Teavivre

Now this is a sad, sad sipdown if I ever did see one. Unfortunately, this last cup wasn’t quite as good as past ones, definitely due to the fact that I’ve been hoarding this one for over a year. The malt and chocolate notes were nearly non-existant but I’m still pining for more. Let’s cross those fingers that Teavivre will be able to get a hold of more sooner than later. :(

And I’m at 67 teas now? Wow!

Morning cup. Not as malty or chocolatey as it has been in the past but this is what I get for hoarding. One more cup left. :/

Back from my spectacular adventure in Vancouver, packed with a sushi binge, shopping madness, and an amazing concert. The ferry ride home was slightly depressing because it now means even more stuff to deal with other than the research you only deal with over the summer.

I’m still exhausted from the trip due to the running around I was doing, so I wanted to pick a black tea this morning. I reached for this, generously provided by Cavocorax because it both sounded and looked lovely.

These pearls are huge, and ended up using four of them. They brewed up to a rich amber liquor, and when it comes to the flavour, my taste buds are met with cocoa powder. There’s that lovely maltiness going on too which I always appreciate.

These are on the robust side too, which I’m really quite enjoying. It’s sure grabbing my taste buds and waking me up. “Wake up and get with it!” Yes, dragon pearls talk.

The second infusion is on the maltier side, but the cocoa is still going strong.

Did I mention that this is my first Teavivre tea? Ever? The time has finally come, and I’m smitten with these dragon pearls. Now that I stopped moving around, I should make an order sometime from the lovely Angel who I keep hearing wonderful things about.

Yellowish green in color with a nice sweet aroma. This tea has a sweet taste with a slight bit of smokiness. I get the flavors of roasted asparagus and carrots.

Thank you to Angel at Teavivre for this sample!

I must admit, puerh is not usually my favourite tea but I was interested to try this one. I didn’t hate it or love it. Earthiness with a slight sweet note is mostly what I taste. Maybe I was just having a blah day the day I tasted it, but I didn’t find it that interesting. I still enjoyed what I had, but don’t like it enough to order it.

Resteep 1 minute

Additional notes: I accidentally grabbed this sample instead of the Menghai I wanted to try. Now it’s gone! Too bad too since it is ADDICTIVE pu-erh and it isn’t even on the Teavivre site anymore. It’s really really delicious. Very smooth and sweet and doesn’t seem to have many of those negative pu-erh characteristics that seem to put some people off pu-erh. I will miss this one!

Another sample from Teavivre! Thanks so much I put the entire sample piece of the pu-erh cake in the infuser. Teavivre’s instructions say 212 after a rinse, 30 seconds, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min so that is what I intend to do. The dry leaves are very dark… and I love the idea of tree-ripened. It probably means something different than I think it does!

Steep #1 // a few minutes after boiling, rinsed, 30 seconds
The flavor is very delicate while still being present. It’s sweet for a pu-erh, mildly spicy. Not very oaky at all, but that was probably because the leaves had barely been unraveled, even after a condsiderable rinse. Very tasty!

Steep #2// just boiled, 1 min
A strict minute! Wow is this cup a deep maroon color.. the darkest tea color I’ve ever seen. But the flavor isn’t tough at all. It’s so tough to describe though… other than to say that this is definitely one of the best pu-erhs I’ve tried.

Steep #3 // just boiled 2 min
Very much like the last cup — and the leaves aren’t really expanding too much yet (though they have fell apart from the cake).

Steep #4 //just boiled 3 min
I could probably keep steeping this and the flavor would be just as amazing. I am not tired of it yet, and these have been four FULL mugs (over two days — I’ve been drinking other teas too!)

I think many people who might have tried pu-erh haven’t tried one like this one and a not-so-delicious pu-erh might have scared them away from all pu-erh. So I hope all tea drinkers try ONE decent pu-erh before giving up on all pu-erh.

If I only wanted ONE pu-erh stocked in my cupboard, this one could easily be it!

I am not usually the biggest fan of straight green teas, but I didn’t mind this one. This is probably my favourite straight green to date. It is fairly nutty rather than having that buttery vegetal taste right away.

I didn’t even realized until I searched this tea to write a note on it that I had tasted it before. Oh well, I enjoyed it, so I don’t mind another taste!
Thanks to Angel at Teavivire for the sample!
Once again, I got nuttiness right away, and I do associate it with chestnut. I like that this straight green has a little sweetness and isn’t too vegetal. If I were to order a straight green, it would likely be this one.

Thank you to Angel at Teavivre for sending me this sample.

I am not usually a straight green tea fan, but I never pass up the opportunity for free samples from Teavivre because I find my tastes are changing and sometimes I discover something I wouldn’t have normally tried!

