Featured & New Tasting Notes

I had too little water for the first steep, and too much for the second, but both were very cinnamony. I like the big red cinnamon flavor, but that’s just a single note here. An enjoyable cup, but I’m not sure I need this in my cupboard.

Gongfu!

W2T just released some new smoked teas, so this afternoon I’m revisiting on of my favourite smoked teas from this past year. This is one of the cleanest smoked teas I’ve tried, with a more medium body despite that pronounced campfire-like finish. It’s got a lot of upfront sweetness with notes that make me think of ripe green melon, freshly pressed sugar cane, and cool, crisp rain or early morning dew. I’ve made this comparison before, but the smoke notes are like when you douse a bonfire and for a fleeting moment the air in the immediate area becomes a dance between the steamy fresh water vapor and the last whisps of campfire smoke. It feels like drinking a deeply ingrained core memory.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4BgSnGOUr-/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9GAmhcxnw

Cheery, indeed! I looked this up on the Sonnentor website and the array of ingredients (there’s a little picture of each one) looks like a spring bouquet. We grow apple mint every year and I use it as a tea/juice/water additive constantly while it’s in season, but I’ve never seen it used in a commercial tea before. It’s a very subtle mint that doesn’t overpower the blackberry, raspberry, or strawberry leaves, all of which are also very understated. But together, it’s a really pleasant herbal blend. Martin, you’re the best!

I taste a lot of peach here with a bit of nuttiness too. I like this sweetened with milk, but I don’t love it. The flavor combination is interesting, but the base was a bit stronger than the flavoring and sometimes contributed some bitterness even when steeped properly. The resteep tastes similar to the first.

I tried it grandpa, 3 grams from the chunk and it was surprisingly easy to pry; so I have just “opened the chunk” if you know what I mean.

Steeped for quite long. I haven’t checked; but I assume around 4-5 minutes and I had a great cup of tea.

Quite strong, wet forest floor aroma and taste, along with camphor and I noticed also petrichor (okay, that was maybe the enviroment as in meantime rain came). All covered in somehow lovely sweet smoky element and molasses as Roswell Strange notices in 2021 vintage.

This flavor is really nice! It manages to be genuinely candylike in its mintiness. Cold, it’s super refreshing. This is one of the best mint teas I’ve had in recent memory! It’s not as crisp and clear as it could be since there’s also that candy element, but it doesn’t get murky and weird like some mint teas!

Mainly posting this to see what is happening with steepster…. I liked this more than I previously thought! Maybe the flavors are melding with age. I even like how rich the rooibos is.

Sipdown

I really enjoyed all these hojicha blends from 3 Leaf Tea. This is the final packet and I actually had it twice today – once with an afternoon snack between lessons and again with supper.

I still have a large bag of hojicha powder from Den’s Tea and when that is gone I definitely want to keep a hojicha powder on hand, especially during cooler weather. These are awesome as a hot chocolate substitute.

This one has nice honey and light lemon flavor when made with water but the flavors are so light that they are hard to notice for me when made with milk. Some of the other flavors were a little stronger in the flavoring department. I would happily restock this or any of the flavors I bought from them, as well as the one from Den’s.

I tried a bag from the TTB and then bought a box online. This tea isn’t bad, it has a bit of an astringent bite so you know it is tea, and a nice jammy note at the end. I might prefer Taylor’s Assam for a caffeine kick, but this is a close second for a nice cuppa from a bag.

I had another opportunity to visit our one and only “place to get decent tea” coffee shop this weekend—a catch-up date with a bestie—and although it was a good opportunity to experiment with another one of the Hugo teas they serve by the pot, I liked this one so much last time, I happily chose a rerun.

The official description mentions tobacco up front and floral in the back, which is accurate. “Black tea masquerading as an oolong” might fit well, too. It was unseasonably warm, so I nursed the first cup and a refill, then put the rest of the pot on ice, which worked well, too. And of course, it’s always better when you’re jabbering away, catching up on months of essential life trivia with a friend.

I have received two tea bags of this tea from derk — thank you!

I generally avoid spicy food, and what is “mildly” spiced is sometimes way too much for me and I can’t imagine what “hot” really means.

I was feeling nothing but cold today early evening, so I decided to brew something that should warm me up. I am sure I would fin many other chais, lovely full bodied teas, or something in between, but I took this one. Afterall, I need to drink it anyway so…

Dry bag was spicy, but somehow okay-level. I have a spicy tea, so naturally it’s spicy; but also a bit sweet and some spices tried to peek out too.

I brewed it and steeped rather short. Afterall, it’s evening already and I would like to sleep; and this blend contains black tea. Aroma left me “just drink me” impression, so I thought it won’t be bad.

I HAVE BEEN SO WRONG! After first sip, still quite hot (by temperature) I had my mouth completely in fire (by habanero) that I almost spit it out. I did not, it left my eyes wide open, habanero fire was slowly going through all the veins and I feel not cold anymore. Not a surprise IMO!
It was cooling down and I was still trying to drink it. And actually, it is getting better. Hard to find any chocolate in this, rather some general sweetness, and some ginger and allspice spices is there beneath heavy blanket of habanero.

