Various Artists

Holy. Moly.

I pulled out a sample of 1980’s heicha that I got as a special surprise in my last order from O5 Tea. Somehow I missed this one when I was trying the other samples they sent a few months back. They don’t sell this online and it may not be for sale at all, but maaaaannn… it’s super.

The wet leaves smell like candy, almost a little violetish, but with some warmer caramely notes also. Really intriguing.

The dry leaf looks a bit like the fungus teas I love so much, but I did not see any golden flowers. The brewed tea smells like something I know, but can’t quite place. And the taste… really unique. I’m having a really hard time describing the flavors, so I’ll just go with: yum, noms, eeeeee! and happy of happiness. I wish I could get more of this one!

Blou (black/shou) combos of the day:

- 2014 Verdant Zhu Rong and Tangerine Shou (shou aged in a little tangerine): Super good. This had a refreshing, cooling, citrusy feel. It would actually be a nice springy tea. Perfect for when everything around is waking up!

- 2013 Mandala Temple Stairs and WP Ailaoshan Black: Deeeelish! Another good combo. :)

Received some samples from an awesome tea friend! All were lovely shous :)

Golden Memory – smooth and lovely. I would drink again.

Trinity Blend – oh boy. I wanted to love it… cool name. But the fermentation flavor was out of control LOL. I even did extra rinses and couldn’t get past it.

7572 – This is perfect for an after dinner sip. Very mild, no excessive earthiness, just pleasant and yum.

Hey, my first Random Steepings note!

I received two samples from a friend and know little about their origin. Both are ripe pu’erhs and both were delicious. I am leaving a note more for myself.

2000 Langhe Menghai Ripe – Total yums. No fermentation flavors. Very smooth and wow… SWEET.

2000 Lancang Ripe – Very similar. If all shous turn out like this, I will be a happy girl. The sweetness is so pronounced and lovely. This tastes like a sugar cave. There’s a whisper of earthiness under all the brown sugar. Lovely.

I’m hanging out with my pups and Chairman Meow, enjoying my tea happy!

P.S. Before I hit save, I did google to see if “sugar cave” was some sort of pervy term. Because doesn’t it seem like it would be?

http://instagram.com/p/tWBFT1vkTc/
Bunny tea pet loves this shou!

Dealt with one very annoying customer and one very rude one yesterday. Went home and cooked the stress away— made cold soba noodle salad for the week. I had some leftover fresh ginger when I was done, so I grated it into boiling water and drank that last night. It was very strong and spicy, but warming and healthfully energizing and revitalizing. It was also a cheerful yellow color, which didn’t hurt.

Now, I also somehow managed to sprain my ankle and hurt my knee sometime around Thursday or Friday last week, so I’ve also been dealing with that pain. I swear to God, though, drinking the ginger broth helped. I woke up this morning with no pain at all!

Sometimes the best cures have to be stumbled upon by random happenstance, I guess.

I mixed Zhena’s Chocolate Chai and Republic of Tea’s Good Hope Vanilla and drank it iced.

These are two high-quality rooibos teas that mix quite well together. It tasted like earthy- spicy dessert. I would do it again, except that I like the vanilla rooibos better by itself.

Mixed Saffron Chamomile by Taja Tea with Classic Sleepytime by Celestial Seasonings.

It made two relatively unexciting chamomile-based teas taste really good. The spearmint from the Sleepytime is especially prevalent, and the saffron adds a certain richness that wouldn’t otherwise be noticeable. It’s kind of like a chamomile bouquet of gentle goodness that makes me feel much better about life.

Mmmmmmm, perfect bedtime mix!

I don’t bother logging under random steepings very often but this is for my bad memory:

Stovetop chai last night, best one yet. Heated milk with two scoops assam, 3 pieces broken cinnamon stick, 4 or 5 green cardamom, 5 or 6 cloves and some all spice. Everything crushed a bit with the mortar and pestle. Steeped away, added 2 spoons raspberry honey, a bit extra tea, some water, some ground ginger and ground cinnamon. Stir, stir, stir. Cook, cook, cook. In the end, really good. The cinnamon powder seemed to really make the difference. I wonder if my cinnamon sticks are the rip-off kind. They’re from bulk barn…so probably yes. Anyway, delish!

