Featured & Popular Tasting Notes

additional notes:  I’m having my own themed day and having three pancake teas for PANCAKE DAY (also will be having pancakes for dinner.)  Just finished a pouch of this.  It’s sadly losing some of it’s flavor at this point, though not that old.
2021 sipdowns: 21

What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

I think my ‘nicest thing ever’ may have happened yesterday: I was waiting for the bus and a woman pulled over and insisted I take $50 from her because God told her that I was supposed to have it. I tried fairly adamantly to refuse because shit that’s a lot of money, but she just kept repeating that I needed it more than she did. I decided to use it to treat my roommates and myself to pizza because we’ve all had a pretty stress filled week and I think something fun and free was really what we all needed.

Perhaps not a perfect pairing by any stretch, but this is what I drank with my Jesus Pizza. And it was delicious! Lemon and caramel might not compliment pineapple and red onion pizza and jalapeno poppers but they’re a solid and tasty enough combination to over come them…

Additional notes: I really wanted to try a smoky tea mixed with a cream tea. Turns out I don’t have a cream tea around. The closest I could think of is Adagio’s Cream but I don’t have that around at the moment. So I tried Adagio’s Vanilla tea and I can’t taste it at ALL underneath all this smoke. I love the idea though! Maybe plain ol actual cream, but I don’t have that around right now either. It would be GOOD if I had the right teas to mix together.

Any suggestions for cream smoke teas?

Gongfu Sipdown (1459)!

Thank you Togo for this sample! I don’t drink a ton of dancong in general, but when I do I tend to really prefer ones like this that have such sweet and syrupy notes of lychee and plums. The later steeps seemed to pick up in terms of roastedness as well, almost giving the affect of a grilled lychee! I didn’t take great notes while having this session so much of the nuance has been lost, but know that I really enjoyed the deeper character of this tea and over the course of the several steeps I brewed it was very lovely! In fact, it’s probably almost a good sign that there weren’t a ton of things that stood out about it to me.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTcZpBzA96E/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94u6vCgcdE&ab_channel=sixteenandsomething

Today I am taking a look at Teanami’s Bu Lang (2011 Raw) a Sheng Puerh made from ancient trees. And when I first saw they were made from ‘ancient trees’ I cringed, that is such a hot topic on the interwebs lately and has become a really unpleasant bit of marketing, but they say their trees are at least 100 years old and that is so much more believable. I’ve known a lot of trees in the 200-500 range when I lived in the mountains, and I am pretty sure the massive spruce in the yard is almost 100 since it is as old as the house…but I am getting off on a tree tangent. Anyway, Bulang, I have so far only had Shou from this mountain, honestly staying away from the Sheng because it has a reputation to be rather bitter, but it eases off the bitter as it gets some age to it, and with my Sheng drinking being limited (thanks ya jerk of a stomach) I go for the sweet or camphorous stuff. But I do love a tea adventure, so here we go! So, this tea does not smell like something that will be bitter, it smells like fresh white grapes, cut sunwarmed hay, a tiny touch of leather, honey, dried apricots, and a tiny almost undetectable (took me a few sniffs) camphor note. I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet this tea smells!

Cranking the kettle to 200°F and giving the tea a rinse, the aroma of the leaves is a bit on the pungent side with wet hay, lemon rind, apricots, and a touch of spinach. The aroma of the first steeping is pleasantly light and sweet, with an undertone of lemon and hops and a tiny hint of camphor.

At the beginning of the tea session, well, you could fool me that this tea is bitter. Granted I do brew it at less than boiling which makes me different from the real pu-heads, but I like it that way. I would describe it as tangy rather than bitter, like lemon rind but not as sour, with accompaniments of spinach and cooling light camphor. It has a thickness and a touch of a dry mouth, and the aftertaste reminds me of the taste of leather. Around steep three it starts to get a bit of that bitterness, though lucky for me it is the bitterness of kale rather than of hops, like some bitter shengs can get, and I really dislike hops.

Ah, this sheng is doing that fun thing where it flip flops from bitter to sweet in a drool induced instant. Like going from kale leaves covered in lemon to dried apricots and hay with a leather finish. Sadly around steep four I am getting that obnoxious dull ache in my guts which makes me so happy for my tiny baby gaiwan. A little farther into the steeping session brings out a tobacco note, which blends well with the aftertaste of leather.

