New Tasting Notes

Thanks to Awkward Soul, I’ve been having a great day full of new tea tastes! Here’s another sample she sent me.

I love the taste of blueberries but I don’t like to eat them plain because often the texture goes mealy or they are too tart. This tea is like drinking the essence of the best blueberries in the world. I just made one cup using a tea ball but the smell has gone all through my living room and it smells like blueberry muffins in here!

This tea is a real winner. I drank it sweetened with Splenda and didn’t taste any “off” stevia taste that others mentioned. I’d say this would be a great tea for someone trying black tea for the first time, as long as they like blueberries!

Tea of the afternoon here… I have a bit of a stomach ache and thought perhaps this would help. It is nice with soymilk and sugar, but I should also try this iced someday. See previous notes for more info.

I don’t know why I took so long to try this one. It makes a lovely iced tea!

It does remind me of Lime Jello Salad from 52teas but a bit different. The creaminess in this one comes from coconut, and the coconut also adds a nice flavor. There’s a lot of lemon in here too so it’s not straight lime. Not sure I like that part because it tastes a little fake.

Coconut and lime are awesome together, though. This really isn’t that interesting of a tea to say anything else about. It’s pretty fluffy so it needs its space for steeping. It has a lot of twigs in it. I pulled one out that looked like a toothpick. No thanks.

Sample Sipdown … This is really quite nice! Its not a punch you in your face flavor – Butiki is excellent with subtle flavors that are quite natural and well done. This is excellent just the right amount of spice and fruity and I am mysteriously getting a banana flavor here too! I like this one a lot!

Sample Sipdown…this is nice – a good oolong but not peachy enough for me.

First sip: ugh! strange
Second sip: hmmm…
Third sip: o.k?
Fourth sip: not bad
Fifth sip and beyond: hey! this is pretty good

Toasted Walnut makes an especially nice Fall or Winter tea. To me, the nutty taste was immediately apparent. Although I didn’t love this one right away, it grew on me within a few sips. For some strange reason, the smell and part of the aftertaste reminds me of an Irish cream coffee that my parents used to drink when I was a child, but looking at the ingredients, I’m not sure why that would be? So far I have only tried this one hot with nothing added, but I suspect if I added a smidgen of brown sugar and perhaps a touch of milk, this tea would taste even more like a dessert.

Cleaning out the cupboard today – going to have a couple of sample boxes to send out to some lucky person in USA – sorry Canada friends I don’t have a car to get to the post office to ship to you right now. Long story … I will spare you all.
Anyway this is a sipdown of a sample from Kittenna I think I may have over steeped this one being distracted – its not bad or astringent or anything but I have a HUGE perfume flavor coming from it. Strange. Its fruity lol not really cheesecake today. Oh my Im sure I did something odd to it.

This is one of the many tea samples sent by Bonnie! Thank you, Bonnie! This is my first Butiki tea ever.

First, the aroma of the tea seemed primarily raspberry but we were eating Pinwheels and Pepperidge Farm cookies at the time! As i lifted my cup, i could have sworn I smelled roses! More than once as I sipped I was just sure of it. The base is smooth, very good, not astringent. The raspberry flavor seemed more subdued than the scent, but that may have been the cookies. As the cup cooled a little, the chocolate flavor came out more.

This was delicious, and I will be serving it again in half an hour to my new Moroccan friend! She did say she wanted to try more teas!

Thank you so much, Bonnie! This was delicious!

This was the final tea of tea party. My guest lifted her cup, sniffed, and blurted, “Wrigley’s Gum!” I told her she had a great nose because both are spearmint. She liked it a lot, and of course it is my favorite Moroccan Mint so far. We drink it sans additions.

And the winner of the tea time competition is………BERRY FIG! This is especially momentous because my guest was a non-tea drinker three years ago, then became a black tea drinker who didn’t want greens, and today voted for a flavored green as her favorite tea of the day!

