Paper & Tea

Frothy vibrant green, grassy, spinach, bitterness turns to sweetness.

Strong citrus zest explosion on the nose. The leaf is just bursting with the pleasant aroma of orange jam and honey. There’s even some minty freshness present. The leather notes are there but somewhat overpowered by the bergamot. They’re most prominent if the first seconds after hitting the leaves with the hot water. The liquor is a gorgeous deep amber color with rose gold hues. The flavor just goes on and on even after the fourth or fifth infusion.

Toasted sesame, salty notes but there’s also sweetness. After the initial nuttiness the vegetal notes unfold, but more tangy sorrel rather than cut grass and spinach. Not much bitterness or astringency. Lovely green tea.

Sorrel, dock, fresh green grass and herbs, spinach, green tomatoes, slight sweet floral aroma hidden beneath the green notes.

Much lighter tasting than a normal rooibos. Less caramel and more grassy and woody notes. Dry mouthfeel but also sweetness on the tongue. I should experiment with shorter steeping time.

Ooh wee, that’s something. Sweet and savoury pine smoke, reminds me of BBQ sauce. Hints of earth and leather, more pronounced on the wet leaves. It’s good neat but I love it even more Tibetan style – with a good pinch of salt and a dollop of butter. The creamy saltiness really complements the smoky notes.

I was on the fence about reviewing this tea. I bought it almost 3 years ago, the company doesn’t even carry it anymore, it’s a sipdown for me, and it’s not like any of the other Steepsters have this one. But, for the sake of completeness, I’ll write some notes.

This is a Nepalese black. It’s a bit old, but I’ve stored it well and I think the flavor has held up pretty well. As for the flavor profile, the label says: “honey, geranium, peach, sweet corn” Um, OK. I get the corn, a little of peach sweetness, a tiny bit of honey. No floral notes. I found it a bit tricky – too little leaf and the flavor is meh. Too much and it turns tannic. I know I went nuts for it in the store, but since that store is in Berlin, it’s entirely possible I had “vacation mind” and got all carried away with it. I mean, the store is fabulous (see my review in the Places section), filled with beautiful teaware and paper goods. It was really quite the experience.

Anyway, I made this mostly for iced tea, after wrestling with the idea: wouldn’t it be kind of a waste for such a nice tea to be made iced? Shouldn’t I just sit down and do a gongfu session to at least appreciate a resteep? But then the tea languished in the cupboard and I decided that it should at least be drunk, even if not in the optimal way. It makes a nice iced tea, but the exact leaf to water ratio, as I’ve said before, I found troublesome. Mostly too tannic, as I tend to overleaf and oversteep, especially with iced tea.

Well, Summer Moon, you deserved better, but at least you’ve been consumed. And you were a pretty good tea, although I think with more deft preparation, you could’ve been great.

Milky, creamy and buttery with floral notes – I guess that would be the gardenias, though it also reminds me of lily of the valley.

Toasted chestnuts and sesame seeds, savoury aroma.

Pleasant nutty aroma of sweet chestnuts. I can’t pick out much else.

Sweet, sweet smell, woody resin, bales of hay and wild flowers. Beautiful pale green buds.

The wet leaf has strong aroma of spinach, green grass and sweet chestnut. Those are also prominent in the taste but there is also a second layer of sweetness and hints of tropical fruit that coat the tongue and linger there. A very interesting combination of flavors.

Apricots, apricots, apricots. Also flowers and an unobtrusive hint of cocoa on the finish. Pleasantly sweet.

Amazing aroma of freshly baked pumpkin pie and apple strudel. Tastes like Christmas.

- great DianHong – like a good Silver Needle but more warm honey apricot notes.

- realy clean WhiteTea stems creating a wonderful BlackTea or Oolong appearence with impressive honeysweet peach and lychee smell & flavour.
-definitely worth checking out if you like some intense WuYi’s or realy fruity Blacks.