536 Tasting Notes
Gaiwan. Dry leaf smelled like roasted peas or maybe soybeans.
10s lightly roasted, light peas, slightly sweet brown sugar
15s drying, brown sugar, soybeans. This flavor profile continued 3 steeps before I stopped as the drying effect was getting too intense for me.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Drying, Soybean
Gaiwaned this- I mostly got sweet potato as the overall note from this tea. It was present in every steep. It had some notes of a dark sugar and malt. Also, slightly savory.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Malt, Sweet Potatoes
31mar-This tea smells divine! Chocolate and hazelnut. I ended up ignoring their steeping directions execpt for the water temperature because I was brewing in a gaiwan.
Both my westren style steepers have flavor contamination issues right at the moment. One with ginseng and the other with chai spices. I need to go and purchase a replacement steeper.
Flavor stayed consistent throughout all steeps, all 8. I ended up stopping because I was overly watered, not because the tea was done. Tea was super chocolatey and hazelnut and sweet. Sweet chocolate. It was almost too rich. A very fullfilling dessert tea. Glad I decided to get the larger size. 95
Flavors: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Sweet
30Mar- dry leaf malty, fruity, hay? wood? I’ve made this both westren and in a gaiwan. Both ways got flavor notes of chocolate, cherry, malt, and cream/thick body. Also some honey. Very complex tasting tea. No astringency, especially as at one point I forgot to time it. I was able to get 4 steeps westren style and I don’t know how many steeps gaiwaning. I lost count.
It was so good, it just kept giving flavor. I drank this until my kettle was empty.
Flavors: Cherry, Chocolate, Creamy, Honey, Malt, Wet Wood
25Mar- So much cinnamon in this tea. It just overpowers everything. Hint of clove. Very strong – needs milk and sugar to smooth out taste. Milk definitely smooths out overabundance of cinnamon present. Perhaps not so much of a chai,a very cinnamony tea. Made my stomach somewhat upset after drinking. 70
Flavors: Cinnamon
Dry leaf smells spicy, fruity. 195F 1T 8oz
20s steep spice, fruity, and earthy. I should have continued with the flash steeps and not tried to do longer steeps. With short steeps, the tea was yummy, spicy, fruity. I liked it, but you have to watch the time closely. It’s a little finicky.
Flavors: Earth, Fruity, Spicy