Teavivre

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

Sipdown 11 – 2024

Finished off a sample of this a few days ago and remember nearly nothing about it sadly.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Sipdown 10 – 2024

Not a favorite. I haven’t been drinking a lot of green tea over the last few years, but decided to break into some samples I had. This still tasted super fresh, but wasn’t a fan of the flavor. Cooked spinach and latex?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 0 sec 5 g 11 OZ / 325 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

The last new sample from Teavivre!  Another pu-erh with not really any gold to the leaf, bigger leaves, easy to pull apart, though slow to unravel on that first steep!  The color of the brew is certainly much lighter than the other shou samples.  I almost thought it was sheng for a minute.  There could almost be a fragrance coming from the mug that also reminds me of sheng.  Which is odd, as this is from 2010, so quite aged.  There is also a lingering mouthfeel that is unique.   The second steep is deeper, but it is still quite the mild tasting shou!  Third steep, a bit deeper though still mild.  I would agree with Teavivre — it’s “mellow” and “mushroom”.  A mellow little mushroom.  Certainly not as deep and dark as the other samples I have had recently.  To be fair, this one isn’t Fengqing like the others.  It’s from Menghai and might be reminding me why I gravitate to Fengqing shou.  Occasionally I could be in the mood for a mellow mushroom shou.  It’s an acceptable pu-erh, but also nice to remember why others are my favorites. 
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min 

Flavors: Mushrooms

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

84

Another Fengqing to try!  The dry leaf here also doesn’t have much gold — only an occasional deep red leaf among all the darker leaf.  The fragrance of the dry leaf is only a hint bready.  The flavor on the first steep is lovely — the sweetest of rye breads.  Very starchy mouthfeel to go with that bread flavor.  NO negative qualities here.  The piece has hardly unraveled on the first steep.   The second steep, I did notice while brewing that there was definitely a fishy fragrance — very rare for a Teavivre puerh!  But the fishiness was not at all in the rich, persistent flavor -only while the cup was steeping.  The second steep also lost the starchy quality but now it is almost like a drying, chalky quality, though not in a bad way - just noticeably different from the other shou samples.  The third and fourth steeps don’t lose that element of chalk, but it also doesn’t lose it’s strength! Another sample in which the first steep is the best, though I think I’m being tame on these steeps until the fourth. Four strong steeps here.  I feel I am mostly failing at describing flavors within these puerh samples, but there is usually one tiny element that separates them from the other Fengqing puerhs, while mostly just being very awesome puerh cakes that have consistently great flavor. It will be amazing to try these again with further aging, as these samples have been spectacular even now. 
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

86

MAY have said upon taking the first sips:  “This is so so good and it’s only the first steep.”  The dry leaf here doesn’t have hints of gold — maybe hints of dark red more than the other shu samples.  The fragrance is rich and wonderful. The taste is also rich, especially for the first steep!  Very sweet with hints of fruit. But also having my favorite qualities of coffee while being 1,000 times better than coffee.  I think I might like the darkest shu because it reminds me of unsweetened dark chocolate — meaning it’s healthy chocolate, right?   Somehow the first steep seemed the strongest of the four?  That is unusual.  I feel like I was VERY tame on that first steep and didn’t overdo it at all, so I’m not sure why the first steep was so strong.  There were no negative flavors here at all, while also not really being very distinct other than reminding me of coffee and unsweetened chocolate on a very basic level. It’s so so weird that first steep was the most flavorful! All of these great shu samples have made me realize shu is my second favorite tea to have in winter — second only to chai.
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

The puerh sample for this week!  I’m not sure what is going on with the wrapper for this cake, but it reminds me of Bullwinkle. The dry leaf, I could be wrong, the first time I smelled it I could swear was banana.  Otherwise, a typical hint of a rich, earthy (in the best way) ripe puerh that always gets me looking forward to the flavor!  Physically, the leaf looks very large in the cake and not as much gold in color as some cakes contain.  Again, I could be wrong, but the flavor of the first steep reminds me of black cherry.  There is also a quality to it that dries the mouth.    But the second and third steeps lose that cherry flavor, becoming a standard flavored, rich ripe.  The fourth steep took me by surprise, as it is so rich there might be an astringent quality to it, which I never notice in ripe puerh, especially from Teavivre.  But this isn’t a bad thing, in the opinion of my tastebuds — I’d rather it be rich than weak. But it’s also impressive the flavor is this strong with only 5 grams and such a large leaf.
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

Awesome quality jasmine tea, powerful floral smell, and just enough sweetness. The green tea quality is also very nice.

