This one is quite nice, slightly sweet notes of sweet potato.
check out my blog post on this one please :) http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2013/01/pearl-single-leafe-tea-gaba-oolong-by.html
357 Tasting Notes
A nice tea for a rainy day :)
MMMM, I haven’t had this one in a little while, It’s still oh so good :)
I like this one it tastes and smells very good, it is very chocolatey and minty almost as good as junior mints or peppermint patties but there is something else going on with the flavor of this one that kinda throws off the “peppermint pattie” thing, it has spiced notes to it most likely because a big pretty pieces of star anise in each little bag, the chocolate mint or “peppermint pattie” is there and very recognizable but it is mingled with the flavors of the star anise and it actually taste more like eating a black jelly beans and then eating a peppermint pattie afterwards. That may not sound very interesting to some of you but honestly it was a quite enjoyable flavor combination that works very well This tea is quite tasty. I was pleasantly surprised by this one I didn’t read about it before tried it and wasn’t expecting the mint because it smells like all chocolate.
I see that some of the prices on the Physique site have changed, tho some of the teas are a bit pricey but I’m sure that somebody out there will love this tea and be more that glad to buy it without considering it’s price because it really does taste good :)
I’m glad I got a sample of this, it’s very bold and strong with an earthy/woodsy astringency on the finish. I was looking at it on the Upton website says it is a “popular base tea for masala cha” and “can accommodate milk readily” and I can tell that this tea really wants some milk in it but instead of milk I used Lance’s coffee creamer again Bailey’s White Silk & Spice, It was super good, It tasted like a vanilla chai to me.
Wow! Super minty and very tasty. I put a little sugar just to see how that was and it was like the taste of minty chewing gum. It made my mouth feel minty fresh, not bad at all.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!
I thought for sure that I had posted a note on this one already but I guess I was wrong lol.
Anyways, This Tea is very delicious and smells wonderful and slightly different to me from other Assams that I’ve had.
I’ve drink this tea many times now but the first time I had it was a Sample that Stacy had sent with one of my orders and when I tried it I just had to get more because it was so good. This tea has kinda complex flavor notes from chocolatey and malty to fruity and sweet with a nice astringency to it. I don’t usually follow steeping instructions on teas instead I just tend to steep them My way which is very short steeps in a gaiwan, brewed this way it was nice and malty with a slightly sweet fruity note, slight astringency.
When I steeped this tea a little longer about 2 1/2 minutes It was very nice bold and malty with flavors of cocoa and cinnamon with some awesome sweet fruity notes like raisins and a pleasant astringency.
I enjoy an Assam with a bit of milk and sugar sometimes but I didn’t try this one with milk, I did however add a little sugar and it was really great. A little bit of sweetener makes the cocoa notes more like chocolate while keeping the maltyness and the fruity notes turn to sweet cherries and lots of other hints in there like caramel and apricot and pumpkin pie?? kinda cinnamon, spice?
I’m not sure that I would want to add milk to this tea because it’s really didn’t need the sugar since it perfectly good on it’s own, I think milk and sugar would be just too much.
I decided to make this one in the gaiwan short rinse and steep times about 30 to 40 seconds. First infusion was slightly red and earthy and dull as if it could have very well been a second rinse so I tossed it after just a few sips. the second infusion is much darker very bold flavors of earthiness with slightly sweet caramel notes, the earthiness of this one is the familiar earthiness of a wet forest floor that is not a bad thing at all either I really enjoy that. the third steep is much nicer and even more earthy with just slight caramel notes and this time very woodsy, at the fourth infusion is black as sin and it starts to loose that sweetness and caramel notes and really starts to get very bold and strong of just plain earthy goodness this time even more woodsy like the bark of a big ole pine tree, fifth infusion was surprisingly not nearly as dark as the last perhaps the fourth infusion was the peak of this tea it still has it bold earthiness like the last steep but you can tell its starting to fade, I could get one more good steep if I use slightly hotter water with a longer steep time but it would be my last. Had I done a proper rinse on this one the first time and not had to discard the first infusion as a rinse and paid more attention to my steep times I could have gotten about 8 steeps out of this one easy, Better luck next time. This was a very nice puerh I love a puerh that can take me to the forest and this one did it easily.