This is quite possibly my first “Random Steepings” entry. Tada! The beau and I had Chinese food “in town” tonight and I was curious about the tea. The waitress said there was a loose leaf oolong and we asked for a pot of that. It came loose but was brewing up really dark so we investigated. Turned out, this is definitely shu puerh. She had no more info about it but we told her a bit about puerh and how she might like to brew it if she wants to try it again. It was actually really nice and held up to Western steeping really well. This encouraged me to try more of our pu Western style. Yay!

Also excuse the (many?) Typos. I’m on my phone and Steepster won’t let me see what I am typing so I am just hoping it turns out legible…now it’s letting me. Grr. That was pretty bad. I think I got most of them.

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My last bonus sample from derk! This one is “Cretan Dictamnus picked by family”.

Of course I had to look up Dictamnus, which is also known as Dittany of Crete. To me, it smells and tastes very similar to oregano, which makes a lot of sense considering it’s in the genus Origanum, along with oregano and marjoram.

It has a pleasant herbaceous and savory flavor to it, with that oregano flavor that I’m unsure how to otherwise describe. Peppery maybe? Slightly minty? It’s quite soothing in the evening. I’m not sure I would seek it out over other, more conventional herbal tisanes, but I really enjoyed trying it. And that goes for all of the samples, thank you derk! ❤

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A sample from derk, Lemon Verbena from Cretan Farmers Natural Products.

The leaves are lovely, full and curly and featherlight. The flavor is quite light, gently herbaceous with soft and sweet lemon notes. A touch of hay as well, that reminds me a bit of a white tea. I get a hint of sage at the end of the sip, but I wonder if that’s simply because this sample was next to a sage tisane.

Very enjoyable, but I think I tend to prefer lemongrass if I want a lemony herbal tisane. Would definitely drink this again though!

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A sample from derk, labeled “Greek Sage from Halki Island”.

This one was a bit outside of my comfort zone, since I’m not a big sage fan to begin with. But I found as long as I didn’t use too much leaf, I was still able to enjoy this tisane. It’s earthy, herbaceous, savory, slightly sweet, a touch eucalyptus-y. Sagey, obviously.

Fun to try, but not something I would reach for often. Happy for the opportunity to try it though, thanks derk!

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From derk – “Pomegranate Tea from Istanbul”

This looks like a very finely ground fruit tisane? And that’s what I assumed when I steeped it as well. It’s definitely quite heavy on the hibiscus, but there’s some sweetness to it as well which helps balance things. It has a generic sort of red fruit tisane flavor to it, somewhere between juice and gummy candies.

Anyway, not really my thing since I’m not a fruit tisane lover, but it was fun to try and enjoyable as my last tea of the night!

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Another derk sample, this is “Mulberry Tea from Istanbul”. It’s a pretty pink powder that seems similar to instant Turkish apple tea, which I’ve had before and enjoy.

Yum, this is tasty! It does remind me of the apple version, and it’s quite sweet. But it has a different flavor, more berry-like as the name implies, but still with a nice tartness. I don’t actually know what mulberry tastes like, but this tea reminds me of pomegranate, maybe with a hint of raspberry and grape.

Really nice as a treat, and I bet it would be delicious with some mulling spices!

Strange VariaTEA TTB – Tea #23

So I’m having a tea from the TTB that says “Plum Deluxe Winter 2022 Secret Tea Club Blend – Mrs. Claus’ Treat”. I assume whoever added this meant 2021, since winter of 2022 hasn’t happened yet? According to the ingredients on the black, it’s green rooibos with cacao nibs, peppermint, cornflowers, and vanilla. I didn’t really see mint in the leaf, but I could definitely smell it.