Whelp, this is a tea that definitely outlasted me, nine steeps in and the leaves have only barely unfurled. It is starting to ramp up the bitter notes. The bitterness is pleasant, really wakes up the palate and causes a great salivary sweetness. Sadly this is definitely one of those Shengs that kills my stomach, which angers me because I really wanted to see how far I could stretch this tea out. I am curious if it would be milder on my stomach with more age, perhaps I will come back to it in a decade!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/06/teanami-bu-lang-raw-2011-tea-review.html

Made this in my curve travel mug, which I am currently loving but will review later, because I don’t want the ‘honeymoon stage’ to colour my perception.

I’m sad that river tea went out of business so soon after starting up, as I really did enjoy many of their blends. This one in particular got rave reviews, and so I pretty much filled my steeping basket with the trail mix and let it steep endlessly. I’m drinking it a few hours later, and it’s really like people are describing: liquified banana bread. I suspect that waiting for two years to drink it has not been kind to this tea, but I know it could be a lot worse. It’s begging for a bit of milk though, but even just like this, you can taste a ton of banana followed by the way your mouth feels after you’ve eaten dates, without the actual taste of date if that makes sense. Maybe a honeyed sensation more than anything else. It’s lovely to sip on and it’s helping to warm me up in my frigid office. And tasting better as it cools!

As of today, I have drank every black tea in my collection (33) this month!
One of my goals was to drink one black tea per day, and admittedly, some of them have been drank more than once. Another goal is to drink every oolong & green tea, and I’m closing in on that goal as well, I have 10 to go. I’m also trying to complete my sip down extravaganza, at least for now, but enjoying anything that I only have one serving left of. I’m getting close!

So this tea…I’ve already reviewed it a few times: heady aroma, both sweet & floral, even a little incense to it. I can’t think of anything else to say, so I think it’s time for something else to drink…

OMGsrsly (or someone else who passed along this tea) wrote “interesting” on my sample packet, which essentially sums this tea up. It’s not the savory spices that are “interesting”, but the fact that I don’t get pineapple from this pineapple tea at all.

The dry blend smells of tropical fruits, but the fruitiness to taste is more a fuzzy peach, banana runts, or even plantain/banana with the finish and aftertaste- also reminiscent of a clove and banana accented hefeweizen. But, just as there’s a smiley face at the end of that “interesting” on my packet, this tea is a lot of fun- you just have to accept it for it is.

The aroma of the broth is probably the most “pineapple-y” aspect of this tea, so I’ll continue to breathe deep. Although now I want a plantain tea. Or a German Wheat Beer. Whichever is closer.

I see on the 52 Teas site that there was apparently a rather recent reblend of this, but that’s not the one I have.

In rereading my original note on this, I mentioned that as it was no longer available I’d have to husband my supply. That was the “old” thinking, the save the best for last thinking I’m trying to get away from.

Yay for teas you really really really like! Such a pleasure to drink them, it almost makes kissing all the frogs to get to them worth it. Though I still have tea coming out of my ears, once I get that under control (if ever), I think I’m ready to settle down and standardize on some things. Which isn’t to say I won’t try new things from time to time, just that I’m no longer so much about trying ALL THE TEA.

Which is why it’s unfortunate this isn’t available all the time. It would definitely be a standard in my flavored black tea cupboard if it was. Ice cream without the calories, what’s not to like?

My son wanted to download a game on his computer and I have been wanting to try out a rather large mod for my Kerbal Space Adventure game. We both have metered connections so, yeah, Starbucks it is.

I asked for an Earl Grey iced with a shot of vanilla syrup. She rang it up as a London Fog and charged 4 something for it (seriously $4 for iced tea in a disposable plastic cup? but I digress). Sat down with it at the table and my wife looks at it and says, “That’s not what you ordered”.

“I know. That’s just the price you pay for ordering tea in a coffee place.”

Apparently a London fog has milk in it making it a pricey latte. I didn’t order a latte and probably should have said something, however, it was actually pretty tasty. So much so that I will make this my own self for about one tenth the price at home and I get to use a fancy non-disposable tupperware tumbler. Nothing but the best for me and uncle Si. That’s a fact Jack.

