523 Tasting Notes

75

Backlog:
Had this tea when the site was all buggy a few days ago.

(swap from DianeinOz)

This tea tastes quite a bit different than it smells (both the dry leaf and brewed smell the same to me). It smells very sweet, in a perfume-y way; like the smell of candied-fruit perfume that one might find in a little girls’ accessory store. The taste, however, is spicy and not so sweet. The cinnamon really takes over and I get just a hint of what might be the papaya, but nothing else. I’m not big on spicy teas, but there are a few that i will drink if I happen to already have them, this being one of them. My husband likes this one, so it may be a repurchase.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

I didn’t expect to like this tea. I’ve been getting set in my ways about tea preferences lately and I’ve been approaching my swap box with caution rather than enthusiasm. There are a lot of nasty flavors out there, lol (^.^) There are also a lot of teas that claim to be better iced, but I prefer hot beverages; even in the summer. I rarely crave any cold liquids besides water and even that I don’t drink below room temperature.

Onto the tea: It really tastes like pear! Like real yummy, sweet pears. It probably would lend itself best towards iced preparation and I may try it out during my rare and uncharacteristic mixin-it-up moments, but it’s definitely good hot too imo. I used two teaspoons for my 10oz cup and I don’t find it too mild as many other reviews claimed it to be. It isn’t powerful by any means, but I’d label it a step above subtle. I tend to like a lot subtle teas (go figure as my favorite coffees are extra bold :p ).

I also really like that it doesn’t have a funky aftertaste. That’s always an important rating factor in my book.

Not necessarily a tea I’d buy again as I am too in love with my pure and unflavored leaves and have limited funds for the frilly extras, but I appreciate them while I have them.

A big thanks to DianeInOz for the sample :)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Another tea from linnaete (^^)

Don’t have much to say about this one. It’s kind of a hum-dee-dum tea. Nothing the least bit unpleasant about it, but boring nonetheless.

This is the second (unflavored) ceylon that I have tried and I can appreciate that Ceylon teas aren’t going to be particularly bold, but the first one I tried had a lot more depth to the flavor.

Teas such as this one make a good base for peppermint leaves. I have a whole bag of pure peppermint from Arbor Teas that I add to my less exciting black teas. peppermint in black tea is one of my favorite cuppas and helps me to use up all of my bland black tea varieties.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

This was a free sample from Della Terra. Not one I would have bought for myself as i’ve determined that chocolate and mint is not my favorite combination. I love mint, just not with chocolate (in tea that is). I figured I would try it anyway, since I had it.

Tastes about the same as other mint-chocolate blends that I have had. Well balanced flavor, no funky aftertaste like I get from many chocolate teas. If I had no other choices but chocolate blend teas, I would choose mint. But since I do have a choice, I’ll take my mint with a black tea and nothing more :)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65

I don’t like this one so much. The blueberry is there, but it hardly compares to the blueberry purple tea that I love from Butiki.

I can see how it is supposed to resemble a crumb cake, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Lariel of Lórien

Some of their fruity dessert teas are better iced.

Shelley_Lorraine

Maybe, but I’m not much of an iced-tea drinker. I like iced hibiscus, but that’s about it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

45

I got a bag of this tea some time ago because one of my husband’s favorite desserts is Tiramisu. Tiramisu is a take it or leave it kind of dessert to me, so I wasn’t in any particular hurry to try this tea myself, but I finally did today.

It doesn’t taste a thing like tiramisu to me. All the added flavoring and candy bits serve only to mute the flavor of the rooibos, leaving it flat and blah. The flavors themselves hardly stand out at all.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

45

This is a tea sample from linnaete Thanks!

This tea smells like yummy candy in the bag. I brewed it up and dunked a biscuit in it, waiting for it to cool a bit for drinking. If all I wanted was a good tea-soaked biscuit, this would be a top pick, but on it’s own it’s not so good. The yogurt chips are what really ruined it for me. The yogurt chips lent a sour cheese-cakeish flavor to the tea that I didn’t care for. I must admit that I do not like cheesecake or cheese-based frosting (like on red-velvet or carrot cake), so this tea might be just right for you cheesecake people out there (who also like Hibiscus :p )

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Fuzzy_Peachkin

Yogurt chips just sound awful in general!

Shelley_Lorraine

you know, i’ve actually had yogurt chips in various trail mixes and other sources. They aren’t so bad. . .unless dissolved in tea! lol

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Thank you for this generous sample Meeka

I’ve never had a straight Ceylon before, only in blends. I can’t comment on the quality as I don’t know how a Ceylon is supposed to be, but I can at least say that it is tasty.

Fruity, smooth, not so bold; a comfortable cup of black tea for when one is not feeling daring :)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Thank you CK for this lovely tea.

It is very different than any other green than I have had. Before I looked it up here on Steepster, I thought maybe it was a white tea, though it tastes different than the whites I have had too. There is something sweet that lingers in the background, but I can’t say what it is. It is delicate, yet full of flavor at the same time (sometimes less is more :) )

I will definitely be re-steeping this one as soon as I finish my cup. 。◕‿◕。

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

45

I received a sample of this tea from CK

I don’t know if it’s just too old or a bad batch or what, but I didn’t get the slightest bit of cayenne pepper from this. I tasted roasted mate and stale chocolate (but then, chocolate in tea often comes across as stale to me).

Not at all the tea for me (even if I could get more Cayenne pepper in it), but glad I got to try it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Name: Shelley Lorraine Limegrover
Location: Livingston, MT

Hobbies: Learning, reading books, math, physics (have a degree in it), literature (have a degree in it too), anthropology, traveling, piano, and drinking TEA, of course (^o^)

Favorite teas: Kukicha, Green teas in general, aged oolongs, charcoal roasted oolong, taiwanese oolongs, Assam . . .

Don’t like: Genmaicha, Earl Grey, Darjeelings, ginger, coconut, smokey teas (even mild ones), nut flavors, overwhelmingly strong floral flavor (esp. Jasmine), most della derra and adagio teas. . .

My Rating System

100 My happiness absolutely depends on it

95 Will definitely repurchase

85: Might repurchase (teas that depend on my mood)

75 Won’t repurchase (but I would drink it again if offered).

65: meh

45: I reluctantly finished a cup.

15: Couldn’t finish a cup.

I simplified my ratings to single numbers rather than ranges because I can’t precisely compare so many teas with a system more detailed than this.

An unrated tea is most often one that I recognize as having significant notable quality, but that does not suit me personally. Sometimes, I leave teas unrated for other reasons, such as I am undecided or I brewed it wrong, etc.

Note: Boiling temp. barely reaches 200 where I am (and a few times it sticks at 195, I assume due to unexplainable shifts in altitude or the position of the moon. . .aliens?. . .).

Location

Colorado

Website

https://shelleyintherain.word...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer