Michelle

Spoilers for Steepster Select’s final box… I probably shouldn’t post this yet, but I’m excited.

This is the first SS box I’ve gotten. I was about to brew a cup of Teavivre’s Fengquing Black Dragon Pearls (quickly becoming my favorite black) when the mailman showed up. Okay, I’ll see what’s in the box. I’ve never tried a Verdant tea before, but I’ve been dying to.

So I saw this and immediately decided to brew up a mug. The dry leaves are really soft and smooth, and almost remind me of plastic. And they have a strong, unique scent – sort of like dark chocolate, malt balls and whole wheat bread. It’s enticing.

Steeped, it’s a deep chocolate brown. I’m liking this already. My sister, who’s sitting across the living room, just asked me “Are you making brownies?” No, Jenny, it’s my tea. “Oh. Is it brownie tea?”

First sip: dry astringency and wheat. It’s still a bit hot, so it wasn’t a proper sip. Trying it again: dark, bitter chocolate with wheat in the background. I think I steeped it a bit too strongly, but that’s totally okay. This tea is somehow dry and smooth all at once. Delicious.

Paradise Found (David’s) and Strawberry Lemonade (Teavana)

I’m a bit frustrated at myself for ordering David’s just to take advantage of the free Paradise Found, and then not liking it. I mean, I suppose I couldn’t have known, but it’s still disappointing. In all my sample-sharing, I found just a little bit of Strawberry Lemonade left over from last semester in the back of my stash, and figured it couldn’t hurt to try it.

Steeped 3 min, 1tsp PF, 2tsp SL, 1tsp rock sugar – 16oz.

Blech. I preemptively added rock sugar and reminded myself why I don’t do that… too sweet. Also, too much SL. It was drinkable, but cloying and tasted sort of like Kool-Aid.

Sigh.

On the plus side, a friend I’ve been trying to make plans with for months years now said “I intend to see you soon,” so maybe we’ll finally get to see each other? Living 200 miles apart has its downsides. But super excited to finally see him again!

It’s raining out (pouring, actually – all our chickens are huddled on the ground under the hutch. Why they don’t go up into their nesting box is a mystery to me, but who can fathom the mind of a hen?) and I’m really in the mood for a tea latte. I started to make another cup of a green, and then though “No, I need something a bit more substantial.”

So here goes.

The last time I had this tea, it was the very end of school. Our classes were done, as were most of our finals, and we were basically just hanging out in the common room, waiting for our parents to come pick us up, saying goodbye to other girls on our floor. I remember sitting at one of the side tables and playing a VERY enthusiastic came of Candy Land (a bit too enthusiastic for the 24/7 quiet hours we were supposed to be observing) and not liking this tea much. It was too spicy, too bitter, not sweet enough. I converted it into a latte, and liked it a bit more, but not totally.

This time, I just started with it in latte form. I steeped the chai for five minutes, heated the milk in the microwave (I don’t have a real steamer… yet…) and then frothed it with my little Ikea stick frother. I forgot the sugar in the tea, though, and I can taste its absence. I added a bit of honey afterwards, but I really just want a teaspoon of German rock sugar here.

It’s very spicy. So much so that I won’t be ordering it again. I taste a little bit of apple, but it’s mostly ginger and cinnamon and slightly bitter black tea. I’m not a chai fanatic, but this one was just okay.

Home from work two hours early – my calender said 3; the wall chart at work said 1. I’m certainly not going to argue! So now it’s tea time.

I received this in a swap from Rachel about a month ago, and I’m not sure if I’ve tried it yet or just failed to log it.

The leaves are fuzzy, green and grey and twisted into long, thing shapes. They smell of grass and moss.

It brews up a surprisingly dark color – it’s not what I would describe as green or gold. It’s almost a pale bronze color, a light golden brown.

I’m being a little put-off by the color/flavour – it tastes very grassy, but it looks like a black. It’s easier to reconcile the flavor profile if I close my eyes and don’t look at the tea. There’s a little bit of dry astringency, some asparagus and spinach notes.