Additional notes: I’m trying to think of Halloween teas with caffeine and the only one I’m thinking of right now, is this one, which I already had this month….. I don’t know what to steep up today! Any ideas would be appreciated!

We are having a homemade pizza night here tonight! We haven’t eaten out since last February, because covid…but we were craving food out today, so homemade pizza it is!

I’m having this as Lexa makes the pizza and providing dishwashing and cheerleading support XD. This tea is absolutely incredible. I’m down to one cup left after this of my sample, and I just know I need to place another order if only just for this tea! The pineapple pieces with the base are somehow just perfection! Then the creaminess of the coconut just mellows it all out so I really feel like I’m on a tropical beach somewhere.

Our first pizza is here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/biologistcourtney/2493361334475714903/

Sample from a TTB. Unfortunately, I feel like this one lacks much character. I’m not getting any maltiness or deep tasty flavors. It ends up a little thin and plain for me. I added some strawberry extract to make it more exciting.

Pique Tea Earl Grey comes in individual serving packets. There website says they use organic whole leaf teas to brew the tea, then they turn it into crystals. I’m open to trying about anything tea related. My fear was this would be similar to the Nestea I drank in my misspent youth. I promise you, this tastes nothing like that stuff.

I used 8 oz of 205F water. The crystals dissolved immediately without the need for a spoon. The color was a beautiful Burgundy. Just a light bergamot fragrance. The taste was far more citrusy than I expected. What impressed me most was I could tell they used a Ceylon base. It has that brisk bite of clean almost tart astringency that I crave in my Earl. How they managed this I have no idea.

While sipping the cup I hit upon an idea to test the limits of the crystals. I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and added the contents of a packet. Replaced the lid and shook the bottle. After a few moments I had an icy cold bottle of Earl Grey. It was a 12oz bottle but really didn’t seem weak.

I look forward to trying their unflavored teas to see if they capture the taste correctly. For now, I’ll say this Earl Grey was extremely convenient especially for on the go drinking and I thought it tasty both hot and cold.

A sipdown! (M: 8, Y: 16)
I am drinking this tea all day. A kudos to derk who sent it to me, and Leafhopper that is original and previous owner. 4 grams — 125 ml gaiwan, gongfu session.

Well, what to say. It contains lots of GABA and made me relaxed today. It wasn’t needed, but somehow appreciated. First steeps were very green, vegetal, pleasantly (maybe not that much) sour, green apple, sweet/sour sauce. Later yeasty notes appear, honey and bit of stonefruits, or white grapes.

Finished in the evening with long steep, which was very yeastyy, yet comfortable.

I am glad I have finished it; and well, it’s not much tea for flavour profile, but for GABA instead I guess. At least for me. Keeping rating on 78.

Trying not to turn this into a blog or muddy what I and some of you are ultimately here for – tea reviews – but I JUST CAN’T HELP IT. This Da Hong Pao is my side piece and it’s nagging at me. I’ve had Prince’s ‘U Got the Look’ in my head for days.

The Bay Area had a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in January. Nothing crazy but since then, chunks of grout in the shower began falling out. I can now feel every single bus and truck driving by. The pots on top of the refrigerator rattle if I don’t place them just right. Each passing multi-ton people-and-things-mover brings the long slow rumble that marked the beginning of that earthquake. Two earth-shattering jolts made this fearless woman grip the sheets in a rush of terror. That’s how you know you’re alive. This old building shakes like a skeleton… rattle them bones. Somewhere I hear a knowing laugh. The grim reaper leaves nothing behind. City neva stops. Nothing ever stops. Some things just leave a bigger impression after passing through.

Holy crap this is a complex and dynamic tea. It’s past 3am and I should probably go to bed. Long and detailed review after I rest this vessel.

—

Some time later…

I tried typing a detailed review but I guess I wasn’t feeling it. Here, again, I fail at providing a completely subjectively objective review.

I wrote notes of the dry, warmed and rinsed leaf, as well as leaf aroma, liquor aroma and taste for each steep but I think this tea just needs to be experienced and for you to lose yourself in it. It instantly commanded my attention and I was sunk into a session for over three hours if that gives you a generalized view of what to expect. This isn’t an everyday tea. It’s intimate.

