RiverTea

I was lucky enough to be chosen as a winner for the pre-launch, I asked for an Oolong and received this wonderful Formosa Jade Oolong. Thank you River Tea

Brewing this tea in my new kettle teapot which can hold up to 1.5 litres and has a retractable egg steeper. I brew three large spoons of Oolong and infused it in 1 litre of water for three minutes.

My result is a yellow tea with a mild yet sweet and floral scent.

The flavour is also mild but tastes sweet, almost honeyed, and has a fresh, floral and fruitiness to it. Rather like subtle forms of honey suckle flowers and lightly toasted peach slices. Not only is it light but it also has a buttery after taste too.

A nice Oolong that will be perfect to use in my new flask to take to work. Due to it’s sweetness and general lightness I’m imagining it would be amazing iced.

http://www.rivertea.com/formosa-jade-taiwan-oolong-tea

Started my day with sour milk and stale toast. Not a good start. Picked up considerably when I brewed a cup of Golden Yunnan. Smoke and leather. Going to miss this one. Sadly this is the last of it. Also sad that my bag of it lasted longer than the company. When I finally get around to buying more tea, I’ll have to try the Esgreen version for myself.

One of the greatest things about having a long running blog is you receive a lot of samples for review. One of the biggest reasons not to have a blog, if you’re thinking about it, is you receive a lot of samples. Seriously. I have a box full waiting for review (and more on the way). Unlike some of you I cannot drink 15 cups a day. I generally have three and they are usually all the same tea. The blog makes it tough to work in old favorites, but I love my blog so…

Today, at least for this first cup, I am neglecting the box and drinking what I’m craving. After this cup I have just enough for one more time with this one. Those of us who love it have not seemed to be able to find a suitable replacement.

Just enough smoke in the aroma to suggest bohea. The smoke note even expresses itself in the exhale and aftertaste. It has a traditional yunnan taste though lighter than many I’ve had. Sweet honey and caramel with a peppery spice at the beginning. I even feel I detect leather. It is one of those teas that the dry scent stays on your fingers and I have no desire to scrub it off.

Unfortunately, the label does not list the estate that produced this one. Sure going to miss it.

After today, I have enough left for a couple more sessions. I was really looking forward to ordering more of this one. It is one of my favorite Yunnans. It kind of trades the sweet potato notes for a wonderful smoky bohea like flavor. Sorry to find out RiverTea is apparently no more.

Today I prepared this in a little green ceramic teapot my wife found for me at Goodwill. It holds roughly 12 oz. The perfect size for my needs. I have wanted one for a while, just for my black teas. I heated the pot first and brewed this at 194F for 2 minutes. It was so good. The smoke filled my olfactory, while the honey, caramel and leather (leather? – yup) rejoiced on the inside. Best $4 buy ever.

The last few days have been lousy weatherwise. This afternoon it was partly sunny and low 50’s. I made a hot cup of this jewel, after Sil’s review had me craving it, and headed for the porch. Light touch of smoke, malt, caramel, honey, and more than a hint of leather. I really like this one.

Spike and Buffy went out with me. Spike is sill hobbling around from surgery and is kind of pathetic at the moment, but at least he is up and eating. Buffy on the other hand is the Tasmanian Devil on Redbull. Down the ramp, out in the yard through every pile of leaves she could find. From one gate to the other, then up the steps with a leap over her collection of sticks and around again as hard and fast as she can run. I don’t know about her, but I’m worn out.

Another example of how different people respond differently to a tea. I so love this one. Some said it was bland. Some said it was just an ok everyday kind of tea. I find that interesting.

I’ve had this maybe 10 months. Every time I prepare it I get sucked in all over again. The dry scent reminds me of a freshly cleaned stall with the sweet straw and hay aromas. Once water hits it, a nice light smokiness drifts into the air. Sipping, I get tack leather, caramel, cocoa, honey, and that touch of smoke. If this is an every day tea – I’ll take it!

I don’t recall others mentioning the light touch of smoke. To me that is what sends this one over the top. I love Yunnan black teas and this one is currently a favorite. Ever since having it with bacon flavored grits, I now catch a old leather note in it each time I have a mug.

