Featured & New Tasting Notes

love this tea. Nothing else to say…sick and just trying to stay warm, and be ready to go tomorrow.

Friends, it is time for a change, specifically a hair change. Yesterday was root day (aka the day I hide it from the world that I am naturally a blonde) and I realized I needed to touch up my blue tips. Sadly I also realized I was out of blue dye, so I thought…why not change things up a bit? I went to the store to get bleach and some purple and later today I will have purple tips instead of blue. Maybe. Last time I went purple it was not the best choice, but I think since it will be the tips rather than my whole head it will look pretty cool.

Today I am taking a break from my usual gongfoolery to try an Earl Grey variant from CuriosiTea, Lady Earl White Tea. A Blend of Bai Mu Dan, Bergamot Oil. Rose Petals and Lavender. I like my Earls with lavender, I love roses, and am quite fond of Bai Mu Dan so I thought this would be a take on an Earl I like…since usually, I am not a fan of straight up Earl Greys. The aroma of the leaves is quite potent, not really getting much of the white tea, roses, or lavender, just a small explosion of bergamot…this made Ben happy because he loves his bergamot super strong. After this initial citrus burst, undertones of roses pop up, though they are faint next to the powerhouse that is the bergamot.

Into the steeping apparatus the leaves and petals go for their soak, the aroma of bergamot pretty quickly escapes the steeper and wafts around my desk like an orange wave, it is very refreshing. There are notes of roses and wet have in the wet leaves, along with bergamot of course, though the promised lavender has not popped up quite yet. The liquid is a double blend of roses and bergamot with a slight underlying sweetness of honey from the white tea.

Well, if tasting this tea were a battle (I have been reading about European history in the 10-1200s and there are a lot of battles, it is on my mind) I would say hands down the bergamot wins. It is very decisive, I did not really taste anything else until the aftertaste of gentle roses and very distant lavender. Sadly I do not really taste the white tea base, it is totally overshadowed by the bergamot, which is a little sad since I think these flavors together could work well if it were toned down just a bit, Ben, who is well known for being Der Erlkonig felt the same way, really liked the strength of the bergamot but wish the base was stronger or the bergamot were weaker so that the base stood out more. I did give this to my housemate who I am corrupting into the ways of fine loose leaf tea and who was craving an Earl and she liked it, so I am perfectly willing to say this would be a fine introductory tea and that Ben and I are just too picky after all these years!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/11/curiositea-lady-earl-white-tea-tea.html

And Boston has taken the lead as most logged tea in my cupboard, squeaking past Tower of London. Harney and Sons knows how to treat me right.
I finished Nanowrimo yesterday! 50k words, all done. Of course, its a terrible draft, but that’s what the first draft is for.
I had time to brew a pot of this in the morning, and it wa just lovely. Exactly what I wanted. Autumnal, rich, layered, crisp. Ahhh. Contented sighing sounds!

GCTTB

Last night, I lollygagged on the Dammann Freres site, filling my cart up with all sorts of deliciousness. Two hundred dollars worth of deliciousness to be exact. I have neither the money nor the space for more tea. That rarely deters me.

But this time, I closed the window and patted myself on the shoulder. So yay!

Black Friday fever is a wicked thing.

Yup, this tea is a surprise. With a name like Government House Anniversary Blend, I was expecting something dark, powerful, and stately. That is to say not strawberry and mint.

It’s nice though. Mint is not my favourite thing, but here it is pleasantly subdued by the strawberry. The tea base is slightly astringent. Thankfully, I had steeped briefly.

An enjoyable cup.

Bought this as part of the Aliexpress 11/11 sale. It was pretty cheap so I wasn’t expecting much. But I am happy to report it is better than expected. There is little bitterness to this tea. It has notes of malt and chocolate in there. It will definitely get finished and I would definitely buy it again.

I brewed 4 balls of tea in a 26oz teapot with 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

Just a quick note to say I drank this. It still seemed fresh, though ancient, in this packaging that could probably preserve a single teaspoon until the end of time. Haha. It is certainly licorice with all the anise. You probably don’t even need to include white tea because the anise drowns any white tea flavor. It probably also contaminated my new infuser. Ah well.

This tea was sent to me by Little Red Cup and is the reason I have come out of tea note retirement. I love Yunnan tea. Assam is great when I need to wake up. Ceylon I like with flavors and is my base of choice for Earl Grey. Yunnan is my warm cozy slow down tea.

The leaf looks just like the picture. It is long thin light twists of gold and browns. I pretty much expect the leaf to look this way. What I did not expect, in addition to the malty, honey, scents, is a fruitiness that resembles grapes and a neat pepperiness.

I Brewed this strong (on purpose) and the cup is a deep reddish hue as opposed to the amber mentioned by LRC. The taste matches the aroma perfectly. There is a touch of dryness that may disappear if you don’t make it so strong.

It is a dreary rainy day here, and this Yunnan black is providing just the comfort I need.

