Teavivre

My first pu-erh tea. I’ve never tasted something like this before (I’m new to loose leaf tea btw). The moment I tasted this tea, I remembered the vacation place from my childhood. I couldn’t understood why. I think it was because of the wooden taste which took my time to figure out. I enjoyed the tea. It was strong and has different notes to discover.

See my full review on Sororitea Sisters:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/05/09/fresh-and-easygoing-green-tian-mu-mao-fenggreen-tea-from-teavivre/

My first ever experience with oolong tea. Used amount of 2 teaspoon, rinsed, and waited 4 minute for brewing. However for 1. steep there was a dominant grass taste and nothing else. Maybe it’s because of me since I’m new to this and can’t catch the notes.
2. steep has less vegetal taste but still couldn’t taste something special.

Thanks for having that wonderful giveaway a few months ago, Teavivre! I won a few samples and a $5 gift card. Teavivre is awesome like that. The leaves here are the longest I’ve seen, long flattened lovely green leaves, that peak out of my basket infuser while touching the bottom. The scent of the dry leaves is sweet and heavenly. The flavor is too. There is such complexity here: sugar, butter, creamed corn, even strawberries. Strawberries! And even more little flavor notes that I’m sure I missed. It’s like every sip was different. The second steep was a little more muted than the first cup. I can definitely taste the quality in this one, like I usually can with Teavivre’s teas.
Steep #1 // half sample for a full mug// 33 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 27 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Harvest: 2017

A good fruity and honey-tasting black tea. Finished my second sample of this. I’m looking forward to the 2017 version when I next order.

This has been one of my favorite teas from Teavivre.

Sipdown!

This is one from Angel at Teavivre. Thank you! I steeped this for about 5 minutes and since that only 1/2 opened the tightly wrapped ball, I probably should have steeped this for longer. Nonetheless, the tea is the typical white tea hue so I figured it might be okay. Flavorwise, it is light but flavorful with notes often associated with white tea like sweet corn, hay and butter. It is good but it is also a plain white tea, which is not something I reach for very often. So, I would recommend this for those who enjoy white teas even though I myself probably won’t revisit it anytime soon.

I’ve decided that this is a tea style (aged white) that needs to be in my cupboard all the time. So far, I’ve been incredibly lucky to have subsisted solely on samples from generous Steepster users and companies, but I think it’s high time I officially invest and stock up!

Why do I love this kind of thing? For starters, it combines my favourite floral, hay, and fruity notes of white tea styles with the smooth, creamy-earth profile of an aged tea. It also proves to the world that you can be the low-grade by-product of Silver Needles, and still retain ALL the class. Dance on, classy tea.

This shou mei has a heady sweetness that I associate with blueberry wine. I can’t say why shou mei’s and blueberries are interlinked in my mind, but there it is. Not sure anyone else would get that particular flavour. It turns into a spiced juniper berry in later steepings.

Steep Count: 3

Sample provided by Teavivre. Thank you!

Sample from Angel Thank you!

I had gongfu’d this on Sunday and finished the session before work yesterday morning. I first noted that the tea was bitter; however, after realizing that my water temperature was still at 195 F after the sheng I had brewed, I switched the temperature to 165 F. After a couple of steeps with the new temp, the leaf had managed to change. There were grassy & buttery notes, with a touch of astringency. I got to about 9-10 steeps before giving up. At that point, I was pushing the tea, but it was pretty much hot water with a touch of flavor. I had enjoyed this once I realized the mistake with the water temperature.

Angel full hand made rare organic she qian long Jing green tea. Limited edition from Teavivre.

Gongfucha review. Ru Yao dragon teapot.

Dry leaf: green, vegetal, sweet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVIAP7Ug34j/

Wet leaf: green, chestnut, vegetal, sweet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVIAlOoAYc6/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVIIE2ugRGG/

Light steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight —> green, vegetal, chestnut. (Taste) light -→ green, vegetal, sweet, grass, chestnut, mineral, smooth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVIAg2sA8oO/

Medium steep; I taste/smell: (smell) light —> sweet, green, vegetal, chestnut. (Taste) medium -→ smooth, green, grass, sweet, vegetal, chestnut, mineral, metallic (unknown), green peas, asparagus, beans (?).

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: (smell) light something but I can’t put my nose on it. (Taste) medium to strong —> metallic (iron and copper). slight to light -→ grass (?) green (?) I don’t know…

All in all an amazing tea! I’m not sure if it’s worth the rare status but it’s yummy :D. Nice cha qi! I rate a 75/100.