Not a tea I’d purchase, but thanks to Rachel for letting me try it!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

This is the only Teavana that’s become a staple in my cupboard (and, indeed, I think the only tea I’ve ever purchased time and again).

Smooth, buttery, sweet, nutty, just a hint of grass – the list goes on and on. Beautiful. I love this tea!

Thanks to Epi Tea for the pre-release sample of this!

Starting off, this was the tea I was least excited to try. I don’t really like adding milk to teas – it’s a bit too heavy for me – but I’m also a wimp when it comes to spice.

I’m surprised at how much I like this. The immediate fragrance from this is apple cinnamon – it’s Christamsy, somehow. Cinnamon, ginger – like cookies.

I taste the black base primarily. The spice is almost an aftertaste. I like the whole peppercorns – adds a bit of kick. It’s smooth in a way I wouldn’t have expected.

Huh.

Came home, really really tired – my body’s beat, not sure why, but I slept from 12pm to 9am, and then from about 10am-3pm. And I’m still exhausted and my eyes hurt and I have a headache, so I think I’m going to finish watching Sherlock with my friend (she’s never seen it before and she’s in Iowa, so she’s liveblogging it, and her comments are hilarious.) and get my words in for tonight and then just go to bed. Long shift tomorrow too. Fun.

Tea.

Tossed one of these little tuochas into my tasting cup. I’m underwhelmed. It’s a decent pu’erh, I guess, but it’s fairly flavorless. Generally just meh.

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample!

My first experience with milk oolong was bad, to say the least. I tried the Quangzhou Milk Oolong from David’s, as it came in a sampler pack, and I took two sips and threw it out. All I could taste was rice pudding, and that’s not what I want when I’m drinking tea.

I tried this with a bit of trepidation, fully expecting to hate it. But I like it!

It’s really creamy and floral, and while the milkiness isn’t my favorite, it’s certainly not as rice-y as I remember the one from David’s to be.

I don’t think it’s a tea I’d buy, but it’s a good cup for today.

Woke up this morning with a craving for oolong. Okay. I don’t have a ton, but I knew I had about half this sample kicking around in my sample box.

It was generally unremarkable. Not to say it was bad – it was just exactly what you’d expect from an oolong, fairly run-of-the-mill, not very exciting. It was smooth and creamy, a little bit buttery, some floral notes on later steeps.

All in all, a solid tea and a good start to the morning, just not one that I’d go out of my way to purchase.

DOCTOR WHO SERIES – JACKIE TYLER

Comforting and protective, she’ll give you a hug while simultaneously kicking someone’s ass for you.

A combination of chamomile, orange, rosehip and rosepetals, this tea is sweet and light and just a little bit tart. The chamomile lends it a bit of honey flavor at the front of the sip, and it finishes with the rosehip and orange.

Really, really good. Much better than expected. I’ve had an idea for this forever, and never had the ingredients to make it happen. I kind of feel as though I should be logging these as separate teas, since the ingredients are more or less finalized… but oh well. When I get around to doing the label artwork.

Oh, hey there, hibiscus, didn’t see you hiding there.

I really only got this because David’s had the 50g free with any purchase promotion last week. I have to say – shipping to MA is about three days faster than shipping to NY, which is cool. And of course David’s emails me today with a Perfect Mug promotion… I’ve been wanting to get one of those for months… and but I have textbooks et al to buy now. Not cool, David’s, not cool.

Opening the bag, this smells fantastic. I’m reminded of Teavana’s Youthberry / Wild Orange blend, but better. It’s a bit fuller, like it has something that the Teavana blend is lacking. Maybe it’s tea itself, having a more substantial black/green base as opposed to their barely-there white? I don’t know.

The color is beautiful. It’ a rich ruby red. I haven’t drank fruity tea in so long, it’s been awhile since I’ve had any tea that’s not a variant of brown or green!

But, oh, the hibiscus. It’s all I taste. And I like hibiscus. In moderation.

I’m leaving off a rating because I had a few sips of this hot, fell asleep, and I’m not liking it after it’s cooled down, but man, I’m just not feeling this.

