New Tasting Notes

Can’t believe I have not logged this tea before. It is everything they promise in the description. The liquor is almost clear. The flavour is light, refreshing, sweet, slightly grassy with a floral aftertaste. There is so much going in in this one that it takes a while to really get to grips with it. I know that when I got my first packet of it last summer, I thought it was nice but not mind-blowing. Now that I have a lot more experience under my belt, I find it to be a most excellent tea for summer days sitting in the conservatory marking essays, or indeed any other occasion when a lighter tea is needed.

This is also another tea that looks awesome in the glass teapot. Visually, it is not up there with the Anji Bai Cha, but it is still most pleasing.

Starting my day with this rich, malty tea! It is pretty pleasant, but I’m craving something a bit fruity right now so it isn’t really satisfying. I am liking the caffeine kick though.

Now that I have all these FF darjeelings I was starting to wonder if and when they would all taste the same to me, but it’s quite surprising at how different they are.

I steeped this around 190F for 3 minutes because I find I like them much more this way, less astringency and less chance of bitterness to come to the forefront. I’ve been steeping mine at the 190 -200 F range. My tea liquor is a light orange here.

I have to agree with Triumph about the fruity and effervescent nature of this tea. I am getting intense peach notes mixed with honey. It also has a delicious floral quality about it. In nature it is a bit like some of the Nepalese teas I’ve had. But it’s so good! It has an almost buttery like quality in the richness of the tea liquor and no astringency that I can detect. A nice and gentle way to wake up on this Sunday morning…

This indeed reminds me of a summer day, sitting outside in the sun with a bowl of fresh peaches and watching the birds fly by.

Using up the last serving of this. The sampler tin is empty!

I am having this with my late breakfast of an English muffin and sausage patties, enjoying the last of the morning on my couch. Hopefully the sausage won’t affect my taste buds too much!

Brewed in my ingenuiTea. The tea brewed very dark while I fixed my brekky, so it probably went at least 5 minutes, i guess. After I decanted into my mug, I immediately added more water for a second brew, so it will steep awhile.

I’m not getting much taste out of it this morning, but like I said, the sausage might be overwhelming it a bit. Smells nice, not really a jump up and hit you scent. I might amend that after the allergy pill kicks in though.

Ok, breakfast is finished, and a few sips have been downed, and it hasn’t changed to the taste. It still seems like a fairly basic tea to me, nothing outstanding or unique. Not unpleasing, but not impressive either. I don’t think I’ll look to order more.

Tea of noon…..

I have not had this one by itself for quite some time. I generally blend it in with my Franken-Breakfast Blend. It has such a prominent chocolate note with just a touch of maltiness and smoke. It is not quite to the level of a Keemun in smokiness, but it is close. It is not quite as complex as the more expensive Tan Yangs, but it is well worth the price at under $5 for 125 grams.

Usual mug method.

This is officially my first tea to be rated 100. It is, in my opinion flawless… The only issue I have related to it is that it isn’t in stock. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Frank is willing to revive a tea if you order a pound of it. Is this true? If is, well Frank, I think I need a pound of this! I am in love with it! I saw that it had been revived and for sale on Iheartteas.com, so I couldn’t resist ordering it to try. It is by far the best dessert tea I have ever tried, and believe me, I have tried a whole lot of them.

The dry leaves are black and accompanied by the occasional huge luscious looking blueberry. The tea leaves are large and beautifully unbroken. The scent is… majestically scrumptious, temptingly delicious, absolutely indulgent… A think scent of blueberries is surrounded by a heavy sweet pastry scent. It is the supermodel of all blueberry tea scents. 

Once brewed the tea keeps most of its scent and the blueberry will invade an entire house. My brother actually woke up and wandered down to the kitchen to ask what I was making that smelled so much like blueberry. He was shocked when I told him it was tea! We don’t have blueberries in Ecuador, so anything blueberry flavored is a great and rare treat for me! 

The taste is amazing. It tastes like a blueberry danish. Heavy on the blueberry, just the way I like it. The flavor is so smooth that there is no need for any additives. I added sweetener just out of curiosity and I barely even noticed it was there. This is one of the rare teas that taste sweetened without actually being sweet. It is, in my opinion, the sign of a truly well made dessert tea. 

