Teavivre

Ah Keemun, my old friend. Oh how I missed you. I’m celebrating this morning after buying my first Yixing teapot. Here is a picture https://twitter.com/kittylovestea/status/375925148878008320/photo/1

I’m thinking of using it for Pu Erh – Ripe but nothing is yet set in stone…or clay I suppose. I also purchased a travel yixing flask from Teavana and have yet to decide what to flavour that with. Perhaps black such as this beautiful Keemun. It’s the first picture on the left http://steepster.com/teas/teavana/21174-yixing-travel-tea-tumbler

I’m going away for the week tomorrow to house and dog sit for my parents. So I will be taking a smeg load of tea to review :)

If you want an actual review for this tea then check my previous notes. If you haven’t tried this one before then I highly recommend it.

My two brothers in law are still at my house so I thought I would try them with this tea. They are the kind of no nonsense tea drinkers that want something basic, similar to my husband really. Must be a Davies gene. Well so far so good, they really liked this tea. I said before that this tea tastes like a strong English breakfast tea and that’s what they thought of it too. They had no idea its Chinese. Its nice to share one of my favourite teas with my family :)

I enjoy having Keemun as a breakfast tea. Even if I am naughty most of the time and miss the most important meal of the day I never forget my morning tea. Keemun is so rich and malty that it works well as a breakfast tea. Most Brits like anything strong and black tea based to wake up with.

This is thick, sweet, malty, rich, floral and smoky. It all adds up to one delicious Keemun. Glad I stocked up on this with a 100g bag :)

I’m “up tiddly up up” very early this morning eagerly awaiting for the arrival of a parcel that I have asked to be re-delivered. My first tea this morning is a Gongfu of this premium Keemun due to craving something rich.

Malty, rich, slight sweetness in scent. Dark brown red in colour. In flavour this is thick and rich with a strong malt tones that have a little sweetness. Though it is strong it is also clean tasting with a subtle sour tang.

It’s a nice Keemun overall and great for a breakfast/all day tea.

I just got back from the new Star Trek movie. I loved it. Lots of classic cliche lines. Lots of cowboy type action. A good follow up to the reboot of the franchise.

The tea – I am writing a separate note for the second cup. This one was delightful. Sweeter than the first, greener, creamy and mineral at the same time. The bite is mostly gone and the aftertaste really lingers.

This is the 2013 version of this tea. I used the whole sample in my Finum and my 6oz cup. That is twice the leaf and half the water I used with last years batch. I notice two big differences right away. To me the late sip reminds me of corn. I have never used that in description before. That’s cool. The other is rather than buttery, this seems thinner and has a fair amount of bite. I like it fine but pretty sure next time I will try it using my frugal method. I think I prefer it that way. Leaving the rating alone.

This is the first day since I was let go that I have not had meetings or had to make phone calls. I still didn’t get to just relax. I intended to get to some of my new untried samples. Grabbed this instead. Very buttered veggies. Not bitter just sweet and delicious. Several cups and just now getting to write about it.

The scent of the dry leaf reminds me of a fresh summer field. The leaf is long and plump. From the description I was expecting a strong grassy green. Instead the sip is like buttery beans. Maybe creamy is a better word. This is definitely classic Chinese green tea in flavor.

There is no bitterness, and no harsh edges. The longer you sip the sweeter it becomes. It has a healthy drying affect on the tongue. Strangely, the aftertaste disappears rather quickly.

On the second cup I immediately caught a nice amount of a spicy almost floral taste. Though familiar, I couldn’t pull a name for these notes out of my brain today. Let’s just call it tasty. The second cup seems less creamy and more ocean or mineral. As the cup cools it is tasting a little peppery.

Thank you TeaVivre for the sample. This is another very nice cup.

Jasmine tea, and pretty much what i would expect from a Jasmine tea. A bit too much Jasmine for my taste but i can still tell this is a quality tea. Lovely green tea here but seems to be second to the jasmine and floral notes. If you love jasmine this one is for you!

Excellent green tea. Such a good staple and great taste.

