2816 Tasting Notes
How odd, I could have sworn I reviewed this at some point but I guess not… ?
I’ve had this for a while and I find it really refreshing, an interesting twist on the traditional moroccan mint tea due to the addition of lemon myrtle. It’s a minty, lemony green tea! I absolutely recommend adding rock sugar to this, or sugar of some kind. This is excellent hot, but I think it would make an amazing iced tea as well. I really loved the Mao Feng Shui when I tried it plain as well. I wish S.S. would have another free shipping promotion soon :)
Preparation
Taking a break from “foam rolling” my rotator cuff in order to try a sample of this tea. I really do have a lot of physical therapy gadgets in my apartment now! Thanks for the sample Stacy.
So it seems like I have a fondness for Indian white teas, they somehow seem more flavorful than the Chinese ones. Is that a sacrilege? Compared to the Doke silver needle I had yesterday, the Glenburn seems both lighter and sweeter. I am really enjoying the fruity notes of this tea and am definitely getting the juicy pear. I bet this would be an amazing cold brew — anyone tried that yet? Other flavors I’m getting from this are nutty (mostly almond) and floral. I wouldn’t say I am getting buttery from it, but I have really enjoyed this a lot. It’s tasty! I think I will stick to white teas from India and Nepal as they are flavorful.
Preparation
Foam rolling is one of those “hurts so good” type things. My husband is a personal trainer so I had to be the guinea pig while he was taking his classes.
A juicy pear tea sounds divine! I bet it would be good iced!
I’m still trying to figure out what I can do with the foam roller. It also feels good to put a golf ball in between you and the wall and roll it around :)
Good morning Steepster—
I am having this tea today because I was in the mood for something cardamom-y, I just wish this tea had more cardamom in it, I usually just end up adding my own so I’m not thinking this will be a repurchase for me. Adding both soymilk and sugar makes it slightly more pleasurable.
Hoping that today I will be feeling better than I did yesterday. I got electro-acupuncture for the first time yesterday and that was pretty interesting. It could be my imagination but I think it helped a bit with the pain I was experiencing…
Preparation
Tea of the afternoon here, this is a pleasant strawberry tea that I am enjoying a lot with soymilk today. I haven’t been up to doing much today, the ongoing drama with my office about their paperwork has me feeling totally drained and I haven’t slept very well in almost 3 months anyway. Paying a visit to the acupuncturist this afternoon, maybe he can help me.
In the meantime I’m kind of happy to have some quiet moments to enjoy teeeea on this beautiful sunny day!
Preparation
Sometimes, a quiet moment with tea is all one needs when things are rough. After 3 months, though, I think you need more than a quiet moment with tea. I hope the acupuncture helps at least some!
I hope so too! If I don’t feel better in a month at least I will get a cortisone shot. Meanwhile thank goodness for tea!
Thank you Stacy for this lovely sample tea you provided me in my last order. A lot of white teas are not very well understood by me, or perhaps they are too light for my palate. I’m not getting all of the tasting notes that other people are getting, but I do think this has a good flavor of almonds and cream with a nice sweetness in the finish. I am definitely getting some fruit but not so sure if it’s cherry. If I was going to keep another white tea around in my stash, this might be a serious contender. I’ve really enjoyed trying it and it’s nice on this sunny afternoon.
Preparation
This is one of my favorite herbal teas right now. I love lemongrass on its own, also it is very versatile because I like it in black tea, green tea or white tea. Yesterday I cold brewed it and stuck it in the fridge along with some dried ginger. The end result is very tasty and I’m enjoying it a lot!
La la la…
I am back from my new doctor’s office, I can’t believe they took more x-rays, pretty soon I am going to be radioactive. I guess my fracture is all healed up but he agrees I have a frozen shoulder and soft tissue damage and this will take another 6 months to a year to clear up. Good times!
I thought I’d have some more of this spicy ginger tea this afternoon, I like this one for the belly and for the anti-inflammatory effect. It’s spicy and zingy.
Oh no! When I messed up my wrist, it took quite a while for the soft tissue damage to clear up. I.hope yours goes quickly. Will you be doing physical therapy?
yes, I’ve been doing it for the last 6 weeks and it’s really painful!
Wow. I’m sorry you’re still hurting. I was in a car accident years ago and ended up with a frozen shoulder. I remember how not fun that was. Good luck with the physical therapy, and remember to be gentle with yourself (my physical therapist would always say that to me before I left her office :)).
Veronica, how long did it take your frozen shoulder to go away?
Tea of the afternoon here. I just got back from physical therapy and got a miniature lecture on scar tissue and ligaments which is evidently the crux of my problem but doesn’t help me so much when they’re yanking my arm around… lol
This tea IS tasty for a decaf, I think I will be upping the rating by a couple of points. I like the peppery cherry flavor of this one. It also has a bit of pine associated with it. I like this one a bit better with soymilk added than I do plain. It’s a-ok in my book.
Preparation
One of two teas I purchased at the Aroma Tea Shop last week. I think the golden monkey is quickly becoming one of my favorite tea types.
Yesterday I had brewed this Western style but this morning I’m using my gaiwan. It seems like 60 seconds is about all I really need in steeping this one. The dry leaves are slender and curved and the aroma is exactly that of chocolate. The tea is a dark reddish orange and is BOLDER than some other golden monkeys I’ve tried.
At 60 seconds, the first steep is very chocolate-y with a slight bitterness in the finish but nothing that puts me off of the flavor too much. I thought maybe I had steeped this one slightly too long.
At 45 seconds, the 2nd steep has mellowed out considerably and still has cocoa notes but with a smoother finish and now I am getting more of the honey sweet aftertaste that the description has. This is an easy tea to sip on plain but is also nice with a bit of soymilk added because then it becomes more of a creamy cocoa.
At 30 seconds, the 3rd steep is definitely lighter and I think I might have preferred the 45 second steep, but it’s always good to play around with your parameters a bit. Here I’m getting a bit more of the sweeter notes I’d associate with a golden monkey.
I will easily be able to get 4 or 5 steeps out of this tea so while it isn’t the cheapest tea I’ve ever bought, it is definitely a good value.
Flavors: Cocoa
Preparation
A good Golden Monkey is one of my favorites as well, though I’m a committed mono-steeper.
Normally I am too but it depends on the price of the tea!
I bought this last year and it is a good all around tea. I started out going western then gaiwan and have settled on a 110 cc yixing pot. The yixing gives quick steeps with concentrated cocoa and honey. I use 5 grams @ 212F first steep is in and out then ,10, 15, 20, 30, 40 50, 60 after that the tea starts to pale.
thanks for the info Big Daddy. I don’t have a yixing for black teas, maybe I need one :)
Yay, my Butiki order arrived yesterday. I’ve been wanting to try some different assams and figured Butiki would be a good place to do some experiments. This looks like a good morning tea.
This isn’t one I would drink straight, plain it has a definite briskness and brightness with some pungency in the finish, it seems really assertive for my taste. It’s really good with milk and sugar added and I guess that’s the way most people drink assams anyway. This reminds me a lot of an East Frisian tea.
I enjoyed reading this article this morning on Northern German tea culture. Perhaps I will try preparing my tea like that someday. :)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/travel/in-northern-germany-a-robust-tea-culture.html
