379 Tasting Notes
Trying another GABA tea. This one is black pearl GABA. I don’t know enough about black tea to know what type they used.
It was tightly balled up and when unfurled, they were big, dark, full leaves. After the rinse, it smelled lovely, like toasted bread, some sweetness, spice. The liquor was a medium amber color, there is some spice(s) that I can detect but not sure which one. Cloves perhaps? It had a creamy texture, had bready notes, some slightly tart notes (can feel the sides of my tongue react), sourbread-y. The mouthfeel was rich, comforting and smooth.
Initially, I began with 5g, 205°F, 110ml, rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, but after the fifth steep of 30s, it was too perfumey for me. I decided to switch to their recommendation which is one tsp. (4g) in 8 oz, for 3 min, and a second steep for 5 min. I liked it better the way they recommended or if I ever gongfu it again, just up until the 5th steep.
I would love for someone who can detect the tastes/aroma to review this. At the moment, it’s just me. hehe Their description was interesting “unique cereal notes that to me taste like the waffle things in chex mix!”
Update: Got another sample and the liquor really smells likes a yummy cereal. I followed WP directions this time since gongfu (in my opinion, didn’t do it justice).
Flavors: Bread, Spices, Sweet, Tart, Toast, Wheat
Preparation
According to Mandala, this is organically grown in pure soil and fresh air and picked/processed in April of 2012.
This Gong Ting (Imperial Court) had a very dark dense liquor color, similar to strong coffee. The small (young) dark wet leaves smelled of strong leather and earth, rich forest soil. The flavor of the liquor had leather notes, but rather gentle, mild… Surprisingly not overwhelming considering the strong aroma. It also had the classic earthy notes. No fishy or dirt notes. In later steeps, I got some fruit notes of prunes or figs which gave it a slight sweetness but throughout the entire process, it mainly consisted of leather, earth, topsoil notes. I’m pretty sure my inexperienced ability is at fault here as far as being able to detect other notes but I still enjoyed all steeps regardless hehe. It’s full-bodied, rich, smooth, and a delicate soft mouth-feel, creamy, with a rich aftertaste of fresh damp earth.
212˚F, 110ml, 14 steeps:rinse, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s, 60s, 65s, 75s (3:17 am… I think it outlasted me. Stopping now lol)
Flavors: Dates, Earth, Leather, Sweet
Preparation
You guessed it, another great gift from Cameron B. hehe I’m really enjoying all these different flavored teas. I can’t wait to try the B&B ones, S&V, A&D, Dammann Frères and more. All these stores I’ve always wanted to try after reading all the reviews. Thank you again <3.
I really loved their mango oolong, and this is very similar. It has the addition of passion fruit and the citrusy notes, grapefruit. I like this better than the mango one because of the added citrus notes. Also, I like the oolong base a bit more, baked/oxidized more. Their site says this one uses Chinese oolong and the Mango oolong uses Taiwanese oolong (pouchong specifically). Both are great though.
Still heartbroken about the thought of them closing their Hayward store since I just started adding flavored teas to my rotation. On Twitter, I wrote on one of Lupicia’s tweets “California mise o tojinaide kudasai. ^^” which means “Please don’t close your California store.” lol To my surprise, they “liked” it. Wishful thinking that they won’t? I guess haha.
Flavors: Astringent, Grapefruit, Mango, Passion Fruit
Preparation
I really like this one, it’s the first flavored oxidized oolong I’ve seen from Lupicia.
P.S. – The two A&D teas are unflavored!
Ok :D So looking forward to them. I dreamt about your package while having a nap!! haha
しょうがない…
Mastress Alita… Nooo. I still have hope! hehe
I found your tweet and retweeted.
Todd, hehe thank you! Let’s hope they listen (I know wishful thinking hehe)
Another sample from Cameron B. :D
The dry leaves smelled like apple cider. I don’t drink wine but it reminds me of the smell of certain wines from Olive Garden hehe. I love the smell of some wines, I just can’t drink it without nausea. Long story, I’ll share it sometime.
I can drink this though. :D I found it to be refreshing. I bet this would be good iced. When it comes to fruit, I love the ones that are tart so momijigari goes in the win column for me since it has some tart notes. Sweet and tart apple, some apricot notes with the comforting malt notes. I like the black tea base in this. Is it darjeeling? I’m such a noob.
