Liquid Proust Teas

Remember a while ago I had allergy tests and they came back that I was not allergic to anything? I think that the test might have been incorrect, because I was feeling better! My sore throat and slightly stuffy nose and cough had eased up, then I spent a day outside and then another with all the windows open and I woke up sick again! There are no new things in the house to cause irritation, so it must be allergies, it being so wet this year that it must be mold. I dunno, I am sick of this sore throat, so time to take loopy allergy meds and crank up the air purifier to full blast! On a more fun note, I started a Wedding Registry (because why not, even though I do not even have a set date yet!) and I am having fun trying to figure out what to add. So far there is a cat tower and a vase, progress!

Today I am taking a look at Liquid Proust’s Jackseed Gyokuro a blend of Gyokuro from Wakayama, Roasted Jackfruit Seeds, and a dash of Vanilla. I admit, I found this tea very intriguing! I am a sucker for blends using out of the norm ingredients, I love the imagination and bravery it takes to make and test something like this, and as someone who has dabbled in making bizarre blends…it is hard work! It feels wrong to take something as precious Gyokuro and make it into a blend…or does it? The aroma of the tea is ever so slightly fruity, like apricot and a little like almonds, with a tiny hint of distant vegetation. The aroma is very light, at the very tail end of the sniffing there is a hint of distant sea air, which is fascinating.

It was quite fun watching the tea go from emerald green leaves to vibrantly green once steeped, I just love how intensely green Japanese teas get once steeped! The aroma of the soggy leaves and seed bits is fruity, again the apricot notes are present, add in chestnuts and a touch of almonds for nutty sweetness. Then boom, straight into strong almost salty, buttery, asparagus and kelp, the Gyokuro showed up, hehe! The liquid is pretty mild, not much going on, a touch of green vegetation notes and a tiny touch of nuttiness, really it is very mild.

The tea starts off mild, very smooth mouthfeel and rather thick. Not as thick as I am used to with Gyokuro since I brewed this more Western style than the traditional ton of Gyokuro and very little water method. The tasting starts with buttery asparagus and fresh kelp and sea air, this moves to chestnuts and apricots. It is a little different from apricots, more like a blend between an apricot and banana with a papaya edge, it could in fact, be Jackfruit, but I have not had the pleasure of eating that in well over a decade, and it was only a small taste. Clearly I need to go on another palate expanding adventure! After that burst of fruitiness it moves on to savory again, with a finish of asparagus and a touch of broken hay and grass, which is very subtle. I am honestly not sure how I feel about this tea, I found myself wanting more from the nutty and fruity notes, like they kept teasing me, but on the other hand the subtle wisps of flavor fascinated me, like I was chasing down an adventure, a treasure hunt in my mouth. I am tempted to get more and brew it traditional using my pseudo-houhin and see how the tastes change, a curious tea and a curious experience!

For blog and photo: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/08/liquid-proust-teas-jackseed-gyokuro-tea.html

Citrus Party is the perfect name for this one, Liquid Proust. I smelled grapefruit, tasted tangerine followed by a brisk lemon zest. I steeped it for about fifty five seconds the first time, and added about a minute on the second steeping, and two more for the last one. It is very consistent, and very refreshing. I wonder if it would have been any good iced?

This is another one that I shared thankfully with my mom, and she thought the same thing. I think that a lot of people would like this, and it might appeal to a wider range of experience of tea drinking, be it newer or more tuned in. I’m not sure what I want to rate it because citrus teas are ones that I have to be in the mood for, and honestly, I was craving some more of the Dark Chocolate Oolong. But this tea is perfect for the summer, and it reminds me of Florida. It’s light, flavorful, tart, sweet, and citrusy. I think that it would better serve someone looking for those types of flavors.

Liquid Proust, thank you again for this awesome tea!

Which thank you am I on, Liquid Proust?

Anyway, brewed this one up this morning and shared it with my mom because she loooves peach. The presentation is beautiful, with some orange-pink petals laying on a bed of jade dong ding.

