788 Tasting Notes
Steep Information:
Amount: 2 teaspoons
Additives: none
Water: 20 ounces (4 oz more than suggested for 2 teaspoons)
Steep Time: a little over 4 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet (caramel-like) black tea
Steeped Tea Smell: bold black tea
Flavor: smooth and creamy, bold, black tea with a bit of astringency
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: nothing, clean
Liquor: nice translucent dark brown
Steepster Traveling Teabox Tea
It’s a nice clean bold black. I don’t quite understand what makes it so special? I mean it is a very delicious tea, and I am enjoying drinking it, but with all those abbreviations I expected something WOW.
Post-Steep Additives: lactose-free fat-free milk
No more astringency, just a nice creamy smooth bold black.
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/upton-tea-imports-loose-leaf-black-tea.html
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: 6 ounces filtered boiling
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vanilla
Steeped Tea Smell: vanilla, sweet, coconut milk, black tea
Flavor: bitter yet sweet, vanilla
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: milky coconut, vanilla
Liquor: deep brown
This is from a sampler set I got as a gift, the “winter collection”.
This is a nice flavored black tea. The flavoring is not very powerful, but that is fine with me.
Post-Steep Additives: none
Resteep: It was a sad and weak resteep that totally lost all the smoothness and dark black tea flavor. (3 minutes) not recommended for resteeping.
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 1 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 6 ounces boiling filtered
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell:
Steeped Tea Smell: strong black tea, MilitiaJim notes vanilla AmazonV notes caramel
Flavor: smooth strong black tea, a bit bitter
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: nice dark orange-brown
Steepster traveling teabox tea!
Not really getting the sweet cream taste, it is a smooth yet bold black, but that’s about it.
Post-Steep Additives: german rock sugar, 1 tsp
This tempers the bitter, now I think it bring out the creaminess.
Resteep: 2 min w/1 tsp rock sugar
I still the am getting mostly the same as above and I am getting a slight citrus hint in the flavor and the hint of vanilla in the smell MilitiaJim was talking about.
I am a cream and sugar in my black tea kind of person, some people don’t really like additives, while others always put them in without trying the tea first. i like to give the tea a chance first.
It’s a solid black, but I won’t buy it as there are other blacks I love as opposed to like / find to be good quality.
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/teahaus-ann-arbor-loose-leaf-black-tea.html
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: ~1.5 tsp
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling 6 ounces
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: I practically snorted it and still got no scent
Steeped Tea Smell: spice, cinnamon, pumpkin pie
Flavor: bitter black tea
Body: Full
Aftertaste: bitter, spicy
Liquor: nice deep reddish-brown
Steepster traveling teabox tea!
I didn’t really know what I was expecting, it sounded nice (who doesn’t like pumpkin pie?) and I figured it was worth a try.
So after the nice spicy scent of the steeped tea…I got a mouthful of bitter tea water.
Disappointing.
I certainly could have used to hot of water or steeped too long (I try to follow package directions the first go round). since I only get one go at each TTB tea I’ll have to wait until someone else takes a crack at it.
Post-Steep Additives: lactose free fat free milk, didn’t help
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: ~1.5 teaspoons
Additives: none
Water: 6 ounces filtered boiling
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: woody, spicy, followed by mint
Steeped Tea Smell: woody, followed by mint
Flavor: spicy red tea, mostly cinnamon and cardamom
Body: Full
Aftertaste: mint
Liquor: dark reddish-brown
I was fortunate enough to grab the last two serving of this from the Steepster Traveling Teabox.
The smell is a bit different than the normal Chai I drink because of the mint.
The taste is a smooth, well balanced, spicy tea. The mint follows the sip.
The spices are a mellow and don’t stand out individually, they also are not very strong (think medium versus mild salsa).
This was not a bad tea, it was a nice sold red spiced tea. I am glad I got to try it, and would drink it again, but it is not my preferred chai so it won’t become a cupboard regular.
Post-Steep Additives: lactose free fat-free milk
It didn’t really make much of a difference. Perhaps if I had steeped it in the milk it might have?
Post-Steep Additives: honey
Tempered the spicy, but the spicy wasn’t a strong spicy so I don’t think it’s really needed.
images:http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/tao-of-tea-loose-leaf-red-tea-red-bush.html
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping scoops (i didn’t want to use all 3 in case i messed it up)
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling 1 teapot, set to cool a few moments until it was around 195
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet baking coconut
Steeped Tea Smell: baking coconut (not like fresh coconut milk), grassy, vegetal (like some kind of buttered stewed leaves), maybe even a little nutty
Flavor: watery vegetal, again like buttered stewed leaves, very silky smooth mouth feel though
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: coconut, sweet
Liquor: nearly clear, yellow-brown
This was a gift from SoccorMom!
