Erin

I have no opinion at all on rose teas. I’ve never had anything that has tasted of roses, so I don’t know what to expect from the mug that is steaming on the table next to my laptop.

However. I do know that the scent of roses is prone to make me run away, be sick, or cry. Let me explain. We used to have this bottle of rose spray in the bathroom. It was there to cover up the smell in case things got a little crazy in there. So if you opened the bathroom door and the first thing you smelled was roses, you knew to run away, because the scent of something much, much worse wasn’t far behind.

I was also unlucky enough to catch the swine flu towards the end of my senior year of high school (pretty much exactly a year ago). I spent a lot of time being sick in that bathroom, so the whole room smelled like roses for a while. I came to associate that rose smell with having to be sick again.

Lastly, when I graduated high school (again, about a year ago) my parents presented me with a bouquet of roses. We moved immediately after the ceremony, making me leave behind the bedroom I had grown up in, the sanity I was used to living in, and worst of all, the friends I had grown up with. It was a teary day, needless to say. So the scent of roses makes me think of graduation, which was the last time I saw any of my friends.

So. Now that I’m all nice and emotionally exhausted, we can get to the tea. If you’re only interested in reading about the tea, begin here: The tea tastes like a black tea, nothing fancy or special. All the rose really does is hang on to the end of the sip and highlight the astringency of the black base. You can taste rose, but it isn’t very identifiable without the package sitting right next to it. If I didn’t know I was drinking rose tea, I would have thought I was drinking a particularly astringent black tea.

This was on my shopping list for a while, so I was super excited when Takgoti sent me some of this! It has received mostly fantastic reviews, which added to my super excitement. Not to mention that Samovar and I are currently deep in a passionate love affair – shhhh!

I definitely agree with those here who loved this. This is not a harsh tea, and it is very complex. The tastes are gentle; honey, yam, caramel. In order to get the caramel, I have to hold the tea in my mouth and let it wash around for a bit. The texture is unusually smooth and buttery, which is something I’ve never experienced in a black tea before. It leaves your mouth feeling full and coated like some whites do. I keep running my tongue over the roof of my mouth, expecting to find something stuck there.

This could certainly withstand the addition of milk, but this tea is so pure that I would not want to tarnish it in any way.

I want to thank Takgoti again for giving me the chance to have this experience! It was exquisite.

I bought this specifically for the purpose of having it iced (which Cofftea says is delicious) but I don’t have time to make this iced right now.

The dry leaf smelled like cucumbers and melons (imagine that!) and there were chunks of cucumbers mixed in. Once steeped, it smells more vegetal and the cucumber smell is more prominent than the melon.

This is pretty vegetal from the cucumber. It has the tiniest hint of sweetness from the melon, which is a very nice touch at the end. I can tell that this would taste delicious iced and sweetened. I think I made the water too hot (I really need to get a variable temperature kettle) so I’m not really getting the full oomph from this. However, even with having prepared it wrong, it still tastes good! That’s always a good sign! Next I’ll try this iced.

I’ve been meaning to try this one for a while. I love apples, so I’m always on the lookout for teas that actually taste like the real thing. I tossed in some sweetener to hopefully bring out the apple flavor a bit more.

I was impressed with the chunks of real apple in the pouch. I believe Frank when he says that there’s real honey in here, because the dry tea leaves were sticking to the dried apple chunks. Gooey chunks, yum!

Up front, I taste tart and bitter tea. The apple is in the aftertaste, sadly. I really don’t care for this. The rush of sour bitterness makes me want to gag. I hope I just prepared this wrong, because it sounded so perfect for me, although I followed the steeping directions properly. This cup is going down the drain before I lose my lunch.

I was given the opportunity to try this limited edition tea thanks to Takgoti’s generosity. For more information, see my tealog from yesterday.

I have high expectations for this one. The reviews here have all been positive, I love unflavored black tea, and I really need a swift kick you-know-where to help me along with studying for finals. I took this without milk or sugar; there’s no time for messing around today.

The tea smells rich. However, the taste is much lighter than I was expecting. I’d describe this as being medium-bodied at most. I’ve never wanted to describe a tea as “fluffy” before, but I can’t think of another word. It’s leaving my tongue slightly tingly. This is earthy and not necessarily sweet, but there’s a hint of something that my small vocabulary can’t describe. Auggy said bake-y. I think that would be the perfect description for this. Bake-y. This is a fascinating tea, really.

Thank you again, Takgoti!

