Featured & New Tasting Notes

The smell reminds me of chocolate scratch-and-sniff stickers. Fourth grade specifically, what 1993? Taste and body are thin but a strong returning sweetness like I’d expect in good loose-leaf comes about many minutes later. I used 2tsp to 10oz; thinking now that I should’ve used all three. Regardless, it’s kind of artificial. Thanks for the try, Martin :)

I placed another August Uncommon order and it just arrived. I’m slowly making my way through their entire catalogue. I was intrigued by the inspiration, and was very excited for this particular blend to arrive. The dry leaf smells exquisite- creamy, with hints of stone fruit, and cherry. I didn’t care for the smell while it was brewing, it was very medicinal. I also didn’t care for the first few sips. Way too boozy and very medicinal. However, as it cooled the flavor really developed, and the creaminess and fruit flavors melded wonderfully. I couldn’t stop drinking it for some reason.

Another tea from Martin :)

Before brewing, it smells just like fruity lebkuchen!

After brewing it smells more like a little caramel drizzled on lebkuchen.

But then the taste suffers horribly. It’s not bad just lacking in comparison to the delicious aroma and the body is very thin. Mostly warming ginger, with a bit of cinnamon and barely detectable clove. So it’s basically Spice tea with a little bit of tartness. I didn’t detect any salt despite the name, but as I type I can feel the salty tingle. I would think pulling off salted caramel flavor in tea to be difficult because when I bite into one, the thing I most enjoy is the distinct juxtaposition of salty and rich sweetness. In a tea, added salt would just flavor the whole cup since salt dissolves. The gingerbread and caramel flavors do make a timid appearance when I exhale through my nose.

All is not lost, but meh.

Green tea with chamomile?
It did not work in matter of taste or aroma. Aroma is musty, herbal and naturally chamomile.

Taste is way too similar. The base green tea is not much apparent, it’s mostly chamomile and then some notes of generic herbs, maybe lemon balm bit stronger than others.

Not sure about relaxing purpose.

I had to buy this one during the sale for the novelty factor.  I’m a huge Hitchhiker’s fan.  <3 But to be honest, the mix of flavors here sounded absolutely disGUSting.  Black currant with peppermint?  oo boy.  And these flavors are STRONG.  It’s like I’m getting punched in the face on each side of my face at the same time, once by mint and once by black currant and then they are at war in my mouth.  Yowzaz.  A teaspoon and a half is enough to find five huge black currants floating at the top of the infuser and this was after a good mix of the pouch.  Sadly, I didn’t see any of those gold bar looking sprinkles in my tea pouch, which was another selling point.  I did notice a shimeriness when I got to the bottom of my first steep.  The blend is FIERCE especially with 1 1/2 teaspoons, but I expect nothing less from Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. This flavor combo is so weird, I might actually grow to like it or even crave it?  Time will tell.  It’s weird enough for the Hitchhiker’s Guide.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoon for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 2 minutes after boiling  // 4 minute steep  
2020 Sipdowns: 11 (one of two pouches of Della Terra’s Blackberry Cream)

Wow. Another extraordinary offering from Whispering Pines. A huge thanks to Kawaii433 for this one as well. This is absolutely decadent. Pure chocolate and malt. Rich, creamy mouthfeel. It holds up to multiple steeps, but I found the first steep to be my favorite.

I’ve been trying to sip down most of my “Bird & Blend Tea Co. from when their name was still Bluebird Tea Co.” because… how long ago was it now that they changed their company name? Ya… it feels so long ago now, so I really should be sipping those teas down (my logic, anyway…) I recently finished off the packet of Choc It Rock It I got from one of tea-sipper’s cupboard sales a few years ago and now I’m working on this one. Thanks, tea-sipper! I had reviewed the former, but haven’t done so for this one yet.

