Teavivre

It’s been a while since I had this tea, and as I decided to work my way through my remaining samples, I picked this one. It’s pretty good, and it’s certainly a lot better than most Jasmine teas that I get at restaurants, but it’s not great. It’s sweeter than some jasmine, but I still prefer my Japanese greens.

Thanks to Teavivre for the free sample of this tea! I accidentally oversteeped the first infusion, so it had a bit of astringency in it, but it was a surprisingly small amount when compared to some Jasmine tea that I’ve had. The aroma was a very nice jasmine scent, but it wasn’t overpowering. The taste of the tea is hard to discern underneath the astringency, but I do taste something flowery, which suggests that that taste will be fairly strong if I don’t oversteep the next infusion.

Okay, I was REALLY careful with the second infusion, using degree water and steep for exactly two minutes. The result was a cup of tea with a nice sweet flowery flavor, with not even a hint of astringency. This is the second be jasmine tea I’ve had to date (after the jasmine pearls that I got from Teavivre back in November).

Interestingly enough, the third infusion with this tea was exactly the same as the second. I don’t often find green teas with this type of longevity (they usually only last for four steepings), but I figure that I will get at least five infusions out of this tea, which is a pleasant surprise.

I lost track of what steeping I’m on, but rest assured it is at least number six. I brewede this infusion at a low termperature, like 140 degrees, and the resutl was pretty goo. I actually forgot about the tea, so it was infusing for somewhere between 6 and 10 minutes before I took the leaves out. The resulting tea is still a bit flowery, but the generic green tea taste is beginning to seep in. Interestingly enough, there is no astringency, even though it was a VERY long infusion, most likely due to the low water temperature and the high number of previous steepings.

All in all, this is a very good tea, and certainly better than a lot of Jasmines that I’ve had. I’m seriously considering using this to replace my Yamamotoyama jasmine, given that this has a better taste and lasts longer.

Thank you Teavivre for sending me this sample. It has been enjoyed. For a full review…

http://iheartteas.teatra.de/2012/01/tea-review-taiwan-jin-xuan-milk-oolong-tea-teavivre/

Oh this is so good. I thought by steeping it for such a short time it wouldn’t taste like anything. But it’s so flavorful! It’s savory, sort of nutty, and then it’s definitely sweet, and I love the dryness of it. It’s definitely got a bold flavor. On the second steeping, there is a toasty flavor going on.

I think I have one of those problems where I’m like “this is my favorite!” and it turns out everything is my favorite.

Just having a nice cuppa this one! I have to admit: this is my favorite jasmine tea. :O Hard to say that! I have the same aversion to jasmine that most people on here have for hibiscus; except I like hibiscus…
Anywho. This sample was so wonderful and gives so many cups! I highly recommend this as a flavorful, floral, and smooth cuppa.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I love this tea! I have previously had a thing against jasmine. But this tea is actually very tasty. It is highly relaxing to drink this on blustery, busy days like today.
The jasmine in this is very well balanced. The base isn’t too noticeable, but I do enjoy it. The floral in this is very fragrant and drinking it reminds me of fond memories. It is not bitter or astringent at all and steeps very well. Each time I make this tea I get 4-5 really good steeps out of it.
Highly recommended

So this is my tea break of the day; I’m trying to get through all this reading…It really never ends. This was a very generous sample provided by Teavivre! :)
I’ve had an interesting relationship with jasmine. It’s not always my favorite because of its very heady aroma. This one would not disappoint true jasmine fans! It is beautifully rolled and I can almost taste it as I open the bag. My first steep did not fully unfurl the leaves of these pearls. There is also a very deeply complex smell to this jasmine.
The liquor itself is very light and the taste is actually much more subdued (a good point for me!). I put less leaf into this because of my slight jasmine phobia. I actually really enjoyed this one. It’s not overly floral; most of this flavor hits my palate on the end of a sip. I think that this could be the jasmine that changes my ideas of what jasmine tea should be.
edit I’m now on my 3rd steep of this tea and I’m surprised by its ability to last. I’m quite sure that a 4th and at least a 5th steep could be taken from these leaves. This would be a great tea for the penny-pinching-jasmine loving-poor college student. :p lol

This is only the second flower tea that I’ve tried. The other one also was a great Teavivre sample.

This Two Dragons and a Pearl Flower tea has a mildly sweet and grass-like flavor. The color is light yellow. This tea tastes very similar to one of Teavivre’s green blends.

