Enjoying Tea

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55

Homemade Advent Calendar from Arby: Day 12

“Fragrant” is a bit of a stretch! This is actually one of the mildest oolongs I’ve had in a while, both in terms of scent and taste. It’s got very subtle roasted notes and a hint of something on the edge of floral, but that’s about it!

Flavors: Roasted

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80
drank Organic Assam by Enjoying Tea
56 tasting notes

Its an okey black morning tea nothing especial to it. Its a little mild compare to others and has no aftertaste not bitterness to it.

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90
drank Organic Keemun by Enjoying Tea
56 tasting notes
I must tell you that my first impression was a bit confused as I’m used to my black teas like English or Irish breakfast to be really dark and full color. This had a reddish color with incense smokiness, and aroma of brown sugar. On first taste, It is not as heavy tasting i pick up a very tasty smokiness, and then a earthy fruitiness and a little like very soft brown sugar almost a chocolaty end note but very subtle. It’s a hard to put down, i I’m really enjoying this sample. I am surprise i am the first person reviewing this tea!. I would recommend this tea to anyone that likes a somewhat lighter ‘English breakfast’ style tea or if your starting with blacks or just for fun. I hope i did justice on my review I’m glad i was able to try this one

Ps:just finish my best of all no bitterness or astringent tastes to it! I’m going for a second brew =)

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Chocolate, Earth, Smoked, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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1

bleh…. not a good tea for me. reminds me of alcohol and the mix of ingredients not too tasty. not good for teapots either: bits of leaves in the cup…..

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 10 g 165 OZ / 4879 ML

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82

Another one to finish from Ost, thank you! This is a lovely oolong! The leaves look darker and there are hints of roastiness… and PEACH. Love when I find a peach oolong. The color of the cup almost looks like peach too. Peaches and cream deliciousness in the first steep! The second steep had more of a roasted flavor, which I don’t love as much. The third steep has even less flavor, which is a shame. I’d love the peaches and cream steep back!
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #3 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2-3 min steep

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70

I got this one as a free sample and one of my first from Enjoying Tea. It’s very similar to Tie Guan Yin, but not nearly as flavorful. This one is more vegetal than floral, and it’s pretty solid, but I personally wouldn’t buy it again.

Flavors: Floral, Green, Nuts, Vegetal

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80
drank Rose Black by Enjoying Tea
1704 tasting notes

Another flavored one, oh boy. Well, I like this one a lot. Like the Cream Earl Grey White, this tea’s flavoring is potent, but to me it’s not quite as overwhelming though some might disagree. Sweet, candied roses fills my nose and my mouth, coming to linger on the tip of my tongue. But the rose by no means overpowers the black tea. I swear I can taste some Keemum, or that could be the rose making the Ceylon base taste like a Keemum. There are some cocoa notes, and little astringency with a smooth body kinda like a Keemum or a Ceylon.

This tea is also really sweet like I already mentioned. It does not need sweetener or cream, though by no means bad with it. I prefer this one straight.

I’d ONLY recommend this to people who like a lot of flavor and a lot of sweetness, and no one else.

Flavors: Cocoa, Malt, Rose, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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30

Soo got this tea as a sample from my last Enjoying Tea order. Had really hoped it would be full of floral notes, but as I drink it now my excitement is being continually dashed with every sip.
Floral my foot!
I was hoping that this would be like Zen Tea Life’s Fragrant Golden Branch Oolong that I absolutely adore.
But no.
It’s definitely not.
I mean I can maybe, if I try hard enough taste a bit of orchid/orchard that reminds me of FGB. But it’s barely there. And the floral is barely there too. It’s just barely there, enough to make it drinkable.
But the rest just tastes roasted.
If you like roasted oolongs that aren’t too overwhelming, you’d like this one. But I’m just not a fan. :( Meh.
Least it was free. Guess this will go on the “to sell” list. xD

Flavors: Floral, Orchid, Roasted

Liquid Proust

If I can make this taste like the water from the lost city of Atlantis, would you be willing to let me revive it?
I must tell you that I cannot do that though :/

Kirkoneill1988

i don’t mind heavy roasted oolongs ;) i shall judge this one too someday

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The first cup I ever had of this was a big cup of disappointment. I love H&S’s Hot Cinnamon Spice, so I think I was expecting to this to be like that.

