Featured & Popular Tasting Notes

This is one of my favorite, ‘take with me to the snow teas’, for drinking on early cold snowy mornings in bed with a book before waking up the husband and getting his butt out of bed for a day of snowboarding on the mountain. I don’t get pecan specifically from this tea but rather a generic general nuttiness which works well with the Caramel and chocolate notes. The addition of milk amps up the creaminess factor and I couldn’t honestly imagine drinking it without a generous splash. I may have to reconsider more of this tea if my stash runs out before the snow melts this season.

Also known as “Grapefruit Earl Grey”, this Award Winning blend certainly packs a citrus scented punch. Whilst raw it has a wonderful grapefruit, rose and floral scent that is very refreshing but super citrusy at the same time.

In flavour this is lightly sweet with moderate grapefruit and rose petal tones which offers a refreshing taste compared to it’s dark black tea base. Somewhat perfumed but in a wonderful way! Every time I drink rose petals in tea it makes me feel beautiful, and this tea holds no exception. Behind the floral and citrus notes is a dark, malt base which holds the lighter flavours together.

Throughout the flavours remain consistent, even as it cools, and I would say that the balance of flavours was delightful! An inventive twist on the classic Earl Grey but a blend that keeps itself ‘close to home’.

Overall I would say this makes a pleasant change from your classic Earl Grey but keeping the elegance and debonair vibe it has accustomed over the years. While it may not take the place of some of my beloved Earl Grey blends on my shelf, I admit the grapefruit is a wonderful extra in the early afternoon!

So, grapefruit in an Earl Grey? Yes please!

For more information please read my SororiTea Sisters post.
http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/04/04/blue-sky-blend-black-tea-j-atkinson-co/

Backlog. Sipdown.
Oolong group buy: I got a little bit of roast off this tea, plus the usual sour nuts (it’s light). Mineral with some malt and honey. This was an okay tea. I reached for it more that some of the others that I’m torturing myself with. (why I don’t discard them…..)

Adventaggedon Day Twelve – 3/5

Ooooh boy, I was all over this tea when I saw it in the morning. I know that this element of my taste preferences makes me predictable as fuck, but I do really feel like I’m kind of in my element when it comes to teas that taste like trees and this one is even better than that because it’s LITERALLY trees.

I shoved the whole sample in a yunomi cup and drank it grandpa style over the course of the afternoon. Hot, hot water and loonnnggg steep times to draw out even more of that pleasantly sweet and woodsy flavour. Just a bit of a wintergreen note. So fresh, kind of delicate, and reaallllyyyy smooth and easy sipping. I even pulled out one of the sprigs and chewed on it for my metro ride home. Yum!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFXjHXOWrV/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXIw6iHmLbQ

Spring 2019 harvest.

This has been my faithful companion during my morning commute this week. My mornings are pretty hectic as I always seem to be running late to work. I often end up skipping breakfast, but seldom skip tea. Unless I cold brew something the night before, I tend to reach for a no-fuss tea that I can quickly throw in my tumbler and dump hot water on it. But this is more than just a serviceable green tea. It’s a richly vegetal, hearty tea that’s wonderfully fragrant and refreshing.

Dry leaves have a fresh, sweet aroma of watercress and butter lettuce. The tea starts off with a gentle fruitiness, similar to Anji Bai Cha, but nuttier and more assertive. As it steeps, I pick up notes of crisp sugar snap peas and chestnut. The mouthfeel is full, buttery, and complex. There’s an ever so slight bitterness towards the end but nothing overbearing.

I’m pleasantly surprised at how robust this Long Jing is. Usually early picked tea is light and delicate, but this one has that in-your-face green taste that I love. Excellent quality tea all around.

Another pouch from derk. Thank you.
Steeped as suggested, 1.5 tsp, 100°C, 5-7 minutes.

I had to seach what “cota” is. In Czech it is called Marunek or Rmen. Never had it as a herbal tea.

It had somehow generic lemony taste, I was expecting some notes from juniper but nada. No pine notes too! Have I took bad teaspoons? Do I need to have more cota in, or more juniper? Should I crush the berries when brewed? So many questions, some tea left for trying. Won’t rate so far.

