Teavivre

A review of Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea by Teavivre

Company: Teavivre
Tea Name: Taiwan Jin Xuan
Tea Type/Varietal: oolong
Region: Taiwan
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ 1 scoop
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: light green/ yellow base—pale peach
Leaf Characteristics: small pellets like leaves as this is pure tea buds and leaves hand rolled into these fine peletts.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 3 minutes

I chose to have this milk oolong after having had some wonderful green tea powdered matcha tea. I also have had many fine teas from Teavivre who sent me a number of teas to sample and I have a few remaining.

I opened this small packet and emptied its content into my cup and adding the freshly boiled water to my cup I cover it, leaving it to steep for few minutes. After a few minutes, I remove the saucer and scoop out the leaves which are fuller and green in color with hints of veggies for an aroma.

The tea is a smooth light green in color with a milky aroma; more like broccoli. As I sip the tea I find it to have no astringency, having instead a milky dew quality that can be compared to honey dew and fresh peach; but as for my self it is a bowl of cream of broccoli soup in the making.

2nd Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

I am very grateful to have been exposed to oolong teas as they are exceptional teas and good for you to have with a meal or after. Thank you, Teavivre for sending these teas for me to sample.

A review of Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong by Teavivre

Company: Teavivre
Tea Name: Jin Xuan Milk Oolong
Tea Type/Varietal: Oolong
Region: Alishan Nantou, Taiwan
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ loose leaf
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: light amber with orange/yellow base
Leaf Characteristics:

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

I am happy to be having another of Teavivre tea samplers. This one is a milk oolong. I opened the foiled packet to find small pellets like of green colored leaves. I empty the packet into my cup and pour in the boiled water and placing a lid over my cup I leave it to steep for 2 minutes.

After the set time, I remove the lid to find the leaves have grown fuller and very green and tea cup smelling of greens and somewhat strongly astringent. I guess this is freshness and partly from the Osmanthus, I hope I am not reacting to it as I do Jasmine. I scoop out the leaves and the tea is a light amber color and when placed directly under the lights it is orange/peach like.

Upon sipping the tea which seems more astringent than I was expecting; tea seems kind of bitter and not sure why since steep time was very short. Perhaps from not rinsing or discarding this first brew, I am unsure.

I did finish the cup however, and added more boiling water over the leaves for another cup and still there is that slight astringency in flavoring.

A review of Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea by Teavivre

Company: Teavivre
Tea Name: Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong
Tea Type/Varietal: Oolong
Region: Taiwan
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ loose leaf
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: a very pale yellow with first steep and with longer steeps tea color is darker yellow/peach in color.
Leaf Characteristics: Tea leaves are very finely crunched into tiny little stones and dark in color and when steeped the leaves are fuller and green in color. I should say leaves are full leaves and not broken.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

I steep this tea for two minutes in boiled water (after first rinsing the tea leaves and discarding of the water), I then pour more of the boiled water in my tea mugs with a cover on it. When cover is removed what is notice at first are the tea leaves since they are fully blown and the tea leaves are whole. It is amazing, these fine granules tea buds become full leaves when steep. Tea’s aroma is faint and light; nothing as striking as the leaves being fully evolved. I like the tea’s color although it is not bright. A paradox since it sounds as if I am not impressed as yet.

I taste the tea and thinking of its name milk oolong…and of something I had read about brewing oolong that are full-leaf; in that because they have such large, flat leaves, they can be steep for seven to ten minutes without turning bitter.

This much I can attest and have attested with the leaves being fuller. And the tea has not bitterness; it is very light/mild tea. This is something that I could drink throughout the day.

I am grateful for Teavivre for sending me more of these fine teas to sample. I am happy for the experience of sampling and reviewing of their teas. Thank you.

wow! every time i steep this remarkable black tea i am impressed again. this tea is so complex in its flavor profile that it’s difficult to notate as you’re being delivered from one hint to the next. strong honey, black cherry, chocolate and walnut to name a few. i can’t think of another black tea with so much flavor and yet is not overwhelmingly rich. this tea is light and delicate. thank you so much to @ashmanra for the sample that got me switched from Teavana to a better purveyor :-)

Mmm molasses.
Very tired and emotional today. I just need a break from the world. This is the best tea I have for such situations at work. Wish I could take the day and hike off into the wilderness.
I need to bring more teas in.

I forgot to log this tea from earlier today. Work totally distracts from the tea drinking experience. Rude.

I remember a lot of sweet syrup. Lightly malty. I was hoping for a roasty chocolate taste, but it was light this time. Not really how I remember it. Hm.

I need sleep.

I’m in the office and I smell something thats exactly like SpecialTeas’ Almond Cookie tea. Is there a tea lover on this floor? I’m surreptitiously peeking into other people’s cubes but I can’t find the source of the smell! And its another dept that shares our space so I don’t know them well enough to ask. Haha what a unique tea addict problem.

