Missy

This is my favorite green tea so far. I like it because it is so different. It has a light roasted note that leads to sweet mellow vegetal flavor. Not like asparagus or steamed veggies, like the way small trees smell if cut into the bark. Maybe it’s just a green flavor that is a tiny bit malty. I’ve had some smokey tea today so I don’t know if I am getting the aftertaste from my previous tea or there is a little bit of smoke in this one as well. It’s a really awesome green tea. I was pretty sure green teas weren’t going to be my thing but this is totally changing my mind.

Thanks Teavivre and Angel for the most excellent sample!

This is yummy. A very smooth blend with high fruity notes. I really like the only keemun I’ve tried and I feel I can taste it in here. The smoke is a mild addition that compliments the other teas.

I’m really glad I joined Steepster or I would never know about any other teas, other than black that is. Oolong piqued my curiosity because it has a funny looking name and most of the pictures I had seen of it were little balls, such neat little packages. The first oolong I tried was a bit too green for me and almost put me off of them all together. I’m so glad it didn’t as this tea is really wonderful.

I steeped it three times so far. All of my steepings were the same temperature. I added a minute more each time. With each one I’ve had empty cup syndrome. My first steeping was and incredibly smooth, suave cup that hinted at honey and fruit in it’s sweetness. The second was still very smooth and sweet but I felt like the “oolong” taste was deeper. On the third the “oolong” taste was much more intense. It didn’t get in the way of the honey and fruity notes. The tea was still smooth and so comfortable. Very complex with out being overly fussy or hard to suss out. I’m going to save the leaves and begin again tomorrow and see what unfolds.

This is a sample from Sandy and indirectly Azzrian. Thanks to both!

Wow! Love this stuff. It reminds me of shortbread cookies with caramel. There is a roasted quality to the baked goodie flavor that is just awesome. The base is smooth and malty. Lovely tea!

This is a generous sample from Indigobloom. Thanks!

Today is stormy and cool, a perfect day for trying out new teas. Since Steepster is upgraded and I can log in, it’s a good time for trying out new things.

I thought this had nutty qualities much like the last green tea I tried from Teavivre. It’s pretty smooth in texture and taste, like butter. I was pleasantly surprised by the peach flavor in here. Awesome tea. Thanks again Indigo!

This is another very generous sample from Sandy. Dodge really likes this one. I suspect she loves the hibiscus.

It’s pretty tart. I think I pick up the rosehips and hibiscus with hints of orange. This is the love child of lemonade and koolaid. The rooibos can’t compete with the above superpowers. It’s smooth and heavier feeling so perhaps the chamomile is trying to make a good showing.

This was a very generous sample from Sandy. If I recall correctly she thought it would be great iced. I made a pitcher of it for icing and a pot. Honestly with a name like this I didn’t want to wait for it to be chilled.

This is an interesting interpretation of earl grey. Hot, bergamot and vanilla are much stronger with just hints of fruit in the back ground. Iced the fruit really takes the show and the bergamot and vanilla are just support. The tea base is smooth with a coppery aftertaste and just a hint of malt.

This was a sample from Sandy. Thanks! What a lovely tea. I’m surprised because I’m not that big a fan of bergamot, but this is blended rather well.

I only pick up hints of bergamot in here just past the creamy lemon flavor. It’s reminiscent of baked good. The lemon is sweeter rather than tart. The bergamot definitely hangs out in the background, just serving as support for the lemon. Bai mu dan makes a good showing and adds a pepper like note to wrap things up.

Today we decided to compare Morrocan Mints in our cupboard. This one falls a bit short because the Market Spice rules supreme in the mint department. This may be a case of artificial flavorings vs natural flavorings. It could, also be the Market Spice has a lot more mint in the mix as well. It appears that way.

My expectations were fulfilled as far as the mints go. Sweet spearmint rounding out the crisp, refreshing bite of peppermint. I feel this tea is stronger in the gunpowder fu. The gunpowder being more prominent causes the mint to take back ground until the tea has cooled. Gunpowder here hints at roasted veggies with a bit of smoke. It is very smooth like a creamy butter. I’ll have to ice it soon and see what happens with it then.

Hello Steepster! Today things seem to be moving smoothly enough I can try a posting. Since summer is right around the corner Dylan procured some samples of iced tea blends.

This one is pretty good but heavier on the citrus notes than I typically take. Citrus here seems to be plenty of orange with subdued grapefruit and an almost pungent note in the background. I did feel there was a fruity sweet flavor that rounded all the citrus out nicely. The base is smooth and brisk without any bitterness or astringency. Not a bad iced tea really if you like the citrus. I think citrus piledriver would suit me better. I love that creamy addition to the citrus.

I liked this one hot but I think it’s just as good iced. Dylan didn’t much care for it. The citrus feels more refreshing when it’s cold. The cold also really makes the cream and vanilla flavors pop out.

I drank this one right after my darjeeling comparison today. I find I can taste the darjeeling in it. That bright, coppery flavor I think must be a characteristic of darjeelings. I think the ceylon adds a depth to the sweetness of it and a hint of some thing like wood smells. I really like bergamot and vanilla together, but this is amazing. It has no perfume smell or taste to it at all and yet I still know for sure there is bergamot in it. Dylan thought this might be really good iced. I agree, I’ll save the last little bit for icing.

Today I decided to compare the Darjeelings I have here. I have four. Three from Upton and one from Goldenmoon. I actually tried this one a week ago or so. Now I need to find the best of the lot.

