Dinosara

Sipdown, 192. The last of my samples from Stephanie, thanks!

I will go on the record as saying that I am deeply skeptical of this tea. Although I do love cilantro, I only have it in savory applications and it doesn’t sound like something I want in my tea. But when Stephanie offered to send me a sample of it I said ok, because I am willing to give pretty much anything a shot.

The steeped tea smells lightly of pineapple and cilantro. I definitely get the sensation of sniffing a tropical salsa. Hmm interesting flavor. I think the most predominant flavor I get is the cilantro, followed by white tea and then pineapple. It’s a bit vegetal and a bit fruity, but overall the flavor is fairly light (I am sure I didn’t underleaf it, as Stephanie sent the perfect amount). The texture is certainly creamy. This tea definitely turned out better than I might have thought, but its definitely not the tea for me. Cilantro just doesn’t belong in my tea I think. :)

Sipdown, 193. Thanks to Stephanie for this sample!

The first whiff of this brewing is intensely cantaloupe-y. Super ripe, super delicious cantaloupe. While traveling I had a fruit cup that had horrible, underripe cantaloupe in it, and this just reminds me of how delicious a very ripe melon can be. I definitely also smell the creaminess of it.

This is quite a delicious tea. The cantaloupe flavor is amazing, and the creamy texture is great. It’s simply a great tea that delivers exactly what it promises: cantaloupe and cream. While I do like a good cantaloupe, I’m don’t love it enough to need a stock of this tea in my cupboard, but I do have to give props for a very well done blend.

Sipdown, 194. Cold brewed this one. I know, a winter blend is somewhat odd for a cold brew in the spring, but I remembered this one being appley and I have been enjoying appley cold brews.

Unfortunately this didn’t really pan out. There was some off taste to it, slightly chemically or artificial, and not enough apple. It was drinkable but perhaps I should have saved this for another hot brew. Ah well, it’s gone now!

So, as I have said before, I don’t really like assams. Clearly I can be proven wrong about this, but only if they don’t really taste like assams (see: Hattalli Golden Lion Assam also from Butiki). Which is why I ordered this one. For one, it’s an C. s. assamica bush, but it was imported to Taiwan a long time ago and has been cultivated there, so there is a good chance it will taste completely different. After all, just look at how different C. s. sinensis bushes can taste around different areas of the world. There were also enough rave reviews of this one, including ones comparing it to Laoshan Black, that I was willing to give it a try. And Stacy put it on sale when I asked, even.

This tea is one of those long, squiggly-leafed teas that make it impossible to dish out with a teaspoon. As a result I think I underleafed this cup. Nevertheless, I am already impressed. Honestly I have been dealing with a lot of nonsense this morning so I can’t give you a detailed impression of the aroma because I have already drank the entire cup. Flavor-wise, I’d say this reminds me more of a Fujian black than any assam. It is honeyed and malty, with notes of grains and raisins. I don’t think I would say chocolatey, but that’s fine with me. I think I will have to try some of my Fujian blacks and then this again so that I can really get a handle on it, but it is lovely.

Sipdown, 195. This was a surprise sample from my last Butiki order. I am normally not a fan of assams, but I am willing to try anything once, and always happy to have my ideas about types of teas overturned.

Steeped, it smells, well, assam-y. It’s kind of hard to describe. I think its the smell of slight astringency (but it doesn’t smell too strong), coupled with a raisiny note. But yeah, I get the malty, peppery, hay-ish, yunnan-ish notes as well.

Well, this is nice! Definitely reminds me of a yunnan. I taste sweet potatoes and hay and maltiness. Quite a surprise really, this is an assam that I would never guess is an assam. No astringency, not quite bold or in your face. Just the way I like my black teas, smooth and easy to drink.

Sipdown, 196. This one is also thanks to Stephanie!

