Featured & New Tasting Notes

80
drank Mint To Be (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
2965 tasting notes

This tea was bought after intense personal struggle. On one hand, I adore mint black tea blends. I’m running about like a mad woman in December, trying to grab them all, and this one had been out a while, and yet I had not tried it. The reason is coconut. I do not like coconut. Not in food, not in scents, not in tea.
But I was already ordering teas, and, well, it just sort of fell into the cart.
And I’m relieved to say that the coconut is something I can work with.
This tastes like a mild junior mint to me, and I’m really liking that. Its quite delicious! I’ll be quite glad to drink this bag.

Fjellrev

Well, I guess we can say that it was… mint to be. Har har.

ashmanra

Fjelrev: heeheeheehee

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79
drank Mint Pu-erh by Numi Organic Tea
2036 tasting notes

Having some of this to counteract whatever I did to my stomach last night that resulted in the feeling of a rock sitting in it for a good 12 hours so far.

It might have been the latkes. Or maybe the brisket I had for dinner at the local place that’s the closest thing we have to a deli. It was a bit on the fatty side but I was hungry, so…

In any case, this is making things feel a little less weighty.

ashmanra

Puerh does a good job of dissolving those rocks for me! Hope you are feeling better.

boychik

Shou does work wonders. Feel better

__Morgana__

Thanks. :-). Not 100 percent yet but much better.

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96

Sipdown!

This tea met an ignominious end: I brewed it, but something about it tasted off so I poured it down the sink.

I remember when I first had this tea that it seemed like the most miraculous thing ever. I may restock it in the future, but for now I’ll just let it be, since I have other teas out there to try, including some other Bi Luo Chuns.

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The Enabler (aka my husband) saw me fondling this at an out-of-town trip to World Market and just silently put it in our cart. I love him.

My tea-newbie love affair with Republic of Tea, back when I was just a beginner, had generally cooled off, but this has stoked the fires again. Blueberry rooibos isn’t anything new to flavored tea fans, but add the caramel and vanilla and this becomes pie-sweet and velvety textured. As always, first cup with no additives; next time, milk to make it blueberry crumble with sweet cream.

Sil

awesome

Em

Yum!

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40
drank Orzo Caramel & Honey by Lupicia
1792 tasting notes

Five trillion pats on the back for sipping this down without throwing it out. I discovered that the most tolerable way to drink this is to add a tablespoon to ground coffee and brew them together. The strong coffee notes cover up the overly burnt, carcinogenic notes of this Orzo “tea” (and those are some huge quotation marks there) when drinking it straight.

In my coffee mug, I’m left with a layer of roasted Orzo and a touch of caramel on top of the coffee. Still, I’m never buying any of these Orzo creatures again.

Tamarindel

Wow, you should get the die-hard medal, that sounds intense!

Fay

Yeah, good on you for getting through it. When I really don’t like something I just try to give it away to friends/family with a warning XD

Fjellrev

Haha I just feel so bad throwing stuff out when they’re so expensive!

Alyssa

I have some in my cupboard from when I was a vegan/on a no-caffeine (no tannin) kick. I’ll get around to drinking it again sometime, probably. Oops.

Nicole

That’s a shame. Orzo with honey and caramel sounds like a good dessert but a horrible tea.

Fjellrev

To be fair, a lot of people seem to like this, so I’m the freak. I doubt many are rushing to give it away to friends and family!

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78

I’m OD-ing on tea a little here, but it’s because the kids are out of the house and I have nothing on the agenda until they get back. So I have a rare opportunity to play in my tea and write some notes uninterrupted.

I had the idea that this would be a good palate cleanser to transition out of some of the heavier stuff I’ve been drinking this morning, culminating in full blown chai. And also a nice transition from darker teas to lighter ones for this afternoon.

I had to remind myself that FTGFOP means Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, or it’s joke interpretation — Far Too Good For Ordinary People. LOL

This is a never opened sample that I bought a while back. The leaves are indeed quite tippy, some of them rather silvery looking. They have an earthy smell before steeping.