I went to the grocery store to buy some oatmeal. Next to it I saw grits. I haven’t had grits in years (my wife can’t stand them). On closer inspection it is an instant variety pack. One of the flavors is country bacon. So… yeah, that box came home with me. Trying to decide what tea to have with it, I grabbed this Golden Yunnan. On its own it is really good with a slight smokiness and that wonderful rich and smooth Yunnan flavor. As Terri remarked recently, I can drink Yunnan on an empty stomach. Now I know I can also drink it with bacon grits. Oh my lands, bacon and Yunnan! I am in love. The tea takes on a deeper leathery tone that sort of reminded me of some of the pu’erh I enjoy. I am thinking next time I am just going to pour the tea over the bacon grits instead of water and cut out the middle man. I love bacon. I love Yunnan. I love bacon. I love Yunnan. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

Prepared this and while I was waiting for it to cool I was reminded I was driving her and the fur ball to the vet for a check up. So took one sip, whimpered, and walked away. Now we are back and its cold. You know what? It’s still really good. A little more smoky than any other Yunnan I have tasted but still a light touch. Caramel and honey. A much needed treat as I am not feeling the greatest but I am still meeting with a contractor tonight about building a porch across the front of the house.

One of those mornings. The body is trying to do one thing and the brain is trying to remain in a sleep induced coma. Wow. Everything is taking so such effort. Standing at my tea wanting to get that first cup down me. Craving black pearls but using scissors is too technical. My hand grabbed this one. It is open and the ‘tin’ is cardboard. I probably can’t get hurt on that. Over leafed on purpose. Boiling water and anywhere between 1 and 5 minutes steeping. Seriously, I say it again, wow! Probably 3 minutes on the steep. Wonderfully lightly smoky with rich honey caramel. Just what I needed. Tea do your magic. This really is a great Yunnan.

Tasting note 1111 for the number amused among us.

Yesterday it was sunny and upper 50’s. Took my wife to the big city (a town of 30,000, 60,000 when college is in session) ate out and just had a fun day. Today I am paying for it. My back and hips hurt and my breathing is giving me fits but it was totally worth it.

I over leafed this a little and got distracted so it over steeped but it took it like a trooper. I love Yunnans. This one is a very good example. Dry it smells of sweet hay. Steeped it has just enough roast to give it flair while the brown sugar chocolate caramel notes delight the taste buds. A very nice tea.

Accidentally under leafed this one as I intended to use my small cup with the Finum basket but poured water into my mug instead (doh!) Tried to compensate by steeping longer. The tea wasn’t at its best but like a trooper it gave its all. Not changing the rating because it is not the teas fault. Under leafed, it is a good gulping tea. Prepared correctly, gulping should be a crime.

Remember RiverTea’s contest “What would you do for the last 100 g of your favorite tea on earth?” Well, this is the last of my prize winning samples to try and Yunnan blacks are one of my three most favorite teas. The other two being Fujian black, and Earl Grey.

With Golden Tips and Golden Monkey being two of my highest rated teas, I wasn’t sure how this would stack up against the competition. When I inhaled the aroma of the first cup I literally went, “Whoa!” Then I sipped it and was just as impressed. This has more than a casual amount of sweet smoke. Not LS level smoke. More of a Keemun level but unmistakably smoky none-the-less. It is accompanied by honey and light malt. Beneath it lies woodsy/nutty tinged cocoa.

This is seriously good. I haven’t given a rating to a new tea in a while but I will this one. Bravo!

Steepster freaked out on me, so I am trying this again. I have logged this a couple times before with different results based on temp. Today I used hotter water than suggested. I used 185 F and 2 minute steep. The tea is green. The aroma as I poured was very asparagus / spinach. This was very good once again. This time it is buttery. There is no bitterness. Next time maybe I’ll go even hotter until I find its breaking point. What a nice tea.

158 F is a little tough to do for me, so I am pretty sure I just used the lowest setting on my kettle previously (175 F). Today I stood by the kettle and watched as the temperature gauge started to rise. Just before it read 158 I turned it off and poured. I really did not think it would make much difference as I really liked this before. It definitely did make a difference. The wet leaf has the typical steamed spinach aroma at first then suddenly blossoms with a very green vine like scent. I inhaled twice. It is an instantly recognizable smell but one I can’t place. Whatever it is it translate wonderfully into the cup. Really enjoying this one on a snowy day.

This is from Anhui province in China. It just says green tea on the ingredients. Looking at the leaf and the liquor I am pretty sure this is Huang Shan Mao Feng, but just guessing. The liquor is beautiful golden green. Very clear. This is crisp, a touch mineral, the good kind of bitter, and a nice vegetal taste. Lingering sweet after taste. This is very good.

Sipdown (149/155)!

Heyyyooo! Back under 150 blends! This is a good feeling! Of course I’m not stupid; I know it’s going to be a temporary thing – I have Butiki on the way and some stuff coming in from other people. But that shouldn’t be here for a while so I think maybe I can make a significant dent in things! Hooray!

