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Post yoga drink – I blended an equal part of this green tea with some original tulsi from Organic India and I am quite liking the results. I don’t think tulsi would blend too well with Japanese green tea but it’s pretty good with this Chinese green. The savory, vegetal qualities here mix well with the cooling mint tulsi. I’m trying to increase my tulsi consumption!

I have to say what I know about matcha is pretty much nothing. I’ve been resisting the urge to get the whisk because I wasn’t sure I needed a new toy. So I was happy to find one in my Steepster select box, along with a sample of this matcha.

We did get a little card with instructions, which were easy to follow. Yesterday morning I whipped up two batches of it, it took me a bit to get the hang of the whisk but that’s ok. By my second attempt, I noticed the matcha was nice and frothy. But I do see needing a matcha bowl in my future. :)

It’s a very nice, green bundle of joy. The tea is very flavorful, grassy and has a bit of bitterness. This morning I blended some with raspberries and soymilk. I found it needed a touch of sugar. Most of my experiences with matcha have been that they are slightly bitter so that isn’t unusual. I can see how this will be great for making smoothies! And for cooking!

Thanks to Steepster and Obubu for this fun treat!

I realize I am spoiled with local tea options compared to some other folks. A few weeks ago I was in Rainbow Grocery and noticed they have a bulk tea selection. In the bulk tea jars were a bunch of mini touchas from Pure Puerh! I know they are based in Northern California so I shouldn’t have been too surprised.

This is the other green toucha that I didn’t buy from them at the San Francisco Tea Festival. Now that I have my dedicated Yixing teapot, raw puerhs are becoming a good weekend drink for me. You fill up your teapot and can re-steep many times. This one mini toucha claims you can make 12-14 cups of tea out of it!

Steep #1: After a quick rinse I steeped this for around 20 seconds and got a very light infusion, which is slightly woodsy and a bit sweet. I’m picking up on a light fruity flavor too, like apple. There’s a slight bit of bitterness in the mix but so far I am not finding it too overwhelming. My infusions are fairly small, I’m getting around 4 oz. of tea for each one.

Steep #2: 30 seconds. The color is a bit darker than it was before and a definite smoky aroma is starting to emerge. Still, I am happy that this is not too acrid or rough for my palette. As far as bitter-sweet goes, I can handle it.

Steeps #3 and 4: 15 seconds. I did them together in the same glass mug. The tea is hitting more of a stride here and starting to settle down somewhat. The flavor is getting to be a little more mellow, still woodsy, smoky and slightly sweet but less of a sour quality.

Steeps #4 and 5: at first I thought the bitterness was receding, but as my cup was sitting here cooling off, a big wallop of it hit me when I began to sip on it. Might try to use ½ the touocha next time, 8g is likely too much for the small teapot.

One thing I have noticed about sheng pu-erhs is they are very good for the digestion; I suppose it must be this bitter-sweet and green quality. Without being gross, I find they have an almost purgative effect at times.

I think perhaps this tea could benefit from a little aging, but I have no idea how well touchas age. In any case I will probably not be too tempted to pick up any more of these in the future. It’s a typical young sheng, kinda sour and wild. That’s the nature of the beast you’re dealing with.

3/4 of the red tea sampler from jing tea shop. I wanted something this morning I could drink without additions.

The leaves are very dark, thin and wiry. I put a pinch in my glass teapot and then steeped for 3 minutes. The tea liquor is a medium orangish-brown. The aroma of the tea is cocoa, while the flavor itself has a rich nuttiness which reminds me of walnuts, and a touch of honey. Others have commented on the citrus, and I am also picking up an orange peel type of flavor here and also a touch of spice. It reminds me ever so slightly of a fine cognac.

The tea is rich and smooth with almost no astringency and certainly no bitterness. A slight sweetness in the aftertaste. Since I’ve had a few dan cong oolongs recently I’m trying to see what the resemblance might be, but am not picking up on a lot of parallels right now.

A lovely and delightful treat, for the morning time or anytime. It almost seems like you could make a decadent dessert out of this one. Perhaps it would be good as a pudding or as an ice cream.

One of my favorite chais, today I tried mixing in some plain tulsi from Organic India and it was good! I added some soymilk and I like it. A little minty but otherwise pretty groovy!