This one falls a bit flat for me. Missing the roasted sweetness while also not offering much in the way of florals and green notes. Maybe this is old tea, as I don’t know when it was harvested. There are better Dong Dings out there.

Thank you, Teavivre, for this sample! I don’t think I ever tried a yellow tea before. I anticipated that it would have characteristics similar to green tea since it was on the lighter side of the color spectrum.

When I opened the silver sample package, long green tea leaves greeted me from inside. The aroma of the unbrewed leaves was grassy and, yes, similar to the grassy smell of green tea.

I brewed the leaves at approximately 185 degrees (I had to estimate using the office microwave machine to heat the water) for eight minutes as recommended on the package. The steeped color was light yellow. The odor was again definitely like that of green tea.

The flavor of this tea was surprisingly full-bodied, distinct, and satisfying. Yes, the taste was similar to green tea, but this yellow tea had its own flavor signature as well. The taste was a bit grassy like green varieties but there was also a blended sweet potato attribute that lay comfortably on my palate. As is common with Teavivre teas, it was extremely smooth without a glimmer of astringency. The aftertaste was light and airy and it quickly dissipated.

I didn’t expect to like yellow tea too much since I almost exclusively favor the robust, high octane, black teas. However, I REALLY enjoyed this one…A LOT! I don’t have a long list of preferred afternoon and evening teas yet but this offering is definitely high up on it!

Another sample from Teavivre, the first oolong I’ve tried!

I always approach oolong thinking I am not a fan, but I forget that I have always enjoyed the green type, but not the roasted/dark sort. Not sure of the terminology for that, sorry.

This tea was packed amazingly well, and when I opened it the bag was full of little rolly twirly balls of oolong. I made a cup at work, and it was nice to watch it all unravel as it steeped.

I really enjoyed this. It’s floral and sweet and I was struck by how “creamy” it tasted. A nice thick mouthfeel. I never thought I’d say this about an unflavoured oolong, but I might have to put this one on my wishlist!

So glad to get to try all of these delicious teas!

As I was drinking this one I thought I should probably quit my job and move to China and beg someone at Teavivre to teach me everything about tea and give me a job :)

So, I guess that means this is quite the tea!

Another Spring 2017 green tea sample from Teavivre!

Of all the three greens I have tried so far, I found this one the greenest, least buttery and least sweet. I first steeped some in my Contigo to take to the movies and was surprised the lack of amazingness compared to the others, but thought maybe it was the mug not the tea, so I tried again at home.

It’s still good, but I didn’t get the sweet bready flavour burst with this one. A bit too vegetable like without the butter and sweetness I enjoy.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to try it, because it’s helping me decide which ones to wish list!

I used more leaf this second time around which resulted in far more caramel and far more sweet potato, like caramelized sweet potato. Delicious.

Really enjoying this sample, Angel. Thanks.

The golden tips are so plentiful that the dry leaf is soft and spongey, like dry moss. making it a bit challenging to scoop out the dry leaf with my teaspoon.

Beautiful smooth bready caramel sweet way to begin my morning here where the rain either silences or muffles the sounds of my neighbourhood. Already a heavenly day. The sip ends with the slightest bit of stone fruit.

More and more of the sweet potato note emerges in the second and third steep.

Thank you, Angel, for this sample and the chance to try this delightful tea.

We made two pots Western style last night to go with Asian take-out. The dry leaves had such a fresh, powerful aroma. I love the promise that it is easier on the stomach as mine gets angry easily.

The tea is pale, clear yellow and very sweet and creamy tasting. It was served to a large gathering and everyone enjoyed it. There was no sour taste and no bitterness. This will probably be one of my go-to recommendations for people wanting easy to drink tea.

Another Friday, another sample from Teavivre to try. Things are looking up.

These “dragon ball” teas are pretty cool. This one was individually wrapped in clear cellophane and fastened with a little baggy tie. It was a tightly rolled ball of dark leaves and pinkish flowers about the size of a gumball. The unbrewed knob had a pronounced tea smell with a slightly rose/flowery accent.

I followed the instructions on the silver sample package and brewed the ball for five minutes at 195 degrees. The package actually said 194 degrees but 195 was the closest my One Touch Tea Maker could get. What’s one degree between friends anyway?

The steeped liquor had a bright gold color. The odor was very much like its unbrewed incarnation: tea with a rosy accent.

