1379 Tasting Notes

92

I’m officially in my new house with this being the first full day here. I’m surrounded by boxes and general clutter while things are being sorted and put away but at least I have my tv box and internet sorted. I did purchase some expensive Pu Erh to have as my ‘New Home Welcome Tea’ but with the mess I just don’t think I could fully appreciate it. So In a few days when I have a proper living room sorted I will get it out. For now I finish off my Strawberry Ooolong, a large 1.5 litre pot is tonight’s tea while I cross stitch a book mark….which is also tea related!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and sales weekend. :)

yyz

Congratulations! Have fun making the house your home.

TeaBrat

yay! sounds exciting :)

Fjellrev

Yay, congrats!

Sil

woohoo!!!

Veronica

Congratulations!

Jennkay

Congrats on the move!

Kirkoneill1988

this tea was ok, im not sure if i reviewed this tea

KittyLovesTea

Thank you everyone :)

@Kirkoneil1988 This tea is beautiful on a hot day if it’s fresh. Last night it lost some of it’s strawberry flavour and sweetness though it was still nice. Some teas just don’t age well and most flavoured ones don’t seem to.

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65

Sorry for the lack of updates, only a few days before I move house so I’m rushing around a-lot at the moment. This was my second cup of tea today and it was just not as pleasant as it sounds. The apricot was mildly sweet and could be mistaken for peach as it was not as sharp/tangy as you would expect with apricot in particular, pair that with a strangely herbal and dry elderflower after taste and you have the basic idea of how this tea tastes.

I poured the last few mouthfuls away, it just felt old and stale though I hadn’t had the bags long. Luckily I only had a sample of them and I can give the others to my husband to leave at work for his friends.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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65

Thank you Angel for this sample.

The blend smells extremely sweet and thickly floral. The sheer fullness of it makes a herbal scent, so sweet that it becomes rather sickly.

Flavour matches the scent rather well, it’s sweet and herbal with thick general floral after taste. It lingers in the mouth and perfumes it sweetly. It is natural tasting but the sweetness and thickness reminds me of straw/hay with manure.

Further steeps bring out a crisp fruitness like sour apple. Considering it’s herbal it doesn’t leave any dryness in the mouth.

Honestly this blend is too sweet for me, I adore rose, don’t mind chamomile nor silver needle but together it’s just too much. I can’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Not one on my order list.

Kirkoneill1988

i never seen that tea on her website before :O

KittyLovesTea

Here it is: http://www.teavivre.com/chamomile-rose-silver-needle-white-tea/
Perhaps it was taken down when it was out of stock.

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83

I know I’ve tried this tea a few times before yet there is no tasting note nor rating. Odd! I can write something for it now while I add a few bits and pieces to my AliExpress cart for the sale tomorrow. I meant to have this tea on Bonfire night though opted for red wine instead, being my husbands and mothers birthday and all.

The leaves smell thickly smoky, wooden and cigar like.
They are thin, fairly long and curly with some having a golden shine.

Flavour is smoky though in a smooth, smoggy way with mature tobacco and leather tones. They are rather clean tasting and leave little to no after taste. Slightly sweet and clay like.

For a Lapsang it’s rather light, sure it’s smoky but not too much. I really like this tea, as a non smoker it has a nice balance, even the re steeps are pleasant.

Kirkoneill1988

I like all of this type of tea

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72

I’m in the mood for some Sencha, and this one has a beautiful name. It says that it’s ‘Grown on northwest facing slopes near the Wazuka River’. That sounds magical!

The raw leaf has a gentle toasted grass scent with a dry finish.
They are dark green in colour with quite a few light green stem pieces. For the most part they are long and thin with reasonable shine.

Leaf – 4g
Water : Volume – 100ml
Temperature – 80 C
Steep time – 30 seconds

Flavour is sweet and grassy with light floral tones. Subtle strength overall with a minimal dry after taste. Slightly bitter and crisp.

