The Tea Haus
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The Tea Haus held a “Shades of Green” tea tasting today, so I got my green on! The first three teas we sampled were all Japanese greens, which I don’t usually like. I haven’t rated them, because I know already that I don’t like sencha and I don’t think it would be fair for me to rate one objectively since they all taste like butt to me.
So turns out that I don’t like matcha either! This offering had a very strong scent, very heavy and fishy. The taste was slightly less reeking of fish, but it was still very strong.
Preparation
I conquered the tea! Finally a cup that wasn’t soapy or missing any of the notes. Sadly however, with my conquering I have discovered that it isn’t my Earl of choice. The cream notes are mild, and it just doesn’t sit right on my palate. Any of you guys coming to the GTA meetup interested in this one? I’m definitely willing to pass it along.
Preparation
I am determined with this tea! I have tried it twice now. The first time I brewed it I got all vanilla and no Earl to be seen. Then last night I tried to do a pot of it up and all I got was . . . soap.
I will conquer this tea. I swear. For now though, it has won. shakes fist at it
Tried this one yesterday morning but didn’t blog it because I used boiling water and . . . it definitely got burnt. It wasn’t horrid, but I decided to wait and retry it today.
I brewed it up today, hopeful since the cup last time had an amazing mango scent despite the burnt factor. The mango flavour is definitely present, and more so the hotter the water. The mate has a nice roasted flavour to it, which doesn’t overpower but instead makes me thing of mango over an open fire. I’ve never tried it, but it can’t be a bad thing, right? And it isn’t in the tea, either. I’m thinking next time I’ll try it on a hotter temperature that isn’t boiling and see if I can get more mango since it was no where near as strong when I brewed it like a green.
Preparation
This is a limited edition tea from the Tea Haus for Valentine’s Day 2012. On a whim I decided to order it and give it a try. I like chocolate and I like cinnamon and I like black tea, so why not, right?
It’s a unique flavour. There are definitely chocolate notes to the tea but nothing dominating. The black tea flavour is still prominent and the cinnamon wasn’t strong when sipping it black. Curious, I added a half teaspoon of sugar and pow! There was the cinnamon. Amazingly though it played well with the other notes, making a really interesting and delicious cup. I can’t summarize the flavour easily since each note is definitely there waiting to be discovered. I am intrigued and curious what others will think of this one!
I’m not rating it yet because I honestly can’t decide where it is going to fall on the scale!
Preparation
Sip down!!
This lost quite a bit of maltiness over time. My cup was ok. Nothing special, but decent overall.
That’s one thing I’m looking forward to, getting down to a reasonable amount of tea so that it doesn’t loose flavour by the time my packet is done!
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!
I GOT MY MALTY BACK!!!!!!!!!! This is SO big for me. I’ve missed it so soooooo very much. Oh maltiness, I could kiss you! a thousand muahs!!!!
I don’t know if this is permanent. and I am back to needing it with a dash of agave.
Nevermind that. Today is a gift from the tasting gods. sighs
This reminds me of an Assam, only a little milder and less naturally sweet. I’m not at the top of the game here, obviously… since Assam is on the farthest North Eastern corner of India, and Ponmudi is on the opposite, South West coast! Uhhh yah. There was a time when I could recognize the difference…
Bah! I’ll get there. If this is any indication that is :P
Thank you so much to the lovely Tina for hooking me up with this blend!!! tea love!!
Hurray!! I can’t wait to try my own bag! And double hurray that you can enjoy it! :D
Hehe thanks Tina!! :P
It won’t let me edit for some reason so I’ll post this as a comment…
I’m on my second steep now, and it’s quite different. I’m getting alot more astringency, a little bit of malty, and a sort of clay-like drying sensation and taste. This is all overshadowed and strong in the finish with a fresh sort of taste, kindof balancing out the astringency. Maybe that’s because black’s aren’t meant for multiple steeps? Hmmm. Perhaps I should have let it sit in the pot an extra minute.