Flavors: Floral, Jasmine, Rose, Sweet

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 1 min, 0 sec 4 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

The next puerh to try!  There is plenty of gold in this leaf.  The scent of the dry leaf is also bready, but not quite as “raw bread dough” as the sample from the other day.  NO negative qualities here in scent or taste.  It’s delicious but also hard to describe, other than a very high quality ripe.  A solid, standard representation of amazing puerh.   No extra flavor notes, like the extreme bread dough flavor of the other day.  JUST CLASSIC PUERH. All of the steeps are quite consistent, though the fourth peters out a bit. I feel like Teavivre’s ripe puerh hits me like the best coffee does, to the biggest coffee fan.  It’s so addicting.  I would never drink coffee when Teavivre’s ripe puerh is far superior.  So so good.
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

So now that it’s 2024, I wanted to try one of my Teavivre puerh samples I ordered last year. There are six of them.  I wanted to try them close together but not all in the same week, so one a week sounds like the perfect plan. These samples are mostly Fengqing.  I wanted to try the Fengqing that Teavivre had, because I was a very huge fan of their Fengqing Golden Buds Ripened Pu-erh Cake 2013  but also their Fengqing Ripened Tribute Pu-er Cake 2013  that they no longer carry.  Hoping I like them because they are Fengqing and not just because 2013 was a lovely year for puerh.  I’m expecting greatness from these samples!  And I started with the 2014 Anniversary Cake. 
It is very easy to break these leaves apart from the cake.   But also the 10 gram sample doesn’t seem like much.  In the past, I would probably use all 10 grams in a mug, but I don’t want to overdo it for these initial taste tests.  I’m going to try to steep them all the same!This was harvested in 2014 and produced in 2018.  Aroma of dry leaf – very bready, almost like raw pizza dough. Just the way I like it.  And this is also most of the flavor profile — very bready and doughy.  Very sweet throughout — maybe a couple drops of coffee. Very delicious — NOT A HINT of any negative characteristics.  This is certainly an acceptable puerh to me.  The second steep was the strongest flavored.  The fourth was a bit weak for my tastes. It would be ultra delicious if I had used all 10 grams.  I might just revisit my favorite from 2013 again, to see how they compare at the end of trying the six samples…
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

15

I had tried this one a couple of years ago and didn’t really like it, so I let it sit for awhile, hoping that it would improve. Sadly, it has not. Love the idea of puerh stuffed into a green mandarin, but even after a rinse, it tasted like musty old papers. Very wood forward, as expected, but not sweet wood. There was a leather-like note as well, but honestly, it just didn’t taste good. And not even a tiny bit of citrus to be found. I’ve tried other shou puerh teas, so it’s not that I don’t enjoy that type of tea, I just think this one is not to my liking. Unfortunate because TeaVivre is a favorite of mine, putting out really nice teas in general. I’ve got three mandarins left. Maybe shove them back into my stash to age for awhile longer?

Flavors: Leather, Musty, Wood

Preparation
Boiling

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

16

Meh, not really a fan. Vegetal notes, bitter, and seems to lack the complexity of flavor that a lot of similar teas have. The aftertaste is quite good, though. Just wish the rest of the tea was similar.

Edit: Lowering my rating because it seems this tea gave me a TERRIBLE migraine.