Anyway, this was a cold brew! Very rooibos-y (ie. woody chippy) with an almost unpleasant cherry/strawberry hybrid flavour and a spicy kick at the end. I’ve really, really fallen out of love with this one since first having it months back and 50g has proven to be way too much of it for me. Not sad to see this go at all. Out with one bad RiverTea blend; in with some new, better ones.

After burning through nearly 50g of this one I’ve sorta fallen a little out of love. That’s why I’ve turned to cold brewing it: while it does taste better hot the cold brews are using the leaf up much faster. It’s sorta a fair trade off.

I had this at work yesterday, it was decent! It bordered on medical (the rooibos, not the cherry) but overall was pretty ok and thirst quenching. I’ll be fine with not having it around when it’s gone though: and besides it looks like I’ve just planned out another RiverTea order! I knew I had a few I wanted, but turns out it’s enough to feel justified in placing a (small) order and getting more fruit blends (and fruit samples) and also topping off my depleting Mulberry White!

Hooray!

Oh, and I bumped down the rating on this a touch.

I must have been in a RiverTea/Cherry mood today, because I didn’t notice I’d made two cherry flavoured RiverTea blends for work today until I had actually gotten to work.

This was made hot in a timolino, and slightly overleaf; and it was, simply put, awesome. I did feel that the cherry was a little buried and more flavorful notes of orange/strawberry, but it was there and it created a nice mix of fruit. The little spiciness at the end was welcomed today too, I felt like it added a little alertness that helped me get through the work day.

Speaking of work; it went mostly really well today but there was some sadness. In the last of the round of staff fired/let go, a favourite employee of the Keyholders (Hazel, Morningstar, Bobbi, and I) was let go. His name is Abdul and he’s such a sweet, funny guy! I’m so heartbroken to see people leave – and they’re all my favourite people too! Damnit; this is why I can’t have nice things, like friends…

(Morningstar is convinced we would be a good couple, which is a little awkward… He’s like, 16? Maybe 17? And super nice, but a little dumb/naive…)

Also, I had to write someone up today for having money missing in her till, and that felt pretty awful too because I know it likely is going to give my manager more of an excuse to add her to the last group of people being fired…

Cold Brew: Five and a half hour total.

If I had to summarize? Don’t do it.

I love this one hot, and I thought it’d be sweet and refreshing cold brewed but I’d sad to report that the sweet cherry/strawberry/orange flavour that’s mouth watering hot is very crude and medicinal cold brewed.

So… An experiment, but not one I’m going to do again. If you have this one, stick to a hot brew!

Well, this would have been a temporary sipdown, but my RiverTea order showed up before I could log this note, so now I have 50g more to enjoy!

I really hardly felt the spice in this mug at all though – but no complaints!

I think I’ll leave my 50g untouched for a while though, so that I can sample the my new RiverTea blends first! The Absolute Spearmint is calling to me, as well as the fruit blends :)

Backlog continues…

Tuesday evening, but I let it get cold before drinking it. Surprisingly, it still tasted relatively good: I wouldn’t have really thought about drinking cold. Also, it was extra peppery in the aftertaste. I think that’s because I’m nearing the end of the sample back and now it’s inevitable that all the peppercorns I was avoiding getting too much of (I don’t mind them, but don’t want a ton) are sitting there waiting for me.

I couldn’t resist drinking another RiverTea blend today while getting ready to go out (movie night and super late Christmas gift exchange with bestie Robyn), so I made this one up because the sample packages were already in my drawer and I didn’t want to go digging for the pretty white storage containers that have Boatsman and Mulberry White in them, although a little caffeine might have been nice.

When preparing this one (a little more than 1 tsp. for a 10 oz. mug of hot water, steeped for six/seven minutes) I was reminded that this blend has hibiscus in it: somehow I’d forgotten that – but to me that was a good sign because normally hibiscus is a very memorable ingredient because it floods and overwhelms things. The fact I’d forgotten about it, to me, says that it’s well balanced and doesn’t take over.

I think this was a longer steep than the first time (I believe I did five minutes the first time), and this time around I do taste the hibiscus just a little more just like I taste the peppercorn a little more – but neither are really the dominant tastes. Really, this is just a wonderful sweet orange/strawberry/cherry fruit tea with a small touch of tartness and a small splash of subtle spiciness in the aftertaste. Again, I’m really excited to get more although I do believe I prefered this more with a slightly shorter steep time.

Also, I hope my RiverTea notes are making you all jealous – though not too jealous I hope, because I don’t want to be a bitch about it. I’m just a little giddy I get to enjoy my blends sooner rather than later.