Teavivre

First, THANK YOU to Teavivre for the sample!

I like this very much. I think the ‘milk’ part is more in the mouthfeel and maybe a little in the aroma. The flavor is vegetal, floral, and even a little fruity. The flavors of a good, typical oolong! It changes as it cools, which is one of my favorite things about tea. It tastes so different just a couple minutes later!

Back to the mouthfeel..it absolutely coats your mouth, especially when it’s cooling. The floral notes linger; it’s sweet. That heavy mouthfeel Is just so, so wonderful. Drinking bagged tea I had no idea tea could taste like this!

First of all, I’m honored to get to try this aged tea. When it was harvested, I was still at my first place away from home, working for Wolf Camera.

Now, onto the details. I gave it just over two minutes and it brewed up very dark. The scent reminds me of leather and the forest floor after a good rain. Now, I’m always a little afraid of puerh because I don’t like fishiness, but this puerh doesn’t taste like that at all. It tastes fresher and smoother than other puerhs I’ve tried, and completely not astringent. It makes me think of a really good yunnan, just… aged, for lack of a better word.

Once again, another generous sample from Teavivre! I’ve been craving the lighter unadulterated teas today. I LOVE silver needle teas! They remind me of what good chamomile should taste like. It is very smooth, light, and a bit floral. The leaves aren’t as fuzzy as some other silver needles I’ve tried. However, I really, really like this. It is calming, yet it seems to help me focus.

Yeah, I’m drinking this one again. It is really growing on me – I love the creamy, fruity aftertaste. On the shopping list!

This one must be growing on me – I wanted it again today! Alright, I give in, this will go on the shopping list! Yum, creamy, light, and slightly fruity.

This is yet another delicious sample graciously provided by Teavivre! Thanks so much! I’m really, really liking this flavored variety more than the natural. This has a sweet yet floral aroma and the flavor is of a nice green oolong with a heavy, creamy finish to the sip. This feels decadent to drink, but it is totally guilt free. I haven’t completely decided if I have to have this tea variety in my cupboard – but if I do, this flavored variety will be the one for me!

I was excited to try this after blowing through 100g of Blueberry Fruit Tea. Dry mix smells like almost nothing, to my nose. I brewed 2 heaping tsps in a big mug for 10 mins, and sweetened it after it cooled. The result was a dark peach coloured brew that tasted like a stripped down pina colada. Even though I wish the pineapple were more prevalent, this was still good iced. I could taste a bit of citrus, and I could identify the roselle right away. With sugar or other sweetner it kind of complements the other general fruitiness of this tisane.

Another sample that was generously provided by Teavivre! Thanks! The leaves were so incredibly sticky with honey that I almost just wanted to eat them instead of brew them, but I stuck them in the teapot anyway. The first couple of infusions tasted like a very high quality, smooth medium oolong with a slight sweet, floral aftertaste. This isn’t as overly honey sweet as I expected, but you can tell this is a nice quality oolong. This is only the second tieguanyin I’ve had so I’m not sure if this is a preferred oolong for me – it is good though.

This a such a silky smooth tea. It makes a nice afternoon treat

Yesterday, I drank this tea and wondered how it compared to the premium pearls. I was so curious that I had to brew them up side-by-side today. I am not sure exactly how to describe it, but I guess I would say that this one is a little “creamier”, with an undertone of hay.
I find the pearls to be “silkier” with an undertone of vegetal notes. This is not a bad thing though, it is delicious!
I am not sure if that is a good comparison, but I am finding it difficult to distinguish what makes them different. I was also hoping to find one superior over the other so I would be able to stock one or the other in my cupboard (I previously have been stocking both!), but I can’t choose one that is better than the other.

I am not usually a fan of floral teas but jasmine is my exception. This tea is a silky indulgence, smooth and almost creamy. I love white tea, and this leaf tastes very high quality. I envision myself drinking this on a warm summer afternoon instead of this cold, foggy, fall morning….hey I can dream right!
I had previously rated this tea at 96, but it deserves better than that! 100 it is!
I would like to know how this compares to Teavivre’s green pearls. I have planned to do a comparison but never got around to it. I will make that a plan for sometime this week or weekend. Has anyone else compared them?

I have had this chilled in my fridge for the last couple of days. It tastes so different chilled than hot I find. So refreshing and a little sweeter somehow. So refreshing and light in the summer!

400th tasting note!
This tea is so delicious and I have some en route that I ordered on sale! But for now, I have some left of my sample from June.
This tea is nice and light jasmine with slight grassy notes. I used too little leaf this time though. I usually use 2-3 tsp but I only used a little over 1tsp. But, regardless, it was still delicious!

