Teavivre

So! I am thrilled to have discovered today that this dragon well takes to the travel mug much better than expected! I brewed it up, poured it in, topped it off with some cold water, and drank it about 45 minutes later at my morning meeting, and it was delicious. So, I think that as long as I a) use an uncontaminated mug and b) drink the tea fairly soon after brewing, I can successfully take green teas to work as well. Exciting!

And of course, this tea was tasty as usual, although it’s getting on in age. I still prefer Verdant’s Dragonwell-Style Laoshan Green to most dragonwells, just because the sweet, caramely notes are more pronounced, but this is a pretty tasty example of a proper dragonwell. It was nice to have something a bit out of the ordinary in one of my mugs this morning!

Thank you Teavivre for this huge sample! We wanted a second green tea tonight, and this one fit the bill well. Looking forward to it! I used maybe 2 tsp for my 250ml infuser.

First infusion (1.5min/80C):
Aroma’s a bit sharper and greener than the Gyokuro Yamashiro from DavidsTea. The flavour is smooth, with a sweet-ish aftertaste. Definitely not as green tasting despite my impression of the aroma, and definitely no bitterness. Quite delicious, actually.

Second infusion (2.5min/82C):
Not really getting an aroma(?), but the flavour this time is nuttier, with a “green tea” aftertaste. Still smooth, but almost a bit of… smooth astringency? Smooth bitterness? There’s a stronger flavour there too, but it’s pleasant, not objectionable.

Wish I could describe more clearly what I mean by a green tea or oolong aftertaste. It’s good though.

Again, this is as far as I’ll likely get tonight. Sigh.

ETA: Third infusion, 3min at 82C. Definitely lighter in flavour, but still nutty and a bit vegetal, and oh! There’s the green tea aftertaste. Sure sign that I’ll brew this one to the third infusion again. Yum. Still absolutely no bitterness; a very smooth cup. This tea is really quite good; I’m very impressed by the lack of bitterness/astringency. I’ll need to try more dragonwells before concluding anything, but I can see this one being a purchase.

ETA again: Fourth steep (84C/4min) nothing remarkable. Some astringency. And it tastes a little weird. I attribute that to how long the leaves sat out. My stomach sure gets tested sometimes…

I received a sample of this in my most recent shipment from Teavivre (Thanks, Angel!). I’m excited to try it out since I love a good pu-erh and I really enjoy chrysanthemum herbal infusions.

I was a little concerned at first since there was precisely one chrysanthemum in the tuo. Then I realized that it’s been in that little wrapped up tuo for quite a long time, so I really haven’t got anything to worry about, now have I?

I’m in the office, so I used my “Perfect Tea Maker” or whatever it’s called from Teavana (a very nice gift from my friend, TheDizzyPixie). The infusion is nice and dark and beautiful to me. It has the earthiness of any pu-erh, but a nice sweetness to the aroma that speaks to the chrysanthemum.

The tea itself is a surprisingly mellow, nice pu-erh with a pleasant, lightly sweet after-taste.

I’m very happy with this and imagine I shall be ordering more in future!

I’ve developed a bad habit of taking this with a teaspoon of condensed milk, much to the dismay of my waistline. Usually I drink my teas with nothing mixed in, but this tea is so smooth and well bodied that it begs for the richness of condensed milk. It ends up tasting like a weak Hong Kong milk tea..which is fine by me.

Usually I don’t drink black teas throughout the day because I find them too robust, but this one is very smooth that I like it even in the late afternoon.

Looks: Leaf texture is pretty typical of black teas. They look shredded, and a chocolate brown once brewed. Honestly, this is a tea to brew for the taste, not for looks.

Fragrance: This tea smells awesome. Very rich, caramelized fragrance. When I smell it I can taste it right in the back upper palate, it’s rich with a little astringency.

