Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Vietnamese Lotus Tea (Green) by na

Can’t say I’ve ever heard of Vietnamese Lotus Tea, but it definitely sounds interesting! Therefore right up my alley :D

Hummm… I think this tea may have been contaminated with the lapsang souchong I also got. Which is weird, because they wouldn’t have been near one another for more than the ride back from Toronto to my house! Basically, I’m tasting a decent, vegetal green tea with hints of smokiness. Rather significant hints. That said, it’s kind of interesting! Just, I suspect it’s not supposed to taste smoky. It’s possible that I’m misinterpreting, but I don’t think I am.

I’m really not getting anything floral, just a vegetal taste and there’s kind of a prickly sensation on my tongue. Not any sort of astringency I’m familiar with, although that’s what it’s most akin to. Ah… and that’s the first cup gone, so I’m out of notes for it.

However, conveniently the second infusion is also sitting right here! Uh…. whoops, that one was Cantaloupe & Cream, infusion #4. peers into cups Ah, ok, here it is. Haha, pitfalls of too many teas on the table. Good thing I like tea lukewarm or warm!

Definitely getting a smoky aroma from this one as well. It tastes similar, but it’s really hard to distinguish what’s under the smokey flavour. I think I’m getting a touch of sweetness though. Still no astringency, and this infusion was at 82C for 1:15. Although yet again, that sparkly kind of tingling on my tongue. Weird!

Thanks for the sample, Indigobloom! You’ll have to let me know about that smokiness I’m tasting. (Coincidentally, I have brought down the lapsang souchong to try tonight, but there’s no way they cross-contaminated in 30 seconds… is there? Or from a foot away in 5 minutes?)

2012-04-26 23:05:00 -0400

180 °F / 82 °C

1 min 0 sec

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Amy oh 2012-04-26 23:26:31 -0400

some green teas are a bit smoky – not sure if this is one of them…

Kittenna 2012-04-27 00:38:05 -0400

Me neither, haha!

Indigobloom 2012-04-27 06:44:53 -0400

yep I got smokiness in this to. I think that’s part of how they combine the lotus and tea leaf. maybe try it at a slightly higher temp?
I tried mine at about 90 seconds for the first infusion as well.

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.