New Tasting Notes

I got hooked on the Black Dragon Pearl from Teavana. It is actually one of my top 3 teas. I decided to try it from Teavivre since it is much more cost effective and the description is exactly the same. As soon as I opened it up I noticed the scent was a bit different. Visually the Teavivre and Teavana pearls look exactly the same so I figured it might be still taste the same. But no.

I really didn’t get much of the earthy malty flavor that I loved in the Teavana version. I tried so many different variations but I could not get it to taste anything close. The earthiness in the Teavivre brand tasted slightly pu’erish (very slightly) and I don’t like pu’er teas.

I gave up on comparing it to the Teavana version and just tried to enjoy it for what it was but it didn’t do anything for me. Now I have 3.5 ounces of tea to get rid of.

This was my favorite bagged tea from years ago. I used to love going up to Borders, collecting a bunch of books then sitting down for a couple of hours to flip thru them to see if I want to buy them. (This is also when I was making more $$.) Anyways, this flavor is what I got most of the time there. But for whatever reason I stopped drinking it and the canister of tea ended up getting really stale in the cupboard….and I forgot what brand of tea it was, til I happened to look up “Blackberry Sage” and there it was on the ROT website. I recognized the logo and everything. And then! I found that my local favorite fruit market carries this brand. Yippeeee!!!! jumps up and down Ok…down to the review:

1st smell: Mmm. Never been a huge fan of eating blackberries because of the food stains. I have always been big so self conscious to being judged about pigging out. But, this smelled just as sweet as I remembered.
1st taste: I added some of my german rock sugar…and some apriva. rolls eyes I really shouldn’t need to add so much sweetener.

IMHO this is much better then the bagged version. There is no having to contend with the slight papery taste to the tea. And the black tea base is perfect for this. As for the sage. lol…not being very acquainted with sage so I am not sure how much of that plays a part.

I didn’t even know the name of this one changed, I think I got it right before that happened. So let’s see which one is more applicable! Haha, judging by the ingredients, the new one is fitting.

I really do not want to study right now. I want to clean. I don’t get it because I am almost done…just this one left. I think rereading the stuff from my second exam in this class, I have no idea what I’m reading…but I got a 92 on that exam so I am wondering if I just got lucky at this point.

This is pretty funky. It definitely tastes like cider, but there is just waaaaay too much going on with the other herbs for me. It tastes fine at first, but that sweet aftertaste of fennel is too much for me.

Or is it the anise? Or a combination, I can’t do it. It smells great though, but I don’t have the tastebuds to handle it.

Very Good tea with a very smoky character in beginning steepings, and mellows somewhat on later steeps. Smoky flavor reminds me alot of a black tea or a smoky green tea..very light, but noticeable! I pick up more of a sweetness than an earthy flavor profile and a dry/puckering (astringent?) mouthfeel… which is not quite as characteristic for most pu-erhs! A very smooth pu-erh that would be very nice for someone being introduced into the world of pu-erh’s! As always …an excellent tea from “verdant” teas,..they have never disappointed me yet ;)

This tea is a bit like drinking soda. It is ridiculously sweet and can be enjoyed in large quantities without thinking. This is something you use and forget about. It is to tea what Batman is to all art. Silly, but enjoyable.

It is a bit like apple cider in tea form.

A review of Awake (Black Tea) by Tazo Tea

Company: Tazo
Tea Name: Awake
Tea Type/Varietal: Black
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ teabag
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: bright orange red
Leaf Characteristics:

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 5 minutes

I have been enjoying this one Tazo tea bag for most of the day. I took the tea bag and put it in my cup and pour the boiling water into my cup and left it to steep for a good five minutes. I than took my cup to view the tea’s color which is a lovely reddish orange cup of tea. At first there does not seem to be an aroma; nothing prevalent to permeate the air or my nostrils. Upon sipping the tea, however, I am met with a full bodied cup of tea which is smooth and creamy with a slight malt taste.

Overall, this tea has no after taste and is not bitter at all. It stands on its own with no sugar or cream added and as one drinks the tea it taste as good as first to the last drop. Tea is just as described on package “A lovely tea of boldness, depth and character, invigorating any time of day.

This another one of the tea bags obtained while volunteering at The Massachusetts Conference for Women.

My sister came over earlier and after I made her smell all of my new teas, she wanted a cup of this because it smelled very interesting.

