38 Tasting Notes

50

Let me tell you a story about a furniture store. It was, back in its day, the business with the biggest square footage in town, occupying the entirety of an unmissable building near the city center. A deep gulf separated it from the sidewalk; a covered walkway provided access. When I was small that made the building even larger in my eyes as it brought to mind moats and castles.
I was on-again off-again a member of my school drama club in high school. At the time, I was on, and we were canvassing local businesses, trying to sell ad space in playbills. In we went to the furniture store. The only sound was our footsteps, hushed and muffled by dense carpet. It was otherwise silent as a grave. Row upon row of beige lamps and beige sofas kept rank in the cavernous space with no customers gazing upon them. It was like a mausoleum in there, and it was, indeed, in its dying days. There’s no furniture store in town anymore.

This teabag smells precisely like that place.

Steeped, however, it actually smells like chocolate. Honest to goodness milk chocolate.

Unfortunately, it tastes like waxy, chalky product instead of the decent stuff it proclaims in steam, with the aftertaste of cheap, stale coffee. I don’t detect anything I would call hazelnut, just a generic sweetness. It’s not the worst thing Stash makes, and it’s fine to drink if you don’t think about it too much, much in the same way bottom of the barrel chocolate and crappy burnt coffee can be as well. As above, so below.

Just make a cup of hot cocoa if you want drinkable chocolate.

A note; I had the decaf version of this bag. However, look that one up, and you’ll see its entry is disturbingly broken.

Flavors: Chocolate, Coffee, Malt, Paper, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
derk

There are frequent cache issues with tea pages. When you find a broken page, scroll down, click “Edit Tea Info”, then click “Update Tea” or something. That’ll set it straight. I fixed the decaf page if you want to move this review over there.

Pre-Qing Miocene

Thanks! I’m unfortunately a day too young an account still to edit teas myself.

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85

Malawi is a country I associate with the score upon score of colorful fish that fill up its eponymous rift lake. Lake Malawi is a precious jewel to those studying vertebrate evolution— those fish are geologically young species, and relatively closely related, yet incredibly diverse in form and favor, and still radiating at a rapid clip. It was this image of Malawi— Malawi, place of adaption— that I sat down to make this tea.

Firstly, if you taste with your eyes, you’ll love this one. Verdigris, ocher, and sable splay across big, furling things. The leaves look great in the bag and even more enticing in the pot.
One of the reasons I picked this tea out was those striking leaves. The other is that I have not had tea grown in Africa before and think it’s interesting to compare teas grown in the plant’s native range to those outside of it. This is certainly unlike any white tea produced in China; it has changed in its new country (perhaps not surprising, given that African growers have had since the late 1800s to apply artificial selection to their bushes). It shares with its kin a sweet and floral, almost rosy nose, but on the tongue is another animal. It is almost bracing, with a sturdy heart of tea and velvety peach skin, and a long finish that plays out on the palate in sequence. First comes grass and autumn leaves— it reminds me of how the air smells after mowing the lawn for the last few times— then peach resurfaces, skinned this time, and it’s an unusual peach in that it’s not accompanied by nectar-sweetness. It’s an assertive, just-picked peach, still firm and almost sour. Then comes grass, fresh at first, which dries and dies along with the flavor. For this transformation alone it is worth drinking. I grabbed this expecting something simple and easy to follow along while I worked on a drawing, but wound up stopping briefly just to take note of that finish.

I quite enjoyed this taste of Malawi and will likely double down my efforts to try more African tea as a result.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Cut Grass, Dry Grass, Floral, Peach, Rose, Sweet, Tea

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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100

Very glad I finally forayed into the world of aged teas because this is a standout thing. Charming, foil wrapped mini tuochas easily crumble into brewable form. The smell is strange, but inviting. As advertised, there’s a strong sticky rice presence underwritten by what to me smells like tortilla chips, and a hot metal note that must be the minerality described. The color is unusual for a tea— it has a ruddy pinkish orange cast I attribute to the other herb involved.
The taste opens with comforting, toasty basmati rice. There’s not a ton of tea flavor then or at any other point, but I don’t miss it as much as you might expect, given my disdain for weak teas, and it provides structural support even if its flavor is a subtle whisper of cedar and a dab of smoke. It provides backbone and bulk that keeps this from being wishy-washy and thin the way tisanes tend to be. The roasted corn note is what intrigued me enough to purchase this and I’m happy to report it’s real and spot on and wonderful. Tastes like it’s been done in its own husk on the grill. Lovely to get a slice of summer in what’s otherwise a cuddly, winter-ready tea. A reminder the warm times will return. At the end of each swig up pops a spout of fruity flavor. I can’t decide if it’s more like a tangy wild blueberry or sugared ground cherry, but it’s strong and clear.

Flavors: Blueberry, Cedar, Corn Husk, Hay, Metallic, Pleasantly Sour, Rice, Sawdust, Smoke

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 45 sec 7 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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75

Interesting enough stuff, which survived my initial haphazard distracted-by-baking brewing without too much loss of character. The predominating flavor is barley, with a floral grace note. The end is what’s fun and makes this worth revisiting, in my opinion. There’s a taste of green grapes and green apples that advances into genuine lemon before it fades. This grew stronger over a long, low steeping, achieved by tossing the leaves in my Saddler with no basket. I found the resteep dull.

