Featured & New Tasting Notes

Is anyone else obsessed with the new Harry Potter Mystery game for the phone?

I’ve spent the last week totally engrossed in this game and the story line; it feels like in a way I’m finally living our my childhood dream of going to Hogwarts. I really only get the chance to play on break and on the bus ride to and from work so I’m still struggling to make it past my first year – but it’s been a blast!

Thematically, I thought it was appropriate to pull out one of Harry Potter teas to enjoy on the bus ride to work. Though, I didn’t pick Slytherin for my house – I went for Hufflepuff. That’s what Pottermore says I am, and what I feel like I am. I do always score like one point away from Slytherin every time though. Anyway! This tea was good; sweet pistachio pudding notes accented by candied cherry and soft lemon undertones – a little bit malty from the black base tea. It felt like something that would fit into the Harry Potter Universe – like, maybe some sort of festive Christmas pudding sort of thing with a magical history/background. Maybe.

Also, Merula is a bitch.

I went to see one of my Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners the other day— possibly the same one who suggested that I stop drinking tea altogether. Clearly, my response to that suggestion was nope, not going to happen.

This visit was about a new issue. The suggestion this time was to stop drinking caffeine at or before three. As opposed to approximately seven. Ok, not ideal but possibly do-able. At least as a health experiment. For a limited period of time. Just to see what will happen.

With this in mind, I’ve been slowly beginning to wrap my head around the concept while hunting a few non-caffeinated options down for the moment that I am psychologically prepared to follow these instructions. The moment arrived.

This tea is delicious. My spoon of leaf contained about three cranberries and that dense cranberry flavour permeated each sip. I steeped low and slow to escape the rooibos woodiness and that worked out nicely. The cranberry shines with a slight bit of citrus flavouring the tartness. The apple sweetens and softens the sip. And the gently cinnamon spiced honeybush and rooibos trails behind suggestive of sweet crumble pastry. Beautiful.

If I have to relax with the caffeine from three o’clock onwards, blends like this are going to make this challenging project a lot easier.

Breaking open a new entry into project lapsang sipdown. This will give me a nice variety of three to choose from in the coming months. I expect this project to last through the end of the year, given that I don’t drink black tea except on weekends and holidays and I mostly have a single large cup threshold per day when it comes to lapsang.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing how Mariage Freres does lapsang. And indeed, it’s an interesting contrast to some of the others I’ve tasted recently.

The tea in the tin smells more spicy than smoky. Peppery, really. Which is fascinating.

After steeping, the smell is still not smoky. It’s got a sweetness to it, like a sugary spice bread. I want to say gingerbread, but it isn’t really that. Maybe a spicy banana bread? Weird, I know. The tea is a coppery amber color, a little darker than medium for a black tea. There’s a bit of a haze to the liquor, but it’s translucent.

The flavor is where the smoke is the most noticeable, but as I would have expected from a French tea, it’s not overpowering. It’s a sort of a light smokiness that integrates into the tea in a way that isn’t pasted on. This one doesn’t have the sweetness of some others, not even in the finish or aftertaste. Nor does it scream woodiness, though there is a bit of wood flavor.

My recent lapsangs have all been pleasing to me for their lack of ash, meat, or resin flavors, and this fits that description as well.

I keep harking back to the Kusmi lapsang which has a sweetness I liked in the flavor, and I decided to bump that one up a bit in ratings.

This one is different from the Kusmi in its flavor, but I can taste the quality if you know what I mean. So I’m rating it the same.

“Banana Cream Pie without the pie crust” lives up to expectations. Good times.

Steep Count: 2

Due to the nature of the bai mu dan and my brain, I taste something kind of like a blueberry milkshake on the second steep. The banana has toned it back a little from the first steep, letting the tea base (fruity flowers) and vanilla cream flavouring shine (hence blueberries and milkshake).

And another more gentle steep.

All juicy peach and delicate jasmine. The key here is low and swift steeping.

Oh WOW. I know what this blend should have been called…. Banana. Cream. Pie. I’m a huge fan of banana cream pie and this smells like liquefied banana cream pie right from the pouch. The flavor tastes just like banana cream pie as well. Just sweet creamy banana. And NATURAL banana. Not some weird gross fakey banana. The huge white tea leaves from the combination of Moonlight White and Bai Mu Dan offer quite a nice base for this awesome flavor. I was worried the second steep would be weak in flavor, but not at all! I must have steeped it perfectly. It is amazing that a white tea, that I usually find to be fuzzy, can actually be this creamy. The second steep might be even creamier and banana than the last. I’m a huge fan of this tea! I would not have expected this tea to be so tasty, but I guess that is the magic of FRESH tea.
Steep #1 // a bunch of big leaves for a full mug// 23 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

I’m bringing the rating up on this one, because after getting to play around with this tea a bit, I’ve found a way to prepare it that works much better to bring out a sweeter profile rather than the initial extremely spicy one. The tea is no longer burning my mouth off and I have to say… I’m kind of digging this creamy golden latte.

