New Tasting Notes
I thought I would really like this one, but somehow the mintyness is putting me off…
It really does have a pleasant mint chocolate aftertaste but drinking the hot tea, I get more watery mint than I do any chocolate. I guess I just wished the chocolate was more prominent.
The first David’s blend I’ve loved in a long long time!
Now, I remember having had the DT Genmaicha and back then? It wasn’t nearly as good as this sample. So crisp and sweet… lightly toasted. I’m really digging my cup!
On the second infusion now and it is just as good as the first, only a tad lighter.
Definitely not a cooking tea.
Trouble is, I worry that this sample might not be indicative of the quality sold in store, from a tin. They aren’t very good with consistency between batches and I’ve been burned a few times. (elsewhere as well, but most often at DT)
So is it worth it, investing in a tin? or grabbing ten grams and if it’s the same quality, quickly heading back to the shop hoping that I catch it before a new batch is turned over?
Gah! I have a gift card to use up so this would be a pretty decent way to do that…
want me to send you some of mine to see if it’s any different? if you like it, I’ll send the rest of it. Genmaicha is one that I really don’t need a tin of, just a small pouch, for how little I drink it. In fact, I think it’s my least drank tea on my shelf!
Hmmm! perhaps! if you don’t want it! anything you want in my cupboard?
Revisiting this TGY from 2011’s harvest. This roast is subtle but enough to come through on the finish. Some of the more floral flavors have mellowed in it’s almost two years since harvest. A nice night cap of something different than my usual Wuyi oolong.
Preparation
Backlog from yesterday, this is the third tea that I received with day 3 for the 12 days of Christmas.
ahhhh so much tea to get through.
This smelt nice creamy, vanillaey but also floral like. I really don’t like floral flavours.
once steeped it smells quite floral.
definitely not a tea for me, but glad to try it.
Preparation
Maybe the lightest touch of vanilla I have had in a vanilla tea. I liked that – most are overdone. The decaf base is very light bodied. For an evening tea that makes sense. I like it. Thanks Nicole.
You’ve probably seen this in other notes, but this is a great blender-inner and stretcher-outer.
K S: I don’t know if you had the sachet or loose, but JacquelineM and I found that the loose seems richer and has caramel notes, and it is important to stir it up because a lot of the goodies settle in the one pound bag.
Thanks, I keep it in mind ladies. This is loose leaf.
So other than in The Skinny, I have never had a pu’erh where the pu’erh is the main component, and am anxious to try it. I have a sample from Verdant of the 07 Xingxang I believe, and I also ordered the big 250 g brick of Old Comrades back during Cyber Monday. But I have been nervous to try them yet. And I’ve had a sample of this sitting here waiting patiently until I was ready. And tonight, I am going for it!
The dry smell is soo heady and spicy! Yum! It’s fiery and beckoning, I don’t know how to describe it other than spice. I did a rinse with boiling water, and then steeped for 1 min. In my infuser, I put a big hunk of the pu’erh, and tried to get about a tsp of the other ingredients as well.
I will admit, once removing the steeper and smelling the leaves, I got a lot of spices, but a scent I at first couldn’t place…then I found it! It was like a cedar planked salmon, mmm, then I thought what fishy? No way, it was like a yummy roasting dinner in the oven type of fish, and that may have partially been due to my super short rinse (not an expert at that yet at all haha). However, no fishiness AT ALL in the smell of the cup, just in the infuser. Mmm, the tea itself has a light spice, and I can smell that ginger…yes, I love ginger.
This tastes so good. It’s very difficult for me to distinguish what the pu’erh on its own tastes like as I haven’t had any straight pu’erh, but this tea is realllly good. It’s spicy, and warming, and yummy. It feels like I am drinking a savory meal almost. I do get a slight tingling on my tongue which is very intriguing, as I read about it but did not expect to notice it as much. There’s cinnamon too, and a bit of sweet to go with the warm spice of the peppercorns.
Overall, I am very excited to have tried this, and I like it! Yay! Hopefully I can get the nerve to try my straight pu’erh soon now that it’s not as scary. I just looked on Verdant’s site, and this is sold out, so I can only hope it comes back so I can get either another sample or maybe an oz to play with. Meanwhile, I will enjoy re-steeping this all evening.
ETA: On my third cup of this and it is still absolutely delicious. The caffeine isn’t messing with my stomach at all, I actually think the ginger and pu’erh combo are perfect for it! This is so tasty, I want more, but I must sleep at some point tonight haha.
Preparation
Have no fear, I was a nervous wreck the first time I began with puerh and I didn’t know who to ask about it. I kept looking for vidos and instructions. Now, bah it’s easy. So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me or ashmanra or mrmopar or look at videos on verdant or mandala websites.
Rule 1 is, always rinse it for 20-30 seconds in boiling water and toss the water. I use 20-30 second steeps, some people like shorter, some longer. You can experiment. Some sweeten the puerh, some add milk and drink it like coffee. Up to you!
I’ll be sure to ask you guys as I delve deeper into this tea :) i see my first error, i just rinsed for about 10 seconds. Verdant is very good for videos, i’ll have to check out mandala too, haha, i’ll probably want to order more tea though! Once I delve in further I’ll experiment with sweetners too :) thanks for the support!!