Where the Hot Cinnamon Spice is candy-like and sweet, this is more robust and earthy, with more of a savory spiced cinnamon note than a red hot candy note.

I tried it again this morning, hoping the experience was slightly better now that I knew what to expect. Surprisingly, it actually was. I added 2tbsp soy milk and a bit of Sugar Free Gingerbread Torani to bring out some of the sweetness I wanted, and it really worked.

It ended up being a really well-rounded, slightly malty and earthy cup with a strong sweet cinnamon flavor. I’ll still reach for H&S first, but this ended up being a happy surprise after I figured it out.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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40

I’m definitely not sold on this tea.

I get the cinnamon flavour no problem, but that’s about it. Now I did end up adding more milk to it than I would have normally done, but I’m tired and the bag of milk got away from me. So other than the cinnamon I’m not getting anything else. The base isn’t making any attempt at coming forward. It’s so strange. I don’t know if I like this tea at all. I wish there was a bit more to it. Even with a tea like Davidstea’s Glitter and gold that is very predominately cinnamon flavour, you tend to get some form of base to it. This one doesn’t have that…

This is one that I’ll have to mix with other teas. I don’t think I’m going to finish it otherwise. Thankfully I only have a small amount of it.

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71

The price for this was a little high but you get a nice quantity as well. This should have lead me to believe the quality of the tea. This oolong is not horrible but it is nothing all too great either. I use it as my everyday oolong. It has a very nice floral aroma and brews a brilliant green. The image pictured on the website does not even come close to matching. The tea is tightly rolled with stems in every few bundles. It is a brilliant emerald green with forest green spottings. The leaves unfurl into crumbled green masses. Few bundles are whole leaves, mostly broken up. The taste is grassy with a hint on granite. It starts out nice and sweet but leaves a bitter taste that is hard to place. I try cleansing the tea a few times before ingesting and that seems to help. If you want a large quantity and don’t mind budging on quality, this is the oolong for you.

Flavors: Dry Grass, Floral, Limestone

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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55
drank Anxi Benshan Oolong by Enjoying Tea
737 tasting notes

This one was quite far from what I expected, to be honest. xD
Don’t really think I like it actually, but it’s not horrible. Might just pass the sample along to someone else.
Since the steeping aroma was so roasty, I figured that’s how it would taste too.
I was wrong.
Well, partially.
The first thing I tasted was a roasted oolong, but then came an orchid flavor-almost floral even. And the aftertaste was even weirder!
It’s like at the end of the sip the roasty notes go away and are replaced by fruity, sweet notes. It’s very odd.
I don’t really understand this tea to be honest! It’s not something I’d drink again, but it’s definitely interesting…
Think I’m gonna have to pass this sample along to someone else. Thank you for letting me try this, Mandy!:D

Flavors: Fruity, Orchid, Roasted, Sweet

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64
drank Anxi Benshan Oolong by Enjoying Tea
306 tasting notes

First thing’s first. This tea has a nice smell and taste, very sweet and with a lightly roasted taste. I’m definitely getting something fruity, nectar-like, and like a sweet and mild floral… like orchids.

On a second steeping, the toasty flavors emerge even more, and so does the sweetness. There’s an almost berry-like fruitiness and the toasted flavor and sweetness blend exceptionally well together with it. I’m really enjoying this! It is very complex in its flavor. There’s a subtle floral and a creamy finish resulting in a lasting flavor that reminds me of soy milk or a malted milk shake.

Third steeping brings out even more of the mellow creamy, roasty, malty, subtly fruit-and-floral sweetness. I am not going to try to do it justice with words. This is just wonderful.

This is truly a comfort tea. The lightly roasted flavor is very relaxing and very well balances with the other flavors. The flavor is long-lasting and stays in your mouth for quite a while. Everything about the aroma and flavor is gentle. I really recommend this!