My new stressful-yet-awesome job plus the arrival of dreaded finals have kept me off of Steepster for a while. But today, something happened that both revived my faith in humankind and provided me with a delicious bubble of happiness in my stomach – my long-awaited package from Takgoti arrived! If you didn’t already know, Takgoti pwns at life. If you don’t believe me, look at how she packaged this tea and look at what she included in the box besides wonderful tea. http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4555495137/ Yes, that is some kind of wedding invitation-esque stationary with the list of teas, steeping instructions, and personal comments. She also included a note bearing good wishes to me and apologies for not sending the package out sooner. No worries, Takgoti! I should be the one apologizing! Your packaging puts mine to shame!

Within the awesome package were little individual awesome packages full of awesome tea. It was like a Babushka doll of awesomeness, if you will (and I will). She made sure that the tea reached me in absolutely perfect condition. http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4556121460/ I normally just put tea in plastic baggies (if I don’t have any empty tins laying around) and send them off, hoping for the best. Takgoti used freaking Gladware.

Finally, on to the tea – the lovely, lovely tea. http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4555488735/ The dry rooibos smelled like cherries, pears, honey, and maybe a little bit of candied almonds. After steeping, it smelled like nothing more than pure caramelized pear goodness. Those of you who know me know that I’m not fond of rooibos. I’ve had only a few blends that can cover up the tobacco yuckiness adequately enough for my own tastes. Let me tell you guys, this is the best rooibos I’ve ever had. It is one of the best teas/tisanes I’ve ever had. Period.

I have searched far and wide for a good pear-flavored tea. Adagio’s White Pear left me (almost literally) vomiting and weeping with disappointment at the same time. My search is over now. This tastes so much like those Juicy Pear Jelly Belly beans. Which, if you didn’t know, taste exactly like pears. There is caramel in here, too, which is another favorite flavor of mine. This was so worth the wait.

Thank you Takgoti! I think I can die happy now.

I was really excited to try this week’s blend. I bought it to make it iced, but it’s a bit dreary here today so this was prepared hot. I feel the need to mention how impressed I was with 52tea’s speedy (and free) shipping. I ordered this late Monday evening and got it today (Thursday).

I was also impressed with the huge pineapple chunks that were present through out my bag. It looks like I’m going to have enough chunks to have 1-2 in every cup! This was the sight upon opening up the bag: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4544378422/

The dry leaves smell a lot like pineapple and cake. Once steeped, I can smell cherries as well. I threw in a bit of sweetener and prepared myself to be delighted.

This one’s a winner, folks! The taste is consistent with the smell: Right away, you get pineapple. You can even taste cake somehow, although I’m not exactly sure how Frank managed that one (way to go, Frank!). It’s a certain smooth, slightly sweet and buttery taste that is hard to describe adequately. The cherries are in the aftertaste and they linger in your mouth for quite some time. In case you were concerned (because I know I was), the cherry taste here is not the medicinal, children’s Tylenol cherry taste I was expecting. It really tastes like true maraschino cherries.

This is very good. It tastes like true pineapple upside-down cake. I half expected to lick my lips and find cake crumbs clinging there. It is delicious hot, but I can’t wait to try it iced!

I’m afraid that I may have prepared this horribly wrong. My sample was the tiniest sample I’ve ever seen. I don’t have a scale, so try to picture the length and width of 4 toothpicks laying together. That is how much tea my sample contained. I’m really disappointed; this only made half a mug of tea, but I’m still afraid that this is going to be really diluted.

Ooh, I taste the orange blossoms. Most people here had a little difficulty tasting them, but for me, that’s the first thing that hits me right away. This is a nice, light woody and nutty oolong. The orange blossoms give it dimension and the perfect hint of sweetness. I’m still afraid that I’m not getting the full experience because of how tiny my sample was, but this doesn’t taste bad. I’m assuming that a more concentrated cup would only be better.

I never even thought of trying this iced until I was looking around GM’s website. This is one of the teas that they say makes a really nice iced tea! It is good iced, but it seems to take away the creaminess that I love and have grown to expect from this tea. It certainly doesn’t taste bad, it just lacks my favorite quality. I’ll stick with making this hot.

On a side note: I am ashamed to admit that I broke my vow of not buying any tea the month of April. I caved and purchased a few GM samples and some 52teas blends. I’m sorry! At the beginning of April, I didn’t have a job, nor did I have any prospect of finding a job. But now that I have some regular income again (not to mention a sizable employee discount and the ability to use the bookstore as my own personal library), I can actually afford to indulge in my tea obsession. I have to feed the lion, so to speak.