While infusing directly in milk (from everything I’ve heard) usually isn’t advised, that’s basically what I did! One use of this stuff stained my gravity well infuser yellow, and it was extremely hard to dispense because it left a thick sludge on the mesh so the water couldn’t escape, so I was trying to think of ways I could make the tea that wouldn’t require the infuser. That meant using a teapot and pouring the tea through a strainer, or — since I wanted a latte anyway — I thought of simply making it the way I make cocoa, and putting the tea (which is mostly powder with ground spices and coconut) into my milk frother and letting it whip it up directly into the coconut milk while it heated the milk. Nothing gained without trying, right?

This time, I used one teaspoon of the chai, one cup of coconut milk, and a small dash of vanilla coconut creamer for an extra dash of sweetness. I leave the frothing attachment off my milk frother so it just stirs the ingredients and heats the milk, and I ran two cycles, so it was heating for about five minutes. At the end, it looked like a very creamy orange conconction! I put my strainer over my cup as I poured the milk in, and other than tiny bits of lemongrass making it into the cup (they actually looked like a garnish on the top) all the tea was filtered out and easily disposed. And the chai was now very sweet, without that extremely hot burning ginger aftertaste! Very smooth and creamy, some nice turmeric notes and some hints of spice, but overall a sweeter profile based more on the coconut in the blend. This is the way to go with this tea if you are spice-sensitive like me.

167/365

Another from my first White2Tea order. I’ve been really impressed with these; they’ve definitely changed how I think of sheng, particularly. I’m brewing this one western style at work, but keeping my steeps short since experience has told me that’s what works best.

The initial sip is very creamy, with a definite dairy/milk mouthfeel and flavour. There’s a slight brassy/sour sheng flavour, but it’s not significant – and nowhere near as prominent as it was with 2015 Poundcake. The only thing missing at the moment is the alcohol!

Second steep has a little more sourness, but I may have steeped it a few seconds too long. The creaminess seems a lot more muted, at least in terms of flavour, but the mouthfeel still has that delicious dairy-like weight and texture.

Third steep is less sour again (25 seconds is as long as I want to brew this one to find my own happy place with it; the second steep was more like 30-35). There’s a muted creaminess, but it looks like I’m not going to be able to recreate the utter yumminess of the first steep again. While the texture is mostly smooth, there are the beginnings of a low-level astringency that’s leaving me with a slightly dry mouth.

Fourth steep was very similar to the third, with the astringency just a touch more pronounced. That’s with a reduced steep time again (15 seconds this time), so I think I’m going to call a halt here for today. There’s no question that I could keep going, but I figure when you stop enjoying something it’s probably time to quit.

I’d purchase this one – or its future iterations – again. The first steep was the best, and at the very least I’d like to experience that another time!

I can’t stop drinking this, and it’s become a daily NEED, rather than a want.

I usually make it as part of my butter/coconut oil tea (a la Bulletproof Tea style) every morning. So, brew the tea until it’s strong as molasses, then add 2 TB of coconut oil, sometimes some protein powder, and stevia. Blend – drink.

I adore turmeric teas, which is why I got it initially. Plus, I think it was on sale. Turmeric, ginger, tulsi… it’s literally the perfect combination for kapha-based folks (like me), or those that need some lovin’ in the heat/warmth department within their bodies. My partner, who is a Vata through and through, loves this stuff as well. He says it eases his joint pain.

Yes, it’s bagged tea, and yes, it’s Tetley. Still love this stuff, and can’t seem to make my own version of it that’s just as tasty.

it gets a 75 rating – it’s not GREAT, world-class tea (it’s really just herbs and spices) but it’s a go-to in my house.

