devvyleys

Yum. I don’t know how this tea compares with other Da Hong Paos, but if it’s at least representative of them, then I’d probably like all the others! But given how much I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve tried from Teavivre, this would very likely be among the best of its type out there.

1st steep My fun begins on opening the sample pack. I love the deep, rich scents of burnt wood and roasted peanuts (!) and then there’s a fruity sweetness just lurking in the background. Drinking, it’s so smooth and velvety. I can taste those roasted peanuts and baked stone fruits & berries. Each sip even ends with a juicy feeling that almost splashes on my tongue.

I’m feeling a little unwell in my stomach, so I’ve made up a pot of this blend. Hopefully the ginger in this will especially give some soothing comfort. Don’t want to get sick just before we go away for a vacation!

I really wanted a black tea this morning instead of my usual matcha. (I’ll reserve the daily matcha for a smoothie this afternoon!) This is my favorite black tea so far, and it’s an affordable luxury. It’s just such a nice way to start the day. Besides, we’re going away for a few days, and as someone else here mentioned, this tea is really useful when away from home: you just need to put in your regular amount of pearls, no measuring needed! So I needed to open my brand new pack of this before we left in case there weren’t any scissors where we’re staying. Justification enough? :)

It’s time to make this tea again, and for it to get the Perfect Glass Teapot Treatment with my Teavivre teapot. (I can’t tell you how much I love that little thing!)

I definitely like teas with a more baked or bread-y flavor compared to herbaceous flavors. I enjoy that this tea reminds me of toasted pane di casa with peaches and ricotta that I’ll make for breakfast from time to time. Today I’m having my tea with a modified huevos rancheros (made with a little beef & bean chilli leftovers) and it goes with the tea wonderfully! I’m feeling well-fuelled for the day and don’t mind the storm clouds all around. In fact, I’m feeling quite cosy now.

Black Cherry-French Vanilla Matcha from Red Leaf Tea

Oh so good. Made two lattes of this for Hubby and me, and it’s the favorite for both of us so far! With each sip I tasted the French Vanilla first, then the Black Cherry followed by more vanilla. It was like the cherries were actually covered in vanilla cream. Fantastic!

I made this and the French Vanilla matcha as lattes for Hubby and myself to share this morning because I couldn’t bear having one left untasted for single day, and certainly not Black Cherry! Black Cherry anything reminds me of my dad on the other side of the world and so is one of my all-time favorite flavors. I was thrilled to see Red Leaf Tea bring it onto the matcha list and doubly so when it won its race against Pumpkin Pie to be on sale. I simply wanted it available as soon as possible—the sale price was an added bonus! Here’s where you can get yours, and believe me, you should:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/black-cherry-matcha.html

For this order I upped things a bit, getting a large size in the basic grade regular matcha (you can get organic now, if you like) and went for the Robust flavor level. When I opened the pack I was in Black Cherry Heaven. I could almost taste that great black cherry ice cream I had at Biltmore House a couple years ago—the last time I had anything black cherry. (It’s not a flavor that’s arrived to Australia yet, the poor things.)

Made as a latte, the scent reaches your nose before the bowl reaches your mouth and you’re smiling before you’ve had the first sip. Well, you keep smiling as you drink it and the smile gets bigger. Truth is, the smile comes back when you think of it again to write a review! That’s how good it is: like a memory that makes you smile every time.

My newest matcha order at last arrived yesterday afternoon, but don’t think for a moment that’s because my order was slow in being processed: The very next day after placing my order Red Leaf Tea already had it out the door! But dealing with Australian Customs means that international packages can take longer to reach you than they really should.

I’ve been antsy to try the French Vanilla matcha that so many have raved about on here. After reading this, hopefully you’ll want some too, so here’s where to get it:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

My specs for this order are such: large size, basic grade of regular matcha (you can get organic matcha now as well), and the Robust flavor level.

I made this as a latte this morning with one Splenda tablet and used cold frothed milk. Normally I would heat up the frothed milk before pouring it into the whisked matcha, but it’s getting warmer here, so a cool drink is nice even for the morning wake-up. It is delightful: creamy without being guilt-inducing, vanilla without making you wish for chocolate, and just the right amount of flavor from the matcha itself to remind you, “Hey, I’m being good here!”

This will make a wonderful addition to a frozen fruit smoothie without needing to add the extra calories of vanilla yogurt. And I’m going to try blending it with orange juice and ice to get an Orange Creamsicle slushie-type thing. I love when matchas are multipurpose! A winner in my book!

