Raffi

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Been a while since I’ve logged a tea! It’s winter time again, so I expect my logging to ramp up… hopefully.

Anyway, coming back to this one I remember now that I really like this tea. I have way too many teas in my cupboard so sometimes I forget to come back to the ones further in the back. I found this one again this afternoon and I was pleasantly reminded of why I need to get more of it eventually.

Such a smooth, warming, yet pleasantly powerful tea. It has enough kick to satisfy even my mom, who is a typical black coffee drinker, yet soothes the throat with lemon. I love yunnan teas.

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Still one of the best teas that I have had, to date.

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This is the first time I’m seeing these kinds of leaves rolled into a ball. It’s quite amazing, actually, to see them unravel during the steeping process. I’m using my travel mug so I couldn’t see through the cup to see it all in action, but amazingly the leaves started at the bottom of my infuser when dry, and ended up filling it up all the way to the top when the steeping was done.

The flavour profiles are pretty accurate to both what Samovar notes on their description and also to what people here have noted. Smooth, with roasted notes. I’m not too experienced with oolongs so I don’t have a point of reference to compare to, but this is a fairly darker flavour than I was expecting after seeing how light coloured the infusion was.

The complexities of this tea make it appealing. I’m enjoying this one. =)

I got this tea at the wrong time of the year. This is a fall tea.

This was definitely a surprise for me. It has a really powerful kick in both the smell and the taste, all the way down. It’s all kinds of complexity mixed into one tea and I don’t think I’ve tried a Samovar tea that has been this powerful before.

I haven’t experimented with too many herbal teas since I’m a bit more of a fan of straight-forward tea leaves, but this one is definitely unique. The colour of the brew was a surprise at first (a ruby or purple hue), but then you realize that it’s normal given the ingredients. It’s smooth going down, even if it can be a bit on the sour side, and the taste is not too similar to the smell which is interesting. It’s very soothing and I can tell it could make anyone feel warm on a cold winter night, which is why it’s a shame that I got my hands on it just as the weather is getting warmer.

I’m going to have to play around with this one more to see if shorter steep times or less tea might reduce the overpowering flavours, but this is one to try for sure. I’ll have to serve this to some friends and see what their opinions are.

Yup, drinking this one again and I have the same sentiments as last time. A well rounded cup that balances the fine line between lemon zest (this tea’s dry leaves smell amazing) and a strong black cup.

Granted, I’ve been drinking a bit more coffee these days than tea (I know, I know, shaaaame) so my first reaction was to wonder where the zing was. Needless to say, I got re-accustomed to it in no time.

Had this one again the other night, and this morning too (surprisingly). I wasn’t expecting much of a second steep from such a small amount of tea (I only used 1 tbsp, and that seems like a small amount for a herbal tea) but I was pleasantly surprised.

I still haven’t tried this in latte form, but it’s day will come. This is actually a really good after-dinner tea that’s almost like a substitute for dessert, considering the scent and flavour that comes from it.

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First impressions -

Smell – This is Ocean of Wisdom mixed with Lapsang Souchong.

Looks – Same as smell, but in general this is a wickedly evil looking tea with its general red and orange hues mixed in with very black leaves.

Taste – The smokiness of this tea is definitely the prominent flavour here. If you’re not a fan of smokey teas, you need not read further. I’m getting some hints of the roobios, though at this point (while the tea is still very hot) it’s more of an aftertaste. We’ll see if that changes in any way as it cools.

I’m a little late at logging this one. I have a huge backlog of tea to go through, but here I am, finally trying to uncover Santa’s Secret.

I like this one quite a bit. The peppermint is very evident (and I love peppermint), and the addition of the spices and mini candy canes is a subtle, but nice, touch. I managed to get two good steeps out of a tbsp in a 12 oz mug, which is pretty good, and it has enough kick to get you through a rough work day.

Hopefully this tea makes a comeback next winter.

Wow.

Wooow.

I mean, I love peppermint and all, but this is crazy. This is my third (and final) Yerba Mate from Samovar, and what a way to top it off. I’m going to have to experiment with this more to get more of the Yerba Mate flavour out (the peppermint is overpowering, but I’m not chalking that as a complaint because I love the stuff).

That’s really all that can be said at this time. I’m just enjoying this one.

So after trying Sweet Yerba Mate the other day, I gave this variant a try.

I can definitely taste the lack of licorice in this one, and the addition of green tea in it’s place. Mostly the same comments to be said about this one, except instead of a sweet taste I’m getting something a little bit more bitter. Perhaps next time I should try letting the water cool closer to a green tea temp before infusing, even though Samovar recommends boiling water for this one.

Well this was definitely a new experience.

My first foray into the world of Yerba Mate. I recently got interested in a few varieties from Samovar, but I wanted to go with the “original” before trying any deviants.

First of all, portions of this tea is so fine that not even my laser cut infuser could keep it all in. So I can imagine that my first infusion is going to taste different from subsequent ones, but we shall see.

First impressions are that it’s very grassy, but not as bad as some other people had made it seem. There’s a very sweet, grassy initial taste that leaves behind an interesting aftertaste, almost slightly bitter in nature.

As a black tea fan, I can actually say that I like this. I haven’t gotten a chance to see how good it is with multiple infusions, but at least the first infusion was bursting with flavour.

It’s hard to actually describe this tea any better than the other countless tea logs have already done, so instead of attempting to re-describe the flavour, I will stick to describing what I think of it.

I brewed this at work so there was no way of me going for the traditional steeping method, as interesting as it sounds (jam in tea? really? I gotta try it some day) so instead I opted to brew it the simple way. I like the strength and flavour, though my tongue seems to be telling me that it’s slightly similar to Lychee Black, another Samovar tea. I only had sample packets of these two teas so I suppose to really tell the difference, I’ll have to try them again some time.

Overall, I’m a fan. It hits the sweet spot (potentially literally) in my dark, black tea oriented flavour preferences. Once again, I’ve yet to try a Samovar tea that I have not liked.

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Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this tea. I’ve had a sample of this sitting in my cupboard for a while now and this morning I decided it was finally time to try it out.

The dry leaves were notably interesting to look at, with a nice mix of black and green.

I have to say, I’m actually impressed. I’m normally not a fan of overly flavoured black teas, but somehow Samovar pulls it off again and again. I’m not getting an overpowering punch of any one particular flavour, but I’m getting a nice rounded cup that I think I can actually see myself drinking every day.

Colour me impressed. A lemon tea that I actually like? Oh, Samovar. Only you. =P

So, like Auggy, I don’t have much past experience with lychee in any form so I’m not sure if my rating has much merit… But I will at least rate it strictly on the terms of how I like it.

In terms of the looks of the dry leaves, I think this is probably one of the most black and thick leaves I have seen… but once they’re wet they turn into the usual black tea leaves.

I knew there would be a floral aspect to this tea but the look of the leaves don’t give off that impression. The smell gives it away, but I think I wasn’t expecting so much floral flavour from this. It’s becoming a trend, this whole “not expecting certain flavours” thing.

I’m not sure if I would call this one “light”. Maybe I steeped it longer than others, but it seemed pretty dark and full bodied, just with strong hints of lychee.

Not sure if I would get this one again simply because I’m still not sure if I care about lychee that much, but it’s definitely a good tea to try and I’m grateful that I tried it.