This is smooth and good. The berry is not tart or overly bright. Fig always seems mellow in tea to me, and tasty, too. Lovely! The base is very nice. You know it is green, but it is not grassy or sour.

Thank you Amanda for this sample in the cute little tin!
Its not what I was hoping for but I had very low expectations and therefore I am actually quite pleased!
I would really like to try Lupicia’s Sweet Potato Pie and may grab some soon. Its no secret that Adagio and I are not in love. I rarely find a tea from them I do like. I think Fujian Rain is my favorite. Needless to say – this ain’t bad!
Its not all that sweet potato tasting let alone PIE tasting but its not yucky at all and its really quite pleasant as a black tea.
It almost is like a Verdant tea (GASP I SAID THAT?) but only in the sense that it tastes like a nice black with some lovely natural flavors coming through of sweet potato. HOWEVER these flavors are not truly natural. I am struggling to make this make sense.
And by no means does this compare to a Verdant tea.
But what I am trying to say is I would not have guessed this for an overly artificial flavored tea of Sweet Potato Pie. I would more so think it a somewhat nice but not excellent quality black tea that had some natural nuances of sweet potato and a light bit of non natural flavoring to boost it.
BAH never mind – this is pretty decent. I will hang onto it and drink the rest but wold not purchase.
Thanks again Amanda :)

Not going to lie, I sometimes choose my tea based on how I choose my wine. If it has a cool label or a fun name or is for a good cause, I’ll buy it to try it at least once. This one has all of the above, so I figured it must be a winner. Plus, I’m weird and I love hibiscus tea (like I love sour candy) so I figured I can’t lose. As long as the taste of the coconut could be masked…

Well, I wasn’t disappointed. The hibiscus and “other stuff” in it masked the taste of the coconut, which essentially just gave it some richness on the tongue for me. And left some oil droplets floating on my tea. I didn’t get any taste of mango or banana, but I do taste apple. And hibiscus. Oh, hibiscus. Any sweetness from stevia is severely overpowered by the tartness of hibiscus, so people who like sweetened tea (not me!) would still need to add a sugar of some kind. I’m I would like it iced, too—this time I drank it lukewarm because I forgot about it sitting on my desk (and was wondering who was eating candy!).

Cheesecake matcha

This is my second matcha from Red Leaf teas http://www.redleaftea.com/ to try – I had a great experience with my first matcha from them, Caramel Matcha, so I was excited to put another order in.

I’m a big cheesecake fan that rarely eats cheesecake. I prefer to bake my own treats. Cheesecake, in my opinion, is expensive to make and quite a bit of work, so I make it on special occasions. The other issue I have is that my husband does not like cheesecake, and I need another person to eat it with me so I don’t eat the whole thing myself!
With that said, when I see cheesecake teas or other fun dessert teas, I jump on them. No to little calories and all the sweet deliciousness! Cheesecake matcha? Oh hells yes! Red leaf teas has great sales and within hours of it being posted on sale, I snagged it.

The specs on the matcha I ordered:

Cheesecake Matcha
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html
Size: Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust I went with Robust flavoring this time (the last time I tried Delicate) because I decided to not mess around.

Red Leaf gives you lots of power over your matcha – you can set the flavor strength and matcha quality. Wanna go hardcore elite mode? Try a Imperial superior grade.

I ordered in the middle of the night, but my order was shipped the following morning. Red leaf is very prompt!

Straight out of the package, smells strongly sweet cheesecake goodness. I can’t tell that there’s supposed to be lovely green matcha in this package!

Note on packaging, their matcha (at least the small size from my experience) comes in gold foil non resealable packets. This time around I ordered a small tin, which is very handy if you do not have a small tin. The tin is good quality, size of a squat spice tin, but all metal with a twist top with plastic grooves inside to ensure a good seal. You don’t want the air to damage your matcha! I took off the sticker label off the foil packaging and stuck it on my tin – very handy!

