Peet's Coffee & Tea

Oh Lapsang Souchong, how I’ve missed you all these years. Amongst all the five-year-stale teas I discovered in my cupboard recently upon returning to tea-nerdery, Lapsang was the one tin that was empty. But, but, but… now I have more.

This is the most beautiful tea, the tea of teas. It smells like a campfire. It tastes like a campfire. It makes your tea-basket permanently taste and smell like a campfire, infusing it into anything else you ever make with it, forcing you to keep a second basket just for Lapsang.

And you do.

Because it’s beautiful and perfect.
The reason I’ve rated this only 95 is because there’s probably a Lapsang Souchong out there better than the one Peet’s offers which is even more divine, and one day I may taste it. Also, because Gyokuro exists.

This is probably one of the best smelling teas I have owned, aside from my Shinchas/Gyokuro (because nothing beats a fresh green). Cinnamon and spices in cider by the fireplace come to mind.

The base is black tea, but it’s absolutely packed with spices, cloves, large bits of citrus peel etc. and it shows through in the end result. It still tastes like tea, but both the taste and the smell strongly reflect that warm cinnamon spiciness. The smooth tea flavor is good, but stays in the background as a base. One could probably write pages dissecting all the flavor notes and the order in which they manifest… but that would miss the point. This blend isn’t about the parts, but about the picture they paint. I’d have liked to see more Lapsang smokiness to go with the feel, but that would be too polarizing for most customers. I will have to blend this with some actual Lapsang and report back.

Be it on a cold winter’s night, or upon getting into the office after standing on a freezing BART station platform at an ungodly early hour, this is the tea equivalent of “Winter Warmer” type beers. Highly recommended if you can find it, at any time it’s cold out, or you just need some comfort tea.

Note: This tea spent five years aging in the tin prior to this post.

I found this to be an especially nice black tea. It blends the smoke of a Lapsang (though obviously much less intense) with a woodsy tobacco sort of flavor – so, it’s a Keemun. If you’re not into smoky woodsy teas, this might well be your least favorite black tea aside from Lapsang Souchong – but if you are, this is pretty good.

A Keemun will generally take being left on the shelf for years pretty well, so in my case the unintentional five year aging served to dramatically mellow out the bite, bringing it down to almost pu-erh levels of not-bitter. I found that to compliment the flavor pretty well – so while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend five years… this is one you can give a few of aging for a mellower profile, and it certainly holds up fine if you’re slow to finish the tin.

I can’t rate it especially highly because it didn’t wow me, but it’s definitely good, and I wouldn’t turn it down. I tend to spoil my palate with super-fancy teas, and I can see this blowing some minds if one is new to loose-leaf brewed right.

Having finally replaced my very, very old tin of this with a fresh one, I’ve got to bump the rating up a few points.
It’s smoother, cleaner, more complex, and far better than I expected, in comparison. I didn’t think it had changed too much, but it certainly had.

I’m also getting a note of umami in the aftertaste, which I don’t remember ever tasting in a pu-erh before.

Second Steep:
For the second steep, there’s a citric, almost earl-grey-bergamot sort of flavor in place of the first steep’s umami aftertaste. The earthy flavor is a bit more pungent, fruity, no longer as mellowed-out. The tea went black within seconds of hitting the water, and again only needed a minute’s steep. As one expects from a pu-erh, this isn’t a one-steep tea.

Previously, I’d been making this unintentionally 5-year shelf aged tea of mine with water that wasn’t full boiling point, and had commented that it seemed to have a certain excess pungency from so long being ignored. This morning, I used boiling water as intended with pu-erhs, and sure enough, it’s gone. With boiling water, this tastes mellower and a bit more complex than it did new, but not at all unpleasant. I have some fresh tuo-chas on the way, so I’ll be able to compare better at that point.

Somehow, I managed to fall out of being a tea nerd and went without loose-leaf for years. As a result, coming back into it, I found myself with a few tuo-cha left of this pu-erh. After five years in their tin, there is a distinctly different character from when I purchased it, worthy of note.

Even for a pu-erh, the years have mellowed it further, smoothed out the body, and a 45 second 195F first steep leads to coffee-black tea, and the cake completely coming apart to leaves in the basket.

It tastes like dirt, in the best of ways. It has a certain stale, fermented sort of pungency from the excess aging that I think is perhaps too much, but it’s still quite drinkable. I wouldn’t recommend you let this age for 5 years, but 2-3 in I am sure would be quite good. This isn’t a particularly special pu-erh either way, but it’s readily available, decently priced, has a nice tin and comes in single-pot tuo-cha. A good staple pu-erh.

