Camellia Sinensis

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Recent Tasting Notes

80

This is a queued tasting note.

Man, I thought it was the other Laos Pu’erh from Camellia Sinensis I’d already tried, which is why I grabbed this one. Mixed the two up though; so instead I got to try a different take on this one: Gong Fu as opposed to brewing it Western style.

This was a short Gong Fu session; only four infusions. The tea was good; that’s not why the session was cut so short. The reason it stopped when it did was because I LITERALLY fell asleep. Seriously, I woke up stretched out on our couch with my tea tray sitting on the table in front of it, and a small teacup curled up with me. Thank God neither roommate was home; that would have been an interesting sight to walk in on. I don’t think I’d be able to live it down.

The infusions, prior to my dozing off, were a nice mix of sweet licorice/anise notes and stonefruit alongside mineral notes, a buttery vegetal flavour, and hint of spice. Silky, creamy mouthfeel throughout. Yummy!

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80

So, I’m officially “healed up” enough that I can drink hot things again and eat semi-solid foods. I’ve been craving this tea all week ever since bagging a sample up for a friend so I figured this would be the first thing I steeped up to celebrate getting the wisdom teeth out!

I have some teas I need to review for Mosaic Tea but I’m holding off on reviewing those until I can get the taste of blood out of my mouth. And on that note, bear in mind that with this review I definitely have the taste of blood in my mouth and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere for at least a little while. I’m not numerically rating this tea for this tasting because of that: I’m not sure just how much that flavour will affect the session.

I made this Western style in a larger pot, mostly because I know I’m not gonna be tasting this tea for a perfect palate so I’m not gonna waste my time with a full Gong Fu session. The other part of why I did this Western style was because I was brewing not just for myself but for my new roommate Trey and our coworker James as well. Western brewing is just easier when it comes to serving tea for non tea drinking people.

- Strong licorice aroma from the dry leaf! Quite sweet
- Brewed, I still think this has anise notes to it; provides a solid foundation
- Also a touch fruity: orange rind/citrus rind
- With some creamyness/rich mouthfeel
- A an artichoke/vegetal component
- A little bit of a semi medicinal finish w. some astringency
- Possible the slightly funky finish is from the blood in my mouth via. wisdom tooth holes
- Interesting overall; I’m sure it’ll really perform well Gong Fu

Flavors: Anise, Artichoke, Citrus Zest, Cream, Licorice, Orange Zest, Vegetal

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87

I got a sample (sachet) of this from the Tea Festival a couple weeks ago. I wasn’t expecting too much from it (I haven’t tried anything from this company before), and I was blown away. This tea is great. It is bold, zesty and even a little bit vegetal. It also has a slightly roasted flavour, which I really loved.

I think a road-trip is in my future to visit the Camellia Sinensis shop and see what else they have to offer.

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 14 OZ / 414 ML

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Thank you Sil for sending a sample of this my way. :)

I’ve western steeped the whole sample three times and it held up really well to that.
This isn’t my favorite style of black tea, but it certainly is a decent cup. It’s really smooth and gentle. A little starchy, quite sweet, a bit fruity. I’m not getting any malt or chocolate.
Happy to be drinking it today, but this wouldn’t have a permanent place in my cupboard.

Sil

best part about sharing things. great to try, now i don’t have to buy hahaha

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A sweet smell, sweet flavor. Though somewhat familiar I can’t quite place where I remember this sweet smell. Oh wait. Jasmine! That’s what that is. Maybe it was tainted or is that how it’s supposed to be? Either way I like it. Slightly floral with a bit of grass and hay. Very slight earthy notes too.

Preparation
1 min, 0 sec

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This one is already better. I think it’s because I had the bag open, so it could air out some.

Ugh. I need a better way to keep my samples then, so I can keep them upright with the zip tops open… I wonder if I have enough tins to do that.

This is super yummy. Spicy. Dried stone fruits.

Yum yum yum.