I enjoy truffles (especially raspberry truffles), and this tea honestly smells exactly like a raspberry truffle. It has a very strong chocolate scent, as well as a very strong raspberry scent.

When I took the first sip, I honestly thought it tasted a little weak. My sister, however, thought it was really, really good. I took a few more sips, and although I appreciated the light flavor, I decided to add just a little bit of honey. The description said that sugar would awake the tea, so I thought I would try it.

I thought that the honey definitely brought out some of the flavors. After I added the honey, I thought that the chocolate note was definitely a lot stronger. I was very impressed.

I really enjoyed this tea, and could definitely see myself drinking this again after dinner as a desert tea. If I had it again, I would probably add just a little bit of honey to it.

I think previous reviewers have covered all the bases on this Organic Nepalese Guranse. I’m not sure what I can add, except to say this is yet another excellent black tea from Butiki. It is late afternoon, and this bright and crisp, yet milder tea is just right for this time of day. It reminds me of a good Darjeeling.

This tea is currently steeping. The smell has a very light citrus note, it smells excellent.

Okay, first sip…

It tastes like it smells. It has a nice, clean, well-rounded rooibos flavor, with a light citrus note. This does not taste bitter at all. This is really good!

I don’t want to fill this note with too many adjectives or descriptions. This tea tastes very fresh, and I appreciate the simplicity of it. If you enjoy rooibos, you will definitely enjoy this tea.

I’m the first to review this?
I’m home from my gig, relaxing in my PJs, & haven’t had any puer for a few days (sorry, from now on I’m leaving out the apostrophe & the h, there’s just so many ways to spell this, I’m making it easy on myself.)
The dry leaf smells very green, & wet it smells smokey as well.
1. My formula: 3G + 4oz (one rinse) + 4 sec = a very drinkable yellow infusion, slightly saline, but in a pleasant way.
2. 10 sec: It’s still mildly salty, but not so much sea salt, more like a mineral salt. I’m getting a nice mouthwatering up the center of my tongue. Bright yellow! I’m steeping in my Earthen Gaiwan (Butiki) & drinking out of my glass Gaiwan (TeaVivre) so that I can really enjoy the color.
3. It looks like I’m drinking a urine sample, sorry, I know that’s crude, but little Terri can be pretty crude…
I forgot to count, but I’ll guess 20 sec: Umami! I’m thinking fish sauce. It doesn’t really taste like fish sauce, but with it’s pleasant saline mouth-feel, & savory greens taste, my mouth is really watering.
This also reminds me of the soup broth I used to make with Kombu &/or Wakame.
4. 30 sec: Now a sweetness begins to emerge. It is both sweet & savory at the same time, and a little creamy texture under my tongue. I’m tasting a faint hint of bitterness up the center of my tongue, so maybe 30 sec was a little long, but I actually like a little bitter edge occasionally, as it makes the sweet taste more noticeable.
As in tea, so in life: Sorrow enhances Joy, Having less helps to heighten appreciation for what we do have. My mouth is watering wonderfully!
5. Another 30 sec infusion, still bright yellow! One thing I’ve noticed about drinking puer in the early evening. It doesn’t make me wired, but instead I feel very relaxed, very present, very open. I don’t have to do anything, so I’m sitting here in a semi-meditative state, breathing deeply & enjoying this cup. I’ve got the skull shine on a little bit, I feel subtle movement in my body, & this moment is fine!
6. 45 sec: A fresh taste, like spring green sauteed & sprinkled with a few drops of Mirin, tingly numb tongue, watering in the back of my mouth.
7. I’m letting this one steep for 1 min. (Meanwhile, I still had the Laoshan black in the other Gaiwan from earlier today, & I drank a cup of that. So sweet! It’s caramel & chocolatey goodness!) This cup has a quality & can’t quite define. It’s sweet & savory & mineralize & …earthy! That’s the only word I can think of.

I’ll continue to steep this out for a little while longer.

Dry Leaf Nose: Strong and sweet cinnamon notes.

Liquor: Bright golden clear with a strong cinnamon aroma.

Flavour: Sweet cinnamon with a nice spicy note, like the type you’d find in cinnamon heart candies. The green tea offers a shelter from the heat and a retreat for the palate.

I am fascinated by the texture of really good oolongs—so heavy and silky that you feel like you’ve used lip balm after a few good sips.

This is one of those. The flavor reminds me of butterscotch when I roll it around in my mouth.