It’s worth noting something many pu-erh newbies miss – this as with almost any is good for not just a second steep, but as many as six, and better pu-erh go even longer. Dumping the leaves after one infusion is a waste of your money. The steep lengths should be roughly 20-25 seconds longer each time, and start at 45 seconds – assuming you’ve rinsed the cake and let it sit as is proper.

Not my favorite chai but I still have several ounces of the tin left. I really miss the chai blends I got from Cardamom and Curry in Livermore last year at the Green Fair.

In comparison this seems kind of weak in flavor, even though I made it really strong especially so I could add a lot of soymilk to it for a creamy afternoon drink. I should try making this using the traditional stovetop method, it’s really much better that way.

Good afternoon Steepster… I hope everyone is enjoying the day. I had a nice morning because my sweetie made me breakfast and then I went to go get a massage which was very relaxing and almost made up for the fact that I didn’t sleep much again last night.

I felt like I wanted something warm and soothing & almost ended up with a straight black tea but decided to drink this instead. Prepared with 8 oz. tea and 8 oz. soymilk in a really big mug with some organic cane sugar. This isn’t the best chai I’ve ever had but since I have a whole tin of it, it’s good enough for the time being. I would still like to find a good decaf chai someday. I am enjoying this though, and getting a nice calcium boost.

Good afternoon everyone. I sort of needed a treat today because PT was a real bit*h this morning. I am making progress but the therapist is pushing me pretty hard which equals a lot of pain. Will be glad when this process is over. I guess dealing with the pain now will be better than dealing with a frozen shoulder in the long run.

Anyway a chai is always a nice treat for me. I brewed 2 tsp. of this in an 8 oz cup then poured that into a giant mug and added 8 oz of heated unsweetened soymilk and 1 tsp. of raw cane sugar. This is a good, spicy chai which is great for the rainy weather we are having here and I’m also getting a calcium boost. Lots of ginger and cardamom in this tea which is plain old yummy! Very traditional tasting, down to the CTC assam.

My day will be looking up, I’m going to get a massage later which should just be relaxing and good for my achy muscles.

I bought this yesterday at Peet’s since I’ve been craving some kind of a masala chai but wanted to resist placing an order over the internet which would mean I’d probably end up buying a bunch of other stuff I don’t really need.

Upon opening the tin I think this is a CTC assam and there’s lots of broken spices in it. The directions on the tin say to steep 8 oz of tea for 5 minutes and then to warm the milk separately and combine the two. I figured I would try it at least once with their recommended instructions.

I used almond milk that I warmed in the microwave. I did taste the chai plain and it was incredibly strong so I know I will not be drinking it that way! Whenever I’ve had chai in Indian restaurants it does seem to be really creamy so it makes sense that you would use a lot of milk to temper it out. I also added some rock sugar and it is pretty good that way.

The spices in this blend are really strong, the cardamom is quite potent but that’s ok since I really like cardamom. The ginger is also quite strong. I can’t believe another taster thought the spices were weak because to me they seem quite potent. Next time I make this I will need to try adding slightly more plant milk and slightly less tea.

This is pretty good but I can see how it would be too strong for a lot of people, especially if they didn’t follow the instructions. It’s pretty good for a foggy day like today and I definitely feel invigorated just drinking this.

Overall it’s pretty good but I think I prefer the chai from Rishi, which I will likely purchase again someday. I’m just trying to avoid placing anymore internet orders for the next month or two while I save up for my vacation to Victoria.

I’m extra sleepy this morning. It’s been raining for two days straight here since that tropical storm is passing through, and I think it’s making our dogs and cats anxious or crazy. They’ve all been so ornery and into everything! The foster kittens were up all night long, and I was afraid that if I put them out of my room and shut the door that I wouldn’t hear what they were destroying. Even our laid-back greyhound has been a ‘velcro dog’ and is glued to my side, following me from room to room. Needless to say, I need the strongest cup of tea I can find this morning!

I’ve tried Peet’s Pride of the Port and loved it, so I am sure that I will like this tea. The dry leaves smell lightly sweet and malty, and the tea itself smells much the same, with the addition of a light floral note. The tea has a strong and sweet malty flavor and finish. There is a heavy malty aftertaste that is just wonderful – this will surley wake me up this morning! There is a slight bitterness, but nothing that a little milk and sugar won’t take care of. And this certainly is an ideal tea for milk and sugar – it is just perfect. It’s been a long time since I’ve had an Irish Breakfast, and this one is exceptionally good! Thank you to Serenity for this wonderful sample!

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly sweet and malty. Tea liquor aroma is sweet and malty with a floral note.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Strong and sweet malty flavor and finish. Heavy malty aftertaste. Slight bitterness.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Strong and sweet malty flavor. Perfect with milk and sweetener.

From 6-9 of June, I will be representing Vicony Teas Company in the 2013 World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada!

I have been meaning to review this tea since early April.