I was talking about the other tea’s you hadn’t tried yet, the pure pu-erh’s not the blends.
Oh yes oops I meant ‘this tea’ as in puerh in general, hmm speaking of which, how would I go about breaking into my brick of old comrades? You can pm me if you want :)
Some puerh is hard and some flaky. If you have a sharp knife (like a steak knife) find a loose area at the side. Use a cutting board with a cloth under so it won’t slide (don’t want you to get cut). Begin to PRY the knife sideways into the brick then lift up, like sheets of filo or puff pastry. The object is not to make lots of pu-erh dust or to create broken leaves. You want ‘sections’ of pu-erh for brewing. (Some dust is going to happen, don’t worry)
Ok I will have to try that this weekend when I have lots of time to devote to tasting and preparing it. Thanks, I’m excited I finally know how to break into the beast! :)
I dug this tea out of the back of my cupboard while rearranging some stuff today. It’s kind of ridiculous how I’ll hoard teas if I know a blend is discontinued or the company no longer exists. But tea doesn’t keep forever so today I opened the bag and made a cuppa.
The flavour is slightly smooth and nutty mixed with fruity citrus notes and hints of spice. It isn’t so spicy that I’d call it a chai but there’s notes of cloves and ginger to give the blend some character.
Preparation
Loose
Appearance: blend of bancha, popped rice sorghum seed, evenly balance, and dusted with matcha
Aroma when Dry: sweet (eastern) roasty, toasty, nutty, chewy rice
After water is first poured: earthy toasty, nutty, chewy rice
Tea liquor:
At beginning of steep: hint of green
At end of steep: dustier from matcha
Staple? Type, yes would gladly buy brand again
Preferred time of day: Any
Taste:
At first: creamy, sweet (eastern) nutty, chewy, grassy, earthy
As it cools ? slight drying note, notes get deeper, nuttier, earthier, less grassy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, all notes, with a creamy earthy matcha and almost chestnut note close
Preparation
Bought this tea over christmas and are tasting it again for the 3rd time. I am backlogging my initial tasting notes as well.
Observation 1: My boyfriend prepared this tea. It was steeped at boiling for 5 minutes as instructed. The liquor is a pretty rooibos red and I can smell a very sweet woodsy rooibos base.
Observation 2: Naked, this tea has a very smooth orange flavor reminiscent of dark chocolate orange candies. I am reminded of a citrus liquer like lemoncello and orange zest moreso than orange itself. I also notice a bridging flavor between the rooibos and orange that reminds me of olive oil perhaps? Either way it is a wonderful addition and blends these two flavores seamlessly.
Observation 3: With sugar, I am reminded of orange liquer and orange spice candies. Very delicious.
Observation 4: I chose not to add milk or cream for fear of the dairy taste being ridiculously overpowering.
Overall: My favorite rooibos yet, I think. I would love to try this mixed with a chocolate blend, I’ve not had a chocolate rooibos, but it might bode well with a chocolate black tea or something of the sort. Once my antibiotics are over and I can have caffeine again, I shall expeirment!
Boyfriend remarks: Uh… it’s good. I’m running out of stuff to write without more words.
Addendum: Tastes like Orangesickle, I guess. * pointless nervous chuckle *
Preparation
Used about 1/2 of a teaspoon and added a drop of agave. It was perfect. I’m still working on my preparation technique to get it frothy and well mixed. Zig-zag motion apparently is the way to do it. I think it helps. When the matcha powder starts to settle I just move the bowl in a swishy motion. It mixes it up so I can finish it all up. Yumm.
Preparation
A beautiful blooming tea with a flavor that doesn’t quite match it’s appearance in beauty. Alfalfa fragrance with a flavor that reminds me of green tea and clover. I don’t pick up any of the peach that’s being mentioned, but it was nice and mellow and a good excuse to hydrate.
Preparation
I was excited for this tea because it smelled like maple when dry, albeit slightly artificial. Unfortunately, the taste was very medicinal and reminded me of paint thinner. Maybe I just got a bad bag, because I enjoy a lot of Mlesna’s other teas. I may give this another chance in the future just to see.
Of course as I come to do log this note, my internet stopped working and I had to reset everything, which is always a good time. Also like half an hour before the bulb went out in my desk lamp so that was great too, hopefully nothing else goes awry.
So I really want to love peach green teas but alas, the peach just never tastes right. This one at least works for iced tea beyond a flavoring issue for me. It just really doesn’t taste like peaches. It’s just kind of a vague fruity flavor that seems to happen a lot.
Thanks, Azzrian!
also I apparently totally missed getting to 900 notes earlier. confetti~
While much like other Teavana teas I’ve tried, you can’t get the best flavor out of this by following the instructions. However I am delighted by how spicy this is, accompanied by a mild sweetness. No additional sweetener required! I wish Teavana would tell you how to get the same flavor out of their tea that they do, but if you can figure it out its quite rewarding. Instructions say steep for three minutes with 2 tsp (If I remember correctly.) Best flavor I got was a heaped tablespoon boiled for 3 minutes.