Peach is the distinct smell and flavor of this one, with some minor floral blossom accents in this clean, fresh cup. It reminds me of Georgia in spring. I did a ten second wash of it, sipped it, then decided it would be better western style. I brewed it the first time three minutes, and the peach was mostly in the aftertaste, and definitely lingered. It was a little bit light for me, but I really liked how refreshing it was. My mom loved it the way it was. On steep two, the dong ding (tung ting) really came out to sweeten the cup with it’s own peach like character. Afterwards, I did feel a little dehydrated, but I felt like I just ate a peach rind. The third steep is very floral, and more peach blossom than peach with some sweetness left over, though light.

It’s tea that my mom would purchase for regular drinking, and I might too. It’s a solid, good tea. I would rate it 88 based on my preference for slightly stronger teas, but when I’m in the mood for a light one, this one is perfect. My mom, though, would rate it as a 92. She likes her teas lighter, and this one is great for her. Steep two was the best.

I really enjoyed this one, LiquidProust. It’s very similar to Numi’s Chocolate Pu-Erh, but a little bit more complex. It was silkier, with milk chocolate being followed by a floral moss. The texture was pretty creamy, and fairly smooth. I soaked it the first time in three minutes, then the second in four. It started to fade in the third, with bits of grass, moss and flowers, but still smooth.

I added sugar the second time after sipping it a few moments pure, and it brought out the chocolate a little bit more. If were to guess, I think the base might be a roasted Tie Guan Yin because it has remnants of the floral character of one. The only other Tie Guan Yin I could compare it to is maybe the one by Rishi, which is partially roasted.

I liked it on it’s own, though I wish there was a little bit more strength the first time that I had a session with it. I brewed it again last night while painting, making the teaspoon heap a little bit more. It was then exactly what I wanted, and exactly what I needed to get working on my painting.The first time, I felt like there needed to be more flavor especially with the chocolate, wanting something a little bit fuller and not as light. Last night, it had a more complete profile to me with a little bit more chocolate and roasted oolong sweetness. I even got a few other tasting notes, like graham cracker and even s’mores as little hints. This tea deeply satisfies my cocoa craving, and the roasted oolong as a background that really compliments the chocolate. The chocolate is strongest in the first steep, and over the other two steepings, second being four minutes and thirty seconds, and the last being closer to seven, it transitioned to roasted then to floral grass with graham cracker.

I’d recommend it to any one, but ‘d say this is more for an intermediate tea drinker, with some younger tasters and more aged ones possibly going for it. I think that more experienced drinkers would appreciate the complex character of the roasted oolong itself. This might also be a good medium ground between a pure tea and a flavor one since the chocolate is extremely natural to me, and doesn’t have the slightest artificial character that a lot of other chocolate teas typically have. I’ve said originally in this post that a part of me prefers a darker chocolate, but after steeping it with just a few more leaves, I definitely changed my mind. I think that the milk chocolate in this would appeal to a broader demographic, and make people slightly newer to teas much more willing to try oolongs and other chocolate teas similar to this one. My mom especially liked it, though she is not a huge fan of chocolate teas. She even said that it’s one she might keep in her cupboard.

I am so glad that I have this one in my cupboard, and I am going to be especially depressed when I finish it up. I really hope that this one becomes one of the main teas on Liquid Proust’s menu, for it is one of my favorite ones that he has made thus far.

I’ve been waiting a while in huge anticipation…… Thank you so much, LiquidProust for your heavenly offering of oolongs. I’m going to write a lot more about that later and in every post.

So, now to describe this tea-or over describe it. The scent is highly feminine, like walking into a Chinese Beauty Shop. Cream blushed with with roses and little bits and pieces of fruit welcome me. David Bowie’s China Girl Plays in the back ground.

Then I steep it for 2 minutes and 35 seconds. Dainty. Very dainty, and very light. A little too light for me, but enjoyable and very clean. I get the rose and cream, but barely.

I steep it a second time for about 4 minutes. More rose, more cream, still as girly as ever. There’s an apricot sweetness at the end.

Third steep for five: rose and cream combine into something lighter and more floral.

Fourth steep after six: really faint. I’m going to have to leave it for longer to see if I can get any more out of it. I know it’s oversteeping, but I’ve been able to savor some last bits of an oolong before.