I was very thrilled to win 52Teas monthly giveaway! It is extremely generous of them. I won once before as well, and it just happened to be for the month of Berried Treasure which became one of my favorite blends of all time. THIS time just happened to include a chutney tea. Somehow, Anne even remembered that I had requested a chutney tea a while ago, so this made this win even more special this month… (though I’m assuming it just happened to be a coincidence I won on the chutney tea month.) I’m very much appreciating trying this! The blend is a black tea with orange, cucumber, cayenne peppers and flavors of what I’m assuming are kumquat. I’ve never had kumquat before so I had to look it up — odd little oranges. The piece of orange in my scoop looked surprisingly fresh. I also noticed the little cucumber bits. The pepper pieces are actually larger than I usually see in blends, rather than something like the fine cayenne powder. Even though the black tea includes Assam, Yunnan, and Ceylon, the leaves together at a quick glance didn’t really look all that different. It looks like all of the same type of tea leaves. The black tea itself isn’t as strong as I’d like, but this allows the showcase of flavors. I’m definitely tasting hints of bright orange and a tiny bit of cucumber. I’m not really a fan of cucumber but I LOVE when it’s included in tea blends to create a unique flavor. The pepper isn’t too hot, probably because of the larger pieces. A chutney tea definitely needs more heat! Overall, I’m happy 52Teas blended up another spicy fruity cucumber creation!
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug// few minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 minute steep

A coworker found a nice teacup set for a bargain at a local thrift shop and is giving the cups away as graduation gifts to her friends and asked where to get good tea, and of course my answer was, “Around here? Honestly, from me.” So this was one of the teas from my stash she asked for, and after measuring out her sampler, I just had enough left for a sipdown. A single ounce can go pretty fast when you are a charitable individual. :-)

I got this tea from Snake River Tea in Boise last May, where they call it “Orange Vanilla White Chocolate,” but thanks to my Nancy Drewing, I’ve determined that they stock it from major wholesaler International Tea Importers (hey, at least I can applaud them for having teas that aren’t just Metropolitan Tea Co.). In any event, expect to see this same tea all over Steepster under various names and with various tea shops as the “company” name. ITI teas are wholesaled all over the place!

This tea does have a very nice dreamsicle flavor. This is a flavor combination that I typically find in rooibos, and I have to say, I probably do prefer the dreamsicle rooibos teas I’ve tried as that base seems to compliment the orange and vanilla notes a bit better with its natural sweetness, but for a black tea, this is all right. The citrus adds a nice warmth to the cup and the vanilla brings a sweetness that keeps the dark base from having any bitterness. There is only a very mild drying astringency left after the sip, and the orange and vanilla flavors are still very prominent on the tongue. My only complaint is that it’s a bit easy to tell that the flavor here is very much the product of flavoring — it isn’t unpleasant, but has an obvious artificiality to it. It’s that bold sort of orange taste that just comes off to me as trying a little too hard, but to be fair, at least paired with the vanilla, it tastes better than the mandarin green and white teas I’ve had where the orange just tastes way too fake and unpleasant to me, so I really don’t mind this. The vanilla, too, has that sweet confectionary vanilla taste, as opposed to the more subdued, creamy essence of vanilla I get in teas that use vanilla beans. So you get quite a whollop of flavoring here, which may or may not be your thing, depending on your tastes. In a tea with a lighter base, I’d probably be more turned off from it than I am, but in a dark black base like this, eh… it’s doable. Not my favorite, but certainly a pleasant enough cup. For my last teaspoon I’ll probably try it with a bit of vanilla almond milk, and see if latte-style adds a bit of creaminess and cuts back some of the overwhelming flavor. That may be the way to go with this one.

I have a problem, THE problem, that most people on here have. I buy tea. I see more tea. I want more tea. I buy more than I can drink in a reasonable period of time. Then I get overwhelmed with tea and vow not to buy any more tea until my tea is under control.

Dong Ding oolong was the first tea that captivated me so completely that I finished 50 grams in less than two weeks. What is it about this tea that makes it so special?

First of all, hubby swears his only tea reviews would be, “this is hot and has tea-like qualities”, but could not stop saying, “This is good. This is so thirst quenching. This has to be really expensive. Is it expensive? This is so good.”

And it is. We resteeped it several times, and is reasonably priced to begin with, so there you go. Each steep was sweet, nondrying, and flavorful thanks to the light roasting. This is an excellent tea, and needs to be on the permanent shelf list.

162/365

I’ve been saving this for cold brewing pretty much since I bought it. Probably it should have seen the light of day last year, but since that was a write off…

I’m really glad I pulled this one out today, though. The dry leaf (and even the brewed tea) don’t have much in the way of scent about them, so it was impossible to judge before tasting. I was expecting mostly oolong, since I’ve left it so long, but fortunately that’s not the case.

