to log in. I at least want to log in this one today.

I have had this sample pack lying around for a little bit and need to start drinking my other ones. I did the normal brew reconmedations from the site.

First thing first, I normally dislike Jasmine. I find it to be to per fumy for my taste and dominating in flavor. Verdant Tea, however, seems to have mastered how to use the flavor so it is not dominating or overly perfumy.

The flavor of the tea is crisp, effervescent spice tingle, and the perfect touch of aromatic floral. The bergamont flavor is light but present and works well with vegetal like tea base.

Also another plus is that the tea is fine on it’s own with out any sweetener.

I wish I had more time to write about this tea and others, but for now this will have to due.

P.S. Sorry for the misspellings.

I have so many tea’s I need to log about. DARN YOU TIME!!!

Anyways I am just drinking a bit of this before I get ready to see THE WHO IN CONCERT!!!! YEAAAAAAH! I can’t freaken wait; I get to see my idols in person up close!!!

Here is one of the songs they will play: they are playing Qadrophenia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pohhMx9EdNc

Story Time:Well it’s hurricane party weather, but since I don’t really drink, I am going to try to get threw by tea samples I have been meaning to finish.

Tea Time: This one was given to me by Awkward Soul. Thanks for the sample!

The dry leaf smells lightly like red hots…. ME GUSTA! The liquor is a nice royal golden yellow and smells still like red hots, but slightly savory.

No sweetner: pleasantly grassy and with some mild spice warm flavor and a hint of bitter.

Little sweetener: Kinda the same but less bitter.

More sweetener: should havn’t added as much as I did. It does taste a little more like red hots with a pinch of savory.

The thing I like about this tea is that the spice level isn’t exaggerated. It won’t give you hot lips, but it has a nice savoy warm hue and tongue tingle that makes me love spicy food. It fits well with the green tea base. I would have to give this tea nickname, I would call it mexican; if only I had a burrito to compliment it right now.

Overall a nice cupa tea. Very warming and savory. I only wish I brewed it hotter.

I would recommend this to mild spice people or spicy flavor lovers.

P.S. What is currently playing on my YouTube playlist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcmDhG0YhgI&feature=autoplay&list=PL0F4F1D0F36A715C1&playnext=2

Story Time:You know you are a Floridian when there is a hurricane off the coast, it’s rainy and super windy, yet your like, “pff like I care, I need sandwich materials. TO THE STORE!!!” Still need to back log other tea stuff too.

Tea Time: I bought this a little while back and have tried it one time before. I feel bad for not liking it more.

Dry and wet it smells like sleepy time tea. Must be the spearmint. However, when it is wet it smells more chocolaty and cinnamony + STT. The flavor is STT with nice under tones of cocoa and cinnamon. I kinda wish this didn’t have spearmint. Just as soon as I am starting to get rich chocolate, cinnamony flavor, the spearmint pops up and interrupts me. It is sleepy time tea mixed with cinimon and cocao. I do find though that brewing it in a 16 ounce batch is better; it seems more fuller.

Overall, it is a nice tea, but not what I was expecting. I would recommend this to anyone that likes minty teas.

P.S: It gets bonus points for being sweet without sugar.

P.S.2: I have been listing to this along with some other Gorillaz songs. I am suprise home much I like them; I don’t normally like rap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5MWCnKeH2s&list=PL0F4F1D0F36A715C1&index=85&feature=plpp_video

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Specifics:
Water: 2 cup infusions
Leaf: 4 tsp.
Pot: glass
Sweetener: 1 tblsp? for the whole 2 cups

Had some of this in the morning with a pumpkin muffin from 7-11; who I must say has some REALLY good tasting bakery and fresh snack stuff. I did a normal pot brew with a little bit of what was left of my agave nectar…(notices the bottle is now empty). NOOOOO!!!!! Well time to buy more.

This tasted way better then it did before. I add a little bit of brown sugar for flavor and it completed it. I think I am going to have to buy some darker agave nectar for this one. Mmmmmh, pumpkin…..

Story Time:I really need to find time for stuff. Guitar, hanging with friends, school work, ect. I just can’t wait till the house is back to normal. I think that will help tremendously.

Tea Time:I can’t believe how fast my order got to me; and for 5 bucks! I think I put in for it on Thursday and I got it on Monday! I just love the cut little orange tin too!

Ok, one problem that I have found with this tea is that it can be a bit weak and washy. However when I add in the pumpkin cream from Culinary tea’s it is awesome.

Normally I do a normal pot brew, but after reading how everyone said it was way better brewed chai style I decided to give it a try. I did 4 cups water with half a cinnamon stick in it and brought it to a boil. Then put it on low and threw in 5 tsp of leaf in and brewed it for 5 minuets. Then I strained the leaves into a pitcher and sweeten it with brown sugar. I did not add milk or cream.

I am starting to think that you can’t drink tea done chai style with out milk or cream. When I drank it it tasted strong, but in a unpleasing way. Almost more like it was concentrated or something. There was also an odd bite to it. Not astringency, but just a weird bite. I tried to make home made black chai yesterday and ran into a similar problem. However, I thought I used to much spice and should just use less spice if I am going to drink it with out creamer. I now think otherwise.

I drank my cup, but got a upset stomach. I think from know on if I am going drink chai strait, I should just stick to the tea pot.

Ok, sadly I don’t have a lot of time to do a good review for this or a lot of other teas sadly. I need to start backlogging and just taking quick notes.

Anyway, I just want to say for know that this tea is AWESOME. I feel like I am drinking chocolaty flowers. It is good warm or cold. Warm is more tea-like in the flavor, if that makes sense. When it cools it is creamy floral chocolate with caramel. This is also a very soft chai, so anyone afraid of spice should not be worried. The spices are delicate and add a nice back drop to the flavor. I can’t wait to do a nice long tasting with this one.

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Specifics
Steep: 4-5? and added 30sec each time.
Water: 16oz each steep
Leaf: about 4 teaspoons
Sweetener: less then half a table spoon per mug
Pot: Glass with brew basket

Back logging in from my notes. I made this for me and my mom Western style. I will do a proper Gonfu one later. She thinks it’s ok, but she really isn’t a green tea person. Neither am I, but I am learning to appreciate it.

1st Steep
Cinnamony tasted with savory undertones and sweet grass flavor and crisp coolness of apples in the aftertaste.
cooled: more creamy and sweet.

2nd Steep
More nutty warm tones. A bit more savory with citrus tang zing. More crisp dry after taste then before. SIP: Wow I really taste lime in the after taste.

3rd Steep
Very light body, and BASIL. LOTS OF BASIL. It is a lot more Vegetal too. It seems to have a light citrus after taste. I really want to eat some Italian food with this. hmmmmm, garlic bread.
Fridge Cold: Nothing special, much better warm.

Overall: The first steep is ok, but the 2ond one is the best. Personally I would combine the 2ond and 3rd steep for the best experience.
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Specifics
Water: 2 cups per steep
Sweetner: none or just a few drops of light Agave
Brew Style: Western
Leaf: 2 tsp
Pot: Glass, with open top

Story Time: Had my first guitar lesson today. I have been take bass ones for years, but I want to learn how to better compose music and play guitar. The guitar teacher my dad told me about is perfect for that. I can’t wait for next weeks lesson.

Tea Time:Made up a big two steep combine batch today. I love this tea when it has been in the fridge and cooled downed. I put in a bit more leaf then normal though and noticed a stronger astringency taste. Next time I will reduce it back.

Story Time: I finally got my Iggy Pop and the Stooges CD in today. I got the original Raw Power CD; before it was horribly remixed. It is a lot less over buzzed and pushed unlike the new one. I just wish I could play it louder so I can get the full effect, but I think my mom is starting to doze off; it is 9:20 PM.

Tea Time: I don’t think I used enough for my first steeping. I tried first using my teaspoon, but I don’t think it will work for this tea. It didn’t have right color and hue has it did online

Steep 1: The smell of the brew is like earthy flowers. First sip was spicy. Almost like cardamom. Next sips are not as spicy, but they sort of cool your tongue and have this buttery floralish taste to it. Is this a maltyness I taste? definitely a product of the ageing, since white tea never has this. This almost taste like a white chia tea. I can taste cloves.
cooled: More maltyness and clove appearing with a buttery floral after taste.
And all this was from not using enough leaf!

