Steven Smith Teamaker

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Popular Teaware from Steven Smith Teamaker

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Recent Tasting Notes

I served this to one of my students today, & he loved it!
Without a doubt, this is the BEST earl grey I’ve tried so far, & although my relationship with the earl has been a little rocky, I’m starting to enjoy my time with him, when he doesn’t taste phony.

One of the thinks I like about this one is the boldness added by the inclusion of Assam!

ashmanra

Tea with students! Love it! I have one who now stays for an extra hour and a half and we schedule her lesson just so we can have a nice long tea time! :)

MsWhatsit

I rather like Earl Greys. They remind me of Starship captains. Also my son, who likes his with extra bergomot.

Terri HarpLady

Ashmanra: Yeah, I like serving tea to my adult student especially. Everyone needs a cup of tea, right? :)
Sis: This one is particularly nice! :)

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In an effort to broaden my SO’s horizons, I have been providing him with samples of various Earl Grey’s, since EG is his preferred tea (although he’ll also drink straight black teas).

He loved this one! He especially liked the lingering aftertaste, & his actual words were, “Where can I get more of this?”
Win!

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I don’t always get along with Bergamot flavored teas, but lately I’ve been getting them for Tony to sample, since he loves Bergamot, & sampling them myself, & some of them are better than others.
Like other flavorings, Bergamot can be aweful, using chemicals to create the flavor & aroma. I think that’s why some Earls are definitely a “NO” for me, creating an acidic feeling that I hate.

I like this Earl Grey! First off, the base is a mix of Ceylons & Assams, a really nice blend that is a malty, sweet, bright, & smooth, with more substance than your typical Earl. I like that!
Also, the bergamot is REAL bergamot oil from Italy! It says so on the package, which is nice because so many flavored teas don’t really tell you if the flavorings are real or artificial.

One more thing: I steeped this 4 minutes. 2nd steeping was 5, & for the 3rd steeping I combined the leaf from this & #49 for 6 minutes. All 3 cups were awesome, & the bergamot held up nicely into the 3rd steeping.
Admittedly, I don’t always resteep teas, especially flavored teas. I may even try a 4th…

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Sipdown #49!!
Confession: I Actually drank this earlier today, but realized I had the opportunity to make it #49, so I held back the posting of it until now!
I had a crush on a guy named Steve Smith a long time ago, & of course, my secret fantasy is that he grew up to be a tea maker! I originally loved this tea, but alas, the magic is over. The last 2 outings with it weren’t as happy as they used to be. One thing about this one, although it is really bold & screams ASSAM, you really have to be careful about going over-board with the amount of tea, or it can be a little too…uh…grapepeely & bright.
Today, it was actually pretty good!

looseTman

Terri, What steeping parameters work best for N0. 49?
oz. / temp. / tsp. (g) / min.

Terri HarpLady

I’m pretty sure I liked this one best using 1 tsp + 8oz X 3-4 min at boiling
It’s not a tea I’d gongfu, just a basic black

looseTman

Thank you!

Terri HarpLady

Any time! :)

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Drinking a pot of this with my breakfast, and I don’t know why, but it has taken on a bitterness that I’m not enjoying. I noticed it the last time I had it, but I thought maybe I was being a ‘bitterness supertaster’ that day. Apparently not. The sweet qualities I had previously enjoyed are also not as present. I’ve never had a tea change like this, & I’m not sure why. It’s not ancient (as in having been in my cupboard for any real length of time), it’s been in an air-tight tin as well.

Die hard tea junky that I am, I went ahead & drank the whole pot, leaving a bitter strip up the center of my tongue. I have enough to drink this a few more times, so I’ll dial back the steeping time next time & see if that helps, although I know for a fact that I’m using the same parameters that I’ve used with this tea all along. NEXT!

