Featured & Popular Tasting Notes

Spent the afternoon at Barnes & Noble yesterday while my car was in the shop. It’s funny, although I read almost exclusively on the Kindle these days, nothing beats the experience of browsing an actual bookstore. I’m aware that bookstores and libraries are an endangered species these days, and try to support them in some way whenever I visit. So I went to the cafe and ordered this unsweetened Teavana iced tea.

As soon as I took a sip, I instantly recognized it as the old Starbucks Tazo Zen Green Tea now rebranded as Teavana. A tea I used to be quite fond of but hadn’t tasted in years. The tea was light amber in color and very heavy on the mint. Not the fresh mint you taste in Moroccan mint tea but the dried variety in your spice jar. There is a bit of lemongrass and citrus but the dominant flavor is mint. When I’m drinking a blend, I like to be able to taste some of the base tea however this felt like I was drinking dried herbs steeped in water.

It’s interesting how your tastes evolve over time. Although i used to love this tea, I struggled to finish the entire cup. It’s palatable and was nostalgic for me, but wouldn’t recommend it unless you really love mint.

I don’t venture into bottled teas often, but this one deserves a mention. According to the label, there’s Java tea leaves and there’s water and that’s that—no unwanted accoutrements. Brassy; not much of a bass line, but still strong enough to suit builders tea preferences. Will hunt it out next time I need a cold to-go.

hmmmm this one is kinda flavourless even with the giant berry in it. I was hoping for a much more pronounced flavour even though it’s a white tea. Sadly this is really light and disappointing. I do however appreciate the share variaTEA as this is one i would have built in to a cart :(

Since I have been spending my time primarily focusing on Chinese oolongs lately, I figured I should shake things up a bit and try out a new Taiwanese oolong. More than anything, I wanted to give Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company’s Li Shan offerings another chance. I, personally, did not enjoy the last Li Shan tea I tried from them and wanted to see how another of their offerings from that area fared in comparison. I am happy to report that this tea was a smashing success in my eyes.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 12 additional infusions. 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 emitted pronounced aromas of honeysuckle, gardenia, lilac, sweetgrass, cream, butter, and vanilla balanced by a hint of vegetables. After the rinse, I detected emergent scents of sweet cinnamon and magnolia balanced by green apple, watercress, and fresh pear. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit considerably more balanced bouquet with hints of petunia, lily, marigold, and fresh daylily shoots. In the mouth, I detected gentle, somewhat timid notes of vanilla frosting, cream, butter, freshly cut flowers, watercress, and sweetgrass. Subsequent infusions allowed the cinnamon, daylily shoot, green apple, and pear notes to shine, though I also began to catch hints of honeydew, white peach, oats, minerals, and leaf lettuce. The later infusions were increasingly mineral dominated with balancing notes of cream, vanilla, watercress, green apple, oats, pear, honeydew, sweet cinnamon, and flowers.

This was such a nice Li Shan oolong. I honestly was not expecting the floral intensity or the unique mix of aromas and flavors displayed by this tea. As far as I am concerned, this was a notable upgrade over Pear Mountain Premium. Check this one out if you haven’t already.

It’a probably the best out of 52 Teas that I have tried so far. All of the flavors blend seamlessly together. The rose sweetness predominates but without being over the top. Sweet, malty, a bit sour and spicy. The flavors are evolving as you drink.

The taste is very thick and long lasting: this tea is almost like a meal. Very filling. This is what I ea desert tea should be.

Oh this tea is delicious. Sooooo milky. In fact it’s so milky I was wondering if it was flavoured but I’m not getting any tongue tingling I get when flavours are added. The package does not show it as flavoured either.

I brewed it in my gaiwan with the infuser this morning. I’m loving this gaiwan and think I will get more like it. I find it a bit annoying to transfer from a gaiwan to a pouring pitcher. This just simplifies the process with it’s own infuser.

So did a quick rinse on the leaves this morning and even from the quick rinse I was reluctant to throw away the water. A beautiful milky aroma was coming from it.

Meant to brew 30 for first brew but it went 50 before I got to it. Didn’t matter. It was still good. There might be a faint floral aroma from this tea but it’s mostly all milky & buttery , smooth & sweet. Yum!