Ohhh yessss. This is what I’ve been waiting for. It’s taken quite a bit of will power for me to wait making this again until I received my glass teapot from Teavivre. Well, it’s here now (came only yesterday) and I can wait no longer.

I can’t get over how much this makes me think of chocolate croissants with all the yeast, dark cocoa and buttery flavors I find in this tea from its dry state to the wet leaves and all the way into my cup.

On a whim I’ve decided to sweeten the second steep with a Splenda tablet to see how it goes. The tablets are supposed to be equal to 1tsp of sugar, and that’s half a sachet. I think it’s over-sweetened now, so if I want to sweeten it at all in the future I’ll have to try it with a half tsp of actual sugar. Not that it needs it. Just sometimes I feel like I want a little treat and sweet tea can often do the trick, know what I mean?

Now I’ll be honest: I wasn’t interested in this tea, but it came as part of the oolong sampler so I figured I’d at least give it a try. Then I read the reviews here and I’ve decided it will be the tea to christen the new tiny glass teapot from my second Teavivre order that just arrived this morning!

I’m using 3.5g (half the sample pack)—that’s the same as my 1.5tsp tea scoop—for 200ml of boiling water. Steeps are 1, 2, and 3 minutes.
1st steep: Dry it is blue-green pellets with yellow flecks and more resembles small powder-coated rocks than it does tea. It has a sugary wet scent paired with straw. The wet leaf looks more crumpled than anything else after this first steep and smells of toast and well-cooked vegetables (spinach and green beans) with the same sweetness as when dry. Poured out it’s a light golden color. On the first sip I notice an acidity then astringency. On the second sip a sweet taste is added. I can taste toast, seaweed, and a sweetness like sugar cane. Then something remarkable happens: the sweetness starts moving around. It starts by feeling like a vapor that fills my mouth and then it dives to coat my mouth under my tongue! Does any of this sound bad to you? I can’t believe my first prejudiced thoughts about this tea were so wrong!
2nd steep: The leaves look like they could still handle a good bit more; they’re not fully opened for the most part, and the ones that have opened more are still very wrinkly. I don’t notice the toast scent in the wet leaf this time, but I get plenty of sweet well-cooked/roasted vegetables. This cup is more honey coloured, and I also don’t think I’m getting the toast here either. The acidity and astringency is the same, but then the sweetness takes away from that and is actually thicker! After each sip the sweetness becomes thick and honestly juicy right on the tip of my tongue! I’m going to run to the kitchen now to make the third steep….
3rd steep: I may have just been able to detect the toast scent in the wet leaf this time. Now I’m noticing that the acidity and astringency are stronger, but then they’re cut by that delicious, juicy sweetness. All three keep returning, taking turns almost for the attention, but the sugar cane flavor (and the thick feel it gives) wins out, lasting long after each sip.

I’m so glad I got to try this, and also that I can steep all of the oolongs in my new glass teapot where there is more than enough room for them to open out. I think I can safely say that this is my favorite oolong so far, not just because of how it dashed my prejudices for the better, but also because the flavor and sensation of drinking this tea are just so good. If you’re not sure about this one, then trust me: forget about not knowing if you’ll like ginseng… just try this tea!

I’m dealing with a migraine that at this point has stretched into a second day. I’m also starting a few days of nearly fat-free eating to kind of “reset” my stomach and digestion. But when I feel like this, I really just want some comfort food. My best attempt at a solution that keeps both of these things in mind is to have a cup of tea with honey or sugar if that’s what I want!

I noticed this time how much more like a green tea this is compared to every other black tea I’ve had, both in flavor and in the scents of the dry and wet leaf. I used 2.3g for 200ml of boiling water. Since I’m feeling pretty rotten, I’m not going to be spending my tea time analysing and reporting. So besides the green tea-ness I’m keeping this to the basics.
1st steep: This was for 2 minutes, and was a honey color in the cup. I added honey to it, but I ended up feeling that I lost a good bit of the delicate flavors. But I really like honey, so it’s not all bad.
2nd steep: This steep was 3 minutes, and was more of a light orange color. This cup got raw sugar added to it. That seemed to be a nice touch and kept all the flavors more noticeable. Beyond that I didn’t think about it, but just found it a pleasing cup to drink as the kids played.

Now I’m wondering what to drink next!

No notes yet.