I used 1 tsp of leaf. This is an excellent tea. It is smooth, not too vegetal. It has a nutty flavour and now that I read the description, it says chestnut, and ya, I get chestnut. It is buttery and not astringent in any way. It tastes so fresh.

Resteep at 2 minutes. I think I enjoy this steep even more than the first.

I am glad I got to try this and might just order it in the future……look at me…..growing up in my tastes and ordering straight teas more and more…lol.

A lovely sample from TeaVivre!

This tea was amazing! It brewed to be a really pretty amber colour. The apple flavour really popped out from the first sip. It was was the perfect level of sweet. I would definitely buy this again!

I received this as a free sample and both me and the kids loved it. Has a true apple taste with a nice tartness that was perfect. Much like other reviewers, I think this would make an excellent iced tea. The only thing I did not care for was the fact that it dried my mouth out a bit. Used Teavana Perfectea Rock Sugar to sweeten and steeped for 11 minutes.

Light with a little bit of buttery sweetness. Has a vegetal taste of steamed spinach. Not too much character in this tea but it is not without its charms.

Drinking a small pot of this today. Smooth, mellow with earthy sweet potatoes and a bit of caramel.
The last time I drank this I got some citrus notes which I don’t get now; this is more lightly earthy… still really good and easy to drink, and I like it.

Steeped at 190F for 2 1/2 minutes.

Light to medium Oolong with a greenish orange color and an aroma of licorice and herbal medicine. This tea has a sugary sweetness that hits you right away and lingers like I just ate a piece of candy. It taste like a green tea with sugar added to it. I like my tea unsweetened so the sweetness is a little too much for me. Other than that, it has a pleasant taste. The dry tea is interesting in that it is hard and has something similar to a candy coating, probable from the process of adding the ginseng to the tea.

tasty, viscous, sweet, and a hint of cucumber notes.

I always inhale the scent of a tea instantly upon opening the canister. These pearls smell of malty sweetness, earthy and vegetal. All in all, they smell exactly as a good black tea should.

4 pearls per cup plus, I used 16 pearls for my 3 cup tea pot. Brewed at 205F for 1 minute, the tea is pale root beer brown, yeasty and mild in scent.

The taste too was mild, fresh, and sweet. Not as much malt as I’d like, but that may be my fault, either too little tea (too few pearls) or not enough time (2 minutes instead of only 1 minute.)

The resteep of this one will be 2 minutes at 210F, just to see that happens.

Light bodied and mild as brewed, a good evening cup when something strong and bracing isn’t quite called for.

I plan to push this tea a bit, and get out that rich maltiness the dry leaves seem to promise.

This was very different than I was expecting. I thought it would be a little sweeter, and more like chamomile. I see in the description, that they mention persimmon and I definitely get that. I like this, but not enough to order it.

Sipdown and one that I am sad to see go. I am bumping the rating up for this one because I brewed it stronger tonight and new and fragrant notes came through that were light, savory, fresh, and mineral all together. It was particularly purifying after an afternoon of sampling craft beers from Colorado and Georgia both. I am headed to Colorado in a couple of weeks so we wanted to try some from there before we arrive. It was fun, but I was really looking forward to a mild green tea afterwards with nothing added and this fit the bill perfectly. Resteeps nicely also. I am moving on to my third and it is still quite lovely, if a touch watery. Goodbye for now, Liu An Gua Pian!

Dry: Lovely large rolled dry leaves, grass-green in color with a few faded pieces. No broken tea or stems noted. Smells light and fresh with a slight spice note.

Steeped: Olive green clear liquor. Very subtle aroma, faint scent of fresh greens with a hint of sweet.

Taste: Mild is the word I would use to describe this one. If you do not like strong or complex green teas, this one would be a good option to try. Soft spinach with hint of sweet and a hint of spice. No bitterness or bite noted. Smooth and mellow, a nice experience but nothing that really grabs and holds my interest beyond enjoying a simple and pleasant experience. Holds up to a couple more steeps and I am glad I tried it.

Light amber in color with a nice woodsy aroma. It has the taste of hay and wood mixed with a the flavors of dried apricot and maybe a little bit of plum. Slightly astringent aftertaste.

The aroma is that of sweet hay. This tea is light and sweet. It has a pronounced melon flavor with hints of hay and cucumber.

Backlog. I tried to post a tasting note on this last night, but #$&%@*! Steepster was having One Of Its Episodes.

I… don’t think I have an opinion on Tie Guan Yin. I’ve had two of them now, and they’ve both been about the same; brightly vegetal, a little bright-fruity, a bit on the roasty side. I don’t like it, I don’t dislike it. It’s enjoyable, but not something I would crave or reorder. It’s the kind of tea I have to be in the right mood to drink; unfortunately, usually when I’m in a “tea” mood I’m picturing black tea, so I’m seldom in the right mood for this kind of flavor, unless I’m doing a late-at-night cleansing tea or something.