Dinosara

I got a sample of this in a swap with Azzrian. Thanks!

I don’t know that I’ve ever had a Chun Mee green tea. You know, it occurs to me that green tea is some of my least-craved tea. It’s not that I don’t like green tea, but I’ve never really been super interested in straight greens and now the flavored ones are getting boring for me. I don’t know what it is. Nevertheless, sometimes a green tea can surprise me.

Well, I was surprised at how dark the resulting liquor was from this tea. It is a light amber color, and it smells almost a bit like sauteed leafy greens. I agreen with Kittenna that the flavor on this one is kind of uninspiring. Those sauteed greens come through in the flavor, as does some nuttiness, but there’s also an almost metallic note. What seems like a promising initial sip kind of flattens out toward the end and the flavors get a bit deadened. Not entirely sure if this one is not great quality or just not my style.

Sample stashbusting. I love it when the samples I get in the mail are enough for just about two cups. Which sounds odd, because I should love it when I get samples that are large… more tea is better, right? Except I have learned that I prefer to have a small amount to sample and then I can buy more later. If a sample is more than 4 cups worth it takes me forever to get through it!

Of course, that almost doesn’t work for this tea. I had two cups, yay, but now I have none and I can’t order more. Figures the one 52teas blend I like isn’t a permanent collection tea. This one is quite yummy, so I guess I’ll have to keep my eye out for random reblends/

Yum yum. I never cease to be amazed by the lovely base of this tea. So unlike your typical flavored green base! I have gotten a little fatigued on flavored greens (that aren’t florals… so mainly fruity greens), but this one is an exception. I now can pick out that this tea is full of awesome natural chestnut notes (before I described them as just nutty, buttery and even cookie-ish). I want more flavored greens like this one.

I am on kind of a milk oolong kick lately… too bad I have so few of them in my cupboard! :P I better watch out, because that kind of thing could lead to a tea order (which I don’t need to do!)

This one is quite tasty today. A smooth creamy milk oolong base with a hit of coconut over the top. A fresh green fruitiness as well, and no drying astringency in the mouthfeel. It’s neither my perfect milk oolong nor my perfect coconut oolong, but it’s a decent combination substitute.

This sample comes to me thanks to Azzrian! Thanks!

I am not the biggest fan of roasted/dark oolongs, so I never felt a need to seek this one out to try. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not happy to try it now that a sample has been provided! If there’s one thing I’ve learned about pure, high quality, unflavored teas, it’s that my tastes can and do change, so I never know when I’m going to try one and decide that I love it.

I followed the exact instructions when brewing this one. The steeped tea smells intriguingly sweet and fruity, with the expected roasted note over the top. The scent is fairly light, and the flavor is pretty light too. I feel like I should have brewed this one hotter, against recommendation, because it just seems under-steeped. The flavors that are there are pretty decent… definitely edging toward a black tea, though with fruity oolong characteristics. There are definitely oak notes in there, too. But man, I wish this had more flavor. I will try it at a hotter temp before I rate this one.

Hoping today goes better than yesterday. Please no bad news (maybe even good news? but I’ll settle for a lack of bad news) and no computers suddenly dying and taking hours worth of work with it.

I’m not sure what happened with this one today but it has a hint of bitterness to it unfortunately. But it’s not too bad, and I still get the nice bergamot and caramel as well. I guess it’s one of those risky things with blends that have lower quality bases… they can be quite finicky!

This sample comes to me thanks to Azzrian! Thanks!

I approach this tea with some trepidition. On one hand, Earl Grey and cheesecake sound just like the kind of flavor combo I would adore. On the other, I have never had success with 52teas in the past. For some reason, they just don’t sit right with my palate, which I always am sad about because he always blends the most interesting flavors.