Also, I’m still using my $$$ yixing. I don’t know how it’s changing the tea, or if it is even changing the tea… but it’s cute and little and I should have fun playing with it more often.

Edit: Quite a few steeps in now, and I’m getting some camphor/very mild menthol. But of course this tea isn’t available any more. Of course.

Preparation
6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Dexter

YAY!!! You found one that works – and yes you should play with your little yixing more often. :))

OMGsrsly

The other pot was just $3 and does the same job without leaking! So it gets used more.

kristinalee

Is it really better to keep them open? I don’t know how to store mine.

OMGsrsly

I honestly have no idea, but I’ve read a lot about people airing their teas or putting them in crocks to breathe before drinking. Certainly doesn’t hurt in my climate.

kristinalee

I know, but someone told me not to open anything for a week after it gets in from China, and then I’m hearing of leaving bags open… I’m never sure what to do for whichever kind of puerh.

OMGsrsly

I’ve had this tea almost a year, and opened it when I sorted things after Christmas… so… IDK. :)

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87

Gongfu! (Also, focus is haarrddd…)

So, I have a new roommate – and yes, I feel like that’s a sentence I’ve typed out a lot since moving to Montreal. I have two roommates – one has been the same time I moved into my apartment, but the other room has now been rented by four different people since I moved in ten months ago. That is a lot of people! They’ve all just rented under really short leases though and moved on to the next place – not sure why they’re leaning towards 2-3 months leases, but it just seems to be a common thing.

The newest roommate seems very nice though – she was quick to introduce herself and ask all types of questions, and even bought croissants for us all her first weekend in the place as a welcome gift to us. Thus far she’s big on eating together, and has been really generous about making plenty of food to share with us. It’s actually really nice, and I dare say that based on first impressions alone she might be my favourite roommate here thus far. I haven’t even mentioned the best part though… She likes tea!!

She’s only been here for like a week and a half, and already we’ve had four gongfu sessions together in the kitchen/dining area and talked over hour long periods which sharing tea. It’s actually been incredible to have someone at home who has a genuine interest in trying out teas with me, and even has some knowledge already so that I’m not having that longer “this is what gongfu is…” kind of conversation.

I made this one for us to enjoy over croissants on her first day – I used the yixing pot that I picked up at the Tea Festival for its inaugural session. I think it’s going to become a shou pot! It was probably about time I got a pot for shou – I certainly drink it enough.

Twi bricks tossed into the pot – just ‘cause I know that it’s going to be pulling some flavour from whatever teas I’m making in it for a little while. Sweet and earthy, with some salinity and a brothy/mushroomy undertone. Thicckkkk. Like five or six infusions total – could have done more but it’s a heavy and filling tea, especially when you’re eating pastries.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3kb7ypAX8v/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpsJw26b3dM

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87

Gong Fu!

One of the first pu’erh teas that I fell in love with; I was packing this into a box and I couldn’t resist holding off on packing this one until I was able to get in a session with it first. So, I paused my packing and went and did that first. Like, literally stopped what I was doing to go drink some tea first…

I think this is easily still one of the smoothest shou pu’erh teas that I’ve ever had, and even though I’m currently really into shou with distinctly woody notes to it and that doesn’t perfectly describe this tea it’s still very good. Sweet, and more fruity with stonefruit notes that lean more heavily to what I think of as a “darker” side of stonefruit elements; stuff like plums, overripe cherries or Bordeaux cherries and then other fruit notes like dates and figs. Those are the primarily profile of this pu, but there are sort of cocoa like top notes to it as well and sort of an undertone of more molasses/brown sugar undertones that add to the sweetness.

I steeped it eight times – the session only ended because it’s not a tea with lots of staying power to it; not because I was tired of it. Were this tea capable of lasting longer I would have brewed it longer; but it just dies out pretty easily.

Now it’s in a box, which is sad. This was just too good not to drink right away, though.

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87

Tea Cooking!!!