Taste: Very mild, for a black tea. With the smoothness of a smoky green tea. Full bodied with full aroma, but not so much that it makes you heady. As I said, I like it with the condensed milk because it adds richness, but you shouldn’t try it, or your waistline will cry too.

Brewing note: I cannot get as many multiple steeps out of this one as my other teas, two or three at best. The flavour degrades very quickly. Oversteep will result in extreme astringency.

Looking at the Teavivre site, I’ve realized that I may have steeped many of their teas wrong. Sometimes it calls for 2-4 teaspoons. Usually the sample packages mention the time and temp but not the teaspoons. And back when I got these samples, I only had the dipper infusers that would only hold one teaspoon anyway. So if I have any of the previous samples from Teavivre left, I plan on steeping them properly soon!

This one actually calls for 3-4 teaspoons and I must have only used one back in the day. But from what I remember, the flavor isn’t much different now. It’s weird that some of Teavivre’s black teas are supposed to be steeped at 185 degrees but some of the oolongs are boiled. This one is a Fujian oolong, so I associate this with a charcoal flavor. And this one has that flavor the most, rather than a floral or a vegetal oolong. But I’ve had another Fujian oolong before and it literally was like drinking a cup of charcoal. This one is much more delicate, as most of Teavivre’s teas are. I prefer my fruity, floral and vegetal oolongs to dark oolongs, but this one isn’t so dark so I don’t mind it!

First steep: boiled: 45 seconds Second steep: boiled: 1 min 30

I’ve found that oolong tea has one of the most diverse flavors among any type of tea. My favorite oolong is light and slightly peachy. This one is stronger, with a toasty roasty scent and flavor. It has less of a peachy flavor and more of a floral scent and flavor. It sort of reminds me of a lighter genmaicha. I’ll be drinking this whenever I want a stronger oolong. Another great thing about oolongs is they taste the same with multiple infusions. Check out teavivre.com for generous FREE samples! They are amazing!

Tea of the afternoon……

And my last sample to review from Teavivre from my Steepster tasting activity. I do have a few samples of their new teas in my most recent order, so there will be a few more reviews to come. Again, I am very appreciative of this chance, and it has really changed my views on green tea and pu’erh. I was pretty much only a fan of black teas and the occasional oolong prior to this.

I had to try this one a few times before I could really put it into words. The lighter teas are subtle, and they require just a little more time to test. I agree with others that the first scent of the dry leaves is of fresh hay. The leaves are long, very light sage green and covered with a downy fuzz. The brew is a pale yellow. The flavor gives light hints of hay, melon, and cucumber (I agree on this one KS!). I brewed it a second time, and it almost seemed a little bit more intense than the first steep. I did steep a little longer, and I guess the leaves were primed and ready to give up their true flavors. While I am not usually a drinker of white tea, I did like this one enough to order some! Even though it is on the pricey side, the resteepability makes this one within a range I am comfortable spending on a quality tea.

Mug method, 175 water, 2 perfect tsp tea (the entire sample bag), 2 minutes first steep, 3 minutes second steep. No additions.

Tea of the afternoon…..

I this is the last Teavivre sample I have to taste, but I have one more than this to review. Then I will probably be going through my samples to put an order together. In general, I am thoroughly impressed with the tea I have received from this company. Thank you so much to TeaVivre for the opportunity to try the samples. I know I sound like a broken record, but I greatly appreciate their approach to tea, as well as the quality I can purchase for the price.

Onto the tea. This one is very good. The leaves are green like you would expect with a green oolong. The brew is light yellow with only a hint of green. The vegetal notes are light. There is definitely a hint of butter and a creamy, heavy mouthfeel. Yum. I really like this one. I think I need some soon, but I need to go back to my Tie Guan Yin for a cup just to see how it compares.

Mug method, 2 minutes, 175 degree water. No additions.

A fantastic oolong provided to me as a sample from Teavivre.

The leaves as well has the tea carry a distinct and powerful floral aroma which is very pleasing and relaxing.

