2816 Tasting Notes
I’m sorry to say this one was a bit disappointing to me after the name of coconut macaroon because I really wanted it to taste more macaroon-y!
The smell of this is totally divine in both the dry leaf and the brewed tea. But the flavor is a bit weak, it’s a nice green rooibos blend that has some slight coconut flavor. I did try this some with soymilk and that improved the flavor a bit but I liked it more when I added a touch of maple syrup. Anyway, that’s already a lot of doctoring up to do. If you like green rooibos, and coconuts and you don’t mind sweetening this a bit it could be perfect for you! I have a whole tin of it now so I will surely find a way to love it more, maybe by adding some rum. :)
Preparation
Do you ever use coconut milk instead of soy? I happen to like it better. Soy makes me feel icky anyway…so if you can try some coconut milk instead. My family history goes way back in S. F. to about the 1830’s at least on my Grandmother’s side and my dad was born there, both grandparents on both sides in the 1906 earthquake too. Now…only my son lives in S. F. But I do love it here in Colorado too. Too bad your dessert coconut macaroon was a disapointment!
I have had coconut milk a few times but we like plain soy milk better esp. for cereal. No doubt this tea would be better with some coconut milk in it!
I love SF but have heard great things about Colorado too, I should go for a visit soon. :)
This is a Rooibos I could learn to like. :)) I always thought Colorado was the prettiest state I’ve seen. NO…….I thought it AND it is. :))
Been to Alaska all over the place and Kawai which are awesome so are the Sierra Nevada’s…but it’s the Mt’s and sky I love here. Come have tea!
This tea came as a free sample with my Lupicia newsletter so why not try it? :)
I have no idea why I’ve been drinking so much green tea today and I only hope I can sleep later on tonight!
This is a teabag and it was steeped at around 170 F for 3 minutes. The peach is very much like a gummy flavor in my opinion. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing though. I’m really not sure about the vanilla in this blend, why does it need to be here, etc. It’s confusing me a bit and vanilla is always a troubling ingredient for me in tea, it tends to taste “fakey”. Overall it’s a nice flavor and pretty refreshing for a flavored green but I’m not sure if I would buy this in the store. It might be really nice as an iced tea.
Preparation
Like others have remarked before me, I really enjoyed the beauty of these curled and slighty fuzzy leaves. The leaf in the bag smells very fresh and vegetal.
I decided to steep this for over 2 minutes, which may have been too much but Chinese green teas can be very light in flavor and I wanted to get more. I think the flavor this reminds me the most of is artichoke. It’s kind of vegetal, a bit nutty and also savory. Someone else remarked on it being like miso soup and it does smell a bit miso like in my opinion. I liked this fairly well, even a bit more than the dragonwell.
I’m having this after lunch and that seems like a good time to drink it. It’s got a very mild astringency that is refreshing to my mouth. Also resteeps fairly nicely.
Preparation
This is really a big cup of YUM – see my previous tasting notes.
I don’t know why more ppl. on Steepster don’t buy from the Tao of Tea!
Preparation
This is the second red tea I’ve had in the last week (the other one was at Taste SF – a local tea place) and I’ve discovered I like them!
This steeps up to be a beautiful reddish-brown and it has a cocoa and cinnamon aroma. I am very intrigued by it since it is made of fermented white tea leaves. It definitely has a smooth and delicate quality but it also a bit malty and chocolate-y, slightly fruity. Reminds me a bit of a golden yunnan… also resteeps well
On a side note I discovered my new $20 Bodum tea for one set is made out of plastic and not glass, and I really don’t like the way tea tastes in plastic… boo
I know, I agree about the Bodum, and they say it doesn’t affect the taste of the tea, but THEY are WRONG! I had the same problem with a Bodum cordless electric teakettle, which I don’t use anymore. ://
In this case, Chinese “red” tea is actually black tea or fully-oxidized tea. They call it “red” because of the color of the infused liquid. Here in the States, the term “red tea” is sometimes used to refer to rooibos because of the color of the oxidized leaves.
Thanks to Teavivre for sending some of this my way as a sample.
I’m really not a fan of smoky teas so this was a hard one for me to review and appreciate. I do like the smoothness here and it definitely is not as smoky as some I’ve had, but for sure my least favorite of their 3 black teas I’ve had the chance to try. It’s really too strong for me. If someone would like to swap for this I will gladly find it a new home to someone who really likes this flavor. :)
Preparation
Amy, I just had a cup of Hao Ya B about an hour ago. Essentially, all teas labeled Keemun Hao Ya are Hao Ya B. I was thinking of how you said you really didn’t care for smoky teas, and thought if you reduced time to 2:30-2:45 you may appreciate them more. Well, I’m glad you were willing to give it the old college try. I do like my Hao Ya B. I’m not a big fan of intense smoky teas, but this one is just right for me if I steep it around 3.5 minutes, slightly below boling. There are less smoky teas out there and maybe you’ll find one you like someday-or maybe not. :))
I think I’ll just give it up…. :)
Amy don’t give up on this one until you drink steeps 2 and 3. I did not like the first either when I first tried it. After the first cup the smoke is gone and what remains is excellent in the later cups. The next time I tried this tea I went 2 minutes or less on the first cup and found I was starting to kind of like the first cup.
KS – thanks, I’ll try it!
Let me know how the multiple steeps go. I’ve never gone multiple with Keemun Hao Ya teas-LOCO maybe but not multiple. :))
Hmm. One thing you can’t help but notice is how strongly this tea smells, in fact I had to take it out of the bag it was in and put it in a ziploc bag and back in the other bag to keep the smell at bay a bit. It’s a very sweet and fruity aroma.
This is a Chinese green tea but I believe it tastes very strongly of the passionfruit flavor, not at all subtle as the description states. It’s a nice combination with the green tea but definitely overwhelms the other ingredients a bit including the flowers. I think this would be great iced for the summer time, regardless. It also seems a bit sweet at the finish, not sure if that’s from the passionfruit flavoring, the marigold or something else. I probably wouldn’t get this one again but I will certainly finish off the ounce I bought.
Preparation
Thanks to Teavivre for providing this sample for me to try!
I’ve tried a few different Dragon Wells now and this definitely seems like one of the better ones. I am really fussy when it comes to green tea and have only found a few that totally knock my socks off.
This is light, vegetal and slightly nutty. Definitely not astringent which is nice! I felt like this brewed up a little too light for my taste even though I used 1 tsb. of leaf in my mug. Perhaps I’ll just never be a real fan of Dragon Wells. I did appreciate the soothing and relaxing quality of this.
