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Finally got to spend some quality time with this one. I will have review on my blog in a couple days. The first time I fixed this it was tainted by onions from our chili making. The second time I knew I liked it but wasn’t sure how it differed from other Chinese greens. Now I think I latched on to what makes this a winner. The dry leaf smells fresh and green. After steeping the leaf reminds me of stew beef – I love it when it does that. The liquor is nearly clear. The sip starts buttery and veggie then mid sip I catch moments of floral like a green oolong. I have never caught this in a green before. Awesome! Late in the sip it changes back to sweet green. There is no bitterness. I really found this to be refreshing.

I guess I am not done giving rating numbers.

Back log from yesterday. Our Internet provider shut us off for exceeding the limit. I felt so isolated. Went to town. It was 30 degrees and snowing. My wife wants Starbucks. Since I never learned to like coffee, I always get some form of tea. Something cold and frozen seemed right today. My wife was excited when we walked in as her favorite barista was fixing the drinks. I have to say it makes a difference. This one is made with matcha powder and it was awesome. Way to many calories but oh so good.

Last week I received a notice from our Internet provider that halfway through the month we (OK, I) had used 16.9gb of our 20gb allowance. I have avoided getting on line. I’m posting today because I am having Steepster withdrawal. Can’t wait for March!

While offline I built an Excel database of my tea stash. Mostly I was trying to learn Excel – my stash just seemed the natural choice for learning. I also taught myself a tiny bit of Visual Basic to come up with a menu to enter new tea. It is totally pointless but kept me off the streets or at least out of my wife’s hair.

I leaned I have 136 teas. The majority are 20g or less. I have my work cut out to catch up with most of you. I added a column stating whether I had reviewed them or not. This shows I have about 36 I have never reviewed.

This has been my tea of choice the last couple days. It smells intense but the cup taste is much more refined. It is sweet and mellow. No bitterness. So glad I overcame my fear of smoke. This is really good.

I work up this morning craving malt. All day I could taste it. It was this evening before I could brew this up. Ahhhh. I needed this one.

I just posted a review of this on my blog http://theeverdayteablog.blogspot.com/ I had planned to save it back for later but it pleasantly surprised me so I went ahead and published.

Short version – not the overwhelming fruit and flowers I was expecting. It is lightly flavored and bonus I can taste the tea base. I did not notice the hibiscus and could only catch rooibos in the cup aroma while breathing in as I sipped – Just not at the same time ;)

Well done!

Still think this is quite a nice bagged green. It does not however go well with Doritos. That did not stop me. :)

Debating this with myself – I think I may stop giving a rating number at least for now. I still have my personal rating scale on my profile at the moment. My ratings have been consistent with my scale but it is subjective. My numbers are often higher than other opinions. It seems awkward to lower my numbers to match other’s scale, and I don’t want to appear to be inflating numbers either. Maybe I think too much.

This is the first day since I was let go that I have not had meetings or had to make phone calls. I still didn’t get to just relax. I intended to get to some of my new untried samples. Grabbed this instead. Very buttered veggies. Not bitter just sweet and delicious. Several cups and just now getting to write about it.

So unlike any lotus tea I have tried before. I called it black jelly beans when I first tried it. That isn’t really accurate but I don’t know what to call it – except yummy. It is kind of licorice and kind of floral. The green base, that is grey-ish looking more than the brown of the picture, is creamy and quite good. The flavor isn’t subtle like some of the teas I have had of late (Nina’s) but isn’t Grrrr in your face either. So different and I really like it.

I have enjoyed this sample. I think this is the fourth session and the last. It is not as full bodied as the TeaVivre versions but the browned cocoa notes that drive this are quite nice. I didn’t get up with the intention of having this. It was setting beside my kettle and just kind of pushed itself on me. Glad it did. It went well with the cinnamon crumb cake (breakfast of champions).

Just curious – anyone ever seen a Cheapster Steepster Dian Hong in a bag for lazy or gotta run days?

First, if you have not steeped your Nina’s Teas yet – don’t use your American oversized mug. The samples seem much more suited to dainty 6oz cups than our usual 12-16oz beasties. I wish I had realized why these were coming out so light before hand. Live and learn.

This one is a lovely relaxing cup that is a mild twist on standard jasmine tea. The leaf is very finely cut and very dark for green tea. There is some flower petals in the mix. The jasmine is the good stuff. What I mean is it is not the gross bitter stuff passed off as jasmine in cheap or bagged teas. The lotus is a very light floral note in the late sip and reminded me of the flavor of Tazo Lotus. That happens to be one of the few I like by Tazo. The base is a bit harder to separate out. Definitely not grassy or bitter.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for the sample.

The description is spot on with this one – soft and fruity. The wet leaf looks more like green tea than a black. This has no bitterness or sharp bite. There is only a light drying compared to the bagged versions I’ve tried. The aftertaste is pleasant, cooling, and lasting. I don’t know enough about Darjeeling to comment a lot on the taste. I can say I enjoyed this quite a bit and it went great with sausage gravy.

The scent of the dry leaf is powerful. I do not mean overwhelming. It is powerful in the sense I really like it. It’s orange followed by cinnamon. Once steeped the wet leaf also presents its black tea aroma.

Cinnamon can easily overwhelm and orange can taste like candy. Neither is the case here. This is well balanced light cup.

Given the description of stimulate and invigorate I was expecting a big bold cup. I find it to be more of a relaxed cup. I would sip this on a lazy afternoon – like today. I find it a nice introspective cup rather than invigorating. That is not a bad thing. Sometimes I just want a peaceful cup.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for the sample.

