The Tea House

Gorgeous liquor color. Almost opaque but not quite. A shiny lacquered rosewood color with an orange rim.
Flavor: The flavor isn’t as strong as I was expecting. I really think the plastic bags destroy the teas taste. Resin and woody notes… but again just another reason why I don’t use plastic bags for storage.

I’ve taken it out of the plastic bag and put it in better storage. The taste is better but not my favorite. There is a metallic hint I’m not too fond of. Before that tang though, there is a nice woody note and resin.

Great chocolately aroma coming off the infusing leaf.
Sawdust. Wood shavings. Chocolate and choc shavings. Cacao.
Easy to drink and not think.

It says on the label that it is flavored. I wonder if he puts anything that isn’t pure in the flavored category, even though not all blends are technically considered flavored (They really are only considered flavored if you add natural/artificial flavoring to them). This one doesn’t look like it’s been flavored. It smells nice. Lots of nice spicy chai notes. Oh, maybe because of the candied ginger? I’m guessing but it looks like candied ginger. Decent brew. Not the best chai I’ve had. But then again I am tasting a lot of cardamom so maybe I just need to watch what I am adding next time.

Another fruit and tea blend. The leaf is nice-looking. Dark brown, medium-sized leaves are nicely twisted. It looks like candied mango. I didn’t set a timer so I’m not sure how long I steeped this for. Probably less than 5 but more than 3 minutes. The liquor is a deep and almost opaque dark cherry wood. Very pretty. The taste is citrusy with hints of lacquered hardwood. The mango pops up here and there, but isn’t as mango-flavored as I thought it would be. Perhaps if steeped less, this flavor would be better, but… I’m just not a fan of flavored teas anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2I67mkfhqoo

Nice uniform leaf. Dark brown twisted with a lot of golden tips mixed in. No aroma. The initial aroma coming off the leaves when the hot water hit was nice. Woody.
The flavor is good. Nothing too special. Fine for a morning brew. Something you don’t have to overthink. But just don’t overinfuse. The flavor has different woody notes and resin.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HO98ZIIEDBs

Back in MN after a long but amazing weekend at the Chicago Tea Festival. Met with Maria Uspenski (one of four who wrote the book 101 Teas to Steep before you Die), Mike Harney of Harney & Sons, and, of course, Dan Robertson. I had met him the year before but I was reminded again this year of just how awesome he is.

Well… I don’t know where to start. I love Japanese green teas. And this looks like a nice sencha that is being used for the base. The aroma is decent and not artificial. Lemon and strawberry with a hint of grass and umami.
Wet leaf aroma is grassy with a fruit loop cereal aroma.
Flavor: 190 at one minute was probably too much. It’s bitter. There’s some lemony… kinda strawberry… something, but… this isn’t my thing…
https://theteahouse.com/products/strawberry-lemonade?pos=1&_sid=a5bb96532&ss=r

This tea almost ruined all the other samples. I am slightly miffed with it but it isn’t its fault. It just needs better packaging. The aroma is weeping through the plastic bag. I am weeping thinking about the fact that I stored it next to my favorite (Onyx) and hoping it didn’t ruin it. If you enjoy flavored teas though I do believe this is something you’ll enjoy. I can’t taste any of the base, only the flavoring. Black current and other summer berries. There is a hint of woody notes and resin though it’s so light its almost not worth mentioning. There is a bit of sandpaper and grittiness that is felt and tasted as it flows down your throat.

My mom went through some of my samples, just smelling them, and decided she really liked the aroma. I told her she should probably taste it first before taking it home. I honestly thought she wouldn’t like it but she loved it, so I gave her some to take home.
Dry appearance: Large twisted and curling olive green leaves.
Dry aroma: Lemony with hints of spices.
Wet aroma: Lemon. Lemon peel. Something herbal. And a hint of cardamom.
Flavor: 1 min steep for my mom. 3 Min steep for myself. I think the one minute would have been better. It’s not astringent. Actually, the mouth feel is somewhat smooth. But the flavor. It’s just too lemony for me. Green tea and lemon are just not my thing.