TTB 2022
First steep is subtle chocolate malt with a slightly bitter dark chocolate finish. This first steep is disappearing fast! Because the first steep was subdued, this second is even moreso. I like this tea but am disappointed that only the first steep is so yummy.
Thanks for including it in the TTB!

Since I am on a strawberry tea thing now apparently.

Now that my tea stash is getting way out of control, I’ve started gathering my smaller bits of tea together by category with the hope that I might be able to actually finish a packet or two and reduce the amount of space my obsession is all beginning to take up.

I need more caramel tea. Smooth creamy caramel tea: burnt, caramelized, dulce de leched, flanned, custarded, all the caramel teas.

I seem to have caramel and toffee, but it is all spiced and chaied. And that’s just not the thing.

This train of thought is not taking me to the reduce-my-tea-stash place. Anyway.

Anyway, so I was going through my small bits of black tea this morning and found myself again searching for a fruit-flavoured choice, as opposed to a spicy or nutty or toffee one.

The last times I have had this particular tea, I seem to recall that the strawberry aspect of it popped more. Or perhaps that was me and my wishful thinking.

I shook and shook and shook my sample bag and still no strawberries appeared. Or maybe they were in little bits in my leaf.

Nonetheless, this is a very satisfying tea. Probably especially so as I have had far too many Ceylon experiences lately and have been craving a tea with substance beyond the flavours. Liberteas has made such a brilliant choice in this black tea base. Every time I have it, I send a silent thank you and blessing into the tea cosmos.

Plenty of coconut, which comes through in both scent and flavour. Layered onto the coconut, there’s a bit of cream going on. A wee ephemeral strawberry hint at the very end of the sip.

Yes, a very satisfying cup. If there were just a bit more strawberry, lovely lovely strawberries….

I got a sample teabag of this with an order. Used my regular teabag cup, but the teabag has only 2g of tea, less than a usual teabag so admittedly I may have steeped in too much water. The tea has a slightly marine seaweed odor on the first steep, not unpleasant. I get slight flavor of black tea, but otherwise the color of the brew looked normal with almost no taste. Maybe the sample is old, I don’t know.

I did buy an order of black tea bags of another type from Yunomi, along with some loose leaf too. Will compare to see how those are. But otherwise, I prefer a tannin bite when I drink black tea, that savory sharpness.

Sipdown (1029)!

Just finished off my last two giant leaves of this “tisane” while doing some very late night data entry. I don’t mind grinding so late at night though – I feel most productive in the evening, and if it means I get to sleep in a little longer in the morning than I’m especially find with that trade off.

This is such a beautiful flavour – light, refreshing anise and a hint of citrus. I’ve definitely fallen in love with avocado leaves (especially Grandpa style) through finishing off this bag, and while I don’t need any more herbal teas right now (my sample drawer is too full to close) I will definitely keep a restock of this in mind, and look for other places I might be able to find avocado leaf tea. It’s truly unique!

Even after all these years, the flavor here is still unique and memorable. More of a syrupy flavor or MAYBE honey than anything remotely “pistachio”. But I sometimes crave the flavor profile here that I have never found in any other tea.

edited to add: I thought Angry Tea Room had this for sale, but nope, it’s gone now.

NEEDED to have this again. So good. Just feeling so poorly. I’m now on a medically reduced work schedule but still need to work 3 days a week, which feels like 1 too many but that’s what I got. This tea is getting me through the day. Like a hug in a cup.

Sipdown! 166/365!

I can’t believe I don’t have a note for this tea. I’ve drank tons of it; it’s a favourite! Must have come out during the Great Unlogged Period or whatever it should be called. Anyways, I just finished off a 50g tin of it, and I’m concerned that that was the last of it that I had… I know I have (had?) another tin of it somewhere, from a gift set, but I think I shamefully forgot to pick up an extra 50g or so before it disappeared. Very sad, because this is one of my tea indulgences, called such because of the included sugar, which I generally frown on. But, it worked here, for a cinnamon/cardamom toast vibe (obviously what they were going for).