I figured i should make a point of having at least one of my green/oolong teas on weekends since during the week, i rarely drink them. I pulled this one out as i always try to drink verdant’s green teas as close to getting them as possible. This tea has some seriously neat twisty leaves. Admittedly, i had hoped the “pine” in the tea name was because they somehow added pine needles to the tea but that was silly of course. :)

Brewed this is a beany, sweet, green tea. I should do a comparison next week maybe of the several greens i received in the tea of the month club…this one is refreshing. I am a fan of this one so far. Will have to see if additional steeps change it up any.

Superanna brought me what is commonly known as a “big ol’ honkin’ bag” of this after her trip to Minnesota. I also got the most adorable box of David’s Tea minis. It looks like a chocolate box, but I am even happier with a tea box! Thank you, Superanna! And there wee a couple of other teas, too, that I haven’t even logged yet.

We whipped this up last night and I am having more today. It is so easy to get a good froth on this. I used a little over 1/2 tsp of match in six ounces of water at about 160F. I sifted the matcha into my bowl, poured a wee bit of water and made a paste with my whisk, then added more water and whipped it. The color is rather dark, deep green without brown tint.

This is really creamy and smooth, yet it still has that nice after bite. It isn’t sour or astringent, but has a lingering flavor or grass and what we decided is accurately being called bamboo. Go eat some bamboo shoots in your Asian takeout if you are like us and bamboo taste didn’t pop into your head immediately on reading the description!

Now I am all matcha’ed up and ready to teach this afternoon.

Guess I need to get my wish list ready for Gurman’s in Dublin before she leaves in a month again! :D

I tried a sample of this from a TTB, and it’s pretty excellent. The black tea is so malty and lovely. Adding milk makes it into such a smooth cup. This has everything I love in a plain black tea. I should have saved some more, but I’ve already mailed the box to the next person – oh well!

I’ve been drinking this one at a rapid pace and have nearly polished off the 100g I picked up. It’s only in retrospect (and after leaving Copenhagen) that I realised I should have picked up another 100g.

Onto the tea! I think this tea is exactly what it says it is. Fresh, delightful, creamy coconut and a smooth unassuming black tea base. It’s really comforting and I actually enjoy the coconut without any other tropical flavours (that often find their way into teas with coconut).

Personal news: I have received my grades and passed my thesis! I officially have my MSc!

March Sipdown Challenge Prompt – Pi Day and Einstein’s Birthday

Superanna gave me this tea and said I could go ahead and unwrap it, but I decided to save it for my birthday and have it be my breakfast tea. This was purchased in Tokyo, I believe, so I had to add it to the data base. The Hawaii store doesn’t sell it.

Pi Day is my actual birthday, but I tip my cup to all of the March babies here, and there are so many of us!

As for the tea, the dry leaves unfurl to quite an impressive size on steeping. The steeped tea has a rich aroma, a lot of body, and a thick, creamy mouthfeel. Lightly steamed asparagus is the leading flavor note to me, and I love asparagus. This has a richness that I associate with the word umami, but I don’t know if I am using that correctly as this has none of the seaweed or briny notes you might find in some teas that carry that description.

Many thanks, Superanna, for a rare and delightful tea treat that I might never have been able to try without your trip to Japan!

Another one of those I can’t believe I am the first one to comment on this stellar tea notes.

This is one inspired and beautifully balanced tea. Imagine a layer of quasi-carrot cake spice buffered by the sweetness of carrot with a shot of maple on a black base that nicely stands up to all this embellishment.

I’m TRYING to be open minded here…
I HATE BANANAS!!!! I mean I HATE Bananas!
BUT…I have had Plantains in a bake that I bought in the freezer section from Kashi and thought that Plantains were ok.

Also…I like Bananas Bread. WEIRD.

So…here goes…

It smells like bananas but the coconut also helps that. Thankfully. It’s a very light colored liquid NOT as bright, vibrant, dark, or richly colored as most Rooibos or Green Rooibos’s even.

THANKFULLY I can taste the coconut more than the Plantain. YAY! I can’t individually or harshly say I can taste the Rooibos above the other ingredients but it contributes to the over all sweetness and even the smoothness of it. It’s unique.

I think if any company would have done this any different I would have not liked it at all. I really think it HAS to have the coconut and the Rooibos in there to accompany the Plantain. RoT gave this one some real thought. I appreciate that! Usually I would NEVER buy something like this blind but because LiberTEAs sent me some I tried and I was surprised! This is alright! Even for someone who HATES Bananas like me!

