New Tasting Notes

Another sample from Meghann!! This one smells so very, very good…

Oh. Oh, my. Oh.

Fruity. Tart. Sweet. Blood orange. Rich. Thick. Magenta. Amazing.

Excuse me, I need to be alone with this for a bit.

needed something yummy on a cold and dreary day. Thought this might be refreshing while not overwhelming.

I’ve been sitting here, craving cookies to the point that I’m getting ready to bake, when I remembered that Meghann (thanks luv!!)) had sent me these. Cookie score!! Not exactly what I’m craving (chocolate white chocolate chip), but not having to bake = win!

These are very nice. The texture of the cookie is like a love child between a sugar cookie and a Girl Scouts’ shortbread cookie, and the cookie “base” has a similar taste. I can definitely taste the honey (especially in the aftertaste), and there are citrus notes as well. Rooibos is also present, and my biggest complaint is that I’m getting bits of the rooibos stuck on my tongue. And they’re kinda stabby bits.

I am inspired to hunt up a sugar cookie recipe and see what goodness I can create with my tea stash.

Edit: okay, lowering rating. Not because of taste, but because of those stabby rooibos pieces. I’ve had 2 1/2 cookies and they’re all over my mouth. Ever had something on your tongue that you just couldn’t get off? Yup, that’s the feeling. Taste score: 80+. Stabby rooibos bits score: 15-.

This is one that I hesitated trying until now… because, well, it’s Pu-Erh, and that’s my typical response to Pu-Erh. Hesitation. Apprehension. FEAR! Mostly because I am still “acquiring” my taste for it.

This one is actually quite good (for a Pu-Erh). The earthy aroma and flavor are not as strong as in many of the Pu-Erh teas that I’ve tried, and it has a very pleasant body and sweetness to it.

I’m off to write a review for this one.

Delicious. Rich, smooth, malty with a lovely dark caramel-like undertone. I like this with just a drizzle of agave nectar to bring out those caramel undertones even more. I am contemplating adding some chocolate cream to this… not required for enjoyment of course, but, everything is better with a little chocolate!

Tea Prep:
1) Broke apart the tea cake
2) Rinsed tea in boiling water
3) First infusion was a bit too long (about 1-1.5 min) and was a little bitter
4) Second infusion (normally the best anyways) was for 30 seconds with slightly cooler than boiling water

The second infusion was awesome! This Puer is very rich, smooth, and sweet. As I noted above, I steeped for too long the first time which may have added to the slight bitterness, but even this was not totally unpleasant as it added a slight smokey flavor to the tea.

The fourth steeping (at 30 seconds) began to get a bit lighter, but it was still enjoyable. When I get back home I’m going to infuse it another 3 or 4 times to see what kind of result I get. I tend to allow long periods of time between steepings sometimes (1-6 hours), but I’m not sure how this effects the flavor – it normally works out well, though!

Note:
5th infusion I left it for about 2 minutes in order to get it a bit darker. No bitterness at all, but a little bit weaker than the previous infusions. Still great, though.

This is actually the second “Monkey Picked” oolong I’ve had. The first didn’t impress me much, but this had a lot going for it. First off, it was the green kind of oolong. I tend to prefer those (with the exception of some charcoal-roasted varieties), and second, it had me on scent – a milky aroma with a floral bite. Those same traits translated to taste. However, if I was to steep again, I’d probably do so for another minute. It was very light the first time around, reminding me of a Bai Mu Dan. Thankfully the flavor was robust enough to compensate.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/12/29/review-silk-road-teas-monkey-picked-ma-liu-mie/

Sometimes, the only thing that can save a bad day is a cup of this tea. And on a good day, this makes everything just right.

I love this tea! I just wrote a full-length review for the Tea Review Blog which should publish soon.

Today, I added a pinch of salt (which I didn’t think of yesterday), and I found that this makes it taste even more like buttered popcorn. It tasted like it before, but what it needed was salt! The agave nectar makes this a sweet kettle-corn-y treat! I love this! LOVE THIS!!!

I bought “Vanilla Blossoming”, which I’m guessing is the same. Wow! This is magical! This is a really evocative tea. The first sniff took me straight back to childhood. Suddenly it’s Christmas and I’ve got my nose in a big box of chocolates. I smell chocolate, but also the fillings. Lots of sweetness. Complicated. The taste is a dark, vanilla, but also the bourbon. I could swear this has alcohol in it. I love this tea.

I only used 1 teaspoon in 8 oz water, so much less than the directions say. 2nd steep was still good.

I disliked this at first. I don’t eat much sugar, so really notice “sweet”. For me, when I drank this on it’s own, the taste was overwhelmingly that powdery, coldness of stevia, which I don’t like. I didn’t finish the cup. Not wanting to waste it though, I tried adding a small amount to a pot of black tea. Yum! Chocolate liqueur tea. I may buy this again after all.

Drinking Pina Colada iced this morning. Flavor is great, even on rebrew. Four kids by myself all day, so I’ve got another cup brewing now.

Did anyone else notice that there’s two entries for this here on Steepster?

Anyway, I almost don’t want to taste this because I’m enjoying the scent too much. Yes, I’m practically huffing it! It smells like you’re baking a pumpkin pie in the oven whilst steeping chai on the stove all at once.

And that’s what it tastes like, too. The pumpkin is perfect, and the spices are perfectly balanced and warming. It’s absolutely delicious!! In my chai-adventures, there’s only one other I think I’d prefer over this one: LiberTEAS’ Masterpiece Chai.

