Teavivre

This reminds me of why I love black tea — and tea in general! An absolute delicious flavor. It isn’t too strong of a flavor but some black tea is very light but this isn’t too light either. The flavor is a bit oaty in the best way possible. I had a hint of a floral scent for a second. The flavor is very smooth and a bit smokey. (But I like some VERY smokey teas, so it doesn’t bother me!) The unsteeped leaves are definitely a black color! The steep color is a deep brown. A great tea paired with my breakfast of blueberry pancakes, or probably any breakfast really. I only got a few hours of sleep last night, and it seemed to wake me right up too! I’ve tried a few of Teavivre’s teas (thanks to their VERY generous free samples) and they have been so so delicious. I doubt that Teavivre has any tea in stock that isn’t fantastic. They know what they’re doing! I’m looking forward to trying any and all from Teavivre!

This was my choice after the Mangalam failed me. 8 pearls 1 cup basket-style and I am in heaven. Dark and seductive. Truly one of my favorite teas. Maybe I brewed it too strong with 8 pearls but the result was a delicious tea deserving of all of the accolades it is receiving on Steepster.

I brewed this this other day and my intial reaction was that it was ok. I assumed that I should increase the amount of tea and adjust the steep time. Today with 7 pearls and brewed 1 cup basket style I am loving it. The first steeping was light and flavorful and it gave me a nice wake-up cup. A good energy. The second cup I gave the eternal steep. In other words I lost time. Just like with other pelleted teas the second cup shined. Maybe this tea would benefit from a rinse? Either way my order went out to Teavivre without this. It will be on my next order. I am glad I changed my brewing method on this beauty. A superb selection.

This is pretty good. I opted to have it iced as it is pretty hot here today. I found the tea to be very smooth with a nice hint of floral goodness to it. It also has a great buttery quality to it too! Very refreshing on this hot Summer day.

Many thanks to Teavivre for the free sample!

I’m still a bit messed up from jet lag, so this will be shorter than usual. This tea is nice, fairly typical of Taiwanese Oolongs, but it lacks anything truly unique to make it stand out. It’s not very flowery or fruity, the aftertaste lingers, but only for about 45 seconds. The only things that stands out is how creamy it tastes, but that isn’t really interesting. Don’t get me wrongs, it’s still good, it’s just that I’m a bit spoiled but some of my other teas, and this just doesn’t measure up.

This tea has a strong earthy scent which I noticed particularly after brewing. Reminiscent of peat and leather and wood. I like that even though it has the earthy scent, it doesn’t taste as earthy as it smells. It is really quite sweet and smooth. A very rich taste, almost buttery, but not in a green tea or oolong “buttery” kind of way, but more like melted butter with freshly baked bread. Very mellow and nice. I like this one.

Life has been super crazy here between mini-holidays, going back to work, finding daycare, and dealing with a sick family member! I have really only been drinking 1 cup of tea in the morning and that’s it :(

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the resteep today of this tea.
I used 9 pearls today

I am so happy to have this tea again! This is one of my favourite teas, smooth and sweet, with slight chocolate notes. It has a silky mouthfeel and smells so delicious. I like to watch the large pearls unfurl in my steeper.

I used 5 pearls for this cuppa today.
The resteep at 4 minutes was a little astringent, so maybe 3 or 3.5 would have been better.

Maybe I just haven’t found the right steeping parameters yet. Any suggestions?

I Steeped 4 pearls this morning in boiling water for 2 minutes. It was nice and malty, smooth, light cocoa notes.
I think next time, I might try 5 pearls and see if it brings out more cocoa notes. Has anyone noticed a difference between 4 and 5 pearls?

Getting back into the tea world with this gem yesterday. I have been really sick and ended having surgery to have my gallbladder removed. So anyway, I am back and drinking tea again!

4 pearls for 2 minutes is my favourite way to enjoy this tea. Smooth, with cocoa notes. Yum

Steepster is telling me that I haven’t had this since June! Boy, I have missed this tea. That familiar smooth, malty taste with slight chocolate notes. So comforting on this cold COLD COLD day. It is -45 degrees C with windchill today. I was going to run some errands today. But, I think I will just stay home and enjoy multiple steepings of this tea instead!
I am so glad that I ordered 100g of this tea to enjoy, this is one of my favs for sure!

Teavivre black teas gongfu experiment day!

I drank 3 black teas from Teavivre today. I was curious how the gongfu method would impact the notes in the teas.

I did 5 steeps: rinse, 30s, 50s, 70s, 1.5min, 2min

The colour of the brew is very interesting. I poured all these in quick succession and have each steep lined up in front of me. It starts off a light yellow/amber and shifts to a deep autumn amber.

