K S

My second favorite from Zenjala – the first being White Monkey. This one smells so wonderfully smoky. Just a year ago I was whining about half this amount of smoke. This is so good. Right now I am dunking peanut butter cookies stuffed with M&M’s. I would be jealous if I were you. An excellent combination by the way. Pronounced Boo-hee this is apparently a mistranslation of Wuyi. Once an expensive highly prized tea that fell into disrepute after being tossed into the Boston harbor, paving the way for Starbuck’s to make a killing selling overpriced coffee. Tunes: CCR – Bad Moon Rising, Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction.

Went to vote this morning. I think this was the longest I have ever had to stand in line to vote. At one point my wife says, “I think you are going to be late for work.” To which, I sarcastically replied, “What are they going to do fire me?…. O wait they already did.” She sighed and quietly replied, “Really.” A few moments later I noticed the lady in front of us started acting antsy. She turned, looked at me, and said, “I can’t afford to lose my job.” Then she stepped out of line and quickly left the building. I stepped forward, thinking to myself, “Me too.” Sigh.

Different subject. Like gmathis I am also struggling with daylight savings time. I am waking up at 3:30. I don’t have to be up until 6:00, but I can’t go back to sleep. I am decaffing it in the evenings and it doesn’t seem to be helping. So I grabbed old reliable in an attempt to stay awake this morning.

I drink a lot of cheap teas. Some are better than others. I also get to drink a lot of above average stuff, thanks to Steepster. Some of it is a bit pricey. This one falls into the cheapster Steepster end at about a buck and half and ounce. This is where I go when I just need a good comfort sip. Not overly complex, just tasty. I highly recommend Ahmad to any one looking for a better than average cheap tea.

I am KS and I approve this tasting note.

Yep, its decaf and its a tea bag. I still like it. This morning I grabbed a bag and poked it into a glass bottle, filled with water, put the lid on and put it in the fridge. This afternoon the result was pretty tasty. Cold brewed this doesn’t taste a lot different than brewed. Maybe a little mellower. Mostly this just took no effort to prepare. Yeah, lazy me.

Denny’s just opened in town. So we abandoned our usual Saturday breakfast spot to try the new place. It was ok. Not sure how two $4 breakfasts turns in to almost $15 by adding a cup of coffee and a cup of tea, oh, and some toast. Still seems like too much. Maybe it is because I paid $1.80 for one cup with no offer of refills, and it was a horrible cup of hot tea. I drink this iced at Mom and Dad’s and it is passable. Hot it tasted fishy and just not good. Looking forward to my usual Mother Parkers hot tea next week at Steak ’N Shake.

Back in my heavy tea bag use days, I drank mostly flavored Ceylon or Assam blends. I never really cared much for straight black tea. I still find most breakfast teas to be beige. They have bite. They leave you with bad breath. I usually don’t remember what they taste like. I did really like the Paisley breakfast tea – it was a good different.

I find I really like Chinese black teas. I generally use the same descriptors – cocoa or chocolate, malt, grain, maybe a little smoke. Yet the combinations are different so they all taste different.

This is a lapsang souchong tea. Before I tried it the first time I thought LS always meant BBQ like highly smoked leaf. Nope. This one is not smoky. The wet leaf smells like cocoa toast. The sip is one of the richest malt, grain combination I have tried. It feels thick. No bitterness. No astringency. Kind of like golden monkey but darker. This is what breakfast teas should taste like. The aftertaste is nice too :)

6 pearls and boiling water for two minutes. This makes a lot of leaf whose aroma to me is burnt caramel. This is better than I remember. I think it suffered from over blown expectations. From my perspective, I don’t get the chocolate notes of Bailin Gongfu. I don’t get the richness of Dian Hong Golden Tip, or the robust taste of Golden Monkey. I expected it to be all those things combined. What tea could live up to that? What I do get today is a bit of roasted bite up front that quickly dissolves into a lovely light sweet cup that does have enough cocoa notes to make me think brownies. It has a wonderful aftertaste. The aroma of the wet leaf in the press calls for many resteeps. This is a nice tea that is better than I remember. – Interesting update. I went to lunch leaving a half filled mug on my desk. It was room temperature when I returned. This is excellent cooled down. There is a level of smoke that rises up and fills in all the holes in the flavor. A worthy cup.

My note was eaten. I picked a sample of this up today at Empire Tea Services. I could not find it on their website. This should use a decaf tea. It is a great evening tea. It is not a big bold cup. It starts light milk chocolate. Next I get light peppermint – yum. The aftertaste is vanilla and black tea. I can’t single out the rooibos or fruits. A nice mellow cup

32 years ago today I met a hot chick at a party our floor threw in the dorm. Honest, I knew I was going to marry her the moment we met. Forgetting we shouldn’t spend the money we went out today and ended up at Max & Ermas for lunch today. Any one know how to make their Tortilla soup? Love that stuff. We also stopped by Empire Tea Services and wifey picked up a decaf something, not sure what, I will review later. Oh yeah, this tea was cold and unsweet and cooled my throat from the soup.