It’s very mild, but tasty. I do taste both mint and a sort of creamy vanilla note going on, sort of like Santa’s Secret but on a green rooibos base. I don’t pick up on any cacao. The rooibos is fine, mellow and gently herbaceous. There is a very slight wet rag sort of flavor in the aftertaste, I assume from the peppermint.

Anyway, this was fine but a bit too mild overall.

Result: Finished Off

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I’m sipping on Okumidori Gyokuro from Kyoto Obubu, but I’m putting it here because it’s not a tea that they usually sell, and I think it might have been exclusive to the subscription. So basically I don’t want to create a new tea entry for a tea that will probably never have another note written about it. Plus my sample was quite old, from 2020 I believe…

Anyway! I steeped the 5g packet in about 120ml of 140°F water for 90 seconds. I used a gravity infuser instead of a proper vessel because I’m a lazy person. :P

I very rarely drink gyokuro, so it’s always amazing when I try it! It’s fascinating that such a light-colored tea can have such intensity of flavor. This one is über sweet but with plenty of umami as well, super duper concentrated notes of spinach, creamy edamame, and lightly roasted nuts. Definitely some yummy squashy goodness going on as well, maybe acorn squash specifically. There’s almost no bitterness whatsoever, and a marvelously thick, viscous, creamy texture that just feels so restorative to sip.

Gyokuro, to me, is like the distilled essence of nature and new life in a cup. Not something I would ever drink daily, but every time I have it, it just feels like pure life energy, and gives a nice buzz to match!

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So this is a swap sample labeled “Taiwanese Roasted Green Oolong” from the company “Taiwanese Tea Store”. I puttered around a bit on Google but didn’t find any promising leads, so decided to put it here rather than creating a new tea entry that would never be used again.

It’s a tasty lightly roasted Taiwanese oolong. The roast complements the other flavor notes instead of completely overpowering them, which I feel happens often with more heavily roasted oolong. Here I can still taste the sweet and creamy oolong, with its nectarous floral notes and a touch of ripe peach. But then the roastiness adds a nice comforting grainy note, along with hints of sweet honeyed dried fruits and cozy autumn leaves.

Very yummy overall, and perfect for a somewhat chilly day. :3

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So I have a swap sample labeled “Spearmint Lavender – Best Living Brands” and I can’t seem to find this brand or tea anywhere on the Interwebs, so I’m just going to put my note here rather than creating a new tea entry.

I admit, I’m a bit apprehensive about trying this one because, as we all know by now, lavender isn’t my thing. However, the spearmint smell upon opening the pouch was wonderful, so mixed feelings ha ha.

It’s quite good. The spearmint definitely dominates the flavor, luckily for me. It’s sweet and bright and refreshing but somehow avoids tasting like chewing gum. The lavender is just there as an accent, adding a very light, slightly savory citrusy floral note. It does give it more of a sleepytime sort of vibe.

Overall, very enjoyable. Maybe I’ll have to try out some lavender blends when I eventually order some herbal tisanes from Harts of America…

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So earlier, I steeped up my sample packet of Gokou Gyokuro from Kyoto Obubu, and I figured I’ll just leave a note for it here, under Random Steepings. I think it was a tea club exclusive as it’s not offered on the website, and I don’t really want to make a whole new tea entry just for my one lonely note…

But my, it was so delicious! It started out very sweet and buttery with some lovely rich and creamy kabocha notes that made me feel like I was sipping on some pumpkin soup. Then the umami started to build on the sides of my tongue and by the middle of the sip, took over, bringing with it an intense spinachy vegetal flavor. The end brought a fresher grassy note and a subtle floral note reminiscent of wildflowers.

I really enjoyed it, and I felt an almost instant burst of energy after drinking the first steeping. This tea was actually part of a tasting set with three different cultivars, so it’ll be interesting to try the other two and compare!

Rating: 88

https://www.instagram.com/p/COYyQMZAvg0/

Swap Sample Sipdown! (37)

Mystery sample! This one is from Arby and is labeled “Japanese Sencha 2018”. I quite like Japanese green teas, though I haven’t been drinking many lately. I do have quite a pile of unopened sample packets from Yunomi to get through eventually… This one looked as though it had some stems mixed in as well as leaves.

