Teavivre

I really like this combination. I was just reading today about the weight loss benefits of oolong (helps to burn calories faster, according to the poster in a local shop, by increasing energy expenditure (EE)). I suppose this is why I typically was served oolong tea while practicing t’ai chi back in the day. But I digress.

I don’t tend to be that into the taste of ginseng, but it goes quite well with oolong actually. The result really, really reminds me of Tulsi (holy basil) tea, if you’ve ever had that. It’s herbal and a bit grassy, tasting predominantly of hay, or fresh straw. If this sounds off-putting, give it a shot, because I am enjoying this and finding it refreshing even on another abysmally hot Texas day. Woo, ginseng power!

I’m really glad I joined Steepster or I would never know about any other teas, other than black that is. Oolong piqued my curiosity because it has a funny looking name and most of the pictures I had seen of it were little balls, such neat little packages. The first oolong I tried was a bit too green for me and almost put me off of them all together. I’m so glad it didn’t as this tea is really wonderful.

I steeped it three times so far. All of my steepings were the same temperature. I added a minute more each time. With each one I’ve had empty cup syndrome. My first steeping was and incredibly smooth, suave cup that hinted at honey and fruit in it’s sweetness. The second was still very smooth and sweet but I felt like the “oolong” taste was deeper. On the third the “oolong” taste was much more intense. It didn’t get in the way of the honey and fruity notes. The tea was still smooth and so comfortable. Very complex with out being overly fussy or hard to suss out. I’m going to save the leaves and begin again tomorrow and see what unfolds.

Thank you Teavivre for this large and beautiful sample!

I began my day with my grandson Ian (11) wandering out from MY bedroom…to see if I was awake yet on the couch. You see, whenever one of the “8” comes to spend the night…they are the king or queen of the house. They get my big comfy bed. We had a strawberry oolong from Butiki with breakfast and then went SWIMMING!
Later, Ian told me that the Puerh I was sending home for him well, he was going to save a piece to celebrate his adoption anniversary. I almost broke down and cried. What a sweet young man.

I took Ian home and arrived back at about 4pm…needing TEA!
Another Oolong? Sure! This was such a sunny day…and I was feeling tired but pretty good.

I used a glass pot with large strainer and steeped 24oz (yep a lot) 4 minutes.

Looking down into my cup…the liquor was golden

My initial impression was sweet honey water. Then my mind wandered.

I remembered a natural spring in Puerto Rico where I went long ago to fill water bottles. The water was sparkling and so sweet but mostly, cool. This spring was in the middle of the rain forest which was humid and filled with wild orchids and ferns, the tree frogs chirping and lizards scattering about. The mist and rain was always dripping down my face, my legs, arms… then circling around me steaming hot. (Not a place to wear makeup!)
I thought of the little hillside house in San German on the Southwest side of the Island where my children and I lived for awhile. It overlooked coffee trees, mango, banana and breadfruit trees. Many trips down the winding road to Boca Raton beach and the salty waves. Sweet smelling sugar cane lining the road and trucks piled so high with it they should have toppled over.
This Oolong had the floral, sweet honey water flavor but also an aftertaste of one of my favorite Island foods, plantain. Not green plantain, but Verdura..sweet plantain. When plantains ripen and become yellow. They are so delicious cooked in a little butter or fried.
Something about this Oolong makes me remember Puerto Rico. The beach at Isla Verde and Boca Raton. Salt Spray and the smell of orchids on a hot day followed by a sweet cool drink. Rock Sugar. Sweet buttery plantain or even yukon potato.

I got scared once in shower when one jumped on me! Pretty sound though!

This is a delicious milk oolong. Rich, creamy and a bit sweet – the generous sample I received from Teavivre (thank you!!) went very quickly! :)

I always know that a treat is coming when I reach for a Teavivre tea. Even when the tea isn’t of one of my preferred types, I consistently admire Teavivre’s rendition of it.

