Featured & Popular Tasting Notes

TTB tea! Now this is a nice fruit tea! It tastes fresh and appley. I’m really enjoying this cold! It’s like drinking apple juice!

This was such a treat! This tea is the closest I’ve found to resemble the “legendary” 30 year aged Dong Ding that hooked me on aged oolongs. I knew that it was going to be perfect as soon as I opened the bag. I looked at these small brown curls and inhaled. I instantly spotted the quality aged oolong scent being raisin, plum, and sweet fruit. This heavy aroma is a syrup tang that lingers and fills the air. I got my trusty celadon gaiwan and warmed it up. I placed a fairly good amount inside and shook it up. I lifted the lid and let the heavy aroma fill my tea room. I was picking up tobacco, raisin, wet wood, and pungent over ripe cherries. This tea is highly aromatic and smells so very delicious. I sat for quite some time just sniffing the gaiwan. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves slowly unfurled and gave off an array of conflicting scents being: char, grape jelly, raspberry,and burnt sugar. The leaves kept jumping from sour to sweet. The taste was perfect. I was in love at first sip. The brew fills the mouth with a sweet juicy taste. The brew leaves the mouth with an intense ripe fruit aftertaste the stays at the back of the throat. I experienced an incredible amount of mouth action. The brew was filled with heavy concord grape flavors and a medley of berries. The sweetness that surrounded these flavors was stevia thick. The body of the brew was heavy and full with so many rounded flavors. The brew would fill your senses with an oily mouth,fruitful flavors, and a soft wooded base. I experienced no astringency and no bitterness. The tones flowed like silk through my senses. The qi began much later into the session. The sensation began at forehead and slowly warmed throughout the body. My mind began turning and slowly building up with an incredible lifted spirits feeling. This brew gives the iconic aged oolong tea drunk. I was slurring yet full of energy. I didn’t want this session to end, and I was able to pull a fairly good amount of steeping. I enjoyed this session a lot, and I am very happy to have tried it. I am saving some to drink with my friend that shared the 30 year aged Dong DIng with me. I highly recommend this brew as a fantastic aged oolong experience. This is what it should taste like, and this is some quality stuff.

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

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBtdbPIzGQ5/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Another never before opened sample packet. I believe it’s the last black tea sample I have from ATR. I still have a number of oolongs and white tea samples, also some pu erh.

It has a spicy smell in the packet. A bit like cinnamon. The aroma of the steeped tea is really appetizing. Malty-chocolatey, bready, and a hint of coffee. Its a very dark amber color.

The flavor is smooth and mild for an Assam. It’s not the heavy, black coffee-motor oil combo of some Assam. I’m not getting sweetness until the finish and aftertaste, but it’s not bitter or sour in the sip.

It’s even easy on the stomach, and in that sense is better than many Assams in my book. I like this one well enough to consider it something could easily drink more often than not. It’s going on the wish list and fortunately, it’s still available.

Despite my longstanding dislike of banana-the-fruit, I am discovering an appreciation for banana-in-tea! In fact, I quite like this one. It’s got a nice creamy mouthfeel thanks to the coconut, which rounds out the banana nicely.

I like this one from S&V NP collection. I am tasting mostly huckleberry flavor, but maybe a hint of juniper underneath. Its a nice cup that goes down smooth. I’d add this to an order, just because it is rather unique in its flavoring and I do like a berry tea done well.

Goodness gracious great BALLS OF POPCORN! This smells like the movie theatre, both dry and liquor. It tastes like popcorn balls and apples and heaven. I had no idea apples went so well with popcorn. It’s like kettle corn with a hint of sweet apple flavoring. I added a touch of german rock sugar and a pinch of salt. I am literally gulping this down. I need to order this pronto. Thanks Jenn!

*I steeped the recommended 2 tsp per 8 ounces for 7 minutes at 200 degrees.

Pretty stressed out today and, once again, had no time before work to brew a tea for French Friday (I may have to permanently move working on these samplers to the weekends). Quickly brewed up this cup on my lunchbreak, sample courtesy of Cameron (thanks Cameron!)