Steeped, they produce a medium-light brown, clear liquor. But the smell — oh the smell! This has to be what they mean by muscatel, though I’ve never tasted muscatel to my knowledge or muscatel grapes for that matter. The aroma is so grapey, but has that pungent note that takes it up a note to winey. Pretty serious stuff.

The tea is fairly astringent, drying in the sip but smooth in the finish that leaves a fresh, leafy-ness in mouth. It grabs a little at the back of the throat, which is the only downside for me. I don’t really enjoy that sensation.

It’s medium-bodied to light-bodied, and I wonder whether it might benefit from slightly lower temperature, which I intend to try before the sample is done.

The flavor is fairly mild and has some white wine notes that give it a little tartness.

Except for the throat grab, very enjoyable.

Flavors: Grapes, Muscatel, White Wine

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML
Christina / BooksandTea

Far Too Good For Ordinary People! Oh my god, I need to swipe that. It’s good to see you back, by the way!

__Morgana__

Hey Christina! Be my guest on the Far Too Good, etc. as it isn’t original. I, in turn, swiped it from the internet. ;) Thanks for the welcome back. It’s great to see you and everyone again! (I’ve been wondering where TheTeaFairy and Anna are. Anyone know if they’re still around?)

Christina / BooksandTea

TeaFairy is active on Instagram, but I don’t see her on Steepster that much. Anna and I are in touch on Facebook, since we’re both part of a tea group on there.

__Morgana__

Cool! Please tell them I said hi!

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95

This is good tea. If memory serves me the puerh base of this is the 2012 Huron Gold Needle. The puerh tea component of this is sweet with little in the way of bitterness. The cacao component gives a nice chocolaty taste to the puerh. They mix well. What surprised me about this is that there was a strong chocolate note from the cacao even in the tenth steep. I expected chocolate for only the first few infusions but the chocolate lasted well into the tenth steep.

I steeped this ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 10.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

Flavors: Chocolate, Earth, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 10 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
Whispering Pines Tea Company

The base on this is the 2013 Ontario 1357…but keep an eye out for a new blend like this coming soon with the 2012 Huron Gold Needle and vanilla :)

tea123

Is there actual chocolate in this tea?

AllanK

Cocoa nibs

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80
drank Sam Bodhi F.O.P. by Palais des Thés
15006 tasting notes

soooooooooo many paris teas, so little time to drink them all.
I’ve contemplated offering up sample packs of various fancy french teas for people to get a chance to try them but i’m not sure if a)anyone would want them or b)how much of a pain it would be to pack them up and ship them out – esp given canada posts’s expensiveness.

This one is a damn good example of a ceylon i can get behind. :)

Lala

A) everyone would love it B) biggest pain in the butt ever!!! Ha ha. Just enjoy them all to yourself :)

Sil

haha if there are any you want to try/revisit let me know. I think i owe you a surprise one of these days :)

Evol Ving Ness

These are the questions that I’ve been mulling over.

Equusfell

MissB’s package to me was about $10.79 shipping, she charged $10 for it. It probably had 100 gm of tea in it. You’d just have to be tricky with the scale! (and I know many people would be interested)

Sil

thanks Eqqusfell – maybe in January i can get motivated :)

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45
drank Smoky Bacon by Man Teas
2036 tasting notes

More bacony today in both scent and taste, less so in taste than in scent. It’s not a mouth full of ash today as it was yesterday in any case. Perhaps it’s because I used 212F water instead of 205?

Not enough improvement in either the overall experience or the smoky bacon flavor department to merit revisiting the rating, though. This is now in my sip down as fast as possible pile.

Preparation
Boiling
Evol Ving Ness

Morgana, have you tried adding a bit of maple syrup to make this more bearable? To me, that sounds like it might have potential. Good luck!

In Montreal, I came across bacon-flavoured bloody marys premixed in cans. I bought a couple. Horrible, horrible. Couldn’t get rid of them fast enough.

