323 Tasting Notes
Thanks to Della Terra Teas for this sample! I won it in one of their plentiful Facebook giveaways.
The tea is great. The dry leaf smells really strongly, and that’s good. There are little silver candies and silver flakes in it, which I’ve never seen before, but it actually makes the tea sparkle in the light! I still have enough for one more mug, after this pot plus the bit I parcelled off into a swap, so I’m definitely going to go glass with it.
I taste what is definitely apricot. Which is great, considering some of the lackluster apricot teas I’ve had in the past. I think it’s hard to get right. The flavor is a little bit light, but that’s probably because I went light on the leaves. There’s no astringency or bitterness anywhere. Really, really smooth tea, really good flavor. A winner!
Preparation
I got a tea package today from a friend in NYC. Yum!
This is one of the ones she sent me. It’s a really peachy oolong, and there’s some sort of spice to it too.
My tastebuds are kind of on the fritz, but this is still good!
And I was surprised and happy to see that she’d included a blend with ginger… as much as I hate ginger, it’s good for sore throats.
Chamomile and honey. Way too sweet, but that’s medicine for you. At least it beats NyQuil. Vocal rest tomorrow, hiding for the weekend, and maybe I’ll be able to talk come Monday.
I am surrounded by idiots.
If I have to read one more “critique” of my Lapsang poem that says nothing but “Great work” and “I really find no fault with this piece” I’m going to vomit. The point of a CRITIQUE is not to bleed rainbows. Tell me what needs work!
Shut up, Shell.
In other words, soothing tea time. This is really light and sweet green, and while I’m not entirely sure I’d call it perfectly cherry, it’s not disgustingly artificial. It’s fruity and calming and a really pretty pink and just what I need right now.
I HATE when people don’t offer any critique for your writings. You kinda wanna say, “Did you even read it??”
Seconded. Once during peer review on a Scarlet Letter essay the only comment I received was “wow, this is good”. Not helpful.
So, where is your poem and I’ll write a scathing report that will curl your hair! At least we’d write fair ones here.
LOL! Hey, post it and I will read it at writers group tomorrow night! We have the same rule as my college voice rep class – first find a compliment, something nice to say about the piece, and then politely express those things that you think need improvement. Sometimes a piece just doesn’t communicate as well as it should and the reader is left confused. (Like when I don’t catch all my autocorrect snafu’s!)
Ashmanra – that sounds fantastic! I’ll message you :) Thank you so much!
This came courtesy of Pekko Teas. Thanks!
I had a bad first experience with milk oolongs, and even after having tried Teavivre’s excellent ones, I’m still a bit wary of them. Still, I had to give this one a go!
The leaves are tightly rolled and fairly large. They smell REALLY creamy, sort of like rice pudding. I get a hint of the described orchid.
The creaminess comes out, but it’s not overwhelming. I definitely tasted the oolong itself, and that does a lot to ground the milk flavor. The floral-ness of this is great.
Thanks, Pekko!
Preparation
I think this is the one I received but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Looking forward to this after your review :)
It’s great! I’m on my third mug and it’s still going strong!
I haven’t been too impressed with the milk oolongs I’ve had. Interested to see how this compares.
Yeah, they’re usually not what I reach for, and like I said the first one I had kind of frightened me. Still, I’m always willing to try them. I liked Teavivre’s, and while this isn’t quite as good as those, it’s not awful.
Oh!
I just wrote my review and now I am reading the other reviews on this tea, and I am surprised to see you got the rice pudding note too!
Glad I am not crazy;)
Oh. God.
I must have gotten a bad batch of this, because it’s rated fairly high on here. I myself find it disgusting.
It’s weird hot. I sort of expect it to be a berry flavored tea, and there’s that, but then there’s also a mintiness afterwards… sort of like fruit-flavored gum. The hibiscus isn’t too strong, though, so yay?
And cold… I figured it would be better cold. It almost is. The vanilla comes out, as does the mint, and the fruit takes a bit of a backseat. It’s still sort of like gum, but the flavors jive a bit better. But there’s an unbearable bitterness, which I think comes from the orange rinds. I tried to finish the mug… but couldn’t.
I’ll leave off the rating, since people seem to think it’s okay, and I still have some of my bag left, but sigh. I’m disappointed. At least it was (fairly) cheap.
What would happen if you told them it was disgusting and you wanted a refund?
They probably wouldn’t refund it (it being a food item). And it’s not really worth the time/effort it would take to fight with them.
Michelle, they have a more generous return policy now (which doesn’t mean any given employee you run into might not fight you on it). But for a rooibos, they really should just let you exchange it for similarly price tea. I also got a gum note on this but don’t remember any extreme bitterness, but I only tried a few sips brewed in store.
Honestly, it’s not really worth it. I only have maybe an ounce left, and the closest Teavana to me right now is about an hour away. I think I might have gotten too many orange rinds into the filter, because it sort of tasted like that. I’ll just chalk it up to experience. Thanks, though!
Really rosy. I like it! The black is present but not overwhelming, and the rose is strong without being too perfumey. Although I am a fan of rose things. I might go longer (4-5 mins) next time to get a bit of a stronger flavor, but there’s no bitterness at all, which is lovely.
The latest batch of samples courtesy of Angel and Teavivre showed up in my mailbox on Friday, but I didn’t get a chance to try them until after I’d gotten back to school from break.
Break was fantastic, but I’m glad to be back, and trying new teas!
I really like this one. The leaves are bright spinach green, and they smell very vegetal. The taste is also very spinach-y and vegetal, but I like it. It’s kind of like my beloved Dragonwell! Delightful.
Preparation
Hello Steepster!
I need your help. I know that Lapsang Souchong is the name of this tea. I also know that a lot of people refer to it as Lapsang. I’m writing a poem about lapsang… is it okay if I refer only to it as Lapsang, or should the Souchong fit its way into the beginning somewhere? I want to be correct.
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Tea! Drinking this for a poem. I was SO glad I still had a bit of the sample so generously provided by Teavivre left – I needed the inspiration!
It’s a sweet lapsang. The smoke is mostly in the smell, whereas the tea itself tastes like sweet pine tar, especially as it cools. Steeped in tasting cup – rinse, 15, 25, added a pinch more leaves and then 45, 1 min and 1 min 30. The last three steeps were combined into a travel mug because I didn’t have the time to sit. It produced a wonderfully multilayered brew.
I frequently refer to it as just Lapsang!
Excellent! I was hoping so. Thank you!
NP! The wiki article even refers to it as just Lapsang, and souchong is just a word designating the larger older leaves of the branch, as opposed to the tips, usually I think it refers to the fifth through seventh leaves.
Michelle, I hope you’ll share your poem with us when you’re ready!
I love that the tea is your muse!
Thanks to Terri HarpLady for this sample!
Apparently I’ve tried it before, and I sort of have a vague memory of drinking it… but I haven’t tried this in a long time.
It’s a light jasmine flavor, with some natural sweetness to it. It’s not especially perfumey or soapy, as can often happen. It’s nice!
How pretty!