I think this tea may be too relaxing… I am nearly falling asleep this afternoon. This is a really lovely green oolong. I wanted to try it because I’ve never tried a sparrow tongue oolong (though it sounded like it would be up my alley), and also because it’s name is sparrow tongue. :) I am finding this fresh, floral (like lilacs), and lightly buttery. Lightly sweet as well. It’s definitely more similar to a tieguanyin than to an alishan, which is a plus in my book. Not too vegetal or leafy. Yes, this is very nice; the kind of oolong I could drink all day.

Sipdown, 197. This sample comes to me thanks to Stephanie!

I had a big meatball sub for late lunch, which influenced my tea choice this afternoon. I didn’t want anything too delicate, so I decided that a citrusy grapefruit would be a good palate cleanser. When the water hit this tea I was immediately somewhat surprised by the aroma that wafted up from the cup… very savory and buttery scented! After steeping the allotted time, it has a definite scent of grapefruit but not just the fruit, also the scent of the peel, the pith, and the leaves. It smells like a grapefruit tree!

The texture on this is really interesting and kind of weird! My mouth has gone kind of tingly. The first flavor I get I slightly buttery dragonwell, followed by a light but authentic grapefruit. Then the savory dragonwell comes back around and gives it a slightly roasted note, almost like a broiled grapefruit, before the numbing sensation takes over my mouth and I taste nothing. The sensation really reminds me of these particular greens we sometimes eat in Madagascar that we call “numb greens” because they numb your mouth when you eat them.

I have to say, my mouth doesn’t tingle or go numb when I eat a grapefruit, unlike apparently some other people who commented on this. I enjoy it other than the odd tingling, which is really strong enough for me that it masks any aftertaste of actual tea. I think I prefer the fresh, sweet greenness of Lupicia’s Grapefruit Green (sencha base) over the buttery, savory dragonwell here.

Sipdown, 198. I have a lot of new teas, but of course I am complused to sip down all my one-cup samples first… they are mostly Butiki, so I will have quite a Butiki run on tasting notes, I think!

So once again the short story with me and keemuns: some of my favorite flavored teas have a 100% keemun base (and I love the base flavor), but I haven’t been able to find an unflavored keemun that I really enjoy. I figure between this and the Qimen that came in the Verdant Reserve Club this month, if I’m not feeling either of them then I am giving up on unflavored keemun.

Well, this one smells delicious. It smells more like some of the Fujian blacks I’ve loved… notes of molasses-y grains. There’s also a hint of a slightly smoky-floral note of keemuns that I am not as much a fan of, but it is only the barest hint. The flavor is very pleasant; this is definitely my favorite keemun I’ve tried so far! I would also consider this to be one of the lighter-bodied keemuns I’ve tried, which is what saves it for me I think. Most keemuns are too robust and strong, and that smoky-floral note is overwhelming to me. Here it is playing in the background, hinting at its presence. The main part of the sip is honeyed and a touch plummy. Yum! I don’t know if this will convert me to a keemun drinker, but it’s nice to have found one that I do like.

Mm, this is a nice blend. I know that I want to keep a lemongrass/lemon verbena blend around for evenings, and this has both! Also ginger, a plus for after too-rich dinners. The one part of this that I’m not sure about is the honeybush; it’s not rooibos, so that’s a plus, but it still has a kind of woody, medicinal flavor to it that I don’t think I need in my herbals. I mean, it’s not very strong in this blend, and this is still mostly lemon and ginger. A very pleasant tea for the evening, though.

Sipdown, 199. Yup, I added all the teas I got while I was gone on my trip and hit exactly 200… until I brewed this one up that is.

Spring sprung while I was away, and it is a lovely day out. I have a lot of new teas to try but I decided that I wanted a tea that screams spring, and this is totally one of those teas. Taiwanese oolongs are always so springy to me, with their light florals and sugar snap pea flavors. I actually found my tea mascots right before I left, so I pulled them out today. I hadn’t been able to find them since I moved and I had forgotten that I wrapped them up in an old cardboard tea box from China (guess I thought there was tea inside). Here’s a photo of them: http://flic.kr/p/ebfpea
I still really want a slatted draining tea tray, but I’ve made my peace with using a plastic tray until I find one.

