K S Send Message

As soon as water hit the leaf I could smell mint. I am not a fan of spearmint in tea, or candy, or even gum. It’s just not my thing. Surprise, this is peppermint! Peppermint I like. The brew is golden green in the press and a bit darker in the mug.

The sip is interesting. The mint is the main flavor, then directly under it is a kind of peppery ginger flavor. There is no ginger listed so this must be the ginko biloba I am tasting. This has a sweetness to it from the stevia leaf. The green tea fills out the flavor, Green tea and mint are in the aftertaste.

If I were to ever want to sip mint tea this is one I would definitely consider. Bonus it leaves your breath feeling minty cool.

Sample provided by sTEAp Shoppe – Thanks! My favorite of the 4 samples tasted.

This is a good resteeper. I had two or three cups yesterday and a couple more today. Too bad I don’t have time to actually enjoy any of them.

I arrived home to find two new boxes of samples and I already have several I haven’t got to try yet. This keeps up I am going to have to take a vacation day just to enjoy tea…. Another entry in the you might be addicted thread? Yeah, probably so. I’m good with that.

This is not much of a review as I was not able to give this my full attention today. This is mostly to say publicly how much I appreciate the kindness of Ashmanra. Your sending me this wonderful tea out of the blue came at the perfect time. The work day was so stressful I literally wanted to curl up in a little ball in a corner and just rock. Not real manly, but you can only take so many firey darts before you need to catch a break. This tea helped me hang on to what little sanity I have left.

This is really good. Beautiful to look at. Sweet and malty. Carmel and mild sweet taters. This is Bailin Gonfu meets Dian Hong golden tips, get married and have a kid… A wild child! Ashmanra in her note to me called this tea the Batman of teas. I say, to the Batcave! For more of this.

I have been a bit quiet the last few days. My tea time has been largely devoted to this tea. Sample provided by Esgreen.

The nose is musty leather. The first cup is lighter than expected with leather and wood notes. This morphs nicely through 6 (12oz) mugs and ends as mushroom, leather, and hints that make me think chocolate. Not overly complicated but nice and comfortable.

Longer review – http://theeverdayteablog.blogspot.com/2012/09/esgreen-2005-ripeshu-zhuan-tea-brick.html

Welcome to my day of Cheapster Steepster tea!

Got to Steak N Shake for breakfast this morning and ordered my usual hot tea. When the little metal pitcher of water and the cup with the bag on the saucer arrived, I frowned.
“They quit ordering the Darjeeeling?”
“We aren’t sure if it was discontinued or someone just hit the wrong button when ordering”

sigh…

“The Darjeeling is pretty good… I guess I’ll have to write corporate! (joking – sort of)”

So I put the bag in the cup and pour the water. The whole time I am thinking, I really don’t like hot Lipton tea. That is what I imagined this was going to be. But it is not.

This is dust in a paper bag, sure, but it is a good one. It is not bitter or astringent. It makes a strong enough cup to make me happy. It is a nice, sort of a sweet, mellow cup of tea.

While I was drinking this, Andy (our server) found the last remaining bag of Darjeeling in the back and brought it to me. So of course I had to have it as well. It is better than the OP because it has more depth and is fruity. However, the OP is really not bad at all. Best of all it does not taste like hot Lipton. Joy!

I’ll have my Lipton strong and iced tonight and Mom and Dad’s. I like it iced – its like drinking memories. It’s like going home. Oh wait, that’s exactly what I am doing. ha.

This tea was a former top 10 China tea. Today is the day I figure out how to properly prepare it. My first couple attempts were less than spectacular. I used a healthy handful of leaf in my press. I heated the water until it started steaming and then turned it off. I let it set until the kettle grew completely silent. Opened the lid and let the steam escape for several seconds. Then poured it over the leaf. I went about one minute on the steep.

The leaf smells of buttery vegetables. That is a good start. The cup is cool enough I can sip immediately. The water temperature seems correct now, but the steep time needs to be increased. There is nothing off tasting, it is just not strong enough. As it cools a little more, it takes on a sweet creamy light vegetal flavor. I am on the right track as this isn’t bad.

For cup two, I used the same method on the water but steeped two minutes. Ah ha! This cup I can say I enjoy. It starts light green, then the taste switches to a memory. I can’t describe the taste, I can only tell you, it tastes like water from a fountain in a near by state forest from back when I was a kid. We would stop our bikes at this fountain every time we passed it, just to get a sip. As this moment in the way back machine ends, for Mr. Peabody and his pet boy Sherman, I notice the aftertaste is a light bitter flavor reminiscent of, but not exactly, dandelions.

This is not likely to become a favorite, however with some work, I have learned to appreciate it and even enjoy it.

Upping the rating.

I had a steep of this left from yesterday. I added a bit of Zenjala Tea Company’s smoky Bohea. Unfortunately I did not add enough to get the smoky EG I was hoping for. Still with the second of this the vanilla tames way down and it becomes just a smooth creamy delight. I said this was an sip down yesterday. Now I mean it. La sigh. On to the next!

Sip down. Started my day with Earl think I’ll end the work day with Earl. This one is heavy on the vanilla through the first cup but it’s a good one. The bergamot builds as the cup cools. The Ceylon base plays well with both of them.

With TeaEqualsBliss working at feeling better, I thought I would try and pick up some of the tea drinking slack. I failed miserably. I am sloshing as I walk and have not even come close. Miss your notes. Heal soon.

Smoke and malt. That is what I get when I open the tin. Steeped for about 4 ½ minutes. I recall this one took me by surprise. It is the first smoky tea I found to be delicious and enjoyable. Today, the brew is a beautiful dark caramel. Smoke and fruit scents are rinsing in the air. Cool down so I can drink you! Finally… Ahhh. Yep, still a good one. I don’t notice the malt in the sip. This is smoke and fruit.

I got this a little hotter than I intended. It took it in stride and did not get bitter. The Jasmine in this is very fresh. Has a clean green aftertaste. I was going to have one cup and move on to drink a variety today – but this begged for a second cup. This is up there with the best of the jasmines I have tried. Utopia has done an excellent job with this one.