The last time I had this (which was also the first time) I used the whole 7g sample. I really enjoyed it, and found out that I actually don’t mind a gentle smokiness in my tea! But this time I’ve decided to try it with just 3.5g but everything else the same: 200ml at 90C and steeps of 1, 2 and 3 minutes.
1st steep: I do really like the scent of this tea dry, wet, and in the cup. The malty grains with gentle smoke and some caramel appear in all forms of the tea. It’s a really pretty dark copper even after just one minute. I forgot that this is a smooth tea; I was expecting some astringency, but I think that’s because I remembered rightly that it leaves a powdery feeling on my tongue. I actually really enjoy the smoky caramel flavor in this. It’s causing me to think of making some caramel sometime soon.
2nd steep: I’ve been able to drink most of this cup without concentrating on it. That’s not a bad thing, though the kids are mostly the cause of it. This tea puts me in a good mood I’m finding, and I’ve just been running around playing with my two little ones. In any case once I’ve returned to my cooling cup, I can notice the same flavors as before but they’re weaker and joined by floral notes.

This is a smooth blend with juicy orange and warming spices that I made to replace a “Christmas” tea that I’d run out of. Maybe not as complete as that original tea, but still very good and made out of what I had on hand. Hubby will ask for this as a morning cup, and that makes it rather rare so I’m happy to oblige! Haven’t tried it cold yet (probably without the added cinnamon stick), but I bet it’d be pretty good!

The super sweet scent of this in dry form actually enticed Hubby to have some with me during dinner tonight! I mean, it really is very sweet-smelling, and Hubby’s got a very big sweet tooth. It was nice to have with Korean bulgogi tonight, but maybe the actual sweetness of the marinade overtook the sweetness from the jasmine aroma so I noticed more of the bitterness in the tea this time. Still enjoyable and a nice change from the usual iced tea with dinner, but I’ll try another tea with Korean next time. Sencha worked well before; maybe Genmaicha Sencha next.

This is my first true Darjeeling I’ve prepared for myself. I really love how Adagio’s samples are both large and very affordable. It gives you good opportunity to try a new tea in absolute peace, not having to worry that if you mess this one up there won’t be enough to try again.

I’m using 2.3g for 200ml boiling water, and steeps of 3 and 4 minutes.
1st steep: The dry leaves smell of yeast, freshly baked bread crusts and white grapes, maybe with a hint of vanilla. (I think I can smell that last one, but I have no idea if that’s supposed to be there or not. Are my nose and brain playing games with me?) The wet leaves have that same bread crust scent with some juiciness, but I am also surprised by a quick blast of sweet spices. I like that! In the cup (I wish I could have more than one way of saying that) it is a deep amber color and tastes very much as the scent of the wet leaves. The grape aspect has a sharpness to it, the way the acid plays with the sweetness when you bite through a grape, particularly if it has a thicker skin.
2nd steep: The color is a medium amber this time, and seems to tell the tale for this cup being weaker than the first. The astringency is the same, but the flavors are less this time to the point that the grape notes are hardly noticeable. I originally planned to steep this time for 5 minutes, but at the last decided to try just 4 minutes, only to find that I probably should have stuck to my first thought.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I’ve only had Darjeeling once before in a tea room, so I’m not sure I’ll know what I should be looking for in this, a tea that is said to be similar to a Darjeeling. But in any case, here’s what I found.

I used 2.3g for 200ml of boiling water and did steeps of 2, 3 and 4 minutes. And I’m not feeling very inspired at the moment, so this note will more than likely be a simple blow-by-blow commentary.
1st steep: There was a fair range of color in the dry leaf, from creamy buds and tiny light green leaves to the red- and greasy-brown twists that made up the great majority of this tea. The scents were of bright grape and malt with a background of straw. In the cup it was a light honey color and quite astringent with a slight bitterness. There were flavors of rosy florals and ripe fruit (whether grapes or stone fruit, I couldn’t tell) with a gentle matinees.
2nd steep: I had this with lunch, a creamy chicken salad sandwich, so the astringency of this cut through that nicely. A good pairing. But prior to that, when pouring into my cup I was struck with a scent of peach that made me happy. That the color this time was more peachy was a nice coincidence. I felt the same astringency and bitterness, but since I was eating at the same time, I didn’t get anything new in this cup that wasn’t in the first.
3rd steep: The color is more orange now, and the astringency takes a couple of sips to be noticeable. I could taste fruits and florals, but overall quite weak on flavor.

These must be the most boring notes I’ve written yet about a new tea, so if you’ve got this far, good on you. Going to start a new pot of something else now.

