The Tea Merchant

Additional notes: Sipdown! This tasted the same as it did last time, so I can’t tell if this is aged coconut or what it is supposed to taste like. It’s definitely one of the toughest teas I’ve had. Not much chocolate that is supposed to be there… or any that I notice. It does have an odd flavor.. not sure if it is just the pu-erh. I don’t mind this one, but it probably isn’t a pu-erh for newbies. This was also closer to two teaspoons but I was bound and determined for a sipdown! I just did two minute steeps for three cups rather than two cups. It balances out that way I think!

I like Dinosara’s idea of sipping teas that are the oldest in the cupboard. I might do something like that, especially when I don’t know what to drink. But I’ve been mainly focusing on new-to-me teas and sipdowns!

Thanks so much Kasumi no Chajin, for another sample… this one! The dry leaves smelled so powerful, I thought it was the packaging of the bag. All the pu-erh I have tried (not many) have had such a light flavor, definitely lighter than black teas. I always thought they were nice bases for other flavors. After steeping for three minutes, this one tastes just as it smells. It’s tough to describe. It seems chalky and dusty to me, but not something that isn’t tasty. I don’t seem to hate this as much as others do. I didn’t get much of a chocolate or coconut flavor (and I think caramel would have been a better fit, really.) I had three steeps (3,4,5 minutes) and they all had consistent flavor. But this one is interesting and different. I like it. I’m still wondering why this pu-erh has such a strong flavor… I guess I’ll just chalk it up (oh crap, I really didn’t mean the pun intended) to The Tea Merchant having such stellar flavors with their teas. Though I’ve only tried two others, they are delicious.

So this was extremely good. Don’t normally go for earl greys but apparently with French it is so much better! The vanilla highlights the bergamot and compliments it very well, this is a dangerous tea as i may start hoarding it! (if it last that long)
Anyways yah get this and be happy.

lots of vanilla in the bag I have, tastes is awesome but not enough Bergamot for me. Overall a really great tea! The Tea Merchant was out of stock when I ordered but were quick to email me and let me know it would be a few days late and they would send some samples along with my order. Great customer service I will be ordering from them again!

Loose
Appearance: black chocolate dark leaf, coconut shreds
Aroma when Dry: dessert sweet, marzipan notes
After water is first poured: deserty, spiced coconut pudding
At end of first steep: sweet, deserty, hints of nuts
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: faint nutty brown
Staple? No
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening, seasonal
Taste:
At first?: sweet nutty notes, close on a cloying coconut note
As it cools?: gets creamy notes, reminiscent of a light hazelnut almond syrup

Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? yes, with a heavy nutty, earthy sweetness (western)

This is a great tea that has a bit of sweetness to it that is great at night as a sweet drink. Love all of The Tea Merchant’s teas :)

(Opens the bag and takes a long whiff) awwwwwww yeahhhhhhh. Smells awesome. Everyone that walked past me also commented on how good it smells. Tastewise I get a lot of vanilla, with zesty bergamot off in the background. Relatively smooth mouthfeel. This kind of reminds me of some of the higher quality, micro-brewed creme sodas I’ve had. I’m going to have to try it iced.
Update: I tried it iced and sugared. This is easily my new favorite iced tea. So good. My other teas have been neglected all week because I’ve been drinking this iced every day.

I will admit that I have never been able to tell the difference between French vanilla and regular old vanilla. It has always seemed to me that “French vanilla” taste can be achieved by using more regular old vanilla. I know it is supposed to be creamier when used in ice cream due to the egg base. Not sure how creamy is achieved when there is nothing but vanilla.

But, I will say that regardless of kind of vanilla, this smells and tastes very strongly of it. :) A nice creamy vanilla that mellows the bergamot. A good, strong black tea base that complements the other flavors well.

