1719 Tasting Notes
Apparently I am now once again a college student. After getting registered I had a club sandwich a mountain of onion rings and this tea. I think I finally figured out why this appeals to me so – besides it is different than the usual restaurant iced tea. I think if I iced a Yammamotoyamo oolong this is what it would taste like. There is just something roasty/earthy about this stuff that appeals to me as an iced tea.
I got up and stumbled to the den in an early morning grrrr. Tea, must have Fujian Congou tea! Where is it? Look again. Nooooo! One more time. Dig deep. It has to be here (panic). Ooooh, glorious morning! I knew I had some of this left.
The ratings are a bit scattered, but I guess it depends on how you feel about Fujian black tea. This is really a good solid one. Molasses, caramel, malt, hints of yam, cocoa, even a wisp of roastiness. This just hits all my buttons.
I’m off to attempt to register for a fall course in 3D CAD modeling. I got permission from the Prof. to skip the prerequisites based on past experience. I am a little nervous health-wise but also looking forward to learning something new.
Oh, I thought this one was great!
This was on my “please buy me a whole pound” Christmas and birthday wish list. Got ignored both times :( but next holiday I am going to highlight and put exclamation marks around it.
Ask for money and buy it yourself – that’s what I do anymore. I gave up on the family grasping the need.
Yeah, but then there’s nothing fun to open. Some things you just never outgrow…
I find that with my family getting them to order online is the sticking point. They either never remember to do it in time or lose the site address. If they can go in person somewhere I stand a much better chance of getting the tea I want. :)
Nicole, I agree. I just wish there was a brick and mortar within 30 minutes of home. I would get what was on my list then. Nearest place is 1 1/2 hours away. It’s a good one though.
The leaf is from Friday. It’s Sunday now. I just hated to toss it. So… This cup was so caramel. Yum. And bonus, I didn’t suffer any ill effects. Score. Ah, life on the edge.
What ill effects do you suffer?
It was tongue in cheek. Using leaf more than a few hours old freaks some Steepsterites out. If I am leaving it overnight I drain it well and leave the lid off. I have never had problems other than occasionally a loss of flavor.
I re steep a lot of puerh overnight for the next day. So far so good.
Absolutely. Steep it overnight or leave the leaves for the next day.
I have several teas that really need a sipdown due to age. This is not one of them. It is supposed to get better with age. I just couldn’t help myself and now it is gone. A wonderful fermented white tea. Retains enough of its white tea traits to be recognizable and supplements it with fresh raw puerh like earthiness. This is from Yunnan but I don’t know if it is truly a puerh but somehow calling it dark tea doesn’t seem correct either. How about I just say it was really good. Definitely worth trying if you can find it.
Yep, they are making white pu-erh cakes now.
Interesting to spot pu-erh being reviewed upon my opening this page and not for a while now. I am having a cup of pu-erh this morning from one of the tea bags that Azzarian sent my way.
I have not had pu-erh in a long while and this one is most welcome. It is raw, damp richly dark red in color; smelling of damp earth and tasting as such and richly in minerals. All of this from a cup of dampness pu-erh.
If I have not made sense then I don’t understand the drink that is pu-erh.
I find this tea to be well fermented since the aroma/odor and taste depicts as much. Similarly so to your White Bud pu-erh description. How interesting?
Thank you for sharing, hope you don’t mind my jumping in.
I have a Russell Hobbs kettle with tea pot and warming tray in my living room. It is plastic but works fine. When I recently set up a second station in my den I tried using a one cup drip coffee maker. It worked but it was slow and I don’t like waiting for the water to cool for green and white tea. I started to buy an inexpensive and very basic but mostly stainless kettle when I spotted this at Walmart. I am having a blast with this thing.
First the negatives:
It is 1.7L. I wanted smaller but those don’t exist in the land of super-size.
The lid is plastic as is the small viewing window. Neither of these bothers me as I only heat 12oz or less at a time so the water never hits the window anyway.
The cord is too short. You have to use a heavy duty extension cord if you aren’t on a kitchen counter with an outlet at the kettle.
Now the positives:
I did not pay $200 or even $100. It was only $40.
It heats very quickly and then holds the water temp for 1 hour unless you stop it.
There are five preset temps – it holds the last setting used in memory.
It easily can be custom set between 150F and 212F. (Can be switched to read C)
Bottom line:
I haven’t had it long so I can’t speak on the durability. It feels solid. It heats the water just like it is supposed to do. I detected no off odor or taste to the water. The price is very reasonable. Honestly, I don’t know what else I would want from a $40 kettle – except contain no plastic and be only 16 ounces. Since that is not going to happen, this will do nicely.
Ohh, you have tea stations in your living room and your den? I have some serious envy! My tea making is confined to my kitchen. You are living the dream!
I have this kettle, but the not programmable kind. I have had it for 2 years and so far works really well. I have always had good luck with Hamilton Beach. (All of the negatives are the same for this one too).
Rosehips – My wife isn’t so sure it isn’t a nightmare. It’s all in the interpretation ;)
Lala – The one you have is what I was going to get before I saw this one. Glad to hear you have had a positive experience.
I ordered this from amazon last week and I’m patiently awaiting it’s arrival. Will definitely post an initial review when I receive it :)
Looking forward to reading your review. I am still very happy with it.
It’s Thursday – bet you never expected me to log this one :^P Kind of almost felt normal logging on this morning. Almost more logging notes than bug updates. lol. It’s 70 beautiful degrees with low humidity here. Almost got a hot tea but there just aren’t any Tazo teas I really like but this one so…
Posting this twice, once under each tea. I used, by volume, about equal portions of Teavivre Dehydrated Camellia with Single Origin Teas Idulgashinna Ceylon Green Organic. Camellia on its own reminds me of white peony. Idulgashinna is a unique green tea experience. I thought the two would compliment one another. I was right. The camellia really amplifies the leather notes of the Idulgashinna. At the same time the woodsy elements of the camellia shine as the cup cools. More experiments will definitely follow.
Posting this twice, once under each tea. I used, by volume, about equal portions of Teavivre Dehydrated Camellia with Single Origin Teas Idulgashinna Ceylon Green Organic. Camellia on its own reminds me of white peony. Idulgashinna is a unique green tea experience. I thought the two would compliment one another. I was right. The camellia really amplifies the leather notes of the Idulgashinna. At the same time the woodsy elements of the camellia shine as the cup cools. More experiments will definitely follow.
The mad scientist at work I see…
Bwahahaha… actually Angel tried to convince me to mix camellia with green tea a long time ago. Some day I will learn to listen.
I have a big jar of puerh that I put all the samples I get in and shake it all together. Then I yell it’s alive and get the look from the better half!
Congratulations and good luck!
Good luck!
Congrats!
Thanks.
Way to go!
That’s wonderful! Good luck!