Okay, so overall, this is a really delicate, clean, and very womanly tea. This is something that I think white tea lovers and floral tea lovers would like. For me, it’s way too delicate. I used a little less than two tea spoons in seven ounces, then six ounces. I got the stronger bit on the latter, and a part of me wonders if I needed more leaves for my tastes.

For the time it is right now, it’s a perfect summer tea. It’s refreshing, light, and probably good iced as well. Also has little bitterness and not nearly as dehydrating as some other teas I’ve had. I’m definitely going to pass this tea along, and share it. :)

Happy Monday my dear tea friends! I think I have Pharyngitis, this cold thing that I had never really made me too stuffy or cough-y, it has mostly been a nasty sore throat and fever, and pretty much that is all that is left, a stupid sore throat. Luckily it is not affecting my ability to taste things and talk, though it has made swallowing a giant pain. On a side note, I am still angry at the dryer for ruining so many of my clothes, most of them I can ‘replace’ by going to the Goodwill Bin store and paying 75 cents a pound for clothes, but the underwear that the dryer melted had to be replaced by spending legit money at Target, BUT there is a silver lining, I found that in the little boy’s section they had Minecraft clothes! An epic shirt and a Creeper hoodie that I have wanted for a while but did not want to pay a small fortune for, but it turns out a large boy’s shirt and hoodie fits me perfectly, and is half the price of an adult small. Sneaky sneaky! I will totally have to get them once I have a bit of extra money and can justify buying new clothes again…it just feels kinda wrong to me, but I have been a thrifter for life.

Today we are looking at Liquid Proust Teas’ French Toast Dianhong, a gong yi cha (or craft tea, if I am doing my translation at all correct) basically it is a blooming tea without the flower, and made with Dianhong, one of my favorite Yunnan red teas, and flavored to resemble French Toast. I used to eat French Toast all the time, but since I went to the (sad) ways of Gluten Free, I do not indulge because bread has become stupid expensive! It was a favorite 3 in the morning snack that I often found my dad cooking and would join him for some nibbles, though we ate it with ketchup rather than syrup, and they were savory rather than sweet, but in my older days I found I preferred the sweeter version! The aroma of the sizable ball is a real knockout! I am hit with intense notes of vanilla with notes of cocoa too with a tiny bit of sweet potato and roasted peanuts (hello Dianhong) alongside the tiniest note of bready batter. The vanilla reminds me more of real vanilla extract rather than vanilla beans, that distinct sweet and slightly alcohol note of the extract, this rather than straight up vanilla beans, reminds me of the extract that permeates French Toast batter, especially the way I make it…who needs a measuring spoon?

I decided to gongfu this thing, in retrospect I should have used a bigger gaiwan so it could really unfold without limits instead of having its little needles popping out the top of the water, but all my tea gear is still packed up. I will say that sniffing the tea made me melt into my chair a bit, it smells soooooo good! Very rich notes of vanilla and cocoa waft up from the slowly unfurling ball of now soggy tea. Along side the vanilla (really it is like I am sitting next to a bottle of vanilla extract) there is gentle cocoa, yams, and peanuts, yum! The liquid is a heady mixture of vanilla and cocoa with a touch of peanuts, so much vanilla sweetness.

The taste is kinda fantastic, very very strong vanilla, it has a bit of a cooling alcohol burn similar to vanilla extract, but it certainly is deliciously strong. Like drinking vanilla extract but without the really gross taste if you do that (trust me on this!) Along with the strong Vanilla which waxes and wanes, strong at first, milder in the middle, and strong at the finish with a lingering aftertaste, is notes of cocoa (ok, with this sweetness it is straight up chocolate) and yams, with a mild roasted peanut note at the finish.

Onward to the second steep! The aroma is much like the first, a metric ton of vanilla with cocoa and yams taking up the rear. The taste of the tea (also the unfurling ball looks like a sea monster) has a very similar profile to the first steep, but with stronger cocoa notes and extra yam sweetness.