Speaking of groovy, I finished my blog post if you want read about hippie vegan adventures:

http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/?p=292

This is a great tea for the afternoon if you’re up for something smoky and stimulating. I am trying to write a blog post and then do my homework for copy editing class, so I needed a good kick in the you-know-where!

Thanks to Mercuryhime for this sample!

Okay, first off I have to agree with the others that this seems more like an oolong tea than a green tea. I used my glass teapot and steeped it for 3 minutes earlier this afternoon.

It is a very light colored infusion and it is very smooth. The flavor and aroma is much like buttered corn. I think Krystaleyn is right that this tastes like a milk oolong! Unfortunately milk oolongs are not really my favorite kind of oolong. It is nice and light, but I’m afraid I don’t get what the fuss is. It’s a bit like drinking boiled corn husks and I’d much rather have a grassy green gyokuro!

Just for fun, I gave a sip of this to the (green tea hating) boyfriend earlier and this was his reaction:

“You call this tea? It tastes like lightly flavored water!”

:-P

I certainly wouldn’t turn this down if offered a cup, I’ve enjoyed it, but it won’t go on my “must have” list.

I was a little nervous about trying this after reading the description “bittersweet” but I got a 10g sample and then I got a free sample with another order so I’m determined to like it!

I steeped this in the gaiwan and liked the look of long and slighly twisted dry leaf. I did a quick rinse of this tea and the aroma of the wet leaf is absolutely divine – magnolia blossom indeed!

Steep #1 – I meant to steep this for only 10 seconds, but I was fumbling around looking for my cups so it went more to 30+ seconds. I got a light yellow infusion with a floral aroma. The flavor is light, there is a definite slight bitterness present but then a few seconds after sipping, you also notice a sweetness on the tongue.

Steep #2 – This was for about 15 seconds. Difficult to get too much flavor out of it with such a short steep, but at least it isn’t bitter. It’s very floral and I’m definitely getting the coconut finish which is really interesting!

Steep #3 – 30 seconds. Similar to steep #2 – light and floral, a bit coco-nutty, a slight bitterness.

Fenghuang oolongs are always going to make me nervous as I am not a connoisseur of bitter teas, but this was fairly enjoyable and not too fussy. I will finish off the samples I have eventually but don’t think I’ll get anymore when they run out.

I went to the foot doctor today and this was my treat to myself for being a good patient! There is a Peet’s nearby.

I wasn’t expecting much but this was really good, esp. for a 2nd flush darjeeling. I tried to take the tea sac thing out after about 3 or 4 minutes had passed, I didn’t want to oversteep it. The tea liquor was a burgundy color and it was deep and woody in flavor, with a nice fruitiness and a hint of muscatel. It wasn’t too astringent or pungent at all, which can be an issue with 2nd flushes. I would happily drink this again, it was good!

This tea is simply incredible! I ordered 50 grams of this, and meanwhile some of you may recall I had a bad experience with a bitter dancong tea & I was ready to write off them off totally!

Anyway, I am persistent (some might say stubborn, lol). I tried this last night and was very pleased but thought I would write a proper tasting note for it this morning.

I put a pinch of leaves in the gaiwan and then used water that was around 180F. After a quick rinse I steeped the tea for 20-30 seconds. What I got was a tea that is light yellow and has a nutty aroma with a sweet honey and lychee flavor. I am happy! This tea is not bitter at all and has a lingering sweet aftertaste.

The second steep is also lovely! The aroma of the wet leaves is slightly toasty with honeysuckle filling the air. The tea is mild with a very smooth, sweet taste. I wonder if this is more heavily roasted than the other ones I had and perhaps that mellows it out a bit? Whatever it is, I am not complaining!

Third infusion I let go for about 45 seconds. I am getting a thicker, oiler type of tea liquor still with a lot of sweetness. There’s a tiny bit of bitterness lurking in the background but I am not too bothered by it. Still, I can see that keeping the steep times short will be the key for enjoying this one. And it is very good! I’m happy to have found one I really liked! It is also AAA grade and fairly pricey so I certainly won’t be drinking it every day.

I think Jing Tea Shop has a new customer for life. :)