Oh dear. No, I am not able to rate this tea and won’t be. But looking forward to sip it down — the second bag.

I got this in a sampler, and I removed the candy corn before steeping. I wouldn’t call this a chai. The spices were quite mild, but I do enjoy the desserty rooibos vibe. I’d consider buying some if it were available outside the sampler I bought it in. It’s interesting!

Lunch tea, enjoyed al fresco with miso soup. Followed up soup with a little Lindt chocolate for dessert.

Superanna bought this in Japan last month and gave it to me along with several other teas and I didn’t realize that this one had not been opened yet! I thought I had tried all of them but here we are today having this one for the first time.

Water was about 155F and I made two steeps at one minute each.

Even though I used my finest strainer, the tea is just full of the finest little brilliant green particles. It looks brothier than the soup I am having with it! The tea is a nice spring green and the particles are a deeper (but fresh and bright) green. It tastes fresh and grassy.

Since I made a large pot and it is rather warm out today, I poured the rest over ice. This is super brothy looking with lots of suspended particles. It is fresh, grassy, and a little brisk. Good with chocolates!

Picked this one up at the Viking Shop in New Hampshire on their holiday clearance shelf. I could have purchased everything in there. I still have my eye on a cute little duck. The tea was super expensive because it was in a specialty European import store. Checking out the website for Nordqvist, the loose leaf has citrus peels added. Steeped for about 5 minutes at 200F. The cardamom is present and pleasant. I think the citrus would be a nice add but it’s a pretty good black tea.

A sipdown! (M: 12 Y: 32)

Gongfu, 6g / 125 ml, 90°C water, 5 seconds rinse, almost looseleaf.

I have preheated the gaiwan and ry leaves aroma were woody, but somehow uncommon; maybe tropcial woods… it was very appealing for shou; definitely no muddy, funky notes as they sometimes have.
After a rinse, I detected right away a wonderful aroma of sweet cinnamon, other spices, chocolate and little of red fruits that I have noticed in western steeping.

Steeps have started with 10 seconds and 10 seconds increments in whole session. Turns dark very quickly, giving deep dark mahagony colour. Impressions of scents are following: cinnamon, cardamom and other spices. Flavour is a bit more harsh, quite woody with chocolate covered red fruits; medium thickness, long mouthfeel and creamy aftertaste.

This steeping method gives consistent steeps and it has been a lovely shu puerh with an otes I would not expect from it. Moreover, it calms my stomach, after another gall bladder attack this night.

Wait a minute… I’m not getting much flavor out of this Sipsby tea either! What’s going on here? Is there something wrong with my water or kettle or steeping basket. This should have more to it, but it’s just bland. I’m going to need to investigate.

I saw that Klasek Tea had some teas from Bhutan in offer; so I took sample packages of them. But then I saw they have some new Nepalese teas; white one (Kalapani White Lotus) and some great looking Gold Jeevan, so I took 50g pouches of those too. They weren’t too expensive (unlike Bhutan teas); so I considered that a good deal.

They have added this one as a free sample — thank you! I was actually checking it out, but decided that I don’t need another 50 g of black tea.

Okay, to this tea. Firstly, the leaves are a bit worse quality, maybe a bit broken, not so dark, as other Nepali teas I had from them before. However the dry leaves are nice in aroma, like 2nd flush Darjeeling but less herbaceous as Darjeeling sometimes is.

When brewed, western style, according to vendor instruction 1g/100 ml; so 3g/300 ml in my case and steeped 2-3 minutes (I did 2.5 – 2.75 min) I got a lovely gold coloured liquid in my glass mug, with aroma of baked bread with honey and also some other sweetness, which could be sugarcane as they suggest. The liquid itself has flavours of above + very smooth texture with long mouthfeel, absolutely no bitterness and a little astringency saying “I am a black tea”, but not in any offensive way. In aftertaste are dried fruits, apricots maybe, or peaches; I am never sure about those, which is which, and citrus zest notes, somehow reminding me orange.

As it sits, a more complex flavor comes forward. It was fruity, but also a bit spiced and interesting. The resteep might have tasted even stronger than the first. I wish I’d gotten a bigger bag of this! I’ve really been enjoying it cold.

I’ve been working through a bad chest cold all week (I’m suspecting a bad case of bronchitis, but I haven’t had the time or money to get that confirmed) so I’ve been drinking TONS of tea. I went through my entire 100g tin of T2’s “Mulled Wine Magic” over the week and have instant regrets, because they are gone now and I’m too tired and out of it to go looking for a hibiscus chai spice blend replacement that ships from the US. So then I decided to turn to this tea, only to discover I only had a single teabag left. Siiiiiiiigh. Where did all the tea go?!