However, my twenty day long tea-buying hiatus served its purpose. My tea cupboard is sufficiently cleaned out and I now have room for some new teas. The hiatus also allowed me ample time to really organize my tea priorities. The two purchases I made last night were things that I am certain I want, rather than being just spur-of-the-moment impulse buys.

What does this mean for you? It’s simple: Erin’s back!

I made this iced with a little lemon. The combination of lemon and cranberry is extremely tart; I’m not sure how much I like this. It kind of tastes like foot.

Yet another sampling from Doulton! I’m trying to drink up all my samples to make room for some new tea once my month-long ban on buying tea is up. A new job = regular income = new tea! How nifty!

Anyway, this tea really did smell like root beer! Root beer is my favorite kind of soda, even more so than Mountain Dew Live Wire, so I was really psyched when Doulton sent me this. After that smell, I wasn’t surprised when it tasted like warm root beer. You know that feeling that your tongue gets when you drink root beer? Not the carbonation feeling, but the prickly root beer feeling, like little pockets of goodness are popping on your tongue? It’s a different feeling from all the other kinds of soda. Yeah, this tea gives you that.

First off, I need to say thank you to Doulton! I was one of the winners of the Dragon Ball Giveaway (see thread here: http://steepster.com/discuss/501-dragon-ball-giveaway ). I had never heard of Silk Road Teas, but after tasting these balls, I will be sure to place an order from them. [Also, I need to give a preemptive “that’s what she said,” because this tasting note is going to be nuts – no pun intended]

I also need to say that these balls were alarmingly huge. Everyone – my self included – who has ever had Adagio’s Black Dragon Pearls remarked about how large those are. These are easily 2 to 3 times as large! Like I said, it was startling. As you can see here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4531751436/ – they are about the size of an iPod Classic scroll wheel.

Doulton enclosed a note with the package (written using what appears to be a lovely fountain pen – I do love fountain pens) saying that the balls would need a bit of prodding to get them to open up completely. This is true; I plunked them in the water and they just sank to the bottom and sat there until I took out a spoon and knocked them around a bit. When they were done steeping, the water had turned a lovely orange color – http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4531755036/ . No, that isn’t an ice cube in my mug. It’s the reflection of the beaded lampshade I was using for light (my photography skills leave much to be desired).

This is a black oolong, my favorite kind. It’s extremely smooth and slightly buttery. It is sweet on its own, no sugar needed. The aftertaste is slightly woody. The tea as a whole is more than slightly delicious. As I said in the beginning, I will be ordering these for myself.

Doulton, I know I have said this many times before, but thank you! Your tea giveaway was a lovely idea!

Another tea from the amazing Doulton. I’m not nuts about rooibos, but I’ve always been hunting for a tea that really nails the apple flavor. I love apples. But I’ve never found a tea that really tastes like apples. So if this delivers, I’m willing to put my rooibos prejudice aside.

The color of the steeped tea actually looks a lot like apple cider. It smells like cinnamon and apples (which is a good sign). Upon sipping, I get cinnamon and spices right away. I also taste the tobacco-esque rooibos right away – not cool. I’m not punched in the face with apple, which is what I was really looking for. The apple is there, but just barely. I’m kind of disappointed. I’d say that this tastes like plain cider, not apple cider. The aftertaste is also lacking any trace of apple.

I do so love apples.

P.S: After 10 months of pounding the pavement, I finally got a job! And as an added bonus, I get to be around books all day!

When I won Doulton’s Dragon Ball giveaway, she also sent me some other samples! How generous! From the selection that she sent, it looks as though Doulton purposely sent me teas that she thought I would like. Either that or she’s psychic! Thank you, Doulton!

This was my first experience with Dammann Freres. It sounds like a really wonderful tea; I love apples, lemons, and caramel. The strongest smell I got while steeping was the cinnamon. I’m not nuts about cinnamon, but smells can be deceiving. I should probably mention that I took this without milk or sugar.

This is quite different than anything I’ve had before. First I taste the lemon, then the apple. I’m not getting much caramel. Thankfully, the cinnamon is just on the back end, and very lightly so. I didn’t think I liked cinnamon teas, but the cinnamon that is present in this works very well. If it wasn’t there, there would be this big void at the end of the sip.

Thanks again, Doulton! I love trying new teas, and especially new companies!