The leaf, aroma and liquor play a deep, dark dance with a wonderful roast, various forms of chocolate, the most vibrant raspberry I’ve ever tasted, blackberry, plums and currants of all colors, minerals, various nuts both raw and roasted, sweetness ranging from honey to burnt sugar to caramel, florals like orchid, violet and lily of the valley, different grains notably roasted barley, a rye spiciness, some coffee and char, dandelion greens, lettuce, dried cilantro, sage and wood. These were all just the most apparent. There are many fleeting nuances.

The mouthfeel ranges from sweet to thick and velvety, highly mineral but never biting, lightly bitter to astringent and drying. The aroma, tastes and mouthfeel linger…long. They are dynamic and pronounced yet it seems like they are willing to make room for each successive steep.

The energy I experienced was dark yet vibrant, intense yet calm, intuitive, open, introspective. I’d like to have a session in the evening with a few good friends (or anybody, really). The ones you only get to see when events align, the physical distance closes and every time you reunite, you pick right back up. The silken thread between you never breaks. I felt strong, aware and assertive. I wanted to bare my soul. There was expansiveness and closeness, accommodation and acceptance, like there’s room for more under this big red velvet robe.

So, yeah. Whew. Powerful stuff. I’m excited to see what a few more years’ age will do.

—

The next day I simmered the spent leaves for 5 to 10 minutes. Ambrosia.

Alright, it’s Friday and I want to drink something unique or good. My first thought was some Pubertea, but I don’t feel so happy about some BS shipping on it so I’ll wait till the sour feeling goes away. I went to the stuff I’ve bought and found this 2016 single tree sample I bought for those who helped with the Sheng Olympiad because I didn’t want to have another year of controversial tea; even if the highest end was great. Whatever I write about this please know that Verdant provides great service to me as a customer and I value the teas they bring to the community regardless of claims. I drink for myself and at the end of this session I’ll let you know how I feel.
First thing, 100g is $49.00! That’s a hefty price on a sheng; not to mention 100g cakes are pretty much just an enlarged beenghole. Opened up my 5g sample and saw this was maocha from which makes sense for sample portions and all but I wonder if that changes the taste. Either way, brewing will be much easier. From the looks of the leaf, this has the look of terrible Dacong or some ugly mocha from 4 years ago; like the stuff I bought on Aliexpress once. Not the best first impression, but shou looks like cow patty so who’s to say looks will determine anything. So here go!
Steep one and I can smell the darker notes on this rather than the lighter ones of fruit. I suspect there will be some medicinal taste within some forest elements of damp wood if the smell aligns to the taste.
It was at this very sentence that I decided to stop taking notes. Then it was this sentence that I got back to my computer to let you know that I ate oreos with milk after the 6th steep because my mouth and throat were feeling dry. Also, just so you know, I decided to go back to this sheng after the sugary snack… what am I doing to myself?

So this session lasted roughly three hours by time I was done and only 16 steeps; not sure if I pushed the heck out of this or if it goes that long. The look of this leaf is just pure ugly. I had a huge stick going through my pot the entire time with many stems showing me their side that the sun never saw. Just not appealing looking. The aroma stays constant of wet leaf steam and light mossy bark. There’s no taste of moss, but the medicinal taste is somewhat like what you get when a little aloe for a sunburn gets in your mouth. A little cooling feeling and a little ‘oh that is nasssssssssssssssssssty’ going on.
For me, this tea is 100% void of bitterness which is awesome for a sheng. Admittedly, I’m not sure if this is the same type of material being picked as others due to the look and taste. With no sort of feel at all, other than wanting some oreos, and the look I’m kind of suspicious. The taste never has a sweet side to it and the to the best of my ability I would say this taste like a girl cologne; you know that kind marketed towards a ‘sporty’ man but it smells kind of sweet like whoever is wearing it wants to smell like the candy at the bar around beers. Anyways, I tried this tea and pushed it pretty hard because I had one shot at it. With that said, I wouldn’t want to revisit it within the next year but I am also curious to how easily the cakes break or if they were pressed very loose like the Bill Clinton I have downstairs. I wonder if someone could name a cake Bill Clinton or Snookie… wait, there should be a loosely pressed shou named Snookie.
Verdant has the best roasted oolong period when it comes to the Autumn Laoshan Roasted Oolong and some great black teas for someone who isn’t a black tea drinker, but this is just not my thing. The tea they put out in the spring that was older than the USA was pretty good and had the notes of fruit I enjoy… it’s just this is for a different set of taste buds.