Another sample from Dan. I guess you could say I saved the best for last, but that is merely my subjective opinion. This tea is not new to me. I love this tea. Sadly, Dan ran out at the festival this year, but he gave me the rest of the sample he had used for his demo.

The chocolatley notes in this tea are so good. The aroma and the flavor have unique chocolate and cream notes.

Dan opened some samples to use. The bags didn’t have a way to be resealed so he gave them to me. Not gonna lie, I stood there for a moment staring at the bags, grateful, but like… I’m going to end up with a pocket of loose tea or forget that they are in my pocket, and they’re going to gracefully fall everywhere. I ended up just stashing them in a bag until I was done volunteering. Only a tiny bit lost.

To be honest, I was going to skip this one before sending it on with the TTB, but ultimately I know it’s important to expand my palate… So here we go. The base is gorgeous! Look at those silver buds. They’re adorable. The dry aroma is pleasant.
Flavor: Oh… Okay. Glad I didn’t skip this one. It’s refreshing! A bit of citrus note, but not lemon citrus, more like orange. Floral and some wheat grass. This is quite nice. Sweet but not cloying.

Dry aroma:

Another sample from Dan. Thanks, Dan. I spilled most of the first brew all over myself. Luckily, it smells really good, and most of it was absorbed by my jacket. And I didn’t break anything.

Flavor: Hay, veggies, long summer grasses. Minerality and some butter . The first infusion was definitely the best one.
Wet Aroma: That’s really nice. Very vegetal with a slight creaminess, a hint of butter, and minerality. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this one, but I am pleasantly surprised. It reminds me of War Elephant by Rakkasan Tea.
https://theteahouse.com/products/yellow-meadow

TTB! This is plain, but pretty good! There’s a bit of depth. It’s pleasant cold with milk and sugar.

Sipdown

I have had this tea for at least a year and I have absolutely no idea where it came from. I have possibly had it for far longer and found it during a tea organizing spree and just added it to my cupboard a year ago. I am wondering if this came from beerandbeancurd or derk. I know I didn’t order it as I have never ordered from this company. Many thanks and my apologies to whoever sent it!

It was neglected because I intended to have some gong fu sessions with it and never made time, but I didn’t want it to get any older with this unknown provenance so we drank it western style throughout this weekend and finished it today.

It is very good. I really love how some oolongs smell utterly different from wet leaf to steep. This is very very lightly roasted, I think. It is smooth with medium to light body, only the barest hint of briskness – just enough to make me gulp it and immediately want more yet without being at all puckery.

The wet leaves have a high, intense scent of the kind you get from lemon peels or mint, yet without BEING lemon or mint, if that makes sense. I will call it a soprano, probably a soubrette. It is rather heady actually. Crisp.

The tea itself is lovely to drink, and I can’t stop reaching for it. The first steep was one minute as recommended on the bag but it was mild to the point of seeming like a wallflower with our food. Second steep, taken on its own, was given some extra time and now I have a little more light hint if well-done but not burnt toast and more briskness. The taste is lingering more after the sip. But is it floral? Hard to say, but I think I could find a similarity with chrysamthemum.

I am not well-versed in Dan Cong oolongs, I am sad to say, but this was a very enjoyable tea. I do feel inadequate to make a good note on it, though.

Pair this one with Bach. And stick your pinky up. Brewed this leaf two different ways in one gaiwan. Started with room temp water at a ninja park. Cold brewing revealed a smooth mouthfeel with no astringency. The flavors were definitely woody and earthy. Light pine, sap, and resin. Refreshing like menthol without the menthol zap. Redwood bark and fresh mulch. There is also something familiar that I can’t quite put my finger on. The aftertaste stays with you for quite awhile. Very earthy and cooling. The cool wet aroma is woody and earthy. Wet and fresh. But when steeped hot it becomes a bit fishy in both aroma and flavor but the other notes stay the same.

A friend gave this to me for Christmas. Not bad!! I think I enjoyed it more without milk even though it has plenty of “chai” ingredients.
Oh and she brought me lava salt from Finland!!!

My daily tea, drink a lot of this whilst working