A friend sent me a small sample of this, with the description “Indian White.”

It looks like a white peony / bai mu dan – all brittle, flat leaves.

I’m very sad that this is the end of the sample, since I’m on the third steep and still going strong. Really sweet and soft, creamy. It’s almost like sugar snap peas. It sparkles.

Does anyone have any Indian White teas to recommend me? I haven’t tried any outside of this, but I don’t want to let this one go!

Thanks so much to Epi Tea for the pre-release sample of this!

Uh… this is kind of long. Sorry! Skip to the second half for the actual tea :)

Whew. Busy morning. I dropped my sister off at camp, came home, brewed and photographed this. I had computer issues. Panicked. I only have one tea bag, and I need the photo for my blog, and if I can’t get the pictures of the memory card, I can’t drink this tea yet! And of course it was time for work too. I changed into my uniform and drove all the way out there, punched in, rang out a customer, checked the schedule and realized that my 11-5 is next Tuesday, not this Tuesday. Sigh.

I punched out, changed back into street clothes, figured I might as well pick up some envelopes and school supplies while I was there. I was looking at notebooks, and a girl was complaining to her mum that the only notebooks we had were black or grey. I work there… even on my day off, I feel obligated to do what I can. Especially during Back to School season (our busiest). So I ran up the ladder and pulled a couple of boxes down for her. My boss walked by, just sort of shook his head in exasperation at me. Customer was happy, though, so that’s all good.

On to the tea. I didn’t put any milk or sugar in this, but I don’t need to. There’s usually too much bergamot in Earl Greys, but I didn’t get that impression with this one at all. The first flavor I get is lavender. Not overdone lavender, just lavender. Good. I haven’t had lavender in awhile, and I forgot how much I liked it! That’s intermingled with the black tea base (Ceylon? Assam?). And then, finally, at the very very end of the sip, almost in the aftertaste, comes a bit of the dry, soapy bergamot.

That sounds bad. It’s very, very good. It compliments the cool dryness of the lavender really really well, and it almost lends a texture more than a flavor.

I’ve found my Earl Grey. This is fantastic. I want to buy some as soon as it’s available!

Feeling lazy tonight. I’ve been using bags all day. I’ve had about six cups of Adagio’s Ginger Peach, but I’m bored of that. So out comes the Lapsang!

I went to go harass collect eggs from the chickens while this was steeping. Two from Cora, one from Addie and one from Mabel. (That’s assuming, of course, that they haven’t been stealing each others’ eggs… Cora lays green eggs, though, so we know which ones are hers!)

Came back, decided that I really didn’t want hot tea, poured it into a different cup, filled this one with ice cubes, then poured it back over the ice. I didn’t plan for this to be iced, so it’s a bit light in flavor, but that’s perfect.

Just the right amount of smokiness here. It’s a little bit malty and a little bit spicy. I think I’ll spend the rest of the night in bed with Netflix and a few cups of this :)

Decupboarding! Backlogging from earlier today.

This was the first sample we offered at the tea party my friend and I hosted a few weeks ago – so much fun!

This is the best Cream of Earl Grey I’ve tried. I don’t like Teavana’s offering at all – their straight Earl Grey is far too strong, and their EGC tastes incredibly artificial.

This is light and smooth. I usually add a bit of milk and sugar, and it’s equally as good hot as iced. Not sure I’ll be ordering more, just because I’ve still got 2oz of Teavana’s to sipdown, and I can’t really justify buying more tea (isn’t that everyone’s problem?)

I love how Virtuous has a little basket of their bestsellers as free samples. As I was checking out the last time I was there, the woman sort of waved the basket in front of me and said “Free samples! Help yourself.” I got very excited of course, and took this one as well as a few others.

No steeping paramaters provided, and I didn’t feel like going online, so I just did a general 180 degree, 2 minute steep.

I don’t get a lot of flavor out of this. It’s really creamy, that I will say. After looking at the description of the tea online, I taste hints of vanilla and pumpkin. There’s a really light green taste behind that as well.