Flavors: Bitter, Vegetal

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

86

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #6- A tea with natural cocoa notes

I wanted to try these, as they remind me a little of one of my favorite teas – Phoenix Pearls!  Looking at these though, these are almost grayish in color, covered in tiny trichomes, while the Phoenix Pearls I know are very shiny and have no trichomes at all.  Really, all they have in common is being rolled black tea. The scent of the dry leaf is  exactly like toasted rice or or genmaicha or buckwheat or oats - all of these scent notes very unlike most black tea, so very intriguing!  A five gram sample has a little over a teaspoon and a half, so I went with a full sample pouch for a mug.   The brew does not get dark like I suspect… it’s very light.  The flavor is mostly like a cup of unsweetened cocoa with a hint of smoke.   The second steep is much the same and especially when cold, the mug is full cocoa.  I can’t help but love Phoenix Pearls more, but this seems to have a slightly different flavor profile than Teavivre’s other Dian Hongs.  Though I wish some of the scents from the dry leaf resulted in the flavor… I think I used the proper amount of leaf for a mug.  I wouldn’t use less but I wouldn’t be opposed to trying at least two teaspoons.  This tea is weighty though! I think I love it best as the leftover tea, cold the next day. I love that Cameron B notices french fries here (-my dinner last night. haha) I didn’t expect this tea to fit a prompt when I steeped it up, but since this cup is full cocoa, it can and it shall. :D
Steep #1 // 1 3/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
Harvest: 2023

Flavors: Chocolate, Cocoa, Smoke

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87
drank GABA Oolong by Teavivre
4163 tasting notes

I really didn’t buy this for flavor — more that I wanted the stress and anxiety reducing properties of GABA and I didn’t have any GABA teas around.  One teaspoon of these tiny bundles is enough to unravel in an entire steeping basket.   The flavor is quite different from any other oolong I have tried.  It’s butternut squash and only butternut squash.  Second steep?  It’s summer squash and only summer squash.  Third steep looks as dark as a black tea and tastes like a variety of squash.  I was dreading it being a one note of roasted flavor, but I’m not tasting a roasted note at all.  As regards the GABA, I think…. I was feeling the normal levels of stress and anxiety.  I also slept about the same, so it didn’t change my sleep.  Maybe my stress is too much for ANY GABA to handle.  I wouldn’t use more than one teaspoon to find out.  hmm… at least when I’m craving a tea with the flavors of squash, there is a definite tea for that.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 1-2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep 
Steep #3 // 2 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Harvest: 2023

Flavors: Butternut Squash, Squash

RealJapaneseGreenTea

The Japanese advertise everything that has GABA in it. You can’t go into a store and not see a few products standing out stating it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

91

I was lacking more than one sticky rice option!  So I thought I’d try this. Four ounces of this tea is 15 tuochas in the case of my pouch.  These are fairly big disc shapes, with a line down the middle.  Possibly indicating you could cut it in half to save for later.  But Teavivre’s instructions say to use one piece for twelve ounces.  And I like my puerh thick, so I definitely went with a whole piece for a mug.   The sticky rice scent is definitely abundant here and it’s very quick to unravel!  I’d say the sticky rice flavor is so strong that it kind of overpowers the ripe puerh, even if the brew is dark.  But there is a lingering coffee flavor following the sticky rice.   There was plenty of sticky rice flavor throughout all the steeps.  The last one having like a creamy quality to it.  I think the focus here is more the sticky rice flavoring, as the puerh is quite mild, even with my standard mug size. Though the infuser is almost FULL of unraveled leaves.  I might like that long fourth steep the best with that creamier smooth quality.   I’m glad I have this in stock for the sticky rice craving, but I might not reach for it when I’m craving nuanced shou.
Steep #1 // 11 minutes after boiling //  1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 11 minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 16 minute steep

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

Spring 2023.

This is similar to many other green teas in Teavivre’s lineup. It’s incredibly fragrant with sumptuous aromas of flowers and buttered lima beans. Soft dew and a light vegetable broth emerge when heated.