Sample provided by Nature’s Tea Leaf. The sip when hot is a little light on the first cup. It at first seems non-descript, then suddenly bam, bam, bam. It goes from tasting watery to mineral, then immediately changes to floral, followed by mellow roasted. The aftertaste lingers long and floral green oolong with a cooling breath sensation. Pretty awesome for one sip. Yet, it is so light that gulping this, you would miss all but the roasted note and aftertaste. As the cup cools I am noticing more of a woodsy taste early in the sip. The floral aftertaste is somewhere between tiguanyin and high mountain oolong but more subtle than either.

Steeping a second mug resulted in a press full of huge leaf. It is still not completely unfurled but there is a lot of it. The brew is golden. The roasted taste has mostly gone in to hiding. It is replaced by a creaminess. The aftertaste continues to grow stronger. It is now largely tiguanyin but the cooler the cup, the more it takes on a citrus type flavor.

I decided to try something different on the third mug. I cold brewed. I poured cool water over the leaf and set the press aside for an hour and a half. The result was the most flavorful cup yet from this tea. Seriously good. The sip was what I call geranium as that is what it reminds me of as I taste. It had the same great aftertaste as when I used hot water.

I wish I had more time as I am sure this has lots of steeps left in it.

I started to put together a blog post on this tea and thought I had lost my notes. So had to steep it up again today :) Of course as soon as I got the leaf wet I found the notes. Oh well. As I sipped the first cup I thought I would cold brew the second. I added a mug of water to the press and set it aside. It only needed to set an hour or so. It made a very nice cup. I could get used to this cold brewing stuff.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this tea every time and in every way I have prepared it. It’s familiar and different at the same time. Technically a green tea, this looks like a white and is even labelled as white. Today I decided to try my hand at cold brewing for the first time after reading a Vicony Facebook post on cold brewing white tea. I steeped about 3 hours. This pretty much looks like water in the cup. The taste is really good. This tastes more green prepared in this manner. It’s kind of Dragonwell meets Bi Luo Chun. It starts crisp then turns buttery followed by the good kind of lingering bitter bite of a Chinese green. This is an awesome tea that tastes different using different methods. At the moment the cold brewed version is my favorite. Really good.

I had a horrible case of the dizzies yesterday due to an inner ear thing. Went to the clinic, got drugs. Feeling better so its time for tea!

The one ounce sample was provided by Nature’s Leaf Tea. The pouch is stuffed with beautiful white and grayish-green leaf. Not only does it smell so fresh and amazing but it also is the softest silver needle leaf I have encountered. I love silver needle. I am looking forward to this cup and trying not to get my expectations too high.

I used my wooden scoop to gather a generous portion of lovely leaf and placed it in my press with 12oz of water heated to a cool 175F. I steeped for about 2 1/2 minutes. The instructions say 4-5. This brewed up to the lightest of tinted liquors. The wet leaf still has a lot of white down in it. The smell of the leaf makes me think of a field of grain, maybe alfalfa.

The sip is a light refreshing white tea with a lingering fresh aftertaste. This is a nice complex cup, much more so than a white peony. I find it most refreshing when it reaches room temperature. It is kind earthy, a little fruity with some oats thrown in for good measure.

Next I added a little leaf and a little time to see how that would affect the taste.

While the second cup is steeping, I want to comment again on the aroma of the leaf in the drained press. The whole time I was sipping, this wonderful scent was rolling out of the press and keeping me distracted. Wow, this is fresh.

Ok, adding more leaf and time makes for a darker and bolder cup. It does not bring out any new flavors. I like my white tea to be delicate, so for me the shorter steep is the correct one. Either way this is a very nice silver needle. I had three mugs and was still going strong.

Dragon Pearls – the Sara Lee of teas. Who doesn’t like Dragon Pearls? As amazing as they are to watch once they unfurl, the leaf is large and fluffy. Dry this smelled a bit minty to me and it did leave a nice cooling sensation on the breath. There is no bitterness, no astringency. This is simply natural flavored Chinese green tea. It is very clean and fresh with a lingering sweet aftertaste. A very good cup. Actually, four very good mugs.

The dry leaf is dark, small, sharp, and wiry. It smells a bit of grain. I used 1 1/2tsp for 12oz of water heated to approx 195F. I steeped for 2 1/2 minutes in my press. The brew is dark caramel and still has the grain scent as does the wet leaf. The leaf is small fairly evenly cut pieces and chocolate in appearance.

There is no question this is a Fujian tea from the very first sip. It has that honey sweet, grainy goodness with more than a hint of malt. It has the yam notes. Yet there is something unique about it as well. It has what I can only describe as a darker edge way low underneath that comes out more in the sweet lingering aftertaste. The cooler the cup becomes the more I am detecting this as a roasted note or light smoke.