So I found a little rust in the inner edge of my electric tea kettle. I am so upset about that. What do I do about it? Should I toss it or is there a way to salvage it?

I finished this tea up. I used a pot to boil water and make this tea; however, this tea tasted strange after steeping it. This is a good tea overall though. I love the dry leaf that is furry and curly.

I wanted an evening green tea today. I chose this one as this is the only unflavored green tea that I have opened at the moment. I don’t like to open new teas right away either.

Regardless, I think I am feeling a bit down since my husband has to go on a trip abroad. I am not used to it, and I don’t know if I will get used to it anytime soon.

This is a nice, smooth green tea that is refreshing and a bit like nori and buttery. I brewed this at a cooler temperature because frankly, I forgot all about water I had cooling. This isn’t bad though. Not bitter and it goes down smoothly.

I love the soft, curly, almost cotton-like, green-white leaves. The smell is very light green and musty. I steeped this in my 4oz clear glass pot and watched the leaves unfurl and rise to the top. I love this clear glass pot. I feel like I am at peace when I stare at the leaves dancing. The liquid was a very light yellow/gold. The taste was refreshing. It was light, slightly sweet and fruity and malty. The fresh green came out as well, but its not as fresh tasting as sencha or gyokuro. This one would make a great staple in my cupboard as a green. This tea is so incredibly smooth.

Hmm. Maybe I brewed this incorrectly but it was so, so flowery and flat for me. I will try it again, but I’m really sad because this is the only tea I haven’t liked so far from Tea Vivre.

I like this one. The flavour is nutty and not flowery to me at all. The blossom is beautiful, and holds up well to resteeps. I would let it bloom over several steepings, otherwise the tea gets too strong and astringent for me.

I like this one. Green, sweet, refreshing! It’s very soft and delicate, great in the afternoon as a pick-me-up. I think I prefer the fuller flavoured oolongs, but I definitely wouldn’t turn down a cup of this :)

Mmm. I like this one quite a bit. This is smooth, nutty, green, and full flavoured. Second steep wasn’t as good to me, so I don’t know if I would resteep this much. It’s as good as I remember. I’m definitely getting some more of this to keep as an everyday drink.

Another one of my lost samples! I have tried the unflavored version of this and loved it, but sometimes you want a really milky flavor so I thought I’d give this one a spin. Sniffing the dry leaves, I was wondering if this would maybe taste like Nature’s Leaf Tea’s Milk Black, which is like POW milk flavor. The leaves are very fragrant! And pretty, I love tightly wound oolongs that unfurl like magic while steeping. A small spoonful becomes a forest in my little french press!

Flavor-wise, I’m surprised at how not artificial the milk flavoring is. It’s definitely more creamy than the unflavored version (obviously) but not in a fake or strange way. Just an extra boost! There’s the soft floral orchid notes, buttery and smooth and vegetal. Mmm, I love green oolongs!

I think I like the unflavored version a bit better, since it’s easier to pick out the complex notes of the base oolong, but the extra creamy version is great for a more dessert-like cup. It’s a real indulgent treat, and without any calories—and also lighter than actual dessert blends, so there’s nothing heavy or dense. Smooth, sweet oolong with an extra bit of sweetness!

My Dad bought this for me for Christmas as part of Teavivre’s Black tea sampler, and we tried it for the first time yesterday afternoon. It was the first time I’ve tried any Lapsang Souchong…ever. Wow is it ever smoky! I shared it with my Dad who had also never tried it before, and he said it reminded him of smoked salmon. He enjoyed it more with a touch of milk and sugar, whereas I liked it without anything added.