I have never had a Pouchong before. Pouchong – Wikipedia suggested following the directions for Oolong tea.
The tea was very natural tasting, not like two distinct flavors (tea, coconut) being put together, but one flavor that was both tea and coconut.
The vegetal that I dislike in greens was not a negative thing, it was more a nice cooked side dish of greens doused in butter and silky smooth.
The steeped leaves unfurled into beautiful green full leaves! I could swear they were just picked.
I am glad I got to try this as it was good and different, but not a favorite that I would stock up on, but I certainly wouldn’t mind having it again.
I never even knew there was such thing as Pouchong before, and I think I preferr this to green now that I know it exists!
Post-Steep Additives: none
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/golden-moon-tea-loose-leaf-pouchong-tea.html
Preparation
well, this was my lunch break tea, i’m working at home today (snow) and i was hungry but don’t have anything interesting so i had gummi worms, the tea pairs very well with them….really
Oooh, I haven’t had those in AGES. When I get around to ordering this tea, I’ll need to try that.
there were the fruity worm flavors…i was kinda surprised but it made a nice tropical coconut mixed drink flavor
resteep – 5 minutes, it still is silky smooth and delicious, but the vegetal taste is more prominent, the butter is gone, and there is a slight bitter tang at the end of each sip.
resteep 2-8 minutes ? i lost track i kept steeping a bit longer, it still is silky smooth and delicious, but i think it is weaker, MilitiaJim just came home and thinks it’s tropical and fine. interestingly this one is not bitter. I tossed the leaves anyway though b/c it’s late and i don’t want any more caffeine, and I’m getting bored of this one tea flavor all
Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag 6 ounces / 2 teabag 12 ounces
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cinnamon, clove
Steeped Tea Smell: spices, tea, orange, apple (not sure where the orange is coming from)
Flavor: citrus spice and tea, smooth and mellow (not sure where the citrus is coming from)
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: spice
Liquor: translucent dark brown
If you are expecting a spicy chai you will be disappointed. I have had this tea in the past however and find it a nice smooth flavored black tea.
I also enjoy this tea with a bit of honey and milk as it’s flavor is strong enough to stand up to that without being lost.
Post-Steep Additives: none
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/republic-of-tea-teabag-black-tea.html
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 heaping teaspoons (very hard to scoop from that little tin when it was so full)
Additives: none
Water: 1 teapot full filtered boiling
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: black tea, chemical
Steeped Tea Smell: black tea, maybe banana
Flavor: black tea, bitter, a hint of banana
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: fruity, bitter
Liquor: translucent orange-brown
I have my head cold still, perhaps this was over brewed? regardless I can’t find the banana and there is this weird fake chemical tinge to it. I am glad this was a small sampler.
Next time I will have to try less leaf and / or less steep time.
This time around I ended up tossing the rest of the pot after the first two cups.
The leaves themselves look full and high quality, but the flavor has that odd chemical tinge I am not liking.
Post-Steep Additives: none
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 1 2.2g teabag
Additives: none
Water: boiling filtered
Steep Time: a little over 6 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: red, pepper, clove, cardamom, woody, spicy, earthy
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon, red tea, woodsy
Flavor: red tea, woodsy
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: ginger, pepper, cardamom
Liquor: translucent reddish brown
A Steepster Traveling Teabox Tea!
I can only have so much caffeine per day, and adore chai so I was excited by this tea. The smell was very potent and promising, but the cup turned out OK, it was a solid red with some spice to it, but I prefer chai with a bit more spice/kick.
Post-Steep Additives: none
pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/allegro-coffee-company-teabag-red-tea.html
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: 135 F hot water spigot, 1 mug full
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: jasmine, floral, grassy
Steeped Tea Smell: jasmine, floral
Flavor: Smooth floral, followed by grassy
Body: Light
Aftertaste: grassy, vegetal, slightly bitter
Liquor: dark translucent honey brown
Still have the stuffy nose / head cold so things may be stronger than I think.
This was a gift from Janefan.
Not too bad, I also wasn’t expecting much from a bagged tea. For a go to bagged tea at work this is a good green tea. I don’t think I’d buy this – but I am glad to have a stash of it for now. Next time I think I may sweeten it and steep 2 minutes instead of 3.
Post-Steep Additives: none
