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74
drank Earl Grey White Tip by TeaSource
4164 tasting notes

From Tiffany a while ago, thanks very much!  I had this tea yesterday, so this note won’t be great.  It’s a middle of the road earl.  Sadly so, as it looks like a great quality black tea leaf.  I’m not sure if it’s worth saying it has silver tips though… I only see one or two of those sickles in my sample pouch.  The bergamot used here is just okay.  Not my favorite, not terrible.  Maybe hints of grapefruit.  Always happy to try all the Earls!

Album: Buck Meek – Haunted Mountain
Song: Paradise – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RdRqZTLce4
Bonus Song: Haunted Mountain – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv8uI2VXppA

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73
drank Candy Apple White by TeaSource
1228 tasting notes

TeaTiff TTB. Whoa. I went into this tasting note knowing nothing. The aroma is intense with apple. We love apples up here in Minnesota. Our UofM has done a lot of research etc on apples. This one reminds me though of a Fuji apple with a slight hint of red delicious and a bit of golden delicious. Muted olive greens mixed with muted browns. Maybe not the prettiest leaf but the aroma makes up for that. I’m not sure of how old this sample is so I know that will take into account some of the old notes I am getting but they aren’t terrible. But overall, I’d say the flavor isn’t anything too exciting. It is mellow. Earthy with different apple notes and a small hint of barnyard. The wet aroma is somewhat vexing. Reminds me of some Indian black teas with bready and raisin notes. The mouthfeel is smooth.

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83
drank Kenya Nandi Gold by TeaSource
1228 tasting notes

TeaTiff TTB
A nice mix of dark chocolate colored leaf and golden fuzzy buds and is mostly tightly twisted. Woody aroma. The wet leaf becomes a muted milk chocolate with green olives mixed in. The smell is a pile of fall leaves long since forgotten. Very dark liquor color. Opaque, deep golden brown. That is a punch in the face. If you like a tea that will talk sweetly to you while it’s warming up and then utterly wreck you to make sure you are walking out the door in top form, you’ve found a good one. Brisk yet smooth. Astringent with its pinky pointed. There is a bit of cream and a side of cedar wood balanced smoothly with an old decaying tree.

gmathis

Sounds like exactly what I need in the a.m.: Be kind when you wake me, but boot me out the door when you catch me shillyshallying.

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89

A toasty dancong. Leaves gave off a roasted, sugary smell, the first cup sort of reminds me of a Taiwanese dongding but sweeter and with some more orchid, second cup after has more mineral. The dancong aroma, that winey quality isn’t particularly strong with this one. Hydrated leaves are roughly 1 – 1.5 in long.

The tea is good and they lowered the price of this dancong. I bought 2 oz for $23.04.

sold for $16.36/2 oz

https://www.teasource.com/products/honey-flower-dan-cong-oolong-tea-1?variant=46949204984120

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68
drank Lavenderberry by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

TTB tea! This is refreshing cold, but it’s not a great blend. I think the fake berry is a bit too fake, it’s a bit too floral, and the rooibos isn’t the most delicious. It’s fine, but one cup is enough for me. The resteep was okay too.

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83
drank Earl Grey White Tip by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

I’m drinking this with milk and sugar, and it’s pretty well-balanced and tasty! It has a medium level of bergamot, and the combination of teas makes this one taste a little softer and extra floral. I only had about 1.5 teaspoons full from a previous TTB, but I enjoyed it!

Nik

Oh, gosh, I really want Early Grey, now. I haven’t had any in aaages.

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88

A fruity black tea. Dry leaves smells like sweet potato. The tea has a playdough-like scent, floral, fairly tart with a liquorice flavor. Not terrible for the price.

edit: The tea got significantly better after weeks of opening it, the playdough smell went away and the malty, flowery flavors started to show up. Changing the score from 83 to 88.

sold for $9.60/4oz

https://www.teasource.com/products/purple-beauty-black-tea

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76
drank Roasted Chestnut by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

Inkling Advent Day 24. This is heading toward bitterness, so next time I’ll certainly give it a shorter steep. The flavor really does taste like chestnuts, plus that slightly harsh black tea. I’m enjoying it sweetened with milk, but it may be a little simplistic for me to want to purchase for myself. And as always, I wouldn’t mind the flavor being even stronger. I like the nuttiness though.