Update

I have found myself perpetually lowering the score of this tea the more I try it and the more I try other teas in the same category. It simply isn’t the best quality. The leaves unfurl way more quickly and are easy to overbrew because of that. The taste can be rather tart at times. I don’t know how I went from loving this tea to not caring for it, but it has happened slowly over time. It just doesn’t hit me like it used to.

Flavors: Cream, Fruity, Malt, Orchid, Roasted, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
TeaNecromancer

haha, sorry about that, I should never label tea samples when half asleep. Comfort tea is a good description indeed, I gave you the last of my stash and will have to get more.

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67

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67

While drinking this Anxi Benshan Oolong tonight, I began thinking about how peculiar it is that we seek to dissect our tea experience into discrete flavor notes. It reminds me of what I’ve seen a lot of while traveling: when people take pictures of everything all the time and seem to miss out on actually looking at anything, because they are too busy trying to capture it on film. I suppose that the selfie craze and phone cameras have made this sort of behavior quite a bit more common than it was in the twentieth century.

There’s actually a more profound issue here, too. We analyze our experience into small packets to which we can attach words. But they are inadequate to (and in some ways falsify) the larger, synthetic experience. N’est-ce pas?

Cheri

Interesting thought

sherapop

Thanks, Cheri.

teatortoise

We drink the tea. Then, it’s gone.
But the flavor lingers on.
Until tomorrow.

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67

I finally caught up on my backlog, and we also have internet chez sherapop once again. Phew! I needed a quick pot of greenish oolong this afternoon, so this Anxi Benshan Oolong from Enjoying Tea was my choice for the simple reason that it was the closest tin ready at hand since I had left it downstairs from the last time.

Perfectly satisfying and makes a good second infusion, too.

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67

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67

It’s no simple matter finding this tea at Steepster, because Enjoying Tea has several different listings. Confusing.

Fortunately, the tea is pretty good! Very good for a free sample in an adorable tin.

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67

I bought a couple of the cute sherapop-sized yixing clay pots from Enjoying Tea. I have not quite graduated to the “brew a gulp” or “brew a sip” culture, so 11 ounces is definitely okay with me!

Along with the pots, the company included an array of samples, including this Anxi Benshan Oolong, in adorable little tins which look to hold about an ounce. Very generous provision of tea to those who purchase the already wildly inexpensive pots.

So the tea. It’s toasty, definitely more oxidized than the green spectrum oolongs I’ve been trying of late. This variety is also less creamy and sweet than milk oolong and its close neighbors. The flavor is much closer to that of my old concept of oolong, derived from middling filter bags years ago. However, I feel that the quality is better. It seems like that same mid-range level of oxidation, but perhaps because it involves leaves rather than dust it tastes much better and does not seem to be making me feel queasy. I wonder whether my body just dislikes half measures. I say this because I also dislike light-roasted coffee, which sometimes induces a gag reflex in me.

Back to tea. My preference appears to be with the greener oolongs, although I did enjoy a near-black oolong the other day, and I recently learned that darjeeling, which I like a lot, is really oolong disguised as black tea! (Thanks to boychik for confirming what I suspected all along: that darjeeling was only posing as a black tea…)

I have already consumed the second infusion of this Anxi Benshan Oolong, which was about the same as the first. I think that this tea is perfectly fine, not compelling enough for me to seek out a larger supply, but I’ll certainly empty this tin.

third infusion: this ended up being the best of them all. The liquor was fairly bright gold but still with a tiny tinge of green.

Flavors: Toast

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML
Kirkoneill1988

what does “anxi” mean?

apt

Kirk: it’s a region in China known for Tieguanyin style oolongs

sherapop

Thanks for that information, apt! It does seem TGYish to me. ;-)

apt

I believe the Benshan cultivar is more of a fast growth cultivar than TGY, which is a premium slow growth cultivar. Benshan is sold as TGY because it has a similar flavor.

Kirkoneill1988

Interesting :D

Cheri

Sounds like a nice oolong. I’m more into the green oolongs too, but I like the oxidized and roasted ones as well. I’m an equal opportunity oolonger.