The aroma of the dry leaf reminds me a lot of the Bondon herbal tea I sipped down recently by Steven Smith Teamaker… I get strong impressions of cinnamon and sarsaparilla, both things I like a lot. And then I take my first sip and… holy teabags, Batman, how much chili did they put in this?! A spice-wuss like me is not prepared for that at any time, least of all first thing in the morning. Phew. Damn. How can anyone focus when their mouth is on fire?! Unless the idea is to focus upon ones burning mouth. I can’t say if the yerba mate is waking me up, but that chili sure as hell did the job… can’t say it was exactly pleasant, though. It’s just… scratchy and burny at the back of my throat, and while I can taste the cinnamon in the blend, it is just overwhelmed by the spice so it isn’t adding a balancing sweetness. While I could smell sarsaparilla, I certainly can’t taste it against such a powerful flavor. Honestly, I’m having a hard time even picking up the taste of the mate base itself.

I would’ve been curious to see how the flavors in this would’ve worked if the chili had just not been present at all. Even old as this tea is, it is just still too strong for my spice-sensitivities and I can’t taste much against it. It’s just burning-heat-with-a-side-of-cinnamon.

This isn’t one of the better genmaichas I’ve had unfortunately. It tastes pretty decent; I’ve just had better ones. The toasty flavor is there. The green tea itself has a pretty light presence. The resteep was similar to the first steep.

This seems to be the only Li Shan that What-cha carries so it must be this one that Kawaii433 sent me.  It was a while ago, but thank you very much again for that excellent package!  I will be drinking it alongside the crazy flavored Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and that may be a mistake, but I will see what I can taste here anyway.  I’m also eating some melon so there are all sorts of flavors happening.  The oolong itself is very tightly bundled and very dark green. It’s very smooth, silky, with a strong minerals, hint of cream and coconut… as it cools, pineapple.  So an odd oolong for flavor notes for me… but I think I had one like this before where it tasted both of coconut and pineapple.  Possibly that is how Li Shan varietals taste to me?  I like it, but there was also a biteyness to the leaves throughout the consistently flavored steeps, which seems out of place considering the cooler water and short steeps I used.  Always glad to try something once though!
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep   
Steep #3 // 3 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep 
2020 Sipdowns: 10

Sipdown

Goodbye tasty tea. I let the remaining leaf (approximately 7g per 90ml) sit in my puerh storage for nearly two years. I’m glad that there was a huge difference in flavor than when I had it a while back. I remember this being very smoky/woody, but it developed a slight mineral bite toward the end of the leaf. I got about 9 steeps out of it, but it was a great tea while it lasted!

I rarely get to try a sheng this fresh, but after more than a month long journey from China to Ontario, I felt compelled to give it some time to rest and only broke into the cake I got today. Having been hit by a car while cycling earlier today (I came out lucky with no serious injuries), I won’t remember this day for the tea that’s for sure.

In any case, the tea didn’t leave a very strong impression on me in this first encounter of ours, I will try reserve my judgement though. It may need more time to show its true character. At the moment, it is quite crisp, grassy, sweet, and salty, with notes of seaweed and tropical fruits. The body is medium thick with a powdery and slightly astringent mouthfeel.

Sipped on this while playing pandemic and then while watching Ratatouille. Didn’t pay much attention but it definitely reminded me of my beloved Vanilla Marshmallow Assam so I’m happy.

Yes, I am still alive and still capable of writing. I keep having to tell myself that. It seems that I get more pleasure out of reading the tasting notes of others and commenting on them these days than I do writing notes of my own. Anyway, I have been aware that I needed to get back to writing for a few weeks now, but I have honestly just been too lazy to do it. Now that I have spent a good deal of time finishing up some of my remaining 2017 teas, I figured that I could not let my backlog grow any further, so it was time to get some reviews out of the way. This was a tea that I forgot I had, and when I found it in my tea stash, I just had to start on it. It was a very nice, mellow black tea that somehow held up remarkably well in storage.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds (my new kettle does not allow me to set 194 F as a temperature). This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of malt, cedar, baked bread, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and black pepper. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, cream, geranium, and butter. The first infusion brought out a slight camphor scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of cream, butter, malt, baked bread, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of roasted peanut, geranium, and cinnamon. The subsequent infusions introduced cocoa, smoke, sugarcane, tobacco, roasted walnut, marshmallow, and orange zest aromas as well as very subtle plum scents. Slightly stronger and more immediate roasted peanut and geranium impressions came out in the mouth alongside notes of sugarcane, cocoa, earth, minerals, black pepper, eucalyptus, straw, caramel, orange zest, roasted walnut, tobacco, and marshmallow. I also noted hints of smoke, cedar, camphor, red apple, plum, honey, and ginger. As the tea faded, the liquor began to emphasize notes of minerals, earth, cream, malt, baked bread, and caramel that were supported by subtler notes of butter, roasted almond, roasted peanut, cocoa, tobacco, and orange zest.