AmazonV

sadness, i love SS teas

Sil

terri – suffering from the same problem a 2.5 min steep helped a little…

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Second pot of black tea this morning, & although I have loved this tea originally & still like it, for some reason it hasn’t been as exciting to me the last couple of times I had it. I’m not sure why. I could be that allergies are dulling my senses, or it could be that I’ve become somewhat jaded. Or maybe it’s just that I’m so busy lately I don’t always have time to really appreciate my tea as much. Or maybe all of the above.

Sil

i totally felt that about this one and tiger assam the other day… I’m chalking it up to being busy

Terri HarpLady

that works for me :)

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian Friends!!!

Tony & I just shared a decadent breakfast of Eggs Benedict with asparagus, crispy potatoes, & all the other stuff, including my kickaxx homemade hollandaise. YUM! A strong & flavorful Assam was required, of course, & this one fits the bill!

Now I’m off to go play a wedding, with a one hour drive in each direction. That will fill my afternoon, but it’s a lovely day, the leaves are starting to turn, & it’s a rather scenic drive.
Savor the moment!

Sil

have a great afternoon!

JustJames

yum! and thank you for the holiday well wishes!!!

gmathis

Not much tree color down here, but the fencerows are turning red with sumac.

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Good morning Steepster!
Did you know that I had a crush on a boy name Steven Smith when I was growing up in San Diego, CA. It was during 4th grade, I think. I like to imagine that he grew up to be a tea proprieter ;)

If he did, he has done well. This in definitely one of my most favorite Assam (along with probably 10 others…they are all so wonderful in their own ways). This morning it is perfect for a slightly cool day & a bowl of breakfast. Bold, malty, sweet, & there is a bright fruitiness to it as well.

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Thank you, Steven Smith, whoever you are, for this awesome cup of tea.
I can’t say that #49 is my absolute favorite, because there are just too many wonderful cups of black tea out there to have just one, but in the world of Assams, it is definitely one of my most preferred top picks, & when I woke up this morning, this was the cup of tea I wanted to start my day with. So again, I thank you. :D

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This is a bold ASSAM, & today I was really tasting the wine like elements to it. It’s very fruity!

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My 1000th Posting on Steepster!
I really felt that I had to pick something especially good to celebrate, but I’ve got about 300+ teas here now, & I love so many of them. I thought about going with one of the new ones, but then I decided I should go with a tea that could represent the end of the first 1000. Still, there are so many that I love LoVe LOVE. In the end, I selected this one because:
a – It’s awesome
b – It’s the first one that popped into my mind
c – It’s a sipdown! At least for that package. I just got another 4oz in the mail to split with Sil, so finishing off the last hoarded cup from the previous bag was a good reason as any, right?

This really is a wonderful Assam, very bold, nicely malty, with a deep fruitiness & sweet caramel essence.

looseTman

Congrats on your 1000th Posting on Steepster!

Fuzzy_Peachkin

Congrats on 1000! That’s a whole lot of tea that you drank! :-)

TheTeaFairy

Wow! That’s whole lot of reviews, congrats and keep them coming :-)

Dinosara

Congrats on 1000! you’ll be hitting your next milestone in no time.

Sil

yay!!!! WOOT WOOT! that’s super exciting!

Rie

Congratulations on the great 1000, Terri!!

Terri HarpLady

Thanks! The funny thing is, I didn’t realize how many teas I’d logged until I was at 999, LOL.

canadianadia

Congratulations on your 1000th tealog

Hallieod

Wow – congratulations! I think you should definitely be rewarded with more tea! :)

Spencer

Congratulations…great choice for the 1000th.

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I’ve been hoarding the last bit of this sweet bold & malty goodness for awhile, it’s just so good.
The decision has been made (my apologies to the Steepster 12-step group, I know I’m letting you ALL down, I promise I’ll get back on the wagon soon…just one more…). I’m placing an order today for more of this (for me AND Sil, heh), so I made a 16 oz pot of it to share with a student who likes bold black teas. There we sat, discussing the intricacies of harp playing, technique, etc, sipping our cups & he said, “This is really GREAT stuff!”
I aim to please!

