Teavivre

I’ve no business adding any more Yin Hao to my cupboard, as I have an ample supply of Tazo’s. Nonetheless, I am taking up this sample from Teavivre today to determine whether it’s really possible to have too much jasmine scented tea!

This variety appears to use a higher quality green tea base, hence the silver leaves interspersed with the other dark green spindly ones. I am assuming that those are not jasmine flowers but tea leaves, though I could be wrong.

The liquor brews up pale green, becoming more golden as it sits a bit, and the flavor is quite rich in jasmine. The texture is also good, but I’m not sure that, all things considered, I’d buy this one before the jasmine dragon pearls, which also offer a beautiful unveiling ceremony!

For a simpler, more puritanical jasmine green, this one is certainly good.

I had too many black teas today, so I needed some oolong. It smells nicely creamy and floral. The flavour is sweet and creamy, but there is a bit of a strong aftertaste. Good, but I prefer the unflavoured Milk Oolong.

With the medicine in me today, I am feeling pretty good. I think I’ll go to band practice tonight and see how it goes.

Prepared this one again today to see how my taste buds and smeller are reacting to the medicine. I did not add sweetener, which as many of you know is almost unheard of from me. I have learned to use less leaf with this so as not to get overpowering floral. I used 2..5 g with 5 oz water and 195 F water for 1 minute. The jasmine is well behaved. There is just a hint of bite and a slight cheek tingle. It also seems slightly salty. That may be the medicine, but otherwise I think I can taste again.

On the sad side I noticed a crack in my favorite teapot. Apparently I must have bumped the spout of my crystal teapot on the sink. The crack runs down the top edge of the spout. I’ll keep an eye on it but will continue to use it unless it gets worse. I never cared for teapots until I got this one. This one is borosilicate (sp?) glass. It was less than $20. I wonder if the more expensive ones are just as fragile?

Happy third anniversary Teavivre! You are the standard by which I measure all other teas and all other tea companies.

Shortly after discovering Steepster this brand new company offered to send me samples.One of those was Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls. Until tasting that tea I never liked jasmine but I loved, no, LOVED dragon pearls. Later I got to try Jasmine Silver Needle White. I was equally blown away. Superfine Jasmine Downy Dragon Pearls continued the awesome trend – though for my tastes I actually still prefer the Premium version.

So a while back I ordered the Silver Jasmine green tea. I just got around to opening it yesterday. For the first cup I followed directions and used a lot more leaf than I normally would and steeped for 1 1/2 minutes. It was better than most non-Teavivre jasmine I have had but didn’t quite speak to me. It was a little too intense in floral notes though still natural tasting. Definitely not that fake jasmine perfume that lesser teas taste like. My other thought was it tasted, at first, like a jasmine blooming tea. That taste always makes me think globe amaranth. As the cup cooled or possibly as I got used to it that passed and it smoothed out. It was ok but I was pretty sure it could do better.

So today I followed my own rules by using my normal leaf amount of 1 rounded tsp (half what I used previously) and cut the steep to 1 minute. Now this I like. The jasmine is the main taste element but it doesn’t overwhelm my senses and it doesn’t drift into globe amaranth. Another thing I noticed was how the leaf made my fingers smell of grape Kool-Aid. Seriously, who doesn’t love the smell of grape Kool-Aid? And yes, I can’t help but play with my leaf. It is a very lovely less complex cup for simple enjoyment. I can see this being wonderful with a meal or snack.

Next time I plan to kick it back up to 1 1/2 minutes but keep the reduced leaf amount to see if I can pull a little more depth out of this everyday tea. Looking forward to many good cups out of this. Recommended but you may need to tinker with steeping parameters.

Yes, I saw the premium dragon pearls are going on sell and yes, I hope to have a large bag join me soon.

While listen to Amon Amarth, I decided to have some of this one. It has that dark, earthy scent I like about ripened pu-erh, and a bit of nut. The flavour is nicely on the sweet side. I get some hints of molasses. So far, I prefer ripened pu-erh.

I think this is the first raw pu-erh I’ve ever had. It smells earthy, but lighter. The flavour is a bit on the sweet side, and rather mild. Interesting, will have to try again in a few months.

