The DJBooth

I received this one from Toi Toi. I love trying teas that are labeled coffee kickers or teas that try and mimic the specialty coffee drink. As a coffee lover as well it is really hard to find a tea that would replace coffee for me. Since I don’t drink the frou frou coffee drinks. I do have a soft spot for caramel. The dry aroma is potent, and I like that coffee beans are incorporated in this one. Pretty good straight up. There is an odd chemical taste to it. I don’t know if it’s the sugar crystals or not but it’s a little un-natural. It is though one of the best “coffee blends” that I have tried. It’s even better with Matevana and Dr.Teas Coffee tea mixed in. Decent.

This one has been sitting in my desk un-opened why? Well sometime I forget where I put things and I have random stashes of tea at work. Again contributing to my coworkers asking what are you smoking today. If you have read any of my previous tasting notes. I was pretty much a green hater until I realized that I was brewing them wrong and I had Teavivre’s offerings. This one is so incredibly light, but it still has some body to it. I had to get over the lack of body in green and white teas to enjoy them. I like the full body of black and Pu-erh tea. I’m really starting to like Long Jing as well. The first dragon well that I ever had was a really cheap one and was not good at all. Teavivre’s and the last one that I sampled from Infusion have been great. Slightly grassy, a little like hay, I can see some comparisons to chestnut as well. Over all a great post lunch pick me up. The quality of Teavivre is just outstanding.

Thanks to to Toi Toi for this one. Reminds me of a lot of other Yunnan blacks that I have tried. I little milder than others I have had. Decent.

Big suprise I know I received this sample with my Christmas order from the big T. I too am one that loved the white tea and Samurai mix. The Samurai is still one of my favorite Mate blends. It gives me warrior like cunningness(ok maybe a little bit of an exageration). This is my after lunch brew at work. For some reason lately I’ve been obsessed with cardamon after having arabic coffee at a middle eastern restaurant. I love the lemony goodness of it. There is plenty in here. This is seriously hitting the spot today! The base oolong looks to be a Ti Kuan Yin…exciting! I wasn’t thrilled about the rock sugar but it’s a welcome change. I get the change in the combo since the the temps for oolong and mate are closer than white and mate. However in sipping I found that I had a phantom apple taste on my palate. Yes, I think this would be perfect for mulled cider!

So the little man has been struggling with eczema. He’s been itching and it’s been affecting his sleep which of course makes for long nights for us. My wife and I have been reading how putting rooibos in a baby’s bath can help with eczema. We’ve been trying everything until we can get him into a pediatric dermatologist. So this was on sale at the grocery and wife asked “you’ll drink it too right?”…..but of course. So we put a few bags in with Mr. Zeke’s oatmeal bath, and one in a cup for daddy :) I really like the fact that since it’s rooibos this one is full leaf and not dust. You can see it through the bag. Smelling the pure rooibos here I understand better why David’s tea did have add too much to make the Oh Canada blend. The dry leaf has a sweet woodsy maple aroma. Same with liquor in the cup. A cedar like woodsy flavor almost even wine like. There’s a little sweetness too without any sugar. This is really good and I hope it’s helps t the little man too.

So for Christmas we received a Keurig from my parents. Since the only way for me to make coffee for the past year and half has been instant or french press since my drip maker hit the fritz. We were pretty excited. First of all I love the Keurig for coffee it’s been awesome to have. So my wife and I bought a few boxes online since we could get two free, and the shipment came today. So of course what do I do…yes break out the tea. So I tried the medium cup setting. Whoa! That is a strong cuppa. I feel guilty saying this but I actually had to water it down a little. Malty and tanic…more so tanic. So for dinner I decided to try it again over ice. Perfect proportions. A little strong for hot but great iced. I so do like the new addition to our kitchen.

I tell you I’m starting to come around to green. For a long time I couldn’t stomach greens I was a black and Pu man. However if you have a quality green then it is smooth and palatable. It’s light, grassy, kinda make you think of spring in the dead of winter. Thanks Infussion for allowing me to try this one.

So I’ve had this one for a bit from a swap with Dinosara but you know sometimes it takes a while to get to some teas…or your cabinet is overflowing and your wife says no more tea till you finish what you have. This one has been in my work stash. I have liked all the Wuyi teas that I have tried and this one is pretty good. A little nutty and since the leaves are half oxidized I’m getting a little bit of what I would call that sometimes cherry like flavor and honey hints that at least I pick up from the fully oxidized Oolongs. That you don’t get from green Oolongs.