So yeah, this tea. The aroma of the steeped tea is really interesting. The bergamot is almost floral to my nose, and I can definitely pick out the creamy, sharp, slightly sour cheesecake. It smells like a tea I would really like. First sip, seems good! Not a hint of bitterness from the black tea base. A decently strong bergamot without bitterness there, as well, and for once I do actually taste the creamy cheesecake flavor in a 52teas tea. The bergamot has a lovely floral nature that I think is being partly brought out by the tang of the cheesecake, and it works well (helps that I love florals). I still am not the biggest fan of Assam and so I would prefer this on a Chinese or Ceylon base, and there is perhaps the tiniest hint of a bitter-citrus note in the aftertaste that kind puts a little damper on things. But on the whole it is a delicious tea and you can color me impressed.

The first time I tried this one I wasn’t super impressed. I never came back to my sample because it didn’t ever call to me, but today I wanted a milk oolong and I don’t have many (any?) others in my stash right now.

I dunno, I just don’t get any creaminess to this one really. Vegetal, nutty and a little buttery, with maybe a hint of condensed milk in the aftertaste (but none of the sweetness). It’s a decently tasty tea, but not my fave. Really, I have been pretty consistantly disappointed with most milk oolongs, and I am thinking it is because most milk oolongs are subject to a type of flavoring during the growing process that doesn’t quite allure me. There are a few more direct-from-the-source milk oolongs I want to try, but otherwise I will be sticking with Teavivre’s unflavored milk oolong.

After my less-than-spectacular previous tea, I wanted a bergamot-and-floral that I knew would deliver. Just opening the bag made my mouth water!

Today has not really been my day. I cannot seem to stop sneezing, I just pinched my fingers in the cabinet, and then I almost knocked my open pouch of this tea onto the floor. Luckily not too much spilled out (maybe about a teaspoon), but it was very sad to see those little curly black tea leaves and lovely rose petals on the floor as I swept them up.

But this cup will make me feel better… it smells so chocolatey and delicious, with lovely rose as well. I’ve always wanted more bergamot in this blend, but I can’t complain too much because it’s still so delicious.

This is not a popular tea. Nevertheless, I it’s been on my shopping list for years because I love bergamot and I love florals. I recently bought a pack of sample tins from Kusmi (the “Russian” set) and this was included, so I finally get to try it.

I think the dry leaf smells nice, with plenty of bergamot, the balance of some other citrus, and some light florals in the background. The steeped leaf, too, smells pleasantly bergamotty and floral.

Unfortunately I guess sometimes you just have to listen to the people. I don’t find this one as distasteful as some people, especially as it cools, but it isn’t as lovely as I had hoped. The bergamot edges on a pith-like bitterness that I never enjoy, and the florals are a bit perfumy tasting. It is growing on me a bit, but it certainly isn’t a tea I would reach for often. I wonder how it would cold brew?

I am considerably more awake than I was an hour ago. Thank goodness for tea. I still wish I was a tiny bit more energized, though, so I grabbed this one from my cabinet. Now I am drinking maté and listening to modern tango, which is appropriate.

I don’t have a lot of maté blends, but I am thinking maybe I should explore them more. I definitely enjoy this one, even if it’s pretty simple blend. It’s definitely an easy blend to recreate: green maté and jasmine pearls. Simple, and yet brilliant. The jasmine goes so well with the herbaceous quality of the maté, providing a hint of florals and smoothness.

Another early morning for me, and I need this tea to make some attempt at waking up. Coming into work early with the hope of getting things done in the morning is not going to work if I’m half asleep during most of it.

There’s something about the really strong bergamot in this one that kind of jolts my mind awake, as if the bergamot itself was somehow contributing to the caffeine. No matter how many teas I’ve tried over the years, Earl Grey is still the best wake-up tea for me. Unfortunately, even the best wake-up tea take some time to kick in.