I always expect elderberry teas to be more like hibiscus teas for some reason… dark and syrupy berry. They never are and then I have to reassess my expectations. I do like this though. The echinacea is the main flavor and it’s such a hard one for me to describe… It’s a little floral, but leans more on the herbaceous side than the flowery side. There is a bit of a minty flavor to the tea but it is not strongly menthol and doesn’t overpower the other flavors. I don’t actually taste anything I’d attribute to “berry” or get any fruity notes from it. It is very licorice root sweet, which I know would be a turn-off for many, but I like licorice root and it is greatly appreciated now while by body is trying to cough my lungs straight out of my ribcage. Sweet, minty, floral, could do a lot worse for a sick tea, but the flavor is probably not for everyone.

Originally I threw this in the nope section. I scoffed and said I don’t think so. But then I thought back to a jalapeno spitzer I had that was surprisingly good. So here we are. Smells like something the turtles would try. I see Leonardo as more of a Darjeeling dude though. Either way, this should be an interesting experience.

Oh my word. The initial aroma hurts my nose. It’s like I cut up a jalapeno and then stuck a finger in my nose.
SPICY! Spicy and hibiscus? WHY? OW. That was painful to swallow. My tongue is on fire. WTFrak is going on. This is all wrong. I do like the lapsang. That is smoked nicely but the tingling of my tongue. Oh for crying out loud. I was not paying attention and took a second sip. It’s just as bad as the first. This is so unique and I really appreciate the ingenuity of the mix…. Evil smile. I’m going to have my husband try it. He likes things really spicy. XD He said “mmm spicy.” And then scrunched his face real tight.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – February 2024 Tea #7 – Your cheapest tea

This might not actually be my “cheapest tea” but I think of it when I think in terms of the biggest sale/discount!  Let me look through my e-mail receipts for the actual price I paid for this….  Back in 2016 my receipt says I paid $3.70 for 150grams of Christmas Cake!  Now that is a steal.  In no way close to a sipdown, but it looks like I have less than 50grams left at this point.  It’s a robust black tea!  A bit like chai, with pine notes and fondant icing… it shouldn’t work but it DOES.   I’m happy to steep this up today,as I usually only have it once a year on Christmas day anyway. :D

Album: Fruit Bats – A River Running to Your Heart
Song:  See the World by Night – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h28NWjj7lu4

additional notes:  I stand by my original note for this one, nine years ago.  Though these tuochas are from a different source than my original sample: this time from Meowster.  Thanks very much!  It’s just not a very good representation of sticky rice and puerh is quite bland.  But maybe the “rice scent herb” that they add to the tuochas don’t age as well as puerh is supposed to.  However, I was really craving a ripe puerh to go with my cantaloupe this morning.  It’s such a great combination.  I think of Butiki’s Dark Side of the Melon blend for this inspiration, but that was a black tea and espresso flavoring with melon.  I don’t know how there has not been a cantaloupe/ ripe puerh blend yet!  Though I think I do remember Roswell mentioning one?  If not, maybe I’m remembering Roswell’s awesome fruit/tea pairings. :D

Offtopic about music if you are interested:  So I listen to hundreds of albums each year, at least once (on youtube — sorry musicians that aren’t getting my money…), because of my FOMO on any great gem of an album that I might otherwise never find.  Then at the end of the year, I make my favorites list of albums, before I read all those end-of-the-year best of lists, which tend to end up being basically the same list over and over.  Really, I just read those to make sure I didn’t miss any albums that I might be interested in.  2023 was especially harsh for me, as MOST of my favorite albums never even hit ONE year end list.   However, I think at this point, my FOMO has now almost become a FOMO for other people missing some really great albums, just because they aren’t listed on any of these lists.  A sadness that these musicians are somehow going unnoticed, underappreciated.  So in order for me to feel a little bit better about this, maybe get a few of them out there into the ether, I will occasionally post a favorite song from a 2023 album I really wish had gotten more recognition and attention!  But I usually recommend the entire album.  I will start with my favorite album of 2023 that actually had me crying a bit when I first heard it, that I might have missed it… and this album was not listed on a single Best Of list for 2023.  So now I’m grateful I caught it!  Again, the entire album is stellar (and the album cover is perfect to go along with a tea from Meowster!):

Album: Mapache – Swinging Stars
Song:  Amazing – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHDEn6lhaac

This tastes like Forever Nuts and all the other similar blends. It’s desserty and nutty with some milk, but not too special. I’d definitely drink it again, but I wouldn’t need to buy it since other identical blends seem to just show up at my house!

A sipdown! (M: 10 Y: 30) Prompt: Your cheapest tea — Well actually I am not sure if it is a cheapest tea as it comes from Switzerland; and it was actually a gift, so I haven’t paid anything, but coop is cheap brand for sure.

I have to agree with my previous me, “Pretty basic, a bit harsh, black tea”

Somehow, today it was quite malty and bready as well. Instead of cardboard.
Definitely very simple, but fine enough to no-fuss tea.