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I’m performing a test. Today, I had some of CTG’s super-awesome Keemun at work and it was just okay. Not the stellar-ness that I love so. What’s up with that? So I looked around a bit and noticed that CTG suggests using 200° water. Well, at home I use my Zojirushi set on 208°. But at work I use an electric kettle and, in my impatience, usually end up using water that has just finished boiling. Could that perhaps be the difference?

The logical next step would be to try the CTG Keemun again at home with the Zojirushi but otherwise using the same parameters. So naturally, I pulled out Rishi’s Keemun. Okay, not so logical but in my defense, I’ve had horrible luck with this Keemun. Though I keep it at work so perhaps it really isn’t the tea’s fault but rather my work tea-making set up. Maybe if I try this at home with the Zojirushi, it will be awesome. (Afterwards, I’ll try out the CTG Keemun again. It’s Friday. It’s not like I actually need sleep.)

You know what? It really is better. The smell is very malty. Strong. Faintly sweet. Tea-like (go figure). Not overly complex, but not as flat as I recall from the last time I had it. The taste, though, that’s the big difference. The flat, cardboard-ness is missing from it, giving it more depth. Oh, it’s still not as complex as CTG’s version but it’s not bad. There’s a little malt, a little sweetness, no real toasty but there is a bit of an acrid ending that I think is the Keemun smoke coming through. That ending does edge unfortunately close to unpleasant but all in all, a much rounder flavor that what I was getting it work with boiling water from an electric kettle.

I’m still not in love with it, but I no longer feel like it is torture drinking it. I’m adjusting up the rating on this one a bit to reflect the better result from Zojirushi-dispensed water.

You know those teas that you kind of build up in your head? You have one really great steep from it so you think it’s like the best tea ever. You find yourself thinking of it at random moments during the day, craving the taste. But when you have it again it just makes you think, “Eh, not so hot”. You know those types of teas?

This is not that kind of tea.

Oh sure, I’ve been daydreaming about this tea and wanting more since I finished my last cup. I’ve been daydreaming about this tea at work. I’ve been looking for a good time to have it again. I was craving it so much that I finally decided to bite the bullet and make it my after work tea. And normally my after work tea is strictly non-black. But I needed this tea.

And how was my second experience? Did I built it up in my head too much? Did it disappoint?

It was fantastic. In fact, I think this tea is possibly even tastier than the first time I had it. Such beautiful complexity, flavors and smoothness. But now I have a problem. I’m finding myself craving the tea while I’m drinking it. I have the desire to go to CTG’s site and buy the largest container of this tea right now even though I’m not close to running low. But just the thought that I might one day not have this tea makes me want to stock up. The only tea I’ve ever felt like this about before is Tea Hawaii’s (super awesome) Makai Black.

Previously I had given this tea a conservative 92. But with such easily consistent fantastic-ness and for not disappointing me after I’ve been daydreaming about this tea for three days? This tea deserves full points.
3.8g/10oz

This? Is so good. First off, the dry leaf smells amazing. It’s pretty much one of the most fragrant (and delicious smelling) Anxi oolong I’ve ever sniffed – fresh, floral, sweet, rich… And the taste? OMG. I vaguely recall having an almost otherworldly experience with a Red Blossom oolong (their Alishan, I think?) much too long ago. This rates right up there with that (utterly divine) experience.

First steep (30s) – Rich and buttery but also fresh, light and floral. There is a great mix of light/sweet and dark/heavy notes. Seriously wow.
Second steep (30s) – The smell of this literally made me close my eyes in delight. The floral notes make me think of orchid. Though the floral smell is more distinctive this steep, the overall taste is heavier and richer than before. It’s very fresh tasting. The creamy/buttery taste is really coming through and there’s a nectar/honey-like sweetness that’s very strong. Have I said wow? Because it is.
Third steep (45s) – Sweet, sweet, sweet! Like a sugar glaze over unopened orchid blossoms. Or, as it cools, perhaps like a very light kettle corn.
Fourth steep (45s) – The smell is heavier now, more green/vegetal notes than floral ones. The taste is darker too, reminding me a bit of Samovar’s Four Seasons (which I rarely had luck with) but with a slightly more present floral top note.

