Steepster

From the first whiff of verdant, toasty, popcorny comforting steam curling up from the surface, I was in love.

It just kept getting better from there. It’s SO mild, and so green, and the toasted rice is a stellar complement to all that earthy vegetal goodness. I could drink this all. day.

From April’s select box, 2014

ALRIGHT. I found a use for the brisket-in-a-cup tea! Brewed it up and used it to add smokiness to a pot of pinto beans I made! So much win!

This is my first Lapsang Souchong. The descriptions always scared me off, and I have to say, I wish I’d kept the sheets pulled over my head.

The liquor brewed into a very pretty orange, but as soon as the steam hit my nose. . . It was like a campfire in a cup. The aroma is a bit misleading, though. The first sip was surprisingly mild, but the smokiness lingered even after I’d set the cup down. The smokiness settles down some as it cools off, and I’m hoping a second steep will reveal more flavor with less smoke.

I imagine this is what it’d be like to drink a brisket.

From the April 2014 Select box

Fun blend of matcha, green tea leaves, and toasted rice. This smells totally like matcha with a bit of toast but then when it is brewed, it smells like kukicha. Luckily it doesn’t taste like kukicha.
The liquor is beautiful emerald green and still see-thru though cloudy from the matcha. I like the flavors, the toasty rice balances pretty well with the green teas. The grassy green is dominant though and has a bitter note. A fun afternoon tea for snack time.

From the Steepster Select Box, April 2014

I received my first Steepster Select box today, and I was excited to try it out. I was happy they offered a free trial! Since it was breakfast time, I decided to try the Laos Black #5. I love the packaging; though, I am not sure if it is recyclable.

I open the package and got a nice whiff of fresh, almost white-tea scented leaves. The leaves were wiry and slightly wavy in appearance. It is mixed with black, brown, and light brown leaves. I steeped it according to the instructions into my 8oz glass brewing vessel. The liquid was a nice medium brown color. The scent was nice, slightly malty and sweet. The taste was delicious! It had a hint of honey and sweetness to it. It wasn’t astringent or bitter at all. Very good tea! I will resteep the leaves later today.

Dry leaf is gray-green colored rolled balls with a spice scent like nutmeg and sweeter spices.
Brewed in my glass teapot so I could watch the balls open up to a moss green colored leaf. The balls are not opening up too fast, about half-way and the liquor is staying light colored. The liquor doesn’t have too much scent or color which makes me want to leave it in a bit longer but I want to brew the Steepster recommended way for the first try.
The flavor is light and subtle. I love white tea and this one is very fresh, and has light essences of spring. Creamy florals like daffodils but no flavor of flower which is good.
The flavor is light light honey.

From the Steepster Select box, April 2014

I resteeeped this one with my remaining 6 ounces of 180F water and the leaves were now mid way opened up so I got more color to the liquor. I steeped for 5 minutes which was pushing it because I didn’t want to get the tea bitter. It stayed consistently one-note in honey but very subtle.
I do love white tea pearls with NO jasmine so I like this tea. I have another white tea pearl in my cupboard with more complex flavors but I love them all :)

I got this in my (very first!) Steepster Select box. I will say, when I looked at the steeping instructions I thought someone must be off their rocker. Even more so when I weighed the amount of leaf in the pouch! 4.35 grams? You want me to use 4.35 GRAMS of loose leaf in 12 oz of water?! That is twice, no, more than twice, what I usually use in my 12 oz pot.

They’re the experts . . . right?

I figured I would at least try steeping the first pouch of each tea according to the instructions included. So, Into the steeping basket it went. All of it. Then two minutes steeping. Then the first sip . . . hmmm . . . not oversteeped or overleafed at all. Nothing really attention grabbing about it though, just a pleasant cup of tea. Light to medium body with a mild, loamy flavor . . . that’s it, that’s all I’ve got.

The second infusion I steeped for four minutes. The color is a bit darker and there’s a slight tough of acridity now with a bit of maltyness as well. This just isn’t speaking to me at all. I like more body to my teas, a bit more complexity and richness of flavor.

Absolutely delicious. Best green tea I have had in a long time. The roasted grain is not overwhelming and balances really nicely with the green tea. I could drink this every day. Whichever Steepster staffer chose this to go this month’s Steepster Select club, thank you!!

An excellent green tea with the depth and complexity of a black or oolong tea. I am a big fan of the genmaicha style of greens and found this to have a similar palate of toasty, rice-like flavor which was supported by some notes of chocolate in the undertones. A fine tea, one I found very enjoyable, and look forward to drinking again. 9/10

Whoa! We used to go to a smoked ham shop in the Ozark Mountains, USA that smelled like this tea!! The dry leaf smells just like a smokehouse with pine. It smells like holiday time with a bit of pine thrown into the fire. The leaves are dark char colored chopped pieces.
The liquor is orange colored and pretty. There is more pine scent now. The wet leaves have a burnt pine at holiday time scent and are chopped small and dark brown.
The flavor is not as piney as you might expect but it does have notes of pine and wood.
This is a manly tea. I think this is the tea Santa Claus would drink because he probably gets a bit tired of sweet cookies and milk and would like a bit of smoky mountain-man tea.
I am giving this a high score because I have never had it before, I was transported to many places and thoughts and was moved like art is supposed to do. I am certain that this is a difficult tea to create and get right. This had very interesting flavors that I have never ever tasted before and I love tasting new flavors. There was no bitter or astringency either. This was a very smooth tea so even if you don’t like pine essence in your tea, this one was very well done.

