New Tasting Notes
Thanks, Nicole_Martin, for this tea!
I had this iced this week and it was very good! The kiwi was natural and very different from most of the fruit teas I’ve had. The coconut gave it a slightly roasted flavor although it was cold. I’m also enjoying the Handmade Teas bases. They are very warm-tasting. I look forward to trying this one hot.
I’ve been looking for a good green chai for a while so I thought I’d check out this blend from Simpson and Vail with my recent order. You can see small pieces of spice in the mixture and it smells pretty good.
My first impression of this is it’s somewhat light on the flavor. The green tea is slightly vegetal and nutty and I’m also getting some faint spice but it isn’t nearly as strong as some chais I’ve had. I guess this could be a plus or a minus depending on your point of view. I liked this better after stevia was added.
I think this blend needs more cardamom, it seems quite strong on the cinnamon and ginger. I think this will be a good afternoon time tea, especially on a dreary and cold day like the one we’re having. Overall it’s fairly enjoyable but I may use more leaf next time.
Preparation
This is my favourite tea for years now. I drink tea without sugar and because of the mild liqorice and cinnamon combination it is very nice before you fall asleep but also when you wake up. The star anice gives it a light note. I hope Lipton will stay producing this for years :)
I made this with more leaf this time and it was much better. Still pretty tart, but there was more fruitiness to it this time. The mouth-feel was also a little thicker which helped add to the the pudding flavor. Still not my favorite plum tea, but much better than the last time I had it.
After one short rinse, and 2 10sec infusions, woody forest flavours give way to sweet 70-80% dark chocolate with a hint of strong caramel, bitterness giving to underlying sweetness, so smooth and satisfying.
Then, adding ~5-10 sec per infusion, the tea thickened while the bitterness mellowed out from infusions 3-6 giving way to nutty and a hint of vanilla tones in the dark chocolate
Now adding 30 sec per infusion until infusion 12, when the flavour had weakened to the point of stopping.
I used a 120mL gaiwan, so yixing would probably enrich this tea much more and get more infusion out of it.
Preparation
Thanks, Nicole_Martin, for sample of this tea!
This is a backlog from yesterday.
I enjoyed this tea as a breakfast tea. It was exceptionally smooth and malty with golden overtones. It was very fruity with almost plummy tones. It also has some green bean flavors going on. A very nice tea altogether!
4g / 200ml glaspot.
Single infusion. 4m @ 75C
Ah have to start checking my notes here on steepster. Should do 80C for 5m. Haha maybe next time. Been doing a darjeeling sunday, and this white tea is very special. The flacour is so incredibly mild and pure while still having a complex set of flavours. The texture and body is fairly thick for such a light cup. The color is very very pale yelllowish white. Vegetables and fresh nutty citrus maybe? hard to describe but fabulous! Will restock come spring since im almost out!
Preparation
mmmmmm another delicious tea from dinosara. I’m not sure i’d want to drink this every day but every now and then this would be right up my alley. This is like liquid delicious roasted chestnuts! mmm even the smell reminds me of my trip to france where you could find roasted chestnuts nearly everywhere! so good!
Hot chestnuts are not a very common thing here, but I’ll for ever associate them with a great street party in Urbania celebrating the release of new wine. All you can eat and drink, for a pay what you want donation. The fruity, bright wine went surprisingly well with the roasted chestnuts.
I am REALLY tempted to get the iced version of this. REALLY tempted.
My one hold up is how much I like it with milk and sugar, though… you can’t exactly do iced tea with milk unless it’s like a latte refrigerated. And that takes a whole lot of forethought, not exactly my strong suit.
Anyway, I had this with homemade coffee creamer (the vanilla cinnamon recipe on this page: http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/1016415/homemade-coffee-creamers-in-fall-flavors) and it was PERFECT. This tea is flexible enough that it’s good no matter what I put in it, though – that’s why it’s one of my favorites!
Preparation
I’m not sure that i’ve had any fujian teas so i’m happy that dinosara sent this one along for me to try. This is a delicious cup of cocoa goodness with a few honey notes in the background..maybe a bit of “wheat” taste! I wish i could say more but i totally gulped this down it was so tasty!
Preparation
Bailin gongfu, tanyang/panyang, and Jin jun mei are all Fujian blacks, so I would guess you’ve had quite a few, this one just has a somewhat generic name.
Thanks to Teavivre for a sample of this tea. I am excited to try Teavivre’s new Taiwanese high mountain oolongs; this one I had a gongfu session with this afternoon.