I think the second steep is by far my favorite with the first steep coming in second. Since those were so tasty, that’s what I’m rating this on. (Though I reserve the right to bump the rating up when the second steep is fresh in my mind.)
4g/5oz

I swiped this teabag from a hotel I was staying at a bit ago and am only now getting around to trying it. It’s actually not bad for a bagged tea. It doesn’t have too much depth of flavor (shocking, I know) and there’s some astringency at the end of the sip that tries to build into bitterness but (thankfully) doesn’t quite make it, but the bergamot flavoring is gentle and nice, not soapy or perfume-y. Not great but not horrid.

Silver Needle and I have had our disagreements. My first real experience with it created the (as yet) unalterable association of Silver Needle = Soy Bean Water. Not cool. So while I appreciate the free sample in my CTG order, I wasn’t all that thrilled with what the sample actually was.

But this tea could change my mind. The first steep (1min) was very delicate; I couldn’t pick out a whole lot about it. In fact, my only tasting notes were “Delicate. Sweet. Pretty aftertaste.” It was intriguing and I drank it quickly so it was obviously quite tasty, but it wasn’t enough to make me go wow.

The second steep (2min), however, was wow-worthy. It was so pretty. I actually liked it so much that I made the husband try it. (His reaction? “If that’s just a sample, I’m thinking we need to buy some.”) There is a bit of vegetal taste, but it doesn’t make me think of soy bean water. There’s also some very sweet and floral (or maybe fruity?) notes. The aftertaste is really quite gorgeous.

Steep number three (3min) is bolder, not as soft. As it cools, however, the lightness and sweetness begin to come back and bring with them an unexpected spiciness. Pepper, perhaps? It’s a bit like peppered flowers with a hint of vegetal-ness, but just a hint.

In the fourth steep (3min), the flavors start to muddy a little; it doesn’t taste as fresh and clean as the previous steeps. All of the tastes – sweet, peppery, floral, vegetal – are still there but they seem less crisp and clear.

This is definitely the type of Silver Needle I wish I had been introduced to first. I’m pretty sure that regular exposure to this one will remove any Silver Needle = Soy Bean Water associations I have. For this reason, I’m also pretty sure that whenever I place my next CTG order, a tin of this will find its way into my cart.
4.8g/8oz/175° → cup → teapot

I was very close to having CTG’s Keemun again this morning (it’s that good) but I decided that I really should try my other teas, so I grabbed this one. The dry leaf smells malty-bakey-sweet and that smell carries over to the brewed tea.

The taste is sweet and creamy, like a Yunnan that has been gentled with a little milk. It’s very smooth but with a hint of a stouter Yunnan underneath. I wonder if increasing the steep time would bring that out? Though actually, I don’t think I want it stouter. It’s not weak tasting by any means, just smooth. And I wouldn’t want to mess that up. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I’m getting vanilla notes but the creamy isn’t too far off base from that, just milder than what I’d identify as vanilla. There’s also a freshness about it that makes it seem almost roasted-vegetable-like. The aftertaste is sweet and bakey/toasty and very yum.

There’s not as much depth or awesome-ness as yesterday’s Keemun, but I don’t regret starting my day with this one.

I’m a little nervous about this tea but it seemed too weird not to try so I tossed it in my CTG order. I do love oranges. Moldy oranges that have been stuck in a cave for years though? Not so much. Full disclosure, I bought this tea with the expectation of not liking it so this has a bit of a science experiment aspect to it.

I truly have no idea how to do this, but CTG mentions a slight orange taste when “part of the rind” is used. I figured that meant to brew with mostly just the tea, so I broke apart the little orange, dumped the tea in my pot and then added bit of rind in there, too.

The leaves smell a bit like dirt. Dusty dirt. With a slight hint of clean freshness. Like the smell of an attic that no one has been in for 20 years, but when they were up there two decades ago, they dusted with Pledge. So yeah, that’s a bit weird. And not entirely pleasant. But not entirely unpleasant either. Just… interesting.

After a good rinse, things started smelling like pu-erh normal. In other words, like a barn. This particular barn had a good bit of sweet hay smell going on and the dirt smell was of clean, wet dirt.

The taste is nicely mild. One thing I tend to dislike about pu-erh is that the barnyard sweetness can be so thick. It makes me feel like I’m drinking syrup made of farm and it’s just too rich for me. But this doesn’t have the syrupy super-sweetness to it. Very similar taste profile, just not as thick feeling. I don’t know how much orange I pick up from the taste, but there is a cleaner ending than what I’m used to and I’m going to attribute that to the orange rind. As it cools, the sweet barnyard dirt taste moves to the front of the sip and some dry hay starts coming in on the back. Still has a clean but mostly sweet end.