This is so good. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m more than a little sad that it’s no longer available. It reminds me a lot of Butiki’s Watermelon Xylophone, which is something I never thought I’d say. No watermelon tea has ever struck that natural, fresh, pulpy watermelon flavour so accurately before, until now. This one captures it just as well – absolutely no artificiality here!

Cold brewing was the right way to go, I think. The cold water adds to the “fridge fresh watermelon” vibe, to the point where it almost could be mistaken for watermelon juice. The base is perfect – maybe even better than Butiki’s! I love the buttery creaminess the baozhong oolong contributes; it just works so well, and is totally delicious to boot!

I’m glad I’ve got some more of this one, but I’m going to save it for the really hot days we’ll get later in the summer. It’ll be a joy, pure and simple, to drink this when it’s 30 degrees outside.

First to write a note on this? Unbelievable.

I tried to fix the picture but I couldn’t. (Why? I tried several different ways and all I can get is more images farther down the page.)

I wasn’t sure I’d like this one from the smell of the dry leaf. It has no sweetness in the dry leaf aroma and a rather ashy fragrance that usually spells dislike for me with lapsangs.

But you can’t judge a book and all that. The aroma of the steeped tea is quite different — sweet, molasses-like, leafy and tree-like, with a lot of depth and surprisingly little smoke. The smoke is really verging on not there at all, except in the aftertaste and fortunately it doesn’t add bitterness to the lingering flavor. The liquor is dark amber with a reddish tinge and clear.

The flavor has a quality that reminds me of black coffee, but not as bitter. The smoke, molasses, and tree are all there in the flavor as well in pretty much the same way they were in the aroma. Thankfully there’s no ash, no meat, and no resin (though if you like those things in a lapsang, I guess that’s not a plus).

I’m torn because I think this is great compared to others I’ve had recently, but that’s because it departs from qualities I associate with lapsang that make me view it as a once in a while thing. If this is the sort of flavor Churchill prized, I can see why he drank lapsang daily.

I haven’t had the Samovar in a long time. I rated that one 90 as well, so I think I should taste it again sometime soon and see if adjustments are warranted.

But it makes it a bit easier to decide which is the next sipdown candidate in project lapsang sipdown. It won’t be this one.

I have been saving this for the day that I was appreciating green tea blends more than I had been during my black and only black tea trend. That would be today.

This eggnog-like spiced rum tea is just perfect for a bright chilly day like today. The rum flavour shines through the creaminess. The spice balances well against the other flavours. Citrus peel punctuates the occasional sip.

This tea masterpiece is from the Christmas 2016 collection and has survived rather nicely.

Lovely tea for a lovely afternoon. Although i’m downright swamped at work, it’s been a good friday. I’m off next week, i managed to trade 3 of my board games in a no ship swap for things that i’m happier with, we pick up new jams this weekend AND it’s sunny enough that i think i might actually get decent weather next week AND doggo adventures this weekend.

This tea is still a happy place for me, so that’s good. Love it when i don’t fall out of favour with teas, especially these days when i barely have any in my cupboard lol.

Sipdown 26

Here I need to divulge a guilty secret: Daylon R Thomas sent me this quite some time ago and I have hoarded, read neglected, this in addition to a couple of other things still left in his original posting box. On the upside though, I am currently on a green and oolong whirl, so that’s better because I am appreciating such teas more at this time, right, right?

So here I am having the last of this now. I have had it before and loved it.

Today, I reached blindly into Daylon’s box, knowing that whatever I found would be an oolong, and pulled this one out. The context here is that yesterday I spent the day with that honey caramel sweet spice Jin Guanyin Wuyi oolong from Verdant with the sweetness continuing throughout all the steeps. I wasn’t necessarily in the mood for a something all that sweet today after that extended session, but here we are.

Yes indeed—sweet. Caramel sweet. Maple sweet. Someone mentioned chestnut. I can see that. I just had some roasted chestnuts last week and this tea shares a bit of that caramelized sweet starchiness of them. I can see the whiskey or bourbon aspect too with the richness of the roast. There’s a bit of spice and a bit of wood. Roast sweet potato with marshmallow and caramelized nuggets of walnuts or pecans perhaps.

There’s a considerable overlap in flavours with yesterday’s tea, but here the char and strong spice and woodiness is absent.

It’s interesting that the more I drink oolongs, the more sensitivity to their flavours I develop. Of course, that makes sense. Truly when I was just starting out on oolong journey and I read someone posting reviews with one tea containing twenty-five or so flavours, it seemed a bit much. I get it now. I am becoming much more familiar with how a tea can morph in flavours and how each sip can contain several. Tea journey is a fascinating thing.

