Auggy

I am feeling bold and daring today so I decided to give this one a shot. There was a time that I thought I would never try pu-erh – the idea of it was just too scary. But then Steepster(ites) came along and made me brave enough to try it. I’ve tried a handful of different pu-erhs and don’t hate them, but I haven’t found one that I can really get behind (at least, not a cooked one – I’m kind of loving raw ones so far). I keep trying though! I might be out of luck simply because they all have a taste that I end up mentally calling ‘earth syrup’ and it’s just a little too rich/sweet/thick for me to not feel overwhelmed. But again, I keep trying, so I’m apprehensively excited to be trying this one.

The dry leaf is more ‘hay syrup’ smelling than ‘earth syrup’, but after a quick rinse and then some steeping and the earth comes out. No fishy though, which is another pu-erh smell/taste that can be a bit much for me so the lack of fish equals good. There actually might be a little hint of something spicy in the smell, too, but I’m not exactly sure on that.

Okay, I have to say this first steep is promising. Yes, there is some sweet dirt taste going on but it isn’t thick or heavy enough to reach syrup status. Instead, there is a little almost-Yunnan-like tea taste at the beginning of the sip and a little peppery-type like warmth/spiciness left on my tongue after each sip. The damp dirt sweetness hits in the middle of these two flavors and follows through to the end. And while the tip of my tongue is tingling with spice after the sip, the sweetness expands in the middle of my tongue. The post-sip sweetness is almost into syrup territory thickness but not quite.

Amazingly, I finished off my cup and wasn’t too pu-erh-ed out to avoid more steeping! Second Steep (4:00) is sweet and smooth and edges a bit more towards earth syrup but still doesn’t feel too heavy. I’m thinking the peppery warmth has increased a bit but that could be residual lunch after-spice (but I don’t think so since sipping seems to increase it).

And I’m still up for another steep, so Steep Three (5:00)! It actually tastes a lot like the last steep. Smooth, earthy sweet but not heavy enough to be syrupy. Not as much depth of flavor as steep one and I’m not getting so much of the hint of spicy, but it’s still good.

Fourth Steep (6:00)! Mild, sweet but a little lighter/thinner than the last two steeps and more closely matching the first steep (but without the pepper tingle).

Honestly, I wouldn’t be adverse to taking this tea a bit farther (which is kind of amazing since it is a pu-erh and usually I’m done pretty early in the resteeping process) but I just finished a HUGE blog post about my Hawaii trip (http://pinkness.danzimmermann.com/2010/10/mia-ness-over.html) so I feel the need to celebrate and relax with something green so I’m going to call this tea done. I’m also going to leave this unrated for a little contemplation time. The fact that this never hit earth syrup is huge for me so I actually can say that this is a cooked pu-erh I really like. Shocking, I know. But now the question is: how much do I like this? Will I start craving it’s slightly lighter pu-erh profile? Is this enjoyable enough to break through my anti-cooked-pu-erh mindset to where I would actually buy it? That’s what I need to figure out so no rating for now, but it’s definitely a 75 or over.

Additives in this one? Make me happy. Not as sweet as I thought, but the creamy + candied bergamot is tasty with other stuff added and the lack of tea-ness in the flavor doesn’t really bother me like it did when drinking this straight. It’s similar to yesterday’s Upton’s Devonshire EG but the bergamot responds better to milk (doesn’t get all perfume-y) in this one so I like it a touch more.

So it’s official – good Keemuns are really good! Adagio’s Anhui, Chicago Tea Garden’s, Jackee Muntz and this one – they’re all a little bit different but they’re all good. They each have similar notes of rye and sweet and smoke but in different strengths and proportions. Adagio’s and CTG seem to sit on one side of the spectrum for me with softer, smoother notes and lots of complexity. Jackee sits on the other end, representing the Keemuns with a stronger, more straight-forward flavor and texture and oh yeah, if the stars align, major sweet-in-the-form-of-caramel notes.

