teabird

Very good, smooth and a little malty and yes, fruity. Tasty plain, but strong enough with milk. I can’t think of a better Assam offhand – this is more interesting than Mighty Leaf’s EB, though they’re similar in drinkability. This is sweeter and less harsh than TeaFrog’s other Assam, I’d say. Still, doesn’t really compare to a good chinese black or blend for me.

I still have a hard time rating Darjeelings, and preparing them for that matter. I have pretty good luck treating them as oolongs, using more leaf and less time; prepared that way I find them more drinkable and less bitter (than steeping them like black teas).

This one is really pretty though, the dry leaves are all multicolored – a black base, with lots of rusty brown and occasional golden and green bits. I’m definitely getting the fruit/spicy flavor that I think is muscatel, and this is smooth enough to drink plain. I do like this better than the two Darjeelings I’ve had from Adagio, but I’m not sure I’d pick it over a well-liked black or oolong :( The second steep was a little weak, so for a third I think I’ll leave it for 5 minutes and just add milk if it’s too bitter.

ETA: And, I really like that last steep with milk. It doesn’t taste like black tea, but it’s not too weird, either. Sweeter, creamy, makes a good afternoon pick-me-up.

1.25g, 3.5oz water, steeps 1:30, 2:30

I added this sample on a whim to my Teafrog order, mostly because of how highly they recommend it. Boy, am I glad I did! I’m not even a big fan of orange flavored things, but this is really delicious. It’s not tart-citrusy, but like a very sweet orange and cream flavor. The bright red color (yes, it is very…. vibrant) is deceptive, because the flavor is quite mellow. But strong! I got two good steeps out of this, which I consider impressive for a flavored rooibos. The second was weaker, and more orangey than creamy, but still good.

The high rating I’m giving here reflects the high-quality natural flavoring as much as my personal enjoyment – I was very impressed at that second drinkable steep – though I do plan to buy a tin now.

I would recommend this to anyone who doesn’t outright hate rooibos – the rooibos is still there, but not the primary flavor (much less so than in, say, Teafrog’s Fireside). A small warning, though: if you get a sample of this, the flavor is strong enough to escape the sample bag and contaminate other samples a bit during shipping, so… don’t get any other samples that would be ruined by a hint of orange ;)

This is nice enough, but maybe needs to be drunk plain to really shine. Using the full 3.6g sample for 12oz of tea, it tastes a little weak with milk and sugar. I’ll use less water on the next steep and try it plain, because I’m really not getting anything special from this one as is.

Liking this a lot iced today. I used 1 tsp tea in the little 4oz oolong pot from Samovar, and poured the first two steeps over ice to make about 12oz iced tea. It’s very sweet, tasting of jasmine, vanilla, and a little bit caramel to me. I know flavored oolongs are a bit overkill, but this one really works for me!

I use slightly cooled water for this, since there’s some green tea in the blend.

I actually just used this as the base for a custom breakfast blend this morning, but it was so good I wanted to be able to log it! (and didn’t feel like making a custom listing).

I’ve been using this as the base for a lot of things lately, because I have a big bag of it and because it’s a smooth, unprepossessing Assam, mild enough to drink plain but strong enough to give that “black tea” flavor to blends. So, today:

2 parts ML Organic Breakfast (Assam)
1 part LeafSpa Organic Irish breakfast (pure Ceylon!)
1 part Adagio Keemun Encore (…Keemun)

And it’s really, REALLY good. This is the English Breakfast tea that’s been missing from my collection. I’ve been drinking it with a dash of sugar and a good dollop of milk, and I can taste everything I put into the blend. I find Keemun Encore a bit much on it’s own, almost Lapsang smoky, but here it’s just providing that hint of smoky sweet I like in my EBs, and the Ceylon (I have no idea why they market it as an Irish Breakfast, though it is good/strong enough to drink on it’s own) contributes some high notes, and… I’ll stop gushing now. I just wanted to make a note for myself and got a little carried away!

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Pale green color, intensely floral aroma. Texture in the mouth is light, but also buttery and rich; I’m having trouble tasting more than that past the floral aroma, at the moment. I’ll try to update as it cools.

leaves rinsed briefly with boiling water, 1tsp, 4oz, steep times: :45, 1:15, 1:15, 5+

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I don’t know about candied pineapple, but this is a sweet and mild green tea. I’m getting hints of smoke, but I might have just been storing this too close to the GM Gunpowder. I’m drinking steeps 1 and 2 simultaneously, and while the color is nigh identical, the first steep has a stronger, sweeter flavor. I’ll update with number 3 in a bit.