Oolong is one of those types that I don’t pursue or drink often, but I’m always willing to entertain new attempts to make me a fan.

I love the title of this tea. Is it really picked by monkeys? Do monkeys drink tea or eat it? Those are questions that will have to be answered another time. Now, on to my sampling of this tea…

I steeped this tea at 212 degrees for three minutes as Teavivre suggested. The brewed beverage was a light greenish yellow in color.

Brewed and unbrewed, the aroma was grassy and similar to some milder green teas that I tried.

The taste of this tea was sweet, grassy, and fresh. The flavor was very light and smooth, yet full. There was no bitterness and it seemed to go down my throat extremely easily. In fact, I had to restrain myself from chugging it a few times. It is one of those teas that I ENJOYED drinking.

This is simply another perfect tasty tea from Teavivre. I’m not sure if I’m an Oolong fan yet, but I am DEFINITELY a fan of THIS Oolong tea.

In case you are wondering about all of my glowing reviews of Teavivre teas, I need to specify that I am not affiliated with Teavivre in any manner. I am not obligated to write tasting notes (positive or negative) about these teas. I’m also not compensated for my Teavivre tea tasting notes whatsoever, other than the prior receipt of these wonderful samples for which I am extremely grateful.

I personally consider all of Teavivre’s teas to be among the top of the best that I’ve tried during my 10 months as a Steepster. The Monkey Picked (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea has only reinforced my assessment!

Dry Leaf:Has a sweet vegetal smell.
Wet Leaf: Has a warm floral aroma with a sweet aroma.
Liquor: Is a yellowish color.
Taste:Has a sweet floral taste with a vegetal flavor in the background. The broth feels rich and thick in the mouth.
Overall Opinion: I give this a score of 90.I think this is a good tea for someone that likes a lighter tea with a nice floral aroma.

Sipdown, 196. I didn’t want to move on to another oolong after the milk oolong (wouldn’t really be fair to other teas), so I decided to sipdown this one. I don’t have much more to say about this one except that it is a very nice jasmine tea and if you are into jasmine white teas this one should be on your shopping list.

I decided to take a break from rose and have another floral that I haven’t indulged in a while. One step closer to a sipdown with this tea (one more cup left)!

The thick jasmine smell on this tea is awesome. Even though I’ve had this sample for a while and it hasn’t been sealed in an airtight pouch (just clipped shut as well as possible), the jasmine is strong and fresh and hasn’t diminished. Often I think teas are more resilient and long-lived than people give them credit for. I am liking the brightness and lightness this morning, after being kept out too late and not getting enough sleep last night. I really should drink my jasmine teas more, I do love them so much.

This is a big sample, and it’s getting up there in age, especially for a white tea. I really need to drink it down!

I put a big pile of this in my gongfu teapot and steeped it for somewhere between 10 and 20 seconds. Not a lot of precision here, but the result is quite lovely. Sweet, honeysuckle-y jasmine, yum. My second cup is not my favorite… I think the white tea is overtaking the jasmine, somehow, and I think I prefer a green base (rather, a pearl base) for jasmines overall. But still a delicious jasmine tea.

This sample comes thanks to Angel Chen and Teavivre. I haven’t drank a lot of jasmine white teas before. and I wanted to have this one soon after the Jasmine White Yunnan from Verdant yesterday. Of course, this is a Fujian white and that was a Yunnan white, so I’m interested to see the differences.

One thing that’s immediately different is the aroma of the dried leaf. This one is jasminey, but also with almost a savory note to it. Steeped, all the scents kind of mellow a bit, but I still get an almost herbaceous jasmine quality. The flavor on this is bright, crisp. The jasmine is sweet and leaves a slight honeysuckle aftertaste. I get a slight hay-ish note from the white tea, but overall it’s mostly really bright, leaving an almost tingly sensation in my mouth. It’s a light tea, but it doesn’t seem like it’s understeeped as much as just light in character. This is a very tasty tea, but I do think that the white yunnan was more my style. Glad I got the opporunity to try this one, though!