The taste is primarily floral with hints of a vegetal-ness, and the tea carries a smooth honey-like mouthfeel. One of the most noticeable aspects of this tea however is how long the flavor lingers on the palate.

I look forward to how this tea may change for the second brewing!

Detailed Review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ coming on the 18th but here are my snippits:

I think, but please don’t hold me to any decisions on this, if I could only have one black unadulterated (unflavored / flavored by nature only) tea for the rest of my life, this would be the one. Granted I would never, ever, want that to happen!

Bailin Gongfu Black Tea from Teavivre is one of my black tea staples. I always have plenty of this on hand. Sure I enjoy other black teas, and have plenty of them for variety, but this black tea, this is my “go to” tea in the morning. It is always spot on for the flavors I crave to wake up to.

Bailin Gongfu Black Tea from Teavivre has every element in a black tea that I would want. Malty notes, hints of a cocoa flavor, caramel notes, depth, and complexity, robust, and strong without any bitterness or astringency.

It is coming time soon to order more of this perma stash tea.
Always my go to tea in the morning when I don’t feel like trying something new.
Its perfection. Dependable. Delicious.
I can feel some sickness coming on … once I am fully awake I am going to switch to some green tea to combat whatever is trying to take over me.

Oh yes yes yes this is what I need today …. A QUALITY black from Teavivre THANK you Teavivre for my wake up SO SO SO good!
Many steeps as well which I also need today.
If you love quality black tea then GET THIS!
See other notes for more detail.

Love this one. I prefer oolongs, greens, and white teas and this is my favorite black so far that is naturally flavored! Thank you Teavivre for this sample. On my shopping list for sure!

The dry leaf aroma truly makes me anticipate the aroma of the brewed tea and the subsequent flavor that will follow. The kitchen was filled with the aroma when I doused the leaf with a 4 minute steep. I would love to use the Gaiwan but my time lately has been limited. As I await the tea to cool slightly I ponder the generosity of Angel and I would like to take this time to thank her.
Immediately upon consumption I am reminded why I am so fond of TKY. The tea has flavors that are bordering on a minted spinach butter liquor. The energy is inviting and a wonderful way to start the day. Invigorating and calming at the same time. To me, the sign of a fine tea.

I’ve been saving this one until I was in just the right mood to sit back and enjoy this tea. From my first smell of the leaf I knew I was going to love it and boy was I right. This is the type of tea that I can see myself sitting and sipping at any time of the day. I drank it without milk and sugar, which is rare for me with a straight black, and didn’t miss either. Mellow and blissful without any harshness, I think I have found a straight black that hit a bullseye with me!

Decided to brew this up more chinese style today by putting a lot of leaves in a glass and just letting it brew inside the glass. Try it this way! I wasn’t getting much sweetness and flavor out of this one with my gaiwan but now the tea seems much better. It’s a very classic Chinese green. There’s a scent of fresh cut grass and the first sip is pretty grassy. However, there is a nice aftertaste of sweetness and it lingers on your tongue for a few seconds after. On the second steeping the grassiness went away and the tea became much sweeter and fruity. Definitely can find some peach overtones

Such a great green tea. It has no bitterness, but is very sweet and leaves a nice, clean, fruity after taste on the pallete. It’s flavor reminds me of a mixture between a dragonwell and white peony. it’s a nice green tea to have on a daily basis.

I forget I still have all these Teavivre samples, I don’t think I have ever actually finished a package and I still have some new ones from months ago that I have yet to try, because I completely misplaced them.

They are found now so I will definitely need to get drinking them.

I just made a bowl of “Singapore curry” because this morning’s F1 race was in Singapore, but I was not much a fan of it, since it was made with shrimp and meh. So I went through the drawer of samples to find a savory tea I could have instead.

