Teavivre

I am working on some older Teavivre samples this week. This tea was a little more astringent than I remember, but it was still delicious. It was slightly smoky and fruity.
I used about 1.5 tsp, and resteeped for 3 minutes.

Mmmm, so delicious. I used 1 tsp of leaf for this cup.
This Keemun is so smooth with some sweet fruity notes and a tiny bit of malty smoke in the background somewhere.
It is good chilled as well.
I am going to have to compare Teavivre’s Keemuns because I am going to have to keep one of them stocked for sure!
Which level of Keemun is most preferred by you Steepsterites!?

Thanks again for the sample Angel at Teavivre
This tea is so delicious. It is like a luxurious butter with a little hit of vegetal notes. It is so smooth and a little bit sweet from the floral notes.

Thank you so much to Angel at Teavivre for these free samples!

This tea is a very green oolong with lingering buttery notes of fresh spinach and greens. It tastes very fresh and sophisticated.

The second steep at 2 minutes was my favourite steep, with a little bit less vegetal notes and a little more sweetness.

The third steep at 3 minutes is still delicious.

I think I prefer the Anxi TGY or the Monkey King but I would certainly not turn down a cup of this and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was very curious about this tea because pineapple is one of my favourite fruits. So I ordered a sample!
I used the whole package, so I guess 4 tsp.
Once brewed, this is super strong and it is really weird drinking this hot. Resteep at 10 minutes.
I chilled both steeps together overnight.
Chilled, this tea is much improved. It tastes like tart pineapple fruit punch. I added a tiny bit of sugar and it helped a little bit. It is an alright tisane. However, still not my fav, I much prefer their blueberry fruit tea. I am glad I got to try it though.

Smokey black leaves, long and twisted, not green and semi balled like the other Oolongs in my cupboard, these leaves present a smooth sweet light scent of spice and grass with a buttery undertone.

It looks like a black tea, so i brewed it like a black tea, 2 tsp per cup at 185F for 3 minutes. The tea was pale orange, light bodied, and offered only the slightest aroma of the dry leaves.

Typical Oolong flavor, light yeasty, bready taste; no hint of malt or astringency, ends with a rich floral note that lingers on the palate. It was a soft pleasant brew, tasteful, refreshing, and worthy of a regular place in my cupboard.

Tomorrow I’ll re-steep the leaves, just to see how they’ll hold up to another brewing.

Gene

hmmm, the ever diligent angel contacted me the other day having noticed my low initial review of this tea. she politely offered some suggestions for steeping differently than i had. let me emphasize that in no way was she pushy or inappropriate— she is a woman passionate about tea and teavivre and so customers, reviewers and their opinions are important to her.

i agreed to resteep… it’s hard to refuse when someone asks so politely. honestly, the first go round was so bad that i really wasn’t expecting to like the tea regardless of the advice, but i was wrong.

1.5 tspns for 16 oz tea cup steeped for a hair short of 90 seconds (it was getting rather dark and i wanted to err on the side of caution).

what did i get? a light tasting, non caffeine stick tea reminiscent of a fruit/wood mix. not oak though… more like the light scent of balsa wood crossed with a just-left-the-room sandalwood. truly lovely!

thank you so much angel for your expertise.

i am happy to re-rate… (and yes, ultimately i will buy).

okay, this is the second go round with this one because the first one was such a miserable failure that it didn’t seem right to review.

after following teavivre’s instructions to the letter i find i still don’t like this tea. it is exceptionally strong with a heavy caffeine stick, strong versus robust. i don’t know if it’s keemun in general (i haven’t had many) or this one in particular, but it isn’t working well for me.

I used 2tsp for this session.
Sweet potatoe notes are the most prominent in this cup with slight caramel notes and a sneaky bit of citrus somewhere in the background. I am not sure if anyone else is getting citrus notes (I didn’t read the other notes first this time), or if it is just crazy me.

Resteep at 2minutes was a little less grainy, which was also delicious.

Today is a pearl kind of day! Although I prefer black Dragon Pearls because they are more like chocolate, these really are nice. The jasmine is strong, but not over the top. The green tea adds a nice, warm vegetal quality to the tea.

I’ve reordered this one, and will do again.

The quickest description of this tea is: Black lite. It has all the earmarks of a good black tea. it has a rich deep red color, a wonderful scent of yeast and malt. It tastes of fresh baked bread (home made bread, not the commercial stuff), malt, and has an inherent sweetness, not sugary; without any astringency.

It’s not as full bodied as Big Red Robe or Golden Monkey, and the taste doesn’t linger on the palate as it does with those other teas. It has all the traits of the big blacks, but not to excess.

Still, this Keemun is a favorite of mine, and will surely serve to seduce many green or oolong drinkers into the cult of the black tea.

Gene

I finished up these pearls this afternoon because I was in the mood for something light and bright. It is quite lovely. Natural peach deepened by the jasmine. The base is a really nice, butter, lightly vegetal green tea.