Again this is soooooo yummy. This one is bright and coppery too but very smooth. The fruity notes I think I get with darjeelings are quite apparent this time, lots of peach. I can’t find the bite I normally get with black teas. I’ve had it for about 5 minutes with another cup and they are both gone! Sad face.

This one took second place in the tea comparison the night before last. It had the same apple like sweetness to it but the jasmine fu was much stronger with this one. It was done well enough the jasmine did not have super powers. I would really enjoy this one if I hadn’t fallen in love with Teavivre’s jasmine pearls.

This one fell pretty short night the night before last. It was very heavy on the jasmine and quite bitter. I brewed all of them at 176 for 1 minute. That was the instructions on the Teavivre package. None of the other packages had clear instructions. So one ring to rule them all. I think in the future I may have to try a lower temperature and see if I can get rid of that bitterness.

This was a sample Dylan won in Teavivre’s facebook contest. Thanks Teavivre!

The night before last we did a comparison of the jasmine teas we have. This is the clear winner of last nights trial. I was fully prepared to deal with a nauseous tummy. This is the core of my hatred for floral things. To my delight I’ve discovered not all floral teas are equal. As long as the floral is not heavy or cloying I do not get a stomache from it. Score!

I thought the jasmine here was subtle. I could definitely taste it and had no trouble recognizing what it was. It just wasn’t rearing up to apply a breath weapon on me. The green tea was crisp, light and crunchy. It had a fruity sweetness to it that reminded me of apples. It was vastly different from the other greens I’ve experienced in a very pleasant way. The base and the jasmine worked perfectly with each other making this tea, in my opinion, jasmine tea perfection.

This one fell the shortest for me. It was the most powerful jasmine. I found the green tea base after I waded through the heavy, cloying jasmine. I got the standard green tea taste for a few seconds after the tea had cooled. This is the kind of jasmine tea that will give me problems. It’s like drinking sweet swamp water. They should really rename it to hulk smash jasmine tea. If you’ve found that your jasmine is weak before, give this a shot. It should clear that right up for you.

Oh man this is good good good! I’ve heard the term “champagne of teas” applied to darjeelings before. I wouldn’t use it as I can’t stand that stuff. I really want to say medium bodied but what does that even mean?! In my head, medium bodied should be more complex nuances and a heavier feeling tea. (One of the plentiful tea aficionados can clear this up for me if they are so inclined.)

This is bright and coppery with hints of fruity like qualities. I’d say almost peach then grape, so you can tell I really can’t make up my mind on this one. There is a bit of a bite to this one. Nothing unpleasant, just a mineral taste, making it assertive. There is slight bit of astringency, what I think of as standard and acceptable, so over all a scrumptious tea.

This is one of those teas I can handle the hibiscus in. The lovely orange flavor powers through the pucker my face tart of the hibiscus. With a bit of sugar you get some thing like orange and red fruit lemonade. Pretty good drink especially iced.

So I had several teas today. I tried to review them earlier but Steepster was down for kettle cleaning. Someone finally turned off that kettle.

I get creamy chocolate notes with licorice mostly. Cardamom, cinnamon and ginger seemed to have blended into a different sort of spice. It’s difficult to pick each one up separately. The tea feels a bit malty and smooth. I think I’d rather keep a different chai around, since I’m not a big fan of licorice. So far no one has been able to beat the comfort and pleasure I get with Indian Tea from MarketSpice.

I’d rather drink Adagio’s Irish Breakfast. I’m not sure what’s going on in this one but it seems like some thing is wrong. I find that “tea” taste with quite a bit of bitterness. I swear I’m tasting sour apple as well. There is a fair amount of astringency to it, more than I typically enjoy. The only other ceylon I’ve had seemed sweeter and more behaved. I’ll have to try ceylons out some time too. My to-drink list is getting longer every day.

This morning we are trying straight blacks out. I felt I needed a pick me up. I slept the appropriate amount of time last night but I’m still groggy.

This is a full bodied, malty tea ending pleasantly sweet. The mouth feel is almost creamy. There is a touch of astringency that keeps this tea from truly feeling creamy for me. I don’t think it will grab me by my nonexistent chairs and shake me awake as well as some of the CTC irish breakfasts I’ve tried. Those teas that look like they may possibly be instant coffee really seem to pack a punch. I enjoy this one more. It’s more civilized.

This is a part of the batch of samples that Angel and Teavivre sent me to try out. Thanks guys!

I think this is the best green tea I’ve tried so far. It’s the least stewed-veggie tasting green I’ve tried. I do get a just a bit of that to start off with but then it moves into a sweet almost spice taste. It’s really interesting that I can’t put my finger on actual spice this flavor comes closest to. It reminds me of several different spices, almost. I just get to thinking it’s like so and so and then I lose it and it’s different. It’s chameleon tea! Now I have to talk Dylan into to liking this enough that it’s the green he wants to keep around. ;)

Another review based off of stolen sips from Dylan’s cup. Muahaha! This is an interesting interpretation of chai.

I expected to get more chai-ness but I think those tropical flavors are winning out this time. Coconut and licorice grab my attention first with cardamom tailing behind faintly. I can’t find the cinnamon here. That may have some thing to do with my love of cinnamonstrosities.

It’s not a bad chai for some thing different but I really miss my three C’s (cinnamon, cardamom and clove) taking the lead.