The more I drink this the more appreciation I have for it. And the more I sip on this the more plantain flavor I am tasting is quite comparable to that of the plantains I have had in that Kashi Microwavable Meal I mentioned above.

Interesting. Surprising. Creative. Innovative. Different.

Oh, I love the scent of this tea. Delicate honeyed spices and sparkling citrus in the background. It doesn’t smell anything like those typical holiday orange/citrus spice teas you see floating around.

I agree with Lala that this smells/tastes slightly syrupy, and also with Dinosara that the said syrupy note is akin to DF’s fig.

As glorious as it smells, I’m having a more difficult time with getting the flavours out without the base going too bold or bitter. The spices and syrupy fruit are quite delicate and thus, struggle to compete with the base. I’m glad I got 50g of this in the group order because it’s giving me lots of room to play with this and figure out what works parameter-wise.

I tried this as an eggnog latte a couple times now. It’s alright but I find the eggnog flavours completely drown out the flavours in this tea, and steeping it stronger does not help. Even adding 2% milk to this places a damper on the flavours. So it’s best straight, which is how I tend to enjoy DF teas in general, but it comes back to the need to peg down those parameters in order to achieve maximum flavour.

I have to say, I’m pretty disappointed in this one. I think this might be the first and only Vadham tea I’ve had and it did not live up to my expectations. The aroma and flavor is more cardamom than rose, which is find because I love cardamom. I do wish the rose was more present though and not overwhelmed by the other. My biggest complaint is that this tastes very watered down. It’s not even that the base is light, I think. It’s just watery. I’ll double the tea next time, for sure. One teaspoon was obviously not enough for me. I have a whole tin of this, so hopefully I’ll find a way to enjoy it. Holding my rating until I can try it again with more tea leaves.

Edit: I just realized this is my 1,984th tasting note which gives me a bit of a thrill because I was born in 1984. This’ll only happen once so I thought I should make note of it!

2016 Sheng Olympics

Not being a fan of the purple variation oolong I have drank, I was still optimistic about this tea. Its really dark and has that funky smell to it, yet I hoped for something mild and unique. Unique I got. At first I was conflicted about my like and dislike for this. In the end I was glad to have tried it and find that this is something I do not enjoy. Its not anything to do with mouth feel, steeping abulity, or price. .. There is just a level of funk to this that makes it seem to be something that was made against its own desires; if a plant can taste such a way.
I am not done trying purple variations though. I will find one I enjoy!

Finally, this long week is finally over! Okay, I know tomorrow is Friday, but we have a bank holiday and it’s greatly appreciated. My co-worker is ill (and will be for long time), I had lots of to do, because I wasn’t in the office last week (because of training) and moreover my brother and father are with Covid — so it’s up to me do all the chores, including shopping groceries. At least they are doing better and better.

Draining! that’s the word.

Anyway, decided to brew this one again, after mowing session (half of the garden done, another chore) and I am glad I chose it.

It’s fairly simple tea. LuckyMe says that it reminds them a sheng puerh and I have to agree. Hay-straw taste, with woody notes indeed. Lighlty mineral this time, the “grassy” notes were stronger. Maybe longer steeping time?

In conclusion, yep — it’s simple. “Wild” doesn’t add any complexity as usual. But afterall, Georgia isn’t the most famous for green teas.

We tried this one last night. I am happy to say that once again, the caffeine in hojicha did not keep me awake. It must be a truly minuscule amount.

As with the other flavored hojicha, the cinnamon is pretty light here. I like this one well enough and would drink it if offered, but it is not a repurchase for me. Ashman really raved over the chocolate one but really didn’t say anything about this one, just drank it. So he didn’t hate it but it didn’t make an impression for him.

As soon as I get a few more sipdowns I plan to try more of their flavored matcha.

Saw this in Cavo’s feed this morning, so figured i could start my day by trying it as well. 5 pearls for 3.5 min, just under boiling. This is a smooth brew, there’s no bitterness and i’m for sure getting some chocolate like notes at the back end of the sip. Not sure i’d keep this in my cupboard, but i’d happily add this to an order to get free shipping heh.

time to get to work on sipdowns…this weekend spent with tea friends means i’m back up to 87!