I don’t go out of my way to sample flower teas. I find the flower brewing method a little bit of an intrusion. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by my one touch tea maker which does just about everything for me except drink the tea.

This tea does have a nice mild flavor without bitterness. And, I did enjoy watching the little rolled up tea bundle open and “bloom” into a flower nestled in leaves during the brewing process. In fact, I think I like WATCHING flower teas more than DRINKING them!

Thanks to Tabby for sharing this with me!! : )

Green teas started my love of loose leaf tea. Green tea is the reason my dog is called Sencha. Green teas taught me that time and temperature in steeping are very important. Most significantly green teas taught me that quality makes a HUGE difference. I had almost forgotten about why I loved green tea so much until I tried this one.

The large green leaves smell fresh with a hint of sea weed. It makes your eyes pop wide open, the smell alone alerts you that you are in for a treat! The package reomends that you steep 1-2 teaspoons per cup. Since the leaves were so large, I opted for 2tsp.

They were beautiful to watch steep. The water turning golden green and the leaves expanding is borderline magical. The smell was hypnotizing. Mineral sea weed goodness!

The taste was exactly what I was hoping for. Sweet creamy sensation up front followed by a mineral wave ending on a pleasant seaweed note. The vegetable was toned down under the mineral (in my opinion, the way it should be!) Delicious first brew. One of the best I have had in a while!

The second steep was a little too watered down for my taste. I enjoyed it, but the with the sweetness and mineral flavor toned down, it was more of a ghost of what the first cup was.

I love this tea! Sadly, I just placed my order from Teavivre and didn’t include this… I guess that a second order will be necessary soon! : )

Actual Keemun!

I made 3 steeps in my gaiwan for the same times as the not really Keemun: 15, 20, 25 seconds. All into a mug! This is like so complex.

It’s sweet, it’s smoky, it’s sweet, it’s chocolate. That is an accurate summary of each sip.

I’ve just sat here with this open, despite drinking all of this first cup…more? I think so.

And 3 more tastes just the same. I bet this could be steeped like 12 more times and still taste amazing! But it’s getting too late for that. Next time I order from Teavivre, I’m getting more of this. Except I think my last order is lost at sea.

This tea is bold and wonderful. It’s just a little smoky, and then I get a lot of fruity flavor and honey.

I’ve never had a Keemun before this and now I’m like, why? This is exactly the kind of thing I like. I liked the first steep the most because it was in your face, but the flavors are still all there subsequently.

Tried an experiment today.

Apologies before you read further, because in some places what I did might cause a pretty good uproar.

I made this iced. I thought it would be fabulous. Not so much. All of the things I love about this tea are enhanced with the warmth.

Note to self: Reserve the pricey Premium Dragon Well for hot tea in the future. It tastes so much better that way.
Thank you for remembering!

Also, this makes me think that I will only like herbals or black teas iced. I might try a flavored green at some point.

Tea of the afternoon…..

This is my favorite green tea. I must have some for my cupboard. It is so smooth, the taste reminds me of very fresh roasted asparagus in a high quality olive oil. Not a hint of bitterness or astringency, just smoooooth, lightly buttery goodness. Thank you so much to Teavivre for the sample. I am hooked!

(And thank you to ashmanra for the recent review that suggested I should be drinking this one right now!)

Mug method with about 180 water. 2minutes first steep, three minutes for the second.

Tea of the afternoon…..

I think I am going to have to rewrite my views on green teas after this one. I will have to admit that words like grassy and vegetal were not at all appealing to me before today. I also think the experiences I had with green tea in the past might have been influenced by lower quality tea as well as poor preparation on my part. Now, I must admit that Teavivre is going to make a green tea drinker out of me. The tea is smooth, lightly vegetal, and I am even getting a hint of butter. There is nothing harsh or bitter about this tea. While it is a relatively new frontier for me, I will say that I know I like this one. The leaves are long and very green. Brewed up, they look like they could have just been plucked from the bush. I am going to see how it resteeps, but this is definitely going on my shopping list. Imagine that. Me, a drinker of green tea!

Thank you to Teavivre for the sample! But mostly, thank you for showing me how wonderful green tea can be.

15 oz infuser mug with 180 water for 2 minutes and about 2 tsp tea. No additions.

I hate to keep going on about how much I love these Teavivre teas, but I can’t help it! Teavivre has completely eliminated my negative predispositions about flowery and white teas.