Whew and hello! I swear I was drinking tea this weekend, but I was so caught up in all the weekend festivities (and there were a lot) that I didn’t log anything. Oh well.
So lets get back into the swing of things with this blend!
I am happy to say I’m getting the hang of brewing this again, though I could not tell you exactly what I did. Its just nice again.
I also wanted to review both the chocolate bar with this in it, and the infused shortbread cookies with CFT in it. Both were good! I’m glad they only came in small packages, or I would have scarfed a lot of them.
I cant believe we’re almost through November. I’m nearly done with Nanowrimo, and I can’t wait. This particular novel has been a bit tricky. But last night I had the idea for what I wanted to do next, so I’ll get that started as soon as this draft is done.
I loved my weekend, but now its good be be back in routine.

I decided to have some fun doing side by side tasting of Lopchu Golden Orange Pekoe and Lopchu Flowery orange Pekoe. I used 125ml of boiling water over 3/4 tsp of leaf brewed for 2 minutes and decanted into glass.

The resulting Tea both have the deep rich slightly earthy sweet fruity notes mixed with cocoa I love in the teas from this Darjeeling Estate.

The Golden Orange Pekoe has more of the muscat found in Darjeeling as well as some brighter floral notes, a touch of honey and a menthol slightly camphorous notes over the richer base notes.

The Flowery orange Pekoe has much more stonefruit notes, more cocoa, some biscuit and tastes much richer to me.

The Flowery orange Pekoe is admittedly one of my favourite teas and tends to be a tea most people Ihave shared it with have liked even Darjeeling haters.

As they cool the Golden orange Pekoe continues to taste brighter and sharper than the Flowery orange Pekoe but becomes a bit rounder and fuller tasting. I enjoy them both.

Another of my older Teavivre samples. I’m not sure why it’s sat neglected for so long, because all of Teavivre’s black teas are absolutely amazing, and this one’s no exception. I gave 1 tsp of leaf (very long and fine, with beautiful golden tips) 4 minutes in boiling water, and added a splash of milk.

To taste, it’s pretty much everything I’d want in a black tea. There’s a strong chocolate note up front, very reminiscent of dark chocolate (rich, strong) but not in a drying, cocoa kind of way. The mid-sip has a more yam-like flavour, along with baked bread towards the tail end. It’s very smooth and creamy, very easy to drink.

I’m enjoying this one. It’s one of the sweeter black teas I’ve tried from Teavivre, but wonderful just the same. I’ll be repurchasing this one in a hurry!

After a morning of a minty marshmallowy Laoshan Black, I moved on to this one while snacking on too much bittersweet chocolate and too many almonds and brazil nuts. You see, I am on a roll.

Coconut fans…. have I got a tea for you to try! Oh my gosh, this is the best coconut tea I’ve ever had! It is so perfectly coconut. It seems like both toasted coconut but fresh coconut at the same time. (There is probably coconut flavor as well as the coconut pieces.) I’ve never had a coconut macaroon but I can imagine it tasting exactly like this. There is certainly somewhat of a buttery cookie flavor. With only hints of chocolate from the cocoa nibs, the cocoa nibs and the light flavor from the green rooibos really lets the coconut shine. This is the only tea I would need in my tea collection for my coconut craving!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// few minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Another one from Dexter this one isn’t bad. I wish it was a littler richer – i find that mate tends to thin things out for me. I’m never a huge fan of mate. I do like the coffee flavour that this one has, but i’ve had other coffee/teas that i prefer. Really happy to try this one.

I have never loved Earl Greys but this just sounds…well….heavenly. So when I went for Jam and Tea service at Kitten and the Bear and they were offering a selection of Sloane Teas, I just couldn’t pass it up. I actually really enjoyed this one and it complimented the jams quite nicely.

For more about my jam and tea service… http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/11/25/lets-chat-jam-tea-service-kitten-bear/

I prefer this one than the golden ring from imperial tea court. This one has a much smoother body and less astringency. It’s got that malt that i love while still being a rich tea. Thanks for sharing these with me dexter!

Hi Peeps! I haven’t written a tasting note in months. Tea friends have been asking if I’m OK. Summer was so humid. I kind of got out of the habit and I have been battling health issues.

On to tea – I told the wife I was tired of soda pop (whatever you call it in your locale) so she bought a glass container with a spigot. It holds about a gallon and a half and sets in the fridge. Then I realized all she had for iced tea was Luzianne and Lipton. Neither of those would do. I dug deep in my stash and came up with Assam 1860 and Ahmad Primetime. Decided to start with Assam 1860.

The color is a beautiful dark cherry mahogany. Has a good clean smell. I never add anything to my iced tea and this certainly needs no help. I made it strong because that’s how I like it. It is brisk without being bitter. The taste is malty and leafy. I noticed the jug emptied pretty quick. This makes a solid iced tea.

#ProjectTeaWall

Sipdown (146)!

