Smooth with soft malt body, a bit of chocolate, dill and rose. All supplemented by a bright apricot-orange tone and cooling mouthfeel. It’s a clean Nilgiri without much depth. I’m sure eastkyteaguy will swoop in some day with a lengthy list of flavors and aromas; I keep trying to pay attention but it’s one of those flatter thirst quenchers that goes down quickly. Some days do have more oomph than others.

Flavors: Apricot, Bread, Chocolate, Dill, Malt, Menthol, Orange, Rose, Rye, Smooth

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
eastkyteaguy

Derk, I’d like to say that I will be swooping in to post a review with a lengthy list of aromas and flavors for this tea, but at this point, I doubt that will happen. It’s not that I didn’t get a lot out of this tea, because I did. I loved it, and I generally don’t flip over Nilgiri black teas. It’s just that with everything that has come down the pipe in the last day or so, I have no clue how much involvement I will have with Steepster in the future. Due to persistent difficulties logging in and posting content, my role here has been very limited for much of the past year. I have been spending most of my time reading the reviews of others, answering questions, adding new teas, updating product listings, and cleaning out spam. Like all of the other mods that are active, I have been putting in a ton of unpaid work behind the scenes. I love the community here and think this site is a tremendous resource that still has tons of untapped potential. That being said, I also have serious concerns about Adagio taking over the site. I recall some of the controversy with TeaChat, and though I have been impressed with Adagio’s willingness to accept input from the community of active users and their pledge to maintain the content generated by them, I do not trust that this site will truly remain unbiased or will maintain its own distinct identity under the Adagio umbrella for long. I have serious ethical concerns about a tea review site being run by a tea company. I’m willing to give Adagio a chance and sincerely hope they have learned from past mistakes, but I also do not feel that it would be appropriate for me to continue contributing original content to Steepster. I was drawn to Steepster because it was an independent resource. That’s why I joined in the first place. In light of recent events, I feel that continuing to contribute content to this site would amount to an endorsement of a transition about which I have serious ethical concerns. In other words, I’m not sure it would be ethical on my part to endorse a product in which I currently do not have faith. If Adagio allows me to do so, I will gladly continue to serve as an independent moderator, but as far as providing original content goes, I doubt I will be writing anything else for Steepster. If things work out and my fears prove unfounded, then I may start contributing material again here and there, but for now, I would advise you and anyone else who takes the time to read this post not to bet any significant amount on it. I’m serious when I say that this is very likely the last public post I will be making on Steepster. If this does prove to mark the of my time here as a contributor of content, and again, it likely does, then it’s been a great run. I’ve treasured every second of it and truly appreciate every interaction I have had on this site. I still have great difficulty believing that anybody ever liked or agreed with anything I had to say or enjoyed my extremely humorless, mechanical, repetitive, and all too frequently uninspired writing.

Crowkettle

Psh, I’m definitely one of those people who love and value your tea notes, eastkyteaguy. One of the best parts of Steepster for me is/was clicking on any given tea here and being met with a hodgepodge of reference notes ranging from open diary entries, stream of consciousness experiences, mixed media scrap-booking, to “scientific”/methodological guides. Regardless of how personal or impersonal your notes are/were it’s clear you put your heart (time & energy) into them. I love and appreciate that. I also find your notes and those like yours so useful when I find myself trying to make a cup of a tea you had previously.

I hope for the best, but if this turns out to be an ending you will be dearly missed!

mrmopar

@eastkyteaguy, I sure hope you do stay around. If not then at least give me a way to contact you. We are still due that tea meet up one day that we talked about a while back. I would like to see both those things come to pass as well as a contact email or phone number from you. You and I have been here a while and I hate to see anyone leave the site.

Martin Bednář

Eastkyteaguy: I completely understand you, but please, be patient and wait what will develop! Your tasting notes are always nice to read, although sometimes too specific for me, but certainly great! I don’t like the idea of ownership of rating site by some vendor, but maybe it is right now the best way. I have big troubles with discussions and messages, but writing tasting notes worked well for me (athough there were some mishaps).

I am optimistic a bit as well pesimistic. Just puzzled. Happy that something is happening, but tea company is the owner. (rolls eyes)

tea-sipper

eastkyteaguy: I think your tasting notes have been an essential part of Steepster and tea knowledge in general. Your notes set the bar extremely high! I get what you’re saying about Adagio, but hopefully things will turn out okay down the road.