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Dear Sil,
Please forgive me, but I really had to have this today. I hope you don’t think I’m drinking it to spite you, as I know you’ve been hoarding that last cup. Drink up, my friend! Drink up & enjoy! Drink up & savor the bold malty sweet wine like awesomeness that this tea has to offer, for the world could end tonight, or there could be a zombie apocalypse, or anything could happen, & it would be a shame for this tea to have gone to waste!
No more hoarding! : D

Sil

hahaha i actually thought about drinking it this morning but this “sick” that i have is messing with my tastebuds and i didn’t want to waste it. Instead i’m trying to drink things that i know will cut through the fog of snot and sick taste in my mouth lol :) i’m soo pretty this weekend haha

Terri HarpLady

You & me both. I’ve been sitting around feeling sorry for myself with a terrible kink in my neck that started earlier in the week, & peaked out yesterday. I was reduced to immobility, with only Tony (who was really nice to me all day, rubbed my neck, fixed awesome food, expressed sympathy), TV (Cardinals baseball – thank god they won, followed by back to back Big Bang Theory, then SNL) & tea to console me (I’m grateful my tastebuds & sense of smell aren’t effected). Today is a little better, I was able to leave the house & go out to breakfast. Now I’m back on the couch, alternating between ice packs & the heating pad.
Hopefully we’ll both be better soon!
And yeah, save that last cup, no point wasting it, the world won’t end today, I promise! :)

Sil

i’m spending today going through my closet…i managed to lose a bunch of weight over the past year and i’ve gradually been picking up things to replace my bigger clothes…but now i have way too many clothes in the house. and i mean WAY too many. So i’m trying to get organised. Do you think it’s healthy for one person to have uh…30 wearable dresses in their closet? lol

Terri HarpLady

LOL, I’ve also lost 30# in the last year or so. I’ve been gradually working my way back down through the sizes, & I need to start bagging & donating stuff. I wear black for most of my gigs, so I have this entire closet of black stuff: pants, dresses, skirts, blouses, some really nice clothes (including the long beaded gown). They are all too big. I need to quit spending money on tea so I can buy a new wardrobe!

Sil

luckily my other half works at banana republic, which is perfect for all my work type clothes – his discount means i never have to try and shop for clothes on sale. i HATE clothes shopping. And since i can’t wear casual clothes at work, i barely need anything more than 2 pairs of jeans haha

Terri HarpLady

Yeah, not much of a shopper myself. I spend a large percentage of my time in pajama type clothes: sweats or yoga pants & t’s. When I actually leave the house & I’m not playing a gig it’s jeans & t’s.

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asSAMica!
Whew! I brewed this a little strong this morning, & it is AsSAM!
Bold, Malty, Wine like, & a little on the astringent edge today, WoWza!
Still very drinkable, it is, & it will liven me up for the gig I’m playing today from noon – 4.

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This was my first cup of the morning, so satisfyingly sweet, malty, & bold.

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Two of my tea orders arrived! Yeah!
This is the first tea I’ve ever had from Steven Smith Teamaker.
When I was in 6th grade I had a crush on a boy named Steven Smith, LOL.
Anyway, this tea is VERY assam! Malty, caramely, fruity in a bright wine like way, & there is an undertone of allspice here too.
It also resteeps very well!

TastyBrew

I love his teas! He has a shop here in Portland and its one of my favorites!

Terri HarpLady

I only ordered 2 teas from him, & now I’m wishing I’d tried a few more!

TastyBrew

They sell his stuff at the grocery store here so I never run out. I have a variety (in bags — it’s what they sell in the grocery) that I can send you if you want. I don’t have them listed in my cupboard, but if you’re interested, I can PM you.