Ok, I pause this review because… I just checked the DT site and it’s there! Hurrah! I’ll hold off on picking it up until later, but this is excellent news.

Anyways, this tea is a delightful cinnamony/cardamomy sweet blend of deliciousness. I think I even get a bit of a toast flavour, but it could also just be my imagination. I find it odd that the nutritional info says it is 0 calories, since there is actual sugar in the blend, but whatever, it’s still going to be way less than most drinks. So it’s an indulgence. (And it’s still around, yay!)

ETA: Turns out I have loads of this tea. Good thing I didn’t buy more.

Thanks again for the samples, Octavia Tea! All delicious so far. This one is intriguing as I LOVE lavender and lemon combinations. Chock full of all sorts of lemon ingredients and a little bit of lavender, it’s no surprise that the lemon takes over in this one. All the elements of lemon are here – tart, sweet, refreshing, earthy. The taste is also like a lemon topping on a donut. I was worried that the “lemongrass” in the name would mean the lemongrass was the most distinct lemon flavor (and my least favorite lemon element) but that isn’t the case at all. It’s all sorts of lemon but lemongrass stays in the background. Sadly, so does the lavender. I would have loved a ton more lavender here to balance it out. I suppose I could acquire some lavender somehow and add more lavender? The lemon is fine anyway! However, this blend does include some splenda. It was very noticeable in the first steep but faded out in the second steep. Don’t miss the looonnnnggg second steep with this one! It was somehow even more lemon than the first cup. So some points off for including splenda and not enough lavender, but overall, I really like this no caffeine cup on hot summer nights. It can easily satisfy the craving for lemonade!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 12 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 2 minutes after boiling // 6 minute steep

Another work-tea and my first tea @ work. I didn’t wanted to scare my co-workers with my vast collection of tea, so I took two only. One oolong (Sea Dyke Brand) and this tea.

I don’t remember much, as I am trying to remember all procedures and new things I had to learn. And handling 6 drums, each about 120 lbs, isn’t much fun. I had to pack them, luckily I wasn’t moving them for too long distances, actually they were only on the pallet and I had to put them correctly there. So, minimum movements. Learned to use the seals, tapes and many new things. I can’t speak much more, as I am under an oath of silence, naturally.

Anyway, back to the tea. As it is a bit old, it is a good daily drinker and caffeine effect wasn’t bad today. It tasted a bit boring, although I got fruity notes again. Very lighly though and a bit of grassy today. However, as I said, I don’t remember much.

2022 Sipdown 149/365!

Barely time to drink tea, let alone log it. Man, kids are a lot of work. Also, I’m now off maternity leave and back to full-time work again – which means less time yet somehow more tea consumed in the last week than probably the last two months!

Logging some sipdowns I’ve accumulated over the past months just to show I wasn’t totally derailed… ha.

This one was ok, but as my rating suggests, it was never a favourite. I’m ok that it’s gone. Not overly lemony at the end.

This is pineapple love. Such a sweet but not overly sweet breakfast blend with notes of citrus and pineapple. I took this down in no time. Even cold brewed this was good. Sunshine Cottage is just such an adorable Etsy store. She even has tea jewelry. I have my eye on a few pieces. Her site has some fantastic sounding flavored black teas. Yum!

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/06/03/tea-of-the-day-bermuda-breakfast-from-sunshine-cottage/

January Sipdown Prompt – your oldest tea

I am not counting teas that age like pu-erh norma couple of ancient herbals. This seems to be my oldest camellia sinensis and I am a little peeved to see that I didn’t even have it listed in my cupboard after all these years.

I really like this tea and have liked all the Russian style blends from Kusmi pretty well. This is essentially a white Earl Grey. The best by date was in 2021 and here it is 2024 and still flavorful. The level of bergamot is really good for me as I don’t like it overwhelmingly strong. This is moderate, so if you don’t like bergamot it probably won’t be your cup of tea,

I guess I need to focus on this one for a sipdown since it is older than I realized.