This is perfectly tasty! It has a nice vegetal spinach flavor with a lot of sweetness. There’s a tiny bit of pleasant bitterness creeping up after a 1-minute steep. I also taste some nice and somewhat creamy grain notes.

It’s not terribly complex for a sencha, but it’s very enjoyable nonetheless!

365 Days of Tea Challenge – Day 19

So today, I went to The Steeping Room in Austin for a lovely early afternoon tea! Unfortunately, the tea that I had does not appear to be available for sale on their website, so I’m putting the note here (under Random Steepings) instead.

I ended up having three different teas while I was there. The first two were the Noble Concubine (gui fei) oolong, and the White Tea #18, which is a Taiwanese white tea. The third tea was a resteep of my boyfriend’s Milk Oolong. At The Steeping Room, the servers present you with the wet tea leaves on a small dish along with the steeped tea, and they’ll resteep the same leaves multiple times if you simply ask.

The gui fei was very tasty! It had yummy sweet dried fruit and honey notes along with a very light floral and peach aftertaste. The white tea was less memorable for me, and I couldn’t find much complexity in it. It tasted much as I would expect for a generic white tea – like hay and oats. I was surprised, since the description mentions eucalyptus and camphor notes, which I didn’t find at all. The (unflavored) milk oolong was smooth and silky with a lovely peaches ‘n’ cream sort of flavor. I drank the second steeping, which was just as flavorful as the first.

For food, I had a duo of scones. Their scones are some of my favorite menu items, as I feel they’re very well-made. This time, I chose the Cranberry Walnut and Mixed Berry Spelt scones. Though I felt there was too much walnut in the cranberry scone, it was still very tasty, especially with the included honey butter. The spelt scone was delicious, and reminded me of a fluffy biscuit with mixed berries inside!

For some reason, I decided I should also get dessert! I got the Flourless Chamomile Almond Torte, which was beautifully textured and delicious. It was plated with fresh fruit and drizzled with honey. I was so full of tea and food at this point that I brought half of my dessert home with me!

Anyway, I would highly recommend The Steeping Room to anyone who might find him or herself in Austin! Price-wise, it’s a little bit on the higher side, but I feel the quality is worth it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs1ElRKlqFH/

Tea Swap Sample Sipdown Catch-Up! 2 of 4 (10)

This is a swap from AJRimmer. It’s a plain paper packet that has “Jasmine Tea from China” handwritten on it, but doesn’t list the name of the tea or the company. The tea itself is the jasmine dragon pearl variety. For some reason, I really like jasmine teas, even though I don’t really enjoy floral flavors in general. I actually just ordered a selection of jasmine pearl samples from TeaVivre to try out!

Wow, this is surprisingly good! I wasn’t expecting all that much from a generic, unknown jasmine pearl. But this has some very strong peach notes – strong enough that I’m wondering if it’s a peach-flavored jasmine pearl? I know TeaVivre carries one, in fact I ordered a sample! The jasmine is sweet and smooth. I’m not getting much from the base tea, but honestly that’s what I’d expect from a dragon pearl – they’re mostly about the jasmine flavor.

Overall it has a nice peaches ‘n’ cream sort of flavor to it, with the jasmine of course. Tasty!

Time for my very last Design a Tea custom sample. This one is Mango Amaretto Rooibos. Visually, just red rooibos with a few flower petals. Dry scent is kind of vaguely tart-sweet fruity with heavy marzipan notes.

Hmm, this one is actually pretty good. It doesn’t actually taste like marzipan, it’s actually spot-on for those amazing amaretti cookies (you know the ones I mean, they’re Italian, small and dome-shaped, and a pale pink-tan in color). So hooray for accurate amaretto flavor! The mango is there as a sort of fruity note, but it pokes its tart little head out near the end and gives the sip a nice fresh finish. Yum! :)