Phoenix Tea Shop

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I’d had ginseng green from Adagio once, and hated it, so this was one of those iffy things. This is nothing like that. It’s smooth, with a little spike of flavour. I inadvertently ate one of the tiny round balls of flower and figured out that that’s where the flavour was concentrated. Reminded me of those little mints where the minty liquid is in the ball. It’s ALMOST bitter (maybe I brewed too hot or too long) but comfortably so. Brews pretty dark.

These days I’ve been in an “In Teamorium” phase. As in, finishing off the last of teas that have been on the shelf. Today, I finished the last of my Dan-Cha from Phoenix Teahouse. It was extra special because it was the first cup of tea I’d had in 26 hours.

Yeah, tragic.

I got two burly pots out of this sucker. I probably wasn’t as delicate with it as I should’ve been, but I thought I’d take it to its limit. It held up to the punishment I dished out with “x-treme” gusto. Even took on shades of malt as an act of sincerity.

Good show, Danny-boy. Er, girl. Whatever.

Boy, I just can’t get enough of this stuff. It is so robust, but not in a bitter sort of way. Full of character. I wish I had the words to describe it. More importantly just try it. :)

So I tried this last night while I was working on ideas for a Doctor Who party we’re throwing this weekend with friends. I thought this tea would be a perfect match to my planning. I have to say the thyme was STRONG in this one. WOW! It also took over the cup of tea as I was drinking it. Which kind of put me off. BUT I did like the keemun I could taste a hint of under all the thyme. I’d still try this one again…it was a sample so perhaps I needed to shake it up a little more?

I LOVE this stuff! I can’t believe how amazing this is and it’s a CTC. It is unique, has character, and punches you in the face without even leaving any marks. Not your typical CTC. I encourage you to give it a try. I am currently addicted this one.

This tea scares me. More out of fear of what to think than…er…genuine fear. It’s CTC-grade, bitter as all heck, malty, and it kicks me in the skull. Normally traits that I wouldn’t like in a morning cup o’ black. Just so happens, I may have been wrong. (That happens a lot, actually.)

This tea is Excedrin in a cup – a headache reliever with a wallop of caffeine. But, dang, does it ever need milk.

Thank you, Courtney ( The Purrfect Cup ) for this sample.

I actually acquired this at the Northwest Tea Festival this year. Love events like that where you can taste before you buy. This is an unusual post-fermented tea in the fact there’s no harshness to it at all – compared to the other non-pu-erh hei chas I’ve had, anyway. It lasted a good seven or eight infusions, and its deceptive gentleness was counteracted by a wallop of caffeine. Necessary fuel for a five-hour long writing streak.

Said writing streak was my coverage of said Northwest Tea Festival, which can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/07/my-first-tea-fest/

I received this tea Monday after getting some rather terrible news so I didn’t try it straight away. My husband and I went to the doctor for an 8 week check only to find out our sweet angel baby had passed away the week before. :‘( (So I had another appointment yesterday and am home recovering the rest of the week) We also lost my husbands cousin Monday evening. It’s has been a really rotten week for us.

So I needed some comfort today as it’s my first day home by myself. I could think of nothing better than a cup of this tea. It is so comforting to me, rich, malty, and very much like a blanket wrapping me in warmth and hugging me tight.

Sorry for being so personal but I love the tea community here and you all are much like my family and I felt the need to share with my tea family. hugs

Yum yum yum yum yum. Super dark and thick cooked pu-erh. It comes out sweet and earthy and cocoa-y. Wonderful for first time drinkers if they’re switching from coffee or like the thicker red wines.

Thanks to Phoenix Tea Shop for sending me this sample. I finished it off today but I can’t say there was anything totally remarkable about it. Not rating it because I still don’t know if my tastebuds are feeling all too perky and back to normal. :((

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I decided to purchase one of these mini sheng bricks recently after Phoenix told me via Twitter that there was not a lot of bitterness in them. When it arrived, I immediately thought I should have purchased two because they are so cute and the packaging is really lovely!

Anyway, I could hardly wait to try it this morning. I attempted to break a piece off but it is compressed very tightly and I ended up with mostly tea dust which is okay. I steeped that up in my yixing.

Steeps #1 and #2 of this tea were about 15 seconds. What I got was a light yellow tea liquor. For a young sheng, it is fairly mellow with a nice sweetness and a definite acidity, but not one that I am finding terribly bitter. After the first two steeps, it is starting to quiet down a bit more and is becoming mostly pleasant and mild.

I steeped this tea 10 times and after the first 3 infusions, I was enjoying it a lot more.

This is my first Douji sheng tea, but I spent a little time this morning looking up Douji on the ‘net. They certainly seem to have a good reputation and they have these bricks made from different source materials, I’m just not sure which this one is because the label is written in Chinese. I can see more experiments will be required in the future. I think perhaps sheng is an acquired taste, and one I am still getting used to. I think this will be excellent with a few more years of aging.

I purchased this after trying it at Phoenix’es “Teattle” shop. It was – without much exaggeration – one of the most unique teas I’ve come across. I’m still hard-pressed to define it, but I do my darnedest here…and explain how it makes me feel like a bit of a “tea hipster” – an old one at that: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/05/08/youve-probably-never-heard-of-this-tea-before/

Still delicious.

Hmmm, interesting, Tastes good almost Oolong like and it was a dark green color, like incredible hulk green.

I actually received this before the Purple Tea of Kenya but didn’t get around to it after. A travesty given my love of teas with the word “GOLD!” in them. This bears a lot of similarities to Yunnan Golds both in site, smell and taste. Where it differs is the subtlety of its character. It’s not as “thick” as a Yunnan gold on delivery, instead presenting its berry-sweet, honey-like presence in a fluttery sorta way. It can also take a brew-beating of five minutes far better than a Yunnan can. Approval was met with gusto.

Full Review: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2011/11/10/running-for-kenyan-gold/

Clean, pure, delicious tea. (Disclosure: I have a business relationship with Phoenix Tea Shop.)

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Delicious, robust, clean-tasting Nilgiri. No off flavors. Yum. (Disclosure: I have a business relationship with Phoenix Tea Shop.)

I never thought I’d rate a shu pu’erh so high, but this is unbelievable. One of the most sip-able, addictive teas I’ve had in a long time. Dark as coffee, tastes like milk chocolate, smooth as silk. Amazing, simply amazing. (Disclosure: I have a business relationship with Phoenix Tea Shop…this tea is still amazing, though.)

Savory and rich, this is going to be an excellent fall and winter tea. (Disclosure: I have a business relationship with Phoenix Tea Shop.)