No time for fussing, whole packet steeped in 350ml 205F water for as long as it took me to scoop the cat boxes. No measuring, no steep timer, just taking what I get. Smells and tastes floral and grapey. * looks at description * Huh, not tasting anything biscuity/caramelly. It is fruity with that floral undertone, mainly muscatel grapes but I can sorta taste apple and a hint of citrus.

Thanks Cameron!

Still love this one….rich in the chocolate department but not like say, mousse au chocolate. It’s also that chocolate taste that i like, versus some of the chocolate teas out there.

Thanks to AJRImmer for a chance to try this blend!

Additional notes: Wow, the flavor in this one is still quite good and it isn’t very new either. Delicious. It’s a unique blend I haven’t really seen anything like.

Bluebirdteaco.com will be raising their prices soon, so I’m inquiring in the forums to see if anyone might me interested in a USA group order. To split teas/ shipping from the UK. Prices don’t change until orders after April 3, so there are few days left!

I’m still plowing through some of the oolongs I acquired earlier in the year and toward the end of last year. This was one of them and I have to say that to this point in my life, this was the absolute worst oolong of this type I have tried. Normally, Four Season oolongs are very floral, sweet, smooth, and pleasant, but this one was thin and watery with an uneven mix of flavors and little staying power.

I gongfued this tea. After a flash rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 12 additional infusions that I had to more or less force myself to get through. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced subtle aromas of sugarcane, violet, and orchid. After the rinse, new aromas of cream, butter, vanilla, and grass were revealed. The first proper infusion more fully brought out the floral character on the nose. In the mouth, the liquor offered hints of grass and spinach on the entry before giving way to subtler hints of cream, butter, vanilla, sugarcane, and orchid. Subsequent infusions brought out vanilla and spinach on the nose and violet in the mouth. I also discovered notes of green apple, Asian pear, lettuce, lily, lilac, seaweed, and minerals. There was a slight graininess to these middle infusions as well. It seemed more than a bit out of place in a tea like this. I noted that the floral aromas had a tendency of turning pungent before suddenly fading, leaving me with a thin, uneven, and unpleasant mix of savory, fruity, and vegetal characteristics coupled with something of a gritty graininess. The later infusions were buttery, though mineral, grass, seaweed, and lettuce notes remained in play. I could detect no lingering fruity or floral sweetness.

I may be being a bit harsh here, but I found this tea to be nothing short of a disaster. I kind of think this was a bad tea to begin with, but I also think it had started to fade by the time I got to it. I even noticed that the leaves looked a bit weird when I first opened the pouch, as the dry leaves were an unusually bright, dusty green. In terms of aroma and flavor, there was surprising complexity, but none of it ever came together and there was little depth. A horribly uneven drinking experience and also a flat-out bad one, I would recommend that curious drinkers pass on this tea. There are plenty of better Four Season oolongs on the market. In my opinion, What-Cha, Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company, Taiwan Tea Crafts, and Floating Leaves Tea all offer much better examples of this type of tea.

Few weeks ago, a collegue of mine gave me that tea caddy because she is not a tea drinker.

So I do own a new beautiful tea caddy and a new tea to taste. Problem : this is a plain blend from Breakfast type and I am very picky with these types of teas.

I get scared by the leaf ! Broken soooo broken… I’m going to take a ride on the strong side of the tea it seems !

So I decide to steep it only 2 minutes in a water at 90°c to lower the strengh of the Assam

The liquor is from a deep orange.

Tasting it , I was right to be a little afraid : Assam is there and so present with its strong bitterness.

Of course as any Breakfast Tea it is quite malty. It reveals orange notes as well, strangely.

I am trying to add a splash of milk . English Tea is comfortable and cosy. It is against my habits. But let’s get crazy and let’s add some sugar rocks.

Verdict : England won again … yes with some milk and sugar this tea is quite pleasant…this is the reason why English people have their breakfast tea that way, no ?

I am not the public for Strong Breakfast teas nor indian teas but once pimped my cup is nice.