__Morgana__

LOL. Thanks for the tip, Evol Ving Ness. I fear that adding syrup may make it taste more like bacon rather than less, which, while it would make the tea more true to its name would probably do a number on my stomach. But I’ll give it a try for giggles tomorrow. :-)

Indigobloom

This may be good for cooking. I’ve heard people making a lot of dishes with Lapsang Souchong, and since this has a lot of similarities I think it may work the same way! Maybe as a marinade for roast, or in a gravy?
http://www.teachef.com/view_all_recipes.html?tea=lapsang%20souchong

http://www.nj.com/cooking/index.ssf/2013/12/lapsang_souchong_tea_as_a_smok.html

__Morgana__

Indigo, that’s a good idea. It could work as a rub, I think.

Indigobloom

I’ve always wanted to try it myself but never remember to actually do it haha

Evol Ving Ness

^^ That is a brilliant idea. The maple syrup might work well in the rub and gravy as well.

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80
drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
1758 tasting notes

Today I am drinking a shou puerh that came with my Crimson Lotus order. It was marked only mystery tea and I have found out only a little more about it. They told me it was too pricy for them to sell. I also know it’s a small batch from old Jingmai trees. That is about it. Judging by the amount of fermentation flavor left in it I’d say it was maybe three or four years old. It had a fair amount of fermentation flavor to it but that flavor was sweet, not fishy. The fermentation taste lasted three or four steeps and then was largely gone. There were some notes of chocolate in there and it developed a fruity taste in later steeps. This is one I wish I could get more of. I have to rate this at at least a 90%. It’s that good. It was a large sample so I can drink this a couple of more times. When they said it was too pricy for them to sell I wonder just how expensive it is. At some websites I have seen 1kg bricks go for $450 so I wonder. All I can do is speculate about this tea.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.9g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. The tea is not weak at ten steeps. I’m sure I could get a few more out of it but I have had a lot of tea. I know when I give this tea a rating it will rerate all my previous teas reviewed under random steepings.

Flavors: Chocolate, Earth, Fruity, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 8 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
tea123

I like how you can guess the tea’s age by the fermentation flavour.

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82

Oh, I love the scent of this tea. Delicate honeyed spices and sparkling citrus in the background. It doesn’t smell anything like those typical holiday orange/citrus spice teas you see floating around.

I agree with Lala that this smells/tastes slightly syrupy, and also with Dinosara that the said syrupy note is akin to DF’s fig.

As glorious as it smells, I’m having a more difficult time with getting the flavours out without the base going too bold or bitter. The spices and syrupy fruit are quite delicate and thus, struggle to compete with the base. I’m glad I got 50g of this in the group order because it’s giving me lots of room to play with this and figure out what works parameter-wise.

I tried this as an eggnog latte a couple times now. It’s alright but I find the eggnog flavours completely drown out the flavours in this tea, and steeping it stronger does not help. Even adding 2% milk to this places a damper on the flavours. So it’s best straight, which is how I tend to enjoy DF teas in general, but it comes back to the need to peg down those parameters in order to achieve maximum flavour.

Alyssa

Just wanted to say that you’ve inspired me to try their teas. My mom is living in the middle east at the moment and has a network of friends that can get me some without the high cost of customs. Woohoo! :)

Fjellrev

Yay, I’m looking forward to your future reviews on their teas!

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drank Golden Honey Dew by Lupicia
2291 tasting notes

Having this hot today.

Not really a good alternative for a caffeinated beverage, but it does taste divine.

Yum.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Fjellrev

Haven’t written about this yet, but damn, I love it too. Probably the only thing I’d actually want to re-order from them (although I’ve yet to still try that melon oolong!).

Sil

after 200g? of it…i’m taking a break…but i do have 1 cup left first, and then i’ll hold off ordering it again for a bit hahaha

OMGsrsly

Melon oolong is quite similar, but it’s oolongy instead of rooibosy. Hahaha.