Third steeping! The aroma is still very similar, though the vanilla is calming down some while the cocoa and yam notes of the tea become more prevalent. The same can be said about the taste, lots less vanilla and lots more cocoa and yams, the tea’s natural honey sweetness is shining through, meaning I like the tea and the flavor, always a good sign. I steeped this one once more, after that I found the vanilla taste was gone and it was just the sweet taste of the Dianhong ball. I was mildly perturbed, I was told that the taste would evolve a lot between steeps and it was very similar each steep to me, maybe there is something wrong with my taste buds…but everything tastes the same…worrying thoughts if true. It could also be the difference in steeping styles, temperatures, steeping vessels, and all that fun stuff, so I am not too worried. I will say I enjoyed this tea, not sure I would call it French Toast, since other than the vanilla extract I dump into the batter, it did not taste much like the toast. I certainly foresee myself buying some of these, I love watching the sea monsters unfurl, and I am curious to see how other steeping methods affect the taste.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/liquid-proust-teas-french-toast.html

This tea has become my staple every day tea. I am just so in love with the citrus jasmine flavor. I need the warm comfort of this tea because I see a looming issue at work that I don’t want to deal with. Bleck!

I have been on the hunt for the (perfect) to me jasmine green tea. I have been still craving floral teas and have found some pretty great tasting ones and some not so great tasting. I want to give this one a 100 just for finally satiating this craving I’ve been having. Thank you Liquid Proust! I literally looked at the pile of jasmine green teas that I have and thought, what am I going to do with you guys. . .

First steep was very delicate and light. Each flavor was discernible but no one flavor took over another. Very well and lightly done.

The second steep was a different story. My job as a mom interfered with my tea drinking and prepping when I heard my 5 year old hollering and me at the top of his lungs. This tea accidentally oversteeped for about 3 minutes over what the recommended parameters called for. I was prepared to be hit with a bitter brew. The opposite happened. I was greeted with this delicious fresh and crisp tangerine flavor with that jasmine flavor I have really started to love.

So very good and so forgiving. Sigh Just delicious . Thank goodness I have quite a bit of this left.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/07/28/cuppageek-special-tangerine-pearls-from-liquid-proust-tea/

Happy Tuesday Sipping all!

Sad Sipdown (141)…

Finished this one off as a pitcher of cold brew. Honestly, I’ve been putting off writing this tasting note for a while because if I write it then I have to actually acknowledge that this tea is no more and I just didn’t want to do that…

But it IS gone – and man did I love it. This sipdown hurts.

I’ve been drinking too much smoked tea lately; the flavour must have wormed its way into the vessel I use for my commute teas ’cause this definitely took on a smoked quality when I drank it this morning. Actually, though, it was incredibly pleasant! There should be more really soft, smoked peach teas out there. LP; you should get on that. Hint hint, nudge nudge…

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okzl5gkzIiY

It was a slow, beautiful morning and that unexpected smoke note in the tea really sold me on this pairing…

So last night was my friend Katie’s 19th birthday so a group of us took her out to the bar/club for the first time – I can’t really afford to drink out right now (saving up for dental work; shoot me now) so I was the sober one of the group.

Sometimes being the sober one is a good thing; you get to watch the crazy antics of your friends. Sometimes, it’s a bad thing though – you have to babysit when they get sloppy. In this case, it was a bit of both? No one got messy drunk, but we went to the loudest/busiest club in the city and as someone who is severely introverted and who doesn’t like dancing, I was FAR too sober to have a good time there. But, we weren’t there for me so I sucked it up.

Fast forward to this morning; Katie and our friend Matt were too drunk to go home so they crashed on our couch for the night. This morning I decided I’d make a big brunch for the three of us (Trey had already left for work, and Cathryn is out of town this weekend). Hashbrowns, scrambled lemon pepper cheesy eggs, toast with homemade blackberry jam, mandarin fruit salad, and of course nice hot tea! What I forgot, sadly, was that there are two main kinds of hungover people: the kind that need to eat away the hangover, and the kind that are far too sick to even look at food. Unfortunately, they were both the latter. Which is a shame, because brunch was so good.

However, the one thing that they actually BOTH finished from brunch was the tea! So, Liquid Proust for two highly hungover non-tea drinkers I’d definitely consider that some mighty high praise. And deserved praise; they each got a cup of tea but I very selfishly finished the rest of the pot because I really, really adore this one. Honestly, the fact I was willing to share any at all if actually pretty impressive and proof that I’m not a COMPLETELY selfish person.

