New Tasting Notes

Somewhat bland. But that is probably my fault. Either that or the hotel had it for awhile. I will have to come back and update this when I have a newer tea bag of this tea type.

I wasn’t expecting this one to be so tasty! Last time I visited a DT store, they had 25g packets of tea for $3 for 2 for $5, so I snapped up a few just to try something new. I doubt I would have bought this otherwise, but after I tasted it, I went back the next day and bought four more of packets – $10 for 100g is a deal!

The anise flavor is very soft, and the blend was much creamier than I expected. I wish the overall taste was a little bit stronger, but this is a delicious, satisfying tea. Sumptuous, but light. A beautiful, simple pleasure – tastes like wearing a velvet-lined tracksuit would feel like :)

Holy Bananas! It really does taste like chocolate bananas. If you’ve ever tried a chocolate covered banana then you have to try this tea. The dry smell is unique. Chocolatey of course, but with slight fruitiness to it. It’s also dairy free, which is a big plus in this family.

This one needs more then the suggested 5 minutes of steep time. Leave it for 5 without touchin it and at 6 take a sip. i like it around 8.

6.5g 220ml zhuni yixing
3 infusions @ 85C
1/2/3 min.

A perfect blend between the usual yunnan sweetness and a very slight astringency.

Malty, sweet, creamy. :)

Based on other reviews, it was better than I expected. You have to like pu’erh to like this tea, and I do! I expected the coffee flavor to be quite strong and to mask the rest of the flavor notes, but the caramel and almond were actually what I picked up the most.

There’s a roasted sweetness about the combo that works really well with the pu’erh IF it’s your thing in the first place. Because I found the flavors to be a bit artificial tasting, I’d probably just rather have pu’erh on its own. I got this tea as a sample with my last order and am not planning on buying it again.

Received this as a Christmas gift as part of the Bentley’s Finest Tea Green Tea Sampler Pack. I wasn’t really sure of how the tea would taste. It is light on the blueberry flavor but not so light that you can’t taste it. Slight bitterness as well even though it wasn’t steeped for long.

The sweet taste of black currants with a smooth black tea. Good cold or hot but I prefer it hot. No sweetener needed. I’ve never tried it with sweetener as I thought it would ruin the taste. I also love the dry smell as it greets me every time I open the can.

Backlog…
I had this tea last night along with Samovar’s Japanese tea service. That included brown rice, tempeh, beets, seaweed salad and kale with a cup of butternut squash soup. This is a bit reminiscent of Den’s Super Green genmaicha because the color is just such a bright vivid green. Definitely has a kelpy/savory flavor with the warm flavor of toasted rice. That seaweedy flavor does not bother me, but I love japanese green teas. It went great with my food too. I could see wanting to have some of this around to make tea soup with or just to have I thought about buying some of this but I have a few genmaichas already that I should focus on drinking first. So much tea, so little time.

I have no idea how they prepared this so I’m just guessing… Their nishi sencha 1st flush is definitely worth checking out too.

I’m reading a book right now called “The Dressmaker” that is about the Titanic sinking and what happened afterwards. The book is pretty interesting and since I had a sample of this in my cupboard I figured this would be a perfect tea to start the day with. The tea smells deliciously matly with just a hint of sweetness, like a citrusy sweetness. The flavor is robust, but not overly done. There is an almost bitter finish, but it’s actually a nice little kick at the end. I added some milk and sweetener and it became a smooth, sweet cup of tea. This isn’t the strongest black tea blend, but it’s nice and light. I think it’s also a little more sweet than your average black tea blend. This apparently has some oolong in it too, so maybe that’s what is balancing everything out. I kind of like it as a breakfast tea during the summer, it’s not too heavy when the weather is super hot. It’s kind of fun to see what type of tea they were drinking back in the days of the Titanic. I’m glad that reading the book made me remember about this little sample sitting in the back of my cupboard!

-Dry blend has medium black and brown tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell malty and slightly sweet. Tea liquor aroma is of malty black tea with a hint of sweet citrus.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Robust flavor with an almost bitter finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A lightly robust black tea. Perfect for the summer.

I received this tea as part of the chocolate tea samples from Della Terra months ago but never got around to trying this one for some strange reason. I’m not a huge fan of most chocolate teas because I just find them to be lacking a bit so I guess you can take this review with a grain of salt…

The aroma smells really nice and authentic like a big cup of cocoa. Typical of most chocolate teas I’ve tried I just find the flavor to be a bit thin and I’m wondering what the point is. I did find the flavor was helped along a bit by the addition of soymilk and some rock sugar because I felt like it needed something. I don’t think I have any reason to buy this as long as I have a huge tin of “Florence” still sitting around.