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76
drank Moon Over Madagascar by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

Inkling Advent Day 22. This one smells so creamy and nice! It doesn’t taste as strong as it smells, but the cream/vanilla flavor is quite pleasant, if a little artificial. There’s also a bit of pepperiness randomly. I’m conflicted about this one because I do enjoy the cream a lot, but I feel like it needs to be paired with something like bergamot or something else.

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75
drank Candy Apple White by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

Inkling Advent Day 18. Hot, I can taste apple plus the plantlike tea base, with a bit of sweetness that’s meant to be the candy. I feel like the candy and the apple mix better cold, and the base tea is still quite present, but it has a nicer quality. This one feels a bit sophisticated and mild, but nice.

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70
drank Midsummer Moonlight by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

Inkling Advent Day 16. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, and I couldn’t find it with a quick search online. I can’t tell what the flavor is – maybe lightly floral or fruity? I can’t tell. It’s not as smooth or delicious or heavily flavored as I prefer, but it was decent both warm without milk and cold with milk.

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100

my all-time favorite tea. great value, buttery, cashew, floral, minerality, and such a warm taste. the sweetness and slight bitterness balance perfectly. great for quite a few steeps. if i had to pick one tea to drink forever, it would be this one. it’s so complex yet so enjoyable.

Flavors: Butter, Cashew, Floral, Mineral

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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70
drank Red Dawn by TeaSource
9 tasting notes

intense and rich experience. feels like drinking warm liquid caramel and peach jelly and chocolate. on the second steep it thins out and is easier to drink. it’s the tea i drink when i wish i had a latte.

Flavors: Candied Fruit, Caramel, Chocolate, Peach

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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60

maybe i am just brewing too hot but ive never gotten a good cup from this, it’s always far too bitter! Might as well keep experimenting until the bag’s gone.

Flavors: Astringent, Grassy

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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100

Delicious. So buttery, sweet and flowery. It’s like a croissant and a beautiful bouquet. it tastes like a jasmine green but better. i am always delighted at how much the leaves bloom and expand in a tieguanyin!

its also delicious iced.

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Sweet, Warm Grass

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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90
drank Houjicha by TeaSource
9 tasting notes

an incredibly reliable, simple hojicha. this is my go-to for when i’m showing a friend my tea cupboard and i want to give them a flavor theyve probably never tried in tea. and so cheap, too. i always have a bag of this around.

Flavors: Campfire, Sweet, Warm Grass, Toasty, Woody

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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100

Best iced tea i have ever had. don’t bother with it hot. makes a great cold brew too – cold brew in a french press or with a big bag. i cant wait for it to be summer again so i can make this.

Flavors: Fruity, Honey, Wildflowers

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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70

impossible to oversteep so i have it grandpa style. strangely, tastes exactly like the delicious smell of the lumber section in any home improvement store.

Flavors: Sweet, Woody

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 8 min or more

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62
drank Sweet Ginger Green by TeaSource
2279 tasting notes

I taste some woody ginger and some green tea that I can tell is pretty old – I guess that’s what happens sometimes with TTBs! The ginger isn’t too sharp or spicy. I guess I just find this one to be a little bland and unexciting.

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90

This is my dads all time favorite tea. Definitely great if you’re a fan of honeydew flavoring!

Flavors: Honeydew

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drank Green Mango by TeaSource
2888 tasting notes

The pickiest, snarkiest green tea I ever attempted to get along with—an Assam green—came from Teasource. The temp had to be exactly adjusted to the one-one hundredth of a degree and the time within .001 millisecond to keep from being so bitter it’d take the skin off your tongue. I never did get it right.

So my expectations were kinda low with this sample.

