2816 Tasting Notes

85
drank Thé des Moines by Palais des Thés
2816 tasting notes

This tea came in my Le Palais de Thes sample pack so I’m trying it this morning. Steeped in regular teapot method.

It is nice – a slightly sweet tea with calendula and a bit of bergamot. Sometimes bergamot can overwhelm me but it isn’t too much in this blend. I’m guessing the base for this is a ceylon? It definitely seems like a light bodied tea. It’s nice plain but it also takes a bit of soymilk well. Overall, fairly good but I can’t picture myself buying a full tin of it.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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68
drank Sakura Allure by Teavana
2816 tasting notes

Lots of fruit in this blend and only a little bit of hibiscus which makes it better than many of Teavana’s fruit flavored teas. Would probably be a really good iced tea. I don’t mind it but it’s not on the list of stuff to repurchase.

CHAroma

I love the llama pic! Is that new (or new-ish)?

TeaBrat

I put the photo up a month or two ago – the llama is a resident at the Stanford Inn BY the Sea in Mendocino, CA. :)

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90
drank Honeybush Spice by Custom
2816 tasting notes

Here you have it folks. My own custom herbal blend which includes plain honeybush (purchased in bulk from herb store), ginger root (cut open from a teabag), and a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Add soymilk (or whatever you prefer) and serve. Might be good with a bit of cinnamon too. It’s really so easy to make your own flavored herbal tea.

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94
drank Loose Leaf Liu Bao by PuerhShop.com
2816 tasting notes

I had never heard of Liu Bao tea until I found it on the PuerhShop.com website… and since this is my first Liu Bao I don’t know if it is good or bad compared to other ones.

I found this little article on Red Circle tea about how Liu Bao is made incase you’re interested: http://www.redcircletea.com/blog/?p=183

Anyway, onto the tea, this comes in a paper bag, excellent, no plastic always a bonus! I guess this tea is good when it’s aged as well, which means it’s probably better to store it in paper so it has a chance to breathe. The dry leaf does look a bit like a loose leaf pu-erh and I did pick up on some camphor notes just from smelling this in the bag.

I am steeping this gong fu style and I am really just loving it! There’s a slight hint of camphor here and the tea has some interesting notes similar to pu-erh, like woodsy and earthy but is much lighter, with excellent sweetness and a round mouthfeel. A bit of fruitiness is lingering there in the background. And I wish I wasn’t still a bit congested because I’m sure there are some things present here which I can’t even pick up on yet.

I will definitely be re-ordering this, very nice!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec
erichbenoit

I just adore a good liu bao. the one I posted about from Camellia Sinensis was particularly lovely, very clean… I have some more on the way at the moment, a raw version. From what I understand Liu Bao has both cooked and raw versions like pu’er. I will be checking this one out as well now.

TeaBrat

nice! Where did the raw one come from? I will for sure be looking for others.

erichbenoit

finepuer.com, who notes it as green. I have had one that was akin to shu pu, and some bao an liu an which reminded of an aged green. chawang shop also stocks a lot of liu an, liu bao, anhua hei cha, etc… I am hoping to place an order with them asap, as they also have a na ka cake i’ve been romancing in my head for a few weeks. :)

TeaBrat

awesome – thanks for the tips. you are a bad influence on me! j/k! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the green one.

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74

Generally speaking I try to reuse my tea tins so if I have a tea that’s sitting in an envelope and an empty tin, I will move it over. I emptied my Rishi Ginger Pu-erh this morning and decided to put this tea in it, but also realized I’ve never logged it or rated it. Heavens!!! My boyfriend brought this back from London last fall.

The dry leaf is dark and twisted in the style of a formosa oolong and I can see bits of flower petals and orange peel in this blend. I have done a few short steeps in the gaiwan this morning.

The tea steeps up to be a very light amber color and the orange element is very strong in this blend. I am also getting the flowers but I am not sure what they are, orange blossom flowers, perhaps? It’s difficult to tell what role the oolong is playing here but I believe it is lending a few roasty peach notes which are nice and pleasant. This has a very sweet aftertaste, which is a little bit too much for me unfortunately. It almost seems like there’s sugar already in it… I think I could have done with a little more oolong and a little less flavoring in this one.