This one strikes me as sitting pretty much in the middle of that spectrum, with some delightful characteristics of the Keemuns to either side. The dry leaves smell sweet and slightly smoky, which somehow combines to give me the strong impression of chocolate – more milk than dark, but listing slightly towards the dark side. Post-steeping, the smell is slightly smoky, rich and silky, with a bit of a dark grain/yeasty note that is too sweet to be bready and instead translates into almost crème brulee-ish. You might see where I’m going with this…

The taste is lovely. Not quite as complex as CTG’s or Adagio’s Anhui Keemun but still with that overall gentle smoky taste and almost-bready/grain-ish/woodsy solid note. Then a bit of stars-aligned Jackee pops up in the insanely smooth and silky feel. The end taste is especially smooth with no hint of a raw or acrid note that a lot of Keemuns seem to have. Instead, it’s silky, rounded and heavy. If this tea was a shape (other than, you know, the shape of whatever container you pour it in to) it would be a large, frictionless, dark garnet sphere – that’s how smooth it feels going down. It also has a strong sweet note – not quite as sweet as full-on-caramel-mood Jackee, but sweet enough that, combined with the thicker grain-ish/yeasty/solid note and the smooth, decadent feel, it makes me think a bit of crème brulee or custard.

Ultimately, I like the edge and greater complexity of CTG’s and Adagio’s Anhui Keemun just a hair more (a very tiny hair, in fact) but this is a really good tea. Those that find non-caramel Jackee a bit strong would probably really enjoy this one, especially the sweet notes and silky feel. Actually, anyone that enjoys Keemuns would probably like this one unless you tend to go for rougher, rawer feeling/tasting Keemuns – it’s truly delightful.

A big thanks to Angrboda for the share!

Trying it with additives this time, just ‘cause I can. Looking back over my previous tasting note, I was concerned that sugar would make it too sweet and milk might kill some of the flavors. And yeah, that’s basically it. I added maybe half a teaspoon of sugar to my 10oz but it’s surprisingly sweet. And the milk takes away the candied citrus aspect of things and turns it more into a perfume-y EG flavor which isn’t near as fun. But it’s still not bad, I just like it more straight.

I love how this one smells so I’ve been anxious to try it – it’s vanilla-creamy with a splash of creamsicle-like orange. And I’m a sucker for anything orange, so yeah. Post-steeping the smell is awesome. It reminds me (what I remember) of SpecialTea’s Earl Grey de la Crème, which I really enjoyed (though it has been years since I’ve had it).

Additive-less, the initial sip seems a little sharp but the aftertaste is sweet and creamy. Mmm. A few sips in, the sharpness evens out and I’m left with smooth, creamy, sweet but not overly Earl Grey-y tea. The citrus bit pops up mostly at the end of the sip and is nice and bright but sweet in a way that doesn’t really scream citrus fruit so much as fruit-like candy. It’s nicely sweet but I almost want to add sugar to fully realize the dessert potential of this tea.

Ultimately, this falls more in the dessert tea category for me than Earl Grey category, but that’s okay because I like the dessert tea category a lot. I have a feeling I’ll really fall in love with this one when I put in some sugar and milk (and thus the rating might go up).

Going on vacation totally messed with my normal tea-drinking schedule so I’m happy to get back home if only for the chance to dig back into some teas I’ve been wanting to try. (Mind you, lack of my regular tea brewing ability was about the only thing close to negative for my vacation and the beach being half a block from my apartment? Made it fairly worth it.)

This one is another sample provided by Arbor Teas. I generally enjoy Yunnans lots so I’m looking forward to it. The smell of the dry leaf is nicely promising – sweet and malty and thick and yummy. Mmm. The steeped tea has the same great smell but with an added creamy undertone and something almost red-wine-like.

Initially, the taste struck me as a bit watery and thin on the front end; sweetness and malt and a hint of tasty (tasty, mind you, not icky) cardboard came next in at the middle of the sip, then a delightfully sweet and almost floral taste hit at the end of the sip and expanded through the aftertaste. The sweet flavor was more of a caramelized sugar sweetness than the raisin- or fig-like sweetness I typically get from Yunnans. After the tea cooled a little more, the initial taste no longer felt watery, just smooth and with a thinner mouthfeel, which I think threw me off a little at the first.