I still don’t have all the pro matcha gear, so rest assured if you want to have matcha do don’t need all the gear to try it! At this time I just use a standard ½ teaspoon measuring spoon, wide mug, fine tea strainer to act as a sifter and a bamboo whisk I got from my local Daiso, a japanese dollar store. Previously I used a wire whisk but that takes more time to whisk but is very do able. If anything, sifting the matcha is the most important step I wouldn’t skip. Red Leaf also gives you the option to buy the matcha accessories along with your order.

I whisked up Cheesecake matcha following the instructions given in a pamplet in my order. I found this batch was harder to get the nice froth than my Caramel matcha. Cheesecake matcha is more brown green compared to Caramel matcha – I’m unsure if it’s the flavoring strength or different flavor that effects the colour.

Prepared traditionally with just hot water, the Cheesecake matcha is earthy, mouth watering, full flavor green tea. No bitterness. There’s an additional hit of smoothness in this matcha at the end of my sip. Very fun and delicious!

However, my favorite way to enjoy matchas is as a latte. I immediately had another cup of matcha. This time I added organic light vanilla soymilk, a teaspoon of sugar to a whisked cup of matcha. As a latte, the matcha changes into full force CHEESECAKE mode! Smooth, creamy and that hit of tangy cheesecake!

Overall, very good matcha and cheesecakey. For me, I want something more than base cheesecake, I’ll add some raspberry or caramel matcha for my next cup! Ahh, I love how flexible matcha is!

Now, my next evil plot: baking a cheesecake, but not just any ordinary cheesecake, a green tea cheesecake with this Cheesecake matcha in it! Red Leaf tea has recipes on their site (https://www.redleaftea.com/index.php?dispatch=pages.view&page_id=36 ), but googling around I found a couple matcha cheesecake recipes too. Unfortunately with watching my calories I can only have one small slice of cheesecake. Anyone wanna share it with me?

It smells very spicy and cinnamon-y and tastes that way too. There is far too much cinnamon for my (cinnamon hating) tastes. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light as well, versus how dark the tea is. Of course, I just finished a cup of coffee, so take this with a grain of salt. If you like cinnamon, then you’re ahead of me in liking this tea.
Not bad otherwise, just too much of a kick for me,

Thanks for including this in our swap, TeaEqualsBliss! I had to steep this one a while to get any steep color at all in the tea. The flavor isn’t bad, and obviously cran and cherry would work well together. The cherry seems more like a mild sour cherry. It just seems like many of the Zoomdweebie’s I’ve had have cranberry in them! Also, the black tea flavor barely exists which I guess will showcase the other flavors better.

Sometimes when you have been waiting so long to try something, then it becomes available to you, you are slightly frightened.
At least, that is how I felt when I finally was able to try this tea.
I have been wanting to try it for so long, but then…what if it is not as wonderful as I had hoped?
OR what if it is beyond my wildest dreams and I have to instantly buy some and never be without it!?
But, I should have just trusted the Earl (he has never let me down before)
I smiled when I opened the cute little tin that Angrboda had packed this tea in just for me.
Well, Hello, My Russian Cowboy Earl, where have you been all my life?
I think Kusmi blended this perfectly, there is smokiness but you can still smell a nice bright bergamot.
Neither overpowers the other.
Which makes it mysterious to me…how did they do that?
Mysterious? So now the Earl is a Russian Cowboy 007 Earl. Good Grief.
While the tea is brewing, again there smokiness and bergamot.
Taste is just what the name says it is…A Smoky Earl.
Bergamot and a bit of smoke, perfect for this chilly morning.
Since I have only tried two Kusmi teas maybe I am not a expert on this, but I am finding them to be of good quality, their bergamot seems to be nice and bright and one of the better bergamots I have had in teas.
I want to thank Angrboda for sharing this tea with me.
It is certainly a tea that I will be saving my pennies for.
If you are a Earl Grey lover, I implore you to try some of this Russian Cowboy 007 Earl soon.
Or don’t…then there is more for me.