The end of my sample of this one. It is the low end of Teavivre’s Dian Hong offerings and still blows the doors off anything I can buy locally. A really good everyday black when you just want tea. Of course there is plenty of depth for the times when you want more.

Excellent as always. Usually have this for a morning cup. Today my son was over and I thought he might like it. His opinion? Tastes like tea. I tried to raise him better. :)

I was glancing through my notes on this one. It seems to be a common theme that I grab this when I haven’t slept well. Guess what? Bed at 11:00 up at 3:00. Thank God and Teavivre for this rich bold cup of malt and cocoa with a hint of smoke. Definitely better than anything on the tea aisle at my grocer and cheaper (even though it is about the same price) because this will re-steep. I bought a bag of Golden Monkey on BF so I guess it will be my replacement wake up after I finish this off next time.

I went looking for some Irish Breakfast but I am too asleep to remember where I put any of it. Note to self: Really shouldn’t hide your wake me up tea.

This one was setting out. I have had it open for almost a year. It still seems fresh as can be. A really good everyday malty black.

Went to bed last night at 10:30. Woke up at 12:30 thinking it was morning. Tossed and turned until 6:30 when I gave up. Definite need of a hefty mug of ambition.

Those of you who worry about expiration dates and such, do yourself a favor and move along. The leaf for this cup was first steeped 3 days ago. I left the lid off the press and this has been sitting quietly waiting until now. Time and air has definitely tamed the hefty malty and cocoa notes. My first thought was liquid milk chocolate. Not as amazing as when fresh but still very drinkable.

This is the tea I last had in a plastic travel mug. I went looking for a ceramic one yesterday but our local Starbucks was out of them. The price is so good ($10) that I can wait until they get them back in.

I had this for my morning cup. I did not have time to sit at home and sip. So I brewed a cup, poured it in a travel mug, grabbed my guitar and went out the door. This smells so cocoa and malt when it is brewing. I was so looking forward to it as I normally really enjoy this one. I was majorly disappointed to see how bad a travel mug sucks the life out of a cup of joy. I mean its not as bad as having it in a paper or styrofoam cup but sure isn’t the same as my ceramic mug. I did not realize what an important part of the flavor came from the sipping vessel used. I know a lot of you use travel mugs. Do you not notice the same thing? Maybe I am oversensitive, or maybe the convenience is just more important?

I work up this morning craving malt. All day I could taste it. It was this evening before I could brew this up. Ahhhh. I needed this one.

I have been up since three. I could barely keep my eyes open at work. A friend battled colon cancer for a year and was declared cancer free. Now they say he has a spot on his lung and we are waiting for results. Two weeks from today I will be laid off forcing me into retirement with no insurance and less than half the income. I have no new job prospects on the horizon so I am having a little trouble with Fear Not. As gmathis said the other day, I know how the story ends, but can’t we just skip a few chapters?

I went to my drawer for a little comfort. I was looking for Golden Monkey black tea. When I saw this one I realized I haven’t had it in a long time. It was a great choice. While waiting for the water to heat I started noticing the leaf smell. It is like wheat and malt. Such a nice scent. The cup is so smooth. It is heavily malted with light cocoa notes. I notice today it is even slightly peppery. The malt and cocoa linger long after the sip is gone. It’s funny, not that long ago I had no idea what people meant when they said a tea was malty. I guess it is because I had never tried a tea like this before.

I am more impressed with this today by far than when I first tried it. This I believe is the least expensive version of Dian Hong that TeaVivre sells. I should check that before I say it I guess. Anyway, I think originally I thought it would taste more sweet potato and honey like Golden Tips. You tone those flavors way down into the background and crank the malt and you have this tea. The slight amount of rough edges at the back of the sip I think would even appeal to coffee drinkers. If you enjoy Chinese black tea and would like an everyday affordable version this would do nicely.