Mm, the steeps of this tea are so fresh and green it is the essence of spring. Sitting here at the window, watching the birds eating and singing, looking at the daffodils and bluebells in my backyard, this is a great tea for this afternoon.

I found an ancient sachet of this tucked away in a tin of Parisian rose candies and since I ran out of all my other sachets I decided to use it. At the airport again, so I was able to get actual hot water at a Starbucks, but the resulting steep is totally weak still. I guess this is a good illustration of a tea getting old; I should have steeped it longer, or perhaps used two sachets (I do have another ancient one in the tin). Or just toss the rest of them because I have new sachets at home that are super flavorful.

Tonight I returned to the Tea Grotto to have pot of this tea since it smelled so amazing last time I was in there. It smells so sweet and nutty! I don’t often associate walnut with a type of nut I really go for (my faves are almond and pistachio), but this one smelled very good. I decided to get a pot and hang out because I wasn’t really a fan of the takeout situation.

They actually brewed the tea for me and brought the pot out once it was done so I have no idea about the steeping parameters here. It turned out quite nice! I don’t know that I could pick this out as walnut rather than general nuttiness, but it is nice and tasty. There is a bit of a nut oil slick on the top of this one and after drinking a whole pot my mouth is kind of dry, but the tea is not too grassy or vegetal. It could be more buttery or nutty which would make this tea even more awesome, but I really enjoyed my cup as it is. At the very end of the pot a large amount of tea powder came pouring out, so I’m not sure if the infusers they use are just kind of big or what. Thankfully it didn’t keep steeping and get bitter or anything.

I got up really early this morning to drive to a place outside of Salt Lake City where there is a large lek of Greater Sage-Grouse. This time of year they are displaying, but they like to do it around dawn and a couple of hours after. I had no tea at my disposal at that point (and even if the hotel breakfast had been open I wouldn’t have wanted their “hot” water), but I actually felt pretty awake when I got up. Of course that always comes with a crash a few hours later where suddenly I am exhausted, and that hit on my drive back. I am a little early for the museum to be open so I stopped at a Corner Bakery nearby. They carry Mighty Leaf teas, and although I am no fan of this Earl I ordered it, knowing I would brew it strong and douse it with milk and sugar.

Fortunately it seems to be working a bit. I can feel energy slooowly returning to my body. One more day of collections work and I fly back to Ohio tomorrow!

Stopped by Teavana again (this time one in downtown SLC; incidentally, they were also nice and non-pushy) because I really wanted a full cup of this tea unsweetened. The last time I was in Teavana I tried a sample of this that had added rock sugar, and I really liked it then, but I didn’t want to buy it without trying it unsweetened.

The name of this tea never interested me; I like citrus, but lavender is hit or miss for me (mostly miss) and sage isn’t something I seek out in a tea. But in the store I saw that the first ingredient in this is actually sea buckthorn berries! No way, I love sea buckthorn. Most people that drink this tea have probably never had sea buckthorn juice or tea before, but I have. And this is so sea buckthorn! Sea buckthorn has a somewhat appley, somewhat citrusy flavor. I love it but it’s difficult to find in the states (besides Red Leaf’s sea buckthorn matcha). I will definitely have to pick some of this up sometime.

The lavender and sage are not super present, but they do add a nice herbaceous quality and perhaps tone down the sweetness a bit, because even unsweeteend this tea is very sweet. I am discovering that Teavana’s herbals tend to be one step short of fruit juice, but they are delicious anyway. Yay for unexpected surprises and finding tasty blends where you didn’t expect it (even if it is Teavana).

Ugh, weaksauce, literally. My hotel breakfasts have gotten worse and worse in quality over the course of this trip. Now I am reduced to simple carbs and “hot” water that was barely hot enough for a green tea, much less a black. I had to let my sachet steep forever to even get any flavor out of it at all. Laaaame.

