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Thanks to Dinosaura for this sample…

I think I might like darker oolongs better than most people but wasn’t sure what to expect with this. I have been doing my steepings in the gaiwan for around 30 seconds or so.

First steep: very roasted quality, aroma is a bit like burnt sugar and vanilla but flavor is lagging, I don’t think my water was hot enough either

Second steep: the sweetness is starting to come up a bit more along with some nuttiness. reminds me a lot of buckwheat or roasted barley and a bit of the hojicha I had a few days back. There is some tobacco is the aroma for me. Interesting.

Third steep: Very toasty, a bit smoky… I am still getting these burnt sugar/honey like flavors but it isn’t evolving into much more. It does have a bit of a bitter aftertaste…

I’ve enjoyed it but probably is not going to go on the must purchase list. I can’t help but wonder if I would appreciate this more on a cold and rainy day, I think I’ll save the rest of my sample for a time like that. This was fun to try but sadly, I’m losing interest. It tastes like someone charbroiled it, which is kind of the point, really but maybe not what I was in the mood for just now.

This is some very tasty stuff, I had to order some… drinking the loose leaf sample today. See my previous notes. :)

I don’t know why I decided to get this at Peet’s today – it is a lot smokier than I thought it would be, to me it was like a lapsang souchong and I don’t normally like smoky teas that much anyway but I’m trying to expand my horizons, I managed to choke it down.

I actually forgot I had this until I found it in the refrigerator a couple days ago. It is still good but I decided I wanted to cold brew it as an experiment. I think I liked it better hot, when it was cold it reminded me a bit too much of spinach juice. I found some freeze dried blueberries last night at Whole Foods (“Just Blueberries”) and I threw those into the cold brew last night. This morning my green tea is slightly purple and has a very light blueberry flavor. Might have to repeat that experiment again with a less vegetal tea like a white tea.

We finished it off this morning – not terribly thrilling, but an ok English Breakfast blend from TeaGschwender. Now I have to tackle an almost entirely full bag of their Strawberry Cream before my guilty conscience gets the better of me…

Late night at the office tonight…. needed something to keep me going

This is a great little sencha even though it’s in a teabag. Mellow, sweet, flavorful, brothy…. oh my brain is fried right now. I just placed an order with Den’s and I should have included some of these – alas!

Just finishing off the last of what I consider to be an absolutely delicious oolong. will definitely get some more the next time I order something from Rishi.

Thanks to LiberTeas for sending me a sample of this…

I decided to steep this for 3 minutes instead of the recommended five because I just don’t steep white teas for that length of time. I might need to give it a bit of a longer run next time.

I am finding this to be nice and fruity but I’m not sure I’m digging the tequila flavoring some how, it seems to be obfuscating my experience of this blend… This is pretty decent but I appreciated the mango papaya bai mu dan a bit more yesterday. Then again, it’s been ages since I had a margarita and tequila was never my favorite booze. I might need to cold steep the rest of this to see what happens!

I appreciate Frank’s creativity and can hardly wait to see what he comes up with every week!

These are not exactly a favorite of mine in the world of tuo chas… After brewing this was impossible to unfurl and once it did it was full of tiny particles which makes me suspicious that this was something sweeped up off the shop floor and glued together. These are pretty unremarkable aside from the level of camphor and the odor of a murky pond, I even am getting a trace of bitterness this afternoon. I still have about 12 of these so I’m trying to finish them off, albeit slowly. They may accidentally find their way into the compost bin someday…. just sayin’… I didn’t love them when I first got them and it seems as though I am liking them less and less over time. I want my Menghai – bluh.

Thanks to ScottTeaMan for the remainder of this sample!

Okay, I am a little sencha shy, I’ve had the experience of a few that got kind of astringent and made my stomach hurt so I have the tendency to avoid them.

I wanted to be gentle with this so I only steeped it for around 45 seconds at 175 F. I got a very nice golden-yellow color, a bit thick, vegetal, brothy and clean tasting with a nice sweet aftertaste.

I did a second steep at around 160 F and that was also quite good! I like the fact that it is super flavorful but also mild in the finish. Not bitter at all – yay!

I enjoyed this one but since I’ve never seen a sencha quite this color before, if perhaps this tea is a little past its prime? How can you tell? Sorry, I know I should have tried it sooner!