The taste was completely consistent with its smell, before and after brewing. The tea flavor was full-bodied and robust, yet it was remarkably smooth. A rose bud undertone melded into the taste perfectly. This was a relief for me as I am often overwhelmed by flowery-tasting teas. There also was the presence of a sweet attribute to round out the extremely harmonious blend. I did not detect any astringency and the aftertaste was quite light and pleasant. If the 195-degree liquid temperature hadn’t been capable of producing blisters on my gullet, I would have chugged my cup down even faster than I did.

This is another outstanding tea from Teavivre that I can easily recommend. It worked extremely well for me with my breakfast but I’m sure it would also be a fantastic lunch or mid-day selection as well.

hmm, I can’t remember if I tasted ming qian or she qian longjing. Thank you to Teavivre for the free sample! Backlog from last month. 2 tsp (half the package, about 3g I think?), medium temperature water, multiple steeps using smaller amounts of water, but brewed western style in a teapot.

These are the notes I took compiled from three of us doing a group tasting:
Fruity – reminds us of apricot or peach
Vegetal, but not grassy
Nutty, but no specific nuts
Very delicate, aromatic, quite flavourful
Slight sweetness like that of fruits
A good green for those who don’t enjoy greens. Two of us don’t like greens very much, but all three of us enjoyed this one.

Backlog from last month. Thank you to Teavivre for the free samples!

These are the notes I took compiled from three of us doing a group tasting:
This is a very flavourful green tea and it has a strong green flavour.
Notes of seaweed, but it isn’t salty.
Vegetal
Kind of sweet like the scent of honey
Umami (seaweed/kelp) but not buttery
Not astringent at all in any of the steeps.
Gets more floral, honey, seaweed flavour in the 2nd and 3rd steeps. The first steep was the greenest.

This is a sample sent by Teavivre for review. Many thanks, Angela and Teavivre!

I used my eight ounce pot and about half the sample. The dry leaves smell wonderful, and remind in appearance and scent of a nice white tea, one of the bolder ones like a shou mei.

I did rinse this and pour off the very pale liquid quickly. My first steep was thirty seconds. I have a bad habit of drinking all types of puerh too quickly, forgetting how much more I like them after they have cooled for a minute, so I used my thinnest cups. The heat on my fingers will remind me to wait until it is cooler so I can taste the full flavor profile better.

This is a nice golden color. The scent surprisingly has apple notes! I am thinking of Granny Smith apples with their tart juiciness. The scent of white tea is now mixed with the characteristic scent of raw puerh, or perhaps the scent of a brisk green tea.

The flavor is mild, slightly astringent and lending a tingle to the tongue, and has the delightful rising sweetness that occurs when drinking certain greens.

I raised the third steep to 45 seconds but it is more astringent here so I will be sticking to 30-35 seconds for this one henceforth.

There is still a fruity flavor now on the fourth steep, with a hint of smoke and a good bit of dryness. This is a very interesting tea, and I find it very drinkable even at this young age. My daughter is drinking this with me and didn’t know it was raw puerh. She was quite surprised when I told her because she had one at a tea festival that did not please her! She likes this one.

2017 harvest sample provided by Teavivre. Thank you!

Had a gongfu session, brewing 3g in a 60ml porcelain gaiwan with 180 degree water (the ratio is a bit higher than the recommended, which is 1g:30ml). No rinse. Followed the website’s steeping directions directions: 10 seconds, 15, 20, 25, 35.

The dry leaf aroma is lightly sweet with notes of corn silk, white sugar, and hay; and transforms into butter and fresh blueberry muffins after I let the leaf sit in the pre-heated gaiwan. (I triple-checked – yes, blueberry muffins!) The wet leaf aroma is drastically different: vegetal and savory. I didn’t let the leaf rest in fresh air as usual when they’re packaged in these packets, and that may explain the bizarre yet fascinatingly scrumptious aromas.

With a fresh and lively feel, the liquor is bright green in color and full-bodied. It has a sometimes thick, sometimes creamy texture. Though clean tasting, there are many bits of bud fuzz floating around. The liquor tastes similar to the wet leaf aroma in that it is vegetal and savory. Heavy in flavor, but not in substance. Tops off with a sweet finish. No aftertaste. The taste and feel are consistent throughout the session.

I went beyond the recommended steeping times: 45 seconds; 1 minute, 2, 5. I could have stopped with 45, the sixth infusion, which tastes lighter and sweeter than the previous five and has a cooling sensation. Thereafter, the liquor tastes cooked.

Teavivre continues to offer excellent green teas. I’m not much for savory green teas, but I really like this one. It’s a little more high-end for the pricing of 100g, but seems worth it.