A review of Orange Pekoe & Pekoe Cut Black Tea by Clear Value

Date: 09/05/2012
Company: Clear Value
Tea Name: Orange Pekoe & Pekoe Cut Black Tea
Tea Type/Varietal: Black
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: Cup / one tea bag
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: bright orange
Leaf Characteristics: tea bags are double with perforating line and no tags and smells very strong of tea leaves and some permeating the tea box. It smells of tea and it is nice.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 190 Fahrenheit
Time: 9:00 AM

Note: This is another tea that I purchased while grocery shopping. I bought two teas, thinking one was a green tea but not.
As this is an inexpensive tea, it can be had daily and at anytime of the day. I am having this cup of hot tea with very hot boiling water and steep for five minutes. It is hot and strong and color is brightly orange like or that golden glow of amber stone.

It is smooth cup of tea and smells of roasted leaves. It is good tea for the money and this reminds me of the family brand tea I have purchased from the Family Dollar store; tea bags (doubly joined are similar as well as the box coloring) but this brand is of Clear Value.

Overall, it is good tea for the value and it will make for good iced tea as well; thus the reason for purchasing it.

Another wonderful sample from Awkward Soul! I’m really enjoying trying all these new teas.

Right after I poured the hot water over the teaball, I took a good sniff and smelled peaches and grass. Interesting! Once it cooled, the first half of the cup all I tasted was fresh, juicy peaches with a hint of apricot. No almond or orange peel or oolong. Toward the end of the cup I started to taste the earthy, grassy oolong. That was fine, but I preferred the juicy peachy part! :-) I never did get the flavor of almonds or orange peel. Anyway, this was a nice tea to try, and I’d recommend it for stone fruit lovers who like the grassy, earthy taste of oolong.

A review of Orange Pekoe and Pekoe Black Tea by Price Chopper

Date: 09/03/2012
Company: Price Chopper
Tea Name: Orange Pekoe and Pekoe Black Tea (Decaffeinated)
Tea Type/Varietal: Black
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: Cup / one tea bag
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: Bright orange/amber
Leaf Characteristics: teas are all individually bagged with strings, one can smell of the leaves and roasting as it makes me think of coffee flakes somewhat. It is strongly in odor (dried in the box) prior to brewing. When brewed, the raw smell becomes milder but still of smelling of roastedness.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 190 Fahrenheit
Time: 10:00 AM

Note: Using one tea bag into my preheated tea cup, I pour fresh boiling water over the tea bag and left to steep for nearly five minutes. I like the tea’s color which is brightly orange and smell of roasted leaves. This smell is consistent with the dry tea bags in the box of tea as well. Some of the tea is found around the tea box and one can smell of the leaves, smelling of roasted acorn like but it is leaf.

I did not mean to purchase this tea (decaffeinated) or more Orange Pekoe tea; I actually thought I was purchasing a store brand green tea since the box is greenish in color and it was next to another brand of Pekoe tea so I took of each kind and when I got home noted the are both pekoe (different brands) so box are different and one is decaffeinated.

I am not sure that I can discern the difference is the decaf and not. Taste is malt like and roasted cup of black tea. I am having it plain and very hot and it seems very nice tea.

Nothing jumps out more other than the roastedness in the box upon opening it, one can definitely say this is tea. I have not experience this with other teas of the same tea type and name from another store.

2nd Steeping: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 11:00 AM

Note: I simply add more boiling water into my cup while using same tea bag throughout the morning. Color is still darkly orange and taste is smooth and roasted in smell; at times seeming like of a milder cup of coffee, very faintly because of the roasted smell that continues to be present in the cup.

It is unusual to me since decaffeinated means that something is removed, yet this tea seems more potent than most other orange pekoe. Weird?