Second steep (4min) is smooth, sweet and has a touch more texture. The hint of cardboard-ish starch is gone, as is most of the malty except in the aftertaste and I’m left with a nicely sweet, smooth, tasty tea. Very nice.
^2.7g/7oz

Hello all! In case anyone has noticed, I’ve been a bit MIA for a couple of weeks-ish. I’ve been in Hawaii! I got back earlier today and am finally all unpacked, including the massive amounts of tea I purchased while there. After all, there is a Lupicia in the Ala Moana mall. And Shirokiya, the Japanese department store also in Ala Moana Center, had a long row of tea. Oh yeah, and Don Quijote (the Japanese discount store) had some tea – including Maeda-en stuff. So yeah, I got 10 different teas in Hawaii, most of them sencha. And when I got home I had a delightful package from Chicago Tea Garden waiting for me with 4 more teas and my new yunomi that I ordered before I left. (I got this one – http://www.chicagoteagarden.com/buy/yunomi/yunomi-cup-03 – it’s awesome!)

Anyway, lots of Steepstering (and real-life things) to catch up on and that always goes better with tea. I cracked this one open before my trip for a swap but didn’t get a chance to try it. So I’m passing on my hordes of new tea to try a new-to-me tea (though it’s been sealed in my pantry for a while).

Tossing the dry leaf into a pre-heated pot smells sooooo tasty. Not buttery like some of my favorite senchas, but still sweet, vegetal and surprisingly fresh.

The taste is also fresh and very crisp and clean, also a bit thin? As it cools though, the taste thickens and it begins to taste like honeydew melon and a little fresh grass with some sort of not-quite-salty-but-somehow-oceanic lower note that’s really attractive. It still has this remarkable crisp/lightness to it even though it feels a little fuzzy/comforting. It’s not as thick and heavy of mouthfeel as my normal senchas but it is very nice. Oddly, the final sip gave me some white grape flavor, which I’ve honestly never gotten from any sencha before so maybe it was just a short circuit in my tastebud/brain connection.

Second steep, instant pour: This makes me think of apples even though, yeah, it doesn’t actually taste like apples. Perhaps my taste buds are jetlagged? Or, upon more consideration, perhaps it is because this steep has a crisp sweetness coupled with a little bit of texture which gives me apple-like feelings? Or both. Or something. I don’t know, it’s good.
^{5g/10oz/pour started at 40s}

I was pretty excited to see this as the freebie teabag from Lupicia this month. I love trying random tea flavors like this and I loved Adagio’s version until I met Samovar’s Yunnan Golden Buds which was an awesome buttered sweet potato flavor in an unflavored tea. So yeah, I love sweet potatoes and have no issues with it in tea-form. But anyway, on to this sweet potato tea.

Wowza. The teabag smells strong. Like sweet potato casserole fresh out of the oven, including marshmallows and whiskey. (Because everyone uses Jack Daniels in their sweet potato casserole, right?) After brewing, the smell calms down a bit on the whiskey bit (I’m guessing that smell was from the flavoring?) and ends up more sweet potato casserole with a hint of marshmallow.

No additives. The taste isn’t as strong as the smell would indicate but the aftertaste is, tasting just like I’ve had a bite of sweet potato casserole. It’s… kinda weird. The taste of the tea is sort of… starchy sweet but not sugary sweet, more like buttery sweet but it isn’t quite buttery. There’s a tea taste there but it’s not all that complex. It’s pretty much sweet potato casserole, especially on the aftertaste.

Which is really kind of neat… for about half of a cup. Then it’s just too much. Even though I liked the taste and it gets full points for flavor accuracy, I was pretty ready to pour out the last few sips of the cup instead of drink them. Tasty or not, I was done with it.

And that leads me to the issue of how to rate it. I think the flavor is done very well. There’s just something about it that I can’t take for all that long. I think I’ll leave this unrated.
^{1 teabag/6oz}

First off, it is hard for me to not like a chai when made the traditional way – I mean, lots of milk, lots of sugar, what’s not to like? At the same time, since making it that way takes so much longer, I rarely have chai. So I almost always like this type of tea and I almost never make it. But I’ve been looking forward to trying this smoky chai from sophistre for quite a while so today I finally mustered up the energy to make it.