I am so happy I have found you blueberry danish tea! Where have you been all of my life? Frank, I have to say that this actually managed to beat the tastiness of your pancake tea (which is super super tasty!)

Everyone who likes blueberry HAS to try this. You have no idea what you are missing!

Raspberry! I taste that way more than any chocolate. Raspberry, mate, & a mix of almondy sweetness without being sickly. I opted for a thicker, creamier mouthfeel & added a little creamer. I think I’ve found a great replacement for Teavana’s My Morning Mate.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this tea because sometimes teas that have a lot of flavors, especially caramel, come across as too sweet, or you can’t taste the tea for the flavors. Wow, am I glad I decided to give it a try. This is the best vanilla tea I’ve ever had. It is intensely flavorful but you can still taste the black tea. The flavors all blend together beautifully. The caramel gives the vanilla extra depth. I didn’t detect as many of the cream notes, but perhaps if I try it iced I will. Thank you, Rachel, for creating this delicious blend that caters to my sweet tooth without adding any extra pounds! I will be back to buy more.

I should probably stop buying minty teas if I’m hoping to get any chocolate taste. Didn’t really taste any chocolate, but the mint was nice & refreshing. Has a cool, creamy body (granted I did add creamer), with a slight note of vanilla.

My first non-floral flavored white. The coconut is definitely the main flavor; I didn’t really taste any vanilla, but it may have been the underlying bit that tied it all together. Overall a nice tea, the flavor didn’t dominate to the point where I couldn’t taste the tea. Has more body than a straight white tea, but not bitter. I didn’t follow the steep instructions on the label because 4-5 minutes seemed a long time for a white tea.

Second tea of the morning…..

This one comes from a swap with Dinosara. She went on a small tea adventure while she was in China, and this was one she brought back. I am so appreciative that she gave up some of her precious suitcase space to bring a few things back to share with me. I am pretty certain I may never make it there in my lifetime, so it is always fun to read about her travels and experiences. I love that she tries to include the hunt for tea in her free time when she is travelling, because her work takes her to such interesting places.

This is very, very good. I do think it is a little higher quality than Tan Yang Te Ji from TeaSpring. The leaves are longer and predominantly golden, where TYTJ has only a few golden tips. The brew is very similar, but it reads a little less cocoa and more caramely and honeyed which generally translates to sweeter. I am sure that is pretty normal for a comparison between teas with golden tips and those with fewer. I would definitely not call them interchangeable. Both are very enjoyable, and I will cherish the remainder of this one, as I am not sure I can get more! (I still like the other one just a little better, but that could be my subconscious picking that one because I can get more…..)

Usual mug method.

We have back to back winner teas this morning!

As many of your may know, I’m not really a fan of black teas, usually. There’s only a very few that I enjoy and all of them are flavored. I’m not versed enough in black teas to even pin point the reasons some are tastier than others, which is something I’d like to remedy, but I never find myself wanting to familiarize myself with unflavored blacks as this will take time, money and drinking of a tea I don’t generally enjoy. :/

In any case, this tea! Oh my. so tasty. I can’t say much for the smell since it sort of absorbed the smell of the other teas it was stored with. I’m pretty sure that muscat aroma isn’t from a chestnut flavored tea. :) Once brewed, it still has a bit of a fruity aroma but the taste is something else. There’s a smooth barely smokey sweetness in the front of the sip, like roasted chestnuts. Then as you swallow, there’s the bitterness that reminds me of biting into the fuzz around the chestnut meat, but it quickly dissipates and you are left with the comforting impression of sweet roasted chestnuts. It’s like a winter morning in a forest cabin.

I’m reminded of chestnut creme desserts in France and I wonder if this would be good with sugar and cream, but I am usually disappointed when I mess with a tasty tea like that. I think I’ll just leave it like this. Chestnuts are under-appreciated around here. In France, you’ll find chestnut flavored everything. Chestnut yogurt was pretty darn good.