Equusfell

I feel like melon oolong also has a kinda greasy mouthfeel too. It doesn’t taste artificial, it just feels that way. I really wish they still carried any of their chestnut teas (besides the chocolate one). I crave those this time of year :(

MissB

Yep, same boat as Sil. :)

OMGsrsly

That is disappointing, Equusfell… Chaud les Marrons is a favourite of mine. :/

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81
drank Blueberry by Adagio Teas
2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 171. The consumption of samples I like before they turn completely to dust continues.

I think my first note pretty much covered this one. I like it slightly more than the apricot of yesterday, mostly because I haven’t had much other blueberry tea and it’s surprising to me that there even is such a thing given the subtlety of blueberry as a flavor. That a tea can capture the aroma and flavor of blueberries without being solely a fruit mix and can do it in a way that isn’t fakey fakey is a good thing in my book.

Emilie

Blueberry teas are rare, but it’s always nice when they work out. I have a jasmine blueberry green tea that I really like

__Morgana__

Emilie, which is the jasmine blueberry green that you like?

Emilie

It’s this one
steepster.com/teas/the-steeping-room/55833-jasmine-blueberry
I can send you some if you’re interested in it :)

__Morgana__

Thanks much — I appreciate the offer but I am drowning in tea. I’ll just keep the info for future reference.

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100
drank Assam Golden Tips by Harney & Sons
790 tasting notes

Oh my sweet T-Rex. This smells AMAZING. Snorting in the scent from the little sample bag it’s full of dried autumn fruits, brown sugar, and some hay. And the leaves are gorgeous. look like a moron over here at my desk with my nose stuffed deep in a bag. :)

Steeped, it turns into a warm leather, deep chocolate and yeast, sweet liquor with malt that is intense enough that I feel somewhat guilty drinking it at work. I don’t normally write tasting notes at work out here online, but I had to for this one. I must get some of this. More than a sample.

If I were being rational, I’d try this side by side with Assam Enigma and that other Assam I love from Golden Tips before I said I have to have a few ounces of this one. But rationality rarely enters into my tea purchases, I realize. I will, however, not buy unless it is on sale or with free shipping, so I should have at least a few days to do some testing. Harney seems to have had sales every few days for the last year or so. Some better than others, and not always a blanket X% on everything or free shipping, so I may have more time than I think. :)

Regardless, I am going to savor this sample.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 45 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Sil

oh man.. that sounds good.

Inkling

Wow, this sounds amazing! Wish-listing it for when I allow myself to buy more tea!

Mike

Oooh, add another Harney & Sons tea to the wish list! :)

Nicole

I’m finding that if I let Assams cool to just above warm rather than piping hot, those malts deepen and they become sweeter cups. Maybe just me, but…

Mike

I do the same thing!! I’m going to get a thermometer today so I can make sure I can reproduce my favorite tea experiences…I usually steep at boiling then wait about 20 minutes.

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A new to me company even if they have been around for years. Their website (tea-and-coffee.com) has some 700! different blends. This one smells so calming. I could set this out in a dish and just enjoy the aroma… or I could drink it.

The taste is more subtle than the scent suggested. Based on the ingredients, I was a little concerned it would be a big chai like smack to the senses. Nope. Just like the aroma, this is mainly a pleasant orange tasting tea with the spices filling out the flavor rather than trying to steal the stage.

The flavor kind of goes orange, cinnamon and clove, cardamom, then drifts into the slightest heat from the pink peppercorn. So subtle but a nice touch. It has a sweet lingering aftertaste.

I added sweetener and though it wasn’t needed, it took sweetening in stride. This is a pleasantly cozy cup.

Kristal

700! I may have to investigate!

Fjellrev

Wow, just bookmarked their site. So many options. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

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drank Golden Honey Dew by Lupicia
2291 tasting notes

Cold steeped overnight.

OMG SO GOOD.

SO SO SO GOOD.