Now that I am in Salt Lake City I took a trip to this tea shop. I have tried one of their teas before thanks to a swap (the pomegranate black tea) and I liked it, so I wanted to check them out. They have all their teas pre-pouched in 50g bags, but also loose in tins behind the counter to sniff and you can order a pot of tea to stay or a cup of tea to go. I sniffed a lot of teas but was very indecisive; a lot of them smelled good but I also am skittish about buying 50g of a tea I haven’t tried.

I ended up getting this tea to go. It is a green tea with coconut and florals, although I don’t remember what kind of florals at this point. The girl working there explained that they use less leaf so it doesn’t get bitter because they have these new filter lids; basically a coffee lid with a little filter over the hole. It’s basically drinking it enforced grandpa style (throw leaves in the cup, drink water while not drinking the leaves but never taking the leaves out, fill up with more water for future steeps). This is not my favorite way to drink tea because I tend to be a little fussy about steeping times. I sipped it while it was still pretty hot and it kind of burnt my mouth, and I got mainly coconut and light green tea.

So then I stopped to get some takeout phò, and I left the cup in the car. I didn’t know how it would be when I got back out after maybe 10 minutes, but it wasn’t bitter at all. But I never got more than coconut and a light green tea flavor; no florals to speak of. Of course, again I was not a fan of the brewing method because I don’t like drinking tea through a lid… smelling the tea as you sip it and inhaling the aroma with the sip is all part of the flavor, and you can’t get that through a lid.

Anyway, from my tasting of this I wouldn’t pick it up because it didn’t impress me as more than just a green coconut tea, although the coconut flavor was definitely nice. Wish I could taste more fo them as samples.

Haha, I actually I added a Teavana tea to the database! I got an email today about this new tea and knew that I wanted to try it. I mean, fig and rose are some of my favorites, plus this is supposed to have almond notes. But I didn’t want to buy some right out because I certainly don’t trust Teavana enough for that.

Then I ended up in a mall (I left my computer power cable in my previous hotel, f%#&^$, so I had to get a new one for the rest of my trip) so I decided to get a cup of this to go to try it out. I have to give props to the workers at the Teavana in Provo, UT, because they were awesome and not pushy at all. A real pleasure to shop there. In fact I might go back to pick up some of this tea because I know I won’t feel pressured.

So if you couldn’t guess from that statement, I really dig this tea. It impressed me way more than I thought it would! I was worreid about the pineapple bits being too pineappley, but they just added a pleasant fruitiness. Sooo figgy, it was lush and delicious. Not super rosy, but it was still floral in a way that I call “dark florals,” which comes from very lush rose. I asked for it to be made without sweeteners, but it was still slightly sweet as well as tart. The hibiscus worked well here (biggest surprise) and wasn’t too tart. I didn’t get any distinct almond flavor, but the whole thing was such an amalgamation that I’m sure it was contributing. The aroma kept reminding me of something but I couldn’t place it for the longest time; then I settled on a rich, red wine. Mmm.

My response to this tea was “Damn you, Teavana!” I don’t love that I love this tea since I have a longstanding mistrust of Teavana. I also tried the Citrus Lavender Sage while I was waiting for my tea and really liked that one too. I need some herbals for the evenings because I have almost tapped out my stash, so these two might have to join.

Ugh, exhausted from traveling. This morning the hot water dispenser in the (new) hotel was so forceful that it rent a hole in the sachet of this tea, letting loose the tea all through my travel mug. I ended up straining it out using the small tea basket on my travel mug and several cups from the hotel, but it was a messy process. Also I am going to run out of sachets before the end of my trip, which is sad (and poor planning on my part, obviously).

Argh, tasting note eaten, this time not by Steepster but by stupid university guest wifi that decided to ask for a login after navigating around several pages.