I can’t say I would have pegged this as a smoky chai – though maybe that’s because I’ve been drinking Russian Caravan this morning – but there is a certain something in this that is really different and unique. An edge I’ve never gotten from chai before – it makes it a bit mysterious. And tasty. That little edge is addictive, too. I like tasting it.

I don’t think this is a dramatically different chai from most of the others out there, but at the same time, that little extra note (the smoke, I imagine) gives it a distinctiveness that I think any chai fan would appreciate.

You know, I didn’t really get on with Arbor Tea’s Keemun . Not because it was bad but rather because it just wasn’t what I expected from a Keemun. So I wasn’t sure how this tea would go since it is their Lapsang (which is really tasty) and that Keemun (I assume as that Keemun is the only Fair Trade one they have, their other being just Organic). But fortunately this is quite tasty! The smoky smell is stronger than the taste but it’s still got a nice level of gentle, almost sweet smoke to it. That smoke is tempered a bit by a starchy, almost bready tea taste that I assume is the Keemun (since I got that note from their Keemun previously). The tea doesn’t feel heavy or tarry – just smoky and tea-like. Ultimately, I like their straight Lapsang a little better compared to this one but the two are very similar teas so either would satisfy a smoky urge.

Wow. Seriously, wow. Talk about truth in advertising. This is very extra bergamot-y. Like, beat me over the head with bergamot. From the dry leaves to the steeped tea to the breath I exhaled after each sip – this tea is rolling in bergamot. I drank this with sugar and half & half and the bergamot totally drowned out both of those flavors (and any tea flavor there might have been, too). In a way, all that bergamot was good because the fumes flowing through my sinuses did open up my stuffy nose but at the same time, it was so bergamot-y that I felt a bit like a bergamot-breathing dragon after each sip.

Taste-wise, it’s not as rough as I would expect such a heavily (heavily) flavored tea to be. (Maybe it is just me but sometimes flavored teas seem to have a lot of rough edges to their texture. This one didn’t have that – it was a nice smooth, almost silky texture.) But the bergamot flavor was so strong that had to brace myself for each sip. I put in a teaspoon of sugar but I really felt it needed more to balance out a somewhat harsh endnote that seemed flavoring-related. I found myself wincing as I made each swallow, bracing myself for that weird endnote and the bergamot whoosh that would expand and fill my mouth (and my sinuses… and my car) after each sip.

And speaking of that endnote, it was a taste I couldn’t fully identify but that made me think of charcoal or ashes. Not burnt or smoky but something sort of… acrid but not quite. It’s a flavor I’m cool with when it is coupled with a delightful smoke whoosh but without the smoke, it’s just kind of awkward. Maybe another teaspoon or two of sugar would cancel that note out but I really don’t want to use that much sugar in my morning teas. Some dryness was left behind on the top of my tongue that again seemed more flavoring-related than tea-related (in other words, I don’t think the tea was astringent so much as the bergamot adding some astringency to it).

I will admit, I did drink this cup very quickly – but it was more of a “let’s soldier through and finish this off so I can chew some gum” than “ooh, this is so tasty, I can’t stop sipping.” I’m hoping the husband likes this so I can pass it all off to him. This tea is just too much for me.

Okay, I’m still sick so technically, I probably shouldn’t be trying new teas until my taste buds decide to fully rejoin the party. But c’mon! This one has got to encourage that along, right? I mean, ginger is good for your sinuses and lemongrass just screams healthful to me. Plus, it’s got orange and I’m a sucker for anything orange flavored. Besides, all that spice and citrus has to help my head and chest, yes? Yes.

The dry mix smells surprising – very earthy with a nice splash of sweet orange. I’m thinking mulled cider if cider came in orange flavor. He husband mentioned orange cloves. And I can see that because the more I sniff, the more I end up thinking cozy-by-the-fireplace thoughts. I really was expecting something more summer-day-in-the-sun but that’s really because I got stuck on the “orange and lemongrass” side of things and not the “cinnamon and ginger”.