I have spent far too much time in the kitchen over the last couple of days preparing for my Christmas open house that was last night. So when I had to run out to finish up a bit of shopping today, I grabbed a package of Candy Cane Oreos. I wanted some cookies this afternoon but I didn’t want to take the time to bake again. They go very well with this tea! And, since they are peppermint, I will not have to share with my husband! So the package will last longer than 2 hours. :)

The tea may not last long enough. I’ll have to keep this one around for sure. I had originally thought that with the super cool packaging I might keep this one for a gift – I’m so glad I didn’t! :)

This was in my LiberTEAS Sampler Box. I can almost say, with a totally straight face, that this is a very satisfying Earl Grey (bwahaha, I typed “satisfrying” and had to go fix it after I stopped giggling), and I’m almost sure I know what that means in this context. Let’s see…

Dry leaf fragrance blindfold test: Hmm… Very obviously black tea, but not very obviously Earl Grey. There’s something in here, I’m just not sure what. Maybe because I’ve never smelled “oil of bergamot” on its own, so I couldn’t identify it if I tried. Basically I just look for kind of a lemony scent, and I didn’t really find that here. I smelled hay, though. Yes, hay. Don’t look at me like that, I don’t know either.

Steeped tea blindfold test: Okay, now I can definitely identify it as an Earl Grey. With hay.

Flavour: Yep, Earl Grey, but not of the in-your-face ilk. Smooth, pleasant. And, er, it doesn’t taste like hay, as far as I can tell, but I’m no Huck Finn. Bonus: no bitterness or astringency.

Will I stock it after my sample’s done? No. I only need to stock one Earl Grey, and so far my favourite is Golden Moon’s Tippy Earl Grey. Do I like it enough to finish my sample? Absolutely, it’s really quite lovely, it’s just not “the one.” Y’know? Also, the caffeine’s pretty strong in this one. In case you can’t tell, I’m a little loopy from it.

Tea amount: 1 tsp/~4.75g
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: None

Oh! I discovered something just now. My two infusers are in the sink and I didn’t feel like washing them since I’d just done a load of dishes, so I used one of those paper bag things that you get free with some tea orders. And what I discovered is that I have no clue what to do with them. I just took one, put in my teaspoon of tea, and wrapped it up and presented it to my teacup like a little gift. It worked out okay, I guess—I mean, none of the tea escaped its confines to go for a quick paddle, but the bag did leave behind a kind of papery taste on which I’m not altogether keen.

Thanks to Invader Zim for this green tea sample.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever had Kukicha, but if I had it’s been a while. Also, is there a difference between green kukicha and JUST kukicha? So many questions.

This is a pretty neat little tea. It’s very green, no mistaking that. It’s got that grassy vegetal taste, almost like spinach. I may have used a little too much tea, so the taste might be stronger than needed. I went with 4.4g for roughly 10 oz of water.

Another motivation to brew up this tea came from the fact that Yogic Chai is offering a lot of their chai’s on sale, and one of them is a Kukicha chai (who has ever heard of that, right?). I wanted to make sure I actually liked it before ordering. Now I’m wondering how this would compare. Hmm…

Liberteas Thanks for this!

This darjeeling flavor is right up my alley! JUST-RIGHT! Nice even-steven from beginning to end! YUM!

Liberteas sent this to me! Thanks a bunch!

This is alright. It’s more perfumy than bergamotty. It’s a tad bitter/astringent but not bad to have on hand.

Oolong teas are essentially uncharted territory for me. Since I’ve only tried two varieties of oolong, it was time to expand my palette. The Tea Merchant sells an oolong sampler that sounded too good to pass up – so I didn’t pass it up. :)

This tea was a hit with the first steeping and a miss with the second steeping.

The first steeping reminded me of Salada’s Asian Plum white tea. This tea is much better, however. It had a noticeable plum flavor that didn’t overpower the oolong tea. It was a sweet, slightly tart cup of tea that was pleasing in every way.

The second steeping came out very tart. I couldn’t taste the oolong, only the berries. It reminded me of hibiscus. I’m not a fan of hibiscus.

Both cups were smooth, light-bodied and brewed to a dark golden hue. I enjoyed the first steeping of this tea enough that I’ll probably purchase it in a larger quantity. I wish that the second steeping was to my taste. Maybe I can fob it off on my husband and then not feel like I’m being wasteful. Does that make me an awful person?