Steep 1.1: This almost smells like a black tea. It’s earthy and malty smelling.
This taste malty for sure. It has a sort of spice to it and with a hit of clove. Very smooth and leaves a sweet, crispy floral taste on the tongue. It is almost like a black tea minus the coco or darker bite black tea has.
It has cooled down some now. It isn’t as sparkly or quite as floraly, but the malty is showing through more. Going to put this in the freezer to cool it down more…
Way more malty. I can still taste a bit of clove. This is not crispy anymore, but more smooth and buttery. It is like a black tea without the astringency or darker tones. SIP: do I detect some clovey coco? Hmmm….. I can’t tell if I like it cool or hot. Must test more

Steep 2: This smells almost like coco….. MADNESS! The liquor is Yellower as well.
hmmm… I can’t taste an uber difference. Though it cooled a little more that I liked. This is starting to have an unusual mix of black and white tea quality’s. Malty, clovey, earthy, sweet, tingly, floral, crisp. SIP: I made sure to try to breath in and sip. I am getting the faintest of coco malt from it. My tongue feels like it has a pinch of spice put on it, but not heat spice, sting spice.

more luke warm/cool: less flora sparkle, but more malt.

Later on: My tongue almost feels the same way after I drank the zhu rong. Sort of savory and cyan.

Cold: More of a malt taste with a strong clove and earthiness. It seems that when this cools it gets more malty and aged flavor. It also seems to have a bit of spice sort of to it. SIP: wow really strong malt and clove. Like a punch to the face. Not sure if I like it or not.

Steep 3: Seems more sweet and floral with clove malt mixed in. Dang, I burnt the tip of my tongue. I hope this doesn’t hurt my tasting. SIP: Still seems more floral and crispy with less malt. It seems sort of i don’t know, grainy… ricey. It’s luke warm now. Malty grain is there, but with what seems to be a bit more floral.
Cold: Not nearly as clovey as the other cold brew. It has a little bit more noticeable floralness to it. Very sweet and sliky. It almost seems to have a strong earthy malty……and even coco like after taste. I would say that the taste is more of a expected white tea, but with the maltyness of dark tea. Definitely taste more grainy as well. Interesting……..

Steep 4: Smell more floral
Starting to get more of a classic white tea taste. Very crispy floral and has a hint of clove. SIP: Still more expected white tea taste, yet slightly deeper.
More luke warm now. I am getting a bit more malt and semolina flavor. It also leaves a sweet and savory after taste. SIP: The clove and malty is becoming more pronounced. My tongue still has this spicy tingle on it. I am also getting some honeysuckle as well in the after taste
I am noticing Luke warm is more like a mix of it being hot and cold; it is a lot less clovey.

Cold: The clove once again is very pronounced. However there is hints of other floral flavors as well. Also the malt and more pronounced. There is more a of a lingering semolina flavor in the after taste. SIP: Still VERY CLOVEY. I’m not sure if I like this when it is cold. The clove can get to be sickening.

Ok by this point I think I am tea drunk and sick. I didn’t eat anything before I started, since I thought it might hurt my pallet. However I hadn’t eaten anything in a while. Ugh, my stomach hurts a little and my eyes feel glazy. It is because of this that I decided to stop and eat some pretzels and do a weird brewing session. Sometimes with teas like this I will brew them for a long time to extract all the liquor from them and get a supper over infused cup. I know this sounds blasphemous, but sometimes it works…… sometimes it doesn’t.

Steep 5: After brewing for 25 minutes in a makeshift gaiwan in about 8-9ish ounces:
This smells is like a black tea…..hmmm
With no sweetener: The liquor color is a clear light brown…. Interesting. This taste like a black tea, but with clove and not as deep, and with a little astringency.
Sweeten with agave: Taste more like a black tea, but the bitter astringency is gone. It’s definitely clovey. It is like black tea, but less strong, yet not washed out. A lot stronger coco malt as well. Very smooth…

Overall I am very intrigued by this tea. It has such potential that when I can I am going to buy a cake to age it more to enhance its flavor. I must say that the whole time I was tasting this though I kept thinking how this would taste if used for a chai or with a added fruit flavor. Something to help complement its’ profile.

