83

A sample from the original sample order. It was in my “white tea” box, or rather carton, and as I’ve mentioned I seem to have a hard time figuring out when to drink white teas so they tend to get short shrift. I’ll be trying to make it up to them over the next few days.

I’m not following the TeaFrog directions. Instead, I’m using the Breville suggested temperature and steeping time for white tea.

In the packet there is a smell that could be blueberry. It’s definitely fruity, and it also smells vaguely like incense. The leaves are stupendously large and twisty, with (my favorite) cornflowers very bluely strewn through the mix.

The tea aroma definitely has a blueberry note, with that incense one as well. It’s slightly wine-like, too. The liquor is a gorgeous tawny gold color.

Yum. It reminds me a little of the GM Persian Melon white tea, mostly because it’s a flavored white, I guess. But it’s different, too. It doesn’t have the fermented winey note in the taste that the GM had. The tea base is earthy rather than winey. It definitely tastes of blueberries, though. It’s got much more berry flavor than the only other (somewhat) blueberry I have to compare it to, Tazo Berryblossom White. I eat a ton of blueberries, usually with breakfast cereal, and this has almost the same aftertaste as the real thing.

Though I hesitate only because I am having trouble finding time to drink the white tea I have now, I think this one is a keeper.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

4 min sounds reasonable, but 185 seems HOT!

__Morgana__

Yeah, there appears to be quite a variation in opinions of what the steeping temp should be. I have basically given up trying to get it right. Lol.

Ricky

Hmmm a good blueberry tea! I might have to try this one.

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Comments

Cofftea

4 min sounds reasonable, but 185 seems HOT!

__Morgana__

Yeah, there appears to be quite a variation in opinions of what the steeping temp should be. I have basically given up trying to get it right. Lol.

Ricky

Hmmm a good blueberry tea! I might have to try this one.

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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