This enjoyable high quality tea is refreshing and delicate. Tightly rolled, a lovely smooth, balanced oolong with floral overtones in the aroma. Greenish-yellow tea liquor which at times, yields both vegetal and buttery tastes in the sip. Li Shans are lightly oxidized and, therefore, resembling green teas in some ways. Delicious and easy to drink cup.

I just realized I had one sample left from TeaVivre’s very generous offerings that I have not reviewed yet. Since it was time for morning tea, I figured it was time to get to it!

Method: 3.3 g, 3 oz, 205 degrees, 15-20-25 seconds, ru kilk gaiwan

Aroma: Roasty scents, with some hints of floral and fruit, and also a mineral note

Flavor: Toasty yum. This tea has some pretty floral notes, but the main show is the roasty toasty flavor. There’s also a bit of sweetness and a slightly dry finish. This has a very pleasant aftertaste that really stays awhile. I blended the first 3 steeps into a mug and I’m having some difficulty not just chugging it all at once! Thanks to TeaVivre for the sample!

First, I’d like to apologize to TeaVivre. I was sent several lovely samples to review and I posted this review under the incorrect tea! So I am moving the review to the correct tea listing.

Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 208 degrees, 3 and 10 minutes, ForLife brew in mug strainer

Dry Leaf Aroma: The leaves had only a very faintly floral scent.

Brewing Aroma: Oh, THERE you are! This smells gorgeous! There’s a very strong floral aroma, like jasmine, but not exactly jasmine.

Flavor: Smooth and floral. I steeped for 3 minutes and the flavor was nice, but not that strong. I put the brew cup back in, intending to try again after 2 min, but I got distracted and another 7 minutes had passed!

The flavor was definitely stronger now. The floral is in your face, but I personally like that, so I’m happy. There was a little astringency, and a bare hint of bitterness, but nothing crazy. I will undoubtedly buy more of this to keep at work for grandpa style brewing. It holds up to long steeps extremely well!!!

Thanks to Angel @ TeaVivre for the sample!

Delicate appearing black and gold dry leaf; fragrant like a field of fresh clover hay. Wet leaf smells deliciously sweet like honey.

Taste is flavorful with winey, fruity and floral notes combined with a wee bit of leather. No smokiness that I can detect.
Re-steeped well, and very lovely to drink.

very nice. so glad i bought! teavivre had a sweet discount coupon going that i totally took advantage of.

exam tomorrow. aside from saying malt, chocolate, don’t want to study, wonderful to resteep, malt that isn’t astringent, very smooth and impressive pearl size!

does anyone have a suggestion for a magical tea that inspires a person to study? i am SO done. =0(

Opening up the bag I was hit with a smoky, earthy aroma – surprised to find a hint of smoke in the dry leaf but it is pleasant and not offensive. Medium brown, clear tea soup. The taste is marvelous and nicely balanced – malt, dark chocolate, and leather mixed together. Silky smooth sip and the light smokiness serves to make the other flavors pop. A very nice complement to breakfast foods.

I’m gone until tues night on business so i’m trying to get in a few cups of tea this morning before i need to head to the airport. I’m going to be behind in my sipdowns as a result so i need to get at least a couple in! Technically i only need to get to 90 this month, but i’m pushing hard for 85 heh given september’s insanity. Plus i have a sneaking suspicion that terri is going to be exploding things for me in short order :)
While i enjoyed this one, today it fell a little flat. I think that maybe i need to really be paying attention when i do a session with this tea. Thankfully, it was still a delicious cup and got me through the early morning hours.

I tried to have this one today but ended up largely distracted with work. Thankfully i have another packet to try again with due to Angel’s generousity. Initial feelings on this one is that it’s more vegetal than earthy. Overall it’s was a nice tea, but i really need to pay attention next time :)

Received a sample in the spring sampler that i won, much like stephanie :) this…this was not what i expected. In contrast to Stephanie, i found this to be much lighter than i expected rather than bold…but i agree on the sweetness. This was a lovely tea to wake up with – lasting for several steepings with the sweet flavour coming out more as i went along. Since this was produced this year, it would be interesting to see how this one ages as i can imagine it would be fairly lovely…at least that’s what my limited experience with puerh says haha. I’m certainly no expert!

