New Tasting Notes

The leaves are dark green and fairly straight with little yellow flowers mixed in. There’s a characteristically toasty smell about the dry leaves, though it is somewhat less pronounced than in the other oolongs I’ve sampled. The aroma of the tea is also toasty, and quite buttery, with a subtle floral note. It brews to a yellow, champagne-like color.

I used 2.5g of tea in about 7 oz of water, about what I’ve done for other oolongs I’ve tried, and with 4 minutes for the initial steep I expected a deeper flavor. I’m not getting a “deep, rich” flavor. It’s not that it doesn’t taste good, it’s just a bit on the weak side. The osthmanthus does give it a sweet, nectar-like note, which is nice, and which has something in common with honey. I can pick up on a hint of apricot if I concentrate, but although I can smell something slightly chocolatey, I am not tasting chocolate.

I added a minute for the second steep. The flavors are similar, but have become more buttery and floral-tasting, though not deeper. Six minutes for the third steep and seven for the fourth. I was looking for further development in these, but they were fairly similar to each other, and each a bit weaker in taste than the last.

As oolongs go in my limited experience, it’s reasonably tasty. And it’s not that I don’t appreciate subtlety. But this one lacks a certain depth that I’ve experienced in others, and that I’m finding I prefer.

I tried this at the recommended steeping temp and it isn’t terrible it’s just kinda…blah. It has a weak green tea taste with lemongrass dominating the flavour. For a tea that has so many ingredients in it I was expecting more complexity. This could easily br mistaken for a lemongrass tisane of some sort – which is fine if you like that sort of thing, but I’m not a big fan personally.

So as I was straightening my cupboard this morning, I noticed that my tins of both Florence and Chocolate Tea from Harney and Sons were less than half full, and the wheels started to turn…I wondered what would happen if I combined them, and then added some mini chocolate chips like Adagio does with their Chocolate chip tea…

Success! I was afraid that the chocolate chips might overwhelm the tea and especially the hazelnut flavor, but not to worry – each taste comes through. I’m really pleased with this one!!! It is working to satisfy my chocolate craving AND it made a little much needed room in my cupboard!

matcha + half-frozen almond milk = matcha slushie. Mmmmm…

Oolong time!

This is absolutely my favorite Oolong. So good! Sublime!

The aroma is arresting – floral notes with the slightest vegetative tone. The flavor is buttery, rich, smooth – a delightful, satiny, thick mouthfeel. Just… YUM!

I wrote a review for this tea back in September for the Tea Review Blog:

http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=6489

Many more infusions to follow!

I really tried to find the ginger in this tea—it just tastes like an average white tea to me. Maybe a bit of a gingery aftertaste in this, my 2nd infusion, if I focus. I like ginger alot, and I was looking forward to trying this sample. Oh, well—

mmm! delicious!

I was feeling adventurous this afternoon and decided to give this a try. I’ve seen so many different directions on how to steep pu’erh, I was quite confused on where to start so I figured start short and work my way to longer steepings if necessary.

1st infusion: 30 seconds, temp just under boiling
The liquor is a smokey gold, rather appropriate considering it smells, and tastes, like wet campfire. Like the smell you get when you pour water over the fire to douse it. It is like nothing I’ve ever had before. And for some reason I can’t stop sipping at it. I’m not sure if I actually like it or if I’m drinking it in the hopes that the flavor will change. It’s like…going camping but without the dirt/bugs/weather/lack of amenities/ever-present dampness/too-noisy kids from neighboring campsites that constantly race past on their bikes.

2nd infusion: 30 seconds, boiling water
The wet leaves now smell like wet, canned spinach dumped over hot coals. The liquor is slightly darker and tastes a bit more bitter.

3rd infusion: 30 seconds, boiling water
The same as the last except the campfire taste is slightly, VERY slightly abated…or perhaps I’m just getting used to it. There is also a slightly sweet vegetal flavor just hovering at the back of my mouth.