I think I will have to try this cold brewed, and perhaps it would be nice with a touch of lemon to offset the sweetness a bit.

Angrboda

I’ve bought a number of different tins, but I also always keep the tins if a tea is sold in one, so sometimes I really have more tins than I know what to do with. Small tins are super-practical for swapping, though. It confuses the boyfriend sometimes, because he sometimes don’t feel he can trust what it contains is what it says on the tin. Apparently the paper labels I stick in between the tin and the lid can be really hard to see, even if they are always turned so that they point forwards… :p I tend not to tin stuff that comes in ziplock pouches though, but I’ve been wondering if I ought to. It seems unnecessary, but I just kinda prefer a tin to a pouch.

TeaBrat

I usually just tape the label from the envelope onto the old tin, but I don’t have any that are super small either…

Angrboda

I tend to just squeeze a piece of paper in, because I don’t want to deal with the glue, at least not on my larger tins. When swapping with the small ones (the little sickly green ones from Adagio samples) I usually use glue-y labels so that it can’t fall off in shipping.

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85

It’s a sipdown for me!!! WooT!

Ha – I enjoy this blend a lot and have gone through 3 cans in a year, it’s the best for zapping stomach aches and chills and is just very warming, nice for the San Francisco fog. Most likely will repurchase again someday but I may try mixing my own with ginger with the pu-erhs I have to see what happens. :)

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90
drank Ginger by Triple Leaf Tea
2816 tasting notes

What can I say, it’s 100% Ginger root in a teabag. If you don’t like gInger, don’t even go here…

It’s good for sick people tho! And when I am feeling better I plan to mix it with other things, like green or black tea… I happen to love ginger myself. :)

ScottTeaMan

ME LUV GINGER TOO. :))

SunnyinNY

Same here! I’ll have to try this one.

TeaBrat

I got mine at a health food store. :)

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99

I still can’t taste much but I know these are still yummy – lol. See my previous notes. :))

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94

Treating myself to this today in the hopes that it will rev up my immune system… and I finally got a thermometer from Sur La Table so I know I’m steeping this one correctly at 175 F.

it’s one of the things I would actually repurchase again from Teavana and $12 is not a bad deal for a tin of this.

It’s sweet and vegetal with a brothy, nutty quality – yummmy! (see my previous notes)

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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This tea came in my gift set from Palais de Thes – I could not find it on the American site, only on the British one. Is the name too risque for us yanks?

In any case my taste buds are off today so I’m not going to rate this one for now. I started taking MSM which is working wonders for my foot pain but has also given me something of a dry mouth this morning, and I might be getting a cold which isn’t helping either. This is a nice blend of green and black tea along with a very strong fruity element. This one smells great in the tube. I don’t have much experience with green and black blends but so far I am really liking it. The fruit seems good in this blend, it’s refreshing but not tart.

I hope to post a better review if and when I am feeling more normal! :)

Ninavampi

Hope you start feeling better soon! When I was taking MSM it was suggested that I take a glucosamine supplement because it helped with the side effects. It helped me a bunch! I think they sell MSM and Glucosamine as a single supplement now. It might be worth a try! : )

TeaBrat

Thanks – I will check out the glucosamine as well. :) I can’t believe my doctor didn’t recommend it but MDs in this country only want to give you things you need a prescription for.

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Profile

Bio

My profile pic is of a pink dahlia at Golden Gate Park.

Hobbies include: tea, making art, animals, vegan things, buddhism, nature, creativity, books, writing, cooking, meditation, yoga.

I am a fan of many different teas but my favorites are blacks and oolongs, chai, also like darjeeling and pu-erh. I’n always learning and expanding my horizons!

Dislikes include: bergamot, jasmine, highly tannic or bitter teas, overly judgmental and bitter people. :)

Live in San Francisco, I’m a SINK (single income, no kids) and love the urban life, but traveling out to the middle of nowhere is always fun too.

I tend to not drink things I know I will hate so a lot of my tea ratings are on the higher side. Here’s my rating system, sorta

95-100 I love this tea and would like to keep it around

94-90 An excellent tea which I may or may not repurchase

89-80 Pretty good, above average

79-70 Acceptable

69-60 Mundane – Will probably drink it if I have it

59-50 Ick

49 and below Nasty

Location

San Frandisco

Website

http://sanfrantea.teatra.de

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