Why did I not believe people about how good it is?

Thank you SO MUCH, MissB!

Preparation
3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
MissB

It really is an amazing tea. For some reason though, I wasn’t enjoying it any more, so I’m glad you are!

Marzipan

I love it mixed with black tea.

OMGsrsly

OMG I am SO enjoying it, MissB. :D

I might have to try that, Marzipan!

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73
drank Happy Trails by Butiki Teas
1500 tasting notes

Haven’t a clue what this is, haven’t a clue what the story is, no idea about anything really. Other than, of course. OMGsrlsy gave this to me on a dark and stormy night in downtown Vancouver, as if we were dealing (gasp) drugs! The horrors.

Package had someone else’s name on it (sorry James), with the instructions to steep for one minute. Really?! It’s a… gosh words, come to me now… the kind of tea that looks like coffee grounds, and of course the word escapes me. Anyway. Butiki’s Premium Chai has the same base (I think), and I luuuuuv’s me that tea. So, I’m in. Let’s try it. Just enough for 12 oz.

I steep it for one minute, and I’m confused. It doesn’t taste like much of anything. It smells a touch fruity though… so I’m in, I steep it a bit longer.

Steeped a bit longer (another 3-4 minutes) I get a bit of… licorice? something fruity still, and, no, that’s black licorice. Isn’t it? Jeepers. I can’t tell. I’m also eating salted chocolate and feel like a truck hit me since about 9pm last night, so, you know, really professional review here and all folks.

Flavors: Fruity

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 45 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Fjellrev

Haven’t tried this, but I think I recall this being a CTC. That chocolate sounds yummy and I hope you feel better soon!

OMGsrsly

It’s a really badly scribbled “Jones” actually. Hahaha. :) It’s just… fruity I think. I really like the base tea – Crimson Horizon.

MissB

Haha! Really? Cuz there’s a last name listed, too.. I thought maybe it was that it’s coffee flavored, and that was what I didn’t catch initially in the flavor.

Sil

was that my scribbling? if so..oopsy if not.. YAAAY! haha

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66

Grab bag sample from MissB! Almost nearing the end of these, and have been so excited about them.

I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be the biggest fan of this because of the classic clashing ingredients in here, namely cinnamon and hibiscus. You see, I normally always cold steep hibiscus-based blends, and they turn out better that way because the dry tartness of the hibiscus is kept at bay this way, plus the fruits that usually accompany the hibiscus make these types of blends refreshing. But then this cinnamon throws a monkey wrench into things. It doesn’t translate the best into a cold brew. Seems out of place.

So, trying this hot, yes, the cinnamon is warming, the berries are like jam, but that hibiscus gets so syrupy and tart when steeped hot, consequently taking over the entire show. Can’t win with such a combination, I’m afraid.

I’m down to 57 freaking teas! But. My American Tea Room Black Friday order just came in so looks like that super sweet, low number didn’t last so long.

MissB

Aw, so happy that you’re happy about the grab bag stuff, even still! :)

Fjellrev

I can’t thank you enough!

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85

How is it I haven’t written a note about this one? I know I’ve had it before and liked it. If I’d known I hadn’t written about it before I would have used a different cup and paid more attention, but I can back up and talk about things like color next time.

This is an unusual tea because the taste and smell of tea is usually so closely interlinked for me that if I don’t really like how a tea smells, it’s fairly certain I also won’t care for how it tastes. This one has sort of bakey chocolate smell that I don’t really love. It’s like that part of the chocolate cake that sits next to the flour on the cake pan and absorbs some of the flour into itself so it’s a diluted and somewhat overbaked tasting chocolate compared to the rest of the cake.

But the tea tastes much richer than it smells, and what’s really great about it is that it’s so much more than it’s advertised to be. The chocolate and the coconut are definitely there, but there’s also this weird synergy between them plus a freshness in the mouth that gives a sort of a minty note to the flavor, and as the tea sits on the tongue, it smooths out into an almost caramel flavor. Like with the Premium Steap coconut, the flavorings are of a piece with the tea rather than glommed on top, which makes it that much more enjoyable of an experience.