I know this is a seasonal tea from David’s…someone please, just tell me that it’s a recurring seasonal tea.

Wow. I am pleasantly surprised. Incredibly smooth and bold.

Hoo yeah!

Yep, it is definitely this tea that gave me an epic buzz yesterday. Not a bad thing, I just need to file away that information and make sure I’m getting enough to eat when I drink it.

This is a nice, bold blend. I still wouldn’t say that it’s my favorite Irish Breakfast, but it’s a good one.

5 inches of snow or so today and it is time to decorate a bit…I reached for one of the newest additions to my tea cupboard, Winter Wonderland. The anise is strong in this one but the balance of orange and a super smooth black tea is just awesome! It smells like winter….in heaven! I do think it helps to measure the water temp on this one, not just by feel.

Surprisingly, this is not vile. I know, I know. I’ve turned out to be so anti-Upton. I don’t mean to be. I’m just constantly disappointed by them. For the most part I’ve either not liked their teas or liked them enough that I would pick them up at a grocery store but not go out of my way to order them online. (There are a couple of exceptions that I would possibly order online but there are better versions at other vendors so I’d ultimately go to the other vendors.) Anyway, enough Upton-bashing (I seriously don’t mean to, it just happens.) On to the tea.

Without additives, I was kind of prepared to have to add sugar and milk to it to make it drinkable but nope, drank the whole cup straight. It’s surprisingly smooth with zero bitterness and a decently full flavor. The only problem I really have with it is the main flavor was kind of… fresh, young tree limb. I think it was the Darjeeling in there but it made me think of a Nilgiri (though a bit smoother) and that’s just not a flavor profile I’m in love with. It makes me think I’m munching on plant-life.

It’s definitely a mellow tea and that’s kind of nice but it makes me wonder how well it would truly hold up with milk and sugar. Though I gave some to the husband steeped for 4 minutes with milk and sugar and it was good enough that he was surprised when I told him it came from Upton. So apparently it can hold up to sugar and milk. Though I’m the type that likes to pee on the electric fence myself so I’ll try it later just to be sure. Until then, this rates as a decent tea that I would have no trouble drinking but would only buy if 1) I could find it at the grocery store and 2) There were no other better options there.

I’m not sure if I’ve had a vietnamese tea before. An oolong I think, but another black? I’m not so sure. Consequently I haven’t a clue what to expect here. I’m the second one to post about this one and the other poster thought it was great, so that’s a good beginning.

IF, that is, his taste in tea is similar to mine.

The dry leaves have a strong aroma of tobacco and leather. Sort of dark and spicy. I don’t know why I know what tobacco smells like actually. I shouldn’t logically know as the few people I know that smoke all smoke cigarettes. My grandfather smoked a pipe when I was a child so that must be how I remember, but still… Memory is a pretty funny thing.

Anyway, after steeping the dominant note has a hint of something more Darjeeling-y with that slightly grassy sort of greenness but the grain-y part of it is dominant. I’m getting rather a lot of freshly baked and still warm rye bread out of this.

That rye is there in the flavour as well. There is TONS of it. This is very robust with lots of flavour and like the Chinese that I prefer, no astringency to be found. It’s well rounded off and gradually builds that rye bread aftertaste that makes you feel like you’ve actually had something to eat as well.

It has a fair bit of a smoky note as well, which makes the whole thing rather remind me of a less refined, less civilised Keemun. This is like a Keemun that has strayed from the path and gone rogue.

The funny thing is, though, that while this little number displays all this Chinese behaviour, it doesn’t taste Chinese at all and it’s got some of the same strength and power that you find in Indians and Ceylons. It’s rather like the middle of the road between those two ‘directions,’ if you can call it that.

I’m finding I quite like this. I think that it would be an excellent tea for the breakfast table and that people who tend to prefer Chinese blacks over Indian or Ceylon, might get a number of good things out of this one. I’m not certain yet if it’s one I’ll want to own, but I would certainly not be opposed to having it again.

Another sample from Rachel!! Yes, I’m having pot after pot of tea today and will probably be shaking from a caffeine overdose soon. I’ll switch to decaf/herbals at some point. Maybe. Or not.

I’m thinking that this may be my first TeaGshwendner tea!! Lisa at Cuppa has a catalog of their teas, and I flip through it often whilst having tea there, drooling over the unique blends. I’m so excited to try this one! Thanks, Rachel!

Okay, it’s not what I was expecting. I was expecting a hardened-sugar, caramelly, peanut taste. Like dropping an actual piece of peanut brittle into hot tea (have you ever done that? If not, you really should). It is nutty and really creamy, but I’m not getting the “brittle” taste that I would expect to be there with the name of this. It’s possible that it would come out with some agave nectar or honey…but seeing as I’m currently wrapped on the couch with about 4 blankets, I’m not getting up until it’s time to make another pot of tea.

Overall, it’s a very good tea, but doesn’t quite live up to its name. As far as “nutty” teas go, 52teas’ White Chocolate Cashew is much better than this one.

This tea reminds me of kuchika and I prefer kuchika over this tea. I really don’t know what to say other than its drinkable. Its organic and its in a bag. Its just not my cup of tea. I think “bleh” might be a good word.

Backlogging and got this to take along while I was shopping yesterday. Nice has a medium peach taste with abit of gentle green. I believe this is a fairly good tea but not one of my favorites. and I perfer cane sugar as a sweetner.