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50 Tasting Notes

Bangkok from TeaNoir
99

I love this tea so much.

Sweet but not too cloying, it’s refreshing and tastes great both hot and iced (it tastes really good iced.)

Unfortunately the etsy shop we bought it from is currently closed due to health problems, so we’ve been rationing it out (thank god we bought a 4 oz bag.)

If anybody knows where I can get a comparable coconut/anise flavoured rooibos, preferably with no vanilla, please tell me.

::sends hopes for a speedy recovery to the PTB::

Cinnamon Apple Spice from Celestial Seasonings
8

Oh god what?

I won’t be buying this again. It reeks. The kitchen and living room now smell like cheap and nasty pot-pourri, and the taste doesn’t much make up for it. Too much cinnamon, too little apple; it tastes strangely flat and then I just get a burn from the spice.

Maybe if I dump some chamomile in there I can make it drinkable? ::vanishes off to put the mental in experimental::

Balancing Infusion from Leaf
95

My first thought was ‘pleh’, but the second mouthful was delicious (god bless my inability to pour stuff away/throw stuff out – even though it means I’ll be finishing that box of foul white tea dust from Jackson’s.)

It seems like the first sip coats my mouth (possibly because of the liquorice?), then the rest tastes good, and I think to eat or drink anything else while having this would be a mistake; it’s one to sit and savour on its own. It’s warming and a little spicy, and it’s really soothing my sore throat. The liquorice is definitely the strongest flavour, avoid it if you’re not keen, but the rest of the ingredients balance it out so it’s not as stringy as liquorice tea can taste.

I’ll be buying more, probably when I need to restock my stash of fillable teabags from Leaf (those are very useful, and they let the leaves unfurl more than other empty teabags I’ve tried.)

Imperial Pu erh (EP06) from Nothing But Tea
52

I gave up on sleep at 6:50 am, got up, started installing multiple programmes on the computer, and made a pot of this tea for the first time ever (my first pu-erh too) Obviously it’s going to be one of those days.

I have no idea what I think of it. Earthy and sort of musty tasting but somehow not unpleasantly so; it tastes – and this is gonna get weird – you know in The Magicians Nephew by C. S. Lewis, the wood between the worlds? If you put some of the mud from that place in a teapot and brewed it I think it would taste like this.

I can’t even tell if I like it or not.

High Grade Ginseng Oolong (OC03) from Nothing But Tea
23

There’s a delicate taste of ginseng, but it’s only just there and I really prefer Oolong Tea Shop’s ginseng oolong. This is practically flavourless and the leaves aren’t even unfurling at all. I won’t be buying a larger pack and I’m dubious about trying the fancy ginseng oolong now.

Genmaicha (GJ02) from Nothing But Tea
36

I’m not impressed. I was hoping for something similar to Tea Pigs’ Popcorn Tea, and this isn’t in the same league (actually if Tea Pigs’ league exploded this tea wouldn’t hear the bang for a few days.)

The green tea taste is bitter, and I’ve tried multiple steep times, temperatures, and leaf amounts to try and get around it – to no avail. The nuttiness from the rice is very weak. I’m regretting buying a 100g pouch, to be honest.

Midori from TeaNoir
41

Light and grassy with a subtle flavour of melon (cantaloupe, I think) As with the sencha sakura I had earlier the second steeping is definitely the best.

Sencha Sakura (FG08) from Nothing But Tea
92

When I opened the packet I decided that even if I hated the taste, the smell of this is glorious. Fortunately the taste carries through. There isn’t much flavour in the drinking itself (I may try a longer steep-time next to see if I can change that) but the aftertaste is lingering and delicious.

Not one for people who don’t like cherries.

Edit: more green tea taste coming through on the second steep.

Chai Latte from Drink Me
68

I make this the same way I do Horlicks: heat up my milk, mix the powder into a paste with a little hot water, then combine the two while whisking (if I’m feeling flash I’ll even froth the milk in my chocolatiere.) Nice warm milk drink for when I fancy something a little more flavourful than Horlicks or Ovaltine, but it doesn’t match a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte for flavour.

