New Tasting Notes

My first blend is a success! The sum is truly greater than the parts on this one :) A nice synergy is going on between all the random Earls and the Assam. I’m so glad I did this! The soapy citrus from Adagio’s Earl Grey got really tamed with the additions (some of which were smoky Russian Earls), and it results in a pleasant bergamot infused tea. I can’t wait to try it iced in the summer with fresh orange slices!

Temp is kind of vague for this tea. Steaming briskly to me mean about 185F. Little too hot for me. I use 170 at 3min. Very mellow tea and nice color. I think it is about 9 months old kind of lossing its spirit

Pretty fragrance, weak flavor.

It smells very fresh and clean. Green grass and pineapple…that’s what the scent makes me think about.
But when I drink the tea…I don’t really taste anything. Maybe a vague sort of citrus note.

The real selling point for this blend, besides the smell, is the colorful flower petals that make the tea leaves colorful. But the effect of all that gets completely lost when you use a teabag, as I did.

Well, at least this smelled nice!

Melon/Celery taste yet again…very refreshing! See my other notes on this tea…yum

This was my first ever tea from Samovar and I was quite excited to have this experience!

I rinsed the leaves like Samovar suggested, then let the 2nd infusion steep for 3 minutes (Samovar suggested 2-5). The resulting liquid was deep, deep brown. Unfortunately, I smelled the fishiness that some people have talked about. Not so much just fish, but a whole seafood store whose air conditioning broke in the height of summer. And some seaweed.

From experience, I knew that smells can be very deceiving when it comes to tea, so I wasn’t afraid to take a sip.

This one is a bit difficult to describe, as well as being surprisingly tasty and very complex. It is earthy, dirty, but not in bad way at all. It works for this tea. It doesn’t taste sweet right up front, but the aftertaste is lovely and lightly sweet, just enough to make you want to take another sip. And of course, the fishiness isn’t a part of the actual taste, but the seaweed is.

Overall, this is probably the most complex tea I have tasted to date. And I like it.

Oh, and if your immediate thought after hearing that the tea tastes like seaweed is one of revulsion, don’t be turned off! Seaweed is an ingredient of ice cream, after all.

My first log entry. 10am. I have been drinking this tea from specialteas.com for some time. It is my favorite green so far. Course I am just learning the ways of tea. I love the flavor of it. The last order though wasn’t as good. Maybe it was older than the rest. I just got a new thermometer maybe it is reading a little low. Seemed a little bitter.

I think they just got a new shipment in. I think I will purchase from somewhere else for the next dragon well tea. Time to broaden my shopping of vendors.

First time trying yerba mate ! I’m really enjoying it ! Used a little honey to sweeten it . Will definitely look into buying the trad. gourd & straw for drinking it in future !

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping scoops (i didn’t want to use all 3 in case i messed it up)
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling 1 teapot, set to cool a few moments until it was around 195
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet baking coconut
Steeped Tea Smell: baking coconut (not like fresh coconut milk), grassy, vegetal (like some kind of buttered stewed leaves), maybe even a little nutty
Flavor: watery vegetal, again like buttered stewed leaves, very silky smooth mouth feel though
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: coconut, sweet
Liquor: nearly clear, yellow-brown

This was a gift from SoccorMom!

I have never had a Pouchong before. Pouchong – Wikipedia suggested following the directions for Oolong tea.

The tea was very natural tasting, not like two distinct flavors (tea, coconut) being put together, but one flavor that was both tea and coconut.

The vegetal that I dislike in greens was not a negative thing, it was more a nice cooked side dish of greens doused in butter and silky smooth.

The steeped leaves unfurled into beautiful green full leaves! I could swear they were just picked.

I am glad I got to try this as it was good and different, but not a favorite that I would stock up on, but I certainly wouldn’t mind having it again.

I never even knew there was such thing as Pouchong before, and I think I preferr this to green now that I know it exists!

Post-Steep Additives: none

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/golden-moon-tea-loose-leaf-pouchong-tea.html

I had this tea again this morning. First time having tea after being sick. It was wonderful. Two small teaspoons of honey bring out the flavor even more.

I had it with honey as wombatgirl suggested. About a teaspoonful of it. It certainly added something, and it was very tasty. But it didn’t taste anywhere near as spicy. I will have to brew it a little longer and use maybe half a teaspoon of honey to get it right, I reckon. I’m getting there though, and it’s tasting good

Tried this one again today with a shorter steep time. 2 mins down from 3, since it was a bit too strong with 3. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough with 2, so next time, I’ll have to try 2.5 mins. :P (Or more tea!) But it was still a tasty cup! :)

In other news, I’m wondering if this snow will ever stop. o_o

As the leaves are so large and airy, I doubled the amount of tea I used to 2 teaspoons per 8 oz and the resulting cup was liquid honey. The liquor was a deeper gold and the sweetness was much more pronounced. Floral honey and apricots. Tao of Tea recommends 1 -2 teaspoons. I think 2 is the winner. This is how I’ll be brewing this tea in the future.

