Vital Tea Leaf

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84
drank Supreme Yellow Sweet by Vital Tea Leaf
14991 tasting notes

This is another from Nicole and another one from a company that i’m not familiar with. This is a malty and sweet tea, and as i understand it, this is a black tea rather than a yellow one. Really enjoyed this one as well :) thanks nicole!

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I don’t have any info on whether or not this is natural pineapple but my guess is not. Isn’t a big deal to me but might be to others. :)

The pineapple scent is extremely strong and it’s nice. The flavor is a strong pineapple with a vague background of lightly vegetal, anonymous green tea. It’s nice, but with a teensy bit of added sugar it becomes good, not just nice. :) I wouldn’t keep this on hand mainly because I have yet to really love a green tea of any kind so much that I’d reach for it over my blacks. I’m pretty sure my mom will really like her share of this, though.

I have 2 ounces of this so if anyone wants to try any, drop me a note. Happy to share. :)

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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drank Dong Ding Oolong by Vital Tea Leaf
1812 tasting notes

Backlog:
Tea-tasting with a friend, yesterday, he was looking for something to drink at work (and I was pushing him to give-up on Stash and Yogi teabags). Knowing his preference for oolong, Herman helped him settle on this and the Black Pearl Supreme Oolong, both with dark, roasted notes.

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Backlog:
Tea-tasting with a friend, yesterday, he was looking for something to drink at work (and I was pushing him to give-up on Stash and Yogi teabags). Knowing his preference for oolong, Herman helped him settle on this and the Dong Ding Oolong, both with dark, roasted notes.

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100

Of all the teas we were able to try at Vital Tea Leaf, this was my favorite. The gentleman who was steeping for us said that this wasn’t really a “yellow” tea but rather a red (black) but their website says it is a yellow so…

This was sweet, malty and dusty. Very unusual to me and I gravitate towards malty teas these days. This stands out. This is the one I chose to buy some of to bring home and I think I will want more sooner rather than later. :)

boychik

from the pic looks like Yunnan?

Nicole

That’s what I would have thought both from look and taste.

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80
drank Siberian Rose by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

This was a beautiful tea! Nothing but rose buds. The scent was heavenly and the flavor was very light. I am not sure how quickly I would drink this one if I bought any but having it on hand for frou-frou tea parties would be nice. The dry “leaf” would definitely have to be on the table to admire!

boychik

so pretty

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drank Lychee Black by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

This was my least favorite from our tasting session at Vital Tea Leaf. It was too sweet, almost in a saccharine way. I don’t think it has any sweetener – it’s just the lychee. Having tried a few lychee teas I am coming to the conclusion that lychee isn’t going to be a flavor I like much. :)

boychik

have you tried real fruit?

Nicole

I haven’t. I don’t think I have ever seen it in stores around here. I’ll have to keep an eye out when traveling. :)

boychik

for me its like if you take of grape skins and eat, slippery, juicy and nutty.

Ag

Try getting the fresh ones if possible, not the canned ones (which are incredibly sweet). Just beware of the pit inside after peeling. I like them (juicy, floral, kinda nutty), but find longan (“dragon eye” because it’s round, translucent, and you can sort of see the pit after peeling, unlike lychees which are opaque white) to be much tastier and complex in flavour.

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drank Blue People by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

This was another from the tasting session at Vital Tea Leaf. I have only had Blue People one other time from another company and I didn’t care much for it. This still would not be one I would pick out to take home. I know it is the ginseng that I’m not liking. The quality of the tea seemed high and the ginseng was not overwhelming but could definitely be picked out from the flavors. My mother really liked it though and bought some to take home. So while it isn’t my thing, if you like ginseng oolong, this may be one for you!

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92
drank Jasmine Pearl by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

Not a review for drinking this tea, but rather for sort of cooking with it.

This was originally posted by Tealeaves. I have modified the directions quite a bit to make it very simple.

5 ounce log of goat cheese (chevre)
5-6 teaspoons green jasmine tea (obvs I used jasmine pearls from Vital Tea Leaf)

Grind tea leaves fine in food processor, coffee grinder (one without coffee smell – I use mine for herb grinding not ever for coffee) or even with a mortar & pestle in old-timey manner. Roll cheese log in ground leaves. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Serve on really mildly flavored rice crackers or something similar. Or with a savory rosemary scone. Original recipe suggested drizzling with melted orange marmalade, honey is equally good.

These jasmine pearls have a sweetness to them that I think helps complement the sourness of the cheese. I don’t know how well this would go with a more floral jasmine. But I’ll try eventually. :)

__Morgana__

Sounds yum!

Evol Ving Ness

Indeed. Delicious.

Fjellrev

Nice idea!

Nicole

I am going to experiment with some other teas as well. It turned out much better than anticipated. I thought the tea leaves would be dry and prickly and throw off the texture, but after sitting overnight and especially the 2nd day, the moisture in the chevre had really softened them up and the jasmine started to flavor the cheese as well as the tea.

Evol Ving Ness

Mmm, even better.

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92
drank Jasmine Pearl by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

When I had this one tonight it honestly came across as more sweet than floral. Almost in a bubble gummy kind of way. It was seriously tasty. Still jasmine but not the perfumey jasmine that I also love. This might be a jasmine for people who want to like jasmine but can’t stand floral teas. :) I get a few small bitter notes as the cup becomes completely cold. But I used a lower water temp than I think I have before and steeped for less time. Might also have contributed to the surprising sweetness. Upping rating based on this steep.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 15 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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92
drank Jasmine Pearl by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

Now that I have this in my cupboard I can give it a proper review. The scent is unmistakably jasmine. The pearls are so lovely. The first steep (mine was longer than the package recommends) was deeply sweet and mildly jasmine. The second steep was more bitter, more floral and more jasmine. The sweetness vanished. But, I did steep for much longer than recommended for my first. :) But overall, this is a really good jasmine pearl.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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92
drank Jasmine Pearl by Vital Tea Leaf
790 tasting notes

Had this one in a tasting session at Vital Tea Leaf. It was an excellent jasmine pearl. Floral and jasminey but not overwhelmingly so. Good scent that was just a little stronger than the flavor.