Chinese White Silvertip Tea With Natural Osmanthus from Jackson's of Picadilly
2

Urgh. Bought it because it was on the reduced rack, and now I know why it was there. Horrible stuff. Maybe I’m just spoiled by whole leaf tea, but this bag of tea dust does not cut it for flavour.

Edit: Evil twin wanted to know what I was cutting my sawdust with. This crap is being binned.

Persian Dreams (TR22) from Nothing But Tea
94

I actually forgot about it and steeped for 10 minutes, which is longer than I normally do for my rooibos, but it tastes very nice. Sweet but refreshing with some nicely complicated flavours, I will definitely be ordering more (for the studio, this one has my evil twin’s seal of approval too, and that just doesn’t happen with rooibos teas. We may have found a replacement for TeaNoir’s Bangkok!!)

Formosa Dong Ding (OT03) from Nothing But Tea
84

I really like this. I’m on my third steeping from the same leaves, and all cups so far have tasted good. It has a slightly malty taste which reminds me of some milk oolong I tried from a different company.

Love from Pukka
94

I really like this tea. A light, easy drinking tea with nice flavours and a delicately aniseedy aftertaste.

Verbena Infusion from Leaf
61

Tasty and refreshing. I think it’s one for after a rich meal, possibly as a change to peppermint. TBH, it’s making me think about getting some of the herb and try making my own mixes; it’s nice but I think I’d want to do something extra to it if it was going to be a regular drinking tea.

Madagascar Vanilla Red from Celestial Seasonings
78

I like it. The vanilla comes across a bit strong and drowns out the rooibos a little, but the key word there is ‘little’, with some other vanilla rooibos tisanes I might as well have drunk vanilla extract and had done with it. It definitely one for when I fancy something sweet, and I’d definitely reach for it over the spendy teapigs rooibos blends.

Popcorn Tea from Teapigs
94

I love this tea. Fresh but nutty and a little malty. Definitely getting more.

Edit: Argh. Teapigs, you evil bastards, why can’t I buy this as loose tea now?

Milk Oolong from Oolong Tea Shop
66

I’m not keen, it seemed quite bitter, but I suspect I might have borked up the brewing so I’m going to try again later.

ETA: tried again with lower temperature water. Like it now. Strange sort of malty taste that’s intriguing.

Ginseng Oolong from Oolong Tea Shop
99

I really like this tea and have been having it with my breakfast for the past few days. The tea taste is delicate and the liquorice/aniseed taste of ginseng comes through as an aftertaste rather than overpowering the drink itself.

I’m going to try a few different brands since I’ve never had ginseng oolong before, but this one is so nice it’s encouraged me to try more expensive brands.

Saffron Peony (FW04) from Nothing But Tea
11

I found this quite astringent and probably won’t be buying more, unless things improve over the next couple of cups (the sample pack contains roughly 4 tsp, enough for 4 cups – I’ve had 2 so far)

Edit: Still astringent. I won’t be purchasing more.

Yorkshire Gold from Taylors of Harrogate
88

My favourite standard black tea, lots of flavour, plenty of oomph. Not a good choice for hard water areas (they also make a hard water blend) or people who like weak tea. (I have to add two or three bags of Tetley’s/PG tips just to get my tea strong enough.)

Tetley Tea Bag from Tetley
5

Weak. I needed to put three bags in to make it taste like tea.

Redbush from Tetley
75

A passable rooibos, not particularly flavoursome (though it does have that odd ‘Tetley taste’ somehow, so maybe someone who regularly drinks Tetley tea would like it)

Probably won’t buy it again but if it came down to a choice between standard Tetley tea and this I’d pick this.

Morocco Mint and Spices from Lipton
1

Without sugar = pleh

With one sugar it’s drinkable but I’m still not keen.

Marakesh Mint (AKA Green Tea with Mint) from Teapigs
95

This is my favourite green tea with mint. Most of them seem very bitter and astringent, whereas this one has a light freshness to it. Very, very nice.

Profile

Bio

I’m terrible at writing these things… I’m UK based and like loose leaf tea, especially oolongs and flavoured greens. I’m really not a fan of flavoured blacks but they do find their way into the cupboard occasionally. I share studio space and a teapot with my evil twin, so there’ll be the occasional input from her, especially since the tea budget is her business (lol, that sounds so grown up.)

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