P.S. The Liquor become yellower with every infusion. Also the wet leaf smells like a black tea with bits of coco.

I would recommend this to pu’er lovers and white tea lovers

Unrelated: This is one of my favorite songs from the Album I bought
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPyUXb2QwDM&list=PL0F4F1D0F36A715C1&index=70&feature=plpp_video

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Specifics
Used a mug covered with a saucer as a gaiwan; and would pre heat before brewing.
Water amount: About 6 ounces for all but the last infusion.
Leaf: um I think 5 grams, or close to that.
Steepings: Fallowed the directions from the site except for the last one.
Sweetener: non except for the last.

Story Time: School is still going pretty well, even though I don’t have a lot of time to make tea like I did over the summer. meh… I am kinda mad that one of my graphic design classes is a dud. The teacher doesn’t really know what he is doing./rages\ At least the other ones are good.

Tea Time: I have had this sample from Azzrian for a while, but kept forgetting to post a note about it.
The smell of this is your typical nice and true EC smell…hmmm. The liquor is more of a brownish color then red; and smells like a typical EC. This one is defiantly more of a light EC flavor. It does have a sort of odd sour aftertaste. Overall it is a good simple Earl Grey. Not spectacular, but good and simple.

Overall I would recommend this to someone who likes lighter Earl Greys.

P.S. This song has been stuck in my head lately for some reason. At least I know got around to buying the album…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPyUXb2QwDM&feature=g-vrec

P.S.2: Thanks Azzrian for the sample
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Specifics
Water: 28 ounces
Pot: Glass
Leaf: 3 tsp
Sweetener: almost 1 tbsp for a 10 oz mug

Story Time: School just started up again last week. I think this semester won’t be too bad. Most of the classes I have are in graphic design. It has been raining and gray for the past few days now thanks to the storm out in the gulf. I don’t mind the rain(I like it), but when i goes on for so long I get sooooo lazy.

Tea Time: This awesome sample was from Will Work For Tea
Being a coconut lover I was really excited to try this tea. The smell of this is like smelling a bag of sweeten coconut flakes…..YESTH! The leaf makes a really nice reddish liquor as well. OMG This smells and taste like drinking sweeten coconut shavings mixed with cream. IT IS SOOO GOOD!!! The only thing that is holding it back is that i don’t really taste the pie crust or something like that.

Overall I would highly recommend this to someone who is a coconut lover.

P.S. You can get two good steepings from this.

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Specifics
Leaf: 2.5oz
Water: 28oz
Pot: Glass
Sweetener: about 1 tbsp light agave per 14 oz glass

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Story Time: Well I have experienced food poisoning for the first time. I ate some of my left over stir fry that I think was a day or two past prime. For that night and to late after noon I was suuuuper nausea’s. Luckily I felt good enough to eat tonight, but man that was not fun. I think I am going to wait to make my stir fry again though for a while.

Tea Time: My Verdant tea order came in today. Even though I was not going to buy any more tea so i can get WHO tickets, as soon as I saw the email from Verdant Tea saying that they had sample sizes, the impulse was just to great to ignore. This one was the sample sent with it. It is funny cause I was planning on trying this one, but was going to have to wait due to money constraints. Maybe David is psychic…

The tea leaves look really interesting. I have never seen white tea look like this before; then again i don’t normally drink white tea. The smell of the leaf is light, but crisp.

I was a little nervous when I noticed that the liquor had no color when it was done brewing; but i had to remember that this is white tea of course. The liquor itself smelled crisp and a little dewy….ohhhh.

The first sip of this warm was good, but not OMG! However, I figured this would be better cooler then warmer so I let it set for a bit. I am glad I did. This tastes soooooo refreshing. Very sparkly on the tongue and taste like dew off of pine needles, and taste like how a summer rain smells. The after taste is great. It leaves this cooling dewy sensation in your mouth.

This is a highly addicting tea. I have been make a half and hour long brews from this tea. I am leaving the rest in a mug to cold brew over night to see what comes of it.