My favorite in the Della Terra chocolate line has to be the “chocolate covered strawberry” but they are currently out of it. I would like to get more of that someday. ;)

Hmmm, I can’t believe I forgot to write a tasting note for this one. Backlog sipdown, 166. I cold-brewed the rest of this one the other day.

It was quite tasty! Cold brewed, the lychee is more floral and rosey, but that is a good thing for me since I love those rosey notes. I love an iced lychee black, and this one was no exception. If I ever get my tea cupboard down low enough to buy specific teas for cold brewing, I will definitely always have to keep a lychee black for that!

Yum – early morning work fuel

This is my first Teavivre tea sample for review! (Thanks Angel!)

I am a huge fan of jasmine pearls, and these do not disappoint! Delicate, sweet, and smooth with a nice strong jasmine aroma. Just how I like it :)

Looking forward to trying my other Teavivre selections!

I received this as a sample in my most recent Den’s order. This is meant to be thin match (Usacha). I was pleasently sursprised by the lack of bitterness. It was smooth and creammy, sweet and delicious! I immediately wanted more! The caffeine kick was amazing, move over coffee I just found your morning replacement. I will have to include this on my next order as I loved it so much.

A perfectly smooth blend of the finest tasting (or as far as I can tell haha) green and black leaves mixed with the essence of Beragmot. It may not really be considered an Earl grey because it’s first ingredient is green tea but it is by far the best “earl grey” that I have tasted.

I generally love floral, perfumey teas (and for that matter, foods), so it’s natural that I like this tea.

I do wish it was more of a true orange blossom, instead of being mostly overwhelmed by a lemongrass flavor. But it is still very good, and a nice afternoon tea since it’s a bit lower in caffeine. In fact, I wish I hadn’t brewed a cup this morning. In the future, I think I’ll save this tea for afternoons after stressful mornings.

Sipdown, 167. Just was notified that my Verdant Reserve Club box is out for delivery today, which means 4 teas added to the cupboard. Even though I know my cupboard will definitely go above 170 later this month when I get my larger Verdant order in, I don’t want to go over today! So I decided to take the opportunity to finish off this dragonwell, especially since I have a few others in my stash.

I’m using a lot of leaf and brewing semi-gongfu, which is to say in a mug with an infuser, but with short steeps. This is, as usual, very nice, although there is a lingering perfumy raspberry stuck in my mouth or the infuser, or something. Hopefully the later steeps will clear it out. Quite a nice dragonwell it would certainly be a great one for an everyday green tea, if you were an everyday dragonwell kind of person. :)

This is hands down my favorite Shu! Its smooth and full of flavor. I detect notes of raisin and smooth creaminess. I judge all other Shu’s against this. The liquor is bold and full of creamy flavor. Deep red in color. I will always have this as long as its offered.

First off let me say I love this Pu-erh!!!! It started off smoky and creamy on the first infusion. Subsequent infusions lost the smoke and got really smooth and creamy. Highly drinkable! I am on the 5th infusion and its still going strong, going to finish it off today. I am really impressed, the only downside is its only 100grams. I want more!!!!! This is definately a keeper and must have in the cupboard at all times.

I purchased this Matcha to make Matcha Au laut’s for my family. I am tired of paying a lot for Starbucks green tea fraps so this was an ideal alternative. I mixed it with Splenda packets and vanilla flavored almond milk and ice cubes in a blender and its a huge hit at home! My family thinks it tastes exactly like Starbucks offering.

I received this as a sample in my latest Den’s order and it was fabulous! I was hesitant that it would be strong and bitter but that couldnt be any further from the truth. It was smooth and refreshing. I let my wife taste it and she is not a green tea drinker and she enjoyed it also. I will definately be buying some on my next order.

EDIT: I really enjoyed this one brewed with some almond milk.. I wanted to give it a little substance as I did not have a huge breakfast today.. and so I mixed in a little almond milk… oh my god.. talk about taking it to another level.. it really brought out the creaminess of this tea, which was accented by the orange.. amazing.. sad that this was a sipdown of my last little bit :(

I really, really like this tea. Its a very foggy, crappy, morning in Halifax. Its humid, so I felt like something summery, but still warm. This was the perfect tea to do just that. It kind of tastes like a creamsicle, but a little spicier, which is exactly how I like my creamy fruit teas :)