So, quite a while back I incorporated this tea into a really fun pasta dish – I made sweet chili Thai noodles, with diced red bell pepper but instead of using a normal stock to cook the pasta in I used a broth I’d made out of this tea. I mean, basically I just boiled two of the mini bricks in some water on the stove top, and then strained the leaf out when I was satisfied with the infusion.

It was a somewhat subtle difference in taste from the normal recipe, since this is pretty strongly flavoured in the first place – however there definitely WAS a difference! It was a little earthier, and I want to say sweeter too? Not like sugary sweet, but I find this is a pretty sweet Shou and it has a lot of date/fig/molasses kinds of notes to it, and I think that definitely came through in the flavour in a soft way. It just kind of gave more overall body to the dish, you know?

Also, visually it was just a touch darker as well – the liquor from a shou tends to have that quality, after all.

Some pictures: https://www.facebook.com/resteep/posts/10211250090421999?pnref=story

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87

Had a big, hearty mug of this last week – not coincidentally it was at the same time as I was making a pasta dish in which I had incorporated a broth made from a few of these mini bricks. The note for that will come at a later date, though…

This was good, as it generally is. I found it a little more salty/umami overall that it usually brew out but I also steeped it much longer than I have in the past because when I’m cooking I’m not a great multi-tasker, and things get forgotten about.

Aside from that more intense salty/meaty kind of flavour this was sweet as usual: a mix of more dark, indulgent black cherry, date, fig, and molasses notes with some raw cocoa tossed into that mix too. I know if I tried to explain to pretty well anyone other than the Steepster community the lovely, delicious combo that is wet earth, mushrooms, salt, and black cherries they would look at me like I was insane. It really does work so well though!

I’m glad I’ve grown enough, largely thanks to Steepster, that my palate has expanded to the point where I can appreciate that.

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87

Had a nice Western mug of this a few nights ago; lots of good notes of wet earth, wet wood, cocoa, dates, and molasses. Definitely no regrets with buying more of this tea – it continues to be an unwavering favourite of mine.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-qilKyOmo&index=27&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ

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87

Of the Pu’erh I got from Camellia Sinensis for my birthday, this is my favourite that I’ve tried so far. There are still a couple I’ve not gotten around to trying yet though. I just really like shou in general though, it seems.

Drank this one Gong Fu while I was cleaning the house to get really for Trey’s birthday party. You know, the one that ended up being a fucking nightmare. Didn’t know that’s how it was gonna turn out at the time, though, so I was pretty well just blasting music while scrubbing down the kitchen and enjoying my tea – getting lost in the moment.

The liquor was so dark and viscous; basically pure black and opaque. I didn’t finish the session ’cause people started showing up, but I got like six nice infusions in. The flavour was just such a lovely, rich and dark earthyness with lots of fruity undertones. Plums, figs, and dates primarily. Maybe even a bit of really dark, sticky sweet overly ripe black cherry juice? Cocoa and molasses notes as well. Just so smooth, but dark and intense as well.

Keeping in mind my song pairing was as much for the tea as it was for getting pumped about cleaning to try and build some sort of momentum, this is what I was listening to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7ar0wdK4vc&index=4&list=WL

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Dates, Earth, Fig, Molasses, Overripe Cherries, Petrichor, Plum, Stonefruit, Wet Earth

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87

This is a queued tasting note.

Steeped up two of the bricks Western style in a fairly large pot for myself and a friend; we both quite enjoyed the tea. Enough so that we steeped it a second time, as well. Personally I think this is really delightful and smooth with a rich sweetness, of molasses, cocoa and maybe brown sugar, a deep earth/petrichor type note, a mineral like taste, and a sort of clean woody note. It’s the sort of tea that seems really appropriate to be drinking by the gallon on a dark, stormy night when the rain is just pouring down and their’s thunder and lightening abound.

In fact, it’s supposed to rain this week so I’m crossing my fingers SO HARD for a hell of a storm so I can take full advantage of my porch and have a session of this in the pouring rain. I want it so badly. That said, Gong Fu was definitely better than Western steeping so when that heavy rain session hits that’s how I’ll be brewing this one up.

