Arbor Teas

Thanks to Teavivre I have a lot of new samples and a lovely little gaiwan to try out. I figured I would try it on something that I know first.

Wow! Bitter! Either I used way too much leaf or this was not a good first tea to try with this method. Or a little of both. I tried five steeps of this, each with a shorter and shorter steep time getting down to pouring out the steeps as soon as I got the little bowl covered. Still bitter, bitter, bitter.

Not the teas fault, just my inexperience.

On the other hand, the gaiwan was really easy to use. It is the perfect size for my hands and it wasn’t awkward at all to use. And it is amazingly fast to clean up. I didn’t even spill any water anywhere. As soon as I figure out the right tea to use and the right steeping times, this little thing might be my new best friend.

I’m going to try an oolong next as soon as I research a little bit about leaf amounts and steeping times. The bigger leaves should be easier to handle in the gaiwan than the small leaves in this green. (I thought the leaves were bigger, but no! They are small.)

Fair warning: my first cup of this was actually the second steep because I gave the first steep to my dad at his request for a green tea with a bit of sugar to help his sore throat.

When I first smelled the leaves, it smelled like matcha tastes. Full and green and seaweedy. It was fantastic! That would be another smell I wish I could bottle up and wear it around my neck in a perfume locket.

The second steep is just smooth and mild and buttery. It is my first Japanese green and compared to my Chinease greens, it would be much too buttery for my fiance. But it is just so creamy that I love it. Smooth and relaxing and calming.

And to think I saved this from my fiance’s mother who just wouldn’t appreciate it. (or to be fair, he stuck it in my purse as a surprise for me a few months ago) She had a total of three packs and I don’t think she even drank any of them. Oh well, I will appreciate the heck out of this sample packet.

This is one of the best, if not the best Masala Chai Teas I have ever tasted, though I wouldn’t have said that after the first sip.

It started out VERY subtle. As this is my first tea to have tasted from Arbor… I sighed, and resigned myself to a weak cup of tea. Boy was I wrong!

Each sip compounded the flavor of the tea, and I started to taste notes the cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. What really makes this blend brilliant however is the addition and perfect quality of black pepper added to the tea blend. As I was drinking I started to notice the slight spicy after taste. At first I thought it was the ginger, but that ginger is SO beautifully subtle, it couldn’t add that sort of flavor by itself.

Checked the packaging: Black pepper. Brilliant. Not only is this tea fantastic straight out of the package, it is great with a little milk (used whole milk, and then tried some coconut milk. Both were fantastic) As well as with a little added stevia for sweetness or vanilla to give it a very latte like taste.

I imagine this would be very good mixed with a little bit of apple cider, as it already conjures apple notes (despite not having any apple in it).

Overall a great, rich tea. Lots of flavor, and a lot of adaptability and great usage for all sorts of spiced tea drinks. Loved it.

Backlog:

A very nice pu-erh. I usually find pu-erh to be very earthy, but this has a mild earthy note and I like that. No overwhelming earthy, brine-y, or fish-y tastes to this tea and I like that.

The flavor gets deeper with the second and third infusions, although it still maintains the mellow earthiness. It is sweet and almost hay-like, reminiscent of a Shou Mei rather than a dark Pu-erh.

Smooth and tasty. Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/06/05/organic-ancient-green-tuo-cha-pu-erh-tea-from-arbor-teas/

Backlog:

A very good tea. Then again, I’ve come to expect really good teas from Arbor Teas. Smooth, caramel-y (the caramel tones are light but delicious in this!) and I taste notes of fruit and flower. Warm and robust without bitterness.

This one is a good, strong tea that would work as that first cuppa of the day if you’re looking for one. I really like it.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/05/01/organic-singampatti-oothu-black-tea-from-arbor-teas/

I love, love Jasmine Green Tea. It smells so fresh. It turns a pretty golden color when it is allowed to steep. I usually steep it 5 minutes. It doesn’t ever taste bitter like some green teas can. I always put a good tablespoon of honey in with my tea. I have it every morning for breakfast.

This tastes like a very, very mild sencha to me. It’s savory but only faintly vegetal, and the mouthfeel is nice and buttery. I’m really enjoying my cup, and I could definitely see myself keeping some of this around – I’m not always in the mood for very vegetal or seaweed-y greens, but this strikes me as something I could enjoy more or less anytime. Thanks for the sample, Shelley_Lorraine!

I don’t drink black tea but I’ve always loved the iced tea served at Thai restaurants. I was thrilled to be able to reproduce the results at home using Pantai Thai tea mix from my local Asian grocer however I didn’t care for the added artificial orange color. So I was really excited when I discovered Arbor tea’s additive-free organic version.