Perfect light supper substitute…we ate from the Hobbit menu at Denny’s for lunch and OD’d on pumpkin pancakes, Shire sausage, and seedcake french toast. It’s a wonder Hobbits could even waddle, with seven meals like that a day :)

P.S. Thanks to K S for the sample!

I’m having an odd day.

I began with this tea, one that I like but had tucked away too long and should have been drinking. It’s not old or anything like that…but has escaped from my vision. We do that, forget a tea in the back of some other tea that we’ve taken to heart.
I shared a pot of Tangerine Guayusa with my granddaughter last night
while we made tea and chocolate dusted toffee and watched ‘The Artist’ on Netflix.
There was the Guranse…so I put it out for the morning pot of tea.

This is a yum Winter tea. It has all the maple black tea taste I remember with a bit of malt. Very nice on a cold day.

Then I read a Facebook note from my daughter. A reminder of something that happened 24 years ago today. A horror.

My daughter and 3 other girls were driving down Skyway from Paradise, CA to Chico. The road is on a ridge with canyons on both sides, quite beautiful. Two lanes up the mountain and two down with a wide buffer between. The division of upward and downward lanes wasn’t even. At times, you could look uphill or downhill on the oncoming traffic.
Katrina turned 17 on Dec. 7th and my daughter was turning 17 on the 12th. I knew the driver a little. The other girl I didn’t know. In fact, I had no idea the girls were going to Chico.

It’s amazing that all 4 girls wore their seat belts in a new convertable. California hadn’t passed a seatbelt law yet.

At some time, on one of the mountain turns…the driver lost control, flipped over and over the median and ended up in the uphill lane upside down. The driver and front seat passanger got out and my daughter and Katrina were trapped in the back.
A fire started and someone stopped with an extinguisher and put out the fire.
A tow truck driver arrived and had a heart attack and died on the spot.
The fire department arrived and used the jaws of life and cut out my daughter and Katrina.

I received a call to get to the hospital in Chico but nobody would say anything else. My son had my car and I couldn’t reach anyone to take me to the hospital for quite a bit…until I found a friend of my mom’s.
Going down Skyway, all we could see was a massive traffic jam for miles and miles…not knowing that this had anything to do with my
daughter.

At the hospital I was briefed. My daughter was in shock but fine. Katrina was dead. She died instantly. My daughter didn’t know and was not to be told yet, she was still too fragile.

When I was allowed to tell her the next day, she somehow knew. She remembered and was heartbroken. What grief for such a young girl, and what a big heart she has always had full of compassion.

Every year my daughter still misses Katrina. A sweet daughter of Hawaii who lived in a difficult situation at home, but had such a pure heart and deep love for others just like my Annalisa.

I sat with her mother in a bar while she got drunk. Me, drinking coffee, making sure she got home safely. She was mad for awhile that my daughter had lived.

I can’t imagine such sadness.

Memory Eternal Katrina Afong.

I like this a lot. Affordable and nice flavor.

This is a nice, smooth mint blend with a medium-strength black tea as its base. I like it, but since I like to sweeten my tea and I have often had this in situations where I was actually denied access to sugar (due to obese assholes who were on a diet that they imposed on everyone that failed anyways), it has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, if only by negative association. I know it’s pretty good, but I think I’ll wait and try it again, when things are better and I’m less likely to have to deal with jerks so frequently.

PG Tips + Plantation Mint makes a good strong tea. Let the Plantation Mint steep for about 7 minutes and the PG Tips for about 4 minutes.

Having this tea again today. It’s kind of a busy day for me, it’s our thanksgiving in my household (Hubby works every Thanksgiving, so, we postpone ours until a more convenient time), so I’ve been busy preparing the bird and trimmings.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/09/no-25-morning-light-from-steven-smith-teamaker/

Delicious!

My best friend had never had unflavored matcha before so I offered to whip some up today. Even using my metal kitchen whisk in a plain cereal bowl I got a really decent froth.

My friend said she felt like she had just had a serving of vegetables. I thought it tasted a bit like buttered kale, although sometimes leafy green veggies can have a bitter taste and you really don’t find that here. She agreed about the taste. This is the veggie goodness. I told her I hoped she was prepared to do some housework with all the energy that would be hitting her in about twenty minutes!

WTF? These people test on animals? FAIL.

Also, not a good tea.

This is the tea of my childhood. My mother has always loved Earl Grey and Lady Grey tea. It’s my comfort tea. A little milk & sugar makes it even more enjoyable. Bumping up my rating because I love this tea :)