Pics of my session with this tea are visible here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/strong-breakfast-boissier/

Sipdown (211)

Last cup was all messed up from my cold and tasted quite terrible so I am so relieved that this cup is back to its normal deliciousness. Then sad because it’s done.

It really is a nice, soft lemon tea and the marshmallow root is an excellent addition. It gives it warmth and comfort and a touch of sweet that makes this the perfect cup to relax with in the evening while under a blanket and watching some TV or reading a book.

I have some other similar blends that are more easily accessible to me so while I do enjoy this one, I don’t know if I will be holding my breath for a reblend. However, it was very nice while I had it so thank you Sil for sharing!!

Fantastic shou puer! I got 16 infusions and likely could get more with a yixing pot instead of a gaiwan. This shou runs expensive, but at least you get plenty of reinfusions.

The notes are strong woodsy, mushroom, molasses, hazelnuts, and honey, brewing up very dark. What makes Black Gold incredible is the powerful aroma and thick body.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2010-black-gold-shou-puer-crimson-lotus-tea/

Lol… anyone remember Caraway?

My lovely baby son got into my teas the other day, because we relocated his toybox to act as a barrier to another room (the toybox had been blocking tea cupboard access), and it turns out that he got into my teas from this company. Which I was never particularly fond of. However, I may take the opportunity to try/re-try a few of them, and then – ice them!

This tea is the essential dupe of Forever Nuts, and various other similar teas. One notable difference, I think, is that this doesn’t have gigantic cinnamon chunks, which is fine by me. I iced a big Takeya pitcher of it, and although it’s not my husband’s favourite tea, he says it’s fine enough to drink, so will get through it. It’s fairly sweet, appley, almondy, cinnamony. Not my favourite, as I don’t care for cinnamon in iced tea, apparently. There’s about one more pitcher’s worth in the bag.

This morning’s tea is a fifty-fifty blend of this and 52teas Pineapple Marshmallow black tea. I have approximately the same amount of both left and they are both approximately the same age: well under a year old but creeping.

This cup is definitely more delicious than the one that I had the other day. The black tea base is a bit more feisty and that delights me.

An Ode to Tea challenge – S

Another I assumed would be a sipdown, but next time.  Since this is cheating (for my personal sipdown challenge), I should really be finding another appropriate lettered tea that IS a sipdown for each letter.   I wanted to drink this lovely tea while fresher anyway.  It’s so delicate and fluffy!  Like a healthy cotton candy, maybe lemon flavored.   A very unique white I wouldn’t mind stocking up on.  Uping the rating from 84. Thanks again for introducing me to it, SkySamurai!

In store sample.

Now this one I like. Very much like the Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait but with a gentle fizziness slightly reminiscent of cream soda.

I tried this blend in store twice today, from two different sources. One was from the Tea of the Day batch, iced, and the other from a pitcher settled in a bucket of ice. I don’t know what the difference in preparation was, but the TOTD batch was more concentrated and more intense with a lot of flavour. The other was weak and watered down tasting.

I look forward to trying this one again.

Number 4

Uh-oh-a Taiwaneese jade oolong!

My love!

Well, all near 5 grams are being drank and the aroma is awesome. It reminds me of rice pudding with cinnamon. I very rarely get the cinnamon note. This makes me happy.

First steep was sweet, floral and creamy with a little bit of an edge. Second so far has more honey sweetness in its creamy texture and taste. Three is more fruity, a little bit asian pear like.

I know I said that I probably wouldn’t guess on all of these, but this one screams to me as some kind of Li Shan. It does remind me of Da Yu Ling, but Li Shan or perhaps Ali Shan is what I recognize overall. More to come.

Another steep and more of the same thing. The smell reminds me of Nag Champa somehow. Weird connection I know. Could just be another thing that my brain is playing with.

Two more cups in, and I just get grassy florals with a slight honeyed end. A part of me wanted more, but I was still pretty happy.

