Bigote Ecuador

Before I get into my tasting note… my notices have gone AWOL :*(
That annoying error page shows up whenever I try to check them, so my apologies if I end up bypassing any comments on my reviews, atleast until I get my notices back

Anyhow, this tea is lovely!
Though I had trouble sussing any flavour out, it seemed incredibly weak at two minutes so I put the steeping basket back in the pot for another minute. That seemed to help, but I was getting very little peach out of the tea. A hint of peach came out, like I would have expected on the fifth or sixth steep!
Maybe next time I need to try more leaf? Also, I suspect it could be my water… since I made a cup of red rose for mum and it came out murky, so she tossed it and I made her something else. (Tess Orange tea- her fave)
Okayyyy yes!! It must have been the water! because my second steep, though weak-ish, is loads better, more so when it cools. Much stronger peach notes coming out. Sortof a juicy peach that blends really nicely with the natural sweetness of the oolong. It’s really captured the essence of fresh picked peaches, just ripe enough to eat and dribble nectar down your chin. Do you remember those days from childhood?? _{little sighs}
Iced, I suspect, this would be incredible.
Thank you so much Ninavampi! This is very tasty :)
Now if only I can figure out what the heck got into my kettle…

Backlogging from a couple days ago. Didn’t have time to take down notes then, so will be trying again with a chance to take notes soon. In the meantime, general impressions are that this is delicious, herbaceous, and had a lightly sweet after-taste.

Thank you so much to Ninavampi for sending along this sample!

I love Oolongs… I think I have mentioned this previously, but I will gladly repeat it! This is one of my everyday day teas for two main reasons: 1 It is delicious 2 I can get it for not an outrageous price decently close to my house! Since caffeine has absolutely no effect on me, this ends up being a bed time tea. It is incredibly relaxing to sip through the complex yet incredibly comforting array of flavors.

OOOOOooooolongs… The OOOooo is so appropriate! OOOoooo sooo good! (Ok… Now I am done with my silliness for the night! On with the tasting note!)

I had this tonight in my usual three steepings. I steep this 1 tsp of tea to 8oz of water, 8oz per cup so I can actually enjoy all three steepings (each increasing in time) without being too full my the last one!

The smell of the leaf is very fresh with hint of fresh cut grass. It has a lingering sweetness to it, that makes me always want to come back to it. While steeping, the freshness scent is briefly enhanced but always leading to sweetness.

The first steep is always the most vegetable like one. It tastes very crisp followed by artichoke and leading into a buttery delight. The aftertaste is all sweetness. Joy joy!

The second steep is my favorite. The artichoke is still there, but it is nutty and smooth. The buttery taste and feel is everywhere and the sweetness in the aftertaste is even more evident. It takes a lot of willpower to not drink it too quickly. I really want it to last!

The third steep is lighter. Upfront buttery and nutty. There is a woody note that doesn’t ever show up before the third steep. The vegetable becomes more of an afterthought, but still is very present. The sweetness in the aftertaste is subdued in this last steep. This is what keeps it from being my favorite of the 3 steeps.

If you like Oolongs, this is a handsome one to try! : )

This is another of the teas I purchased from Bigote, the nifty place with the cups with mustaches on them! The cups make me super happy, instant smile!

I am not entirely sure what type of green it is… But, there is no doubt that it is green! The leaves are a beautiful deep green color that is almost as bright as it is deep. The name is very fitting. The scent is thoroughly vegetable. Almost like steamed spinach with asparagus.

I did 3 steeps of this. The first was a beautiful green that tasted and smelled entirely like spinach. Sadly, I am not a big fan of spinach, so this wasn’t a great cup of tea to me. The second steep was less spinach, still vegetable and there was a hint of oolong sweetness hanging around in the background. The third steep was awful. It tasted like water with astringency added to it. Water is not supposed to be astringent… So second steep was by far the best.

I won’t be buying this again. It just isn’t for me. If you like vegetable taste teas, you will enjoy this. I just am not a fan…

EDIT: I removed the rating because I feel that this is a tea that some people may really enjoy. I just don’t like vegetable broth flavor as the main note in my tea. : )

Today is just one of those days, where nothing particularly good or bad has happened, but they are still sorta meh… I got home from work and was greeted by my very happy dog, which did cheer me up a little, but still… After feeding her and settling down, I made myself a cup of this tea which I was particularly excited about. I love milk oolongs, and for some reason I thought that this, being chocolate, would live up to the creamy sweetness.

The leaves were pretty to look at didn’t get much of a creamy chocolate smell, just a hint of dark chocolate enough to remind me that it is flavored. I got a decent amount of oolong smell.

I brewed it for 1 minute (usual 2 teaspoons to 16oz of water) and produced a golden green brew. It smelled a bit like chocolate, but it was very artificial. I let it cool down a bit, and took my first sip… I didn’t like it. Second sip… Still not liking it. Tried sweetening it with a bit of sweetener. Still nope… Not getting it.

Just in case tried for a second steep. It was definitely better. More oolong and much less of what tried to be chocolate. Still not something I would choose to drink if given the option.

Sadly, didn’t meet my expectations. I have enough for one more cup. I may try it milked with sugar (I know, I know… But it is that or through what is left out, and I really don’t want to through it out…).

Also, didn’t help my mood much, so I am looking for a second something to brew to cheer me up!

So, I am on a lucky streak! Found a second shop (though tiny) in Ecuador that also sells a small selection of loose leaf teas! It is a cute little place called Bigote (which means mustache in Spanish). They serve cups of freshly brewed loose leaf and if you ask nicely, they will let you buy some to brew at home. Also, a neat little detail, all of the cups have a mustache on them so that when you are drinking from them, it sorta creates the illusion that you have a mustache!

I talked to the owner (who happens to be from the US, and has lived in China for years, and now in Ecuador) and she kindly explained to me that all her teas are imported directly from China, so I have no idea from where exactly. I decided to buy a few of the teas they offered so that, if good, I could have a second place to go for tea when I needed it! Sadly, I didn’t have much cash with me, so I only bough about 4 teaspoons of each that I chose so I could try them.

The first one I brewed was this Shou Mei. I have actually never been a fan of white teas. But considering I had never had Shou Mei, I decided to go for it. The leaves where not whole, but in large chunks. The leaves where a nice mix of browns, greens and a bit of furry whiteness here and there. The smell was not very impressive to me. It smelled a bit dull, but I have no other Shou Mei’s to compare it to.

I brewed 2 teaspoons to 18oz of water and ended up with a beautiful golden yellow liquor. Darker than whites that I have had before, but I was really pleased just looking at it through my glass tea cup. It smelled very delicate, picked up notes of steamed rice and something very sweet and honey-like. It reminded me of some chewy rice milk candy I had tried at some point.

The taste fit in nicely with the smell. I tasted steamed rice followed by something vaguely vegetable with a smooth sweet finish and an even sweeter aftertaste. I got three really good steeps out of these leaves, each steep becoming sweeter than the last. I am really happily surprised. I need to get around to trying more white teas… I really enjoyed this one!