I got a sample of this one with my last Butiki order and it is really good, It has a slightly sweet aroma and the taste is floral sweet and slightly vegetal very greenish at first and I did pick up hints of cinnamon on the first two steeps before I read the description on Butiki’s page, with later steeps it gets buttery and smooth and quite oolongish to me but looses the cinnamon notes while the floral sweet notes stayed. I rarely ever follow steeping instructions and I usually just give my teas several short steeps in the gaiwan, I steeped this one about 30 to 40 seconds starting off, they way I steeped it brewed up a delicate pale color kinda yellowish, when looking at the steep it looks as if there really not much to it then you taste it and it so full or flavor. Very nice tea :)
This one started out with vegetal notes like that of asparagus to me with a pleasant astringency on the first steep the second steep was much less astringent, slightly vegetal with nutty notes of pecans and the third steep was just wonderful smooth with no astringency and nutty notes of buttered pecans. This is one of those samples that I drink up and then think Damn! I wish I had more. This one is listed a Darjeeling Oolong and like I said I don’t know anything about Darjeeling teas but this one tastes like it really wanted to be a Black tea. This one is on my wishlist, I’m going to have to get more of this one because I really want to spend some more time with this very tasty tea. This is the second Darjeeling I’ve had from steapshoppe the first one was really good too, I think I like Darjeeling teas :)
This tea is pretty darn good, it’s one of those that changes with each cup it was floral and grassy and sweet and really good, it smells vegetal sweet when steeping very much like sweet corn :)
No notes yet.
I’ve had this one for a little while now ran out of it bought more and now that’s going to be a repeated cycle over and over with a bigger amount each time most likely, it’s taking me long this long to post about it really because I don’t know what to say about it really but I may have mentioned it in another post at some time I don’t remember honestly, you know how some oolongs (like a four seasons to me) can have that buttery yummy creamy mouthfeel and goodness that’s how this tea is to me so buttery smooth and delicious That much I can tell you and then you just really just got to get ya some and try it for yourself because I just can’t find the words to describe the flavor profile of this tea or the wonderful way that it smells or what the leaves taste and feel like when you put one in your mouth or the way it makes me feel, I just can’t find the right words. My cousin Kermit said this tea is like “Liquid Love” and I couldn’t agree more and I know that Kermit the Frog is not a Liar , So there you have it “Liquid Love” in a cup, please Love yourself and go buy you some of this tea. Oh yeah I have to mention also this tea has been fighting with DMS Shi Er Black Pearls tea over who is going to be my current fav now Pearl is out for the time being so she can’t defend herself but She Is on her way here right now and when She returns the fight starts back and I have to keep them separated far from each other on the shelves or else I may come in one day and find one of them spilled out all over the floor lol.
I decided to have this one after seeing someone else had it today as a rainy day oolong, I waited for the rain to stop actually and I turned on the music to cheer myself up and I brewed this one up Gangnam Style, thats when you put on a fancy shirt and hat and dance the horsey dance while trying to make tea and you get water everywhere, ya get a little wet but its fun, wet outside wet inside. Really good tea sweet and delicious with peachy or apricot notes, slight floral tones and just intense yummy flavor, really good tea, If ya drink it from a small cup and have a long tongue you can lick whats left from the bottom of the cup mmmmm it’s really good like that too :) Thanks Azzrian!!!
This one is really good tea too, the orange and cinnamon is more dominate at first then gives way to the creamy chocolate, I like to re steep as much as I can and I found that with this one the chocolate comes out more while the orange tones down some in later steeps, then the cinnamon comes back out with the chocolate, it’s a chameleon of a tea meaning its hard to tell what the whole flavor is like because it keeps changing flavors and each cups is a little different from the next to me. I like the fact that this tea changes its flavors notes I find it very interesting also I simply LOVE Chocolate Orange Teas so I will surely be buying more of this soon. If you are expecting your typical Orange Chocolate type flavors from this one it is not for you but if you are seeking a Chocolate Orange Tea like no other you’ve had before that’s sure to become a fave then Maybe this Is the one for You. Do try, I strongly recommend this Tea. I’m not going to lie at first upon tasting this tea I said to myself “needs lot more chocolate” but that was before I realized that it was a chameleon and would deliver the chocolate later, I love chocolate so I was just impatient, this one will give you your chocolate fix and then some. Also I like a flavored tea that can resteep and not loose its flavor some expensive flavored teas use up all their flavors on the first steep and then taste just “funny or fake” afterwards. So far none of the steepshoppe teas have done that to me they always re-steep at least once or more for another cup and many often times the second or third cups are the best, I ‘m really glad I met Janet from steapshoppe, she is a nice good Lady in my opinion who does great work making her teas taste good for us. I will soon have a sTEApshoppe collection as well as a Siam Tee collection in their own little corner of my tea room.
I already have an Upton collection that I need to display, speaking of upton they are one of my fav places for tea BUT unlike sTEAshop they are quite impersonal organization it seems(I never had problem with their customer service and no problems with them or issues contacting them)But it was Never on a personal level at all in any way I never spoken with the owner/operator because they are just such huge company that may not have time to address you personally which I understand But I can speak with Janet herself the owner/operator and I buy from a few other places where I can actually speak to the main person them selves and I enjoy that the most, in fact I’d rather pay even more money for teas to a place where I’m actually talking to the owner or operator of the place rather than get the same tea cheaper from a place that I have no type or customer relations with at all, you are a person and customer to some companies But you can also be just an account and order number to another company. I don’t know about you but I am a person, Janet at sTeashoppe makes me feel like a person and not a oreder number :)
If you’e made it this far i’m cool nothings wrong I just wanted to point out the things I stated above because this is a sTEAshoppe review and for me it is one of those personal favorite with a real person behind it who is very nice to me :) Thanks Janet!