Alas, I see that Premium Steap doesn’t seem to have this blend anymore. Too bad, as I would have recommended it.

Flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Coconut, Mint

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec 4 tsp 34 OZ / 1000 ML
ashmanra

I was pretty excited til I got to the last part about them not having it now. LOL I desperately want some Empoer’s Red but every time I check, they are sold out.

__Morgana__

LOL Sorry I had you going there…

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70

Another one from the spectacular MissB. Muchas gracias! I was so excited to try this so I purposely left it for near the end. I appreciate a good white chocolate, and the thought of it paired with a delicate white sounded like this would be a sure winner. However, I find the base to be a little too vegetal for my liking. I’m really whiny about that, though. There’s also a a rich butteriness and not sure if it’s from the base, the white chocolate, or a combination of both.

With a different white base, I could see this being a total win. It makes me miss RLT’s White Chocolate matcha.

By the way, I just ate a little square of the white chocolate from the dry leaf and it tastes like a church to me. A church. You know when you walk in and there are tons of candles burning, it has a hint of subtle stale smokiness (possibly from its age) with a waxy note. When I told my mom that this tastes like a church, she totally got me right away and figured that it tastes like wax. Crazy!

__Morgana__

Lol on the church taste.

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94

Thanks so much, Nicole! I’m amazed that I’ve loved basically all of the teas you sent along. Your tea collection must be astronomically delicious to part with these teas! The only type of tea like this I think I’ve tried was in Butiki’s Three Friends (that I adore.) But Three Friends is actually a Zhen Qu base. I’m not sure what the difference is but the leaves certainly look the same. Dark curly crumbly fuzzies with a lot of twists to the leaves and a lot of gold. The scent of the dry leaves is very much like dried grass. The flavor is deep and dark with two teaspoons… a lot of dark chocolate flavor but it’s a very smooth tea and never astringent while also being a very strong cup. My favorite type of black tea: dark, strong, but smooth and never astringent! I certainly like it with two teaspoons. I think it was too weak when I tried it with one teaspoon.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug// 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Flavors: Dark Chocolate

Liquid Proust

Could you compare the dark chocolate? Is it bitter like? Or is it more like a bolder DianHong malt/chocolate note?

tea-sipper

Well, I guess it depends on how much you like dark chocolate. I love it, so I probably wouldn’t notice if it’s too bitter for others. But I noticed the smoothness. It is like a bolder DianHong.

Liquid Proust

I love dark chocolate, a lot, however I hate bitterness in tea (coffee is a no go, bitter pu’erh no thanks, strong green tea, and bold black tea)

tea-sipper

I definitely noticed the smoothness with this one, even though I used two teaspoons. I don’t think this one could get bitter if I tried.

Liquid Proust

Good, this is now on my list to watch out for. I’ve had STRONG DianHong tea from YS and it’s just like… punch in the mouth strong.

Nicole

I’m so pleased you have liked so many of them! I tend to obsess when I find a taste I like. Used to be TRY. ALL. THE. TEAS! Now it’s just TRY. ALL. OF. ONE. TEA! :)

tea-sipper

haha. Yes, I think I’ll always be in try-all-the-teas mode though. :D Did you manage to order the Harney teas yesterday?

Nicole

I did. I’m guessing they will be in early next week or Saturday.

tea-sipper

Oh awesome – thanks so much!

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drank Honey Black by DAVIDsTEA
606 tasting notes

First one to review this! PLUS, it’s my 500th note!

I’ve been waiting to write my 500th note until I tried something new, not just write a review for something I’ve had before. And when I saw this in store yesterday I knew this was the one. I am so excited about this tea.