I was going to not keep logging every time I have a matcha that I’ve already reviewed since I have one everyday, but I’m coming back to this to up my rating for it! The truth is that I love caramel, but not necessarily caramel-flavored things, know what I mean? So while I enjoyed this enough as more or less a novelty as a matcha latte, the fact is that this is a fantastic mixer with other flavors whether that’s another matcha or in a smoothie with fruit or what-have-you.

It took me returning to a favorite cafe/patisserie over the weekend to make me realise what makes this caramel matcha and banana smoothie so wonderful. With the additions of good vanilla yogurt and some cinnamon, I’ve created a banofee pie smoothie! For the uninitiated, banofee pie is a British pie or tart made with banana and caramel (toffee) and cream, and is an absolute delight.

Australians, and particularly Sydneysiders, get yourselves to Camden and visit the Creme della Creme Cafe. You will have died and gone to pastry heaven! (And their meat pies can’t be beat either!)

I am really having a problem with overcoming the munchies today. I want something savoury, I want something sweet, I just want… something. I’ve only made part of this sample pack once before, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as several reviews had me fearing. I think this will do the trick for me today. It’s not overly sweet, even though it is a dessert tea. And with a splash of milk it may help me feel like I’ve had more than just a drink. Between the sweet potato, spices and crust flavors, it should just balance out all my cravings.

No notes yet.

This is my first experience with any Tie Guan Yin. So what happens now? Do I get inducted into the Brother and Sisterhood of Tea? Am I knighted, given the Order of the Dragon? Any of that? No?

Well, I like this anyway. I was surprised opening my oolong sampler pack from Teavivre when this one was vacuum-packed amongst the other regular-looking samples in the normal Teavivre large zip pack. Another surprise as I opened the sample itself: it was in yet another smaller clear plastic pack inside the foil pack! You can tell they wanted to take care of this tea. It already has a scent of cooked vegetables, artichoke, I think, and that’s when dry! I can also pick up a little sweet floral and a roasted/fired scent.

As usual, I followed Teavivre’s recommendations of using the whole sample (7g) for 200-250ml of boiling water and steeps of 1, 2 and 3 minutes.
1st steep: The wet leaf is strongly scented: buttery vegetables (artichoke and long-cooked greens), vanilla and orchid. In the cup it’s a light yellow-green and has a broth-like feel to it with a slight astringency. I get flavors of buttery vanilla and orchid with notes of vegetable and mineral.
2nd steep: The leaves pretty much filled the normally generous-sized infuser basket in my teapot, so it was a little tough to judge how much water I was pouring in. As it turned out I poured just right. It’s now a golden color in the cup and feels lighter. The astringency is stronger this time, but not too strong. I don’t get vanilla this time around, but it’s still really buttery with orchid and vegetable flavors. The mineral note is quite a bit stronger too, taking over much of the middle and finish of each sip. That’s not something I’ve had so strongly before, at least not that I’ve noticed. This is a mentally-awakening cup of tea, and that’s always a good thing!
3rd steep: Check it out! I actually got to a 3rd steep! I actually turned over the leaves in the strainer, moving the ones on top to the bottom so that the water would reach them better. I think as a result, this cup was very much like the 2nd steep.
4th steep: I can hardly believe I’m writing this. A fourth steep! Thanks, ashmanra for the commission comment below. :) But everyone, given my track record for not being able to take teas to even a third steep, I think I deserve at least a “Most Improved” ribbon! I had this cup with dinner, so I wasn’t focusing on it so much. But it was still noticeably floral and buttery with the mineral center, even though it had a thinner feel this time.

I liked this. I had read about Tie Guan Yin before, and notes of iodine, mineral, salmon and flint were mentioned. It didn’t sound too appealing to me, but everyone and his dog has had several different TGYs in their tea logs, so I had to try it. Since I got Teavivre’s oolong sampler, I chose to have this organic version first because the “Monkey Picked” version looks like one I’ll like even more. Now I’m really looking forward to it!

I really cannot leave well enough alone in the kitchen! I’m desperately tired this afternoon, so a match smoothie is in order. I’m returning to the boysenberry matcha peach smoothie with some vanilla yogurt added, but this time I threw in a small handful of frozen raspberries too! It’s turned out a really pretty mauve with tiny flecks of raspberry and peach. And before you start to think I’ve killed whatever matcha flavor was there, don’t worry. The matcha is still noticeable and provides a nice depth to the smoothie.

Seemed like the most natural choice to have with Korean bulgogi at dinner. Good choice; it complemented the food very nicely. Both floral and umami coming out. Hubby liked the sip he had of mine, so he’ll probably join me with a cup next time!