This time around I get less of a fruitiness and more of the broth-like tastes that I noted other reviews mentioned. It’s still sweet, but mostly vegetal and savory. It’s not too heavy, which is just what I want because I didn’t get to eat lunch until 4 (who goes to play racquetball for 2 1/2 hours at 1pm without even waking me up beforehand to say hey maybe we should eat lunch first since we were up at 7:30? my boyfriend!). I’ll probably go grab one of the teas I’ve yet to try instead of resteeping this one just because I really feel bad now that I haven’t had them yet!

I guess it skipped straight to summer here, second night in a row with a storm. This one is way worse though, for a while I was worried my power was going to have to go out with how often there was lightning. So I had to make tea before it was too late!

I forgot I had two samples from Teavivre I had yet to try, and I am feeling like a green so I grabbed this one. The leaf is so pretty, it’s very fluffy and a bit curly, but I am mostly entranced by the fluffiness.

This is really light, I used about 1 1/2 tsp for my cup, and it brews up lightly colored. It’s a bit fruity but mostly it tastes light and savory. I definitely see where people who compare it to broth are coming from.

It’s good, but not really something that piques my interest. I like the other more savory greens I’ve tried, but this one just is a bit too light for me.

Writing a review for this and throughly enjoying the cup. On second steep and just as lovely and can go many many more steeps.
I am not much on floral teas but this one is a spring and summer MUST!
Mmmmmmmmmmm

Okay, I should have given this a shot earlier. It took me a long time to get around to it, as I “don’t like” Dragon Well. But this is really quite nice. It’s sweet, warm, nutty, and very smooth. Definitely the best Dragon Well I’ve tried, though my experience hasn’t been extensive since for some reason most turn me off. Thanks to Teavivre for the sample and opening me up to trying more Dragon Well!

This was the first white tea I’ve had that I actually went for a second infusion. It has a warm hay/dried grain aroma and flavor in lighter quality, floral notes are strong and tend to linger.
I brewed this as directed, but ended up liking the 1 min brew more than the 2, personally finding the subtle gentle flavors more appealing than a bolder brew.
The leaves are very pretty, fuzzy frost blue spears, very little dust at the bottom of my cup :) if I were to serve this for guests I would be pairing it with a little bite that had a floral component, like a lavender-salt goat cheese spread with a nutty/multi grain cracker, or something similar.

It has been a long day at the office. No particular reason, just very very long and I am ready to go home. To accompany me on this long slow Monday there has been this Oolong in my cup. Also, throughout the day I have been greeted by chocolate chip cookies, edamame, sushi , and graham crackers. I am sure they are all having a great party in my stomach right now… Wish I could join them.

This tea is very good, but it isn’t quite great. Please do note that this is only my opinion. I tend to judge my oolongs by the sweet aftertaste that lingers after each sip. That tends to be my favorite part of drinking an Oolong.

The dry leaves of the tea are marvelous. They are large and emerald green. The scent is mouth watering, bit of mineral and a bit of sweet, the perfect mix for an oolong in my opinion. For some reason (and don’t get me wrong, I love Oolongs!) the smell of Oolongs has started to remind me vaguely of the smell of balloons and surgical gloves. Strangely, this isn´t a bad thing… Odd…

The first steep of was golden and delicious looking, also delicious tasting. The flavor consisted of a strong mineral component and a bit of pear and edamame. The aftertaste was a bit more sour than I would have liked and the sweet was a little more subtle than I usually want in an oolong. Still, delicious.

The second steep was a bit milder. The mineral played down and the pear stood out. The sweet aftertaste I enjoy so much was much more evident. It rolled across my tongue with every sip. By far my favorite of the three steeps.

The third steep was a bit too vegetable like for my mood in the late afternoon. Sadly, the sweet aftertaste was more of a faint memory than actually there in this cup. It was not bad at all, but it wasn´t quite what I wanted at that particular point of time. I feel like it could have benefited from a slightly longer steeping time (I only steeped it for 2 minutes).

Overall, I enjoyed it. I like having it handy at the office to accompany on “one of those Mondays”. Yum… Definitely worth a try.