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88

They made this when I was at the store for a tea tasting, I might have even suggested it. Smelled very fresh and fruity. The flavour was sweet and did taste nicely like the fruit. Since that is one of my favourite fruits I was glad I got to try the sample.

I also liked watching the store staff brew things by gaiwan.

Flavors: Lychee

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97
drank Blue People by Vital Tea Leaf
1 tasting notes

This tea is amazing! After about 10 seconds you get a nice honey aftertaste. Great tea to wake up to. And Kenny over at Vital tea is an awesome guy. I highly recommend going in for a tasting if your ever in SF chinatown.

Flavors: Earth, Honey

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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drank Blue People by Vital Tea Leaf
257 tasting notes

I first tasted this tea in Seattle at Vital Tea Leaf. They have a wonderful sit-down tasting complete with gong fu and you get to try lots of different teas. This one stood out among all the ones I was tasting. I started getting a warmth and a serious high off of it. It is so sweet and fantastic. The qi alone is worth drinking this tea but it is also a fabulous high mountain Oolong that is super sweet. It is blended with high quality ginseng powder.
The lady told me there are different qualities and types of ginseng so you can get different effects from them. I bought some of this to take home and am super pleased that it is brewing up to taste just like her brew did. I love it.
Dry Leaf: smells so good, it is little rolled Oolong nuggets coated in a moss green colored ginseng powder.
Method: 195F – 10 oz ceramic Gong Fu pot 45" steep 1 tsp tea per 8 oz water Steeped 3 times but can go up to 8
Wet Leaf: Large dark green leaves that some have been cut and would appear some have been leaf bitten which might be contributing to the sweet scent and flavor.
Liquor: Light golden color with a sweet scent.
Flavor: Sweet and delicious Oolong. This tea affects you with qi. It has a sweet aftertaste—all the while you are really focusing and getting a bit high lol. I really feel it in my eye area and Crown Chakra area which is really cool.
Definitely going into my cupboard.
____________________________________________________________________________
7/17/14
Having some of this today and I needed it after a bad sleepless night!!!! It’s helping big time!!!

Flavors: Honey, Sugar

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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drank Blue People by Vital Tea Leaf
1812 tasting notes

Backlog:
Tea-tasting, yesterday, and this tea always gets served at some point in time. A favorite of my father’s and definitely one that I enjoy.

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drank Blue People by Vital Tea Leaf
1812 tasting notes

It is a Blue People kind of morning!

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Sipdown! I have no idea what my tea total is for now, & I’m not even going to try to figure it out until next week. This Shu was sent to me from Spencer, & I’ve been sipping it all afternoon. The main flavor elements were semolina & cedar.
Thanks Spencer!

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Most of my day was spent working in my office, & I’m please to say my tall file cabinet is done! It feels so good to have finished that project. My recycling bin is overflowing!
Initially while I was working I was drinking gongfu sessions of:
Mengku Pure Old Tree Golden Buds Black (2012) from JK Tea Shop. CharlotteZero shared some with me, & although I don’t really have much to say, it’s because I was busy. But it did bring me joy while I worked, & I love the caramel color of the leaves, which are dense & sturdy, & the tea was delicious. I’m sharing it here because I couldn’t find it on JK’s page, & it is a sipdown.

Next up was this Shu, sent to me from Spencer. I usually give shu’s one rinse, & then taste them. If I don’t care for the first pour, I’ll dump it (that counts as a 2nd rinse).
After the first rinse I can only describe what was in my cup as cream of mushroom soup. It had a strong mushroom taste, & also a buttery taste. I took a few sips, & that had to go.
Next cup: A slightly less pronounce cream of mushroom soup with buttered hominy. Yes, it had a very strong hominy taste. I like hominy, although I no longer eat it, but I don’t really want my tea to taste like that.
Next? This is a rich cup, still with the buttery hominy (think grits), but also a deep taste of leather, woods (cedar?), a growing boldness, mushroom, umami almost like a meaty broth.
I feel the beginning of a camphor type sensation as well.
Next?….
Sipdown! (322)

gmathis

Yay for file cabinet organization. My totally organized moments are few and far between these days, but man, do they feel good!

Terri HarpLady

They do! You know, I’ve been complaining lately that no matter how much I accomplish, I always feel like I didn’t accomplish enough each day. I don’t feel that way today. It feels so good to have gotten this done!

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Enjoying this cup of tea from Spencer. For some reason I thought this would be coconut & rooibos, but it’s actually coconut & black (aka red tea). Anyway, the black tea has a chocolaty quality to it. The coconut is not too far out front, & this is a pleasant cup of tea.
Thanks Spencer!
Sipdown :)

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drank Blue Tea by Vital Tea Leaf
180 tasting notes

I sampled this while visiting Vital Tea Leaf in San Francisco a few months back. It was not at all what I expected, but not bad. Just not something I’d drink regularly.

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drank Lemon Red by Vital Tea Leaf
180 tasting notes

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drank Rose Puerh by Vital Tea Leaf
180 tasting notes

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81

We found this wonderful tea at a tasting house in San Francisco. It has an awesome cool note on the back of the throat. It is perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up.

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