Thank you, Shelley_Lorraine for this tea!

At first I couldn’t detect any peach or jasmine. It is a lovely, lightly vegetal, creamy green tea that tastes almost a bit salty. It’s kind of like an oolong. I’m really enjoying just that part of this tea.

As I drink and it cools, the peach grows out of tea. It blossoms, sprouts fruit and ripens until it’s dripping its juice into my mouth! yummy!

Strangely enough, I don’t taste jasmine, but I feel it. There is a cooling sensation and slight roughness that can only be from jasmine. Definitely one of the best teas I’ve had from teavivre.

Looks like it has been a number of years since I had this last, so thought it was time to try again, especially as spring is emerging, and we are having more sun and warmer days. I have to admit that I am mostly drinking green teas at the moment, with the occasional oolong or something else, so busting this white out was a refreshing change.

As noted before, the leaves are fluffy and greyish green, due to the light fuzz on them. The leaves are long and the tea is lofty, with them intermingling with each other and twisting. Because of the leaf size and fluffiness, I opted to use my wide bamboo spoon. For the first steep, I used only one bamboo spoon, feeling that maybe I was under-leafing for my 10 oz cup. I was not sure exactly how much of the sample packet to use. I assumed that I had 2-4 servings in the small packet, and went from there.

I brewed the water to 170, which was in the middle of the steeping temps listed…I think I let it steep for 2-3 minutes, but I admit I did not time this. The colour in my white mug was very pale, and I was afraid that I had either under-steeped or under-leafed the cup. The taste though, was pleasantly flavourful though. It was mild, yes, but had more flavour than I was expecting to get. What I mostly noticed was that the infusion was not bitter, and that it was creamy feeling on the tongue. I feel like sipping this was very easy, and I could have easily downed this fast. There was a some hay notes, and a slight drying sensation on my tongue, but only barely.

The second steep, I decided to add another bamboo spoon of leaf to the existing steeped leaves, and using the same water temperature and steeping about 2 minutes, I got a darker infusion and a stronger aroma. Still creamy feeling, but slightly more astringent and drying on the roof and back of my mouth. Stronger hay notes.

Both steeps were drunk plain, with no sugar or sweeteners added. I would love to try this iced with something apricot or plummy. Maybe a cold steep. I definitely felt a sense of refreshment with this. Not in a satisfying your thirst sort of way, more more in a soul nourishing kind of way that spring has a tendency to do. I have an appointment in an hour and I will be steeping the (extra leafed) cup again, for my Timolino. I enjoyed this today, and am glad my message from Angel at Teavivre reminded me that I have some tea that I have not had in a while. Many thanks for the sample.

I am a total novice to straight white teas, so I don’t know how I will properly review it. But here goes.

The leaves are quite long and lofty, and covered in a fine fuzz, and they are really beautiful! I’m not sure how to describe the scent, but it smells fresh and clean.

I may have under-steeped this one since it is extremely mild, but it is still quite hot to take a better sip. I’ll try to go more into detail when it is a little cooler and I can try to pick out other notes.

Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for the generous sample for review.

This is so delicious. It is mellow, and subtle, and full, and everything a good oolong should be. YUM.

What? I am the first to review this! I am not very good with my descriptions, so please forgive me. Thank you so much Teavivre for including this free sample in my order!

I used 3 tsp of leaf for this cup. It filled the steeper up completely.

This was delicious. I have decided that I really love roasted oolongs with that sweet buttery roasty taste. This tea was no exception and I found it slightly sweet with some fruity notes. It wasn’t overly vegetal which I enjoy.

It was so good that I resteeped 3 times at 2,3,and 4 minutes. The fourth steep was a little weak but it was still delicious!

I was very curious about this tea. So I had to order a sample.
I used 15 flowers for this cuppa.

This tastes very floral (obviously!) and very similar to chamomile. It is actually very comforting and calming. I am not sure if I would drink it all the time, but it would be nice every once in awhile.

I resteeped for 3 minutes, and it was quite similar in taste.

It is ok chilled, but I much prefer it hot.

I sipped this down yesterday as a comparison to the premium keemun to determine which one I would like to stock in my cupboard. Needless to say, it didn’t go according to plan because I like them both for different reasons. I drank them side by side.

In my opinion, this one is a bit fruitier, with more prominent cocoa notes. It is maybe a little bit sweeter than the premium version, but not quite as smooth. It is definitely great for everyday drinking.

Thank you Teavivre for this free sample with my order!
I used 1 tsp of leaf for this cup.
I have discovered just recently that I really enjoy Keemuns so I am trying all of Teavivre’s for comparison to see which one I want to permanently keep a stock of.

This tea is bold with a little hint of smoke and some light fruity notes especially in the aftertaste.
I definitely enjoy the premium keemun more, and got a sample of the superfine as well to try!