Wow heaven in tea. Oolong yes, Vanilla yes together is its almost sinfully good! So glad i went to that famers market otherwise never would have experienced this!
The Tea Merchant　がんばってよ！　

おいしいそでしょう！！
Delicious isn’t it! Sooo good!!! im glad i met the owner at a farmers market. I told him i love vanilla and he recommended this one and the Silk Dragon (that i will try next). If you like vanilla and you must drink this or you will not live a fulfilled life!

OK… right off the bat, I’m very impressed with this blend. I open the package and am greeted by some of the freshest white tea I’ve ever seen, what a surprise to see it in a flavored tea! It’s beautiful!

And it tastes amazing too. Sweet and coconut-y, with a lovely buttery undertone. The white tea tastes as fresh as it looked prior to infusion.

So light and delicious. I like this one a lot!

The Force is strong with this tea!

Extremely good and tasty, as if Yoda himself blended this tea! Ok enough starwars references, the down and dirty is this is a tea you should not miss out on. Full Oolong leaves that are not broken, mixed with marigolds (the yellow leaves i think) was a good sign of quality.
Dry this tea smells of vanilla and cream. The liquors aroma is vanilla and a very slight citrus.
The taste is creamy vanilla and with a smooth feel in my mouth, just so good and light.
I loved every aspect of this tea from the dry tea leaves smell and look, to the light yellow brew and taste to die for.

Cheers to Michelle for sending me this and the next Darjeeling I’ll be logging! I feel Darjeeling is a natural follow up to Oriental Beauty and often want to compare them. They both have a the muscatel thing going on, the darjeeling more so, as well as floral and woodsy notes but darjeeling feels more airy and has more high notes, it’s more flowery and peppery where as the formosa has smoother, warmer, lower notes of leather and camphor.

I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Darjeelings compared to some folks on here. I’ve had two from Teavana and one straight from Upton, plus a few in their blends and lovely white one and I got to taste a Darjeeling Oolong at Adagio. Most have been first or second flushes and while I’m sure I could look up their estates in some cases, I don’t recall them off the top up my head.

At first I feel in love with them, then I really disliked them, them I tolerated them and it seems today I am appreciating them more than I have in a long time. And this is quite nice. It starts off tasting like grape leaves and vine, woody and nice balance of green, sweet and salty. But this tea really shines when it’s cooled down, which I think is a testament to its quality, many teas turn bitter when they cool but this one only gets sweeter.

I infused this one three times, the second was my favorite and it had some nice fruity and honey notes. I felt the third tasted a bit watered down despite being steeped for 5 minutes (I actually followed recommended brewing parameter on this one somewhat, though it looks like it might have been Michelle’s recommendation rather than the merchant’s though my first infusion was close to their’s temp wise) but it did develop some interesting pepper notes and then once again sweetened when cooled. Thanks Michelle!

My 3rd out of 4 teas from TTM. They have yet to Disappoint! If you love french Vanilla this is the tea for you! they call it french earl grey, but it is similar but better than earl grey cremes i have had in the past. This cup smelled so good out of the package, the french vanilla and bergamot mix was heavenly.
I actually steeped this twice and the next cup had much less vanilla flavor and the black tea came out to shine. a very nice cup and i’m glad i bought 2oz’s of this stuff as it will go fast even with the resteeping.

So i’m a big Organic and Fair Trade nut. So when my friends told me about this company that has those types of teas i knew i had to try.

Being a fan of earl grey and all things French i tried this blend first. I must say it was magnificent! The vanilla and bergamot compliment each other so well in this blend. perfectly balanced and the vanilla is so yummy! This will be my new go to tea!

So this was my second tea i got from TTM. And again i was blown away. The Aroma when i opened the bag was intense and smelled so good. It was tamed a lot when i steeped and not overpowering. It was so yummy to drink! One of the best whites i’ve had just so good! I can’t wait to try this one iced!