I have been intriged by the concept of pu erd white tea. I must say I think it adds a nice level of earthy fullness to white. I diffidently will be trying Verdant Tea’s other pu erd white tea and the alchemy mix with this tea.

I would recommend this tea to white tea lovers and anyone interested in trying a white pu er.

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Specifics
Water: 8 oz steepings
Pot: Make shift Gaiwan
Sweetener: sometimes a couple of drops, but not really needed.

I added a stick of cinnamon and a few cloves to this before I took my brother to night class. (currently waiting in the lobby for it to end). The adding of the spices really added to and awakened this tea’s potential. It really taste like pumkin pie minus the crust. And oh the creaminess…. (K^>)

No notes yet.

Story Time: Ok ever since I heard that The Who was going to be playing in Orlando I have been wanting to get tickets. At this point though I am determined to get the two floor seats that are available. I have been selling off all my old college books and other stuff on Craigslist; which is going pretty well.

On a tea note I was going to get a Brown Betty teapot, but getting those tickets is the priority now. Also I want to thank Verdant Tea’s for making individual sample sizes of their tea. I have been wanting to try their tea for so long now, but lacked the funds. Now I just need to find a good Gaiwan to test them in.

Tea Time
I got this awesome sample in a tea trade with Will Work For Tea.

The dry leaf smells very creamy and like pumpkin from the can with a minor sent of sour cream… interesting. It brews up a nice golden tan color too. The smell of it though is a bit odd. It smells very strongly of sour cream to me; the taste does not. ZOMG this tea is SUPER CREAMY!!! Very smooth and velvet and leaves a soft feel in the mouth. The flavor is not really a pumpkin spice, but more like a pumpkin and cream shake mixed with tea and a little pinch of spice. I can’t wait to try this with a cinnamon stick in it.

If you are a fan of TF2 you have to listen to this…. or even if your not, it is epic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbNwvQXkYrY&list=LLVE6XBMoZYemnrtOIql1QLw&feature=mh_lolz

Over all I would recommend this tea to people who want a really creamy and un-spicy pumpkin flavor

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specifics
Water: 28oz
Pot: Glass
Sweetener: almost 1 tbsp in a 10oz mug
Leaf: 3 tsp

First cup of the day. I have never had a Pu’erh tea before so I was excited to try it. Thanks Awkward Soul for sending me this sample.

I did notice a odd salty smell from the dry leaf and liquor, but the ginger was the most prevalent. The liquor it made was a deep dark velvety red….yumm. It tastes very earthy and smooth with a nice and not over powering flavor of zingy ginger. It’s like black tea, but without the sharpness and astringency it can have. I defiantly must try some other pu’erh in the future.

P.S. I know i should have done a blanch, but I didn’t cause I didn’t think it was needed…

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Specifics
Water:28OZ
Pot:Glass
Sweetener: almost 1/2 tbs in a 12oz mug
Leaf: 2 1/2 tsp

The last of the Tea samples. I can’t wait till they open so I can buy some!

This made a nice brownish liquor and it smelled like a good chai tea. The bag has a lot of spices and ginger bits mixed in……YAY! The taste is a really smooth, and not overpowering spicy flavors. The ginger was the most pronounced in my opinion; coarse I did steep for a long period. I like the ginger taste though, it tasted kinda like spicy ginger hard candy.

I think out of all the samples, this one and the lavender Earl Grey are my favorites. I diffidently will buy some when they come out.

Overall I would recommend this tea to someone who likes lighter chais or Ginger Chais.

P.S. I mixed this with the Irish breakfast and got another decent steeping out of it.

First Tea of the day before work…. blah.

The smell of this is kinda like Liptons, but with a hint of coco. It also makes a nice reddish brown liquor. The taste is what I expected. Your basic malty black tea, but with a little ity bit of coco after taste. It is not very astringent, which is nice.

I am not going to rate it cause personally I don’t care for Irish or English breakfast teas. They are good for mixing in flavors(I put a cina disk in mine), but they are just to boring for me. It is not bad though.

Overall I would recommend this to someone who likes malty, or breakfast teas.