I can’t believe I’m the first to rate this one. Thank you Rachel for sending me this one. I’m a huge fan of roasted mate. I like the roasted flavor on this one. The leaf is quite small almost like dust rather than full leaf. There’s not just mint in this one but full mint sprigs, which adds a nice touch to the roast flavor of the mate. However in steeping this one a few time I have yet to pick up any berry flavor to this one. I’ve even let it steep for ten minutes and still can’t pick up the Elderberry. Still this one is tasty. I would love to try more from handmade but unfortunately monthly subscriptions are not in the buget.

With the price as cheap as it was I decided to pull the trigger on this one and get a pound. Ah the aroma on this one is intoxicating especially since I love curry! The mate and pu-erh combo I like as well. It kinda reminds me of a curried Tang. This one is especially good with a little straight Pu-erh mixed in as well. I fear I may be one to get the last of it with the sell off of Teavana teas as of late. If you added some cinnamon this would be Christmas tea.

So thank you to Infussion for sending me the samples. This is the largest pouch in the shipment. I must say after reading up this I’m very intrigued. I’m not sure if the aphrodisiac properties, antidepressant, or properties are what I’m looking for but I don’t mind trying something new. By itself I am reminded of shredded cedar chips. The taste of the straight up bark is the same. It’s not terrible or great but I would say it’s an acquired taste. However I have noticed a few things with mixing it with other teas\tisanes. Straight up I didn’t notice anything difference in mood being lifted or something else…wink wink nudge nudge. Mixing it with plain Nobleza Gaucha Mate I have found is my favorite so far. Somehow they negate each other flavor wise in a teaspoon to teaspoon ratio. Yesterday morning I mixed it with Teavana Zingiber Ginger Coconut Rooibos. Again it was pretty good. However I felt kinda spacey for most of the day and had trouble concentrating. I don’t know if that is part of the “buzzy” effects. Regardless I’m going to try this with mixed with a few combinations and see what we get.

So I picked this up on a whim cause the grocery store was out of the peach white tea that I was digging. I wanted white tea so a combo? Why not. The dry bag has a little bit dusty aroma to it. A little sweet too, and if you breathe in too deep get ready to sneeze. So after brewing this the aroma of honey and lemon are very nice. The taste. After a few sips I was trying to figure out what it reminds me of. Then it hits me. Warm summer shandy! I have enjoyed this tea so much that I’m on another box. Everyday after lunch this is my brew. I have noticed that the Siberian ginseng help in fending off work stress. Loving this one.

So I’ve been sitting on this one for almost a year thanks to Tamm. I’ve tried some here and there and well…it’s one of those teas that you don’t want advertise that it’s in your cabinet. I also have realized that after being a steepsterite for two years now and that The Simple Leaf ceased to be before I became an avid tea drinker. To my dismay, but I’m also realizing the freshness window might be waning. I’ve been making cups here and there just saving it for special time or when I just really want a good tea(like the Imperial Pu-Erh I keep on hand). Today I felt like I needed a pick me up. It’s been really crazy at work. Which happens every year at this time because we are a station that goes all Christmas music for a month. Oddly enough we are one of three radio stations that goes all Christmas music every year. How Cleveland became a Christmas music battleground…I don’t know. It also means it takes me longer to get music logs done as the music director because I have to look over the logs more with a fine tooth comb. Besides that this is time of the year that things get tight financially in our house(which also means drink what ya got because not too many new purchases are going to be made). This year more so than others since my wife is working part-time instead of full, and there aren’t nearly as many wedding gigs as there are during the summer. The wee man has been battling his first cold the less sleep he gets the less sleep mommy and I get. This seemed like a good idea this morning to make a full pot. So I pulled out the pouch and breathed in the goodness. I breathed in an aroma of cocoa that was just outstanding. I could feel an endorphin rush that brought a smile to my face. I have seen this one compared to a black oolong, beans, raisins, chocolaty. Yes it’s all the above. Like Assam and his cousin Ceylon were hanging out a swanky jazz club. Listening to the band do their best rendition of Brubeck’s-Take 5 and throwing back Scotch on the rocks(Macallan not Glenfiddich). So what I needed today. Normally I’ll make a cup of Mate, Pu-Erh, and Coffee in the morning. Today only the coffee and Dawn. I don’t know if there is too much to say but this is just an exceptional tea. After searching the internet high low for other places that carry tea from Arunachal Pradesh sadly there is only one. It is very much like an Assam Oolong. So good.