On the top of my most shunned list was Jasmine tea. When I tried some other (not to be named) brands, I felt like I was swilling cups of perfume. Not only is this Silver Jasmine Green tea a pleasant sipping blend, but it is also full-flavored and sweet.

The color is a semi-deep amber when steeped for two minutes at 195 degrees. I didn’t expect that hue from a green tea.

The manifestation of jasmine is strong in this tea, but when combined with the sweetness in the flavor and the subtle green tea taste, everything works together peacefully to produce a very palatable experience. Altogether, you are rewarded with a rich sweet jasmine tea without bitterness.

I only have one more Teavivre tea to sample. I am sad because I always look forward to the tasty surprises that these teas spring on me and I will miss them. But, the good news is, my shopping list is loaded and ready to order more of these great teas from China!

This sample was provided courtesy of Teavivre for review.

I decided to use two of the sample packets in my Gaiwan because I wasn’t sure one would have given me enough leaf.

My first steep was with around 180 F water for one minute. It is buttery, very rich and fresh. I got a tiny bit of sharpness towards the end so I think I may have steeped it too long that time.

The second steep was for around 30 seconds. The leaves have expanded so much that they have almost filled my entire gaiwan so I’m not sure using all that leaf was such a great idea. hee hee… but now I am picking up a bit on that lychee flavor and it’s still very nice and buttery.

Third steep: a little less butter and a little more fruit. It’s really a nice relaxing cup of yum-ness. I do happen to like Dong Ding oolongs quite a lot.

Fourth and Fifth Steep: still going strong in terms of flavor and richness.

Overall I give this good points on flavor but I’ve been drinking sooo many Taiwanese green oolongs lately that I’m not sure it really stands head and shoulders above the crowd. It is very enjoyable though! I would have liked to seen this roasted a bit.

Backlog. Also, really tired. This was my tea for the weekend, seeing as I didn’t have any rooibos to celebrate, and I also didn’t have any tea that could be considered “blue.” Regardless, it was very pleasant, nice and flowery, and great for quenching your thirst (It was annoyingly hot and murderously humid in Northern Virginia). I’m only half done with the sample I got from Teavivre, and I’m certainly glad that I have a lot more of it.

After the insanity that was my weekend (and the amount of strong tea that I drank), I decided to have something a bit lighter today. Hence my futile attempt to finish off some of my remaining free samples from Teavivre.

Unfortunately, I still need to study for an Electrical Engineering test, so see my previous notes for more detailed information.

First of all, thank you Teavivre for the free sample pack! This was my first time trying silver needle white tea, which is supposed to be even better than White Peony, so I was a bit excited. I’ll admit that I babied the tea just a little bit, brewing it at a very low temperature to avoid astringency, but the result was exquisite. The color of the tea was a very light tan, but it leaned a bit toward peach. The aroma was very pleasing, with lots of flowers and something sweet dominating. The flavor of the first infusion was delicately flowery and sweet, like a more refined version of Bai Mu Dan. There was also a nice aftertaste that lingered on the hard palate and which tasted flowery as well.

The second infusion was steeped for about 25 seconds as this tea seems to steep quicker the second time. It also was a bit darker, and had a stronger aroma. I also used warmer water, about 165 degrees. The taste of the tea was very good, and was a bit stronger than the first infusion, with the flowery flavors dominating the sweetness. The aftertaste was the same, but it lingers for a bit longer.

The third infusion was pretty much exactly like the first, so I’m not going to repeat everything.

The forth infusion was similar to the third, but everything was muted. The taste wasn’t as pronounced, especially the flowery flavors. The aftertaste that had been present in the earlier infusions was almost nonexistent, and the aroma was greatly reduced.

All in all, this was a very good tea, something that would probably be good during spring or summer, and I’m seriously considering buying more of this in the future.

Ah. Somehow I managed a perfect cup of this one. Its main flavors are slight floral, deep greens like spinach, and roasted bread. I really like this one for its light, honey like flavors that slip in every once in awhile. This is a really solid Tie Guan Yin.

sipdown!
This one has mostly green and fruity notes to it. I’m very surprised that this one lasted so long in my collection, but it has been haunting my sample box for awhile now. This tea can be steeped 3-4 times and is just amazing for me. I like my Tie Guan Yin to be green rather than roasted flavored so that must be why I prefer this one so much. A great intro to oolongs for newer tea drinkers and a great addition to my cupboard.

mmm yet another go at this one! I love this tea! I use a very small pot for this+extra leaves. But it always comes out fragrant and crave-able. I think that this is easily one of my favorite teas.