I am really bummed because my first package from the Verdant reserve tea of the month club accidentally shipped to my old address that I just moved from, and is now very far away. I realized it when I saw on the tracking info that there was a notice left for delivery, but I hadn’t received a notice. Then I noticed that the current location was my old town. :(

In an effort to improve my mood, I am having a cup of this, which I got in my happy bag this year. I’m interested to try more of lupicia’s black teas because I have only ever had their black base of their Earl Grey, which I rather like a lot. This one smells very very peachy. I also smell a nice malty, almost bready black tea in it, which really smells good. The result is almost something like peach cobbler. Or maybe toast with peach butter. We got some peach butter in South Carolina the last time we were there and it was fantastic. This tea is reminding me of having that on some toast. The flavor is pretty great too… Ripe, juicy peach, but not too overly sweet so as to be candyish. The black tea base supports it very well and it quite delicious in its own right. The peach flavor is definitely not overwhelming and plays pretty equally with the black tea, not steamrolling over the top of it. I am definitely pleased with this offering and am even more interested to try more of Lupicia’s black teas.

This is the tea that came in my happy bag that I was possibly most happy about. Which is funny because I’m not even all that into pineapple teas, but I wanted to try more of Lupicia’s flavored oolongs. The smell on the dry leaf on this one hit me strongly as soon as I cut open the pouch… pineapple! Sweet, candyish, pineapple-juice-smelling pineapple, with some creamy coconut to underlie it. It smelled quite tasty, and I could even get a hint of the oolong underneath.

Steeped, it smells more like oolong (which is a good thing), but still with a big helping of pinapple and coconut. I think the coconut is really making the oolong smell buttery. It’s a good combo! The flavors are pretty good but overall the cup seems like its missing something. I think that I really want a very buttery oolong in the background but it’s just not stepping up to the plate. Based on the aroma, I expect sweet and creamy and buttery, but those just aren’t delivered as much. I definitely think I will have to try this one iced, as well, because it seems perfect for that kind of preparation. Still, it’s a tasty tea, and I’m glad it was included in the bag.

Maaan I need to get my morning groove back. All of last semester I was really good about getting up early and getting to work and being productive. This morning is pretty much the earliest I’ve gotten in all week and I just cannot wake up for some reason. Hopefully tea will help.

I haven’t tried this one in quite a while. It really is quite good. Notes of lightly toasted chocolate (I always think of the browned chocolate bits on the bottom of a chocolate chip cookie) and some slightly molasses-y grains. Not quite my perfect fujian black, but a pretty darned good one.

I received this in my New Year Happy Bag. This is a tea I would probably never order on my own, as I am not super usually taken with peach tea. Not that I dislike it, but I don’t crave it or anything. I was surprised to see little crystals—sugar?—in the tea, but they are pretty subtle so I suppose I’ll give it a pass. The dry leaf was very pretty and it smelled very peachy and floral.

Brewed, the aroma reminds me of some of the other flavored green teas I’ve had, in a favorable way. I think it’s that fruity and floral combination. The flavor is definitely predominantly peach, with some rosy floral notes and a vanilla that smooths everything over. I can see how people get candy from this, but to me it’s not really quite candy-ish (possibly because I haven’t had a lot of peach candy). The vanilla does prevent much of a sweet fresh peach flavor, but it works well. The green tea kind of innocuously sits in the background, providing some green freshness to cut through the candy.

I am realizing that my taste in flavored greens seems to be narrowing. It’s not that I dislike fruity greens, but they don’t really speak to me right now. I think I would really love this one if it was on an oolong base.

I only ordered two teas from Teavana during their Heavenly Sale, but this was one of them. I remembered hearing good things about this tea, and I was out of black dragon pearls, which I love. At that price, how could I not have bought 2oz? I used 5 pearls for my 12oz mug, as is my usual dose when I drink this type of tea.

It smells good, but I also can’t quite place the notes in the aroma. Some toasted grains, perhaps, and maybe a hint of chocolate, but it doesn’t smell powerfully chocolatey. The flavor is good. Definitely notes of cocoa powder, with some slight honey-molasses notes without the sweetness. In comparison to Teavivre’s Black Dragon Pearls, it’s the natural sweetness (and hyper chocolatey-ness) that I’m missing. I won’t have any problems drinking these pearls, but I won’t really crave them like I crave the Teavivre pearls. I have yet to find an example that I like better than that one!

This one did not come in my happy bag, unfortunately. I was hoping for more like this, oh well. This sample came from AlphaKitty! Thanks so much!