I could probably get a few more infusions out of this but I’m really not sure if I want to. Is this how pu’erh is supposed to taste or am I doing something wrong? It it just from being a young pu’erh? Would I get better flavor with a longer steep time? So many questions left unanswered!

Very grassy/earthy tasting, which I enjoy. Great price. I have served this oolong to company who enjoyed it quite a bit. This one is a keeper, but I would like to try a flowery more expensive oolong at some point.

The fragrance of the dry leaves is wonderful!! A very creamy, rich jasmine tempered with the sweetest of vanillas. Once steeped, the scent deepens into a steamy, candied, hothouse orchid.

The taste is a pale version of the delicious scent. There is a sweetness with just a wisp of jasmine. The vanilla is apparent in the aftertaste—a syrupy tropical vanilla.

For me, this rates high because I’m in love with the aroma! It’s intoxicating. The tea itself is good—just remember to breath in deep with each sip—then it becomes extraordinary.

This is the fourth Samovar sample I’ve tried and I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever run across something of theirs I don’t like.

As a recent inductee to the smoky fan club, I was delighted with the smell of the dry leaves, which reminded me of how my dad’s pipes smelled after he’d smoked them. I realize that this may not sound that appealing, but I’ve always loved the smell of really good pipe tobacco. It’s a smell one doesn’t run across that much anymore now that the health dangers of pipe smoking are so well documented, but to me it’s reminiscent of an era of narrow ties, Fedoras, and big honking cars with fins.

The aroma is smoky as well, with that campfire thing going on, but I can also smell the fruit. I didn’t make the preparations necessary to taste this the traditional way — I’m drinking it straight up, but it is quite enjoyable without any additives at all and I am eager to give it a try the traditional way.

This is a beautiful, sophisticated tea. There’s a smoothness to it that I’ve come to expect from Samovar’s blends, and which I really adore. As with the others I’ve tasted, all of the flavors work together harmoniously; the piney/smokiness, the fruity/nutty upswing from the lychee, the sweet finish with an extremely interesting warm/cool after-effect on the tongue. I feel a foresty coolness in my mouth, but there’s a little heat and bite there as well.

I don’t need a crystal ball to see a very large Samovar order in my future…

So I used to make all my white teas with cooler water and long infusions, but lately I’ve been doing the hot water/short infusions method. So that’s what I used for my first brew of this tea. Very enjoyable and smooth! As an added bonus, the little metal tin that it comes in is just marvelous :-D

Just trying this tea for the first time. I received the order a couple of weeks ago… in that order I also received the Papaya Ginger which I absolutely loved so this one kind of got overlooked!

It’s very good. One of the better ginger peach teas I’ve tasted. The ginger does not overwhelm the cup and the peach is sweet and very delightful. The flavors are well balanced and the tea flavor is brisk and lively. Muscatel is very complimentary to the peach notes.

I’ll have to write a review on the Tea Review Blog about this one!

It doesn’t have the natural sweetness of the red version; the sweetness here, such that it is, comes from the honeybush that is added in. The taste is decribed as woody on the box, but it seems to lean more toward reedy/grassy/twiggy to me. It has the taste of something that is supposed to be good for you (and this is supposed to be good for you). By that I don’t mean medicinal so much as health-foody. Though the taste isn’t the same, it’s the same sort of feeling I get from drinking wheatgrass or eating carob — virtuous as opposed to decadent, and I guess I’m looking for my tea adventures to be more Dionysian.

Although I’ll give it a few more tries to give it a fair shake, I don’t think I’m going to find this is for me, at least by itself. Good to know what it tastes like without additives (except for the honeybush), though, in case I come across green rooibos blends in the future.

It’s tender and subtle. Lovely, today I did enjoy it more than I did previously.

Drinking this wonderful tea this morning. Just a nice good quality tea to laze away a Sunday with.