As of now, this is nice and I wouldn’t turn down a cup, but I’m not planning to buy more; this is a bit weak for my taste.

2.2g, 6oz

I’ve been mixing this with Mighty Leaf’s Organic Breakfast (which is a straight Assam) lately, to give it a little more of a breakfast oomph. Though each is fine separate (and drunk plain) they complement each other well, making a hefty and flavorful breakfast blend that I can drink plain or with milk.

Whee, posting again! Lately I’ve been mixing and stacking a lot of teas, which makes it hard to post tasting notes, but today I wanted a straight oolong so I pulled out another TeaFrog sample.

As a person who’s not enamored of Formosa Oolongs in general, this is a really tasty one. Rich, full, roasty flavor, a slight bitterness on the back, some flowers in the aftertaste (which is pleasant and lingering). There’s some fruit in the middle, though I’d peg it as more apple than peach.

Still have to see how it re-steeps, but I’ll definitely consider getting a full tin of this, and I’d recommend it to roasted oolong fans.

ETA: Got three solid steeps, increasing the time a little for each. The third was noticeably weaker, but still good. I probably won’t try for a 4th.

1 heaping tsp, 6oz boiling water

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Hm. The lemon is very very prominent here. It’s still an Earl Grey, as EG has a pretty citrusy flavor anyway, but I can taste the lemongrass in particular and it’s a little weird to me. I think I’ll like it better blended with a little vanilla tea for a creamier flavor. G liked it as is, but he’s a big lemon fan.

It’s interesting, but I’ve had EG variations I liked better. To clarify: I’m disappointed that I tasted more lemongrass than anything else. I was hoping/expecting it to be somewhat floral, but I really didn’t notice the jasmine or cornflower.

2nd steep was drinkable but weak, better for drinking plain (1st steep was too harsh for me to drink plain).

1.1g, 3.5oz, 2nd steep 6 minutes

Mmm, I liked this one. G liked it better iced. I couldn’t tell much about the green tea base, but the mint tasted like a blend of peppermint and spearmint. I would’ve preferred straight spearmint – what I remember from visiting Morocco – but this is good. I added sugar, so it was sweet and refreshing.

4.5g, 16 oz, 2nd steep at 4 minutes just as good

I… expected to like this more than I did. It’s ok, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had Irish Breakfast teas I liked better. It’s too fruity for me, I think, and too light for an IB. The 2nd steep was still drinkable, but noticeably lighter in color and flavor (orange rather than red).

3.5g, 12oz water, milk and sugar; 2nd steep 6 minutes

This smells – and I mean this in the best possible way – like Pez. It has that candy/fruity sweetness. I wasn’t sure of the steeping parameters on this one, since it’s a green/black blend, but even with near boiling water it’s smooth enough to drink plain.

This reminds me a lot of Red Leaf Tea’s Blue Moon, because they’re both black tea blended with just flower petals, and they both brew up deliciously fruity, smooth, and sweet. I think maybe it’s the Marigold?

This is getting a little astringent as it cools – I’ll try steeping at a lower temp next time.

Got my TeaFrog samples today! I knew mine shipped out late (yes, this is from the Select a couple of weeks back) because I got the Earl Grey Special, so I wasn’t too worried, but it was very exciting to find in the mailbox today.

This is a very tasty plain black tea – the citrus is the description is right on. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought this was an orange scented tea from the aroma. Pretty similar to an Earl Grey, actually, but milder and sweeter. This was a little harsh for me plain, but it’s great with milk (the spicy citrus flavor is still there).

Second steep (5 minutes) is a little milder and sweeter, enough to drink plain, but plenty strong enough to drink. Spice/citrus notes are still present.

1 heaping tsp (2g) in 8oz water

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When not in competition with Jackee, this is a very tasty tea in its own right. Smooth, sweet, good plain or with milk; a little bit smoky, but only in flavor – it doesn’t have that dryness at the back of the throat that I get from gunpowder or lapsang teas. More earthy than fruity or floral, this is satisfyingly rich as an afternoon tea.

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