Teavivre

Just when I thought I was getting all organized, I found a big flaw in my system. If you are going to put tea in baggies and then into tins, not only do you need to label the tins, but you also have to label the bags. I grabbed a bag out of a tin on my way to work today, and then didn’t know what I had grabbed. I had a bag of tea at work, and I knew it was a Teavivre black, but I didn’t know which one it was. Anyway, came home, found the empty tin and it was this one.

This is a nice Yunnan black, it was pretty much what I would expect from a Yunnan black, but I’m not sure it was really anything special. Nice, pleasant, fine for work – nothing really to complain about, but nothing really to get excited about. I have a lot of this one, really need to be working it into my rotation more often.

Backlog…I had this one yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised on how beautiful this little tuocha is, and I took a picture or two and posted to Facebook even. One friend commented how it looked like a bird’s nest, and I can see that.

It smelled sweet, and the liquor was golden. This is not one of those fishy an earthy pu-erhs you might be thinking. The flavour is mild, a little sweet, a bit heavier body for a lighter brew, but still tasty. I don’t know what lotus leaf tastes like, so I can’t really comment on that, but I’d say that this tea is also smooth. It was not overly floral or tart or astringent. It’s just a nice tea. It almost has a sticky rice note to it too.

Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for sending this to me as part of the 3rd anniversary sample pack. Many thanks!

Rinsed with 190F water before cold-brewed for 4 hours.

Taste, like a sweet ripe plum, rocky-coast breeze scent. Liquor is chilled aqua fresca viscosity.

A huge thank you to Angel at Teavivre for another round of free samples! :D this is the first of the bunch I decided to try, as I’ve only had one other white tea cake (from Verdant) and loved it.

The dry aroma of this one smells much like a sheng, a bit woody and fresh. I steeped for 7 mins (!) With boiling (!!) Water! Very different parameters for a white tea, as it was recommended to do 6-10 mins, but hey I’ll roll with it! The tea brews up quite dark too, and the steeped scent is grainy and woodsy, a sheng crossed with aged white tea to me.

As for the flavor, initially I thought it was pretty strong, almost like a black tea! But as it cools it mellows out into a grain taste (actually a bit like hay) with some malt, a bit of astringency, and a sugared sweet aftertaste. Man, I don’t think I’ve had anything like this one! It’s a variety of teas in one – black, white, sheng..so interesting. The overall flavor is definitely of an aged white though, with the grain, hay-like notes and malt with a sugar (not honey) endnote. Also getting quite the little buzz off this lol, some good sheng-like cha qi!

Overall, this is an extremely interesting tea to try! I will need to have a few more cups to be able to fully grasp what’s going on in here lol, but it’s tasty and unique and I am quite enjoying this while sitting out on the deck with the fountain running. Today I felt a tangible change in the weather, a cooling in the morning, the difference in sunlight, saw some orange fallen leaves. The season of chai and lattes is arriving soon, so I will soak up the sunlight and warmth and enjoy my white teas while I’m in the mood for them! Don’t leave yet summer :(

Once again, thank you Angel for this sample! No rating yet because I’m on my phone, but this first cup feels like an 84 to me. :)

Baked Bread. Sweet Potatoes. Chocolate. Honey. Earth.
Goodness, it’s been a while since I’ve had this! Much too long! Enjoyed drinking this one while I played a few rounds of darts with my younger bro and our friend. Tea and good company is always a fantastic combo! If only they were tea drinkers too!
Even so, happy to still have lots of this tea! ^^

Sweet potatoes. It legit tastes like that.
A year ago I would have never imagined myself liking tea that tastes like sweet potatoes. xD
This tea is absolutely delicious!
Yah for not wasting money again! XD

This is an Ali Shan Oolong sent by Angel from Teavivre. Angel, thank you a thousand times.

I am an oolong drinker. My preferences in terms of Camellia Sinensis generally go to these teas and black straight Taiwanese teas .