I really wanted to love this tea but sadly it tasted nothing like authentic Thai iced tea. The tea leaves smelled heavily of vanilla and that’s what the flavor of the tea was. Basically a strong black tea with a very dominant note of vanilla. I tried steeping it according to Arbor tea’s instructions and simmering it (traditional way) and both were unpalatable. The smell of the tea was too nauseating to even bring to my lips.

Waking myself up from my Benadryl grog. I was going to do some earl grey or Irish breakfast, but then I noticed I had just enough of this left to do a sipdown.

Backlog. I had this at work this morning. Good thing I did, because today wound up being a busy, busy day! It’s at the point where it’s busy in a good way, but it’s going to get crazier over the next two months. We’re a music store that rents instruments for band, and this is back-to-school time… do the math.

I’ve been trying to log this for WEEKS, and every time I try, Steepster’s down. It’s OK. It’s a fairly brisk tea, and unless I’m mistaken, I got a hint of smokiness or something of that effect. A bit vegetal. Another it’s-not-a-restock-but-it’s-good tea.

I believe this is the one I have. They had to discontinue one of the nilgiris and replace it with another.

This is a backlog; somehow, I’ve had this tea three times and never managed to log it. It’s a “classic” black tea, if a little on the vegetal side. The third time I did it, I only steeped for 3-ish minutes instead of my usual 5, and I seemed to get more of the honey flavor. Good enough to enjoy; a little too standard to restock in favor of others.

No rating, because that just wouldn’t be fair ;)

I am proud of myself – I finally made it through my first cup of pu-erh! I’m trying to build up a taste for it, but right now it still tastes like a fish tank smells. My husband assures me that this is much better than the tin he got at the Asian market, and it was fun to pull out the new gaiwan, but I’m not quite up to enjoying it yet. Someday!

Sipdown! Gotta be honest, I’m not especially heartbroken. This was a good tea, but it’s not one I’ll miss, and frankly, I’m happy to have an excuse to make room for my new teas coming in. Speaking of which, oh lord I have been telling myself for months I’d organize my tea stash. Right now it’s a bunch of bags on one of my bookshelves.

I think my boss hates me today. She thought she had the day off, and then I let her know last night that she’d misread the schedule and it was my day off, not hers. Then she snapped at me via text because the internet died last night, and I unplugged and misplugged some things in trying to fix it. Guilt complex! Guilt complex! Aaaaargh!

Moving on! Moving on! This is still a good casual tea, and it goes well with cereal. Don’t think I’m gonna keep the rating quite that high, though.

Backlog. This was the second of three teas I ordered, because I’d heard different versions of it compared to black dragon pearl, which of course is my FAVORITE.

I’ll have to retry it more carefully and not on the way to work to be sure, but it doesn’t remind me so much of black dragon pearl because I didn’t get the cocoa/raisin undertones. I did, however, get a pleasant sweetness, with a bit of astringency that reminded me of a Western tea. Will probably become a standard.

Really? I’ve had this three times? I only remember one.

I’ve had this one for forever, and I just noticed it in my cupboard again today. I had to get new tires on my car, so I’m going to be broke until I get my tax return. So I’ll be going through and trying to sip down some of the excess stuff I’ve got kicking around.

I did a fairly short steep time on this (like 2 minutes), and it came out really smooth. There’s an astringent note in the aftertaste, right on the tip of my tongue after I swallow it, but it’s very pleasant. I think the first time I tried this, I brewed it for 5 minutes or so, and it was QUITE potent. Which Irish teas are supposed to be, as I understand. But the shorter brew time came out a lot more enjoyable than I expected.

And now I’m off to shower then, instead of putting away laundry or cleaning like I had PLANNED, I’m going to go work on my last-minute program notes assignment. God I love it when people think their time takes priority over your time.

The one nice thing about waking up two hours before you’re supposed to get up and not being able to go back to sleep is that you get the opportunity to get up a few minutes early, take time to fix a semi-substantial breakfast, and sit for a few minutes with a cup of tea. Last night at work, I stressed myself out with a customer situation that I think I goofed, and teaching myself to handle these kinds of things better is like reinventing the wheel. I’m having the most trouble getting the idea out of my head that feeling stressed and guilty is the only way to properly address the problem with the other person’s interests in mind, and that NOT stressing about it is selfish and inconsiderate.

I’ve still got the super-nutritious (NOT) breakfast taste in my mouth, so I don’t taste it quite as much as I normally do. Will probably take some to work with me today to help me stay awake. Mmm black tea.

I don’t make sense.

How is it that I am disappointed to the point of mild irritation with teas that taste like grass and barley – scents and flavors which I don’t really mind, yet I find enjoyment in drinking teas that remind me of mushrooms, which I do actively dislike?