Short story: This is another tea from this local company, called Raspberry Rose Petal in the cafe from which I got it. They didn’t have a pouch of this for sale, though, so I didn’t have any idea what was in it besides, presumably, raspberries and rose petals. After drinking, definitely hibiscus, which is not too surprising. But the result is too much hibsicus, not enough rose. A raspberry hibiscus blend is decent, and I probably would have enjoyed it better iced and sweetened, but it doesn’t live up to the raspberry rose petal idea.

Also Steepster decided to move my ratings-slider markers (you know, the ones that tell you where other teas you’ve rated are) to a bunch of supremely unhelpful locations. Three markers in the 0-50 range, when I rate most of my teas 80-99? Why?? Ugh. Now I have no idea numerically where the teas I rate are going to fall until after I hit the submit button.

Sipdown, 189!

So my aladdin travel mug holds onto flavors/scents a lot, and to get rid of them you pretty much have to wash it completely with hot soapy water and a sponge. This is problematic when I am traveling because I almost never have dish soap or a sponge. My mug has smelled intensely like Harney’s Paris for a few days now, but I wanted to have this sachet that I brought with. I thought maybe the museum’s staff kitchen would have a sponge and soap, but no go. I ended up using some hand soap and shaking it very well.

The result is that certain sips of this tea I would get hints of Paris, and other sips I would get hints of soap. I was still able to enjoy the tea, but it was definitely a letdown. I bought a sponge today and washed it with the shampoo at my hotel (no way I am buying a huge bottle of dishwashing liquid while traveling), so we’ll see. I pretty much just have Paris and Dammann’s Goût Russe left as far as sachets go, so as long as it doesn’t taste like soap it should be fine anyway.

I wanted to get a cup of this tea because I saw the big pouch of it at the cafe and the ingredients looked promising. Of course, this tea company has no online store and I don’t now remember everything that was in it. There was for sure lemon verbena, rose petals, valerian root, and I think chamomile and maybe also lemongrass? Oh yeah, and strawberry pieces.

Anyway, this is pretty tasty. It’s lightly lemony, appley from the chamomile, and I do get a hint of strawberry but not too much. Not really any rose, unfortunately, but I feel like it gets drowned out pretty easily. I like this tea but I’m not sure it’s quite the herbal blend for me and they only sell it in ginormous bags. I think I want more verbena and less chamomile. I have a feeling I might be blending my own sleepytime herbal at some point. I’m also not sure that I want valerian in an every-night kind of tea. But it is pretty tasty.

I made a travel mug of this to take with me to the collections, but I am logging it now because I won’t really have time during or after drinking it. And I know how awesome it will be already! I overheard people talking yesterday about how the only liquids allowed in the collections are water and tea, and I thought, sweet! Whoever made those rules must be a tea drinker lol.

The best thing about the hotel I’m staying at is free made-to-order hot breakfasts. I like starting my day with fresh fried eggs! Also, this tea. I decided to make good use of the tiny cups here and steep a sachet of this one. These sachets are slightly smaller than really works in my travel mug… They do ok, but I have to steep them a while. But the 6oz cup, sure, it worked fine. Perhaps a bit strong (Dammann sachets are probably best for 8oz cups) but still smooth and flavorful. Wish I could easily find Dammann sachets in the states because its great to have a “fancy” tea to indulge in while traveling.

Ugh so exhausted. This morning a half hour after I got to the museum there was a gas leak reported, so we had to evacuate for about an hour. I went with some of the staff to a coffee shop across the street and got some hot water for tea. I had a sachet of this from Lupicia’s tea of the month club that I carted along with me on my trip. I actually have a loose sample of this from ToiToi, so this isn’t a sipdown.

The scent of this tea is delicious. I was expecting green apple candy, like jolly ranchers, because others have mentioned it, but it smells way less sweet. Very tart and green apple, one of my favorites.

The flavor was definitely light in my cup but I will have to brew it under more ideal conditions to really know. Still, I really love the light green apple flavor in this that is sweet and tart and delicious. I have a feeling this one may become a favorite. And I will defintiely have to try cold brewing it since I have recently realized that I love cold brew apple teas.