Sipdown (264)

I measured a sample of this out for Sil per her request and then realized I had just over a serving left. So this cup was overleafed but its still nice. I am not getting much raspberry which is weird since there were definitely raspberry pieces in the cup and Anne’s flavoring is usually pretty on point. I am getting a lot of the marshmallow and rice. This basically tastes like her original marshmallow treat genmaicha – which I am not mad at. With that said, I can just buy the plain version, which is one of the permanent blends so I don’t really feel bad saying good bye to this limited blend.

CNN projection for president is up!

This one is hitting the spot this morning. The perfect balance of mint and cacao. The mint is always more prominent, but I enjoy the base and cacao do a great job of mellowing it out.

Also, just polished off my chemical runoff into wetlands article for volunteering! Great start to a Saturday!

Well, it seems Leicester is having some super strong winds at the moment. I was sorting out my wardrobe after losing weight and going down a few clothes sizes (half way towards my goal) when tea time beckoned. Downstairs I trot to put the kettle on and as I looked out of the window I found one of my garden fence panels on the floor. I’ve spent the last half hour trying to fix it but the wind is raging and the rain is falling, my husband has yet to give up though I think another 5 minutes and he will come in. I don’t think it’s going to survive, but never mind, now we need to save up for a new fence.

Before all of this happened I made this tea and left it to cool somewhat. The bags are pyramid and see through, the ingredients appear fresh and full size which is pleasing. Scent is very herbal with some citrus in the background, like lemongrass.

Steeped it smells slightly toasted, herbal and refreshingly citrus. Taste is rather thick and herbal with chamomile being distinctive, not too strong either. The chamomile develops into a sweet lemongrass flavour that lightens to bring a slight bitterness from the green tea base. Though the mouth is left with a refreshing after taste, though a little dry at the same time.

This is alright actually, not brilliant but a nice enough herbal blend with the added bonus of green tea. Plus I love the fact that this was sent as a gift all the way from Taiwan! This is what they drink there apparently, herbal teas are very popular, just as much as Oolong is.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2023 Tea #3 – A smoky tea

It’s in the name!  There was an awkward amount of leaf left, and I’d rather have a too strong cup of chai rather than two steep sessions that are disappointingly weak.  So into the infuser it all went.  I do not regret it!  I probably should have been using more leaf the entire lifetime of the tea.  It’s much better stronger.  It’s slightly smoky while having a sweet aspect to it.  A decent amount of spices and then I can also tell there is some of the honeybush flavor peeking through.  I just noticed there was also vanilla bean in this one and somehow I always miss tasting vanilla in all 52Teas blends. I think I will raise the rating from an 82 because this is a well balanced blend (and again, I bet the overleafing usually improves a tea IMO.) I am extremely behind on my sipdown goal, which is a given, as I’m still away from the majority of my tea collection.   
2023 sipdowns: 93

Secret ‘2012 Dan Cong’ given to me as a gift from Mr LP.

its fruity & yummy & honey & orchid and all the good things, a bit mellow in its age perhaps, but also less pungent & a bit more forgiving.. I can taste apricots & other citrus in the fruit which got brought out instead of a really pungent fresh Dan Cong-y bitterness which often happens when some are pushed.

Really nice, but I dont have much experience with 4 year old Dan Cong, mine usually lasts the year & I get more, so I cant tell if the taste is mellower due to its age or the leaf, & I really like the intense ones where I can notice more of a difference in the flavour & aromas, so im having a hard time trying to guess which one it is.

Its one of the Shui Xian cultivars im sure.. it doesnt seem to have the richness that a well baked Mi Lan has (although I get a slight cake smell so there is something there)

if its just the leaf and not the age im tasting im guessing it isnt tooooooo expensive (for a Dan Cong – pmsl), middle price ranged, due to the slight lack of intensity I have tasted in the most expensive ones I can afford.

Whatever it is its lovely, been drinking it all day & im surprised that it tastes quite sheng-like – fruit which was very apricot & a certain bitterness when pushed which would be too pungent and off if a fresh Dan Cong.

Which one is it LP..? im thinking its a Ba Xian. But it does seem to be lacking a certain something im used to in BX, but has this apricot fruityness. Im a bit stumped tbh!

Whatever it is, its lovely. If its cheap I would be very impressed