Teavivre

Sipdown. This is my favorite peach tea ever and I am not happy to be left staring at the bottom of an empty tin. Must replace this right away.

This tea smells so peachy keen, I was expecting to be hit with a blast of flavor. But it’s actually a very subtle tea. I couldn’t taste much till I added a bit of raw sugar, and then the peach came alive. Still subtle, but in a delightful way. The jasmine is even more in the background, but it rounds out the peach flavor nicely.

As to appearance, these pearls are huge! Even bigger than Teavivre’s plain jasmine pearls. The size actually makes them a bit tricky to measure. Do people just count them out? I used 10, which filled a teaspoon more or less. It seemed in the ballpark of correct, but maybe 1 or 2 more pearls would have been nice.

I went to the hospital this morning, and I saw great beauty.

There was an older man sitting next to me in the waiting room. He told me he had a brain tumour and only 6 months to live.

I asked what were his plans for the next 6 months. With tears in his eyes, he pointed at the little boy next to him, his grandson. His daughter was also there. He told me he was going to spend as much time as possible with them.

Then the little boy, (three years old) got up, gently took his grandpa’s face between his two miniature hands and stared. He said with a big smile on his face: «Don’t be sad Pappy, all the pain is gone…»

I cried. His daughter cried. Then we all looked at the little boy, and laughed. It was one of those moments where you can’t help reflect on your own life. It was special. That little boy will be forever in my heart and so will be the old man.

When I got home, I was exhausted, but grateful. Grateful to have time in front of me to love and cherish those who are important to me.

I chose to dink this tea for its beauty and purity.

It’s clean, and it gives me some peace and quiet inside. It’s very sweet, brothy and slightly vegetal. It’s milky in a rice milk kind of way. It’s soothing. It’s what I need.

I don’t have much else to say, just thought I’d share this beautiful story with you all :-)

I only had a sample of this but it’s taken forever for me to finish it off. This is mostly because, like any quality lapsang souchong, it smells dreadful. Even though I know this, senses tend to trump logic — I would get a whiff of the tin and think, “Hell no, I can’t possibly get this down.”

The other thing is, once steeped, it was nearly impossible to get the souchong flavor out of the steeper, and I’d still be tasting it three cups later. I finally smartened up and steeped it in the little metal tea ball, which also gave the flavor some restraint, since the leaves couldn’t float around much. There is such a thing as too much smokiness.

I would recommend this tea to the die-hard enthusiast, the Steepsterite who wants a really authentic Lapsang Souchong experience, but all in all I am happier with tamer tea.

I was apprehensive about this tea because the dry leaf smells dreadful. I read somewhere that the leaves are sometimes smoked over pine tar rather than pine wood, and I wonder if that’s the case for this one, because it smells like pine tar. With heavy emphasis on the tar, and not much on the pine.

That said, most lapsang souchongs taste better than they smell, in my opinion, so I forged ahead.

When I first sipped it, I didn’t like it, though it definitely tasted better than it smelled. Now that it’s cooled a bit, it tastes nicer, sweeter and more mellow. There’s still a faint note of something that just doesn’t appeal to me though.

I have a feeling that this tea might just be too authentic for my sheltered American tastes. I’ve never really been into lapsang souchongs, but of those I’ve tried, I liked David’s the best. It was recognizably smoky, but still on the mild side.

Sipdown!! (150)

Thank you Dexter for sharing this with me. I don’t know what I did differently between this cup and the first but I am enjoying this second taste a but more than I remember enjoying the last. It is not overly flavorful but it is smooth, malty, and almost a touch creamy at the end of the sip. On the other hand, there is definitely the slightest hint of smoke in here as well and it is tying together quite nicely with the rest of the cup. A great way to say goodbye! Going forward, I don’t plan on stocking this but I would not refuse another cup if offered and I will certainly be raising the rating when I get to my computer because this deserves more than the 70 I initially gave it.

Eta: Reading my last tasting note and I realize I am getting the leather I got last time but it is much more toned down.

Leather seems like a strange ingredient to list for this tea but weirdly it is fitting. This is malty and earthy and definitely has notes reminiscent of leather. Every now and again I get some dark chocolate but not as much as I would have liked. There is also just a touch of pine. Ultimately, it is an interesting blend and though I am finding it enjoyable enough to drink the cup, this is not something I will be stocking just as a result of my own tastes. Nonetheless, thank you Dexter for the opportunity to try this tea. You are awesome!!