Sil

mmm sounds tasty

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87

And so begins the Pu’erh journey…

Over Christmas, one of the presents I got was $75 towards whatever I wanted on Camellia Sinensis (‘cause my family knows it’s one of my favourite tea companies, and they’re Canadian so no shitty exchange rates) and I fully took advantage of that to buy several different kinds of Pu’erh to further explore this complex and interesting tea type. And, on Tuesday that tea arrived! Actually, a lot of tea arrived – I received my orders from Red Leaf Tea, Teaware House, and Camellia Sinensis all in the same day! Well, I immediately had to try something so I brewed up one of the mini bricks in my new gaiwan from Teaware House!

Now, I don’t think I’ve ever had Jingmai before – and someone here on Steepster (who definitely knows more about Pu’erh than I do) told me it’s odd to see a Jingmai shou so I had weird/low expectations brewing this one up. I really, really enjoyed it though! I only did six infusions because it was after two in the morning and I was already starting to feel tea buzzed on top of just plain exhausted so I decided it was in my best interest to cut the session early and just go to bed before I was too wired/slap happy to sleep properly.

This was really smooth with a rich, thick mouthfeel and a sort of softness to it. Every sip was really round, and pleasant – I don’t know why I expected more ‘bite’ or astringency to this, but I didn’t find it nor did I really miss it. I could really ‘feel’ the tea on the roof of my mouth and middle/surface of my tongue.

The flavour was also delightful; it was much sweeter than I think I’ve experienced with a lot of pu’erh! Right from the start of the infusions this had really consistent notes of honey, molasses, earth, and a dark fruitiness. That fruitiness later became more intense and picked up a more distinct fig/date flavour as well as a dark cherry-like note in the last few infusions. I also found this had an almost ‘oat’ like flavour as well. Quaker sells a ‘Honey Oatmeal’ (or something close to that) flavour and that in particular is a little like what I thought this was tasting like. The last few infusions were definitely more woody, as well.

This was so tasty! And to be perfectly honest, I’m just so incredibly psyched for my next session with this one because it was so lovely! It just makes me all the more excited to try the rest of the different Pu’erh I picked up from Camellia Sinensis…

Sil

YAY! So glad your journey started out with a bang!

Stephanie

Sounds delicious!

kristinalee

I’ve never bought from them because I always thought the prices looked insanely expensive, and then just now I realized they weren’t automatically converting things to USD based on my IP address. What-cha does do that, but I’d have automatically noticed from the pound sign if they didn’t. With the dollar sign… I bet they’d get more US business if they did the automatic conversions. I didn’t notice I could change it myself until just now, and I’ve known of this company for a few years.

kristinalee

And OMG, they are selling that Breville for half of what I’ve seen it go for in the US… Hm…

kristinalee

BTW, I hope wages there aren’t as stagnant as they are here, and have gone up to accommodate the dollar’s loss of value. That’s been an extreme and quick decline. I can’t imagine.

OMGsrsly

My union has processed a 0.045% raise for Jan 1. Super exciting, eh?

kristinalee

Ugh, I’m sorry to hear that. Wow… Unions were strong when I was in Montreal, even the graduate student union I was in (these barely exist in the US).

kristinalee

Honestly, I was jealous of the labor practices there — they were so much better, much higher graduate student pay and minimum wage. It was 2007.

OMGsrsly

Honestly it depends on the institution, if a union was able to form, who was included in the union, and what the union was able to negotiate. UBC is my shining example here on the West Coast, but BCIT is pretty close as well. :)

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85

A lovely green tea from China. Mildly astringent and with a slight roasted note in the first infusion, and pleasantly sweet in the second one. Vegetal throughout.