The first steep was light and floral, slightly buttery and a hint of sugary sweetness. In the second and third steeps, more of the vegetal flavor came out, spinachy and generally leafy. Also the sweetness abated, leaving mostly floral and vegetal. As I have noticed with Taiwanese high mountain oolongs in the past, this is crisp and clean, without the really buttery and fruity notes that characterize tieguanyins. I tried each steep then dumped the remainder into one cup to drink later. It’s more floral and a touch sweeter when all are combined, but otherwise pretty similar to the individual steeps. This is a very nice example of these high mountain oolongs, nicely fresh and floral.
Also I had only one pack of this so sipdown, 137. Thanks again to Teavivre for the sample.
This tea is grown in the area at the altitude of 2500 meters, in which the climate is cold and forests grow well. Thus the tea leaves carry a natural scent of flower and fruit. After brewed, the tea liquid is clean, bright and light, with high and strong floral aroma, refreshing and fragrant; has obvious sweet aftertaste and long-lasting flavor.
Tea #41 from Another Traveling Tea Box
This one smells really spicy and not too terribly good in the bag, but once steeped it smells sweeter, but still has a rather zippy feel.
It is definitely reminiscent of pumpkin pie, despite the lack of pumpkin flavor. The spices are surprisingly mellow, and strongly clove and ginger, with a more subtle nutmeg and cinnamon flavor. I’m also really happy with how not-rooibosy this is. This would pair so well with Thanksgiving dinner!
Preparation
Yet another from Sil. I decided to go ahead and start drinking samples even though I can’t rely on my sense of smell. The weekend is too short to not drink as much tea as possible!
Weirdly, this one smells minty to me in the baggie. Once water hits the leaves, it morphs into a really bright honey smell.
Mmm. This one is really nice. A little stronger than the Bamboo Temple Yunnan I had picked up from Winston’s, and a little less floral. This one has a bit of a bite to it which would make it a really nice morning tea.
Thanks, Sil! This one is going on my future “potential buy” list. :)
Preparation
Found this at the back of my tea cupboard, and am a bit worried it’s been there too long (even though it’s well packaged). Bought this at an amazing tea shoppe in Courtenay, BC, where I had many a discussion with the owners when I lived there about their yearly jaunts to Asia to find the perfect tea. This was one of their highest recommendations, and it’s still (by far) the most I’ve ever paid for tea.
I forgot when steeping that I needed double the amount of tea, so this one’s a bit weak. Still, it’s divine. Smells faintly of hay, jasmine, and a touch of sweetness I’m struggling to place. It’s light and airy yet fully flavored, and while I’ve been on a real flavored kick of late, I forgot what truly exquisite tea tastes like. This, along with their matcha, is what got me into tea initially, and I think I’ll be sipping this pot all day as I re-steep it over and over again.
… I remember getting four steeps out of this one way back when, and it just got better each time. I wonder how many I can get today?
Preparation
Sipdown.
Sniffles. Sad it’s gone. So good – deep and rich. Gone. :(
I’m working on it. We had sourced several black pearls over the years, but this supplier made the best ones. I am working on him to produce these again next year. Fingers crossed that spring time will see him wanting to use the material for pearls.
But I’ll tell you, our current crop of Black Gold is very very nice, my favorite crop so far from this producer. Worth a try. Golden Needle premium is also quite good.
I’ll keep working on the producer to make these pearls again!!
3.5g / 200ml glaspot. water from Kunzan tetsubin
single infusion.
2:30m @ 75C
Superb as always. Shockfull of exotic fruits with a bit of citrus. Feels clean and fresh. Among the best greens ivé tried. Arya hit spot on. Will be getting me some of the SF -13.
Preparation
Oops, I didn’t add my sample of this to my cupboard, well I did now! I have been making this in my gaiwan all morning for myself and the boy, it snowed here for the first time this season! A nice little icing sugar dusting, it’s chilly out and there’s snowfall warnings for most of the province, but not here that I know of! So I thought a light white tea would go nicely with the light dusting of snow outside :) and I needed to try this sample!
The dry smell is very hay like, reminds me of my beloved Aged Yunnan white that is no longer available at Verdant, so I really like the smell! I have been doing 5 second steepings (+ about 3 for my uncoordinated pouring and preparation lol), and the steepings are light and quite good. A light hay flavor characteristic of white teas, very creamy, a bit crisp, and a bit of a nutty flavor as well. Sweet, soft. Definitely reminding me of that aged Yunnan! I like it! We are on infusions 5 and 6, and still quite a bit of flavor in the leaves. A very enjoyable white tea, and a nice change from my jasmine white teas I have more often it seems haha. Tasty, and the boyfriend likes it too of course!
Preparation
Sipdown, 138. Nope, this one was no better brewed strong with milk and sugar. I think it is just very old, to say nothing of what it would have been like when it was new. Well, glad to be rid of it.