New Tasting Notes

If TeaFrog’s Cream Earl Grey is Earl Grey lite, then Earl Grey Special is Earl Grey plus. Strong and lemony, with a slight bergamot flavour – I think the lemongrass overpowers the bergamot, but with bergamot being citrusy, it’s hard to tell. At any rate, this is a very tasty blend!

Working with a sample of this from a tea tasting, I have been most impressed by the quality of this vs the other Yin Zhen I have had (from Chado, which admittedly was probably rather antique when I last did a formal tasting).

Brewed with 2 grams of tea in a gaiwan averaging about 2 oz/60mL of water per infusion, I started at 30 seconds, and kept going for 7 infusions before I ran out of heated water.

The flavor is fruity, floral, sweet, but more delicately fruity than the Pai Mu Tan it was paired with. And even after 7 infusions of 30-60 seconds, there was more in the leaf to give.

This is an excellent tea.

Meh. I like their rooibos offerings better.

Made some iced tea with this; cold steeped.
For being a black tea, it is a very light yellow colour… similar to white tea.
On it’s own, I can taste the nuttiness, which is nice. But it is quite bitter.. I’ve managed to make a bitter, cold-steeped tea. But, mixed with some homemade lemonade it is very enjoyable.

A lowered steeping time and a bit of milk to smooth out the taste of the Ceylon base still don’t really help develop the strawberry flavour all that much. This still mostly tastes like a typical Ceylon black tea with a bit strawberry at the end of each sip.

This was a surprising tea to me. I have had it a couple of times now [I’m not one to keep writing reviews for each infusion of the same tea, I write about the first impression because that’s the one that counts!] and I noticed that the longer it steeped, the more it’s character and nuances bloomed; now this is NOT a blooming tea mind you.

The scent starts off smoky then the longer it steeps, the aromas are a hint of smoke, leather and nuts. This blend and its description are similar to Yunnans but with a bit more complex character yet not as much as other English Breakfast blends. This blend has a somewhat thick feel on the tongue but not as full or chewy as an Assam; it has a slight brighter, cleaner appeal to it like a Ceylon. It is a very nice tea to have in the morning or early afternoon. I would say this tea is on par with the Tippy Yunnan by the same company but with a bit more body and complexity. I would recommend trying a sample…it’s a good tea.

Looks into the can
Yummy berries. Good leafs. Is that strawberry? YUM… and that looks like orange.

Wait.

What’s that?! Is that a… PEARL?!
A jasmine pearl???

Stares

Wonder if it’s part of the blend or a mistake. Found four pearl in total. I don’t mind. I love pearls. There is nothing wrong with the tea either. It’s a fine yellow liquid. Bought a kettle so I can boil the water to precise 80 celcius. Good result… The small dusty things are dancing slowly to the bottom. Some of them stand still for a while.

I like that. It’s like matrix.

Smell of heaven. Sweet and flowery.
The taste is sharp but sweet. Can’t taste the berries, can’t taste the pearls, can’t taste the leafs. Why? Because it’s blended into a symphony. Perch does that a lot – I don’t mind.

I LOVE IT!

Goddam I love this – it tastes so ‘green’ – like someone just ripped a handful of grass and steeped it!

So loving this right now – slightly woody but then turns a bit caramel and almost chocolate.

I seldom drink black tea, but husband was having English Breakfast this morning so I did, too. It was steeped a liiittle too long, so was bitter. But at the top of the cup it was decent. I will give black tea another try.

Tea bag. Drank black. My low rating is mostly due to my tastes (not liking black) and the bitterness.

The last of the Flavored sampler. And not a good one in my book.

Somehow, there’s a sort of bamboo/rattan smell to it that is rather strong. It’s a smell I associate with going into Pier 1 imports or maybe the current day equivalent, Cost Plus World Market, that is full of bamboo and rattan goods. Only it’s as though they were damp and a little musty.

The more I dwell on the damp and musty bamboo/rattan, the more I start to get musty wet sawdust which translates into rodent cage.

It’s not that there isn’t a hint of tangerine. It’s in there somewhere. But these other more negative aromas and tastes are too distracting to enable me to focus on the part that’s decent.

Ugh. I’ll continue to experiment, but so far, not a success.

This tea is an excellent example of what Escoffier discovered, regarding how scent impacts our sense of taste. He served all of his food piping hot because he knew his diners would smell the food. Since smell comprises most of our actual ability to taste, voilà! Hot, this tea smells delicious, and subsequently tastes accordingly — vanilla without the artificial flavoring, though I found no tropical notes. Take away the heat, however, and you are left with a thin vanilla taste that requires sweetening. Kind of like when you see a guy who you thought was attractive — until he takes off his shirt and you aren’t squinting at him anymore because he is less than 20 feet away.

(Not that this happened recently to me or anything. Nope. Although, there was a Scottish bagpiper tonight in the park, and it was the best part of my day.)

Finished up the sample of this. Verdict is the same, possibly slightly improved though still within the range of the original rating.

It’s good. I am noticing a little sharp high note, and much more sweetness and butter than I did before, possibly because I’m having it following an English Breakfast. It’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t mind drinking at all, but probably wouldn’t buy again as I’ve had other greens I thought were tastier.

Finished up my sample of this last night. If I ever need a plain peppermint, this will be my choice (so far)!

This dry leaves smell sweet and slightly malty, and the liquor is a lemon yellow colour, smells nice and sweet. The flavour is floral and vegetal, and the aftertaste is only slightly dry. This is what I’m getting with my limited palate – need to try more oolongs so I can develop it better.

I’d say the temperature of the water was just right, any hotter and it would have gone bitter. The flavour might have developed a bit more with a longer steeping, I will try 4 mins next time.

Before I made this tea today I felt quite depressed, lazy and had no energy. After I had two cups, I suddenly sprung up and vacuumed the apartment thoroughly! I feel so much better now. Tea has once again proved its magical power.

Gave this tea a try today. Really nice Yunnan Gold. I definitely preferred it to the Yunnan Jig. I remember that early on I loved Adagio’s Yunnan Gold but my last order or two was a bit disappointing. This Yunnan Golden Curls reminds me of the OLD Yunnan Gold. I must say, though, that I don’t think I’d pay $29 for 3 ounces.

The artificial bergamot flavoring really comes through on this tea. The flavor is fake and chemical tasting, which makes this Market Spice tea a definite pass for me. Switch it up to using actual plant flavoring and I will consider trying it again.

Another share from TeaEqualsBliss – thank you!

The smell while brewing makes me think of barley. The pieces are tiny – BP I’m guessing stands for broken pekoe? – so I did a short steep time. I also added sugar and half & half out of habit. Oops. Oh well.

The taste is pretty surprising. Because the pieces are so small, I anticipated something with a bit of an edge, and maybe it does have it and the additives are hiding it, but it doesn’t seem like it at all. It’s odd though because the taste is both mild and bold. Thin, maybe? But flavorful? Something. And I can’t quite peg the taste – it doesn’t seem fruity or malty. It seems more grain-like. Whatever it is, it makes it fairly unique – and pretty tasty!