When my little tea timer went off and I wandered into the kitchen to pour, the whole kitchen smelled sweetly of cinnamon. Nice! Sticking my nose in the cup, I get a very orange-ginger smell. It’s a little sweeter because of the lemongrass and cinnamon, but this smells very similar to my oh-so-adored Samovar Orange Ginger (and thus to a lesser extent, Rishi’s Tangerine Ginger which is just not cool but has a similar-ish taste profile).

My first sip, though, makes me change that assessment. Yes, I can still see similarities, but the cinnamon in this one really changes up the game and puts this in a distinct class. For me, this is officially a cinnamon tea. Cinnamon teas are hard for me because images of Red Hots (or Hot Damn – ah, college!) float through my mind with each sip and I just don’t enjoy that. But while this isn’t quite the cinnamon flavor I’d put on my toast in the morning, this registers just shy of the Red Hot comparison. Lemongrass seems to pick up next, adding a kind of clean lightness to the flavor (which honestly probably keeps the cinnamon from becoming too heavy). The ginger adds a nice warmth to it and I think the orange comes in at the bottom of the taste as a sweetness that couples with the lemongrass. There’s a nice depth to the flavor here that makes this very easy to sip. Uhm, where did the rest of my cup go? No really. Did I drink it that quickly?

This isn’t going to be competing with Samovar’s Orange Ginger for the tingly orange herbal place in my pantry but it is good so I could see giving it the cinnamon place in my pantry. Of course, I don’t currently have a cinnamon place in my pantry. But it’s hard for me to find herbals that don’t make me make a face when I sip so I might have to make a cinnamon place because this definitely ranks above the “only good enough to not make me cringe” category. I’m almost out of all smoky teas in my pantry (how on earth did that happen??) so at some point I’ll be making an Arbor Teas order to get some of their lapsang. I think I’ll throw some of this in too.

ETA: Oooh. Second steep (7:00) is like the cuddly-warm lemongrass steep. Lemongrass with a cinnamon undernote and then a warm tingle of ginger with a splash of sweet orange. Tasty!
^{2tsp (=2.5g)/8oz}

I’m going to buck the trend for this one. I’m just not in love with it. In fact, I really just think it qualifies as only okay. The dry leaves look and smell divine but the actual tea is just a miss for me. It’s just not enough – not enough tea flavor, not enough chocolate flavor, not enough Earl Grey flavor. It’s not bland or flavorless (even though I don’t think it has enough of at least three different flavors), it’s just not bold enough. I have a feeling this falls in the same category as Tea Etc’s Rosy Earl Grey. Lots of fans but just sort of okay for me.

Mmmm. Sweet honeyed malt. That’s what this tea is giving me today. Very smooth, very mellow, a little creamy, very sweet. It’s got a hint of thicker mouthfeel that just combines with the lovely sweet and smooth flavors to make it cuddly and comforting. It’s on the edge of rich but not quite there, instead just floating in at satiny. It’s not exactly a tea that stands up and screams, “OMG, notice how tasty I am!!!!” but it really is very tasty.

Honestly, just not feeling this one. The bergamot flavoring is really faint – it came through most in the aftertaste as kind of a light citrus-y, whoosh-y, almost flowery feel in my mouth after the sip. The description says that the bergamot is “light enough for the quality of the base tea to be noticed” but I wasn’t really feeling the tea base all that much. I mean, it had a nice mouthfeel to it – it was kind of thick and furry and made me think of the texture of cocoa powder – but the taste of the tea? Not all that impressive. Maybe this is my anti-Ceylon showing through but I just found the tea kind of dull and unexciting – not really flat or cardboard-y like bad tea, but not a whole lot of depth or any pretty notes. I did add a little sugar and milk to this so that might have killed off any faint pretty notes the tea might have had. We’ll see if I change my tune when I try this straight.

I would speculate that Ceylon fans would enjoy this one since it does have a noticeable tea base. Though I can’t say for sure how good of a Ceylon it is, I’d have to guess it’d be at least on the good side of decent for Upton to want to showcase it. But for me? Just doesn’t hit any of my happy buttons.