It says it’s excellent iced, and I’m brewing it hot, so that might be something too. I don’t dislike the tea, it’s just a bit lackluster for me. Leaving off a rating because I’m not sure it’s fair to review a tea badly just because I might have made it wrong, especially when I’m the only review!

Thanks very much to Epi Tea for the pre-release sample of this!

I have to admit I’m a bit underwhelmed by this tea, especially after the Berry Rooibos yesterday. I don’t know if it’s me, but I just can’t taste the blood orange in this at all. I can smell it a bit, the taste is all rooibos.

Still, it’s a good cup, and I look forward to trying the rest of the samples!

Pre-release sample graciously provided to me by Epi Tea!

I really love the convenience of pyramid bags, and it makes me happy that the bags are biodegradable and the teas are organic. One less thing to feel bad about!

The rooibos here is well-balanced with the berry. It’s tart, but without the overpowering hibiscus that a lot of berry teas have. I like hibiscus, admittedly, but it can get tiresome. I don’t particularly like red rooibos (or rooibos in general, but give me green any day) but this is surprisingly tasty. I’ve added a bit of local honey and left the bag in while it steeps.

The only thing I wish about this tea was that there was more rooibos in the sachet, or that I had a second sachet to double the strength. I feel like this tea would make a fantastic summer iced tea. All in all though, it’s a solid offering, and a promising beginning!

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample!

I’ve never had a ginseng tea before, and never really had any ginseng. I’ve only really ever seen it on commercials “With ginseng for extra energy!” or whatever ginseng is marketed to do So I don’t know what the ingredient tastes like. But we’ll give this one a try!

The dry leaf smells kind of like a rock oolong. It’s dark and toasty. The feel of the leaves is different: they’re coated in something (probably ginseng). They’re uniformly dark green and almost matted together. The leaves feel sort of rough to the touch, like moss growing over asphalt.

Steeped in my tasting cup (I really want to get my hands on a gaiwan!) for short infusions.

Wet leaf smell – I’m picking up that same rock oolong scent, but stronger. There’s also a bit of a walnutty smell here. I’m hoping that doesn’t come through in the taste, because I’m mildly allergic, and I’d like to avoid starting the day with a headache.

First steep – 10s

The liquor is a rich golden color. It’s not pale at all, the way I’d expect a 10s steep to be. It looks like I’ve steeped it for a lot longer.

Nope, no walnuts in the taste! Excellent. The first few sips were rather tasteless, as I was focusing on the nuts and trying to separate the ginseng taste from the rest of the flavor. I gave up on that, and a sweetness started hitting me incredibly strongly at the back of my mouth. It was like a regular, unremarkable oolong, and then – BAM! Sweet! It’s all aftertaste. Interesting.

Second steep – 20s

The liquor has the same golden honey color as before, but it’s a little darker, a little more bronze. The leaves in the tasting cup have mainly unfurled, but they’re still rather crinkly. Reminds me of my wardrobe after it’s come out of a suitcase… :)

There’s a bit of astringency in the flavor here. The utter sweetness of the aftertaste has abated, and it just reminds me of a more astringent rock oolong.

Third steep – 30s.

Smooth, a little bit nutty. I dunno. This tea just isn’t doing it for me today. Thankfully, Teavivre’s samples are large enough to try a few times, but maybe this one just isn’t for me.

Sipdown. Took two sips of this and poured it out. Far too much jasmine.

Tis was sent to me courtesy of Teavana!

It’s an okay tea. There’s too much emphasis on the “creme” bit, so I’m finding that it tastes a bit artificial.

Tasting notes will be short as my computer has a virus and I’m stuck typing on the iPad. Buying that keyboard case back when I could afford it sounds like a good idea now… Ah well.

Sipdown. Finishing off the last of the sample of this. Brewed in my 2-cup teapot, then poured over ice in the teacup. It’s only 9:30 AM here and already it’s stifling. Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon hiding in my room with the A/C – I brought my kettle and tasting cup up with me, and really only came downstairs to swap out the teas.

I’m docking the rating a few points, just because I’m not as enamored with it as I was – it’s great, but after trying all these delightful offerings from Teavivre, I’m just not too excited about this one. Still good, though.