I’ve had my eye on Red Leaf Tea’s Cheesecake Matcha for some time now. Amanda was generous enough to send me a sample of her’s – which I immediately fell in love with. I believe her’s was “delicately” flavored. There was a nice tang to the matcha which was consumed – in record time – as an icy latte.

When I got around to finally placing my order for this, a month later (gasp!), I had a very difficult time trying to figure out which matcha base to go with. I knew I already liked the regular ol’ starter matcha, but would I branch out and try the white or red base? I probably placed each version in my cart at least 3 times before the basic grade finally became my choice. Seriously, it was a really hard choice to make!

So as a frame of reference my order was comprised like this: small, starter matcha with robust flavoring (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html ) and a small metal tin, which I’ve come to really like! The tin is a nice size for a small matcha and doesn’t hog my precious refrigerator space. When I find myself in between matchas, I like that I can reuse the tins to take small samplings of loose leaf tea when I travel. I’m a sucker for small, reusable items!

Anyway, the smell of the matcha is tangy and slightly sweet, even though there’s no sugar added to the flavoring. I prepared this my usual way – cold latte style. Two ounces of warmed water with a teaspoon of matcha and a half teaspoon of super-fine sugar – wisk until blended. I didn’t try sifting the matcha this time, and it frothed up very nicely without any clumping. Six ounces of cold, creamy whole milk (yes, I’m naughty!) and the taste was so smooth and creamy with a bit of tang – just how I like my cheesecake to be!

After my first cup as a cold latte, I went for a second cup – this time as a warmed, straight matcha. The tang and creaminess are much less noticable the second time around, but the matcha base is much more prevalent. As the cup cools, the tangy taste comes to the forefront with the matcha and the creaminess lags behind. It’s kind of like having two very different teas, which is pretty awesome for just buying the one! A creamy, dessert-like cup of tangy cheesecake with milk/dairy alternative or a green tea with a little tang – it’s up to whatever kind of mood you’re in!

I liked it. I can’t say that I thought to myself “MMM! MANGO!”, but I liked it. Would I get it again? Probably not, only because it was expensive (claims to have a white tea base, but I drank it at night by accident and wasn’t up half the night like I would have been if it had more-than-negligible amounts of caffeine) but because I have others that I like more. It definitely won’t be me grudgingly finishing it (a la Jolly Jellybean), but I wouldn’t stock up if I heard they were discontinuing it.

Never pour boiling water on darjeeling. I think darjeeling is best when steeped at around 90 degrees. When do I learn?

MMM cheesecake :D it’s my absolute favorite dessert. So when I saw that there was a cheesecake flavored matcha I pretty much ordered it right then and there. When I opened the package the smell was so creamy and delicious smelling. Here is a link:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

It actually tastes like I’m eating cheesecake with matcha in it. The first few sips I took were a bit sour then as it started to cool down I got a more creamy, sweet cheesecake flavor. I’m getting a bit of the sourness in the aftertaste but hey, it’s still amazing.
So, usually I hate adding milk or sweetener to my teas but I decided I’d try adding some almond milk to the last little bit I had in my bowl. It was ok. It added a bit to the creaminess but then just added a weird almond flavor too. I think what would really make this one extra delicious would be to add some sweetened vanilla almond milk. Oo that sounds good!
I honestly don’t think I’d go for the ‘distinctive’ flavor because this one already has so much! And it mixes well with the bittersweet matcha flavor. It just tastes like a big slice of green cheesecake :D
SO I suggest you hop on over to Redleaftea.com and buy yourself some cheesecake matcha. Here is the link my friends:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

I meant to record a tasting note for this a while back and I see I never did. I must have been distracted. Probably had some rejection slips pop into my mail box which sent me scurrying to find another market to send a story to. ;-)

I’ll have to go back to it and write a more in-the-moment reflection, but the good news is this is a memorable tea. Even without having tasted it in three months I remember a thick mouth feel and a really nice currenty raisiny flavor over a mild and tasty black tea base. More later, but I didn’t want to leave this one naked. It’s cold out there.