Leaf Quality:
Most of the leaves of this Sencha were whole, however, about 1/5 of them were broken rather finely due to their fragility. The dark green leaves smelled sweet and grassy. Some of them had yellow veins running the side of the leaves, but most were a consistent rich green.

Brewed Tea:
The leaves yielded a chartreuse brew that smelled of sweet grass. The flavor wasn’t much different. One thing I noticed about this Sencha was the lack of any bitterness; usually, I find it rather easy to oversteep Sencha. The finishing taste was vegetal and very clean.
Second Steeping
This brew brought out an increased amount of the grassy-vegetal qualities. Perhaps I brewed this steeping a bit longer than the first, but nevertheless the flavor was clean and rather sweet. Not one bit of this tea was bitter, however the grassy notes were heavily pronounced.

This company’s Sencha was not disappointing. The leaves brewed a very fresh, clean, and vegetal cup each time.

Purchased a 4 oz. tin in-store at Peet’s for around ten dollars. Jade Cloud/Mist is one of my favorite varieties of green, so I figured I’d give it a try. I used about 1.5 heaping tablespoons, and accidentally steeped it for a little too long (around 6-7 minutes), but it was still forgiving and not too bitter unlike most greens if brewed that way.
Smell/Aroma: the tea itself smells very sweet, which doesn’t come through as much in the brew itself.
Appearance: brews a fairly dark, almost orangeish liquor.
Body: Fairly light.
Taste/Flavor: absolutely love the flavor of this tea. Very brothy…so much so that it almost tastes like it could be used in place of chicken broth in recipes! Perhaps it’s the theanine content…? Can definitely taste the kale notes as well.

Surprisingly solid tea, especially for the price.

I’m probably spoiled by Earl Grey teas from better blenders, but this is the worst Earl Grey blend I’ve ever tasted. I’m even counting Bigelow here. 0 points for style. However, I probably oversteeped it, but still… bleagh.

A mild fall campfire in a cup. This is my first lapsang souchong and as such I may be unduly impressed by something that isn’t quite as remarkable as I feel it is. However, smelling this as soon as I opened the tin, I instantly recognized the smell. That campfire smoke where you’re roasting marshmallows using the pine needles, twigs, and other small bits of kindling.

The dry tea leaves are not that impressive, but, the aroma is quite potent. They’re rolled tightly and dark in color, almost black. Overall it’s very uniform in appearance, thin, small black leaves.

Steeping this the tea comes out a deep leathery red-brown color. I feel like the smoky scent is even stronger after it’s steeped. The first sip I was greeted with a wonderful woody and full-bodied taste, the aroma of the lapsang souchong filling my nose and a very light taste of pine. The second sip, playing with the taste of the tea by slurping slightly, it’s much easier to detect the pine taste and it’s washed away by a sudden rush of smoky flavor. There’s a small bit of something sweet in the taste as well. I’m not sure if the feeling on the tongue i’m detecting is astringency or not, just due to not having someone go ’that’s what astringency is’ and defining it for me; it tingles slightly on the tongue.

The wet leaves after steeping have unfurled a small bit, they’re slightly lighter in appearance, more of a dark brown than the black before steeping. They still carry the campfire aroma heavily.

A second steeping produces a slightly lighter scented tea with a much more mild color. It’s lost some of it’s strength, however, considering how strong it was in the first steep this is still very pleasant and drinkable. I’m not too certain it’d go for a third steeping.

I’d highly recommend this tea to others, especially as a first lapsang souchong just because it was my first and I found the experience pleasant. It might not be the highest quality lapsang souchong judging by some of the other tasting notes, but, if this one is good and others are better and it can only go up from here, well, that’s awesome. I’ll also note that the 4 oz tin of this was only $6.45; a hard price to beat for experimenting with a new tea.

This tea, although an Orange Pekoe, (The tea type that ruled western brewers for a very long time, who also made it terribly) Lion Mountain Keemun can be made anew! Since it is a small leaf bud-set tea, only 1 teaspoon is needed per 6 ounces of water. 1 steep is all that can be done to ensure the best flavor though. so double the amount of tea and water when you brew. Rinse, then infuse all of the tea,after 3 minutes, pour 6 oz out, then after 5 minutes, poor the rest out. This ensures the best from this black tea!

Dear Peet’s: WHAT. What is this poison you’re calling tea? Its undrinkable!

They can’t say I didn’t give them a chance. Trying this tea made me feel like I was drinking melted candy with cheap perfume. The jasmine aroma was completely overwhelming and the taste was worse than Peet’s Matcha Latte. I barely made it through half a cup! Maybe they over-steeped it? We’ll see… I got an extra tea bag so I’ll try making it at home tomorrow.

Yawn. Tired. This tea should help! I still like it, even bagged.