This was delicious! The melon was so juicy and awesome, like the ripest, sweetest cantaloupe or perhaps some of the other more exotic similar melons I’ve tried. It fit in great with the slightly buttery, green and fresh oolong. And it if anything it got tastier as it cooled down… This would make a fantastic iced tea. The quality of the flavoring on this reminded me of some of Naivetea’s oolongs, although the flavoring is a bit heavier on this one. I really hope the pineapple oolong, which did come in my happy bag, is as good as this one!

A sachet of this came with my Lupicia grab bag, although technically it came with the “newsletter” that was included, and I did get a 50g bag of it as well. I figure I would try the sachet first that way if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t open the bag and I could trade it unopened. I’m not the biggest fan of rooibos, see.

Unfortunately, to me this smells like berry but also like menthol. It smells like a cough drop, hardcore. Taste-wise, it’s a bit better, but still… Wait, no, it tastes like sucking on a cough drop. Bleh. I think it’s the honey flavor that’s coming across weird to me. Sometimes I take a sip and it’s not so bad, others it’s quite rough. Well, it does appear that others enjoy this one, so maybe I will be able to trade it away.

This time, brewed under better circumstances. Still, this one is very very light on flavors. I want these flavors, but I want them to be stronger! I can try to steep it longer, although I know that Kusmi teas tend to do better with a cooler steep temp so I don’t want to steep it hotter necessarily. I suppose I could also try more leaf, but as someone very sensative to bitterness in teas I am concerned that the base will react badly. Well, it’s still decently tasty, even if not the best. Guess I should stick to Amandine Rose for my rose and almond fix, and blend in something else if I want a kick of citrus as well. I do have a ton of this, though, so I will be experimenting for optimal conditions for sure!

Later in the day of unpacking I found my stash of black teas. Yay! I still hadn’t found my teaspoon so I guesstimated the amount of tea on this cup too, but with much better success. This was a delicious, lovely, chocolatey cup. Love this tea!

I drank this at work this morning. Normally I wouldn’t drink a green oolong in the morning, as I usually prefer a black tea then, but I just started unpacking my tea and all I could find immediately was an assortment of greens and oblongs.

I also couldn’t fine my perfect teaspoon to dish it out, so I guesstimated by pouring a little pile into my hand. Must have guesstimated kind of off, though, because this cup really lacked the yuzu flavor. I pretty decently buttery, slightly floral high mountain oolong, but yuzu, no. Oh well. I did find my teaspoon by the end of the day so at least I will have it for tomorrow!

Wow, it has been forEVER since I have had matcha! Between all the traveling and the moving, I just didn’t have the time or the equipment for it. But I actually got a bamboo matcha whisk for Christmas this year, and I was excited to try it out finally! I have been making my matcha with a regular metal kitchen whisk for months so I was interested to see how it would make a difference.

I made a matcha latte, although with real milk instead of almond milk as I had been. Turns out I prefer the almond milk! I think because the milk we had was 1%, so it was considerably waterier than the almond milk. Honestly the matcha whisk seemed odd to me but that is mostly likely because I am so used to whisking the dickens out of it with a metal whisk. It didn’t do much for the foam on the pre-milk matcha, but I did get a nice foam after adding the warm milk. So glad to get my matcha routine started again!

Like many people, it seems, I got a free sample of this in my recent order from Teavana. Given that the first ingredient listed was German rock sugar, I spent some time pulling out pieces before steeping this so it wouldn’t be crazy sweet. They were pretty easy to take out since they are very large, and I purposely left in some of the smaller chunks because I was planning on brewing this with milk.

I guess I didn’t think about the fact that oolong an mate would not make a dark brew, but it still was surprising to see a very light colored chai when I poured it out. I may have used a bit too much milk to brew it with because it seems like a lot of the flavors are muted. Mostly I just get a ton of cinnamon, and maybe a hint of clove. I’ve never tried the green version of Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice, but this seems like what it would taste like (with milk in it). In any case I will likely brew this one without milk first next time, then add a splash of milk after I try it to see if I can coax any other flavors out of it.