This is also a queued tasting note…

- Tastes VERY familiar, but can’t place where from and that bugs me
- Loving the dark, almost bittersweet chocolate notes
- Very “fudge” like with a heavy, thick mouthfeel
- Really subtle spices, especially the light chili tickle
- Following the intense burning from Maple Bacon Pancakes this is delightful
- Not overly sweet, or spicy so in conclusion: I liked it!
- And I suddenly understand the popularity of it a lot better

Friendly reminder that I’m not currently numerically rating DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently seasonally employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

thanks for sharing this one dexter! overleafed this cup a little today and it turned it in to a malty cup of bold deliciousness haha. having fun trying my samples from friends today :)

Final Count: 83

I was planning to brew this with my new charcoal stove for tea. But it seems that the charcoal that Chawangshop sold me is basically impossible to light using normal methods. They suggested I use the burner on my gas stove to light the charcoal then transfer it. However this sounds like a recipe for an apartment fire so I didn’t try that. I tried another method they suggested but to no avail. No amount of lighter fluid would make the olive pit charcoal catch. I don’t even know if it is possible to light the stuff. And I can’t buy a propane camping stove to use outside to start the coals because my apartment does not permit any propane tanks of any sort on the premises. So I brewed this tea indoors. This tea has a bit of a sweet note to it along with some leather and tobacco. It is a nice enough aged tea for the price. The tea liquid is very dark, as dark as any ripe tea really. I only steeped this eight times but I am sure it would go twelve steeps or even fourteen.

I brewed this tea eight times in a 150ml gaiwan with 9g leaves and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

So when you first discover tea and then find out about black friday sales you tend to go a bit overboard and then you have way too much tea that you felt you needed because it was such a good price and how else would you try all the teas. Well apparently I am rediscovering tea because somehow I just can’t stop myself from placing orders. Seriously. It’s bad. And I can’t even say it’s because of sales since only one order is from the BF sales. In the past two weeks I have placed a 52 Teas order (which is being shipped with the 12 Teas of Christmas order I placed a while ago), a Necessiteas order, A Quarter to Tea order, and a Liquid Prost order. Not to mention Teavivre teas just arrived yesterday and I have a monthly subscription with TeaTaxi. Plus a swap with Arby incoming. I am already over 200 teas so this is both exciting and terrifying.

As for this particular tea, it’s been quite soothing while I considered all the money I have spent on tea thus far. And how much more I may potentially spend this weekend. The ginger is adding a warmth while the apricot/stone fruit flavor is taking over. It is lovely and calming and just an easy drink to sip on this evening.

Thanks so much for the new set of samples, Teavivre! I’m very excited to try the new teas! I’m thrilled that Teavivre is carrying a new type of black dragon ball. I’ve been looking for a black dragon ball to stock up on! To my tastes, the other one, the Fengqing was not my favorite, only for the reason that the flavor was too light. The flavor with these, is much darker and deeper and much more to my tastes. Six pieces results in a very dark and luxurious brew. Somehow, the main flavor profile of this tea, other than being an excellent black tea flavor, is a mysterious flavor of cinnamon! I love that these pearls have a much darker flavor. They could be steeped for many more than two steeps. These are the dragon pearls for me!
Steep #1 // 6 pieces for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

I got this tea from King Tea on Aliexpress but decided to review it here rather than create another page. This was an excellent tea. It was slightly bittersweet in the start, but this bitterness did not last long. There was a fair amount of fermentation in the first few steeps, I’d say they were history by the fifth or sixth steep. What was left was a nice sweet tasting shou. Not sure what to call the sweet note. This was excellent tea. So good that I am happy that I bought two bings. This one would be worth a tong purchase.

I steeped this tea fourteen times in a 120ml easy gaiwan with 10.1 g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, and 3 min. This tea was not finished at fourteen steeps. It would have gone another two to four steeps I am sure. It had not gotten tremendously weak on the fourteenth infusion.

Randomly pulled this out of the stash and rinsed it nicely and noticed it had a strong aroma. Rinsed it a second time just because I am use to really smooth sheng at this point.

First steep was rough. Second steep was harsh. Third steep was me wondering why I’m so forgiving.

Ended it there. Quite bitter for a 4 year old tea since this is from 2012.Mine came right off of the cake too so either I am realllly spoiled with sheng or this is just a punch in the mouth and I’m not a masochist.

Hey, listen. I’m only two teas into A Quarter to Tea so far but really… Impressive is the word I’m going to use. I was on the verge of dismissing almost all flavored teas but this company/person has revived my belief that there are good flavored teas to be had.

The dry leaf certainly smells pretty spot on with the name of the tea. There is a slight artificial edge underneath. Not enough to be off putting but it gave me pause. Not to worry. The flavor of the tea after it brewed really nails it.

I did gong fu style which I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to with this tea but yeah I do what I want haha. The scent that wafts up from the brewing liquor is pretty amazing. I served some to my mom and wife and they both took notice to how good it smelled from the cup. There is a certain cinnamon taste in the first two or three steeps. Not biting cinnamon but more like a creamy vanilla cinnamon.

What is even more impressive about this tea is that I am on steep 5 (6?) at about 1 minute and the leaves and the liquid both still hold that delicious vanilla cream cinnamon scent. The flavor is only slightly diminished but is still really, really tasty.

This is an exceptional flavored tea.