523 Tasting Notes
I brewed a cup of this last night, when I should have been going to bed. I was falling asleep while trying to drink it (and catch up on my self-imposed summer studies). caffeine does not help.
I didn’t get to finish the cup because I finally gave in and went to bed, but I remember that it was tasty. Not overly fruity, malty or sweet, just a very well balanced cup of black tea. I’ll have to try it again when I am more awake. I have enough for a couple more cups, courtesy of Amy oh.
Much more than I can handle or have the discipline to keep up with. Lol.
Piano (I don’t have lessons over the summer and I tend to get lazy about practice), German review (I have three upper division classes that will be taught in German next semester, I need to be prepared!), GRE prep, Japanese (will be my minor language for Comparative Lit), Latin review (don’t have room for another Latin class next semester and don’t want to get rusty before grad school).Wow!! That’s a pretty impressive roster, really!
I continue to be a self-taught student of Jazz, no matter how many years I play, there will always be more to learn.
Also a student of my garden, same as Jazz, I can always develop a deeper understanding through experimentation.
Someday I’d like to learn Portuguese, for no real reason except I love the way it sounds & I’d love to be able to sing in that lingo, it sounds so sexy, haha!
Thanks for this sample Amy oh :)
I’m writing this a couple days after drinking it. I logged it so I wouldn’t forget to write a note.
This is a pretty good bright and happy citrusy tea. Heavier on the citrus than on the mint. I would have liked more mint, but I can just add some of my own next time.
Preparation
Thanks Amy oh for this purple oolong sample.
At first I wondered if the bag was labeled wrong. The leaves do not have the slightest purple in them, though the picture here definitely displays a purple hue. I read some of the other reviews describing it’s complete lack of purple (dry and brewed), so that must be the way they are supposed to be.
It tastes like like an aged oolong, very dark and roasted but with a distinct sweetness that I haven’t yet found in other (non-aged) roasted oolongs.
It’s quite tasty and a good choice for coffee drinkers trying to make the switch to tea. I love the flavor of roasted, dark, and aged oolongs, but it sometimes bothers me wondering how much of the tea’s natural nutrients are lost in the processes that create these sweet and roasted flavors. Oh well, at least there’s nothing bad in it and its tasty so I shouldn’t complain :p
Preparation
This is one of my mystery swap samples from Shadowfall \(^o^)/
I hadn’t had any teas from Whispering Pines before this. I’ve been curious, but afraid to order anything from there. This tea seemed safe enough and it didn’t smell smoky, so I figured it couldn’t be too bad.
The dry leaf smells earthy, almost like a pu-erh but not quite. It brews up the color of a dark oolong and tastes sweet and woody; a hearty dark oolong. There is nothing delicate about the flavor to me, but you’ll be disappointed if you’re expecting black tea, even though it’s in there too.
I think the flavor is spot on for the natural environment that inspired it.
Preparation
A tasty roasty oolong sample from Meeka. Thanks!
Also my first tea from Teavivre.
I think I may have used too little leaf for my cup because the flavor isn’t as strong as I’m used to from a roasted oolong. Still good though, and with a hint of floral too.
Preparation
This tea has a strong dessert-y lemon flavor. It’s creamy, not tart at all, and the rooibos is hardly detectable. I can see it’s appeal to others, but it’s a too artificially sweet for me. I don’t care for the sugary aftertaste.
Preparation
Enjoying another sample from Stacy. The first few sips tasted strongly of guayusa. I didn’t detect tangerine or cream or creamsicles at all. Midway through the cup, the tangerine comes through stronger, but still lagging behind. Guayusa is a strong flavor and I’d be surprised for it to be hiding behind anything other than spicy cinnamon.
I like it because it’s guayusa, and I like guayusa. I may order it again for that reason, but the complete blend of orange peel and other flavors didn’t wow me.
Preparation
Meeka Sent me such a wonderful selection of pure unflavored tea samples in a mystery swap. Flavored teas and dessert teas are a lot of fun sometimes, but I began my tea journey with a love for the pure, rich flavors of unadulterated teas and I am so happy to find the rare swap partner who has such a variety of these to share.
I’ve never had or heard of Mecha before. It looks like coarsely ground sencha, but I don’t know how it is produced other than it comes from the youngest tea buds. I followed Den’s instructions and steeped for 45 seconds, but with slightly less than the recommended 180F water. It brews up a very heavy green color and there is much leaf debris at the bottom of my cup that fell through the infuser. It’s claimed to be bitter and astringent, but I find my cup to be much less so than Sencha, at least in bitterness. It is more astringent than bitter.
It’s a good tea and I will definitely be finishing off the rest of the generous-sized sample, but it’s not my favorite japanese green. It has a muddied over-cooked vegetable flavor rather than the bright and slightly bitter fresh vegetal flavor that I prefer.
Preparation
Good hearty cup of black tea. Not better or worse than the previous Irish Breakfast available from Butiki. I was so sad to see that one removed from the website after I first bought it, but happy that a replacement wasn’t too far behind.