There is no exception with this Oolong, I appreciate it but probably less than many others. This tea is extremely light and floral, the liquor has also a delicate smell of spinach. Its color is a very pale yellow, translucent. You can see the bottom of the cup effortlessly. Mineral notes are also present, especially late in the sip.

The texture of this tea is extremely creamy, soft, almost silky. It’s lovely.

I think I was wrong by choosing this Oolong to be my morning tea. It is not the appropriated tea for me at this moment of the day .But this tea is exceptional and I’ll enjoy drinking it in the evening and even just before bedtime.

I’m excited to try this tea since it seems to be quite loved. The leaves are a beautiful mix of gold and black. There were quite a few broken and tiny pieces in my spoon so I’m hoping that it doesn’t get too bitter on me!

Sipping… oh, how lovely! It’s smooth, thick and rich. I taste the faintest flavor of sweet potato, but it’s wrapped up in a soft fruity note. This tea is very soft for me and I would like a bit more oomph, but it’s so sweet and enjoyable that I’m blaming my desire for a stronger cup on my mood right now.

Got my Teavivre order today. :O Not sure why I seemed to get it before everyone else though…that’s kinda weird. Oh well.
I haven’t tried many teas from Teavivre, so the teas I bought were kinda a risk. But I have heard so much about them that I figured I’d take that risk and buy a lot since it was at such a good price and I got two gift cards, so might as well spend them!
When I opened the bag a wave of cocoa and chocolate hit me. Which was a good sign.
The main flavors I taste are malt and cocoa. It kinda has that earthy, almost woody aftertaste. Earthiness isn’t really something I love in a tea, but the chocolate and malt notes really overrule it, so it’s drinkable.
I’m so glad that I got a lot of this!!
ALSO! It’s the kind of tea that’s easy to figure out how much to steep. So wins all around! XD Yah for not wasting my money! :D :D

So after having a nice little conversation with Sarsonator, I decided to break open one of my many puerh samples from TeaVivre. She recommended a pseudo-gong fu method of combining three steeps into one mug and then repeating that. The dry leaves are in small chunks and flakes from being broken off of a cake. The color ranges from dark evergreen to slightly purple. Dry scent is rather strong smoke, which surprised me! Also eucalyptus or menthol and slightly mushroom notes.

So, I did a 10s rinse. Then 10s, 15s, 20s steeps combined into one cup. After that I did 30s, 40s, and 50s combined. I found then to be quite similar so I’m just going to consider both cups as one experience.

Brewed aroma was pretty much the same as dry, but much milder on the smoke and methol. The taste was much lighter than I expected it to be. There’s a mild hay or grassy flavor that forms the base, and I can definitely see the “barnyard” descriptor here, but in a good way. The smoke and the menthol hit at the back of my tongue and throat, along with a slight peppery taste. All three are quite mild. There’s a definite dried fruity flavor, comparable maybe to dried apricot or prune.

I got an interesting tingly feeling in my mouth that I wasn’t expecting! I wasn’t sure whether I enjoyed it or not, to be honest. It somewhat made my tongue feel like I’d eaten too many sour candies… And I could definitely feel it making a difference in my heart rate and a little bit in my head. Interesting! Now my chest kind of hurts, so not sure what that’s about…

Thanks Sars for all the advice! :) I’m really unsure how to rate this, so I guess I’ll just go for it?

I’ve been enjoying a nice quiet Saturday morning in my pj’s, drinking tea, reading steepster, and a book which I’m close to finishing (California by Edan Lepucki) and enjoying quite a bit. My husband always wants to get out of the house on the weekends because he works from home full-time, but I love sleeping in on the weekend and having a restful day after a stressful work week. Fortunately, today he’s into a new video game, so I get to do as I like!

This is another sample I received from Angel at TeaVivre and I have to say, she sure knows how to hook you! This tea is fabulous, and the price for a cake sure represents it’s fabulousness. I’ve never bought a whole cake of anything before, mostly because cakes usually mean puerh, and I haven’t had much luck with puerh yet. The sample she sent me was quite generous though, so I’ll definitely get to enjoy more than one steeping of this tea.

I put about half of one of the sample bags in my 12 oz. mug to steep. It was mostly one large chunk of the cake with a few loose bits. I thought, do I have to rinse this? Nothing on the package said to, so I didn’t. It also, surprisingly, recommended a 6-10 minute steep at boiling. Wow! I steeped it for 6 minutes, and my first impression of the aroma was sweet mint. Mmmm, but odd for a white tea, right?

If I didn’t know this was a white tea, I would have thought it was an aged oolong. It’s sneaky like that! It brews up very dark. The taste is very similar…toasty with that touch of mint, but somehow lighter and definitely smooth. I detected a bit of hay too. Mostly, I decided this tastes like honey on toast. Yum! Definitely fabulous! Thank you, Angel!!

A few more steeps of this one with yesterday’s leaf. I wanted to get my Chi on. It continues to impress with its well mannered youth. And yep, it still has a nice camphor affect. There are blessings in each day if you take the time to notice. It was so much fun playing guitar today with air! Played one of my favorite rock out songs called The Wonderful Cross. It’s based on the Issac Watts classic. For those familiar I play it similar to the Tomlin/Redman version but faster.

I am just getting a good start with this one and will probably keep steeping the same leaf tomorrow as well. I just wanted to jump in and say this is most unexpected. Well, maybe I should have suspected it from Teavivre. This raw pu-erh is only a couple months old but it is very tasty. I used the whole sample (how out of my comfort zone ). I did compromise just a little by using a gigantic 5 oz of water :) and I lowered the temperature of the first steep to 205 F for a 15 second steep. I was anticipating a young sharp bitter astringent blast. Instead I got some cheek tingle and some bite but very manageable. To me this is kind of fruity (maybe apricot) along with a nutty or woodsy taste. It is also kind of mineral in a good way.

The main reason I am posting before getting too far into the session is to report the antihistamine or camphor qualities are cooling my lungs and I feel like I can breathe to my toes. I love that. The is also an easy peaceful feeling present (que the Eagles). Excellent Cha Chi.

Method: 6 g, 6 oz, 205 degrees, 15 and 25 seconds, yixing

This is quite lovely, like a sweet grape whisper. I did two steepings and blended them into my mug. The aroma and flavors were lovely, but very quiet. I did a 3rd steeping for about 35 seconds. This is way too long. Don’t do it. LOL. The tea became bitter at this point.

Stick to very short steeps, and this has a lot to offer!

TeaVivre has done it again! They’ve made me like a tea that I didn’t think I liked before. Last time it happened with dragon well. Here we are, and they’ve changed my mind about silver needle. Previously, when I tried silver needle from another company, I thought it tasted too much like hay, and was sort of rough on the tongue…maybe astringent?

TeaVivre’s version is so good! It’s incredibly fresh and crisp! To me, it’s a straight up cucumber tea! It’s like you just crunched into some freshly sliced cucumber. The hay note is there, but much more laid back, and it’s slightly floral. I also found it to be sort of creamy…can crisp and creamy even happen in the same tea?

I enjoyed this after dinner and it was nice and light…like a palate cleanser. I could drink it any time of the day. Thanks so much to Angel for sending me this sample!!

Happy Friday everyone, I am currently typing this from my nice antique writing desk in the bedroom. Ben was a real sweetheart and set up a temporary ‘tea lair’ for me until we are able to redo the room, so far I am really loving not having to walk up stairs. One thing I am really excited for when setting up the tea lair in the bedroom is I am going to use my writing desk as a dedicated tea station and I will have all my crafts and other stuff on my other desk. It is going to be awesome to a less cluttered tea area.