This is a crazy post,I know, I totally just rambled and prattled along but I think I needed to do that a little bit, thanks for reading, I hope you could follow it :)
oh yeah See my photo of this tea here on my blog :) http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/12/chocolate-orange-white-tea-by.html
This Tea is Awesome! Lance told me I could buy me some teas for Christmas and I wanted Chocolate and I had gotten some good chocolate tea samples from sTEApshoppe and they were really good so I decided to try all the “Chocolate” teas she had to offer, We got 2 different Chocolate sampler boxes and some others :) I even got a tea spice, I was really happy when I opened my mail.
This tea is Super good even Lance likes it, it is like Milk Chocolate with a little something extra, the flavors are very deep and delicious wonderful Milk Chocolate taste with hints of caramel and spice, this is a very good tea. If you like chocolate you can get all kinds of good chocolate teas at http://www.steapshoppe.com/gift-boxes.html.
Next up Orange Chocolate White Tea!
This is just a really good tasting tea, its vegetal like dark green veggies(spinach) roasty toasty and just so slightly smokey, I think that what I wrote the first time and very little astringency was a little off I think that it’s more of a slight pleasant bitterness rather than an astringency if that makes any sense at all. This is a really nice green tea, I would say different from most green teas I’ve had but I have very little exp with green teas. I think I’ll buy more of this very soon to keep on hand for my visitors and company who ask for a green tea because I won’t serve a visitor a tea that I don’t like(unless they ask for it specific) and I think it is a very good green tea for company.
http://www.teavivre.com/xinyang-maojian-green-tea/
Smells very milky, taste very creamy and smooth with First steep is very milky with slight buttery notes and has a nice creamy mouthfeel and aftertaste. Second steep is almost the same only with an added slightly sweet vegetal note. The creamy mouthfeel is great this is another tea that just feels good in the mouth :)
Even the Third steep is very good still creamy and milky but slightly roasty and nutty almost , very interesting, lingering flavors.
Fourth steep is pretty much same as the last and by the sixth steep I needed warmer water, steep six was nice more roasty, nutty notes same creamy milkyness, this tea is not going to give up soon I had to stop at six steeps :)
Superb Tea!
This one was really good it was vegetal yet floral and slightly sweet with a sweet grassy aroma, I chose this one for meditation, yes you can meditate while brewing tea and even looking at the tea, long story nyways this is a very good tea for meditation :)
Well I got myself bout caught up on all my household duties(I’m a housewife) so I decided to take some time to play Nintendo, Yep! NES Now how do I relate TEA to that, Easy NES Is Japanese(I think) and I know that Legend of Zelda is a Japanese Game so I decided to play the game to the first Dungeon and “Reward” myself with some Japanese tea if I make it :) I made it! and very easily also :) Now this Tea, I it Japanese but I’m not sure who sent me this one I do remember that it was a small amount in a tore up bag so I put it into a small tin for safe keeping.
This tea was very strong with just a short steeping it almost taste like a weak matcha tea but it was pleasant yet very grassy vegetal and really strong green tea taste, I Enjoyed it.
Please look at my screenshots on my blog and share it :)
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/12/japanese-sen-cha-and-legend-of-zelda-nes.html
Not much to go by on the description because this Tea is pretty plain, black tea and cranberries with some flavors But its that simplicity that makes this Tea perfect. There is no spice to kill the natural cranberry flavor and you taste a very nice bold black tea first and foremost followed by the wonderful sweet and tart flavors of the cranberries. We have had Cape Cod Cranberry also by Upton and it has apples and hibiscus and tho it tastes of cranberry its more like cranberry sauce lol this one is more clean cut and proper than the other. Also one more thing I want to say is that other “cranberry teas” we had tasted like “cherry” cough syrup, yukky, NOT this one it is a Wonderful great tea, I do Recommend. Even if you don’t care cranberries you may like this one. Please check out the Photo on my blog :) Thanks.
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/12/cranberry-tea-from-upton-winter-tea.html
Very good green tea, slightly vegetal very little astringency that was very it was also slightly smokey but very pleasant and refreshing, This would be a tea that I would serve to friends who ask for a good Green tea.
No notes yet.
Lance tried this one with me because Lapsang is one of his favs he loves the smoky Lapsangs. Lance has had many more Lapsangs than I have and he says this is one of the better ones that he has had.
This one smells nice and smokey when dry and just as good when wet.
The smoky flavor is slightly subtle so its not very over powering but it’s remains for a few steeps, there is little to no astringency to this one which to me personally is awesome because a lot of Lance’s Lapsangs ae stringent to me. This is perfect for a person who wants to try a smoky tea but thinks that Lapsang would be too smokey, It’d Subtly and sweet and a very nice tea :)
2 or 3 good steeps with this one, and thats not bad :)