Anyway, thanks again for another great tea Azzrian! Every time I try another tea from Lupicia, I find myself desperate to make an order with them.

Edit: Having no French skills, I used google translate to figure out the meaning of “Chaud” and now I know that “Chaud Les Marrons” simply means “Hot Chestnuts.” The name of this tea is elegant in its simplicity. :)

nice, pleasant and mild green tea with the distinct fragrance of the Jasmine flower. Also love the way the tea leaves are presented – three pellets ( the three brothers !) integrated with the jasmine flower !

This sample was much better than the Maple Pecan. I used even less water and dumped all the tea from the T-sac into my strainer. This revealed there was indeed very little tea in the sample. And some tea dust as well, which resulted in a gritty last sip.

Both the dry leaves and the brewed tea smelled like blueberry. The taste was blueberry, an essence of creaminess, and still a little watery (but much less so than the first sample). I enjoyed this, but again I probably won’t be buying a full bag. Honestly, I’m just really disappointed in how small these samples were. I mean, they only cost $1 for both. But does that mean I should get only about 1-2 grams of tea?

Mmmm… nummy! Azzrian, you did it again! Another winner from my wonderful swap partner. This tea is so refreshing. It’s got a savory vegetal quality like asparagus or raw green beans. It’s toasty, but barely. It’s also somehow sweet and fragrant like citrus flowers. Beautiful lovely tea. It is a bit light though. I suppose I could use more leaf or less water next time.

Also, not really a good tea to go with food! The flavors are so delicate!

Recently I’ve had a few chances to taste tea from Nilgiri and I think I like it! This is not a pure Nilgiri tea, but still it has all the characters that I liked in my previous Nilgiri teas – smooth, aromatic and no astringency. It really is perfect for a tea break! :)

I want to send a big shout-out to Thomas at Fusion Tea Room for your amazing service (100 rating, I swear) and the wonderful (and generous) samples. My first review wasn’t great, so please read this one instead if you already saw that one!

This is a re-do of my first review. I am heating the water now, and I am going to ensure I have the proper water temperature. I’m going to let the pot cool for a bit, and then try again.

time lapse Yeah, because I’m not going to make you wait.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOODNESS OH MY……Just wow. I love the smell of Earl Grey, and I could just smell this the whole time I am waiting for it to steep. I mean, I don’t know if you can eat tea straight up, but if you could, I would want to eat this. That may be weird, but it just SMELLS SO GOOD TO ME! It’s a light, citrusy (did I spell that right?) aroma, and it isn’t too strong. It’s just….heavenly! :-) As it is steeping, the aroma isn’t as strong, but still as good. I am going to up the rating just because of the smell….

And my temp. slider won’t let me set it at 203 degrees……but 205 isn’t that off, so yeah.

Taste: Ohhh yeah, that’s perfect. This is a very smooth Earl Grey. There is NO bitter in here. None. So I take back my previous statement about Bergomot being bitter in general.Well, ok, I taste a small amount of…not bitter, but just the strong taste of tea in general, you know? But the Earl Grey! The flavor!! THIS IS AMAZING!!! And it’s amazing what temperature change can do! Two packets of sugar in the raw and this is perfect for me. And yeah, you may think my rating is high but THIS IS THE BEST EARL GREY I HAVE EVER TASTED!! It is even a bit better than my favorite, also 100 rated Earl Grey tea. I’m going to have to bump that rating down a bit, since it has been so long since I’ve had that EG anyway. I don’t think I’m ever going back to bagged tea again, not if it comes in a loose form. (Or if it is just one of those really high quality places anyway. I can do that.) I want to just ramble on. I LOVE this!

And this review is supposed to be completely honest. So here is my honesty: The first steep, before I re-adjusted tea temp, wasn’t so good. I could drink it but it wasn’t that good. But now that I have re-done it, THIS TEA IS AMAZING I AM NOT LYING!! BEST EVER! EVER!! And to know that I have CHOCOLATE CAKE HONEYBUSH BY FUSION TEA ROOM THAT I HAVE YET TO TRY? Oh……………boy.

