New Tasting Notes

This tea is way too light for my liking, much like my bedroom when the curtains are closed during the summer months. Defiitely drink this one plain.

You know, I wish “broken orange pekoe” wasn’t abbreviated into a word like “bop”, because it makes me think the tea will be something you can tap your feet along to. Which was not the case with this one. I’m not sure if it was an old packet or my rising distrust of ceylon teas, but this barely tasted like anything. With milk, it was definitely more “meh” than “bop”.

Even though it’s marketed for coffee lovers, I can’t stand straight up coffee but absolutely adore this tea; it’s like it takes the smell of coffee and actually makes it taste like that, sans the bitterness. It’s smooth, has a nice nutty/slight chocolate flavor, and very rich without a hint of bitterness.

I’m down to one more cup of leaves after this one. I kind of wish I had more even though I would prefer a different berry flavor. But at the same time, I don’t think I actually want to buy any more. I need a company to offer something like this but maybe with strawberry or another berry and to also have lots of other teas I love so that I can throw this one in an order. Because it is worth being added to an order, but not quite worth making an order. If that makes sense.

Anyway, could have brewed it a little longer but I didn’t and it is still nice. Very fruity but with a nice smoky note in the background. I like this one because it is a smoky tea, but it is sweet and soft at the same time. Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I brewed Samovar’s Russian Breakfast blend the way I brew this one… That could be interesting.
2.6g/6oz

Made a fresh pot of this for this evening. I’ve been drinking this with brown sugar and milk, but it is equally amazing with just the brown sugar.

My first time having a golden monkey tea. It’s definitely not what I expected – very different from any other black tea I’ve had. It almost has a sort of grassy flavor to it, but it’s very sweet. Interesting. Haven’t totally made up my mind on this one yet, but I like it.

This has the honor of being the first matcha I’ve tried. I have since tried better ones, but this one is still quite top-notch. It isn’t the highest quality – that honor belonging to koicha-grade ceremonial – but the zesty, slightly roasty, sweet-seaweed-like taste can’t be beat.

This is a bergamot-scented Silver Needle white tea. While the scent holds the sour-citrus quite strongly, it mutes a bit in the taste. But not too much. Compliments vanilla extract and stevia perfectly.

This was the second loose leaf white tea I ever tried. The greatest thing I noted was how it had the subtle scent and taste of apricots. It was the first time I ever picked up on a fruity note in a tea and tasted anything but “leaf”.

While not a fan of most Japanese green teas, gyokuro is an exception. While this is not the best gyokuro I’ve had (a little too roasty), it still soothes quite nicely.

Incredibly smooth, nicer than English Breakfast and lighter than Irish Breakfast. A lovely tea to drink plain as well, I think milk mutes the delicate flavour too much. The perfect afternoon tea, would pair well withsomething light like a lemon friand…

I’ve had Lapsang Souchong’s before that were mainly just…well…burnt tea. I like ‘em, but not much can be said about ’em. This one had a chocolaty note to it that added something extra. And it’s cheap if you buy in bulk. Can’t beat that.

This herbal is pure WIN. It has all the nut-sweetness of it’s redder sibling, but none of the blandness. Compliments honey well, too.

It’s lemongrass. There’s not much that can be said about it other than it’s citrusy, slightly grassy and light. Not much of an impression by itself, but it can be added to other teas perfectly. Really goes well with their Jing Mai White.

Ah, its so good trying a bunch of teas at the same time, I think you get more of a feel for each tea than when you taste them individually. This has similar strength to the Irish Breakfast, but what I previously remarked as “maltylicious” is actually more herbacious (due to the manuka) than malt. Still a lovely tea though, both with or without milk. Plus it looks pretty while you brew it, as al the manuka leaves float to the top.

This has a rounder flavour to it than the Irish Breakfast and is of course, best with milk. Maltalicious!

I got a sample of this with my Steepster Select order a while ago and kind of forgot about it. I am not a huge chocolate-lover, and I usually don’t want real chocolate bits in my tea, but it sounded fantastic. It also smells fantastic—all the teas I’ve stored near it in the cabinet took on a bit of the smell.

I didn’t see if the spoonful of tea I used to brew my cup today actually had any chocolate chips in it, but the taste of chocolate was (thankfully) quite subtle. I didn’t really get much of a “cream” flavour at all, but I drank this while I was working and didn’t have the time to sit and really analyze it so I might’ve just missed it.

I wasn’t blown away by this tea from the one cup I’ve had, but it was pleasant and I am anxious to try it again and get a better feel for it

Yikes, this tea is rough when drunk plain. But adding milk mutes the flavour a surprising amount. There’s a very small difference of strength between this and the english breakfast – to be honest, neither of them are strong enough or malty enough for my tastes.