As I mentioned in my last tealog, I’ve been drinking nothing but honeybush for the last week or so. I’m not sure how much caffeine is in this tea, but it definitely kept me awake last night. Perhaps I’m not used to caffeine anymore. At the best of times I’m quite caffeine sensitive, so maybe it won’t affect others the way that it affected me. In the future I’ll have to be sure to only drink this one before 2pm. thankfully, today is a fairly low-key day. I’m just filling out a few forms for work, doing laundry, and a little later I’ll be going over to my Dad’s house for my step-sister’s bon voyage dinner. Her visits always seem too short :(

I do enjoy this tea, and I can see it becoming a “once in a blue moon” kind of treat that I would get in sample sizes and get really excited whenever I make it. If you’ve never tried Lapsang Souchong and you enjoy the taste of smoked foods I suggest checking it out. It strikes me as a tea that I would enjoy cooking with. hmmmm…perhaps I will peruse other tealogs…I always find great ideas from fellow Steepsterites

Whoa, I have not done this in a while. I am finally getting back to drinking my tea. I know I should have never really stopped, but it was just too easy to drink the coffee I make for my boys when life is busy. Tea makes me slow down, which is actually a good thing. Of course, what also happens is that you realize you have lots of tea that needs drinking before it won’t be quite as good. Most of my stash is black teas of the non-flavored variety, which are my favorite. Man, I have some really good ones way back there in the recesses of my stash. I am also trying to tackle the older ones first. This was the first 100g of this one that I purchased. I only have a pot or two left, and I won’t open the seal on the newer season until I pare things down a little more. I am also almost out of my beloved Tan Yang Te Ji. I guess I will use it as a reward for drinking up my other good tea. Sounds like such a chore, right? ;)

Just great stuff. I really don’t have any more to say that I haven’t before, and I made it the usual way, too.

Tea of the morning…..

Do you ever have that moment sipping your tea where you just have to stop what you are doing and savor the moment? Well, that is happening this morning. It is like I chose the perfect tea for the moment and it is perfection. I will admit to having too many choices for great black tea in my cupboard, and it is only occasionally that I have a moment like that.

The tea is wonderful. Notes of honey, maybe raisin, light on the cocoa. Mouthfeel is thick. The leaves are curly brown and golden orange with a fuzz. So glad I have some of this in my stash.

Usual teapot method with the spoons slightly heaping as this is a fluffy tea.

Edit to add: the resteep for 6 minutes was also very good! Bonus!

Tea of the morning…..

I know most are reviewing a free sample of this one, but since this one does not fall into the samples offered with a purchase from TeVivre (yet?) I purchased my sample. I received two 7 gram pouches for $4. I personally feel that I give a more unbiased review if I either purchase my samples, or get them with a purchase. It is just one of my quirks at this stage. As a result, I drink the tea more when I am excited about it, rather than feeling like I have to get through them. (Don’t get me wrong, though! The free samplings I received from this company in the past were integral to furthering my tea journey and I am grateful for the opportunity!)

Wow. This is really good. I am on the resteep pot and it is perfect. The leaves are very golden, curly, and a bit fuzzy. By look it falls more in line with the Tan Yang Dinosara brought back from her visit to the tea district in China than other versions of this tea I have tried in the past. I was so lucky that she shared some with me. I will do a little more comparing later because I have not had that one for a while. In comparison to my other favorite Tan Yang (Tan Yang Te Ji from TeaSpring) TeaVivre’s is much more golden tipped and curlier. The leaves are also longer than the one from TeaSpring. I am pretty sure the two are of differing grades just by look with the one from TeaVivre being higher, but they are similar in price.

Smooth, slight malt, super sweet (in fact, I think I need to try this one with out my usual sweetener). There is the perfect touch of earthiness wrapped in the flavor of carmelized sweet potatoes. Yes, caramel…. The TeaSpring Tan Yang is a little heavier on the malt and earthiness. I will do a ‘reminder’ cup of that also, just to be sure.

So far, I am certain I will be purchasing this at some point. I wish my stash was not so overwhelming or I would buy some today. There is just such a warm sweetness with this one. Definitely sweeter than the Golden Monkey, but who should have to pick one over the other? Get them both! A China black tea lovers dream paring….the Golden Monkey for everyday, and the Tan Yang for special days.

Usual teapot method (OMG this was wonderful!….Did I say that all ready?) with my equally as wonderful resteep at 5 minutes.