Thanks to Angel at TeaVivre for a new batch of samples for review. Always my pleasure :)

This is a wonderful nutty green! Sweet creamy corn and fresh peas. Slight floral/fruity overtones. Light bodied but enough flavor to satisfy. Very nice :)

Thank you for Angel at Teavivre for the generous sample!

Dry: I was excited to be able to see Dragon Well again. It has been a while and this is a tea that I generally enjoy. The dry leaf smells notably savory (almost brothy before it is even brewed) with a hint of sweet. The flattened green leaves look like the bud and the leaves pushed together during the drying process.

Steeped: I used a lot of tea for this because I know I generally enjoy Long Jing so the liquor is clear and yellow-olive, though I imagine it would be lighter and more sunshine-y for someone brewing less at a time. The steeped aroma is almost like a vegetable broth, losing the sweet leaf note, but keeping the savory goodness.

Taste: This tastes pretty magical for Dragon Well lovers, though I would watch the steep time. The label says 1-6 minutes so I went with 4.5 (Western style), but I think 3 might have been better. It is the tiniest bit bitter at the end of each sip, which is unfortunate and I know is preventable. I will brew this again at a lower steep time and see how much more magical it can be. :) Anyhoo, it is buttery, savory, reminds me of buttered boiled green vegetables with a tiny hint of sweet and bitter. It is thoroughly enjoyable as it is, but I know I can do better. Love me some Dragon Well and it is a good start to the day before we hit the mountain bike trails.

Unfortunately this is the last of it. This is an excellent milk oolong. I originally ordered both this and TeaVivre’s flavored milk oolong, and at first I liked them equally well, but now I feel this is the clear winner. It just tastes more natural.

Despite the almost identical name, there are huge differences between this and the FLAVORED Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong. While the flavored one veers strongly into sweet cream, this one is very vegetal, smooth and buttery, a little sweet but not much. They’re both great. I requested a sample of this so that I could figure out which I liked better, but now I see I’m going to need both.

I just got my teas from Teavivre today! They’re all green except for one white. Traditionally, I have not been a huge fan of straight greens, but decided that maybe different preparation or harvests or types could be the difference in what I like and dislike, so I’m always game to try more, and see if I can find something that I really like.

I’ve had this kind of tea in the past and it has not been my favourite, but I read some reviews and decided if a change in preparation was in order. So I used the whole sample packet, in my normal steeper from DAVIDs, filled up as much as I could get, and did a minute and a half to two minute steep with water that had cooled off at least 5 minutes…maybe longer.

The resulting brew is still a pale liquor, but it has a bit more flavour than I’m remembering from the past versions of this tea I have had. I’m actually drinking it unsweetened too. I’m not finding it bitter or anything. It is actually fairly smooth!

I stink at describing the tastes of vegetables like peas and artichoke and whatnot, so I can’t really say what it tastes like other than smooth and simple and mild. I am detecting a slight creamy feel, too. I may even resteep this.

I’m not one to have straight greens, but today seems like a good day for this. It is nice and sunny and relatively warm out today. It seems very fresh and crisp. Seems right.

Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for sending me the sample to review.

I am having a great nostalgia moment. Ben’s family went out for sushi and brought me back some, which is awesome since I love sushi. I thought back to my first experience with sushi, I had to be three or four, visiting my grandparents. My uncle was also visiting and making sushi, I remember getting my greedy hands on the toasted nori and loving it, and my grandmother teaching me to eat with chopsticks. I have no memory of the sushi itself, but the preparation is clear in my mind all these years later.

Today’s tea is Teavivre’s Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao) Oolong Tea, (or Dong Fang Mei Ren) a very fancy Taiwanese oolong that has an interesting symbiotic relationship with leaf hoppers. High in the mountains of Xinzh, Taiwan, leaf hoppers nibble on the leaves of the tea plant causing an immune response, which gives us a very unique taste and aroma. Without this little adorable green bugs, we would not have this tea. The aroma is quite rich, a blend of yeasty sweet bread, sharp muscatel, and sweet raw honey. There are also faint notes of loam and smoke at the finish. Overall the aroma of this tea is quite sweet.

Brewing the tea, the leaves have a very deep and rich aroma. It is a blend of caramel and muscatel sweetness with an almost earthy, almost loamy finish. There is also a very faint hint of cinnamon that gives the tea a layer of warmth that blends really well with the loam and earthy notes. The aroma of the liquid is warm and sweet, with notes of caramel, molasses, and a finish of muscatel. The aroma of this tea reminds me of late summer and the promise of autumn. It warms me and is very soothing.

