117 Tasting Notes
So I’ve been drinking mostly oolongs the past day or two, but I’ve got a six hour shift ahead of me and I was falling asleep, so I dug this puer sample out of my cupboard. Of course, I don’t know how (or just don’t bother?) to do it right so it’s probably a waste of this fancy verdant tea. But it was a free sample so technically it’s the cheapest tea in my cupboard. Anyway.
I broke off half the sample, rinsed it, sort of, threw it into a mug of boiling water just before rushing downstairs. It was a bit of a shock at first, because apparently I’d forgotten what puer tastes like.
It’s quite nice now, though. Tastes like dirt and wet wood in the nicest way. I’m getting a little of the raisiny taste people mentioned. It’s smoother than that other stuff I tried once. Wow, my tasting notes are so legit. I’m really tired tonight…
I decided to forget waiting for “mental clarity” or whatever, and just try this tea already. Enjoying it now with a roasted banana cupcake (or three). I like it. It has all that lovely chocolatey malty goodness of the laoshan black, without… well, whatever it was in that tea that I didn’t enjoy so much. Beyond that I don’t know. I’ll think about it more when I brew the rest of the sample. Maybe.
subsequent steeps: 1:30, 2, 3 minutes
Preparation
I’m drinking my fifth steeping of this today, after forgetting the leaves for a day or two… It’s not as fantastic as the first few, but still good. I’m sad today and I have zero energy right now, so I hope tea will help…
When I first saw the name of this I wondered whether it tasted like the dessert wine, but then I read the description and found out I was barking up the entirely wrong tree. ;-)
Me too, actually, but I’ve found that smelling it is a little reminiscent of enjoying a glass of wine by the lake, under the open sky, after a day outdoors… I’m not really sure why, must just be the memories it brings back.
This tea smells AMAZING and tastes almost as good… I’d been afraid to try it in case it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I finally did last night (and had the later cups with some chai tea monkeybread, mmm…). It tastes fantastic, the comforting familiarity of vanilla, the uniqueness of the cedar tips… but I can’t stop grappling with myself over the price tag. Maybe for special occasions… or just to take out and smell every once in a while.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one! Sadly, there’s almost no mark-up on this tea…the price tag is due to the large amount of saffron (the most expensive herb/spice in the world) in the blend. I have been looking for a different ingredient that would bring a similar flavor that the saffron does, but so far have had no luck. :/
I stopped by TeaLuxe because I was in the area, and got a few flavored teas. I’ve been drinking this one a lot (occasionally mixed with the creme brulee). It’s a good, simple rose tea. It’s not subtle, but it doesn’t have to be, and it’s pretty tasty.
I’ve realized I’ve been drinking a lot of simple flavored black teas lately. I have a whole bunch of oolong samples to try, but I keep waiting for a day when I have more… mental clarity, instead of one when I’m feeling foggy and overworked. As a result, I’ve mostly been drinking teas that don’t require very much effort. Which, y’know, is okay I guess. But maybe I should drink my oolongs anyway.
Finished the last of this the other day (along with the zhu rong black, which brings me down to 63), and this is yet another reminder to myself to get some more, because I really enjoyed it.
It’s funny reading through the tasting notes, though, because people get a lot of notes from this tea that I just don’t see at all… maybe because I’m not very careful with my steeping, or something. I really like it, though, so it’s not like this is a problem… just a little odd, is all.
I told a friend I was drinking this tea and he said “… isn’t mistletoe poisonous?” That was an interesting moment or two. The first link that popped up in google was all “OMG don’t eat any part of it ever you could DIEEE”… but they wouldn’t be allowed to put it in tea if it were deadly, would they? Aaaanyway…
Got a sample of this from Janelle because I was super curious to try it… and it’s pretty tasty! I’m not getting very much anise at all (which is great because I don’t like anise). It smells like cloves and vanilla and craisins, and tastes much the same, but I do get a little green tea and something kinda interesting that must be the mistletoe. Mmm… I’m glad I got the chance to try it. =]