I didn’t brew this the way Verdant recommends so I reckon I’ll try it their way next time. I suppose it is aged and thus can handle more heat than a young oolong.

Flavors: Floral, Green Apple, Lemon, Roasted Barley, White Grapes

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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45

Not much to this particular oolong. It’s got a pretty stock-standard ‘tea’ flavor that gives way to something fruity at the very end— wild blackberry, maybe— tangy and not too sweet. Not the most nuanced drinking experience in the world. It may be better suited for gong fu brewing, as on the second steep there was a little more fruitiness to it, although unfortunately the body was flatter and blander that go around.
Note: temperature given is for my first steeping. I increased it a notch on the second.

Flavors: Blackberry, Tea

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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100

One of the first loose leaf teas I tried was a black tieguanyin— an unusual introduction to loose leaf, but I was fortunate to have a good tea store for my local brick and mortar. I cracked this open and smiled- it is so close to the original black tieguanyin I had it’s like opening up an old friend. It smells sweet and deeply plummy, with a hint of soft wet wood. Imagine stealing away into a favorite spot in the forest to eat chocolate-covered dried stonefruits. In the cup, caramelized sweet potato on the nose, autumn leaves and faraway bonfires on the tongue. The magic a touch of smoking adds.
Autumn you can pour in a cup. I’ll never tire of it.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Plum, Smoke, Stonefruit, Sweet Potatoes, Wet Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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80

This was the first green tea I’ve had in some time, and whooie I’d forgotten the way they can smell- like a brick of raw meat wrapped in moss, and I mean that in the best way possible. This one gives way to an intensely wheaty scent after that, and wetted, in comes the spinach. One the tongue, it’s toasty, slightly sweet, and slightly vegetal, with the overall impression bringing to mind a summer lunch. A cucumber sandwich, perhaps. Good stuff, a solid drink. I might get more than a sample next time.

Flavors: Cucumber, Floral, Meat, Spinach, Sweet, Toasted Rice, Wet Moss, Wheat

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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60

So, as a tisane, this is wrong. However, as a broth, this is fine. It smells and tastes a lot like a lemongrass-forwards curry. You get some lime leaves as well, despite there being no lime, and a little ginger. Bit of turmeric on the bottom. Not as much as you’d expect looking at the dry mix, which is extremely yellow, but some. There’s a sharp, floor cleaner like element to the smell of the stuff, as well, that fortunately dies down over time. The scent of ginger and turmeric takes some time to get out of a teapot.

Flavors: Black Pepper, Ginger, Lemongrass, Lime, Spicy

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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40

This didn’t taste as strongly of licorice as I would have liked, and has a creamy-oily mouthfeel I couldn’t get into. It would’ve been okay as a light anise-cocoa nib beverage if not for that misfortune.

Flavors: Anise, Cocoa, Olive Oil

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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70

Smells and tastes like you’d expect. Sweet potato scent, classic black tea flavor with little tannic acid and a hint of cinnamon. I wouldn’t buy it for myself given that Golden Monkey tends to taste too much like, well, any half decent black tea at its heart to really ever be special, but I wouldn’t shame anybody else for liking it. Someone moving to loose leaf from grocery store sachets might really appreciate this stuff as a step-up before diving into something weird.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Sweet Potatoes, Tea

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Profile

Bio

Getting back into tea after a hiatus of a few years, thanks to some friends. Aside from tea, I enjoy zoology, fish and orchid keeping, writing and the odd bit of art.

My ranking criteria:
100: Floors me. Something I can drink over and over again without it ever becoming routine. Things I’d buy again without hesitation after running out.
90-95: Impressive, very solid. Something I’ll drink more than once, although I might not always drink it while paying attention. Things well worth buying again when the mood strikes me but not things I always pine for when out of them.
80-85: Good, enjoyable to drink casually but still interesting enough to have a meditative session with. I don’t really care to utilize anything I like less as a daily drinker. I’ll rebuy these if I find myself missing them but don’t always miss them.
70-75: Nothing wrong with them, but they don’t really hold my attention long. I don’t rebuy these when I run out of them, though I might look for a ‘better’ version if I felt they had merit that could be brought more to the fore. I usually reserve them for times when I want my tea but will be too distracted to notice anything fine.
60-65: Okay. Not repulsive or extremely disappointing, but nothing special. Things I’ll drink if I don’t have to pay for them. They don’t inspire my feelings towards either pole.
50-55: Has some flaws, usually limited to disagreeable dry smell or lack of complexity. Still drinkable, but does not clear the bar. Did not upset me.
40-45: Committed the unforgivable sin of grabbing my interest and then letting me down. Bland, one or two note teas. Not bad tasting so much as boring. I’m much more likely to score an unimpressive tea here than an unmemorable tisane, which usually land a category higher due to my lack of emotional investment in them.
30-35: Bad notes on the tongue that can’t be overlooked, or a funky order that throws everything off. At some point I consider putting it down the drain, especially if they’re tisanes.
20-25: Probably would score a notch or two higher if they succeeded in avoiding my scorn, but for whatever reason, they’ve bothered me. Not expressly terrible but drew my ire.
10-15: Major flaws. Gross.
1: Wretched, miserable sinful waste of vegetation. Major flaws and it made me angry.

Location

Massachusetts, USA

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