I’m finishing up my sample from the TTB and this cup is better than the first attempt…therefore, I am upping the rating. I really wish I lived near McNulty’s…I’d go NUTS…and visit often! Is there only 1 location? sigh…I need to move closer to a tea place…any tea place…but this one would be great! :)

Now I’m new to this tea reviewing business, and according to tazo, this tea ‘s aroma is popcorn.
To be honest, when I first had a whiff of this tea, I was a bit worried.

The smell kind of assaults your nose a bit, but then your taste buds are shown compassion.
I am always one to drink my tea straight, like my vodka.
So if you want sweetening advice, I’m not the one to follow.
My sweet tooth is rather insatiable, but I just can’t seem to revert back to my overdosing of sugar cubes and milk in my tea anymore. Liquid diabetes is no longer my preference, it’s either sickly sweet, or not at all.
Probably why I like dry reds and sweet white.
Now that my slight alcoholic tendencies have shown their true colors, Backkkkkkkk to tea.
I tend to tank cups of tea, mindlessly gulping it down, while listening to dead man’s bones and writing papers. This tea is perfect for a non earth shattering taste explosion, it’s more of a steady tasty experience. (Like a silent ninja that sets up camp on the back of your tongue, and keeps dropping popcorn and plants on the ground.) Anyway. Very smooth, and the flavor is pretty consistent. The aftertaste is what predominantly the proof that you drank the tea in the first place. Not bitter, not sweet, just kind of there, existing, with a lingering plant taste, (but not like you just licked a tree plant taste). A pleasant I just ate dandelion salad in the sun on a picnic blanket taste.
Tazo might have the tea description down better than I do, but that’s my interpretation of it anyway. Enjoy
=)

I am a big fan of Earl Grey, but i think this might top it. I served it with a slice of orange and one teaspoon of sugar, fruity but not over the top. Overall a nice mellow tea.

2nd infusion. Yum! I think I hear the Red Dragon whispering my name though….sorry Yunnan, I think you may be done for the day.

So, I finally got the Zarafina I ordered some time last century. (Or maybe the beginning of the month, I forget which.) It was very, very used. To the point where I was worried it would still work when I took it out of the box. But I got it all cleaned up, figured out how it all went together, and then thought about what I should baptize it with.

I decided that an Earl Grey would be good, and opening my cupboard, the A&D tea darn near fell on me. Right then. A&D Earl Grey it would be then.

So I looked at all the dials, read the instructions twice, and just jumped in. And it worked fine!

And the tea was good, as usual. Yummy. The bergamot was bold, the tea was lovely and just – YUM. I love this tea. If you like an Earl Grey that is loud and lovely, this is for you.

I love 52teas’ Mandarin Matcha so much I decided to try to make my own. I have a bag of Tazo’s orange blossom so I steeped it for 3 min (8oz water) in boiling water then added it to my chawan w/ a scoop of matcha and whisked. Yum! The orange is much stronger than my Mandarin matcha, but I much prefer the mouth feel of the Mandarin.

Almost finished drinking a cup of this too…alittle behind on my postings. It’s been crazy here today…busy,busy, and weather storms-a-brewin’ BLAH! I hate Winter…but at least I have HOT TEA! :)

SENCHA WIN!

I think I got the hang of this now.

Today I was determined to get this tea correct. I messed up so badly the first time through, that I wanted the second time to be pitch-perfect. So I used a teaspoon of this in 8 oz. of water (instead of a tablespoon in 9 oz.) and steeped it for a minute. I started my pour at about 50 seconds, just to make sure I wasn’t going overboard.

And WOW, okay, the difference is astounding just in color alone. I’ve got here a clear, lime-green liquid. It’s absolutely stunning to look at. Not olive-green sludge that I had the last time. There’s a bit of green, foamy-looking sediment at the bottom. Nom nom.

And the smell coming off of the cup is definitely more of what sencha is supposed to smell like. It’s highly grassy, with buttery undertones. It smells like a fresh-cut lawn.

Now the taste. Okay, you know what? I can get behind this. I get this. There’s definitely a high grass content to this, so if grass isn’t your thing, then this shouldn’t be for you. It melds into a very light, butter note,. This is chased by a more savory element to the tea, a briny element that reminds me of kelp or seaweed. Rounding out the flavor is a touch of bitterness. It’s bitterness, mind you, not from oversteeping. It’s an inherent and almost pleasant quality.

There’s a mouthfeel too! Not as silky as something like Samovar’s Ryokucha, but it feels full and dense.

I recommend waiting a bit between sips, because a most wonderful aftertaste will grow across your tongue. I can’t describe it, but it almost tastes like you’ve sucked the chlorophyll out of a leaf. Even though I’ve never done that before… that’s what it tastes like. A very specific, juicy-green sweetness. Really bright and pleasing.

So yeah, I think I’ve got the idea about this sencha thing now, and it’s actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be! Thank you, Steepster, for helping me figure out what was wrong with my abysmal first steep, and thanks to takgoti, for being kind enough to send me some of this to nom on!