Flavors: Apple, Apricot, Floral, Malt, Stonefruit, Sweet, Tart
Preparation
I so wish I could order more of this before they close the website. Unfortunately, it’s an autumn tea… QQ
Cameron, I saw that. /cry. There are a few that you sent me that I can’t get but am so glad that I will be able to try them. <3
I really wanted this one last year too, but they didn’t release it loose leaf, my preference. I was willing to get the teabags just to finally get to try it, but it was sold out online and by the time of my autumn trip in November, it was sold out at the San Jose store when I got to visit it for the first (and now, only) time.
I know, I was so annoyed too! My loose leaf is from the year before.
Another sample from Cameron B. :D
Took a nap, woke up and didn’t know the day, time of day/night. Haven’t done that in a long time hehe. The first sign I know when I’m hooked about something, I dream of it. For years, I played WoW (mage & priest), and I dreamt WoW all the time. I do that with all my hobbies. Well, I dreamt of opening a tea box and trying to decide which tea to try. I guess that means I’m officially hooked. ^^
Holy apricot batman! This reminded me of the Lupicia Cookie too but lots of apricot. I only wish I read the reviews beforehand.
“Next time, I think I’ll try this one with a slightly shorter steep. It becomes a little too bitter after 3 minutes because of the CTC leaves.” —Cameron B.
Little experience with CTC black tea, I steeped it at 3 minutes and it was pretty bitter. Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Apricot, butter, sweetness, nuts. It was astringent and bitter though. I learned something new in tea world about CTC black tea so I’ll know better next time. :)
Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Bitter, Butter, Sweet
Preparation
One of Lupicia’s common black base tea blends contains CTC leaves. I tend to knock off about 30 seconds to avoid bitterness.
Good to know. :) I think this would’ve been so much better if it wasn’t as bitter or maybe a splash of almond milk (which I finally bought some yesterday).
Definitely, I know Cookie is meant to be taken with tea and this one is very similar.
I didn’t think too much about Cookie, until I tried it with a splash of milk and it catapulted it to a new level for me. For one, I’ve never had tea with milk except for matcha smoothies. When I get my order with this (yes, I ordered it /cry), I’m going to try that with this one. :D
I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea with CTC leaves before either. I’ll have to remember this!
@Kawaii, I don’t usually add anything to my tea either.
The first Whispering Pines tea I’ve tried. Fast shipping too. Nice.
I was excited to try this one. The base is the 2013 Ontario 1357 Shou Pu-erh (which I also have now but haven’t tried it yet.) plus “high-quality fair trade and organic cocoa nibs sourced from Ecuador.”
The very dark liquor and wet leaves had a dark bittersweet chocolate aroma, little or no fermentation aroma. The first few steeps were mild, with slight hints of chocolate, nuts, some malt. As I continued, it became a richer cup of tea (as it became lighter in color, a light mahogany), more cocoa, more nutty notes, maltier. Again, little or no fermentation notes (aroma or otherwise). Slightly sweet, the only bitterness detected was that which belonged to the dark cocoa, the natural taste of good cocoa. It’s smooth and mellow with clean notes of the chocolate and nuts. It has a lingering bittersweet finish in the back of the throat.
6g, 212°F, 110ml, rinse 10s, 9 steeps: 10s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s (ugh I got busy and this one went for minutes lol), 65s, 75s, 85s, 120s
Flavors: Cacao, Chocolate, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Dark Chocolate, Malt, Nutty, Roasted nuts
Preparation
Another tasty gift from Cameron B. :D
Lots of reviews on this and I see there are mixed reviews. I like it because it’s slightly tart, has a good base and doesn’t taste like cherry cough syrup or cough drops. Speaking of cold medicine, I’m almost 100%. Colds suck… As usual, my medicine was in pill/tablet form because I can’t stand the artificial cherry flavor in the liquid meds.
The cherry in this is very good. If it wasn’t slightly tart, I wouldn’t have liked it so much. The sweet peppery taste of the pink peppercorns really adds to it. I wouldn’t have guessed the pine though. Good call. ^^
Preparation
Glad to hear you’re almost clear.