Further steeps bring out a toasted grass quality which matches it’s raw scent. As the sweetness thickens with the astringency it becomes hay like.

I like this one though it doesn’t compare well against my favourite Sencha’s.

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73

It’s Monday afternoon and I have not had a drop of tea, that must be amended. So to match the anime that I have on (which is called Another/アナザー/ Anazā – a horror anime) I chose this Kukicha sample.

The raw tea has a thick sweet grass scent with a dry, perfumed finish.
In appearance this is a mixture of dark green and yellow green long, thin stem pieces that have a high gloss shine.

Tea Leaves 3 grams
Water Amount 100 ml
Water Temperature 82˚C degrees
Steeping Time 45 seconds

Flavour starts off rather mild with buttery grass and spinach tones. It has some sweetness though is more mineral. The after taste becomes perfumed and dry with some umami and astringency that is rather crisp.

Further steeps increase in dryness though lower in all flavour aspects. For me it does not have much re-steep ability left past three. That makes this tea perfect for quick sessions or as an all day style tea.

Flavors: Butter, Drying, Spinach, Sweet, Warm Grass, Umami

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 45 sec 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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71
drank Mao Feng by Tea Palace
1379 tasting notes

Tea Palace, I have such fond memories of their shop in Covent Garden. I am always reminded of them when I come face to face with one of their teas. To give people a quick low down – I visited London with my husband for our anniversary one year and it was a very nice day trip.

So this Mao Feng, it has some silver tips present though it’s mostly dark green and brown curly leaves with some sticks/stem present. It has a sweet, floral scent.

Once steeped this tea is sweet and thick with dry nut, grass and floral tones. Also is slightly bitter. It’s somewhat perfumed too which comes through stronger on my second bowl.

I like Mao Feng though it’s far from my favourite green tea. I always found it to be dry and perfumed, too much for my personal taste. This is easily drinkable and enjoyable but it will not be a tea that I will purchase. In terms of quality this met average expectations, the leaves post steep have brown/red discolouration with some holes.

Flavors: Drying, Flowers, Grass, Perfume

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 30 sec 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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66

Going through my green tea samples and I found this one. I could go for a bit of flavour with my green tea on this dark and dreary Saturday afternoon.

The raw blend consists of dark green leaves that are (for the most part) small and broken with a few tiny pieces of yuzu fruit rind amongst them. Nothing the size of the picture though I understand this is only a sample, perhaps a larger package would be more similar. It has a sweet yet sour scent, more perfumed than citrus like.

Flavour is heavily perfumed and sour, so thickly that it coats the tongue and makes it dry. It doesn’t taste orange or citrus as much as it does perfumey, which matches the raw scent. I dislike perfumed teas like this. It’s drinkable though I’m finding it to be a let down. It’s green tea is bitter and completely lost amidst the heavy perfume, and the citrus is also bitter and somewhat submissive. There is some sweetness to it though it disappears quickly.

This blend was not for me, it was much too perfumed and bitter for my liking. Not only did it not taste like green tea but nor was it citrus like. Plus the dry bitty coating from the after taste feels rather disgusting on my tongue. A shame.

………………………..

Side note – I re-steeped the tea to see if it’s strength was toned down any. The second steep was actually much preferable to the first, it was less perfumed and bitter though remained dry and still lacking flavour. Perhaps a slight waxy touch of citrus though nothing major.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Cheri

Maybe do a “rinse” with this as you standard prep?

KittyLovesTea

I would certainly try that next time should I receive any. Luckily all I had was a one pot sample.

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90

I have some news:The paperwork was signed for my new house on Wednesday and I receive the keys on Friday 14th. I will be moving towards the end of the month ie in a few weeks, this will make my Steepster posts erratic and infrequent, though I hope that it should only be as such for a few weeks. It’s been several months in the process already (thanks to the vendors solicitor ignoring our questions and concerns) but at least the end is in near sight.