This was an incredibly pleasant, aromatic, and flavorful Yunnan black tea. In truth, I am probably underrating it a bit, but a score in the mid-80s just felt right to me when I was drinking it, and it still feels right to me now. I have had better, stronger, and more challenging Yunnan black teas, but this one was so pleasant and so easy to drink in its maturity that I could not even dream of being disappointed by it. If you are looking to acquire a very good, very likable Yunnan black tea with your next Yunnan Sourcing order, strongly consider seeking out the newest harvest of the Bu Lang Mountain Black Tea from Menghai.

I got a coin of this with my W2T order. I noted that it was bitter, astringent, punchy, and had a hint of pear notes. The leaf was very choppy, but I managed to pull a full leaf from the pile. It opened up nicely, for how small the coin was from the start. I got about 8-9 steeps in before moving on to the next session.

Strong strawberry jam (with seeds) notes, following a crystallized honey flavor. There is a period of slightly bitterness and astringency, but the overall flavor profile remains as the jam/honey notes.

The energy from the leaf is quite powerful. I’ve noted that there’s tea drunk and then there’s tea hammered.

I’m. Tea. Hammered.

January 2020 subscription

When I have received an herbal blend based on chamomile, I thought that this tea will rest for long probably. Nobody in my family is fan of chamomile, but when it is evening and family wants a tea – I had to pick up this one. Oh, okay, I had lots of other teas to use, but I thought I will brew something fresh. And nobody was fan of spicy teas (other caffeine-free alternatives) today.

I used maybe half of the pouch (that’s 10 grams) into big strainer, boiling water and… voilá – we have maybe 2 litres of tea?

Of course I took my cup and decided to make a tasting note.
It seems indeed chamomile is in based on aroma, but with some fruit notes, maybe a little bit like vanilla too? Blind tasting says it is fruit tea instead of herbal, again I notice vanilla there with some citrus (Scheherazade noticed grapefruit and I agree, but not fully). It’s as well creamy (as she noticed), certainly not chamomile herbal taste at all.

I have expected much worse, but actually it is nice surprise (and finally a loose leaf tea today).

Sipdown (355)

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this tea! It’s astringent and floral but no black currant. It’s nice enough but not my favourite. Tbh I was hoping for a jammy quality that I’m just not getting.

Totally drank this the other day and I remember enjoying it but so much has happened between then and now. I do remember liking it, so that will have to do until I can have it again. Wheee!

Life in general has been beating the crap out of me so I decided that today is a rat lunch day! It made me smile to think of KS and our rat lunch reviews and I needed a smile and a good memory.

For those who don’t know, rat lunch is toasted cheese and tea – good, solid, black tea specifically. We got it from the children’s book “I Was A Rat” that JacquelineM introduced me to. And I really wanted to try this gift from derk and this is the perfect time since I am alone today for lunch and don’t have to pick a tea that everyone else likes.

May I say….it could not have been more perfect. It has everything one loves about Assam but not the thing that keeps me away from Assam so often – boiling heartburn. As soon as I smelled it, I knew. I fell hard for this guy and he is probably going to make me break my “no ordering” ban. (Ha, like I really observe that anyway!)

Malty, bready, rich, thick, full body, dark, just the right amount of tingle. It is the perfect tea for today. It resteeps well. Rat lunch has done me a lot of good.

Thank you, derk!

Recently I was sent some teas to sample from Plum Deluxe, so thank you very much, Plum Deluxe! This tea was a free sampler in the package, and as soon as I’d finished sipping down the bag of tea I’d been working on as my daily drinker I wanted to brew this up, since I have a terrible habit of stashing coconut teas, forgetting about them, and then having the coconut go rancid and never getting to try them. What a treat it will be to drink a freshly blended coconut tea for a change!