The tea is almost colorless with a light and elegant flavor. I tasted sweet pea, cucumber, and hint of pear like fruitiness in the first infusion. Second steep is a tad astringent but fuller and fresh tasting. Notes of boy choy and stir fried vegetables. The third infusion is clean and breezy with a smooth vegetal flavor. By the fourth steep, the tea fades to a generic green taste.

Flavors: Bok Choy, Cucumber, Flowers, Lima Beans, Pear, Peas, Vegetable Broth, Vegetables

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 45 sec 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Golden Monkey Black Tea by Teavivre
1500 tasting notes

Smells like my ideal tea: thick, malty chocolate with hints of apricot. The taste doesn’t disappoint.

Might be my all time favourite black.

I can’t rate or out in details in my phone, so…

Organic Golden Monkey Black
2 heaping teaspoons in 12oz water
Boiled and cooled to 89C
Steeped Western style, 5 minutes – I lost track of time, and it shows in the brew. Boo.

Flavors: Apricot, Chocolate, Creamy, Malt, Thick

Preparation
2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

89

Spring 2023.

This one didn’t work for me upon first tasting but was delicious once I switched from grandpa style to gongfu. It’s refined and layered with beany, floral, honey, and dew-like flavors. Notes of freshly cut spring vegetables, cucumber, melon, and cannelloni beans. Not as grassy or umami heavy as other greens.

Flavors: Beans, Cucumber, Floral, Honey, Melon

Preparation
3 OZ / 100 ML
Leafhopper

I liked this tea as well! I’ll have to check out their Meng Ding Gan Lu next year.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

91

This spring, I caved in to the hype for pre-Qingming tea and picked up this premium Bi Luo Chun as one of the more “affordable” options. It was a good decision, and I finished most of the package in April and May while it was at its freshest. Then, predictably, I forgot about it, so here we are in August. I steeped 4 g of tea in a 120 ml porcelain pot at 185F for 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds. I also bowl steeped 3 g of tea in around 250 ml of water at 185F starting at 5 minutes, refilling the cup as needed.

The dry aroma is of chestnuts, green beans, orchids and other flowers, pear, and pineapple. The first steep has notes of chestnuts, green beans, butter, asparagus, minerals, pear, grass, and other florals. Because of all the trichomes on the tiny snails, the tea feels soft and a little fuzzy. The next couple steeps have hints of pineapple and apricot, plus those nutty and beany notes. Broccoli and lettuce appear in the final few steeps, and the tea loses its fruitiness. However, even near the end of the session, it doesn’t get bitter.

Bowl steeped, the tea is smooth and has no bitterness or astringency, with notes of green beans, butter, chestnuts, grass, minerals, and pear in the first few rounds. Pineapple, asparagus, and spinach come out around the middle of the session, though the tea remains buttery and smooth. The tea has good longevity and fades into grass, beans, and faint florals.

Although this tea has faded a bit from being open so long, I still think it’s very good. It’s more fruity than most of the green teas I’ve had and it’s almost impossible to make it bitter. The price is a bit high, but I think you get what you pay for with this tea. I look forward to seeing what Daylon has to say.

Flavors: Apricot, Asparagus, Broccoli, Butter, Chestnut, Floral, Grass, Green Beans, Lettuce, Mineral, Orchid, Pear, Pineapple, Smooth, Spinach, Vegetal

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
beerandbeancurd

Ah, this sounds beautiful. And you helped me learn about Qingming, thank you!

Leafhopper

It was definitely beautiful, though at almost $40 for 50 g, it should be! Pre-Qingming teas can be surrounded by a lot of hype.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

The tea, brewed, smells malty, thick, sweet, like figs or apricots. Tasting it, it’s slightly astringent, full, sweet with a hint of apricot and more than a hint of chocolate, vanilla, something like cardamom but not quite. It’s a lovely, lovely tea, and unlike most white teas I’ve had. I could drink this all day, every day.

One dragon ball = one cup of tea. It was surprisingly large, and so about a quarter of the tea didn’t steep, because it grew too big in the steeper! I can’t wait for the second, third, fourth steeps to see how it evolves.