I’ve been talking to a lot of tea specialists/importers/farmers and they are all rather mystified at the diminishing ‘malt’ that is normally so common in Assamic teas, most have suggested a weather factor, but it would make sense that the Himilayas could be bending the conditions a bit and that the east would draw the normal breath from the west…I’m glad your able to enjoy it as it is sorely missed
Could be the weather, or that maybe some of the maltier higher end teas are purchased in other countries, making them less available here. Higher end Assam teas are also getting harder to come by…ie limited production=less availability & higher prices.
Scott – I also would agree that higher ‘end’ Assam teas are becoming harder to come by, but I’m also dealing with direct farmers and Assam importers who have a broad range of teas/prices and even cupping them across the board, with craft and grade, the ‘malt’ notes are sadly absent. Prices are going up as more and more regions are demanding better wages and living conditions and while I know this might seem a lot to people who are not used to paying much for tea from certain regions, I’d say its about time that people are paid for what they are worth…so if tea prices rise, hopefully so will an appreciation and an awareness of how much work goes into the process…
I agree, if paying a little more for my cuppas brings up the quality of life in foreign countries, it’s very worth it!!
though it is a shame that malty teas are harder to find now :(
Sipdown! 811.
Hot-brewed and chilled this one. Apparently I didn’t really taste peach or ginger last time; this time, I think I’m getting a hint of ginger but not much else. It does taste refreshing though, and the white base is lovely; I’d definitely like to try this (or a variant of it) again in the future.
Preparation
Thanks to Indigobloom for a sample of this one!
I’m not sure that I’m tasting ginger or peach all that prominently (ok, at all!), but I’m getting a lovely caramelly flavour, presumably from the white tea, that reminds me of dragonwell. So in spite of the lack of fruitiness and ginger, this tea isn’t so bad, because the base must be pretty decent :) I think I have to withhold a rating, though, because it’s likely age that is causing the lack of fruitiness (I’m actually more surprised that this wasn’t contaminated, given my shoddy storage!) Based on Indigobloom’s review, I would probably actually really like this one (just for the base, it’s getting above 75!)
So, I shall finish this one up, and perhaps try it again, as a fresher batch, at a later date :)
Preparation
I’m up-ing my rating on this a bit. This is a really versatile tisane. I’ve cold steeped it with black tea and with green tea. I’ve added it Adagio’s Primeval for a bit more of a blueberry punch. This might not be perfect, but you can do a lot of things with it. I will miss having it in my cupboard.
I cold steeped this overnight. It had really nice blueberry flavor, but I think it’s too sweet (or not tart enough) for my tastes. I still have some left, I’m going to try and hot steep then cool the next batch and see how that differs.
For now I like it, it’s a nice blueberry tea, but I like the other blueberry one the scribbles sent me better. Thank you so much for sending me both of these so that I can compare them. :))
i ave never cold steeped before… cold water from the start? or hot and then left to chill?
• Clean a jar or pitcher.
• Put some tea in it (about 1.5 times the amount you’d normally use).
• Add cold water and a lid.
• Let it sit in the fridge for four to ten hours, depending on the type (less time for white teas, green teas and wiry/flat oolongs, more for rolled oolongs and the most for pu-erhs, herbal infusions and black teas).
• Strain. Sip. Simple.
4 to 10 hrs is a guideline. Most people, myself included, go for overnight. I’ve even gone as far as 24 hrs by accident. There’s only so much flavour that can come out. Only one or two went bitter on me but for the most part you can just stick it in there and forget it
I do both. When I say cold steep, I mean add leaves to pitcher, add cold water, put in the fridge overnight or several hours. I also will hot steep as normal, pour the tea off the leaves then allow to cool, then put in the fridge. When I do the hot steep thing, I usually do two or three steeps put it all together and then will have several cups worth in the fridge.
Some tea cold steeps really well, some I find I like better if you hot steep then cool. Depends on the tea and depends on your tastes.