The second steep (30s) brews up very dark but otherwise is pretty much the same as the first steep. There’s a little more sweetness-cutting cleanness (which I’m guessing is because the orange rind is staring to soften and steep a bit more) but that’s about it. I do like that increase though.

The third steep (45s) is tilting back a bit towards barnyard especially on the tail end, but overall it is very similar to the first two steeps.

Overall, this isn’t bad. It’s not going to make me into a pu-erh fan but it’s one of the easiest drinking cooked pu-erhs I’ve had; it’s rather mild and inoffensive. Not something I’ll avoid finishing off but not something that I’ll need to get more of once it is gone.

Can I just say? Receiving my first order from Chicago Tea Garden made me very happy. All the teas came in tins, each with little tasting cards and all neatly packed. It’s nice to see prettily presented tea. Of course, as pretty as it is, nothing can compare to the smell. Not of the package itself (that just smelled like box, so no leaking tea flavors) but once I opened up the tins and stuck my nose into the tea… Seriously yum. Across the board.

Last night I naturally had to bust open the Sticky Rice Pu-erh, something I’ve been craving for-freakin-ever since I had my sample. But this morning, I get to delve into something new. It was a tough choice but ultimately the smell of this one won me over. Because, really? The smell is crazy. There is so much going on I can’t pick it all out – sweet, smoky, bakey, tart, acrid, flowery… I can’t stop smelling it! The leaves are so pretty, too. Tiny, wiry little delicate-looking things. Brewed up, the smell has changed and mellowed, but it’s still pretty wow. It’s mostly bakey with some sweet and floral and toasted thrown in.

Oh man. What to say about the taste? It’s awesome. Just as complex as the smell, it is by far the most complex Keemun I’ve had. Sweet, bakey, smooth, bright, tart, floral… all of these words popped into my head while I was sipping. Each sip brings me different flavors. Sometimes it makes me think of grilling a flower then drinking the nectar out of it. Other times I think of raw sweet potatoes with a bit of honey.

This is not a fast sipping tea. Because of the complexity and how the taste seems to change and expand from sip to sip, I find myself taking slow sips, just enjoying the flavors for a while. I can’t help but roll the tea around in my mouth, making sure ever surface is coated, before swallowing. Because there is this beautiful aftertaste when the air hits my mouth – very floral.

I would say that this is not a tea for everyone. The husband is not a big Keemun fan in general because of the smoky/roasted taste it has can come across as sour or acrid. And this one has those same notes – they are soft and smooth, blend beautifully with the rest of the tea and I read them as more of a sweet & sour or raw potato taste and I kind of love those flavors in this (and typically in Keemuns in general). So if someone doesn’t like Keemuns for that reason, I’m thinking this might not change their mind (I will have to use the husband as a tester sometime to confirm). But for someone that likes Keemuns or someone that would like them if perhaps they had more depth, this one would be a winner. It’s truly fantastic.
3.8g/10oz

Orange, vanilla and… cactus? Really? So weird! And the smell is kind of weird, too. It’s simultaneously herbal, vegetal, citrusy and a little… crisp. I can’t tell if mixed in with all that is the sour rooibos smell that I detest so much or if it’s something more pleasant that I just don’t know how to properly register.

And now I’m going to say something I never thought I’d say. The sour rooibos taste is there but it works. It somehow blends into the orange, is softened by the vanilla and matches oddly well with the cactus (or at least what I recall cactus tastes like from the one time I’ve had it). It’s crisp, natural, smooth and fresh in a sharp, clean way.

This is definitely a different tea. I never would have thought that the flavors would work based on the description but it does. It’s pretty outside the norm but I could definitely see it growing on me. I’m kind of on the fence about whether I’d order it or not but the more I think about it, the more I think I would get it just to see exactly how much it would grow on me.

Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for this share!

It’s a tea bag (and not even a fancy one at that) but it is surprisingly unhorrible. Very raspberry-y and sweet, there is a little hint of bitterness that I’m assuming comes from the broken leaf bits in the bag (which was the only thing in the bag). But it’s only a little tang and really not bad at all.

It’s actually a pretty bold tea for a fruit flavored white. Lots of flavor, even if most of it is raspberry. There’s some bean-ish tasting tea-ness in there to round it out. Raspberry isn’t my favorite flavor so it’s not something I’m in love with or would really even pick up, but it is much better than anything I was expecting!