The dry leaf had a lovely aroma of spices and coconut, but after steeping, the leaf reminded me of lemon ginger tea, with a bit of cinnamon also hitting my nose. The tea itself has a really pleasing aroma of coconut, lemon (a bit more like lemon zest or lemon cream, actually), and spices (I can pick out ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon in the aroma). With just a single-serving sampler I decided to try this chai straight rather than adding any additions (if I’m going to make a chai latte-style, I often go for a stronger brew that will withstand the addition of the milk) which often makes me worry that it will come off a bit strong — many I’ve tried are either quite astringent in the black tea or too spicy unless milk is added — but this was surprisingly very smooth taken straight. I am a person that likes tart/sour flavor profiles and the lemon/citrus is a pretty dominant flavor in the cup which I immediately found quite to my liking; it hits with the spices at the beginning of the sip, and then a very sweet coconut flavor comes toward the end of the sip and lingers on the tongue. It’s a very nice balance. The ginger spice really pops in the blend and compliments the citrus nicely, but it isn’t strong, burn-your-mouth-off ginger that leaves that unpleasant tingling on the throat for spice-wuss types like myself; it’s just a nice, pleasant warming effect. I can pick up a bit of clove and cardamom as well, and a touch of cinnamon sweetness. The base tea is just a bit malty and holds the flavors well.

I’m really enjoying this; it has a nice sour-and-sweet balance and as a chai, holds up well as a naked cup, which I certainly can’t say for all chais I’ve tried. No doubt it would likely also taste great steeped strong and mixed with some coconut milk as well. I’m really enjoying the lemon zing and sweet coconut on this cold and rainy winter Idaho morning.

Thanks again, Plum Deluxe!

Thanks again for the samples, Teakruthi!  NOW Teakruthi has a great new rewards system on their already great free shipping and tea sales.  I love trying a new mint tea and with the black base here, it’s quite crisp and refreshing.  Plenty of mint mixed in — very fresh fragrance!  The black tea is on the lighter side so it’s tough to taste underneath that mint – too dark and deep and it might seem a bit odd with mint anyway.  But the black tea is a nice carrier for the mint when I’m craving it (or need it for headaches) while also offering a bit of caffeine. The ‘zen’ of the name is accurate – this is a very calming and soothing blend. The second steep is also full of flavor.  I guess I don’t see too many black mint teas that other companies sell, so this is a unique tea for Teakruthi to carry.  I have really been loving most of the teas I’m trying from Teakruthi and I’m glad I stumbled on the shop!
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoon for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
2020 Sipdowns: 9 (52Teas – Pumpkin chai – Anne’s but still have Frank’s)

So I really want to like this one because its got a bright citrus and passion fruit flavor. Like really, really refreshing and juicy. However, since this flavor seemed wrong for a matcha milk, I made it in water which creates two issues: (1) I feel the texture of the matcha a bit more than usual, which is not chalky as some can be, but still a little chalky perhaps and (2), I get that grassy/umami flavor that matcha should have but is usually covered up by the milk. I don’t like matcha which is why I drink flavored matchas as matcha milk. So while I know this is great flavorwise and could be awesome for someone who even remotely like the taste of matcha, for me, it is not the best. I wonder if making it hot would be better though…

ETA: I just saw Roswell Strange described this as “Five Alive” and she hit the nail on the head there…just with a hint of matcha.

Tasting note NUMBER 400

Pure deliciousness! Thank you derk! I still have some, though just a little.

2.5 grams and boiling water. I am so hyped about this tea. Gaiwan, 85 ml.

I made several 30 seconds steeps. It was so great. Aroma was clearly autumn leaf pile, no florality, no funky notes, no… bold and strong aromas.
Taste: I could not explain it well I suppose. It is light, but full of taste. Refreshing, but bold. Woody, but as well mineral. Fruity, but not sweet or juicy. Hay, but not boring.

Caffeine boosting, but as well the mood boosting. Oh well.

Minute steeping was great too. Even two minutes – and nothing bad. I need to find another timing for this tea!

Peaches (that come in nice big chunks), spearmint, and lemon come well together in this iced tea blend. The green tea gets rather lost and overwhelmed but I think it is by design. Honestly, it does not taste like a tea much, but rather as a strong fruity herbal.

It is solid hot and very good and refreshing as an iced tea. Would be a lifesaver in a hot summer.