So, Steeped it up for 4 minutes and took a nice lovely sip. This tea is naturally sweet and bold. It really does live up to its name. I’m not one for honey at all, but this one really works for me. It’s sweet without being overbearing honey flavour. It’s just a lovely sweet bold, slightly malty tea that just has everything going for it. I know several people that don’t care for it all the much already, but I love it. It reminds me of Nepal Black in some ways, but it’s very unique to itself also. I should almost do a side-by-side comparison. That will happen another day though.

So anyways, I LOVE this tea. I will probably get more soon. It’s so lovely and delicious, sweet and yummy. I definitely recommend.

__Morgana__

Congrats on 500!

Evol Ving Ness

A good one to celebrate 500 with then. Congrats!

Kristal

Congrats! I can’t drink black tea but this one sound lovely :)

Fjellrev

Congratulations! And I had no idea they even had this tea.

Evol Ving Ness

This one may be my upcoming free one if it is still around

Christina / BooksandTea

@Fjellrev: They just introduced this one a few days ago, I think.

TheKesser

Thanks everyone!!
Yeah this one came out yesterday. It’s the December tea of the month, so it’ll be permanent. :) I’ve very happy about that.

Kristal

It’s nice they have more straight teas that are becoming permanent :)

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Forgive me, Steepsterites, but I must vent and I know you lot will understand.

My father doesn’t like tea. At all. He feels about tea the same way I feel about beer, i.e. NOPE! Blech! Spitty! My mother enjoys the occasional cup of tea, though, but wants it to be as convenient as possible, so preferably bagged stuff. Recently she has been very fond of Lady Grey from Twinings.

So my father writes me an email saying could I help him find something like that, only maybe a better quality than the Twinings bags and such and such is the budget. Sure, I do some research. Twinings, imo, isn’t actually the worst bag out there, but even so the next step up is loose. And if we’re going for loose, we might as well go that little bit further. So I trawl through AC Perchs’ website and finds a couple that sound to me like they might be similar and I trawl through Carstensens (another large Danish shop, but I have never used them much for no other reason than sort of forgetting they’re there) and find things that are similar.

And I put all these findings in a very long email, which has links to both websites, price per 100 g of each and price of shipping. Plus information that these are loose, not available as bagged, and he should make sure to also get a box of those filter bags to go with or a brew basket or similar for her cup. Also point out that if he wants the tea tinned, he must buy a tin separately. All of which is available for purchase at both websites.

The reply I get doesn’t actually say ‘tl;dr’, but it might as well have. It then becomes further obvious that he didn’t read it all when he says it must be bagged, because otherwise she’ll just never get around to drinking it because it’s too much of a hassle. Clearly he didn’t get to the bit with the filter bags or the brew basket which can just be whacked in the dishwasher afterwards. Then the initial question once again, now posed in a mansplain-y way as though I was five, but with the added strong hint that he would like me to order it for him. Oh, and if necessary could add such and such to the budget.

So I got rather irritated and waited until the next day to reply, in which I had to explain that using a filter bag was no different from making coffee (which is somehow not a hassle. Seriously, spoon leaves into bag or spoon coffee into filter and toss the lot after use, what’s the flipping difference?). Also explained that while sachets do exist, they are not something one can count on, and throwing more money at something will not make it magically exist. Refrained from pointing out that what he was actually asking was similar to wanting a high quality whisky but preferably pre-mixed with cola in the bottle. Husband’s analogy, that one. Also pointed out that I had done my research based on the criteria I had been given.

Reply was, ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, I surrender.’ And THEN the initial question again now posed as though I was three, complete with ‘I don’t know anything about it other than I don’t like it.’ Then he remembered that I had once brought some sachets up for her years ago and could we get some of that again. Oh, and still including the strong hint of the never actually asked question, ’can’t you just order it for me?’