Yet another EG sample in my massive Find-the-Husband-an-Earl-Grey-that-He-Loves Quest! Taken with a little bit of sugar and a tiny bit of milk, this tea is quite tasty. The bergamot is bright and noticeable but not perfume-ish or overpowering. It feels kind of cheerful and energetic but not rough or edgy. I have enough of the sample to try it one or two more times, so I’m curious to see how it is without additives. Hopefully it will have a nice smooth tea base like the other Upton EGs have had – I think it will since I didn’t notice any bitterness or roughness while sipping on this one.

I’m quite liking this. Honestly though, I was listening to the audiobook “Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink (really interesting, by the way) while making my morning commute and ended up getting a bit distracted listening to the book before I could figure out why exactly I liked this tea so. But I did. Like it, that is. I’m kind of hoping that this one wins the EG taste-off (at least compared to the other EGs we’ve tried during this quest). Two enthusiastic thumbs up (which will hopefully stay that way when I get a chance to pay more attention to this when I’m drinking it)!

I have a problem. I love smoky teas. Simply love them. And this is a problem why? Because there are a lot of good smoky teas out there that I would enjoy having around… but I don’t think I really need 18 different lapsangs in my pantry. (Okay, realistically it’s more like five or six, but that’s still probably a wee bit excessive.) It’s just too hard to choose between all the good smokies out there to decide what truly needs to have a place in my pantry.

Take this tea, for instance. It’s tasty! The initial smell of the dry leaves was of bacon and campfire and was almost a bit rough/heavy smelling – I really thought this was going to be a bit heavy handed. But after steeping, the smell melded into a gently smoky tea that makes me think of crisp fall days with campfires burning in the distance. It’s not as sweet as some of the Bohea teas I’ve had lately but it isn’t tarry, heavy or thick like some not-quite-as-yummy Lapsangs I’ve had in the past (or those that require milk to smooth). Instead, it’s smooth, soft and I’m pretty sure I can taste actual tea under that smoke – shocking! There’s even a flash of something very fresh and almost vegetal green tasting – just a flash.

The second steep (4:00) isn’t quite as soft and tea-y than the first steep but it’s still quite tasty, reminding me of Golden Moon’s Lapsang Souchong, which really got me started on my smoky tea love. As it cools, the smoke taste smoothes back out and it almost starts to taste like I put a pinch or two of raw sugar in it. Really enjoyable.

So we get back to my problem. There are just too many good smoky teas out there that I want to give a good home – and this is one of them. I think when my GM Lapsang runs out, I’ll have to see how this one fits in that gently-smoky-and-light-textured smoky tea niche that the GM Lapsang has been filling lately. I think it will do very nicely.

Mmm. Smoky.

Born out of curiosity from this weekend’s experience with Adagio’s Anhui Keemun (AAK because I’m lazy), I bumped up the steep time on this on to see how it does.

Not quite as pretty as it is with a shorter steep time but it makes up for that in a thicker taste. It’s not quite as wonderful and complex as AAK is at 3minutes – it is still sweet and silky and rich and has all the same general tastes, it’s just turned down a notch compared to AAK – but considering that 5oz of AAK is $59 and 5oz of this one is $28.50, I’m okay with this one being a hair less awe-inspiring.

I’m going to keep the score the same because this one is still a comforting go-to favorite that I’m firmly addicted to – and it doesn’t hurt that the price is oh so right. Overall, I prefer it brewed lighter because it’s gently complex but I can see where others might prefer this with a longer steep and thus more intense taste.

The dry leaf smells awful perfume-y but happily once it is brewed a bit of a tea smell joins up with it. The taste is not overwhelmingly bergamot thankfully – it’s actually a pretty smooth blend of tea base (though not an overly strong or distinct tasting base) and bergamot. It’s got a heavy feel on my tongue, kind of silky, and that’s nice.

