Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Earl of Anxi by Verdant Tea

Thought I’d try a couple new teas tonight. I may regret this, as it’s “lights out” in like 11 minutes…

Anyways! This was one of the lucky winners. I’ve been super curious, so into the infuser it went! The floral-y/citrusy aroma is oddly familiar (can’t say I know what either saffron or frankincense smells like, so I’m not sure if it’s that), but underneath the familiar aroma is definitely Verdant’s distinctive tieguanyin. The flavour is much the same – a solid base of the vegetal, delicious oolong overlaid with citrusy and floral notes. I was going to mention that I wasn’t really getting bergamot in here, so it wasn’t really working as an “earl something” for me, but I see that there is no bergamot – the citrus is orange peel! I think I personally prefer this choice of citrus, and am finding that it compliments the oolong very well. The jasmine is likely providing the floral note that I’m picking up, but I love that it has been so delicately used such as to not overpower everything else. (Now that I read there’s jasmine in here, I imagine that the familiarity in aroma may have been in part attributed to it.)

I am really enjoying this blend – all of the different elements are making it quite a treat to drink, and I have to say that I could see myself preferring this to a straight tieguanyin just because it’s so interesting, yet retains the strong oolong character.

Great tea for tonight!

ETA: Second infusion (didn’t pay attention to parameters) is super strong today! It probably got around 3 mins, and the aroma is definitely of jasmine, and the orange peel is still a prominent flavour, along with what’s likely the frankincense? Either way, it could stand to be a bit more dilute, but it’s quite delicious. Can still taste the oolong as well. Mmmmm.

ETA again: This tea does not quit! There is still a ton of flavour on infusion 3 (lovely orange, light oolong, probably frankincense, less jasmine). Delicious. Also, I noted waxy stuff on the bottom of my last cup – must be that the frankincense melted and sank to the bottom during the infusion. I opted to use a metal infuser in case wax got on it that I needed to clean… I guess I’ll see how it fared after another few infusions!

2013-01-09 00:49:26 -0500

200 °F / 93 °C

3 min 0 sec

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Comments

CrowKettle 2013-01-09 01:18:37 -0500

Glad to hear it’s orange peel and not bergamot! I’ve been curious about this one for a while now.

Kittenna 2013-01-09 02:24:06 -0500

If you like tieguanyin, I’d recommend picking up a sample!

CHAroma 2013-01-09 09:04:51 -0500

“I may regret this, as it’s “lights out” in like 11 minutes…” LOL! I just can’t stop reading your tasting notes even though I’m late for work. They’re too good!!

Bonnie 2013-01-10 10:38:43 -0500

Glad you did more than one infusion because the frankincense blooms with each infusion since it’s a hard resin that softens with the hot water and releases flavor and fragrance.

Kittenna 2013-01-10 15:06:24 -0500

Bonnie – it definitely seems to have come out more in the second infusion, if the flavour I think it is is correct! I think I will do a third today if I have time!

Azzrian 2013-01-10 20:43:12 -0500

Lights out? AS in they make you go to bed at a certain time or is this your own lights out rule?

Kittenna 2013-01-10 20:50:20 -0500

Hahaha, definitely just my own attempt at better bedtimes. I am so far failing. Sigh.

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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.