New Tasting Notes

One of the best tasting teas I ever had. It is smooth and relaxing. I introduced it to many of my friends and one described it as being sexy. Everyone loves it.Problem is, I cannot find it anywhere now. Can I buy it on line?

I read the reviews before I tried this and was horrified at the mention of hibiscus. Its one of my least favorite tea additives. Luckily I don’t even notice it in the cup I’m drinking at the moment. This is like a warm pumpkin chai with a nice subtle pumpkin. Definitly a fan of more then just the name.

I purchased the Adagio honeybush sampler about a month back and have slowly been working my way through it. While I don’t really care for rooibos I’ve decided that I really like honeybush as one of my bed time options. It has a sweetness to it that you just dont get from chamomile.

This tea is pretty sweet on its own, but adding a hint of rock sugar really made the mango flavor pop for me. Without the sugar the flavor fell a little flat, the mango didn’t come across as much as I wanted. One thing I did notice was that the mango was more apparent after I had left the tea in the fridge for 24hrs. I completely forgot I had stuffed my leftover tea in the fridge when I had to run into town at the last minute for groceries last night. It made for a pretty good iced tea this morning with breakfast. This wasn’t my favorite honeybush blend from Adagio, but overall it wasn’t bad.

Quite a good oolong, kind of a nutty taste like almond but very light.

“You know that tea…?” Husband asked me last night.

EEK! Well, that was a good fifteen minutes steep, I think. And I didn’t even know what the base was at that point. Turns out to be a blend of Chinese and Ceylon, and as we know Chinese blacks can take a lot of abuse while Ceylon can really go either way. No adverse effects then.

This is a tea that Cteresa shared with me and I have to admit that I found it difficult to concentrate on it last night for some reason. It simply just failed to hold my attention for very long, so I’m writing this on a flimsy memory.

The base held up to the mishap very well, without a single bit of bitterness or astringency. The fruit flavouring was… well, fruity, obviously, but I couldn’t pick out each individual fruit. This may have something to do with my lack of concentration, but my immediate thought was that it was somewhat generic red fruit-y.

It’s a fairly classic flavouring, this, so I’ve had it and enjoyed it before from other vendors. Then, I definitely remember being able to ‘find’ each of the four red fruits in the flavour. Knowing what to look for obviously. I doubt I’d have been able to do so without knowing what they were in advance. I couldn’t do that with this one (at least not at that particular level of attention) and I’m not sure if that’s really a bad thing or a good thing.

It’s a shame when one can’t pick out the flavours, and one feels like the whole things is just a big muddle with a generic taste. On the other hand, when each flavour clearly stands out on their own, the tea can end up tasting a little bit unfinished. Smoothness is lost, and it’s just a cup full of edges and corners that don’t quite join up.

Pros and cons, really. The smoothness of this one rather suited me last night, though. I think precisely because I couldn’t concentrate on it. Edges and corners would have thrown me off completely, I think.

With my first order from Persimmon Tree Tea Company I received a 1oz sample of White Guava. I’m not really familiar with Guava and it doesn’t seem to be a common ingredient in teas, but I love white peony which is the base of this blend. I do have to say that I was impressed with the packaging of this tea, it arrived only 3 days after I ordered it, packaged in an air tight tin which will keep my tea nice and fresh.

After drinking this tea all day I hardly made a dent in the sample tin, this tea resteeps incredibly well. The main flavor that comes across is the white peony, but the guava gives it a subtle sweetness that works wonderfully with the white peony. I don’t really taste the strawberry and only the barest hint of the ginger. The overall flavor is mild, but since this is a white blend that is really what I expected. This is the perfect addition to my summer rotation, I can’t wait to try it iced tomorrow because I’m sure it will be amazing.

I’M STILL AMAZED THAT WHITE TEA COMES OUT SO CLEAR.
Okay. This tea. The last of my white tea sample pack from Adagio.
Smells grassy from the bag. Steeping, it takes on a more grassy/slight floral aroma.
Aaaand… it tastes like grass. Not as grassy as the silver needles, but not as delicate as Snowbud.
I think Snowbud wins my vote from the 4 teas in the sample pack

My allergies have been a bit better, but that may be from continued use of reactine haha. But I cold steeped some of this tea to add to the reactine so there is more than one thing fighting my allergies! It steeped for almost 24 hours, and the result is VERY herb tasting haha, stemmy I think someone used, and yes it feels like a bunch of stems have been steeped. The mild grapefruit flavor makes it ok and refreshing, so I will drink it, but this is definitely more for medicinal purposes lol. See previous notes.