As the cup emptied I noticed the scent of the leaf still in the press. It was fruity with hints of chocolate. I needed a refill. Cup two is similar to cup one, sweeter with less of the darker notes.

Cup three is lighter. Still very flavorful. I read a description somewhere on the net that compared Fujian Congou to a cross between Yunnan and Keemun. Yes, I agree.

I didn’t realize I had tried this one before. It smells good. If steeped per the instructions it tastes good. A light peachy white tea with a light bite of ginger. The bag will steep twice. If you are a bagged tea drinker this is pretty good. The downside for loose leaf drinkers is you can taste the paper. Not horribly but more than I notice with most.

Cleaned my press. Got my water heating. Started digging through my home stash trying to figure out what I wanted to drink. The dinger went off saying the water was ready so I grabbed this one. Turns out it was a good choice. Nice evening cup of light strawberry goodness.

Not sure now, what Lipton version I have noted drinking at Mom and Dad’s. Which ever, it was wrong, as this is what they stockpile. Boil a pan of water. Turn off burner. Add 8 bags and forget while playing cards. Remember sometime later and pour into pitcher. Fill rest of way with tap water. Put ice that has been in freezer a bit too long in glass and add tea. Ahhh. Yep, this reminds me why I bought my first box of Bigelow back in the day. I don’t even bother trying to introduce them to better tea any more. They love it. I love them. Happy times.

I cleaned out all but the necessary stuff in my office yesterday. Filled the truck with stuff. How did I pack it all in to that office and why? What is left is my radio, tea kettle, and tea. Yeah, another truck full :)

Not sure what I really did different today. I put a mug of water in the microwave for 1:40. It boils at about 1:55. I poured the water over the leaf in my press. Helped my wife for a couple minutes. Nothing seems out of the ordinary – maybe the water is a little cooler and maybe the steep is a little longer. Regardless, the result is delightful. Imagine halfway between Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Tips and White Peony. That is what I got today. It has generally tasted more white peony but with heft. It has always been really good anyway, but this is awesome.

Took the day off trying to get the necessary paperwork to apply for my pension so I will at least have some income after the impending permanent lay off. I am still waiting on a copy of our marriage license to arrive in the mail. I also tried to secure some help getting my oxygen when the job and insurance ends. Nothing but roadblocks. All in all a less than stellar day. Tea helped. As did the drive. One of the most gorgeous fall displays ever. Southern Indiana is so beautiful with its rolling hills and farm land.

I used to think I didn’t like green tea. TeaVivre’s green tea selection has changed my mind. Now, if I don’t have a sample to review, I am most likely going to grab a Chinese green for my own enjoyment. This one is cool right from the start. The leaves are dark, long, and spindly. The smell today is of hay, cocoa, and maybe a touch of malt. No one else noted this, so I thought maybe I imagined it. Steep it up and the small leaf turns green and with a steamed vegetable scent. The liquor is sparkling clear with a light yellow green tint. Sipping brings out a third set of flavors. I still smell the hay and cocoa but do not taste it. The taste I find hard to describe. It is a bit sweet, with a bite bordering on a good bitter. It is not exactly grassy but it tastes green. It’s kind of vegetal, buttery with a touch of grain or nut. This is a clean and refreshing green. Two thumbs up.

My review appears to have gotten lost in cyberspace. Short version – 1st cup weak. 2nd cup a very good dark roasted cup. Tasted a bit like orange to me. 3rd was weeker but with nice melon and fruit aftertaste.

Hitting the old comfort tea today. I healthy scoop. Just below boiling water and three minute or less steep. Instant moment of peace. Longer and hotter and it can get bitter.

This usually helps me relax. Last night I don’t think even adding Jack Daniels would help. Was tasty though.

I’ll put together a real review in a few days (I hope). I wanted to note here that I have read ‘nutty’ used in reviews often, I may have even used it before. Honestly, I have never really known if it was nutty or not. Until today. My first thought when sipping was definitely nutty, then roasted/smoky, followed by creamy. I read the reviews and company description just now and seems I got this one right. Woot! Yes, it is good. Thanks Nuvola.

On a bummer note. My tea buddy and best work friend of 18 years was ‘let go’ at quitting time. No warning. He has two little children and now no income. I was called in to the office next and told to start looking. I still have a job at the moment. I’m 56, walk with a cane, and pack an oxygen tank. (Never felt like sharing that before) Not going to be easy finding something new.

Sorry Pekko Teas. I was really looking forward to reviewing this tea. I haven’t had a straight sencha in a long time. I opened the pretty golden pouch and removed the fresh looking leaf. I thought it smelled a little off. Steeped it up and sipped. Yep, I accidentally contaminated this. I had a highly fruit flavored sample I opened and put in the drawer. The next morning when I opened drawer all I smelled was fruit. I removed the fruit tea and put it far away. Apparently too late. This was unopened and it still leeched in to it. Be warned to keep strong odor teas away from more delicate teas. Sorry again Pekko, I’m sure this would have been really good.