Hmmm so I have had this one for a while but unfortunately I have not written a note about it. So getting back into the swing after the break has been a challenge. The baby had a fever so being up numerous times last night I needed a good kick in the butt. The mate is always good for that. Though sad that my enjoyment of this tea has come to an end…I’m still glad I got to sample it. The dry leaf smells like halls honey lemon cough drops. Which I like so that is not a bad thing. Anytime I’ve brewed this one my wife says that it smells weird but I find this one quite tasty. I have not had the pleasure of tasting mead, but this is what I would envision it to be like. Smooth and sweet and really can’t taste the mate. Every time I’ve had this one I just think of Blake Shelton’s song :) http://youtu.be/xZjosn2u1gA

This is becoming my morning starter. No sweetener it’s great!

I’ve had this one for a few weeks. I bought a couple ounces with there being 30% off. I have had this one mixed with the Samurai Chai that Teavana used to have as one of their samples. I have to say that alone this one is ok. The initial flavor is good but after steeps is where this one gets better. The initial steep unless you brew it with the Samurai does not have a whole lot of flavor. That might be the lemongrass? However in the second and third steeps the peppercorns come through more. It also cold brews quite well. Crazy enough this one is better went the Samurai is mixed with it. Unfortunate that this one doesn’t stand out by itself since it’s one of Teavana’s most popular blends. I do like this one and will probably keep it in cupboard in the regular rotation.

Thank you Queenoftarts for this one. Smells fruity like strawberry Big League Chew. The liquor….swampwater! The flavor is tasty. You can’t really tell it’s a rooibos tea. Another good one from DAVIDsTEA

So I received this one in a swap a long time ago…I just have not had the chance to review it. I’m still getting my palate for rooibos teas but this one is pretty stinkin’ good. Woodsy maple syrup. This is a decaf that I would add to the permanent collection. I even used the rest of the leaves mixed coffee. Fantastic!

So there I have found a trend in my friends who work for record labels. They know I’m a tea lover. So I was mentioning how puerh is my favorite type of tea. So on my desk is a puerh sampler from my friend in Nashville. One of the many reasons I love my job. I have never met a tuo cha I didn’t like. I think tuo chas must be one of those things that is hard to screw up. What I love about tuo cha puerh is that I can at least get 5-6 good steeps out one bird nest. This does not disappoint. The brew is dark like coffee and smooth like the little man’s bottom. That might be a bad analogy but we’ll roll with it. So smooth and six good steeps….huzzah!

So around Christmas I was mentioning(on the discussion boards) that my brother had picked up two containers of tea for me as a gift…the only thing is I couldn’t decipher what kind of tea it was. Well one day I decided to do some detective work. If it’s tea and loose leaf it deserves a shot. After matching up the characters on the box from the companies website I found that it is the Jaksul Dukgum. I really like this tea. Being that it is a Korean green the nuttiness is great. It almost has an oolong flavor. Very light. A great find from my brother in the Asian market in Ann Arbor.

Stopped by to see my friend who works at the South Park location. This is one that I have had the pleasure of wafting but had yet to taste. So I grabbed a cup. I do like a good earl grey so I anticipating a good experience. Seriously a good brew. The vanilla mellows but doesn’t completely cancel out the bergamot flavor. As it cools there’s a hint of chocolate maybe that’s part to the base black tea. There’s maybe even a hint of maybe creamsicle. I have to admit that there was a fantastic empty cup aroma…a sign of a good one :) This may have to be added to the collection.

Thank you to Amanda for sending me a sample of this. I have been anxiously awaiting to try this one. Bacon…yes please. Opening the bag there is a nice candy like aroma that fills the air. I noticed that it is the very much like some of the other black tea blends from 52/Manteas. So the aroma is good. The maple comes through pretty well. I think better than it did when I received a sample of the pancake breakfast. The black tea is bright but not too astringent. Sigh Where’s the bacon? I’m not tasting the bacon come through and that is a little disappointing. It’s almost like The Great Bacon shortage hoax of 2013. Which I think was just a ploy for people to eat more bacon. It worked…at least for this guy. I really wanted to love this one. I like it. I just wish that I could taste the bacon.

I received this one from tattooed_tea. I am really starting to wish there were some DAVIDs locations in the states…ok Ohio. Opening up the package the dry leaf reminds me of a chinese black or an ceylon. I was excited to get this one because I have never sampled a nepalese black. Reminds me a little bit of a chinese black because there’s that starchy flavor like baked potato. Pretty smooth and it may have to be added to the permanent collection.

I have received this in a swap with BTVSGal. This is my first offering from Asha. It’s everything you would expect from a good golden Yunnan. A little malty, a little starchy like fresh cut french fries. It’s quite good.