Anyways, I’m having this tea again with three pearls and cooler water. Much better! This leads me to conclude that most people prefer their teas a lot stronger than I do! I’ll keep that in mind in case any Steepterites ever show up to my place for tea. :)

So I heard lots of good things about this tea. Sadly, I don’t find it all that tasty. Did I brew this wrong? It was kind of sour. I do some of those chocolate flavors people are talking about but it’s also kind of bitter. I think I’ll use a lower temp next time. I find the boiling water never really works out for me unless it’s an herbal. I suppose I’m sensitive to the stuff the boiling water brings out of teas. And there’s a lot of caffeine in this. Holy cow.

I’ll try this again before I rate it.

As I was brewing this, husband walked by and said, “I was looking for some tea this morning and I noticed that you have way too much!” He doesn’t touch my stash usually. He has no real idea how much tea I have. There’s more hidden under my desk. muahaha

Sipdown! 34/365

You know, I’m shocked that this had any flavour left, given that it was apparently sitting open to the air for who knows how long (actually, I imagine if I looked for when I first posted about it, that might give me a clue). And not only that, there was a decent amount of crushed leaf that went into this cup, and I failed to use a Finum infuser to catch it. #teafails. Anyways, it’s actually delicious, and just what I was looking for. Light but flavourful jasmine with a soft white base.

Thanks again to Teavivre, as this was a free sample sent to me a long time ago.

Backlog.

I brewed this up fairly strongly so that it would taste good in my Timolino (actually it’s in my orange carry mug from DT… but same thing, kind of?), and I was successful :) Nice, light and sweet, and not overly perfumey – instead it has a fruity sweetness grounding the jasmine.

Thanks Teavivre for yet another generously-sized sample of a tea I’m quite interested in trying! I seem to have developed a fondness for jasmine whites instead of jasmine greens, so hopefully this one works for me!

The aroma emanating from the packet is strongly of a sweet, delicious jasmine. It almost makes me think candy! Delicious. The tea is a bit more subdued (probably a good thing), but has a nice jasmine aroma that makes me think of Chinese food (haha), but unlike the tea I have at my favourite Chinese restaurant, the flavour here is sweet and delicate (and quite floral, although that’s the same), and completely smooth and silky. All the jasmine deliciousness without the bitterness/astringency from green tea.

I’m not quite sure whether I prefer Verdant’s Yunnan White Jasmine or this tea (I’m not likely to keep multiple white jasmines on hand), so will have to do a comparison one day.

Like the Blueberry Fruit tea by Teavivre this one is also much better cold. I steeped for approx. 4min and found it was just right. This tea turned my water in to a medium pink colour. I find hot or steeped too long makes it undrinkable for me. So if you buy this make sure to have enough to experiment with otherwise you might miss how good this tea is.

It’s very tasty I oversteeped mine though I think as I lost track of time…oops! oh well it’s still good but I think it might work better for me cold :D

Since my doctors fiasco this morning and having had stomach ache for half the day I have decided to treat myself to a gaiwan steeping of this wonderful jasmine dragon pearl tea.

My tasting notes are just quick, I will write a better review soon.

The pearls are magically perfumed before and during steeping and the only thing that could match it’s fragrance would be it’s taste. Perfumey sweet jasmine with fresh grassy green tea leaves and a pinch of sunshine.

It’s fun to look at the pearls after each steep to see them change, at my second steep in they changed from being tight pearls to becoming 6’s or 9’s due to unravelling slightly. Fourth steep and they are starting to look like long spirals.

My stomach feels better now too :) Plus the jasmine has perfumed my mouth.

A review of A review of Ripened Age Pu-erh Mini Tuocha (sample) by Teavivre

Date: 11/19/2012
Company: Teavivre
Tea Name: Ripened Age Pu-erh Mini Tuocha
Tea Type/Varietal: Pu-erh
Region: Fujian Taiwan
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ one small bird’s nest (cake) pu-erh
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: darkish amber/ raisin/stewed prunes
Leaf Characteristics: when I remove the mini tuocha from its wrapper it is shape like a fine small bird’s nest and when the water is poured into the cup the Tuocha seems do dissolves into the water; over time leaving fine powder like residue at cup’s bottom.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 185 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

Note: I fixed for myself another cup of this pu-erh and what I am noting today is the aroma and strength of this pu-erh is somewhat like coffee; very mild since not as roast or robust as a cup of coffee, yet very much so. What do I mean exactly? Tea’s color is that of coffee bean and does smell raw and the base of it is dampness. As the tea cools one can find some what of fragrant cup of coffee perhaps not caffeinated; there is strength in this tea with a raw and malt flavoring which I missed when first I had this tea. I seem to have accomplished this by drinking it cold. I made the tea quite sometime ago and it has gotten cold and there’s the malt and robustness in the cup that I had not notice as when the tea was very hot.

So do I like hot or cold? Tea for me should be hot.