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample!

I’m still a pu-erh novice, although I’m fascinated by them and am trying to branch out. This is the first one I’ve tasted that has a date attached to it. I’m locking myself in my room with the A/C (not strong enough to actually make the room cool, but at least I’m not sweating… I hate summer.)

The scent of the dry leaves is definitely dark and earthy. There’s a hint of the “fishiness” associated with pu-erh, but it’s no more than a passing whiff. Beyond that, it just smells old. Like smoke and leather and oak trees. There’s a lighter sweetness to the scent of the wet leaf.

First steep – 10 s

It’s a very dark brown color. It reminds me of the barn I used to ride at, down the street from my house. It was built into a hill and was very long and narrow, dusty and dirty and dim. When I look at the liquor it reminds me of the color of a well-used saddle, dark and leathery and deep.

I’d definitely describe this tea as “woodsy.” It’s not heavy, but it’s dark, and there’s a surprising coolness of mint here.

Second steep – 20s

Still dark, flavor a bit stronger than the first steep. Unremarkable.

Third steep – 30s.

Oh, God, yes. I let this cool to drinkable temperature before I attempted a sip. Oh my goodness. The first thing that hits my tongue is caramel. Sweet, light, a hint of chocolate with just the tiniest bit of astringency at the finish. Lighter, golden caramel colored liquor.

I’ll post this now, since I don’t want it getting longer than it already is (oops), but Teavivre, you’re killing me. You’re killing me! I can’t wait till school starts so I have money to go tea shopping.

Another gratuitous sample from Teavivre! I really wanted to try some more of their teas but I didn’t feel like sitting down to something dark, and I’d already had a cup of the Dragonwell this morning. So here goes with this one.

When I opened the sample package, I looked inside to see that the buds were a bit more curled than I’d seen previously, and there are some small leaves mixed in with the buds. Bending down to take a closer look, I was hit with a really strong scent – much more strong than I’d expected. It was a lot different too – very flavorful. Beyond the jasmine I got whiffs of peach, plum and nectarine. There’s something else there that I can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe a sort of orchid scent? It almost reminds me of the forest, mossy and cool, but not dark. Regardless, it’s the best smelling unaltered white tea I’ve ever smelled.

The steeping instructions asked for 1-3 minutes; I steeped mine for approximately 2 to 3. I didn’t set a timer. After steeping, the buds look a bit of a brighter green than before, and they’ve started to unroll just slightly. The wet scent of these is similar to the dry scent, but not as strong. I’m also getting a little bit closer to the flavor I was unable to identify in the dry leaves – it smells almost mossy, somehow.

I used my 2-cup teapot for this, which is a light rose color. I really do need to get a glass or a white teapot. I’ve been eyeing the 18oz glass ForLife ones… sigh. Too many teapots, so little money. As it pours, the stream looks white. Even in the light pink teacup, I can see that the liquor is a pale yellow in color. The scent of the liquor is even fainter than the scent of the wet leaves, but it’s still along the same line.

It tastes fantastic. I haven’t had a lot of experience with yin zhen teas – I’ve tried the Teavana silver needles and David’s jasmine-scented. Both of them have been soft but fairly tasteless to me. I can hardly taste the jasmine in David’s.

But this – this is something else. I can taste the jasmine there without a doubt, but it’s light and delicate, without the overpowering dryness or “soapy” qualities it can have when used in excess. The best descriptor I can find for the tea is “round.” It’s clear and pure, mild and sweet. It’s the fullest-flavored yin zhen I’ve ever tasted, and it has its own distinctive flavor.

The first time I went into Teavana (hardly knowing anything about tea, but knowing that silver needles was considered “expensive and quality”) I asked for a cup of their silver needles so I could taste it. The girl there said “Sure, but it has a very light flavor it’s really best blended with other teas. Would you like to try that?” She blended it with another, and it was good, but this is a tea which, while very light, needs nothing extra to taste fantastic.

Thanks again Teavivre – you’ve sold me. Another one I have to add to my shopping list!