This is the first day of my forced (and hopefully temporary) retirement that I have had the chance to relax and kick back. I slept in late. How awesome is that. Watched some guitar lesson videos – maybe I’ll actually learn to play someday. Fixed a ham & swiss sandwich on flatbread. Made several cups of this tea. It’s an exciting life.

This isn’t very complex. It doesn’t have any nasties associated with it. It tastes like puerh. It is lightly book leather with out the must. The first cup was earthy. afterwards not so much. I liked it in a I don’t have to think to drink kind of way.

Still not ready to rate or give a full review with this one. I Got rid of the onion power that distracted me on cup one. This is cup two. It has a very nice green vegetal flavor. There is no bitterness. No astringency.

I wanted to try this one to see if I am not a big fan of HuangShan Maofeng or if I just wasn’t deeply moved by brand X’s version. What I know at this point is this is nothing like the previous version I tried. I actually find this one easy to sip. What I haven’t determined yet, is what makes this different and stand out from other Chinese greens. I think that will have to wait until I start with new leaf.

This is another I specifically asked to try. The brew is nearly clear as expected. I let it cool a bit then sip. Onions. What???? We fixed a pot of chili this morning and it looks like my wife (who I love dearly) picked up my cup while chopping onions. Grrrr. So I guess that means I will have to wait to see what this tastes like.

I have tried one other taiping houkui in the past. I tried it several times with varying parameters. While I learned to appreciate the cup I never really reached a point of deeply liking it. When TeaVivre offered the latest round of samples I wanted this one included. I wanted to know if it was the tea I wasn’t crazy about or the particular version.

The scent is grassy and fresh in aroma. I used the whole sample and steeped for a little over a minute. The resulting liquor was green tinted. The wet leaf made me think ocean and vegetal.

This bordered on bitter and sour but never crossed the line. The taste, to my poorly trained palate, is somewhere between a cross of bamboo shoots and celery leaf. It becomes sweeter as you sip. The aftertaste is long and lingering in a good way.

I enjoyed this without additives sweetener added nothing and really was more of a distraction. You will rarely hear me say that.

I can say once again TeaVivre has impressed me. While this may never be a must have staple in my tea drawer, I did greatly enjoy it and would gladly accept a cup if offered.

The scent of the dry leaf reminds me of a fresh summer field. The leaf is long and plump. From the description I was expecting a strong grassy green. Instead the sip is like buttery beans. Maybe creamy is a better word. This is definitely classic Chinese green tea in flavor.

There is no bitterness, and no harsh edges. The longer you sip the sweeter it becomes. It has a healthy drying affect on the tongue. Strangely, the aftertaste disappears rather quickly.

On the second cup I immediately caught a nice amount of a spicy almost floral taste. Though familiar, I couldn’t pull a name for these notes out of my brain today. Let’s just call it tasty. The second cup seems less creamy and more ocean or mineral. As the cup cools it is tasting a little peppery.

Thank you TeaVivre for the sample. This is another very nice cup.

Apparently I am stuck on this one at the moment… the Venus fly trap of teas? What’s that I hear… Feed me Seymour? Gladly, I reply.

I don’t remember ever having this before. Low expectations. Open the envelope and sniff. Hey! The bag smells fruity and of hay. I steeped two minutes per instructions and not the five minutes I would have used a few years ago. Fruity, earthy. Oh why couldn’t this be loose leaf so it would have the depth it deserves. This is really good. I am surprised. Not bitter. Lightly drying.

I have a bunch of teas that I haven’t had time to review yet, including some more from Teavivre. Forced retirement has not resulted in the free time to sip that I anticipated. At least not yet. If I owe you a review I promise I will get to it.

I grabbed this one because I don’t have to think. I know I love it. I started this cup in a hurry. I am not even halfway in and I have slowed down and mellowed out.

Chinese green tea fannings in a bag. Ok, I’m biased towards Ahmad tea. They make some of my favorite bagged teas and my comfort loose leaf earl grey. That admission aside, this is way better than it has to be for bagged green tea. Seriously, have you had some of what passes for green tea in the grocery store? Most of it is barely recognizable as tea. Some of it even tastes like paint. This tastes like a simple Chinese green. It lacks depth but it will do when you need a fix on the quick.

I met up with a fellow former co-worker at Denny’s for breakfast and conversation this morning. We sat and talked over 2 hours. He has been unemployed 3 1/2 months now and says when his tax check comes in he will actually have more money in the bank than before he was let go (fired is what he called it). He added, tell me I’m not blessed. To which I add amen.

So I took this one with me and asked for hot water. The waitress looked at me questioningly. I told her I brought my own because, no offense, but your tea is really bad. She giggled a little and brought my water. As it turns out their tea is bad because its Lipton and it makes horrible hot tea, but the biggest problem is their water. My tea that I normally really enjoy, tasted of fish. Had this been the tea Denny’s carries I would have rated it 12. What a difference the water makes. Glad now I didn’t waste some loose leaf.

My wife used to make scratch coffee cake until we discovered Krusteaz cinnamon crumb cake mix at the Wal-mart. She mixed one up this evening and I slathered mine with butter. Wow! In combination with this tea I may have reached Nirvana.

I know I tend to like just about everything I try, but I have yet to meet a Dian Hong I didn’t love. Yunnan tea just makes for a beautiful cup.