Steeped it at the office, so I couldn’t be too exacting, but with steaming rather than boiling water and a 3 minute steep, the base came out tasting like green tea should taste. Ditto with the mango. The AC is still flaky, so I put it immediately on ice and it’s pretty pleasant!

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drank Big Red Robe by TeaSource
435 tasting notes

I’ve tried this several times and it never compares well to Mandala’s big red robe, or Lapsang Souchon. This tea is just mildly woody and smoky and I’m left wanting more. I’ll finish the smallish bag I have and then go hunting in my cupboard for the better version. It’s in the ‘save for later’ or ‘break in case of emergency’ section of the cupboard.

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77

I’m not sure what possessed past me to buy a 2oz bag of puerh tuo chas, when I don’t even really like unblended puerh. But I did, and now I have to drink through that fact…

It’s still raining here, so at least it seems appropriate for the weather. I placed one tuo cha to steep in 350ml of 205F water, and just left it there for about ten minutes before straining.

There is a strong leather aroma from the steeped tea that is quite pleasant — I’ve been working on a project in our local special archives collection, the Idaho and Pacific Northwest History Room, and it reminds me of that old book smell, though smokier, and with a bit of a peppery spice.

Tastes pretty good, too! The earthiness is rich and deep rather than the dirt/potting soil taste I usually get. There is a bit of a wet rock/plant taste, but again, it’s very smooth and not that “swampy/marshy” sort of taste. And the leather/smoke/pepper flavor is so strong that it really gives it some dimension.

Pretty impressive for cheap tuos.

Flavors: Earth, Leather, Pepper, Smoke, Smooth, Spices, Wet Moss, Wet Rocks

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
gmathis

Book smell :) (inhaling imaginary scent)

Mastress Alita

I love book smell! Being a librarian fits me. :-)

gmathis

Playing in the archives sounds like fun! I am the unlikely custodian (it has absolutely nothing to do with my job description) of a history of our school district originally written longhand by a sweet octogenarian retired history teacher. I helped transcribe his work back in the ‘90s (he researched us clear back to the 1890’s) and have managed to keep the electronic files viable, but with too many more Windows mutations, I’m afraid we’ll lose them, so I’m in the process of actually printing out hard copies and sharing them with some other staff members so that they aren’t lost once I’m no longer there.

tea-sipper

Oh good, a puerh you like! See, I feel like puerh is usually an acquired taste for most. I also love to drink puerh on rainy days and old book smell. :D

Mastress Alita

I seem to get most of the really gritty/dirty/marshy tasting ones. Whenever I don’t, I tend to like it just fine. Our rain is persisting (very unusual weather for this area!) so I’ve been drinking a lot of pu’erh and houjicha.

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50

I haven’t reviewed this one either?!

My most local teashop (they closed permanently due to Covid) at one point carried “Pomegranate Cranberry” black tea, from International Tea Importers. I really loved that tea. The next year when I visited them, they had “Pomegranate Black” on the menu which I assumed was the same tea, but instead it was the same tea that comes from TeaSource (whatever that source may be, but it isn’t the ITI blend). I never quite warmed up to it the same way, and it appears that TeaSource isn’t carrying it anymore (though other tea shops are still sourcing it).

The dry tea does have a pretty sharp/fruity aroma that simulates pomegranate fairly well. The steeped cup has a leather/smoky note from the Chinese base, and the sharp fruitiness has turned a bit medicinal in aroma. There is a nice flority to the aroma as well, but nothing like the distinct peony floral note that the “Pomegranate Cranberry” I liked so much had.

The base really comes through on this one, and I’m a fan of Chinese blacks… deep, a hint smoky, a hint rosy. A fruitiness is present, but either the flavoring itself or that flavor combined with a Chinese is somehow making it come off with a slightly metallic tang and it just tastes like watered down Robotussin to me.

Conclusion… I still don’t vibe with this tea. I just want to use up the package so that one day, I can replace it with the ITI blend.

Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Leather, Medicinal, Metallic, Pomegranate, Rose, Smoke

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML

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