Notes of lemon, bergamot, white peaches, and peach heavy fruit salad with those delicious little candied cherries. Floral undertones. Really smooth, medium bodied with a long lingering finish. Mmm!

It’s also holding up well for an older(ish) tea.

Morning cuppa!

Placed an order with LP last night; mostly I’m grabbing things I’ve never tried before (with the exception of the Jackfruit Pu’erh) but I have high hopes that they’ll be tasty. I mean, I’ve definitely heard good things about what I grabbed. Though, I was a little disappointed that both the Oolberry and French Toast Dianhong had sold out; darn it! I waited just a little too long to put in my order…

This cup was delightful; I really like it first thing in the morning I find. Bergamot to me is just such a “start your day right” kind of flavour and paired with the peach in particular it reminds me of early morning breakfast with all the fixings. Which is to say that I associate that idea of a hearty breakfast with the illusion of productivity and, in a way, adulthood? That’s a strange tangent, I know, but something about those things has always been correlated for me.

This mug in particular was juicy peach; I still ADORE whatever peach flavouring it is the LP uses. It’s like cocaine to me; super sweet, fulfilling and mighty addictive. Now isn’t that a polarizing association? The idea of tea so good it’s like coke but also that strongly reminds me of productivity/adulthood/and being responsible? I don’t know, guess it boils down to this just being hella tasty.

Merry Christmas… Again!

I’m currently celebrating Christmas number two of three right now. The first was the Christmas with my Dad and the third will be the one in January with my Aunt and Grandma. This one’s with my mom, and it began at the ungodly hour of six AM with my little sister jumping on my bed to wake me up.

So far, the day has consisted of banana waffles, a few Fuzzy Navels (if I’m getting up at 6AM I’m damn well pouring myself a drink; I don’t care what time it is), and openings presents! Adding to my haul from my Dad’s and what I opened last night, I got three different table top games that I had asked for: Tsuro, Dixit, and Once Upon A Time as well as an expansion pack for Once Upon a Time. We’ve already played all three and the group favourite appears to be Tsuro.

I haven’t had much tea yet today; but I made sure to start my day off right with a hot cuppa of this one before mixing my first Fuzzy Navel. In fact, I’m gonna ‘credit’ this tea with inspiring the fuzzy navels: the yummy peach notes really put me in the mood for some Schnapps. Also, beginning your day with Earl Grey (even an unconventional one such as this one) just feels right. EG is definitely a morning tea.

This is a queued tasting note.

Cold brewed! But, I think for just a little too long? Unfortunately the bergamot kind of took on a very slightly chemical flavour that made it very artificial and just a bit unpleasant. Fortunately, the peach notes and smooth, fruity Formosa were strong enough to still make this an overall enjoyable brew for at work but it wasn’t as great as it normally is. I’m very sure that’s due to the 30+ hour steep though; that’s just too much time for that bergamot to sit and get potent, I’m afraid.

This is a queued tasting note.

Mmmm!

I cold brewed this one like a week ago, and I just have to say that this really, really holds up to that first batch I received from Liquid Proust (this is my second batch). I had fears it wouldn’t, but the peach flavouring is just so good and I really love the formosa base. It has notes of sweet, juicy peaches and cocktail cherries but not in a cloying way and it counterbalanced by a reasonable level of bergamot. That peach flavour!

Drool…

For anyone interested in trying one of Liquid Proust’s blends this is probably the one I’d recommend starting with (if he still has any left). It’s, personally, my favourite. Definitely upping my rating now that I’m more assured in its consistency.

Sipdown (123)!

Wondering if Liquid Proust is gonna become the new ‘Fallout Boy’ of tea, with super long named for flavored blends. I’ve noticed a few blends have relatively lengthy names. Not a criticism, just an observation… Also, that’s a lowkey challenge.

I decided to cold brew the last of this sample from Andrew; I really enjoyed the hot version I did like a month ago and I wanted to see if it held up to a different prep method. One which, I believe, Andrew hasn’t tested? I think I remember reading somewhere (possibly in one of YOUR tasting notes?) that you’ve not tried your blends cold brewed/iced. The short answer to this experiment? It’s still damn good.

