987 Tasting Notes

Sipdown!

Finishing off the last of this. I haven’t tried many Darjeelings (only 2 or 3) but I haven’t really been wowed by them. This one is similar. It was ok, but not something I dream of having.

Anyways, since RiverTea is gone, I won’t weep too much over this (unlike their Golden Yunnan, sob)

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77

Sipdown!

Many thanks to VariaTEA sending me a little bit of this to try.

I was really craving something desserty tonight, but since I had DT’s Carrot Cake a few nights ago I had only enough of Birthday Cake for 1 or 2 big mugs, BC would be perfect.

I slightly overleafed, though, just to use it all up.

Smells like maple, a tiny bit! Definitely getting that sweet vanilla cake flavour, though. And of course, I added a little bit of agave nectar to this.

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Backlog from a few nights ago.

I think I had this on Tuesday night right before my throat went to hell on Wednesday.

You know what I never noticed about this blend previously? It has little white chocolate chip thingies in it. I don’t think it’s white chocolate, though – I bet you they’re little flavour bombs of cream cheese icing flavour.

Goodness, this tea is nice. I’m really sad that Della Terra doesn’t seem to make this anymore. Thanks so much to Ost for giving me the remainder of your (unwanted) stash!

TeaLady441

They don’t? Too bad bc it was one of my favs from them.

Christina / BooksandTea

Nope. Just checked.

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Blllaaaaarrrggg. I’ve got a cold. Stuffed up nose, sore throat, achy head.

I may not like this tea a whole lot, but I’ve been drinking this almost exclusively for the past few days for a few reasons:

1. It’s got mint, and that’s good for colds.
2. It’s letting me use up the last of my lemon-honey, also good for colds
3. I have a ton of this left and wouldn’t drink it if i weren’t sick.

Blarg.

OMGsrsly

:( Feel better!

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Blarg, I’ve got a cold. Been mainlining tea for the past few days. This was one of the caffeine-free options I chose a few nights ago.

This tea is pretty much straight-up honeybush, and it tasted weirdly sour/tart. I didn’t like it, but I do need to finish it…

Anlina

Hope you feel better soon.

Kittenna

Yuck. I don’t even know if I’ve tried plain HB, and the thought does not appeal to me in the slightest.

Christina / BooksandTea

Which is probably why I should drink it now when I’m sick, and save the good teas for when I can enjoy them.

Kittenna

Definitely don’t drink the good teas when sick. Muted smell-ability ruins good tea!

OMGsrsly

A lot of plain HB tastes sour to me. It kinda sucks. Try steeping at a lower temp, and for just 3-4 minutes.

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When I first tasted this tea, my tasting note said it would be perfect on winter days when the snow was piled in drifts against the door.

Well, Monday was that day! Looots of snow fell on Monday. Hubby was (and still is) sick. I’m sick too, so I’m glad I had this before my nose and throat declared mutiny on me.

Anyways, this was pretty good! I’ve found that JO’s teas taste best if you steep them on the low end of their recommended range (3-5 minutes) and a 3-minute steep of this turned out pretty well. Rich, kinda chocolaty, and definitely a nice treat.

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Backlog from a few days ago:

Oh man, this is a very sad sipdown. I drank it to commemorate Butiki’s closing with the last of the swap I got from Ost a few months ago.

This has such rich fruity notes to it for me, like plum and prune. I really can’t wait to find another vendor who stocks this (once I sip down some more stuff in my cupboard).

Bye Bye, Butiki…. (sob)

TeaLady441

I hope we can (collectively) find something else that’s just as good because I’ll miss it too!

TeaLady441

And Butiki itself, of course!!! :P

Christina / BooksandTea

There are less than a dozen teas that pop up when I search for “taiwan assam” on Steepster. Should some of us give Taiwan Tea Crafts a try, perhaps?

OMGsrsly

I have a Sun Moon Lake from Teacentre in Courtenay, which is a taiwan assam. It’s ok. Not as good as this one though.

Dexter

I think Sil has tried quite a few from TTC. She might be able to help…

TeaLady441

I have too, actually. And I really enjoyed all of them, but they’re a little expensive. (Still, worth it)

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Backlog from whenever:

This is a really nice, clear, smooth vanilla tea. However, it works better if you add a tiny bit of sugar. I don’t have any cream in the house, but I bet this would work very well with cream (I used milk but it was too thin).

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Tried doing a big gongfu session with this tea tonight but the result wasn’t satisfying. The tea was very tightly packed into a mini-tuocha and my attempts to break it up meant the leaf was super broken and dusty. The first steep was quite nice, but the next few steeps were unpleasant and bitter. The leaf was also quite small, so a lot of it made it through the filter in my gaiwan.

Indigobloom

That happened to me once! Tao mentioned when I asked, that even though it isn’t common, sometimes you need to make a subsequent infusion shorter than the previous ones. It seemed to have worked, but mine was a different Puerh

boychik

i usually rinse and put it on pause. in a few minutes the mini tuo becomes bigger and looser. and 2,3rd steeps are shorter. leaves are already expanded

Christina / BooksandTea

I have one more mini-tuocha of this left. I may gongfu that one soon with this in mind (and even if it’s still bitter, hey – easy sipdown!)

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Bio

Updated March 2016:

I’m a writer and editor who’s fallen in love with loose-leaf tea. I’ve also set up a site for tea reviews at http://www.booksandtea.ca – an excellent excuse to keep on buying and trying new blends. There will always be more to discover!

In the meantime, since joining Steepster in January 2014, I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on my likes and dislikes

Likes: Raw/Sheng pu’erh, sobacha, fruit flavours, masala chais, jasmine, mint, citrus, ginger, Ceylons, Chinese blacks, rooibos.

Dislikes (or at least generally disinclined towards): Hibiscus, rosehip, chamomile, licorice, lavender, really vegetal green teas, shu/ripe pu’erh.

Things I generally decide on a case-by-case basis: Oolong, white teas.

Still need to do my research on: matcha

I rarely score teas anymore, but if I do, here’s the system I follow:

100-85: A winner!
84-70: Pretty good. This is a nice, everyday kind of tea.
69-60: Decent, but not up to snuff.
59-50: Not great. Better treated as an experiment.
49-0: I didn’t like this, and I’m going to avoid it in the future. Blech.

Location

Toronto, ON, Canada

Website

http://www.booksandtea.ca

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