The 15th tea from The Book of Tea – I am halfway through, yay! :D

Darjeeling is my favourite black tea, so it’s not surprising that I love Earl Grey Darjeeling. The liquor has a beautiful honey colour. Love the bright aroma of bergamot… it smells so good that I wish it could be made into a perfume. The flavour of bergamot is strong but not overpowering, so you can still taste the floral undercurrents of lovely Darjeeling. I know I should not consume black tea before going to bed, but this is such a satisfying cup of tea that I am willing to stay up for another hour because of it!!

This is my first of two samples from Design a Tea. Ever since my fiancé bought this delicious maple pecan granola, I’ve had my mind fixed on the idea that it would make a fantastic flavored tea! I submitted the idea to 52teas and then came across Design a Tea’s custom blends. The closest I could get was subtracting the granola.

The dry tea definitely smelled like maple. The sample is only enough for one infusion and came in a T-sac. I hate T-sacs. They don’t let the tea leaves float around enough to let the flavor release. Of course, I didn’t come to this realization until it was too late.

The brewed tea still smelled like maple, but the taste was pretty lackluster. It was watery. I anticipated this when I saw how little leaf was in the sample, so I used about half as much water as I normally would. But I guess it was still too much.

As for the pecan, there might have been traces of it in there. But not enough that made me 100% sure I could actually taste it and that I wasn’t just imagining it. Needless to say, I won’t be buying a full bag of this. But at least I know maple and pecan is a good combo, so I’ll hold out hope that 52teas will blend it. Now, on to the next!

I’ve had this tea for a while now, but I never took the time to write about it until now. It’s one of those teas that you can easily lose yourself in.

First steep: Smells sweet, tastes sweet too! The liquor is a touch floral, and sweet; almost like the sweetness of caramel. It has a mouth watering juiciness and flavour that reminds me of fruit.

Second steep: I’m noticing more of the texture the liquor leaves in the back of my mouth. The description mentions marzipan which I think is dead on. I can definitely taste that in the smooth texture and flavour.

Third steep: All of the flavours are coming together nicely. It’s usually at about this point where I lose myself in the flavours and look down to see that my cup is empty. ;)

Fourth steep: This cup really struck me as juicy and sweet, but not too sweet. I really dislike teas that are WAY too sweet, but this one is just right. (If you’re curious, I find Bai Lin black tea and Oriental Beauty oolong too sweet sometimes)

Fifth steep: Liquor is getting a bit less floral and the spices are coming out more.

Sixth steep: Both the tea and I are feeling pretty mellow at this point. I could keep resteeping but I’m pretty satisfied ending here.

One thing I really love about Taiwanese oolong, is that your attention to detail pays off. Relaxing and taking time to enjoy each sip brings out such beautiful flavours. Sometimes when I just want my tea fix, I’ll brew up some cheap black tea western style. But when I have the time for it, I like to reward my senses with tea like this.

Not my favourite oolong from this vendor, but it still exceeded my expectations.

100ml purion teapot, 1 1/2 tsp, 6 steeps (rinse, 45s, 45s, 1m, 1m30s, 2m, 2m30s)

Last night when my daughter was trying her new teas and they were a bust for her, she asked me to make her something green that tastes good. I made this. We both drank it, we both enjoyed it. YAY! And I got eight ounces of it for Mothers’ Day. EVEN BIGGER HOORAY! MMMM, butter, butter, butter….this stuff is sooo good!

Again, a tea belonging to my daughter that she can’t stand to drink! When she described what she hated about it – the texture of the tea on the swallow, the slippery texture that remains – I knew it was the licorice root that turned her off. But I like licorice root. I find it soothing and comforting. A couple of years ago I had a lot of dry throat problems that were keeping me up at night, and two throat soothing teas gave me a lot of relief. My only concern is the effect licorice root can have on blood pressure. I don’t know how much it takes to raise it, and mine is already if-fy.

I don’t think of this as a flavored green. Maybe I will as I drink more of it. It really tastes like an herbal tisane to me. Fortunately, she bought a whole box of this one so I get to try it again when I can pay closer attention to it.