This tea is astringent as hell. Even a bit bitter. And that dirt-like, mushroom flavor isn’t a deep mossy bed flavor, it’s right here and right now and HEY! Stop daydreaming and wake up! Coffee substitute tea? Oh, yes. Why do I enjoy it so?

At the end of the day, I think it’s because mushroomy-tasting breakfast teas were some of the first things I tried when I began my giant tea experiment, and for better or worse, I now have that flavor engrained in my mind as “tea.” And I came to this tea expecting a stroooong breakfast tea. It’s kind of in the same category as lapsang souchong – it’s a really strong flavor profile that I know I’ll either enjoy or have fun thinking of ways to describe how goddamn strong it tastes.

And this brings me back to my ever-recurring theme with tea: expectations are everything. I wonder what would happen if I never read a product description before buying a tea again?

Anywho, in conclusion. Irish Breakfast: my go-to for those mornings I cannot drag my ass out of bed – and my head out of my ass – to save my life!

Backlog from yesterday. This is one of the three new black teas I ordered to try, since I’d heard a lot about this one and figured I wouldn’t be a good tea addict unless I tried it. Damn good thing I picked this one, because what was supposed to be a 7.5 hour day at work turned into a 12 hour day! Complete with unexpectedly having to train one of our new part-timers, AND forgetting my phone on the way home and having to turn back around and get it!

The first time I tasted it, it gave me the impression that I’d oversteeped it. Not a pleasant taste at all. But the more I drank it, the more it just reminded me of a stronger, mushroomier version of English Breakfast. Then again, I was drinking it on the fly in a cup that tasted like dishwasher detergent. I’ll have to give this one another go before I rate it.

I’ve made it my mission to get through all my swap samples before I can purchase more tea. I doubt I’ll succeed, but hey, its nice to have goals!

I got this in a mystery swap from Shelley_Lorraine. It’s a pretty good vanilla black tea. The vanilla flavor is really nice, not fakey at all. I think I want a little more out of the base black tea, but honestly, it’s pretty good. Not a “I gotta go buy more of this right now” tea, but still, a good tea to start my saturday sipdown with! Thanks Shelley_Lorraine!

Brewed per Arbor Teas’ recommendation: “one generous tsp.” / 8 oz. / 212*F / 3 to 5-min. without sweeteners, milk or cream.

Dry leaf: Uniform short length, chocolate brown
Fragrance: Reminded me of fine pipe tobacco
Liquor: Clear & coppery

3 min. Initial taste: The tea was smooth and medium-bodied w/o any bitterness or astringency.

4-Min.: Full-bodied w/o any bitterness. However, a light level of astringency was noted.

1.5 tsp. / 8oz. / 195F / 3 min.* The clear, lively, coppery liquor is now medium dark. This Nilgiri is brisk without any hint of bitterness or astringency.

Impression: The flavor is very smooth, simple, and enjoyable. Your teacup will be empty before you realize it. Well done!

Thanks to Aubrey at Arbor Teas for providing this generous size free sample.

I brewed this tea following Arbor Teas’ recommendation: “one generous tsp.” / 8 oz. / 212*F for 3 to 5-min. without sweeteners, milk or cream.

Dry leaf: well twisted, uniform sized, blackish brown
Fragrance: Subtle hints of pipe tobacco
Liquor: Clear & mahogany colored

3 min. Initial taste: The tea was smooth and medium-bodied w/o any bitterness or astringency.

4-Min.: The longer infusion did allow the flavor to more fully develop. Now this tea was smooth, somewhat malty, and full-bodied w/o any bitterness. However, after a few sips a moderate-to-strong level of astringency developed and persisted on the front center of my tongue. I understand astringency can be associated with high-altitude teas. This “…organic Ceylon tea hails from Sri Lanka’s eastern Uva District, grown between 5,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level.” I would definitely not suggest a longer infusion.

Next, I tried 1.5 tsp. / 8oz. / 195 F / 3 min.: Wow, now we’re talking! The clear, lively, coppery liquor is now medium dark. The flavor is now very smooth with a malty richness and with a subtle caramel sweetness. There is no hint of bitterness and only a very mild drying effect on the finish. As my cup cools, I’m delighted by the sweet caramel finish.

The increased amount of leaf produced a richer sip and a delicate caramel sweetness. The decreased temperature and reduced time significantly reduced the level of astringency.

Impression: This is one Sri Lankan black tea you don’t want to miss!

Thanks to Aubrey at Arbor Teas for providing this generous size free sample.

I’m on a unflavored black tea kick right now so I’m hunting though all my swaps to find some to try. Yunnans seem to be pretty reliably ok enough tea, never my favorite, but never really awful either. This one is a classic Yunnan. So I liked it enough. Thanks Shelley_Lorraine!