113 Tasting Notes
After reviewing this tea ages ago i got hold of a big bag 250 gram of these tea pearls from a sale on canton.
It took a while to get used again but now i’m sipping from this Yunnan tea on a lot of evenings while relaxing behind the tv. Its well worth the price and with only needing a couple of those tiny balls u get a whole lot of tea for your money!
Preparation
a quick update on this tea because i had a bit more time with the rest of the sample. I brewed about 4 to 5 cups from one scoop of tea leafs. Its a great tea that keeps on giving if you brew it correctly i used shorter steep times then required going with 3 up to 6min with for each cup going up a bit in time with the steeping. It keeps giving a great fresh taste. I was surprised it kept strong for so long, but if you see the size of the leaf’s it might be no surprise!
Anyway if you like green oolongs, try this one
Preparation
I received this sample a short while ago from Temple Road Tea from Taiwan. I have to admit i’m a bit late with my review but here we go, better late then never i guess!
The sample is packaged with nice brewing instructions but i’m not so happy with steeping a green oolong for 6min for a first infusion. I’m going with 3min and the 95°c water.
The rolled up balls of tea are pretty big, among the biggest i had in a long time. The resulting brew gives a light green very fresh looking cup of tea. The steeped leaf’s in the pot are huge, very huge and not cut up in smaller pieces like u usually see with lesser quality oolongs. Taste wise its very soft in the mouth maybe even a bit floral and most certain creamy but not to much. Its a very refreshing cup, the way i like a green oolong.
I can compare this the with a ali shan or a yellow gold, but its more something in between as far than i can remember (because its been a while that i had a green oolong), have to say i prefer this one over the tiger monk i had tried a while ago.
Going to make a other tasting note late on when i tried more of this sample!
Preparation
This tasting note is a small update on from my first review.
I managed to brew 3 cups from those leaves and they where all equally good, with the second being the best cup i had from them all. That cup was not as robust then the first one, it was a bit more floral and more refreshing then the initial 6min steep. With the third cup being equal in taste i was a bit disappointed that i threw away the remaining leafs.The rest off my sample i used for a sort of gong fu brewing, not real gong fu because i don’t own a gaiwan yet. But i made a serie’s of long shorter steeps and it was pretty amazing. The tea didn’t get as strong like in the first time i tried it but it just kept giving off great tasting cups all a little bit different in taste but with the same note’s i described before. Got about 5 or 6 short steeps from this experience all with steep times between 1 and 6min.
on a side note i keep comparing this to big red robe, but without the charcoal mouthfeel. tough it gives a dry mouth after drinking.
Temple Road Tea’s from Taiwan send me this 10gram Roasted Oolong as a sample in order to make a review here on steepster. I would like to thank them to give me the opportunity to try this tea.
Oolongs are a type off tea that is usually a hit or mis with me, i usually drink light greener oolongs tough tis should be a darker one. The instructions that came with the sample are clear, divide the sample into 3 equal parts and make a 6min infusion. 6min is a long time in my opinion but i followed the instructions.
The dry leafs where dark green rolled in tiny balls. Upon infusion they unfurl to rather large leafs. The downside is that i’m not really getting all the aroma’s from te steeping in my nose because i got a bit of a cold… But as far that i can tell the smell reminds me of Big Red robe, and the color of the steep is somewhat familiar to it.
Taste wise i’m getting the roasted notes in my mouth with the first few sips, perhaps a bit smoked like in the description.Its strong but not overwhelming, i was expecting a bitter brew because there was such a long steep time involved. Its surprisingly fresh and delicious.
Gonna try to get 3 steeps out of this tea, will make a new note later today with the evolution in taste over the different steeps.
Have to say i’m looking forward to receive more samples from tis company.
Preparation
Hi darky, Max here. Thanks for taking the time to review the Tiger Monk. As a token of our appreciation we’d like to send a little treat you way. This one should be right up your alley judging by your review. Look for an email from us in the next 24 to 48 hours for the details. Cheers and take care!
A New Tea Is Out! You’ll receive a free 10g sample of the Crane Monk Light Oolong Premium Tea for previously reviewing the Tiger Monk. Simply send an email to [email protected] to help us link your Steepster user name to your Temple Road subscribing member email address. Also, feel free to take advantage of our 50% discount offer, go to www.templeroadtea.com. Thank you!
My usual supply of Jasmine Pearls are coming from Jing, but because i had a rather huge discount with canton tea i ordered them with them. The basics are the same authentic jasmine pearls without artificial flavors.
These Pearls are a little bit bigger then those from jing but they smell the same, intense floral and fresh. I’m using only a small teaspoon of pearls in my 270ml teapot and steep them for 2m30 sec (my new standard time for greens).
The first cup is lighter green then the one from jing, smells intense like jasmine (as expected) and is light and clean in taste. The green tea is less robust then i’m used to but the jasmine is sweet, i like my first cup but finding it a bit week.
The second cup is steeped for 3m and because the pearls are more unfurled and opened the color is a bit darker green and way more intense and robust in taste. This is by far a better cup of jasmine for my taste.
The third cup is holding on the same as the second, so this tea is very good but i’m not sure if i can choose between jing or canton, they are different but well… overall almost the same!
Preparation
This white tea has been sitting in my cupboard for way to long now. Time to start drinking from the rare Big White Bud tea. Actually its like silver needles, but bigger! When i say big i mean big, there almost double in size then the other Silver Needles i drank before from other company’s.
I start with one big teaspoon of these tips (big spoon because its a very difficult tea to get the amount right) in 80°c water and i steep it for 2m30sec. The liquor i get from this is a very pale yellowish tea. Actually you can compare this to a good white wine!
Taste wise its comparable to other silver needles but the taste is deeper and stays way longer in the mouth. I find it to be sweeter and more special.
Made a total of 3 brews from the same leafs and each infusion is slightly different, but the quality is very high.
a side note, the picture above is a cake but the leafs where loose in my package could’t find a better picture to show this tea.
Preparation
Its been a while that i made a tasting note but thats because i had a busy time the last weeks…
This rukeri black tea is a tea from canton’s tea club. My first rwanda tea and only my second african tea ever. I brewed this with a teaspoon of leafs and used near boiling water. Brew time for my first cup is 3min and delivers a cup thats in color a bit ess dark then most assams. Taste wise this is a strange one, its malty and strong but with a light after taste… i can’t really place the aftertaste but its good.
I’m not 100% a big fan of this rukeri black its a very good black tea, but i have so many blacks that this one doesn’t really stand out the way i tought it would…