Tea of the morning……

Hmm. I like this one a great deal. I think I like it better than even the golden tip and the balin gong fu I have been drinking lately. Man, I am turning into a cheap date…….

Notes of roasty cocoa-ey goodness with a heavier mouthfeel and just yum at a great price point. THIS will be a rebuy!

Usual method.

Tea of the morning……

I have been planning an order from Teavivre for their Anniversary sale. I am so thankful they have listed on their site what will be on sale, and for what percentage. I have only about 50g of this left, and it will be offered at a nice percentage off next week. I also need to revisity my Golden Monkey (although I noticed it is a newer harvest on site) and my Keemun Grade 1 before deciding what to add to my order. I am so excited to try their Keemun Mao Feng!

For a bargain tea, this is really good. First, I notice how smooth it is. There is a little malt and cocoa, and it is just great basic black tea at a super reasonable price. I think if it was not for the sale, I would stock more of this, but I am thinking of going for the next step up to the Full Leaf. Tea really has become something special I do for myself, so why not spring for the higher grade of tea. Still pondering…….

Usual teapot method.

From the Unflavored Traveling Tea Box.

Brewed using Western style. 4 (WOW THESE ARE REALLY BIG) pearls for 12 oz.

Before and after they were infused, the peals smelled of cocoa and malt. The liquor is full-bodied, bold, and amazingly rich with a very bitter dark chocolate taste, underneath which is an earthy note – the kind of earth that is moist after a long thunderstorm has recently passed. The aftertaste so uncannily resembles dark chocolate that I could have sworn I’d just eaten some.

The clock is ticking away to the Teavivre 3rd Anniversary Sale. My mission: to evaluate every tea on the list which also happens to be in my possession (I have received two generous gift sample sets and purchased a few more…) before the sale begins. Easier said than done, I realize, having espied the resplendent festivities to come. So many beautiful teas, which ones to buy????

Of course, the easiest solution to this “problem” would be to fill my shopping cart with … well … everything on the list! Instead, I am opting for a more moderate, rational approach. I’m definitely buying a jasmine tea. But which one will it be?

In contention for sherapop’s first full bag purchase of a jasmine tea from Teavivre is this lovely Jasmine Silver Needle White Tea. The dried tea is very attractive, with fuzzy silver haired buds and some full-on flowers thrown into the mix, though it is clear that the tea has been imbued with jasmine scent by the traditional technique.

The liquor is pale green, and I enjoyed watching the infusion in a glass pot. The buds float and bob about so peacefully. The flavor is naturally jasmine, through two essentially equal infusions (so far). For a pure jasmine experience, this tea may be the best choice. But I believe that I prefer the green tea base in the two jasmine pearl varieties, which I have already tried. This is good though, no doubt about that. Can I manage somehow to squeeze into my schedule a few steep-offs chez sherapop??

So many splendid teas to choose from, so little time!

Am I imagining this, or is Teavivre Bailin Gongfu Black Tea related in some way to Golden Monkey? Upon opening my sample packet and catching a whiff, I thought immediately of Golden Monkey. The dried leaves do not have as many golden tips, and the tea seems to be less powdery, but the scent is definitely close.

The liquor brews up dark amber and also tastes similar to Golden Monkey. It’s a bit less sweet, and does not remind me so much of unsweetened caramel, but there is definitely overlap. To me, this Bailin Gongfu evokes memories of the dark crust of a light bread. So no rye, but a darker cooked wheat flavor.

The second infusion was just as good as the first. I usually do not reinfuse black teas, but it works with Golden Monkey, so I figured that I’d try it with this tea as well—especially given its name!

This tea is a winner. I drank it au naturel and am already craving another glass! On my wishlist…

My very first tea of yesterday. When I went to open the package, I did so without looking, then wondered why it smelt like oolong. I’d of course grabbed the wrong package, since I’d just woken up. Once I got the correct one, I was really wanting some tea. It didn’t really smell like the flowers while still in the toucha. After brewing, I got some floral scents. The brew was a dark, it looks close to some sort of cola. For the flavour, I mostly get the deep earthy notes, and bit of floral sweetness.