Thanks to Tea Bird for sending me some of my favorite tea! I love this, but I ran out, and I’ve made a promise to myself (and my bank account) to not order any tea during the month of April. It’s been a while since I’ve had this, and it was just as good as I remember. It’s funny how tastes can remind you of things. Like today, when I took my first sip of this, I remembered how I used to drink this during my English class in the mornings. I could hear the sound of my professor’s voice and the buzzing of the kid’s phone who sits behind me and constantly texts during class.

I love how the white tea is still detectable behind the blueberry taste. The two are such light tastes that they compliment each other perfectly. This is definitely a great summer tea.

I love the smell of this one. I opened my cupboard this morning and was hit in the face with chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. I couldn’t help but make a cup to bring to class with me. It’s like healthy hot chocolate, especially if you add milk and sugar like I do. Too bad it’s so hot out because I don’t think this will be good iced. Oh well, I guess I’ll just wait until next year to enjoy this again! It certainly was a winter favorite.

I think that this was the Sencha teabag that came in my Den’s Sampler for Novices. This was extremely powdery; I had forgotten what teabags were like because I’ve been spoiling myself with loose leaf! When I poured the water over the bag, it kind of foamed. Although I have no experience with Matcha except for the Matcha that Den’s added in their Genmaicha Extra Green, I’d have to say that I agree with everyone here who thinks that there is some Matcha in this bag. The tea was just simply too frothy to be regular Sencha.

Anyway, for the taste. The first thing that hit me was the mouth feel – it’s way creamier than I would have expected. It’s almost buttery. Perhaps that’s the Matcha that may or may not be in this. In spite of the really thick mouth feel, this tea manages to be very light. It has little to no after taste. I definitely think I’d purchase this again. Every tea that I try from the Den’s Sampler gets better and better. Actually, I think I like the bagged version of this better than the loose leaf! How strange…

Many thanks to Ricky for sending me some of this extremely limited tea! I’ve been holding off reviewing this one for a while because I wanted to make sure I’d have ample time to give it my complete, undivided attention as it deserves. Unflavored blacks are my favorites, and from what I hear, this is quite good!

This is a very dark tea. One could easily mistake it for a cup of coffee if their nose wasn’t working right. It doesn’t smell anything like coffee, though. It smells sweet and smokey, almost like a BBQ but without the meaty-ness (I’m a vegetarian and I’ve never had BBQ’d anything, so my description might be a bit off – forgive me!).

The fist sip was very smokey and it had a slight honey taste to it. As I take other sips and hold them in my mouth longer, I can taste some caramel – wonderful, wonderful caramel. This is a very bold tea, no doubt about it. It’s not for the faint of heart. This could certainly stand up to some cream and sugar and I imagine it’d taste divine.

This was my first A&D tea, and it was quite yummy. Thanks again, Ricky!

P.S: Rawr.

This tea makes for a pretty nice iced tea. I needed a lot of sweetener to take away most of the tartness, though, so I can’t imagine that I’d be drinking this every day. However, today it was sweet, just a little tart, and very refreshing. It really just tastes like cranberry juice and tea mixed together, because you can still taste the black tea under all that fruit. I can also taste something slightly floral in the aftertaste.

My GM order came yesterday! It’s slightly cooler today, so it was still okay to make my tea hot. I really do love this; I have a feeling it will become one of my staple teas.

I love how the coconut is very creamy instead of tart. Today I tried it with some sweetener and it brought out some nectar-like notes in the oolong base. I love this tea!

It’s been a while since I’ve treated myself to this. I had forgotten how much I like it. I think they key for this one is to steep it for only 4 minutes, as opposed to the 5 minutes that Adagio recommends.
This is a very calming tea, delighting all the senses. I bet it would taste good sweetened and iced.

I’m enjoying this iced. This was my last of the sample, though, and I’m quite sad to see it go.

I definitely prefer this one iced rather than hot. I’m still disappointed with it though, because I can’t taste any blueberry (and I so love blueberries in tea). I can see the little blueberries in the dry leaves, but the acai and currants seem to be overpowering everything.

Anyway, this makes for a very sweet, refreshing iced tea.

I’m plowing my way through the Den’s Sampler. I’ve never had a Sencha before, and I’m still unsure whether or not I actually like green tea or not.

It smells like roasted and cooked vegetables. This is a medium bodied, lightly sweet tea. I’m not getting any of the bitterness that Den’s tea described. The aftertaste is very much like cooked vegetables. I think I like this best out of all the samples I’ve tried so far, but I’m still not in love with Japanese greens.