I’m having this cup straight, but unlike yesterday’s EG, this one isn’t really very sweet and the bergamot is a straight bergamot (instead of candied citrus) so I think it would take additives rather well. It doesn’t necessarily need them though but it couldn’t hurt to slightly soften and sweeten the bergamot edge to the end which occasionally comes across as a bit sharp and dry.

All in all, it seems to be on the good side of a standard Earl Grey. I think I prefer the not-quite-as-EG EGs from Upton that I’ve been sampling recently, just because they are something different and a hair more exciting.

Okay, I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here, but I love Adagio’s new bags. They are cute and I like the feel of them and even the samples are resealable. I don’t know about everyone else, but I have a big box filled with empty tea tins – I don’t need more of them to clutter up my pantry. Yay for bags!

And yay for cute little leaves! These are little black and gold not-quite-pellets and smell malty and fruity sweet and possibly a little cocoa-y. The leaves unfurl easily while steeping and brew into a pretty dark liquid. Mmm, that smells very rich, sweet, smooth and malty.

Maybe my taste buds are wonky because everything is tasting sweet to me. Or maybe I’m just gravitating towards sweeter teas… Anyway, this one definitely tastes sweet. Sweet with a hint of grain (barley-ish?), smooth, a little bright fruity (plum? fig? blackberry?) on the front, a tiny hint of toasty on the end. It’s a very smooth tea that is surprisingly mild. The aftertaste really seems to stick around which makes the mildness of the next sip surprising. As it cools, a little astringency builds up but only to the ‘refreshing’ level, not the ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘unpleasant’ and makes the toasty want to turn into smoky (though it doesn’t quite make it there). And my empty cup is giving me whiffs of hot chocolate, which is interesting since I didn’t really pick up any cocoa notes in the taste.

This is actually very pleasant. Definitely recommended to anyone that likes the smoother Panyang or Fuijian type teas. (Yes, I know, Yunnan Noir is the name, but it’s so fruity sweet and smooth that I can’t help but associate it mentally with Panyang or Fuijian teas, just a slightly stouter version of them.)

Oooh, great aroma. The dry leaves smell very sweet – like candied citrus. Once brewed, the smell citrus comes through stronger but it’s still very sweet smelling.

And wow at the taste. Very citrusy. But not harsh. Again, I’m going to go with candied citrus, possibly because it is and possibly because I’ve been up for only 15 minutes and my brain is merely limping along so I can’t think of anything else. I can’t really say, “Oh, this is the bergamot, this is the lemon”, it’s just all citrusy-fresh and sweet in a way that makes me think of my favorite heirloom navel oranges – they are very sweet with just a slight tang of citrusy sharpness, and so is this tea. The citrus isn’t refreshingly tangy or anything. It’s just sweet. (That’s okay, I like sweet.)

There is a hint of astringency on the end of some sips. Also, the flavoring starts to feel a little strong/perfume-y as it floats up the back of my throat into my sinuses, but it’s a wet, sweet perfume-y instead of a dry, floral perfume-y so I’m okay with it. I do feel the flavoring almost needs a little taming, but I think sugar would make it too sweet and milk might kill the flavors too much.

The aftertaste is a little tart as it builds in my mouth and there isn’t a whole lot of the tea base flavor coming through. But it’s not a rough nor harsh tea so I suppose I will forgive it these little quirks.

Apparently, I am not done with caffeine today! (Thankfully the fine tremors from earlier teas have stopped.) At the husband’s request, I’ve made one of the new EGs for us to try out. He’s had a tough day, he deserves some happy tea.

The dry leaf smells very whoosh menthol of lavender. My sinuses are a little stuffy but this stuff has got to help that.

I’m going to attempt to go additive-less on this one (because the last thing I need is caffeine and sugar). The liquid smells both bergamot-y and lightly menthol-lavender… which oddly combines in my nose to make me think of the smell of fake crab, but maybe sweeter?

The taste, thankfully, doesn’t remind me of fake crab. It seems to be evenly bergamot and lavender – if one pushes forward more I can’t tell which one it is – but the aftertaste is more lavender. There’s not a whole lot of tea base taste here – it’s fairly mild – but it’s also smooth and the overall feeling and taste is very easy so I’m okay with that. There’s no real astringency or bitterness, even after a 4minute steep, so I don’t feel like it needs additives at all.