First infusion – 30 min. @ 70 deg. in flask

Second infusion – 2+ hours @ boiling in flask

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 8 min or more 5 g 32 OZ / 955 ML

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76

I don’t do these types of teas and so I have been brewing this for all the guests along the way this holiday season who were anti caffeine. It is crowd pleasing for sure with the hibiscus and minty freshness and the citrusy anise tones hitting the bittersweet buttons to give a most refreshing herbal tea. My only drawback is that it’s too strong if over-brewed, to the point of discarding and starting over so faites attention.

Flavors: Anise, Citrusy, Hibiscus, Mint

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

So nice to revisit these teas that were with me for a time, even if in empty packet only.

And it’s a sipdown!

#long time ago internet hiatus sipdown

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80

One Night in Rio, I’ve discovered, is a valuable tea to blend with other teas that need just a little bit of something extra.

As a tea on its own, One Night in Rio comes through as bright pineapple and coconut carried on a gentle Indian— I am guessing Ceylon—base. To my taste, the fruit and coconut flavours are mega assertive and the tea base seems weak in comparison. In other words, the blend strikes me as unbalanced.

Recently, I have blended it with 52teas’ Pineapple Marshmallow Black and that was a hit.

Today, I am blending it half and half with Mighty Leaf Tea’s Brazilian Fruit and this is magic.

Mighty Leaf Tea’s Brazilian Fruit is made with a frisky Chinese black tea base flavoured with papaya. The tea base is totally ka-pow while the fruit is gentle generic tropical fruit: could be lychee, could be mangosteen, could be papaya.

So. This half and half mix is the perfect balance. The frisky Chinese black provides a bold background while toning down the tropical fruit flavours coming through: pineapple, coconut, papaya.

As I sip One Night in Rio down, I just may reorder it specifically to use as a blending tea to balance other blends. It does so beautifully.

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80

This morning’s tea is a fifty-fifty blend of this and 52teas Pineapple Marshmallow black tea. I have approximately the same amount of both left and they are both approximately the same age: well under a year old but creeping.

The mix of the two is a successful one. Both teas are improved by the additions of qualities of the other, resulting in a smoother bright pineapple softened by both coconut and marshmallow.

This cup is definitely more delicious than the one that I had the other day. The black tea base is a bit more feisty and that delights me.

I might experiment with adding a bit of a good kick in your pants black tea to delight me even further. Any ideas?
Mookit

If you are not looking to overwhelm your other flavours, I would add something that is more texture based than flavour based, like an Assam. I find it good for blending because it is usually. Rey smooth and not astringent, with muted flavour notes that don’t overshadow anything you add it too. Disclaimer: I have only blended it once with Vanilla Cacao, so I don’t have a ton of experience here!

Evol Ving Ness

Convincing nonetheless. I’ll give Assam a try. Thanks!

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80

This is one of the Black Friday teas I ordered through Amoda. The idea of this blend seemed intoxicating.

I butchered the beautiful bag in trying to open it: the instructions give a pull strip which takes you to ripping the pouch, but how to rip is unindicated, so I ended up with the plastic open/close zip strips on the same side. However, I may have proceeded correctly but had a faulty bag to begin with. I hate that. It forces one to run around hunting up an extra tin. Who has an empty tin at this time of year?

Anyway, the smell of the dry leaf is intoxicating too. Quite divine really. The leaf contains plentiful coconut bits and fat pineapple shreds. Pretty blend.

The taste is lovely, but a bit less lovely than one would imagine it would be. To me, the melding of flavours is less smooth than I would like. I don’t quite know how to explain it. It is as if each sip contains disconnected flavours: pineapple, coconut, and tea. Each flavour comes through clearly on its own. There is also the slightest bit of imitation flavour coming through at the end of the sip. Not so much as to tamper with the overall experience, but still.

Perhaps the second steeping will give up a smoother experience.

On the second steeping, the coconut creaminess and flavour come through far more prominently while the pineapple steps into the background. A far milder but still enjoyable cup. The imitation flavour disappears completely.

I may add the slightest bit of Lapsang Souchong to a cup at some point to see how it works with a bit of smoke.