My friend came over for dinner, and we made the most epic dinner ever! Fresh trout from fishing on Sunday cooked in a pan, steamed asparagus with butter, and coconut rice :D delicious meal! Had a glass of wine with it, but each had a tasty cup of this tea afterwards. The fresh sweetness and mint helped to refresh after the rich meal, and helped quench my thirst quite well :) I am enjoying this tea, it is light yet sweet and an interesting flavor! See previous notes!

This. is. SO. good.

I made a pitcher of this iced earlier today (using the flash chill method) and I’ve already guzzled down over half of it. It tastes like a pina colada, straight-up, and I bet that it would make an amazing cocktail base. It is deliciously sweet, fruity, refreshing and creamy! I’ve been drinking mine with plenty of ice and a generous splash of lemon juice to give it a little extra oomph.

It’s a little ray of sunshine in a glass, and it makes me day-dream about summer. ♥

I got this tea for (apparently) 60% off – and so far it’s been a good investment! It’s exactly what I think of when I think of green tea: like you’re drinking some kind of plant without it being “grassy.” Fairly simple, clean flavor. Some people have talked about it having a nutty taste. Perhaps my tastebuds aren’t terribly complex, but I just taste green. Gotta watch, though – I have oversteeped this thing at least once!

I bought this at our local Asian market last time I was there for boba. It was kind of a ‘Why not’ purchase at a ‘why not’ price. I actually had no idea what I was purchasing at the time as the box was entirely in Vietnamese and I had never seen a noni fruit.

Well, since then I’ve put off drinking it after reading about it’s pungent taste and smell and wondering what I had done.

Tonight I broke it open. And it didn’t smell good.

But surprisingly I didn’t hate it.

It has a kind of earthy barley flavor that isn’t all offensive. It’s not at all what I was expecting (probably a good thing in this case). I still absolutely don’t like the smell, but I could almost see myself drinking this once in a while.

OhMyGoodness, this one smells so good. The aroma from just opening the bag smells just like a rich key lime pie. The tea itself smells very softly of fresh limes. Without adding sweetener, the flavor is mostly rooibos with just a hint of lime. Adding sweetener brings out more of the sweet lime flavor with a note of the creamy chiffon. Adding milk adds a little creaminess, but not much. This really is a wonderful cup, especially right before bed. I love lime flavored things, and am so happy that this one lived up to my high hopes. It may be a little lighter in the lime flavor and less tart than I wanted, but it’s a nice, mellow cup. I’m just happy that the rooibos isn’t too strong!

-Dry blend has small pieces of red rooibos and long pieces of lemongrass with pieces of lime peel.
-Dry leaves smell like sweet key lime pie. Tea liquor aroma is lightly of fresh lime.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish orange color.
-Rooibos flavor and finish with a hint of lime and creamy chiffon. Light rooibos aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Good tea. Mellow and light creamy lime flavor. Little rooibos noticeable.

I brought this sample from Shmiracles over to my parents house and shared small cups with everyone. I was really excited to try a coffee pu-erh as I’ve had my eye on a few from other companies for a while. I didn’t know this had other flavors in it too, so we were all surprised by the caramel flavor. I was hoping I’d detect some coffee notes, but I did not. For the most part, I don’t like sweet/dessert flavored shu pu-erh. The unique earthy mushroom qualities really don’t seem a good match for most sweet flavors. There has been only one sweet flavored pu-erh that I liked (just a little). it tasted like the original dentine gum and hardly like pu-erh at all. I think that’s the only way a sweet pu-erh can work for me: the flavor has to completely mask the pu-erh. Otherwise, sugary mushroom flavor just makes me feel nauseous.

I just realized that I haven’t been adhering to the recommended brew temperature. I was brewing this like most oolongs at ~195-200. I did try a shorter steeping this time. I did 2min30sec this time for 3 tsp of leaves in a 20oz pot.

It is sweet now without the musty characteristic from before. I wish the sweetness was more pronounced though. I might up the rating after I try a 170deg steeping, we’ll see.

360ml of water at 195F
1 heaping tablespoon of tea
Steep for 4 minutes
1/4 teaspoon of highly refined sugar

It’s described as a Namring Poomong Upper, but with the DJ2 designation, and an SFTGFOP1 ranking, it is classified as a different Spring Flush Namring tea at Mariage Freres. Yet the similarities are there coming from the same estate, same flush, same year. However, this tea is not as good as the Spring Flush Namring was last year.