Today’s tea is Teavivre’s Silver Needle White Tea (Bai Hao Yin Zhen) probably my favorite of the white teas, it is beautifully fuzzy and delicate, and it is amazingly forgiving when brewing. I have been known to take a silver needle and spend the day brewing it in different ways, enjoying all the subtle variations in taste. This particular Bai Hao Yin Zhen is from Fuding, Fujian, China, harvested March 22, 2014 just a few days after the Vernal Equinox. The aroma of these adorable silver fuzzy leaves is like a field of wildflowers, there are notes of fresh vegetation, hay, flower nectar, and wildflowers. There are also notes of honey, sweet corn, and lettuce. Silver Needle is a complex yet delicate smelling pile of leaves, I have always enjoyed that about it.

I decided to brew this tea in the new style that is all the rage with tea sippers, Grandpa Style! Ok, it is not a new style, people in China have been drinking tea this way for ages, it is the way of sipping for the common man. If you have not had the pleasure of trying it, simply get a bowl (or cup, I prefer tea bowls) toss in some leaves, add water and sip your tea. As the day progresses you just add more water until your leaves are done. The aroma of the steeping leaves is delicate and sweet, there are notes of fresh vegetation, hay, and wildflowers with just a hint of lettuce.

It is not really the first steep, but the first sipping is delicate and sweet. There are notes of honey, fresh hay, lettuce, and a touch of wildflowers. The mouthfeel is smooth and slightly tickly from the fuzzy trichomes, I always find myself becoming really happy when I can feel the fuzzies in my mouth, I know some people prefer to strain them out (giving their strainers a nice velveteen coating) because it makes their mouth itch or makes them cough (my mom is in that boat) but not I.

I added more water and sipped on the tea for the better part of three hours, it is hard to translate that into steeps, but my electric kettle politely informed me that I used half a liter. The more I sip the sweeter the tea gets, more honey sweet and a touch of sweet corn. There is also a note of sage that gets stronger and then eventually fades.

When I get to the end of the tea’s life pretty much all that is left is faint honey sweetness and a touch of lettuce. The tea never gets bitter, and if you let it get chilled (be leaving the room to make food, just an example) and come back to it, the taste is still pretty good, though I prefer it warmer. I certainly recommend giving Silver Needle a go Grandpa Style, it is relaxing and refreshing…perfect for a warm summer day.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/08/teavivre-silver-needle-white-tea-bai.html

I had this tea this afternoon from a tea sample I got in my Teavivre order. I wanted to brew it in something that was clear but the only clear glass teapot I have is too big. Then I got the bright idea to use my Mason jam jar. It’s the perfect size. About 3.5 or 4 oz and I could watch the leaves in the water. Brewed at 175 for 1 min. Screwed the lid on too to keep it warm! Pouring it was kind of tricky. I think I need to puncture some holes in the lid.
It was a lovely light buttery green tea. Vegetal, smooth. I did two infusions and both were very tasty. Now I blew my tea quota for the day since I had a delicious Bi Luo Chun for breakfast.

365 Days of Tea Challenge – Day 29

Gongfu cha time!

Okay, this tea probably wasn’t the best choice for the gongfu treatment as the flavor didn’t change all that much between steeps, but I still really enjoyed the ritual of it all, and it was fucking freezing today so I was craving some cozy green tea goodness!

This was also my first time using my new mini tea tray and double-walled glass cha hai. I very much enjoyed them both, aesthetically and functionally!

The dry leaves were beautiful and had a sweet, soft aroma of alfalfa hay, freshly cut grass, and bean sprouts. I started with a 5s rinse, which I tasted (of course). It was so delicious and full of flavor that I adjusted my planned steep times to start shorter and increase more slowly.

As I said, the flavor here didn’t change a whole lot during the session. The first couple of steeps were very smooth with a strong vegetal spinach note and a lovely creamy, roasty nuttiness reminiscent of cashews. There was also a soft grain note that melded seamlessly with the nuts.

I followed TeaVivre’s directions and started at 185°, but once I started to find some bitterness in the second and third steeps, I reduced the temperature to my usual 175° and had better results. There were some light apricot and floral notes that showed up in the middle steeps and stayed until the end. Otherwise, the flavor remained somewhat vegetal with a nice combination of sweet and savory notes and a strong nutty presence.