It takes longer for the malty, sweet, chocolate flavour to develop with short steepings. It doesn’t show up until about the 3rd steep. This is still sweet, malty, with those wonderful dark cocoa notes.

Surprisingly, I think I prefer the Western brewing method in the case of this tea. It really gives the sweet and cocoa notes more time to develop.

I am increasing the rating because this tea is even better than I remember!

And that concludes my Teavivre black teas gongfu experiment for now…..thank goodness I don’t have more of their black teas at the moment! (but there are more on their way ;0)

Very much looking forward to this sample! Thankyou Angel and Teavivre for this generous sample

I used 4 pearls
Dry smell: like smoky hot chocolate
Appearance: golden amber
Smell wet leaf: almost like a malty milkshake

Taste: Delicious, malty, slightly sweet, smooth. Cocoa notes.
It leaves a wonderfully warm and comforting feeling throughout my body.
Delicious to have that cocoa taste but tastes so natural

2nd steep 1.5min—slight astringency in the aftertaste

I would re-steep some more but it is getting late in the day, I will have to save the leaf for tomorrow morning.

Edit: 3rd steeping from last night’s leaves, 3 minutes. This tea is starting to lose it’s sweetness a little bit but it is still delicious.

I would do more steepings, but I have so many other teas left to review!

Thanks to TeaVivre for the generous sample.
By far this has been the best blueberry tea I have tasted. I don’t buy blueberries from anywhere in the world as nothing compares to Northern Ontario blueberries. I have to say this tea as an iced tea delivers almost the same Northern Ontario blueberry flavor. So devine. Must get more.

This tea came in my incredibly generous free samples box from Teavivre. Its a very reliable Fujian tea with a light sweetness that reminds me of dark chocolate. I’ve had a lot of Fujian black tea that have the same taste palette but this is by far the freshest tasting, it doesn’t feel greasy or “heavy”. There is a nice bite at the end almost like biting into a lemon. A great reliable tea when I have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it.

Had a pot of Lapsang Souchong with my gaming buddy yesterday. Just trying to keep the boardgaming civilised, don’tcha know. Anyway, I really like this tea for its pine and smoke. I think I’ve said all I need to about my own thoughts on this tea previously in tasting notes. My friend was not familiar with LS at all, so it was an interesting experiment.

He commented on the smokiness, noting that he was really not keen on the aroma. However, once past his nose, the tea was really jolly good. He commented on the pine and sweetness of the tea, and noted that it was a bit like drinking liquid barbecue. We managed to drink three pots of it while playing, so I reckon it was a success.

Once more I return to the LS. It is familiar and comfortable like my old Norwegian woolly jumper. The campfire and pine elements seem just perfect for celebrating the Norwegian national day (17th May, in case you come to this note late. : ) ). It is the bicentenary of the signing of the Norwegian constitution and you can find out a little more on my blog if you wish (http://ruarighdale.wordpress.com/). It also provides links for further exploration. I recommend having a nice cup of suitably Scandinavian tasting tea while you read. ;)

Spent yesterday and today on a Lapsang Souchong binge. I really like this tea, as my previous tasting notes will tell you. I’m not finding much time to sit and think about teas at the moment so focusing on one I know well gives me the pleasure of the tea without the pain of trying to write a detailed tasting note. Yummy smoky bacon, pine and camp-fire goodness. Slurp!

Well, that’s the end of it. I have loved this tea all the way through the packet. It is smoky and sweet, like drinking a packet of smoky-bacon flavour crisps. Lovely.

Still enjoying it. That’s the end of the sample though.

Free sample from Teavivre

It’s a wet and windy day here. It’s raining stair rods and I find myself looking for something to brighten the day up. Most of the samples I have are oolongs and green teas, and that did not suit my mood. Fortunately, Teavivre must have seen today coming because they packed me up with this Lapsang Souchong. Opening the bag I am greeted by a beautiful and not overwhelming smoky aroma. Hmm, smoky bacon crisps I think. It’s definitely a meaty smell and the tea is the same: smoky, sweet with a slightly sour aftertaste that perfectly complements the other flavours. Three steeps in and I am still getting all of this. It reminds me of camping and cooking over an open fire. I like this lapsang souchong. It does not blow me away with the range and depth of flavours. It does give me a sense of a reliable tea that will always bring comforting thoughts of open fires and sleeping under the stars. The flavours are very well balanced so there is enough depth to keep it interesting too. Good one, Teavivre.

Wow, this is the second time I’m having this and I Notice a lot more creaminess this time, and even a little bit of the caramelly sweetness that’s in the flavored one. I had to check to make sure I didn’t grab the flavored one!
Really, I’m finding taste of tea is to some extent dependent on mood. Today, this is perfect. I liked it before but I’m upping the rating!