From the Steepster Select Box, April 2014

This is my first time trying some real, quality tea, and needless to say I am in love. It was my first steepster shipment to arrive and I am so excited to try the rest! These white pearls have a very herbal, grassy, earthy taste, which is my favorite flavor spectrum in the tea world. Beautiful, smooth, light, airy tea. I would definitely recommend this for your cupboard!

As another commenter said, I usually add milk and sugar to my black teas, but find it unnecessary with this brew- it’s really good without it!

Backlog:

I agree with the part that says “marriage of floral, fruity, smoky and mineral flavors.” It’s a pleasant marriage of these flavors. I get more fruit and smoke than I do floral and mineral, but I do taste each of these qualities.

Smoke is prominent. The sweetness of the fruit reminds me of something between berries and plums. Together with the smoke, these fruity notes almost taste roasted, like they were grilled over a smoky charcoal grill.

Usually with a Keemun tea, it tastes either of smoke, or it tastes fruity and wine-like, but I’m finding that this Keemun is something in between these two. It’s strong, rich and smoky, but there are wine-like qualities to this too.

The floral notes are subdued and the mineral notes come through toward the finish.

A good Keemun.

I would like to first admit that I have only started to familiarize myself with Keemun teas in the past month, so this is a new style for me and I haven’t decided if I like it yet. The other Keemun teas that I have tasted were all pleasant , one-note brews that I enjoyed, but I prefer slightly more complex teas with more depth and breadth of flavor. This Keemun was a nice tea, with some bitter chocolate notes and a faintly woody aroma, but that was it for me. A pleasant tea, but not one I would go to extreme lengths to find. 7/10

TTB&C #8

This is an epic fail on my part. I am blaming my overworked brain this week. I for some reason had it in my head that this was a Verdant sample. I even searched my cupboard to make sure I didn’t already own THIS verdant tea. As I was tearing open the package and dumping the contents into my steeper I realized that this was not a Verdant tea, this was a Steepster Select tea, which I have tried, haven’t reviewed, and still have one package left of it. So this will just be a swap out. I will enjoy this package and add my sample pack to the box.

This tea is very nice treat tonight. It is earthy/woody with a fruity after taste. It is really really hitting the spot tonight. My first steep of this in December I remember not knowing what to think.

Great sample. Caramel malt and cherry oh my. Brewed in a small yixing and served gongfu style to a group of friends and we now have a few new tea converts among us.

Alright. FInally trying this out of the Steepster box I got, errmmm, back in January. Lol.
Ended up using the entire pouch for 12 oz, which might or might not have been 2 tsp if I had heaped the spoon. As it was I took one tsp out intending to just do 8oz, then measuring to see how much was left. Then just went screw it, and dumped it all in there and went with my usual 12oz. Lol.
Kinda smokey/earthy sort of smell with a hint of something vaguely malty to it? I need a list or something so that I can pick descriptions off it.
Sipping at it I definitely get a bit of smoke, but it’s not like ‘Ugh!’ sort of smoke. It’s actually very good. And I get earthy, mulchy sort of taste which again, isn’t unpleasant. It’s kinda astringent after the sip, but I don’t mind it that much (which is rare since I detest that feeling you get from even most mildly astringent teas), at least not enough that I’ll be pouring the cup out instead of drinking it. And there’s a faintly fruity aftertaste to it, but nothing strong or specifically identifiable.
It’s a little tart and slightly bitter (which goes along with the astringency), but not unpleasant enough for me to want to dump the cup.
About halfway through sipping at it trying to figure it out I added a bit of Truvia, which got rid of alot of the bitterness and I can taste a but more fruitiness coming through on the sip instead of just in an aftertaste.
I can say that the longer I drink this tea, the more the astringency seems to be building up. Which now makes it a tea that I’ll be happy to finish off the second pouch of, but nothing that I was seek to buy.

Forwent my gaiwan for this one in favor of a western style teapot.

The scent of the dry buckwheat berries is exactly like puffed wheat cereal (In the USA, think Golden Crisp, Honey Smacks, etc.) It also reminds me a bit of roasted soy nuts. What surprised me is how mellow this tea is. I was expecting an in-your-face experience like my last run-in with Houjicha.

The taste is pretty straightforward. Roasted, nutty, bready, grainy. The one element of the flavor that I wasn’t expecting is there is a sweet floral note above all the darker flavors. It is evident in both the taste and aroma. I’m not sure what type of flowers to compare it to. Maybe dandelions?

Either way, I really enjoyed this tea. I have to love that Steepster Select educates us by sending regional teas that are well known in their area, but many people outside have never heard of. Now I just need to go put some soba noodles and Worcestershire in the skillet! This tisane would pair wonderfully with them!

Edit: Tried it. Awesome. thumbs up

An enjoyable, light, warm weather tea with delicate flavoring. I am not usually a fan of jasmine green teas because they can be overwhelmingly floral and perfume-y, but the jasmine was only a brief forward note that dissolved quickly into a slightly sweet citrus flavor. I was pleased with this tea and am excited to drink it again. 8/10

This was a lovely tea. The one flavor that came through for me was roasted grain. It produced a lovely, golden color. The appearance was different…lots of little sticks. That was a surprise, but out of that came such a lovely flavor. It reminded me a bit of roasted grain coffee substitutes, such as Roma. It even tasted good cold.

I waited too long and now it’s not available, but I’ll definitely put my name on the waiting list for more.