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Comments

eastkyteaguy

Derk, I’d like to say that I will be swooping in to post a review with a lengthy list of aromas and flavors for this tea, but at this point, I doubt that will happen. It’s not that I didn’t get a lot out of this tea, because I did. I loved it, and I generally don’t flip over Nilgiri black teas. It’s just that with everything that has come down the pipe in the last day or so, I have no clue how much involvement I will have with Steepster in the future. Due to persistent difficulties logging in and posting content, my role here has been very limited for much of the past year. I have been spending most of my time reading the reviews of others, answering questions, adding new teas, updating product listings, and cleaning out spam. Like all of the other mods that are active, I have been putting in a ton of unpaid work behind the scenes. I love the community here and think this site is a tremendous resource that still has tons of untapped potential. That being said, I also have serious concerns about Adagio taking over the site. I recall some of the controversy with TeaChat, and though I have been impressed with Adagio’s willingness to accept input from the community of active users and their pledge to maintain the content generated by them, I do not trust that this site will truly remain unbiased or will maintain its own distinct identity under the Adagio umbrella for long. I have serious ethical concerns about a tea review site being run by a tea company. I’m willing to give Adagio a chance and sincerely hope they have learned from past mistakes, but I also do not feel that it would be appropriate for me to continue contributing original content to Steepster. I was drawn to Steepster because it was an independent resource. That’s why I joined in the first place. In light of recent events, I feel that continuing to contribute content to this site would amount to an endorsement of a transition about which I have serious ethical concerns. In other words, I’m not sure it would be ethical on my part to endorse a product in which I currently do not have faith. If Adagio allows me to do so, I will gladly continue to serve as an independent moderator, but as far as providing original content goes, I doubt I will be writing anything else for Steepster. If things work out and my fears prove unfounded, then I may start contributing material again here and there, but for now, I would advise you and anyone else who takes the time to read this post not to bet any significant amount on it. I’m serious when I say that this is very likely the last public post I will be making on Steepster. If this does prove to mark the of my time here as a contributor of content, and again, it likely does, then it’s been a great run. I’ve treasured every second of it and truly appreciate every interaction I have had on this site. I still have great difficulty believing that anybody ever liked or agreed with anything I had to say or enjoyed my extremely humorless, mechanical, repetitive, and all too frequently uninspired writing.

Crowkettle

Psh, I’m definitely one of those people who love and value your tea notes, eastkyteaguy. One of the best parts of Steepster for me is/was clicking on any given tea here and being met with a hodgepodge of reference notes ranging from open diary entries, stream of consciousness experiences, mixed media scrap-booking, to “scientific”/methodological guides. Regardless of how personal or impersonal your notes are/were it’s clear you put your heart (time & energy) into them. I love and appreciate that. I also find your notes and those like yours so useful when I find myself trying to make a cup of a tea you had previously.

I hope for the best, but if this turns out to be an ending you will be dearly missed!

mrmopar

@eastkyteaguy, I sure hope you do stay around. If not then at least give me a way to contact you. We are still due that tea meet up one day that we talked about a while back. I would like to see both those things come to pass as well as a contact email or phone number from you. You and I have been here a while and I hate to see anyone leave the site.

Martin Bednář

Eastkyteaguy: I completely understand you, but please, be patient and wait what will develop! Your tasting notes are always nice to read, although sometimes too specific for me, but certainly great! I don’t like the idea of ownership of rating site by some vendor, but maybe it is right now the best way. I have big troubles with discussions and messages, but writing tasting notes worked well for me (athough there were some mishaps).

I am optimistic a bit as well pesimistic. Just puzzled. Happy that something is happening, but tea company is the owner. (rolls eyes)

tea-sipper

eastkyteaguy: I think your tasting notes have been an essential part of Steepster and tea knowledge in general. Your notes set the bar extremely high! I get what you’re saying about Adagio, but hopefully things will turn out okay down the road.

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Profile

Bio

This place, like the rest of the internet, is dead and overrun with bots. Yet I persist.

Eventual tea farmer. If you are a tea grower, want to grow your own plants or are simply curious, please follow me so we can chat.

I most enjoy loose-leaf, unflavored teas and tisanes. Teabags have their place. Some of my favorite teas have a profound effect on mind and body rather than having a specific flavor profile.

Favorite teas generally come from China (all provinces), Taiwan, India (Nilgiri and Manipur). Frequently enjoyed though less sipped are teas from Georgia, Japan, and Nepal. While I’m not actively on the hunt, a goal of mine is to try tea from every country that makes it available to the North American market. This is to gain a vague understanding of how Camellia sinensis performs in different climates. I realize that borders are arbitrary and some countries are huge with many climates and tea-growing regions.

I’m convinced European countries make the best herbal teas.

Personal Rating Scale:

100-90: A tea I can lose myself into. Something about it makes me slow down and appreciate not only the tea but all of life or a moment in time. If it’s a bagged or herbal tea, it’s of standout quality in comparison to similar items.

89-80: Fits my profile well enough to buy again.

79-70: Not a preferred tea. I might buy more or try a different harvest. Would gladly have a cup if offered.

69-60: Not necessarily a bad tea but one that I won’t buy again. Would have a cup if offered.

59-1: Lacking several elements, strangely clunky, possesses off flavor/aroma/texture or something about it makes me not want to finish.

Unrated: Haven’t made up my mind or some other reason. If it’s puerh, I likely think it needs more age.

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Location

Sonoma County, California, USA

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