Sil

i’d like to try his teas sometime but i haaaaate ordering large quantities

TastyBrew

I can send some your way too! I should check and see what all I have on hand. I can always grab other flavors at the store if there’s something in particular you want to try. I love his stuff, so I always stock up. It’s great for travel too since it comes in a bag.

Terri HarpLady

Sil, I’m sending you samples of everything I ordered!
Tastybrew! Yeah! I’d love to sample anything of his you have, & will gladly share anything that’s in my cupboard!

Sil

Ok Terri! Sounds good! If I love them we might have to do a weird split order sometime heh

Terri HarpLady

Actually, I had a cool idea about that earlier…we’ll talk!

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backlogging

Another thanks goes out to Sandy Stith for this (I’ll be thanking her in many posts!)

First off, I’d like to say that I LOVE the individually wrapped sachets. Perfect for a busy day- just toss it in your bag and go! :)

The aroma when I opened the little wrapper was very strongly citrusy, but that aroma mellowed out once the tea had steeped. Still quite fragrant though. I tasted more than just bergamot… maybe some orange in there? I added a little bit of orange infused sugar to accentuate the citrusy qualities and it was definitely not a mistake to do so! MMM! Overall a pleasing Earl Grey

I’m going to have to order some of this specifically for those days when we’re out and about!

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Another sample from Anne from LiberTeas (still working my way through this box).

I’ll start off by saying that I chose this tea because I needed something to really get me motivated to get my cleaning for the day done. I’m on vacation from work and wanted to really enjoy the rest of the week in a nice clean apartment. The only problem – I woke up this morning feeling extremely lazy…so I brewed up a nice hot cup of this black tea for a little inspiration as I sat lazily watching TV.

That’s where things get kind of crazy. I ended up spilling the entire fresh cup all over the coffee table. After hastily throwing everything on the floor to avoid the tea flood that was coming its way and wiping up most of the liquid, I looked down into my now empty mug of inspiration. Boo. Good thing I saved the leaves…I’ll just resteep it. Put some hot water in my mug, dropped the tea ball in, grabbed more rags and some cleaner and started cleaning the rest of the mess up. After getting the table wiped down and everything back in its place, I noticed some of the tea had spilt on the carpet so I got my carpet cleaner and started cleaning that up too.

Ah…nice clean coffee table. Okay. Now I’m cleaning and the coffee table looks so good…better just continue on so into the dining room I went. After cleaning up in there I was really going so I decided to continue onto kitchen.

There it was. My second steeping cup of tea…with the teaball still in it. Yup. Definitely oversteeped this one.

So long story short, I ruined both cups of tea and didn’t even get to enjoy any of it. Not even a good sip. BUT – I did however get all of my cleaning done for the day which was exactly what I was hoping from the tea this morning. So in a way I guess this tea did do exactly what I was hoping for. I just wish I’d have been able to enjoy a little of it.

Time to dump the leaves and try again….wish me luck! (I’ll have to reserve my rating until I actually taste it)

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We had some errands to run today before I had a chance to brew some tea and enjoy it, so we stopped at Brewed Awakenings to pick up some tea. I figured I was to be choosing from a selection of Tazo or Stash teas which are generally this area’s choices for bagged tea (since both companies are based in Portland) but was thrilled to find that they carry teas from Steven Smith! Now, if only they’d start carrying loose leaf tea I’d be one happy tea drinker. (although, it might be a good thing that they DON’T carry loose leaf because I could see it as a problem where I want to go there all the time. As it is, it’s nice to know where to go when I NEED tea but can’t go home for some)

This is really good. So good that I will have to get some the next time I’m at the Smith Teamaker shop in Portland, or if I end up resorting to placing an order. Delicious and rich. I like this one a lot.

I did notice though that tea tastes WEIRD when steeped and cupped in a paper cup. I can taste the paper. It’s not an overwhelming flavor, but it is bothersome enough that I may have to find myself a good “to go” cup to have in the car for times when I need tea.