The tiny sample pouch I had of this was opened, and who knows for how long, so my expectations weren’t particularly high. But, as sometimes happens, I got a happy surprise when trying the tea – it was delicious! Full of honey, minerals, florals. Hands down the best darker oolong I’ve had in a long time (non-green? Oxidized? I’m not sure how to say that…) I juuuust ordered DavidsTea’s Phoenix Oolong as my Frequent Steeper freebie, and I’m hoping it’s even half as delicious as this one.

Unfortunately, that’s what I remember from last night – I’m drinking this after the sticky rice oolong today, and literally all I can taste is that flavour, so I’m going to leave the last sip or two of this until my tastebuds have been cleared a bit. That sticky rice flavour is so persistent…

Thanks to Teavivre for the lovely sample!

Spring in a cup. For Easter.

I had some 2017 Qi Lan gongfu this morning while watching service so I didn’t take notes. It was good but nothing that blew me away.

Right now I’m drinking the last 3.5 grams western and I like it better this way. It tastes like a specific Easter candy — those small, candy shell coated chocolate eggs. Like those are mixed with roasted almonds and a touch of caramel, sitting on the damp mineral soil and overgrown tender grasses in one of our raised beds. And of course, orchids. Those are in my backyard, too. Gentle tangy-fruity, creamy aftertaste. Some bitterness. Tea oil coating, tingling. Not necessarily sweet tasting but rather dry with sweet aromatics. That’s what I like about a lot of Wuyi yancha.

Like the 2016 Qi Lan from Old Ways Tea, still too green/floral for me to go crazy over but today it makes me happy and that’s what matters.

I’ve had a few cups of this now since getting the tea and I feel like the experience is a little different each time. I notice something new. Today I’m noticing the deeper base notes, almost coffee like. Maybe some baked citrus in the mix? It’s a complex rich blend that I’m finding more endearing as time goes on.

is it time to go home yet? I am so looking forward to the weekend. This version of this tea is delicious! I think it’s funny that zhu rong and yu lu sort of swapped for me last harvest since previous to that, it was the other way around – i preferred zhu. ah well, both decent offerings. :)

Sad sipdown, that now puts me in dilemma on whether or not I want to place a premature order at What-Cha or to wait a couple sad months without this tea. I’d have to speed through the White Rhino or Golden Snail, or suddenly fixate on trying that Rose Jin Xuan. Mm, rose cream (I’ve already vividly imagined this future tea drinking experience).

On Sticky Rice: I’ve decided that, while this is a casual drinker, the unique savoury flavour also makes this somewhat of a mood tea. I’m usually in the mood but sometimes I’m not. If I neglect the early steeps it can get a little too vegetal for my tastes. That’s why this doesn’t quite make it into my 91-100 flawless teas, despite the copious amount of notes I’ve written.

Steep Count: 3

Three steepings was about my average across the board but this tea can easily handle 5-6 when I’m committed. It helps that at 90C, I can steep it at 45s start and be completely satisfied with the flavour; What-Cha recommends 1-2min but I’m a flavour wimp.

(2016 fall harvest)

I keep seeing people drinking up the last of their beloved Butiki blends and that just reminds me that I have a lot of Butiki that needs drinking. A LOT. I mean, it closed about a year ago and I still have copious amounts of their teas in their black paper bags. Not the best storage method but honestly, had I not gone off tea around the same time they shut their doors, I imagine most of it would be long gone by now. As it is, I really should get working on these older teas.

I decided to brew up two cups at the same time because I have to make a shopping list off a meal plan for my brother and I which means I know I’ll be sitting at the kitchen table for a while, sipping at tea and doing some work. I grabbed this and Canal Street Carnival because they were two that I loved a great deal and that both brew at the same temp.

As for this particular cup, it was slightly overleafed as the kettle ran out of water just high of hitting the 16 ozs. I think that may be for the best though as this tea is already a shadow of its former self, without the extra water in there to dilute it more. The once bright lime has died down in both smell and flavor but weirdly that has opened the door for the marshmallow note to take center stage. Although, its not an overly sweet marshmallow flavor but more one that has a sweet cream-like element to it. Now it is a creamy tea first with the nice final note of lime/citrus. I really do miss the brightness, but for the age and storage of this tea, it has held up better than I expected.