Flavors: Coconut, Pineapple

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Fjellrev

I nearly screwed up opening one of those bags too. Such an odd design to get used to, I think.

Hmm, maybe it’s good I didn’t grab this one. Almost did. Adding LS is such a unique idea. Not a fan of the stuff but I’d imagine that smokiness would pair perfectly with the pineapple.

Evol Ving Ness

Do tell how you managed to not screw up because I have another bag or two from Amoda which I have yet to open and I would be so sad to have to run around to find more tins or more elastics or contraptions to keep the tea from losing all its flavour immediately.

It is a nice tea. I’ve only had it for the first time today. The flavours of the pineapple and the coconut are bright and vivid. I thought that the hint of LS might mellow things out a bit. Not that there’s anything wrong with bright and vivid. Maybe it was out of step with the black tea? I really enjoyed David’sTeas Grilled Pineapple Genmaicha with that toasty ricey thing going on, so perhaps that was what I was attempting to conjure up with the LS. I will report back once I have had another cup or two and/or begun experimenting. I hope I haven’t preventing you from trying this tea. It is a nice one.

Fjellrev

I have a couple more to open, and will probably try one a little later so I’ll let you know. From what I remember, I carefully lifted the tab up entirely before proceeding to start tugging at it, if that makes sense.

That does sound worthwhile trying. And thanks for reminding me that I still need to try Grilled Pineapple. Completely forgot that even existed.

Evol Ving Ness

Thank you. I will give it a go. And if it fails again, maybe I will send Teagan a note and report back.

Yes, do try it if it is still around. I really enjoy that one.

Evol Ving Ness

Yes, it is still around. I just checked. A heavy one and a bit expensive for a genmaicha/rooibos. I think I might choose this one as one of my upcoming free teas. https://www.davidstea.com/ca_en/our-teas/grilled-pineapple

Fjellrev

Ok, just opened my last one, and definitely just do it very slowly and carefully. I know that isn’t much of a help but no tins are needed!

How sweet would you say Grilled Pineapple is?

Evol Ving Ness

Did you have to rip the bag? Or just pull the tab?

I’ve had several cups of Grilled Pineapple, but it has been a while. It is not overly sweet. That is to say that it is not a particularly sweet tea when compared to some of DT’s dessert teas etc. The pineapple comes through with more of a pineapple tang than sugar sweet in my recollection. The sweetness that is there gets toned down by the rooibos and toasted rice, so there is that groundedness to it.

Evol Ving Ness

I just took a look at the ratings. The average is 65 while I gave it a 90, hoisting up my initial 81.

Fjellrev

You just have to pull the tab to the right and it’ll make an incision just above the ziplock part.

Cool, I’ll definitely pick some up next time I go.

Evol Ving Ness

Thanks. Maybe that is where I went wrong.

I just found out Zen Tea is having a sale now—last day. 30% off. Code is thanks. Where shall I post this so that people will see it in case they are interested?

Fjellrev

If there isn’t a thread in the discussion forum, maybe there? I wish they had their Chocolate Mint rooibos in stock. SO GOOD. And they got rid of two of my favourites, so nothing for me. What are you interested in?

Evol Ving Ness

Particularly Coconut Island Herbal. But here is my cart so far.
Raspberry Vanilla Rooibos

Rooibos-Vanilla Almond – 10g (0.35 oz) sampler Rooibos-Vanilla Almond – 10g (0.35 oz) sampler

Black tea – Taiwan Ruby – 50g (1.8 oz) zip pouch Black tea – Taiwan Ruby – 50g

Black tea – Keemun Finest – 50g (1.8 oz) zip pouch Black tea – Keemun Finest – 50g (1.8 oz) zip pouch

Qty

Fruit tea – Blood Orange – 100g (3.5 oz) zip pouch Fruit tea – Blood Orange – 100g (3.5 oz) zip pouch

Fruit tea – Sweet coconut island – 100g (3.5 oz) zip pouch Fruit tea – Sweet coconut island – 100g (3.5 oz) zip pouch
This sweet and mild combination of coconut and tropical fruits will transfer you to a tropical island.Ingredients: ap…

Fruit tea – Blueberry Cream – 100g (3.5 oz) zip pouch Fruit tea – Blueberry Cream – 100g (3.5 oz) zip pouch

Evol Ving Ness

Sorry. Didn’t manage to clean that up very well.