I still refuse to take the bait, because I know he’s not actually that helpless, so I link him directly to the sachets that ACP sell, tell him which two it was that I had bought then, and a few others which are also black tea (my mum’s not really that adventurous, so didn’t want him to get her some green or white blend that she wouldn’t know what to do with). At the same time, I’m thinking that not only did he not bother with reading the initial reply, he also didn’t bother with the links, because if he had clicked on the ACP link, for example, he would have seen a very large bit of the menu that said ‘tea bags’ on it. Also hoping that the direct link will serve as a strong hint that he’s not so helpless he can’t do his own damn Christmas shopping.

The final email from him said he had written to Perchs (hallelujah!) and they had suggested a different blend as the closest thing they had to Lady Grey, so he’d ordered 100 g of that.

Loose.

headdesk

To be fair, he did also get two boxes of sachets, but still. After all this hassle he put me through because he didn’t want loose, he goes and buys her a #¤%#%# loose tea!

Give me strength…

Do you lot have to deal with these people as well, or is it just me? At least I avoided doing his shopping for him. For the record, I’d happily have ordered something for him if he had asked me to. I do not, however, volunteer just because he’s feeling whingy. I’ve got my own shopping to deal with, thanks.

Am putting all this under this particular tea, because I’m having a cup and it’s life-giving, and I need life-giving after all that.

( ETA Please be aware that I may choose to remove this post again later on. Right now it’s simply a need to share so I can get it out of my head.)

Indigobloom

Oh this sounds like a very familiar story. My parents are much the same! Rather frustrating idn’t it?!

__Morgana__

I’m sorry. But it’s good to see you. :-)

Evol Ving Ness

You’ve reminded me of how fortunate I have been that my father left all the Christmas shopping to my mother.

Jim Marks

You’re not a real authority, you’re his son. The people who run the shop are a real authority. Sucks, but true. I’m well into middle age and my parents still treat me like the occasions when I know what I’m doing are basically a coincidence.

Angrboda

Indigobloom, it is! And yet he still had to ask me this weekend if it was good enough.

Morgana, likewise.

Evol Ving Ness, well, this was shopping for her, so he couldn’t really let her do it herself. :)

Jim, his daughter actually, last I checked. Otherwise, yeah. Except if it’s something to do with medicine, which obviously I, as a lab tech, must surely know everything about… (Hint, I don’t.)

Jim Marks

Yeah, I get the same thing. I write medical software, so I must know everything about troubleshooting any technical device ever made. But anything I actually do have substantial expertise in? Nah. Never takes my word for it.

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drank Fengqing Golden Buds by Zen Tea
3226 tasting notes

This came as a sample with my last herbal tea order from Zen Tea Life. I decided to try it out for breakfast today to test its suitability for serving at tea time today.

I made one steep in my smallest Kamjove, gave a taste, and decided it seemed like a resteepable tea, so I decided to go ahead and combine two steeps. The review is based on the two blended steeps, but you can amp up all the factors for an accurate idea of what the first steep was like.

The company description is pretty spot on. Dian Hong teas usually have a strong sweet potato flavor to me. That is true of this one, but there is a lot more going on. It is heartier and made a great breakfast drink with my scrambled eggs with French thyme and cheese (eggs courtesy of Blondie, my rescue chicken who looks bedraggled but lays like a champ) and Viili with honey. It takes a decently strong tea to go well with all those flavors.

This has a heavy mouthfeel which is why I refer to it as hearty. I take my tea without milk or sugar, and this was smooth enough not to ever need milk to take the edge off, and sweet enough not to require sugar to make it interesting.

I made a third steep as a stand alone and it was delicious. This is a winner.

I must add that I have received excellent customer service from Zen. I ordered a couple of cast iron pots from them as well as a number of teas over the years and have always had a good experience, with reasonable shipping costs, quick arrival of goods, and good communication when I had questions.

Evol Ving Ness

Good to excellent customer service and rapport is so very important. It completely sucks when you have to deal with the opposite. No reason for it whatsoever. And from a customer’s perspective, unforgivable.

Jim Marks

Dian Hong is a tea which, when of good quality, can be steeped many many times (10-20) if you get your parameters dialed in properly. This sounds like a good one!

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