As I can’t list the details on my phone:
90C for 3.5 minutes, first steep.

Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Cardamom, Chocolate, Creamy, Fig, Sweet, Thick, Vanilla

Preparation
5 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Cameron B.

Love moonlight white teas! And every time I steep a dragonball, I never get it to unfurl all the way, even after multiple steeps ha ha. They’re very compressed!

tea-sipper

MissB! Good to see you back on steepster! (I’m a month behind on reading notes.)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

Dry leaf smells sweet and malty
Warmed dry leaf has sticky sweet scent of dried plums.

1st infusion: (90˚C, 0:25)
Liquor smells rich savoury-sweet, reminiscent of something like black chicken soup, with dried flower mushrooms and goji berries. It tastes of delicious herbal medicinal and umami notes.
Rating: 93

2nd infusion: (90˚C, 0:30)
Similar profile to previous infusion, but more potent, and a strong woody note and astringency drying the tongue has emerged. Less sweetness than before. Pairs well with food.
Rating: 85

3rd infusion: (91˚C, 0:30)
Rating: 85

Flavors: Astringent, Chicken Soup, Goji, Malt, Mushrooms, Prune, Sweet, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Umami, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Sample from a pack of spring teas from Teavivre. Loved this – just as others have noted, it’s nutty and sweet. Subtle vegetal notes for me, but I love that! No bitterness, although when I munched on some almonds it did bring out a little bitterness, but blame it on the food, not the tea! I used the whole packet for my session, and used shorter steeps averaging around 6 oz per steep. Got three steeps (counting a quick and not necessary rinse) and it was still going but my belly was full. Rinse, 45 sec, 1:30. I would definitely add this to my repertoire. Excellent as always, Teavivre!

Flavors: Chestnut, Nutty, Sweet, Vegetal

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 5 g 6 OZ / 177 ML
ashmanra

I need to order some fresh greens from them!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

I had a good chuckle when I checked to see what this Teavivre sample was, and saw it was the unsmoked Lapsang that ashmanra and LuckyMe recommended to me a few days ago. Didn’t remember I’d grabbed it… oy vey.

Anyway — yes, this is nice. It’s so sweet — reminds me a little of LP’s Shui Xian Hongcha that leaned toward stevia. I get some almond meat/amaretto, roastiness, sweet potato, malt, cocoa dancing in the background. Caramel in the bottom of the cup.

Flavors: Almond, Amaretto, Caramel, Cocoa, Malt, Roasty, Stevia, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes

ashmanra

One of my favorite black teas!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

Date drunk: 2023 May 29
Dry leaf smells gorgeous, like a savoury-sweet crispy snack – I think it smells floral and roasted-chestnutty, like almond paste or like fried shallots.

1st infusion: (80˚C, 0:20)
Wet leaf smells like roasted butter asparagus or fried garlic nai bai.
The leaves look really tiny like herb leaves (oregano or thyme), but obviously don’t smell or taste like them. I feel like I’m drinking an exquisite clear vegetable broth with just a tiny hint of fat like butter.
Rating: 94

2nd infusion: (81˚C, 0:35)
Colour became dark amber – I could tell I overbrewed slightly. Astringent but still has the nice vegetable broth notes, more like a bitter-savoury herbal broth now but still quite lovely.
Rating: 86

3rd infusion: (81˚C, 0:30)
Leaves and liquor still smell like buttered stir-fried veg like green beans. Liquor tastes slightly astringent but less than before, it’s still fairly nice and silky. I think the leaves still have much to give but from this point on I can pair it with food and not feel it’s a waste.
Rating: 87

4th infusion: (82˚C, 0:30)
Getting lighter. I’ll push it harder next round.
Rating: 84

5th infusion: (85˚C, 0:50)
Rating: 86

Overall Rating: 87

Flavors: Almond, Asparagus, Astringent, Bok Choy, Butter, Chestnut, Garlic, Green Beans, Onion, Vegetable Broth

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 100 OZ / 2957 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.