Evol Ving Ness

I am now trying to be sensible and whittling my cart down because yanno.

Fjellrev

Have you tried any of those before or you’re just going with 100g of some untried?

Evol Ving Ness

The deed is done. Nice discount. Reasonable shipping. And in Canadian currency. So, yay!

Evol Ving Ness

I have been reading up on comments and making my own list of wants when I get ready to order. I reduced all the 100 gr ones except for the coconut one. And no, I haven’t tried any of them before other than the Milk Oolong. I have tried a few of Zen Tea’s herbals and have been quite happy with them, especially when pitted against the overly artificial ones DT produces. I need uncaffeinnated options (but perhaps I don’t need them immediately).

Evol Ving Ness

I see myself justifying the purchase of more tea. Hard.

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drank La Boreale by Camellia Sinensis
2291 tasting notes

Lunchtime tea. I had 2 coffees already today, so it’s time to think about drinking things without caffeine. I haven’t had this one in ages, and it’s definitely past its prime, but it’s still delicious. I would consider reordering if I didn’t have so many other teas…

Sil

lol drink moar!

OMGsrsly

Sloshing is uncomfortable! Also, I have so much puerh and it so rarely agrees with my guts. :( I’m trying, but I have a lot and uhh, it’s gonna take a while to get through it all.

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drank La Boreale by Camellia Sinensis
2291 tasting notes

I’m not sure if I knew there was wintergreen in this tea when I got it, but I’m REALLY happy with it. OM NOM NOM.

Quite fresh, but with a really delicate wintergreen freshness, not peppermint or spearmint. It’s kinda like pine forests on a crisp day with snow on the ground. Kinda.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Fjellrev

Mmm, wintergreen…

rosebudmelissa

I’ve only tried one tea with wintergreen – stash’s merry mint green tea, and it was a fun change of pace. I’ll have to try this one eventually since it’s herbal.

Marzipan

Handmade Tea’s tea this month has wintergreen, I’m looking forward to it.

OMGsrsly

I really don’t like spearmint, and mostly don’t like peppermint. So wintergreen is a nice alternative! It also looks so cool because they just mixed whole leaves and twigs and berries and flowers. Definitely a feast for the eyes as well as the tongue. :)

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84

G is for… Guei Fei!

Grandpa Style!

I had totally forgotten that I owned this tea so it was really nice to dig out the tin and revisit it properly. It brewed up very well with this steeping method, but I’d forgotten how monstrously large the tea leaves are so by the time everything had unfurled fully I had basically a Nordic mug stuffed with leaves and actually very minimal room for water. Taste wise though!? Medium bodied and so smooth with woodier notes and a lot of creamed honey/beeswax flavours mixed in with those natural forest/umami flavours and hints of red fruit. Just a really good sipping oolong that has held up really well to the age of the leaf!

Courtney

This one is so good!

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84

Drinking a big ol’ Western pot of this currently, even though it’s probably far too late at night for a pot of oolong. However, I find I write much better when I have something to sip on while writing and this is a beautiful tea for that; it’s strong enough in flavour that I’m not completely losing what’s happening while I focus on my writing, but it’s not commanding enough that I’m losing track of my thoughts as I pop out these tasting notes either. Literally, perfect writing tea.

Primary things I’m getting right now: Slight greener quality, loads of creamy/buttery goodness (especially comforting as an evening tea), lots of heady florals – jasmine/lilac/orchids, a TINY bit of what might be considered spice though it’s not “spicy”; more that warming woody cinnamon thing without any heat at all.

Good shit.

Martin Bednář

Sounds interesting :) I put it into my wishlist.

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