Thank you TeaVivre for helping to take my mind off the troubles of the day. Upping the rating.

When TeaVivre offered their latest round of very generous samples, I asked for this one specifically. This is the lowest priced level of the 3 Dian Hong black teas they sell. Even at the low cost this is still a quality loose leaf tea with a fair amount of golden tips mixed in with darker leaf. The dry leaf is a bit malty and has some tobacco leaf scent. I used about 3g (a healthy spoon) and just below boiling water, steeping for 3 minutes in my French press. The liquor is a dark and clear caramel. The wet leaf scent reminds me of brownies. Like baked caramelized sugar and chocolate. (yeah, I know – Yum! Right?)

Comparing this to Golden Tips or Sun Moon Lake is unfair, but I can’t help it as I just tasted tested the latter. So let me get this out of my system – This does not have the wonderful sweet potato notes of the Golden Tips, and it does not have the amazing honey and mint of the Sun Moon Lake. So in this unfair comparison it starts off sounding a little bland. Yet it is $6.90/100g compared to $16.90 and $29.00 respectively. This is a really good tea on its own strengths. It is smooth and malty. I don’t know how this is processed and fired but I detect a light amount of smoke in the cup. That adds character and depth. The cooler the cup gets the more the flavor pops.

At the price point of this tea, having a nice Dian Hong for everyday would be enough. Yet, I haven’t even gotten to the reason I requested this sample. I had a hunch about this tea that I just had to try. I brewed the second cup and poured it over ice. As I suspected, this made a refreshing light glass of iced tea. Where as the mighty Golden Tips faltered over ice, this frugal version took it in stride. No sweetener or lemon required. There was one problem with it – my glass emptied way too fast :)

One last thing, I steeped this 3 times and it was still going strong. Let’s see Twinings do that.

My rating is higher than the others based on the iced tea option.

What a great oolong. I steeped this in my gaiwan using the small packet it came in for about 3 seconds with 1 more second each steep. This tea is thick sometimes and has great character. On third steeping it got very sweet. Like has already been said, it’s light though. it’s like breathing in the breeze that blows through a garden. Very nice oolong and very affordable. I like teavivre more and more every day.

Tea provided by Teavivre for review

After trying this hot and iced, I think I prefer it iced. My taste buds were able to pick up on a nice creamy flavour that I think comes from the white tea. Overall it’s very smooth, delicate, creamy and uhh jasmine-y when brewed iced.

I liked how this turned out, but I prefer my white tea without jasmine. I’ve never tried Bai Mu Dan iced but I suspect it would a be a great iced tea.

Cold steeped over about 24 hours, 7 tsp in 1 liter of water.

Tea provided by Teavivre for review

The scent of jasmine was very noticeable as soon as I opened the tea sample pouch. I love the scent of this flower (more so than others like rose), so I was excited to brew this up and share with my husband.

With the first sip, my worries of an overly scented tea were washed away. I can taste the familiar delicate aroma of white tea and nice hints of jasmine. When I downed the first cup, the tea liquor also made me think of jasmine paired with fresh fruit (like peaches or apples)

The second cup was still quite nice. Jasmine is more prevalent but tolerable. Still no bad flavours such as bitterness.

Third steep was good, but perhaps maybe I steeped it too long. The floral aroma is still going strong, but the more I sip the more I yearn for just regular white tea.

Fourth, fifth, and sixth steeps I am mostly tasting the jasmine aroma. Which I guess helps prolong the flavour of each steep.

Overall I liked this tea but for white tea I still prefer regular silver needle, and for jasmine; the silver jasmine green tea. (Personal bias: I am not a big fan of white teas. They are enjoyable but not my preferred tea.) Teavivre has graciously mailed me quite a bit of this tea, so I will continue to play around with steep parameters to get the best result.

100ml gaiwan, 2tsp, 6 steeps (1min, +1min each resteep)