The taste is very light and I tried bringing out more of the flavor by adding more tea leaves. The taste became sronger but did not necessarily heighten the flavor of the tea. The Namring last year had a refreshing floral note while retaining all of the flavor of an exceptional Darjeeling. It had great body as well. The 2013 Namring has less flavor, does not have the floral notes, has more of an earthly quality to it, and is flat in taste.

I really wanted to like this tea and it is still a good Darjeeling, but it misses the mark of the stellar Darjeelings Mariage has released in previous years.

Sipdown! 782. The rest of this is for Sil.

I will admit that my tastebuds are a bit compromised right now, as I just consumed a deliciously huge amount of garlic/ginger/soy/lime marinade while eating a marlin steak. Nom nom nom. So my mouth kind of tastes like GARLIC, but even so, I can taste the delicious banana of this tea, such a real, banana chip flavour (shocker – this tea contains banana chips!) Yum. While I don’t think this is going on a must-have list for me, I can see myself attempting to nab a bit more in the future, or splitting a small amount with someone. Mmmmm!

Sipdown! 783. The rest is off to Sil and Indigobloom!

It’s such a shame that the flavour of this one doesn’t match up with the crazily delicious aroma, although this tastes infinitely better when sweetened. It’s kind of a burnt, malty flavour, that unlike the natural burny/malty flavours in some black teas, really doesn’t taste great unsweetened. Ah well. Interesting enough, if nothing else!

I chomped on the leaves afterwards this time, figuring they were definitely sweet and tender enough. They were. A little soy sauce and some sesame oil (with a sprinkle of sesame seeds for appearance) made them really tasty! Even Fiance ate some!

(I also bumped up the score from 99 to 100, because what can’t this tea do really?)

Made this one as a cold brew mixed with Teavana’s Peach Tranquility. Brewed for about 12 hours. I thought I would mix this one because I am not the hugest fan of it on its own, and the opus rouge seemed to mix well with others. It was not so great with the peach tranquility, it wasn’t terrible either. It is basically grape mixed with peach, which just isn’t working for me. It is very juice like, and on the verge of being bitter, like when you get an unripe, bitter, grape. I will finish this one, but most likely not do this blend again.

Full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ tomorrow, May 22nd at 6pm Central but here are the snippets:

The best way that I can describe Premium Sencha from Aiya is fresh delicious perfection. I have sat here with this cup so immersed in it, just allowing myself to become a part of it, and it is just the freshest sensational cup of tea ever. There is a nutty sweetness with just a slight astringency that gives it almost a citrus like zest. The left over flavor on the palate is lingering, nutty, and a little tart. Yes, you will find a grassy flavor in the tea, but it is not grassy like other green teas I have experienced, this tea is more like a seaweed with a slight saltiness, a vegetal flavor that is really special. The aroma is equally pleasing. I can only describe the aroma as something you would experience in a prairie meadow on a breezy, warm, summer’s day.

When I received my tin from Aiya I was really surprised to find that under the lid was a secondary sealed pull back lid. I was so excited and impressed I made my daughter and husband come look. Upon pulling off the sealed lid by the ring (like an older style soda can) and hearing the freshness seal open, with an airy sound, the aroma of the dry leaf was mesmerizing! The lead is dark green and almost shimmery silver looking. No wonder this is the freshest tasting sencha I have ever experienced!

If you have not tried a tea from Aiya please do yourself a favor and get yourself some right away! You won’t be disappointed in their teas.

I finally got around to brewing this one up for my kitty, Mr. Frodo! He rubbed his face on the bag for a while before indulging in a cup of brewed catnip tea. He was so cute! I captured the whole thing with my iPhone camera. To see the photo play-by-play, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96132028@N08/sets/72157633587132206/

While waiting for it to cool enough for Mr. Frodo, I tried it myself. If you didn’t tell me this was catnip, I’d have no idea! It tasted like green yerba mate with a touch of mint. Or just a very weak peppermint tea. It’s not bad! I gave some to my husband and he really liked it, even after I told him it was catnip. ;P

This is a fun one to have around. I’m glad I picked up a packet. If you have a kitty, you should definitely get some for him or her too! It makes for really cute photos. :) And I have a ton of it, so feel free to request some in a swap.