I agree with Nxtdoor, most I can leave up to 24 hours with no problem. I have a cheap China Town Market green tea (don’t even know what it is) that I like to cold steep with fruit tisane. That is ok for about 18 hours any longer than that the green gets bitter. I’ve had “good green tea” get bitter after 12 hours. I don’t usually over leaf – I use however much I would use for hot steeping, and therefore I think it needs more time. I’ve never done it for as short as 4 hours, but have had good results from some in about 8 hours. Depends on your tastes, play with see what you like.
excellent! thank you, both of you!
I have tried this one a couple of times…and each time I try it I don’t know what to think. When I first saw this on the site I thought ‘Bourbon!! Vanilla!! YUM!! I can’t wait to try this!!’ After trying it my expectations didn’t meet what it actually tastes like. The first time I tried this tea I got a big old smack in the face from the vanilla saying “HELLO I AM VANILLA!!” and I thought to self “I know, I taste you, Vanilla.” But now, after a couple of tastings, I find that the vanilla has mellowed out and is not as strong, although is still quite prominent (maybe got used to strong vanilla flavour). My colleagues think it smells like cake. Vanilla is a favourite flavour of mine, but this was ‘HI!!! HELLOOOOO!!! VANILLAAAA’ Sadly, no bourbon :(
Second steeping was only rooibos, no vanilla – which was ok with me, I don’t mind the taste of rooibos.
Not bad, but not what I expected.
Sipdown! 788. You know, this is more pleasant on its own that mixed in with other ingredients (although that said, it does work well in some blends). It’s lemony and a bit grassy (not vegetal). I’m curious how it might work cold and sweetened, as a pseudo-lemonade. Perhaps something to try in the future. (I’m now craving cold Coco-Lemon Thai. Must locate and drink tomorrow.)
Thanks for letting me sample this one, Indigobloom!
ETA: I cold-brewed the used leaves for probably about 36 hours, and the result was fairly flavourful. I do prefer lemon juice to things like lemon peel, lemon verbena, lemon grass, etc., so it was only ok for me. I didn’t bother sweetening it, but perhaps would have liked it better had I done so. Quite refreshing, however.
Preparation
Iced!! now there’s an idea :P
Are you saying that you have 788 teas to sipdown??
Yeeeeessssss :(
OMG, Kittenna!!!!!!! How did that happen???! LOL!
Hahahaha I know, right?! That’s why I’m trying to be on a very strict purchasing hiatus. It’s working so far, but I’m not making as much progress on sipdowns as I need to be… sigh!
Gaaah!!! Internet service!!!
So this teas is a lot like ‘Forever Nuts.’ Reminds me of oatmeal cookies. YUM!! I tend to eat more of this brew (head hanging in shame) than I brew – both ways are delicious. Eating David’s brew is softer – this one seems to have more beet root. I likey both.
It is a cold miserable day, and a day like this calls for a comforting tea. Sadly, this tea doesn’t quite make it. Taste is a little on the weak side, and to bring out the pumpkin pie flavour I needed to added milk and sugar, which I prefer not to do. It’s ok. It won’t be hard to finish, but I probably won’t buy it again.
Preparation
1 tablespoon used for 375 ml
Metallic. Mildly floral mixed with smoky note. This tea reminds me of sencha. Good level of astringency. Slight nuttiness.
Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing this with me.
Preparation
I tried this tea during my quest for that strong, bold, yet rounded black tea taste that I crave. A staff member at The Tea Haus recommended their Golden Pu-Erh for its musty edge.
I tried two cups of this tea on two separate occasions, each brewed differently. The Tea Haus’ brewing guidelines suggest a water temperature range of approx. 85C-93C, and a steeping time of 10 seconds to 2 minutes. For the second cup I increased water temperature and steeping time to brew a stronger tea – this tea is VERY sensitive to variations in the brewing process.
Weak or strong, however, I was not a fan. It’s been a week or so since the last cup, so I would be going on memory if I tried to describe the taste exactly, but I think this is the problem: it tastes like it’s been sitting in a cave, fermenting, for five years. I know that’s the point, but it doesn’t work for me: I tasted (and smelled) mould, mildew, damp, dirt, and chill when I drank this tea. It was kind of like rummaging around in a really old basement or antique store, minus the discovery of exciting or valuable treasures. I didn’t finish either cup.