As the flavor began to fade, I found the vegetal notes lightened first, which left me with a delicious sweet and nutty infusion that I practically gulped down.

I really do love long jing. I’m sure in the future, it would make more sense to steep it Western-style, but I have no regrets! :)

4g – 120ml – 175/185°F – 5/10/20/20/30/40/60s

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtPXKGeFHqu/

Stephanie thoughtfully included some freebie samples in our swap, and this was one of them. After drinking a ridiculously indulgent milk tea, I needed a nice green tea to soothe my tummy. I don’t have much experience with dragonwell teas, but I have enjoyed the ones I’ve tried, and found them to be quite mellow and inoffensive. The leaves of this tea have the traditional flattened look, and they’re a rather bright yellowish green color. The dry scent is mild and spinach-like, and somewhat sweet. I brewed for 2 minutes at 185 degrees.

The brewed aroma is similar, mild and gently vegetal. I seem to always choose spinach as the main descriptor for sencha and these teas, I’m not sure if that’s a general thing or if I’m just not experienced enough with green teas to really notice the different notes. Overall, this tea was quite lovely and mellow, and perfect for my tummy. Very mild vegetal flavor, and something that reminded me of very light toast. There’s also that lovely buttery, nutty quality that seems to be typical of dragonwell teas.

Now I’m relaxed with a calm and happy tummy! :)

This is an excellent tea and has everything I’m looking for in a black tea. The mouth feel is thick and warming. The taste is malty, deep and sweet, almost overwhelmingly so. There is a thick note of cocoa and an earthy aftertaste. It stands up to multiple steepings very well, both gongfu and western style. A perfect tea for anyone who likes chinese black teas.

I have become more and more of a ghost on this website. This is mostly due to the fact that I have spent tooo much time and money on tea these past couple months. sigh but it is so much fun…and so tasty.. Silly bills drying out my tea funds:P Luckily, I have lots of tea in my tea stash…must have to avoid the temptation to buy more.. rawrs. For those of you that have played the game Ni No Kuni illustrated by Miyazaki, I am in much need of more restraint.

Anyways, onto this incredible tea.

I am by no means a pu’erh expert.. but thanks to advice from the awesome Spencer I knew just how to brew this tea. The dry smell of this tea was much more pleasant than I was expecting…probably because some of the other pu’erhs that I have had smelled much like dirt or fish. But this one was fresh smelling. The flavor of the first cup was a light woodsy sweet almost honey-esque flavor with a very like liquor. The second cup had much bolder flavors of musk and floral but oh so smooooth. There was only slight bitterness at the end. A beautiful pu’erh.. hopefully I can age as gracefully as this tea.

Happy news, spring and 2015 teas have arrived. I have been waiting for a long time and finally I got to taste these fresh spring greens.
I got, not one but two boxes of tea yesterday. Another one containing this, my 50g preorder and that wonderful scarf present. I will definitely use it, thanks. In the other box were the spring sampler. It was really wonderful sight when I unpacked all this, mountain of tea.
I’ve tried already three teas, this was the first one. The aroma that came from the pouch was amazing. It was fresh, green and mildly grassy, not that roasty than 2014 Superfine Longjing.The leaves are green as spring, really bright green that means. They’ve a strong, but fresh aroma. Their shape is nice, pointy and flat tea buds. I can’t see any broken or ‘bad’ looking leaf.
I’m using gaiwan as always. Brew is pale green with mild grassy scent. There is a weak nutty nuance. Roastiness, almost none.
Flavour follows the scent. Fresh and mildly grassy with delicate nuttiness following. I’m allergic to nuts so I can’t say which nut this tinge reminds me, but I’ll say walnuts and roasted almonds. Latter is the only ‘nut’ I can eat :P
Some people said that last years Superfine was overly toasty. It was quite toasty, but I liked that. This one is really mildly toasty, but it doesn’t mean this is worse than last years. This is really good stuff, it’s different and good as it is. If you don’t like toasty Longjings now is your chance. I will give this a point better review, bit better, but still as good.