The first sip fulfills the promise of warmth and richness from the aroma. At first the taste is richly sweet and muscatel, as the sip slides down my mouth it changes to honey and lastly loam. The aftertaste is sweet and like honey. I found that the mouthfeel was smooth and slightly tingly, probably from the adorable little fuzzy bits on the leaves. This steep managed to have a very distinct presence while being delicate and light, now onto steep two!

The aroma of the second steep is much more muscatel sweet and has an extra intensity. After the initial muscatel aroma it fades to a gentle loam. The mouthfeel is drier than the first steep and it does not have the tingling feeling. The taste is great, a tiny bit of stewed plums, a hint of cinnamon warmth, and a nice heavy dosage of sweet muscatel and loam. Again I am reminded of summer, except this is very late summer after the harvest and you are getting ready for the creeping chill of autumn.

For the third steep the aroma of the liquid is sweetly muscatel, a bit of loam, and a sweet finish of stewed spiced plums. Like the second steep, the mouthfeel is dry, which gives it a mouth smacking brightness. Yes, I did the lip smacking yummy sound, I am very dignified. The taste is very similar to the second steep, just more of it. Stronger notes of stewed plum and muscatel, with hints of spice and a sweet aftertaste.

Time for the fourth and final steeping. The aroma is mildly sweet and loamy, it is faint in comparison to the previous steep, but still quite nice. The taste sings the same song, this tea has performed its beautiful song and now it nears the finish. The taste is a delicate blend of loam and sweet plum. It is refreshing, like the tea you would want to sip after a long day outside harvesting your garden. Bai Hao Oolong has been on my ‘must taste’ list for a very long time, now that I have experienced it I can see why Queen Victoria (The first and best) called it Oriental Beauty, it is truly a beautiful tea.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/06/teavivre-oriental-beauty-bai-hao-oolong.html

LooseTman’s review made me realize it was time to open my batch of this Mao Feng.

Most of the time, I’ll have my green tea in a tall glass tumbler, a method I’ve learned from David Duckler at Verdant.

But today, I felt like using my little 5oz glass gaiwan, I love watching fluffy green tea through a small glass vessel, something whimsical about it.

I love green teas and have neglected them lately. I usually drink tons at this time of the year cause they are so fresh.

This tea tastes like sweet greens, spinach, asparagus. It’s very fragrant, its aroma is tantalizing.

I used 5g of tea, so I get lots of flavour here, with a certain level of astringency due to the amount of leaves maybe. It’s bright but not bitter.

This little tea has a lot to offer, strong body and character.

A nice floral mouthfeel develops with the later steeps.

The sweetness also intensifies as I’m sipping on steep #5.

This tea gave me an increasing amount of energy, I can see myself drinking lots of it in the morning.

Very good, not as enjoyable as Long Jing to me, I miss the buttery notes they provide, but it’s something I will definitely have again.

Thank you to TeaTiff for this tea. I again did this pseudo gong fu cha in my 5oz finum cup, boiling as per the Teavivre site.

TIL that I really don’t like flavored milk oolongs. The milk flavor just tastes like spoiled milk to me. Awful.

But once I got beyond that, a few steeps in, this was decent. I liked the Mandala a lot better. That said, I’m really looking forward to the Gong Fu Tea milk oolong tomorrow.

I did a 5s rinse, and decided to try it since it smelled good. I actually liked it. Really creamy and milky. There was just a little bit of the flavor to it.

The first real steep at 25s was just AWFUL. EEEW. Terrible. I almost dumped it out and the leaves but I decided to drink it (it was only a few ounces) It tastes like sour, nasty milk to me. Just blech.

The second steep was 35s. It still tasted “off” to me, but a lot better than the first.

45s was much better , mostly the off flavor is gone. It tasted a lot more green to me, almost but not quite floral. I noted on this steep how beautiful the color was.

55s was a very nice steep. The off milk flavor is gone. This is still creamy, more floral and just a touch vegetal. I liked the green oolong flavor.

1:05 very nice. Ended very buttery. But nothing spectacular at the same time. Very weird.

1:15 This was my favorite infusion of them all. really creamy and buttery.
1:25 was similar but not as much flavor.

I tried one more steep but it was done by that point.