NOM. Eggnog latte. IDC what Sil says, this is tasty with eggnogs.

(SIPDOWN! Woo! 260. LOL.)

I really enjoy Korean green tea; they have wonderful aromas. I don’t remember where I got this, but I discovered it a little bit ago. The leaves are vibrant and loosely rolled with a warm scent of dried seaweed, roasted chestnuts, almonds, and kale. I warmed my kyusu and scooped some inside. The directions said really light and really short steeps, but I disagreed. The drink was a nice pale jade with a roasted aroma. The taste is very very thin and sweet. The brew lasted about two steeps and yielded a cup of light grassy notes and slight florals. The base was starchy and roasted corn, but it was very faint. This is a very easy drinker, and it is nice for night time sippin, but I wouldn’t get any more of this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPftdLNgmRI/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

BrutaliTeas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 13

So this is a decent chai.

I can taste the cardamom quite a bit, which I like. I will say I’m not really getting the chocolate or the hazelnut though? Mostly I taste the spices – cardamom, clove, ginger, and cinnamon, in that order – and a bland black tea base.

I wish I was tasting the cocoa or the hazelnut, those would make it bit a more interesting. But it’s still a pleasant enough cuppa this morning.

This is very nice. The dry scent is typical of silver needle yet the taste is a little different. It is clean and crisp. It is sweet. Not at all bitter. Instead of a hay and cucumber profile, this one leans a little more towards green. It has floral/fruity notes. I also catch fast and light hints of minty. I steeped for the recommended 4 minutes at 175F. Had I gone short steeps at slightly higher temp, it would almost certainly turn out differently. As prepared the flavor is bold for a white tea and has plenty of depth. I feel refreshed and relaxed after sipping. Teasenz sells some pretty good tea.

This tea is from big bag section as well, but this time aged.

Das gesunde PLUS was a brand from dm drugstore chain, but they changed it recently to Mivolis or something like that. I don’t know if they still do this tea anyway. If you don’t know, it should be elderflower-ginger tea.

The tea, prepared for this afternoon was turning red which didn’t made me much happy as apparently it is again hibiscus/rosehip combo. I have expected some cloudy yellow or green colour. Nevermind, after 5 minutes I took bag off, took a sniff and noticed some old elderflowers, no ginger and overall pretty much meh.

The taste wasn’t that great as well, it was very straightforward with elderflowers, but they were pretty much weak and ginger was almost non-existent in flavour. Again, little bit of tartness by that red combo. Hmm. Not great this time, probably age related.

Another great puerh from Old Barrel! I was worried these flavored puerhs would be too samey, since a lot of the ingredients are shared across multiple blends. But actually, so far they’re all quite different.

This one tastes like a nutty coffee cake to me. It has a distinct pecan flavor, whether from the local pecans or the flavoring or a combination of the two. But then it also has a buttery quality mixed with a fair amount of cinnamon, and that combination is really reminding me of those crumble-topped spiced coffee cakes that you can buy by the box at the supermarket. The puerh gives a nice earthy base and helps keep the more desserty flavors from becoming too cloying for me.

That being said, this one is quite a bit more desserty than the others, and I think it’s because there’s no coffee in it. So because it’s quite rich and decadent, I’m not sure I would drink it very often. But it’s certainly a delicious tea, even if it doesn’t remind me of pecan pie.

I tried this with hubby last night. I did a rinse of about 5 seconds and then kept this tea at 30 second steeps based on the description.

The first steeps were grassy and had a little “bite”, but not unpleasantly so. It was the same sort I get from Chun Mee, which usually finishes with a late rising sweet note. Hubby said he didn’t notice it, but most reviewers on here mention it and I definitely got it in the first four steeps.

The fifth and sixth steeps were sweeter, lacked the bite, and became ever so slightly creamy. These were my favorite steeps of the evening. Strangely, the sweet aftertaste came in here instead of on the early steeps where I expected it, and it was light and fleeting.

If you like sheng with a little muscle but no real violent tendencies, this could be a hit!