Kirkoneill1988

i love roasted. never tried oxidised

sherapop

Kirkoneill 1988, they are all oxidized to some extent—some more than others. I believe that the range is 10 to 90 percent with those at the lower end of the spectrum closer to (unoxidized) green tea, and those at the higher end of the spectrum closer to (fully oxidized) black tea. Darjeeling is apparently 90% oxidized, which is why it is not strictly speaking a black tea.

Kirkoneill1988

interesting :)

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87
drank Anxi Benshan Oolong by Enjoying Tea
294 tasting notes

I’ve been drinking off of this one all day. I think I got 4 or 5 steeps out of it, with the last one being a little weak, plus another short steep that I poured on my yixing teapot to feed her (that’s what you’re supposed to do right?).
First of, the smell of this one reminds me of pine nuts for some reason, (I don’t even know if I know what pine nuts smell like) probably because of the vegetal and nutty aromas mixing together.
This is a nice smooth sort of buttery tea, with a nice mix of nutty and vegetal, two of my favorite notes in a tea. This is lightly sweet and nutty in the first few steeps, with the vegetal and sort of metallic taste coming out more in the later steeps. This tea is also sort of bright or crisp, its a really refreshing tea. Another tea that I didn’t end up sweetening!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
sherapop

I received this today as a sample with my new Yixing pots! Now I cannot wait to try it…

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drank Cinnamon Black Tea by Enjoying Tea
1719 tasting notes

An ounce of this came with a recent teapot order. I only recall having two cinnamon black teas before. Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice (affectionately known as liquid Red Hots) and Bigelow Cinnamon Stick. That last one was one of my very first tea purchases years ago. It smelled good but became lacking quickly. This one the leaf appears impressive for an inexpensive black tea. Definitely not dust. There is cinnamon pieces throughout. In fact the leaf in coated in cinnamon powder. The taste is richly cinnamon but not over the top. It quickly fades to allow the Ceylon base to come through. This is tart from the Ceylon and causes a certain amount of cheek tingle. A little sweetener mellows it and does something cool. The Ceylon takes on an earthy quality that I have not experienced with Ceylon before. I did enjoy sipping this cup.

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You remember your first bike? Mine was a red 16" one with training wheels. I remember the day and the hill I was coasting down when the training wheels fell off. It was a glorious moment. I see this little guy the same way. I am having so much fun with it. You guys riding your high quality and equally expensive bikes would know my little red one was little more than a toy. Not me. I thought it was amazing. This teapot was $6.98 plus shipping. Is it machine molded? – of course. Is it real yixing clay? No idea, and wouldn’t know the difference. What I do know is I have had quite a lot of thrills with this.

gmathis

Who says cheap toys aren’t as fun as the pricey ones?

boychik

it is so beautiful! Enjoy!

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Anyone know of a palate cleanser between tasting cups of tea? I’m trying to get a feel for this tea, but I can’t get the lime puerh catastrophe taste out of my mouth! A little bit of malt o meal seems to be doing the trick. I’m not tasting too much puehr here, just a little earthiness. I’m not getting too much caramel or toffee either. it is more like a whisper or lingering smoke of flavor. Not awful, but not my fav either.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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100

When I opened the pouch I got a whiff that was slightly floral, but the fireworks really began when I tossed a scoop into my teapot of water. As I was about to put the lid on top, an amazing floral scent wafted up to my nose, reminiscent of being in a greenhouse of tropical flowers. I knew I was in for a real treat in 4 minutes. And I was right, as it had hints of Honeysuckle, Orange Blossom, Grape Hyacinth and Roses, alongside a delightfully chewy vegetal taste and was very silky on the tongue. There were hints of Bok Choy, Escarole, Spinach and Asparagus, with a background flavoring of Wax Beans. Of all the loose teas I’ve tried so far, this has had the most complex bundling of flavors. On the second steep, I braced myself for a weak reminiscence of the first offering, but OMG!, it was just as flavorful the second time around, with only the slightest bit of astringency added on.

This tea is not going to last long, and I don’t give a damn how much it costs, it’s worth it!

Flavors: Asparagus, Bok Choy

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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