Thankyou so much Angel and Teavivre for this sample. This is the sample that I have been most anxious to try. I think I am falling in love with jasmine teas.

Dry leaf appearance: Beautiful fuzzy long white needles

Aroma: smells like fresh jasmine in a sunny meadow

Taste: Light jasmine, with that wonderful delicate white tea in the background. Sweetness comes through in a silky smooth way. This has a wonderful mouth feel to it, creamy like! I am glad I got such a large sample pack of this because I am certainly enjoying this!

2nd steep: 85degrees, 2minutes, just as delicious as the first with a little stronger jasmine.

I have had a LOT of tea today, so I will have to do the other steepings tomorrow and update!

Not sure how it compares to my beloved pearls, I will have to taste this tea again, and then on another day…have a side-by-side taste comparison.

Edit: 3rd steep, 90degrees, 3minutes, starting to lose flavour and silkiness, I think I would cold brew this steep next time.

Yay! My samples arrived today. Thank you so much Angel and Teavivre!

Colour: amber
Smell: nutty

Taste: nutty and slightly sweet with a slight floral note. The aftertaste is a little sour some how. This is a very different oolong than others I have tried.

2nd steep: 2.5 minutes, much like the second one, maybe a little less nutty

3rd steep: 3 minutes, a little more sour aftertaste.

Overall, I like this oolong, but not my favourite

It is a sad, sad morning! I’m finishing up my sample of this tea. It is definitely on the shopping list though – it is really great and holds up for several infusions.

Infusions #2 and #3 tonight after my class. This tea really reminds me of my beloved Emperor’s Red from Premium Steep. Although it is similar in taste to Teavivre’s Bailin Gongfu Black, I think this is so great for me because the pearls have a tiny bit of smokiness that I absolutely love and crave in a black tea. And the 3rd infusion is still quite flavorful – I may even go for a 4th. So this is a pretty economical tea also! I think I’m going to bump up the rating a bit. Any black tea that is good for this many infusions deserves high ratings from me!

Many thanks to the Teavivre team for another generous round of samples. I added 5 of these pretty pearls to my 12 oz teapot and steeped for 2 minutes. Wow! This is really super good. There is a bit of cocoa, possibly hay, a good amount of malt and a smooth finish. This is amazing without anything added. While everything I’ve tried from Teavivre has been really good – this is most definitely going on my shopping list.

New samples! Thanks TeaVivre team.

First up is the flavored milk oolong. The dry leaves smell like buttery milky oolong sweetness! Exciting. This is the second ali shan I’ve tried. At this point in my life they are my favorite oolongs. First steep, 30 secs in a gaiwan at about 85 C. This cup isn’t overly milky, as I assumed the flavored milk oolong would be. This is actually more vegetal and buttery than milky, but the milk flavor pops up in the middle of the sip. It’s interesting, and I imagine this would be more milky with a longer steep. Second steep, 45 secs: milk flavor is almost gone, which is quicker than I predicted. I still really like the quality of this oolong though.

Haven’t had this one in a very long time and now TeaVivre gave me a free sample of this great tea!

I like to steep this one really strong, much stronger than any other tea, so that it leaves a wine-like sensation in the mouth and a very distinct aftertaste, which I can’t identify at all, but it’s amazing.

Also this is one of the teas I like with no sugar at all. Really good, will bump the rating up a few points. Guess I need to re-stock this one the next time I order something.

I am starting to write this note as I’m waiting for tea to cool down a bit.

The smell of dry leaves is great, some earthy, roasted and really warm elements blend together in a rich and strong aroma. It is very tempting to take a sip now, but I know I will just burn my tongue if I do it.

I made this tea for my family at my birthday dinner 2 days ago, but unfortunately I only took a little bit with me, so I actually didn’t get any :( Ohh, just a couple more minutes and I will be able to enjoy this one!

Delicious! Truly great. At first I thought it was just a very usual black tea, but then a wave of yumminess blasted my taste buds :) Really nice rich aftertaste leaves me trying to concentrate on my mouth after every sip. This is one of the best black teas I’ve tried. Will definitely look forward to buying more.

This tea was really quite excellent. It has a sweetness to it that overlays the light vegetable flavor to it very, very well. Absolutely delicious.

However…

Once this tea cools down, it’s downright undrinkable. I had given a little cup of this to Sandy at work, and she really didn’t like it. I’m guessing that has something to do with the fact that she let it cool down… because it’s really taking on an unpleasant, rubbery taste. So yeah, absolutely fantastic tea when drank warm.