A review of Ripened Age Pu-erh Mini Tuocha (sample) by Teavivre

Date: 11/16/2012
Company: Teavivre
Tea Name: Ripened Age Pu-erh Mini Tuocha
Tea Type/Varietal: Pu-erh
Region: Yunnan China
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ mini Tuocha
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: dark cranberry
Leaf Characteristics: Small coin like Tuocha

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

Note: This is another sample sent to me from Teavivre and I am looking forward to trying this Tuocha. I cut open the sample pack and take out one of the individually wrapped Tuocha and remove the covering from it. It is semi-soft and rolled like a little weaved basket/ resembling a small bird’s nest, I take this and put it in my tea mug and pour the already boiled water into the mug, I place the saucer on the cup and leave to steep for two minutes.

When I remove the saucer/lid from my mug, the aroma starts to permeates the air around me; smelling of dampen earth, it is very noticeable smell (dampness in towels, basements, moisten soil) all images that I am conceiving as I breath in and out. The tea’s color is a lovely dark cranberry; more like dark cherries.

I take a sip and swallow and another sip yet again I swallow; there is that dryness effect on the palette and back of throat when I swallow. This pu-erh is somewhat like pu-erh I have had from Stash Teas, yet they were loose leaves. Anyhow, there a dryness and raw cacao nibs taste to this Tuocha and it is not bitter, in fact it is quite smooth and fuller in the body. I think I mean to say that the taste of this pu-erh is consistent throughout.

Upon first sip I am met with a dryness effect and very light on the palette, this tea is not heavy at all. It is very smooth and I definitely taste something of the cacao nibs…aspect of this tea. Or perhaps best to say that darken chocolate taste of both bitter/sweet chocolate when raw, unprocessed.

Do I like this tea? Yes. Do I like the tea’s color? Yes. And of the smell/aroma, is the teas’ bouquet to your expectation? Yes, I expected it to smell of dampened earth…a dewy, wet odor left from moisture permeating in the air. It smells as if something was not properly dried.

In all this is a good cup of tea for this inexperience palette.

2nd Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

Note: With this second steep and continuing to drink this tea for the remainder of the day I find the tea’s color to remain like that of cranberry or darken cherry and the tea is smoother and richer with more infusions. It is just a nice cup of tea, it has substance and one an experience palette would be able to place quite readily since nothing is hidden with this tea.

Backlogging number 2:

We had this tea as well. It was the last of the sample so I made four steeps out of this one. I think it tasted better when I used more leaf so if I get this one again, I will have to remember that I like it with a good bit of leaf the best. I will miss it though. It was my last yunnan in my limited tea stash.

Had a cup of this today when I was cooking the rest of the pancakes for my dad so he could have a hot breakfast. I think letting it cool first really helped the flavor when I took my first sip of it. There is a lesson in that: I need to be more patient.

I’m going to fill up my french press with some water and let the leaves cold brew until I get back from going to the mall with my fiancee. Then I should have a nice cup of iced tea in the afternoon when I get back.

The tea mood has struck again with this wonderful tea. I wanted a black tea, but I wanted something light. This does the trick wonderfully. I’m getting a slightly caramelized sweet potato today.

I think what has prevented me from liking this tea as much as I thought I would from the very beginning is the fact that it is lighter than the full leaf version of this tea. I was expecting something that would really stand up and be bold instead of being a tea that would slink around in the corner and wait to be noticed. But now that I think of it of being a lighter black tea, I have fallen in love all over again.

I had a cup of this last night and a cup of this in the morning even though I am just getting around to saying so. Rich and kinda sweet. Not too complex this time which was nice because I didn’t want something ultra complex, but unexpected since I can normally taste two-three different notes. My tongue must not be up to par yet. Too much cocoa. Lol.

I brewed this at a lower temperature this time. Smooth, light, and sweet potato like. Just what I needed this morning.

I got a new round of tea samples from the wonderful Angel at Teavivre. This is the first one from the new set and I decided to actually write down the steeps in my journal before logging them into Steepster. It was fun actually writing down a tea tasting in my neon pink ink.

Steep 1: Brewed for two minutes. The tea smells dark and the liquor is a deep warm brown. The first taste is more earth and then a slightly sweet taste creeps in along the sides of your tongue. I looked at the tea packet and saw that it suggested a lower water temperature than I used so I am going to try a lower water temperature with the next steep and see if that changes things.

Steep 2: Brewed for 2.5 minutes. The liquor is slightly paler, but not by that much. It looks more like a dark topaz. It smells slightly like a sweet potato that has been taken out of the dirt and then quickly sprayed off so that it is clean but bits of earth are still clinging to the skin.

The taste is amazing. A very faint cocoa note that mixes with the previous taste to make an amazing slightly sweet rye bread. The kind that is just out of the oven. The crust is crisp and the crumb (the soft part of the bread) is so soft that it deflates in your mouth and releases a burst of flavor. So delicious.

Steep 3: Brewed for 3.5 minutes. The liquor is a light bronze. The flavor of rye bread is still there but it has a slight sweet potato taste to it now. This steep is a little watery, but I think if I had brewed it for another minute it would have been better. This is the last steep for the night.

Overall, this tastes very different from the full leaf version, but I love that it is so different. It just tastes good and makes me think of a warm kitchen when I was little. My mom doesn’t like rye bread so she never made it, but she did make bread. I can let my imagination fill in that it tasted like this tea and I would be content wherever I was at the moment. Delicious.