Green Mountain Tea

This is the first Oolong I’ve tried since discovering the wonders of tea relatively recently. If they’re all as nice as this, I’ll be a happy man.

The blurb from Green Mountain is pretty much spot on, it’s a very smooth tea to drink with sweet notes, although not overpoweringly so.

Just finished drinking my first pot, and I can’t see the 50g I bought lasting long. I will be back for more .

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I feel rough this morning which is probably because I stayed up very late last night to finishing watching Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy. After very little sleep and with a ton of work to do I had to drag myself out of bed with the promise of a pot of tea before anything else.

This is another sample to use up and a strong black tea is what I could really do with right now.

In appearance these little balls consist of black and golden tip leaves that have been rolled together. The golden tips have a beautiful shine and slight felt like feel. I would also like to add that one or two of the 11 pearls that I have contains stalk/stem.

I will be using all 11 pearls in my teapot infuser this morning which will make roughly 4 cups worth of tea. Following the instructions this shall be prepared using boiling water with a steep time of three minutes.

Side Note: I always keep a supply of Teavivre – Fengqing Black Pearl and I compared both those pearls and these pearls together in appearance and could not tell them apart. They are the same size, same quality and scent. They must be from the same supplier.

In appearance this tea is mahogany in colour and has a sweet, woody, malt aroma with elements of cocoa.

The flavour is rich and sweet with thick malt and earthy tones mixed with dark cocoa and a slightly sour after taste. Perhaps a little leathery and smoky too, or aged in a sense.

It tastes exactly the same as Teavivre pearls but of course if your in the UK then it’s easier, quicker and roughly the same price to just buy them from Green Mountain Tea but I still love Teavivre and not trying to take custom away from them. It’s the first time I have samples the same tea from two different sources.

My husband is off work this week to use up his remaining holiday before it gets renewed next month. That means we can have our usual pot of tea this morning which is a ritual that I love. So I opened my cupboard and found this Earl Grey first. It’s a little smoother and tastier than I remembered but not enough for me to change the rating. Still it’s cheap and cheerful.

Today’s agenda? No idea :/

This White Peony (Bai Mudan) comes from the Fujian Province in China.

The mixture whilst raw consists of dark green and silver green leaves that have been roughly broken. They are dry and crisp to the touch. Mixed amongst them are a few full dried rose flowers with the occasional dried rose petal that has become loose into the leaves.

Steep One – One Minute

The colour is golden with a sweet and floral scent that is very rosey. Taste is very subtle and fresh with sweet and floral yet vegetal tones. The rose adds a sweet mist in the after taste which mellows very quickly. It’s also a little nutty and dry. Very pleasing.

Steep Two – Two Minutes

More vegetal than the previous steep and it reminds me of fresh pea pods/ string beans but with a sweet floral kick. It’s strength is stronger but still rather refreshing and lght. The rose is still in the background but not as noticeable.

Steep Three – Three Minutes

Yellow in colour with a very soft floral smell. Now there is a delicate dryness that is a little nutty and buttery but still with that hint of flowers. This steep finishes off the tea nicely and ends it with a refreshing high.

For pictures and a longer review please read my blog.
http://kittylovestea.teatra.de/2013/02/13/white-peony-with-rose-buds-in-time-for-valentines/

Thanks KittyLovesTea for this sample! The moment I saw it pop up on my feed I wanted to try it. I was so excited then, realizing they only sipped with the UK I was disappointed. However, you were awesome enough to send me some, so I’m happy once again haha.

Also I’m on my last chapter of studying for my exam tomorrow!

Smells delicious, like an almond sweet but not overwhelmingly so.

Oh yes this one is a lovely balance of almond and tea. It’s actually really nicely done. The almond is there but not in-your-face, and the tea is also there but not overpowering the almond. I may have to set up some sort of agreement to have this one on hand (or relocate to the UK)!

Update: 2nd steep slightly less flavour, still tasty.

My second pot of the day and I’m on an Earl Grey bender. I’ve just had dinner (roasted veg with turnip and potato mash, cabbage, broccoli and a vegetarian lattice) and Earl Grey accompanies it all very well.

Perfect.

I bought this one because it reminds me of my Grandad (who is Welsh and still lives in Wales). Plus I can never have too many black teas, great for when guests come over and just simply ask for tea. :)

The loose mixture smells strongly earthy with a touch of malt. Deep brown black in colour and looks like most other loose black teas.

Once steeped a drop of milk was added. A strong smelling malty tea is created.

It’s strong with a smooth and sweet malty mist. The strength is equal to a decent breakfast tea or for whenever you need a bit of a boost. Even though it’s strong it does taste fresh and the fact that it’s organic boosts it up in rank.

Looks like I have just found a cheap yet delicious and strong black tea to stock up on. :)

This arrived this morning from a new eBay shop that I stumbled upon the other day. Almond Cookies sound delicious. Yum! Yum!

The raw mixture consists of long and thin chopped green leaves mixed with white coconut pieces. It does smell like almond but sweeter than normal … it’s starting to remind me of those sugared almond sweets that appear every Easter. Maybe like marzipan too. :) Licks lips

Once steeped it’s yellow in colour and smells like sweet almonds, more toned down than it’s raw form.

Yummy. It tastes like sweet almond sugar cookies. The green tea picks up in flavour the more I drink and it brings a fresh gentle floral hint, it’s also sort of toasty. The coconut is sort of in the after taste but other than that it blends in well. As it cools it gets a little stronger and much more like almond sweets. Perhaps next time I should try this one as an iced tea. :)

I am definitely going to have to buy more of this. Thank you eBay for this nice find and thank you Green Mountain Tea for this delicious blend.

This is a company I stumbled across on eBay while searing for Earl Grey tea. A super duper fast two days later and here I have it sitting in front of me. The pouches are resealable which is perfect for me.

The raw tea was strong in smell with the bergamot being very notable and fresh. It looks great so far :)

I’m brewing for 4 minutes as instructed and I will be having the tea undressed (ie. no milk or sweetener).

Once steeped it forms a lovely brown colour with a weaker bergamot smell than the raw mix.

Ah lovely this is pleasant so far. The bergamot is sweet and rather mild while the Assam is very smooth. It makes a lovely Earl Grey altogether, the only thing I will have to try differently next time is to brew it stronger. While there was flavour there just was not enough for my personal taste level.