Yeah, this flavored one is not for me. I would probably have liked the unflavored version of this better, but I can tell it would not be one I would want to stock.

This morning, I’m very pleased to review Premium Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from TeaVivre, Western style: 17 oz. / 8 g / 185*F / 3 – 5 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream. I brewed this tea twice: 1.) w/o a brew basket – placed leaves directly in the teapot, 2.) using a 2” wide x 3.25” deep SS brew basket with the same teapot.

Leaf: Buds with 1 or 2 leaves, up to 5 cm long
Fragrance: Sweet hay / straw / grass
Liquor: Clear straw-colored – easily appreciated in the double-wall glass tea cup.
Aroma: Very Sweet and pleasing
Flavor: Honey with a hint of green beans

6/2/14:
Sample size – 6.6 g / 14 oz.
3-min*: Smooth and rich with a mild honey-like sweetness, a hint of green beans, and a mild almost savory essence. There was no astringency or bitterness. This 2-cup pot of green tea was very warm, relaxing, and enjoyable.

Re-Steep:
4.5-min: Light to medium bodied
6-min: Light to medium bodied

6/5/14:
Sample size – 6.3 g / 13.4 oz. (395 ml)
3-min: Light and smooth with a mild honey-like sweetness. There was no astringency or bitterness.

4-min.: Light and smooth with a developing richness and a mild honey-like sweetness. There was no astringency or bitterness.

5-min.: Similar flavor profile with a just tinge of grassy bitterness. I’d suggest < a 5-min. steep.

Impression: Of the two methods, this tea was much more enjoyable when brewed w/o a brew basket. Apparently, the extra space in the teapot for these large leaves allowed the flavor to more fully develop. The sip was clearly much richer. An excellent afternoon tea.

Thanks to Angel and Teavivre for graciously providing this excellent green tea tasting opportunity.

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39311-perfect-tea-spoon
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
Brewed western-style conveniently in a Staffordshire 2-cup fine bone china teapot with a SS brew basket and served in double-wall glass tea cups
http://steepster.com/teaware/davidstea/36677-thermometer-and-timer
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavivre/39708-double-wall-glass-tea-cups

Someday I’ll have to do a side-by-side of this nonpareil The Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng with the non-nonpareil. They both taste so good!

This was my second batch of Teavivre Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng, and today I decided to up the leafage to see what effect that would have on the flavor.

Predictably, the liquor was darker in color—albeit still light golden yellow—and the flavor was richer and had more texture, too. I noticed that many reviewers have found this tea to be too subtle, and my hunch is that they may have underleafed a bit, which is easy to do in this case if one measures by volume not weight. With more dried tea in the pot, the flavor does seem more robust to me. However, it is still fairly delicate and probably best suited to true connoisseurs. Which makes sense, of course, since this is the nonpareil…

The lovely infused leaves are a bright and cheery shade of light green!

Delicate and delicious are the two words which came immediately to mind upon drinking a small glass of this haute Mao Feng from Teavivre. I had only a smidgeon left, so I attempted a gong fu-type “sipping” experience rather than my usual gulping of gallons.

The Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng (also from Teavivre) is a very delicate and subtle tea. I was a bit surprised, actually, to find that it reminded me more of Bi Luo Chun than the Mao Fengs familiar to me!

The leaves are considerably lighter in both weight and color than those of any other Mao Feng I’ve tried. The infused leaves even look a bit like infused Long Jing! In some ways, this tea reminds me of how critics sometimes describe music as “poetic”. Others may describe poetry as “musical”. So, too, here, the best metaphor I seem to be able to come up with is Bi Luo Chun!

Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng is a very good tea, but it may not be what Mao Feng aficionados are necessarily looking for. I used exactly the same parameters as for Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng: 4 grams in 17 ounces of water at 79C for three minutes. The liquor was quite pale, not at all green, and the flavor was not really vegetal or hearty at all. Again, very subtle.

A sales associate at an unnameable tea emporium often criticized for its pushy sales tactics informed me (not sure if it’s true…) that the Chinese throw out the first two infusions of their teas because they prefer a more subtle flavor. This tea will definitely satisfy anyone who prefers white tea to green, and probably anyone who discards the first two infusions of all of their teas!

I am not saying that this tea is wan or weak or tasteless, but it definitely is more subtle than heartier Mao Feng varieties. It all comes down to taste, and what you happen to prefer. This tea is definitely worth trying.

(Blazing New Rating #37)