I couldn’t even take liquid medicines when I was a small child. The tastes always made me immediately gag. I was told, “You have to take them, you can’t swallow the pills, they are too big for your little throat!” and as a stubborn four-year-old I was like, “Try me!” And I swallowed those horse pills. I have to have a very severe sore throat/cough to take a liquid medicine, and even then sometimes I’ll have to squirt it right to the back of my throat with a syringe and quickly chance it with popsicle because my gag reflex is so severe.
Derk, thank you :). Weren’t you a little under the weather lately too? If so, are you better? I hope so. It’s seriously going around. I was hoping to miss it this year.
Mastress Alita, lol good for your 4 yr old self. They still make me gag lol. Ah, good suggestion (popsicle) if I ever absolutely have to take some in the future.
I love this one! ❤
Cameron B. I so agree with you :D
I’m getting better but I did sound like Selma and Patty while making administrative phone calls today. I almost lose my voice every winter. A few more days and I’ll be back to full throttle derk.
derk, lol :). Here’s you being back to full throttle derk!
Thank you.
I got a beautiful package of tea samples today. Thank you Cameron B. :D Sitting in the car with the package was intoxicating. I couldn’t wait to get home! It smelled so good. I chose this one first because the only Kusmi tea I have ever tried (and drink on a regular basis) is their detox… And that’s for health reasons. I’ve always been curious about the rest of their teas, especially this one. I was delighted to see this was one of the samples. :D
Hardly any experience with flavored teas. I once tried a flavored matcha, and it literally tasted like an artificial green apple in turpentine. Up until my first Lupicia order, I have never really liked flavored teas. What I’ve found is… I just don’t like artificially flavored tea. I can’t stand strawberry Nesquick but I could eat a big bag of fresh strawberries. So now, after that decent experience, I don’t have to shy away from certain flavored teas. :D
Anastasia, what a beautiful name for a product. It smelled fancy, perfumey, citrusy, bergamot. Oh my, will it be too perfumey for me? I wondered. Nope, it wasn’t. The dark mahogany liquor did not have a too-perfumey-taste or too floral taste (thank goodness), it was a yummy bergamot with a good balance of natural lime and citrus notes. I like it!
150 ml, 195°F, 2 steeps: 3 min, 4 min.
Flavors: Bergamot, Lime
Preparation
Zhang Ping Shui Xian, grown on Wuyi mountain in Fujian but so different from the roasted Wuyi Rock Oolongs in that it’s not heavily oxidized or roasted. I think it’s one of the few, if not the only, oolong that is compressed into shapes. It’s in a 10-gram compressed square, vacuumed sealed, and each in its own package. The pretty dry brick smelled like bread and orchids. It was easy to break apart. I split mine in two. This time gongfu and next time grandpa style. The liquor is a bright orange gold-ish color and has a floral aroma with a strong floral taste, a little sweetness of honey. It has a clean mouthfeel, no slickness present but has a smooth texture.
I don’t particularly like too floral oolongs, but if you love floral oolongs, this one is for you. It’s very fresh, bright, refreshing. It begins as a mild and light taste but then progresses to a stronger floral & honey tea.
Yixing teapot, 195˚F, 110ml, 9 steeps: 5s rinse, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s, 60s
Flavors: Bread, Floral, Honey, Orchids
Preparation
I had to look these up, they’re so cute! And I’m definitely with you on the floral oolongs, not for me…
Yes, they are very cute :D! Puerh comes in cute little shapes, I sure wish more oolong were compressed like this. ^^
I thought the picture on Mandala’s site didn’t do the cuteness justice. Here is a picture of the little squares. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsUcnevn9UH/
When we get around to a little swap, I’ll send you a Zhangping Shui Xian for more cuteness.
derk :D
Small break. ^^
I love this thing. I have quite a few kettles and well, I had to buy a super safe one because I have 4 kitties (Chi, Fushi, Kage Kun, Pachinko). Wild little monsters. hehe All four were either feral and/or dumped by their owner. One took 2 years for me to pet her, and she’s still sketchy, poor baby. Someone broke her tail and hurt her (grrr). Long story. Anyway, they jump on everything and rub up against everything…
So this kettle was the perfect answer. It was even knocked down once and it was full, it spilled like a tablespoon. Quick boil button, 8 temperature settings, a 4-hour warmer, 7+ cup capacity and the most important factor for me for the safety of my furkids: Cool Touch exterior even when boiling. Oh, one thing, when it boils… It’s LOUD but it’s fast, so then it gets quiet.
End of my commercial. ^^