Since this was a bagged tea and it was steeped and served in a paper cup, I am going to reserve a rating for it until I’m able to have it prepared properly.

Dinosara

I really hate drinking tea out of a paper cup, the paper taste is so distracting!

LiberTEAS

My husband kind of sneered at me when I mentioned it … like it was insane that I could taste the difference between tea served in a paper cup and tea served in a ceramic mug. But, its there. And it was weird, and I prefer the taste of tea over paper.

JacquelineM

I can so taste the paper too!

ashmanra

Ditto! I ordered tea at Barnes and Noble ONCE, and won’t do it again. There was nothing but paper taste, like when we were kids and the school cafeteria had little wooden spoons for eating the ice cream and all you tasted was the spoon.

Kittenna

I liked the wooden popsicle stick flavour! (Different from paper cup flavour though.)

Blake

Out of curiosity, what tea did you order at B&N? I work at Barnes & Noble, and was heartbroken to find that our hot water tap used for the teas doesn’t break 165. Now maybe that’s just ours, but I had wondered why my Earl Grey tasted so…bland. I don’t know if it’s company standard to keep the taps that low, or if ours is just bad, but I could see that being a factor. Now I’m looking to pick up a second electric kettle to keep at work.

looseTman

LiberTeas, Have you had a properly brewed cup of Brahmin’s Choice? Thanks.

LiberTEAS

Not yet … but, perhaps my next trip to the Steven Smith’s Tea shop I will pick up some … or at least ask them to brew a cup for me if my husband will indulge me the time to enjoy a properly brewed cuppa.

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Tail ends of samples tend to be a little lopsided…lots of dust and whatever the “small” ingredient is; not as much of the big, good lumpy things that tend to give a blend its flavor. Definitely the case here; whole and new, it’s a nice, slightly fruity herbal, but this last cup tasted more like dandelions and that’s about it.

Oh, well.

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Chamomile generally tastes like … well, chamomile. It takes over whatever blend it’s in. In this case, it steps aside a bit for the other ingredients. I haven’t tasted enough teas with linden and hyssop to recognize the flavors well, but I am getting a nice almost citrusy taste with each swallow. Really, really nice.

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I finished this off just two days ago. I wanted to bring the empty box home, to use for other teabags or some such, but wasn’t able to fit it into my luggage and was forced to chuck it. I’ll probably buy more tea from Smith anyways, so chances are I will collect more of the boxes.

Just as delicious as always. I’ll miss the cracked-wheat essence. I’m home now, though, and able to access my full tea cupboard. I nearly hugged it.

The trip was fine. I got to the airport very early (long story), and my luggage was over-weight, so I had to choose what bag would be bumped in the event that the plane was too heavy. My rocks were in one bag, my tea and books in the other. It was a difficult decision, but luckily nothing was bumped, so I haven’t suffered.

I have a ten-page report to write that’s due this week. I’ve procrastinated the hell out of it, and I’m very bad for doing so.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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Accidentally let this sit for six minutes. But it’s forgiving, although a little sharp. This tea really defines “malty”; I think of cracked wheat bread when I drink it.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
Alannah

Bread tea, now that’s something up my alley!

AJ

Hahah.

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Brewed, this smells strongly of Assam. The taste is incredibly flavourful—Assam on the first note, strong but not sharp, followed by a definite Keemun taste. I’m not immediately getting any Ceylon, but it might just be the Ceylon that’s tying the two together and toning down the Assam. Background-player.

It’s cooling now, and I think I’m getting a bit of the Ceylon.

I’d also like to point out that mine (and all, I assume) came with a card inside the box that reads: “For best results, serve others first.” Sadly, I had no one to share with, otherwise I would have.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Smith Teamaker

Hello and thanks for the review AJ. Curious where you found Smith? The teamakers.

AJ

I can usually find them in any local Chapters (Canadian book company), but they are ridiculously overpriced there. I found this one at Eden West Fine Foods and Gifts.

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