Probably not the smartest move, having a caffeinated tea at 10pm, but hopefully it will work out just fine as this tea is fairly smooth and relaxing, not bold and energetic. I find it nicely enjoyable.

I’m fairly over-caffeinated right now after about 2L of tea today and not all that much food. But I’m having so much fun with my new teas that I’m just going to ignore the slight tremor in my hands because I really wanted to get to this tea today. Good thing I don’t need to go to sleep early tonight!

These leaves are (relatively) larger and not as uniform as CTG’s Keemun and Adagio’s Anhui Keemun. Any chance there is a correspondence between leaf size and tea quality?

The dry leaves smell very… starchy? Bready? Toasty? It’s very different from Adagio’s Anhui Keemun but is still attractive. Brewed up, it smells smoky and starchy. I’m oddly reminded of plantains. And something raw/green that reminds me of a Nilgiri.

The taste managed to surprise me. Based on the smell, I was expecting something a little rough and raw tasting. But it’s very sweet – a grain-type sweetness – and notes that alternately remind me of coffee and something almost floral/fresh. There is an overall dryness to the tea – it’s not very strong but it is solidly there and makes me think of a red wine aftertaste. As it cools, I get something that is more Nilgiri like, but more pleasant than any Nilgiri I’ve had.

It’s not what I was expecting with a Keemun but I did manage to drink it quickly. I can’t say I’d reach for this when in a Keemun mood, but I don’t think it’d be totally ignored in my pantry either.

ETA: Ah-ha! I just figured out what that green/raw-ish taste reminds me of – a green rooibos! Seriously, it does! (And green rooibos is the next tea up because I do not need any more caffeine today!)
^3g/8oz

More new tea! This one from Arbor Teas’ fair trade selection. When I first started drinking tea a few years ago, it seemed like there were only about three fair trade and five organic teas. Anywhere. And they were all kind of meh tasting but cost twice as much as normal teas. So when I went to see what samples I might want to try from Arbor Teas, I really figured that they wouldn’t have that many options. Dude, they have a lot. Seriously, have I been that far out of the Fair Trade/Organic tea loop or were there always lots of options and I just didn’t know where to look?

Anyway, I’m really excited to try this one, mostly because the only green pu-erh I’ve tried was CTG’s Sticky Rice one which gave me the idea I might actually like green pu-erhs. This one will be the ultimate test to see if I really do!

First off, the tuo-cha is surprisingly heavy so I broke it in half for my 10oz mug. The leaves are soft and furry and look somewhat Silver Needle-like. I did a rinse then steeped for about 30s. The liquor is very light and smells softly honeyed/musty.

The taste is delightfully surprising – sweetly musty, soft, smooth and earthy but light, not heavy/syrupy earthy like a cooked pu-erh. There are hints of hay in the sweetness and sometimes a faint honey. The aftertaste is deliciously nectar-y and pretty. I was worried about the possibility of bitterness (since CTG’s has a tendency to get bitter if you steep even slightly too long) but there is no hint of bitterness or even any astringency here – it’s very smooth. The lack of bitterness makes me think I might steep it just a little longer next time to get a bit stronger flavor but then I think that for something like this, a fainter first steep isn’t unusual.

The second steep (40s) is much darker and has an allover stronger scent and flavor, but it is just as pretty – lovely musty, sweet, honeyed smoothness with a bit of a richer flavor than the first steep and a hint of more normal pu-erh earthy but still not the overly sweet syrupy earthy that is just too much for me. There also seems to be a fair amount of honey in the aftertaste. It actually reminds me of a tasty Silver Needle tea. I’m not sure if that’s a normal green pu-erh taste but honestly, I don’t really care because this is the type of pu-erh I can totally get behind.

The third steep (~45s) is smooth and rich and earthy and nectary and a little heavier but not too heavy… There’s an almost… bready note to it too? Kind of like wheat bread or perhaps toast? It’s hard to really peg but it’s super-tasty.
^{~1/2 tuo-cha/10oz}