To be continued.

Thanks, Daylon, for the share.

And it’s a sip down!

Steeped: 5

Here’s a tea I have been looking forward to reviewing for some time. I somehow ended up with two sample pouches of this tea over the course of the past year. I think I bought one and then received another as a free sample with a later What-Cha order. I worked through both of them earlier in the week after reorganizing my sample bin. Though I am a huge fan of Georgian black tea, this was probably my least favorite of the Georgian black teas from What-Cha that I have tried. Despite that, I still found it to be a more or less very good tea and especially appreciated its smoothness and lack of astringency.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaves and I also did not attempt any subsequent infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced mild aromas of honey, raisin, and chocolate. Aromas of malt, caramel, and roasted almond then appeared after infusion. In the mouth, the liquor offered rather delicate, smooth notes of cream, malt, steamed milk, honey, golden raisin, milk chocolate, and roasted almond underscored by leather, date, fig, brown sugar, apricot, and plum impressions. The finish was very smooth and mellow with pronounced cream and malt notes backed by distant apricot, plum, raisin, and fig flavors.

Like most of the Georgian black teas that I have tried, this was a very approachable, mellow, and forgiving tea. Unlike the others, I found this one to be a little flat in the mouth and felt that its finish was a little lacking. Those are comparatively minor quibbles, however, as I would have no issue with giving this tea another shot in the near future. Overall, this tea was definitely worth a try, but I feel that What-Cha has offered some better Georgian black teas in the past.

It’s about time I opened this. The dry leaf is generously laced with chipped coconut and thankfully doesn’t smell soapy at all. No one needs rancid, soapy coconut in their lives. And then there’s the bergamot but it’s quite mellow. Not nearly as in-your-face as some straight EG and even some EGC blends can be.

I agree with VariaTEA that this is very similar to Herbal Infusion’s Marshmallow Snowflake Earl Grey, which was softer and more well-rounded with the vanilla marshmallow. In essence, this is like a cross between that and the original 52teas Coconut Cream Pie.

Smooth black base, fresh coconut, warm vanilla, and mellow bergamot all rolled into one. I’m having it with a splash of 2% milk but I’m itching to try it as a true latte. Maybe next time!

Oh my, this is quite delicious. I needed a tea I don’t add milk to (as in, not a black tea, my favourite type) since the cafeteria that sells milk doesn’t open for another 1.3 hours or so. Voila, 52teas Golden Mulberry Genmaicha to the rescue! And oh, it is a rescue.

The first impression is that it is definitely a nice genmaicha. The roasty toasty rice flavour is definitely present and pleasant and then there is a subtle sweetness that hits at the back of my throat first and then spreads forward, I think it must be the mulberry? I don’t actually know what a mulberry tastes like, so I assume so.

I wonder if I can get a resteep out of this since I’m already more than half way through my mug in the minute I’ve spent writing this note. Let’s find out!

Today I face a heavy slog of medical appointments and the dreaded waiting that this entails, and the heavy slog of getting there and back through snow, slush, and ice and whatever transit delays this surprise weather may have wrought . And where are my heavy duty boots for this again?

The day calls for uncomplicated and reliable deliciousness in my travel mugs and today, this would be it: coconut, vanilla, green, and roastiness.

Anne nailed the blueberry cotton candy flavour in this tea. The base pairs very well with this, at least when it comes to the first steep. The plump blueberries in the infuser basket inspired me to try a second steep since I loved doing that with the original Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish, and the scent of this tea reminds me of it, but I didn’t care for the base during the second round since it was too much on the vegetal side for me. Otherwise, that blueberry cotton candy cloud in the first steep gets two thumbs up.

this one was a little better today made it while playing games and making cookies. We did a slow cooker pot roast as well given the weather so it’s been a warm, comfy, cozy weekend. Also, the toys we bought doggo as a birthday present were a bit hit – helped keep her from going crazy being stuck inside a little more than we like. One’s a giraffe with tennis balls for feet and the other is a spiky turtle that squeaks. She’s in love with both of them…hasn’t stopped playing with them all weekend haha.

this tea is still too light in terms of flavour for me to be limoncello….but it’s a half decent lemongrass tea. haha thanks for the share VariaTEA!

Final Count: 29

Yeah, I think I’m adding this one to the exclusively short “Essential Teas” sheet on Excel. It’s a good casual comfort tea. So glad the new 52Teas added this to the small permanent collection list.