Now to the actual tea – These small Bi Luo Chun balls have very shiny silver tips with lots of hair and gloss. They have a thick grass, sweet pea and floral scent.

ps – While this is steeping I will mention my method. I’m using a new travel set I bought from AliExpress. The bowls are 50ml and the steeping pot is 100ml. It’s perfect to take to my parents house next time I dog sit for them.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Longquan-celadon-office-tea-cup-pot-Quik-cups-Kung-Fu-Tea-Tea-Travel-easy/1983323037.html

Once steeped the tea is cloudy yellow in colour with a thick yet sweet floral scent.
Flavour is sweet and grassy with floral and vegetal tones, all being smooth with a crisp finish. Like sweet pea flowers, peony, grass, seaweed, butter and green leaf cabbage all in one. It leaves a sweet floral smog like after taste. It carries it’s flavours well through further steeps, though it picks up a toasted like, dry flavour.

It’s full of flavour that is clean and smooth tasting, making this a beautiful Bi Luo Chun.

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 3 g 2 OZ / 50 ML
scribbles

Congrats on new house!

Lala

Congratulations!

Sil

amazing! that’s great news! congratulations :)

Butiki Teas

Congrats! I hope the move goes smoothly for you! :)

Tealizzy

Congrats! Oh, and that travel set is adorable!

Dexter

Yay!!! New house!! That’s very exciting – hoping that it will provide the backdrop for many years of happy memories.

KittyLovesTea

Thank you all for your comments. I’m excited, this is the first house I’ve purchased and it’s masses better than the shambles I live in now. Plus I’m turning the smallest bedroom (it’s a 3 bedroom house) into a tea dojo :) It will be filled with tea, tea pots/bowls etc, a tea table with a ceremonial set carefully set out and some floor pillows that I need to get around making. With a huge sakura tree sticker to fill one wall.

Butiki Teas

How awesome that you are making a tea dojo! Just a little fyi, Just in case you are interested, I’ve ordered some stuff from here and they are great: http://tatamiroom.com/

Cheri

Congrats on your new house!!! Tea dojo is a great idea. Maybe I should turn the library into one? Since I stopped buying actual physical books, mostly, I don’t use it anymore……

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90

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Profile

Bio

I’m 34 years old from Leicester, England named Kayleigh.

I started off many years ago drinking herbal and fruit teas which over time peaked my interest in trying new types. Eventually I began to import and sample many different teas and cultures which I still do today. My life goal is to try as many teas and ways of having tea as possible.

Tea wise my cravings change constantly from pu erh one month to jasmine green to the next and so on.

I also enjoy watching Japanese Anime and horror films.

I am always up for tea swaps so if you see anything in my virtual cupboard then please contact me.

A short list to help swapping with me easier though honestly I am not fussy and am willing to try anything. Plus the notes below are usually, sometimes I love a tea that has an ingredient I tend to dislike and other times I hate a tea that I thought I would love.

Likes: Any fruit but especially melon and orange, vanilla, all tea types (black, green, white etc), nuts (any), flowers, ginger, chai.

Dislikes: Licorice, aniseed, clove, eucalyptus, lavender.

My rating system
I have my own way of rating teas that makes each one personal. I have different categories, I rate each tea depending on what it is made of. For example: I rate green teas in a different way to black teas or herbal teas. So black, white, green, Pu Erh, Rooibos, Oolong, blends and tisanes all have their own rating system. That way I can compare them with other teas of the same or similar type before for an adequate rating. And when I do give top marks which is very rare I am actually saying that I would love to drink that tea all day, every day if possible. It’s a tea that I would never turn down or not be in the mood for. So while I agree that no tea is 100% perfect (as nothing is) I am saying that it’s as close as it comes to it. After all, in my book the perfect teas (or close to perfect anyway) are ones that I could drink all the time. That is why you will find a high quality black or Oolong will not have as high a score as a cheap flavoured blend, they are simply not being compared in the same category.

Location

Leicester, England, United Kingdom

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