I actually bought a yuzu in preparation for this tea. After all, how can I comment on a flavored tea if I don’t know what the flavor is supposed to taste like? I ate my yuzu early this morning so thought today was a great time to try this one. I enjoyed the fruit so I hope to enjoy this tea. The tea doesn’t smell quite like fresh yuzu, but it is still noticeably yuzu. The brewed tea smells even less like yuzu – the initial smell is of fresh, vegetal sencha and there’s a little tingle of yuzu underneath.

The taste is intriguing. I didn’t get a noticeable yuzu flavor until I took a few sips one after the other. It seems like the yuzu taste builds but seems to come through the most in the aftertaste. But now I’m getting it some on the very tip of my tongue as I begin to sip. It’s a surprisingly good counterpoint to the sencha. I wouldn’t have thought the yuzu would go well with the sweet, buttery and vegetal taste of the sencha, but it does. It adds a subtle citrus sharpness that keeps the sencha from being too rich or thick.

I’m not quite sure how to rate this. I keep expecting this to taste rich and thick but each sip surprises me with a clean, refreshing citrus flavor. So I can’t quite figure out how high I want to rate this. Somewhere in between the two green smileys but not sure where… Though a big point it this teas favor is the aftertaste – sweet, citrus and buttery. Good stuff.

As I was adding this to the library, I laughed at the “slight hints of smoke” notation in the purveyor’s description—when I opened the tin, I actually reared my head back at the Charge of the Smoke Fumes. (I can only imagine the Attack of Oliver Pluff’s Lapsang Brigade.)

However, liberated from captivity and steeped with a light hand, the smoke dissipates and the caramel and oak notes do make their presence known. It’s downright appropriate for the cool and cloudy weather today, and has the potential, with some additives (maple syrup?) to be bracing and comforting when winter comes to Valley Forge.

Sipdown no. 34 of 2016 (no. 245 total). Backlogging from yesterday morning.

I had big plans for this long weekend on the clean up front, but alas, I got sucked into playing Unravel. I loved it, but this reminds me why I stopped playing computer games. I get obsessed and don’t get to the other things I need to do. It’s the first time I’ve really played a computer game I wanted to play with my kids (as opposed to one they wanted to play), and we made an excellent team. I was the brains and they were the brawn-I figured out the puzzles and they got me past the parts that required fast-twitch reflexes.
Much fun.

I started yesterday morning with this, on my continuing crusade to sip down things I like, not just things I don’t like as much. It’s remarkable how well this captured the butter pecan flavor. The only real negative about this one is that sometimes it could hit my stomach wrong, particularly if I hadn’t eaten first. But in terms of flavor accuracy and pleasantness, it was very nice and I’m sorry to see it go.

Hi Steepster,
Happy New Year! Did anyone get tea for Christmas? I did not, as I was vacationing in India with my boyfriend and his family. We went to Dehli, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi. It was an epic trip and pretty fun, though India was very chaotic and busy, even more so because a lot of people were traveling within the country on vacation. I put a bunch of photos on Instagram under the name TeaBrat.

I did not see any tea plantations, I wasn’t in the right section of the country for that. I didn’t even see a lot of tea shops or tea bars which kind of surprised me. Everyone does drink chai, though it is usually made with milk and very sweet. I’m having a cup of this Lupicia blend because it’s one of the only chais I have. I got it last year in the grab bag sale! I really need to drink this down. As far as chai blends it is kind of “ok” I usually prefer more ginger and cardamom in my tea. I guess I’ll try to drink this down soon.

Back in San Francisco, the weather has been totally dreary and I am still recovering from some 30 odd hours of traveling and not sleeping. Had a really bad bout with stomach issues and then a cold after that. Jet Lag really sucks! It was definitely an adventure though.

This tea is like an old friend. I used to drink this all the time before I really got into loose tea, especially the year back in university when I quit caffeine haha (also, a whole YEAR haha). It’s sweet, lemony, creamy, and actually pretty good for a bagged herbal. It is calming me down and warming me at work, as I am having a frustrating day between a project going poorly and the cold office. Happy I picked up a new tin of this on my lunch break. Yes, it was a bit expensive for what it is, but it’s tasty, so I will roll with it. See previous notes on this tea. (upping rating slightly)

Also, man, the last note I wrote on this was back when I only had 1 tea steeper….LOLOL. Now I have at least…6..I think, not including gongfu teaware. :D