The longer answer: I think cold brewing this makes the bergamot in the blend much, much stronger. Not to a point where it’s a bad thing or overwhelms the other flavours but by the end of my 25 oz. brew I did realize there were moments where I felt it was coming off as a little intensely perfumey or where it seemed forced. Disregarding the peach for a moment, there’s also a floral quality as well as a sweet cherry-like quality (almost like cocktail cherries) to the flavor, both of which help to redeem to bergamot a little. I’d recon those two notes both, to an extent, come from the formosa base more than anything else.

Shifting focus to the peach in the blend; I wish it was stronger with this cold brew and any lighter than was present and I’d definitely be disappointed. But it’s still undoubtedly the best peach flavor I’ve had in a tea to date and if you even like peachy teas a little this is one I’m probably always going to recommend over others I’ve tried.

Thank you Liquid Proust for passing along this sample of one of your creations! From the few teas you passed along to me, I definitely get the impression you like peach or, at least, peach teas.

I probably would have never thought to pair Peach and Earl Grey/Bergamot, which is I guess why Liquid Proust is the blender and not myself. The idea is intriguing though; and I have to admit I’m incredibly happy to not see apricot or mango thrown in here as well; I get so tired of those flavour combinations. It’s been done time and time again, and it’s refreshing to see something else. The oolong base is really innovative as well; with it’s characteristic fruity flavour Formosa is a fantastic choice.

The dry leaf smells really incredible! You can get a sense of the bergamot as this grounded, lofty sort of flavour but then the ripe, plump aroma of fresh peaches seems to bounce off it! It smells juicy, and I can’t help but picture taking a bite of some sort of fantastic peach/orange hybrid and having the sugary juices running down my chin like some sort of gluttonous child gorging themselves on fresh picked fruit.

In traditional Earl Grey fashion I made sure this was my first tea of the day; however because I got the impression this was going to be more naturally sweet than a lot of EG I’m familiar with so I iced it instead of having it hot. True to my suspicions this was pretty sweet but in a very natural way that was realistic to the sweetness of fresh fruit. The bergamot was actually a lot milder than I would’ve guessed it to be base on the smell of the dry leaf. It ran like a citrusy current throughout each sip, consistently merged with the body of the sip. The peach left me breathless; there was something unnatural about it, but not in an artificial way or anything like that. It was more unnatural in a “how can this taste so plump, rich, and juicy!?” sort of way. I’m not really a fan of actual peaches, but if they all tasted like that I’d go through a crate of them a week. The bergamot and peach compliment each other to a tea; similar to what I was getting from the dry smell the bergamot is this lovely stable flavour and the peach seems to jump off it.

The formosa base was a great choice; while there’s a really faint but of astringency it doesn’t detract and the natural fruitiness of the oolong contributes even more lively fruit flavours. What I specifically observed was a really rich stonefruit like flavour in line with cherry, but a little more of a cocktail cherry type of note, which just goes incredibly well the peach. Plus, oolong means more solid steeps and so more bang for your buck.

As someone who is neither anti-Earl Grey or Peach but who doesn’t seek out those flavours I want to own this. I think I could drink it often; and with a growing list of Liquid Proust Teas that are blowing my mind Andrew is slowly wearing me down to the point where a LP order is probably in my near future despite the poor state of the Canadian dollar. Definitely a blend worth trying!

A final note though, in the battle of bergamot vs. peach I think peach wins…

This is extremely smoky, and I am not a fan of smoke flavor, so while I think this tea hits the notes that LP is trying for I am not going to give a rating. It does become appealing for me on steeps 2 and 3 as the smoke recedes and cinnamon is more prominent— it is a really nice warm cinnamon. I’d be interested to see what else LP could do in another blend with the cinnamon that’s going on here (and is really excellent)without the smoke.

Yummmm… Blueberry green tea popcorn :). And such a bright blueberry taste that I smiled at the first sip. I love it when drinking a cup of tea is like having a conversation. Re steeps well. Highly recommend this one from LP teas!

I received this tea as a sample from Liquid Proust Teas. This was my first oolong tea. When I first opened the package, I loved the aroma. This is a green oolong with peach blossoms and flavoring. There is a subtle peach flavor that is not overpowering. Overall, the tea was very pleasant! I look forward to trying more oolong teas.