Featured & New Tasting Notes

This was my other free sample from Mandala, and it is also officially the last tea in my cupboard (#–7)!! Of course, I skipped a few teas here and there for different reasons, but I have once again sipped-through my entire cupboard. And it took me 3 less weeks than last year! Once again it was really fun, and reminded me of all the teas I have forgotten. But I never know exactly what to drink after I’m done with this.

Anyway, I thought about saving this tea to have at a gongfu session, but then I just decided to drink it. Sorry Equusfell. :) I had a little more than I would normally use for my 12 oz cup, so I steeped it a little shorter to compensate.

I had a sample of this tea something like two years ago, and reading my note I can say that I found it much the same as I did back then. It smells really sweet and floral, with a bit of butteriness, like a really good TGY. But the flavor is more vegetal and less floral, with some butter but not much cream. A tiny hint of sweetness comes out as it cools, but it is still predominantly vegetal, a little like snap peas but not quite. Overall a pretty tasty tea, but when I drink it I just kind of wish I was drinking a TGY instead.

Thank you for the sample kieblera5!

This is a very nice DANCONG. There are definitely some floral notes but it is not as intensely floral as some others I’ve tried. Decent level of complexity. I give this one a B- or a C+

I was given several new varieties to sample so I’m definitely going to take notes on each one and figure out which kind is my favorite!

:D

This was a great way to start a TTB! I picked this to get me going for the start of my morning. The dry leaf consists of small downy golden curls. This tea is so fluffy it actually sticks together in large clumps. I grabbed a generous amount and placed it inside my mini Gawain. I washed the leaf once and let it breath. This brew carried a thick malt aroma. I brewed up a cup. This thick garnet liquor carried a strong scent of spiced rum and roasted yams. The flavor was incredible! This was such a deep and heady brew. The initial sip carried the flavors of brandy, malt, spice,and caramel. It was such a thick brew and incredibly smooth and silky. I was able to pull a few steepings out my Gawain. The next subsequent brews became sweeter and thinner. This was a great start to wonderful TTB experience!

https://instagram.com/p/2BTneJTGVs/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

This is a queued tasting note.

Thank you VariaTEA for getting this one to me, and Kittenna for splitting it with me! It smelled so good dry, and I ended up making it yesterday morning for my breakfast tea on my day off. Mmmm! I’m pretty sure it’s Bear With Me who’s obsessed with Grapefruit EG so I’m happy to finally be getting the chance to taste an EG with grapefruit in it (you’ve gotten me super excited!), even if there are other additions too.

I actually find I’m tasting the tangerine more than anything else; it tastes exactly like the tangerine in Butiki’s Tangerine Creamsicle guayusa blend except while I really disliked the flavour in that blend I think it works perfectly here. It ties in better with the base tea, and has a lovely, mellow sweetness to it and just a touch of citrus pucker. The grapefruit notes are more in the body of the sip, and ave the faintest bit of bitterness but in a way that’s pleasant and natural for grapefruit.

The EG itself wasn’t as strong as expected and I found myself craving a little bit more from the tea. It mostly was apparent running alongside the grapefruit notes and in the aftertaste. It paired phenomenally with the grapefruit by the way; I can see why that pairing seems to be a successful one.

The base was nice but didn’t impart a whole lot of flavour; not that I necisarrily wanted it to dramatically affect the taste of the tea but it would’ve been nice if it had not have been as mild and I could have pinpointed some distinct note from it. This is a really nice breakfast tea though; I will absolutely enjoy finishing off my little bag of it!

Today’s word of the day is/was: defunct, which means “having finished the course of life or existence : dead, extinct”. How dreary…

Other than the teas I have been reviewing for the blog, about all I have chugged lately is Diet Lipton Citrus Green Tea. I think it is laced with something. I find it devoid of depth but so addictive (truthfully it is because it is easy and I am lazy). There are no more in the fridge at the moment. sigh. Oh well, I’ll just have to have some Earl Grey hot from my replicator. As I pop the tin, bergamot fills my olfactory. I can’t even imagine why EG is not everyone’s favorite. It is one of the very few teas I still always have with sweetener. It simply intensifies it and mellows it at the same time. All this typing has worn me out. Back to the couch. Make it so Number One… Spock why couldn’t you have been the EG guy? Then I could have just had Scotty beam me to the couch.

Thanks so much for the sample, boychik, and for introducing me to cheap, yet delicious shou! I was beginning to veer more towards sheng and away from shou, but you brought me back to the “dark side!” Ha!

This is excellent. Clean, super sweet, delicious! This is like a vanilla caramel shou. So yummy! Adding this to my order list. ;)

I had this tea last night. Again, it didn’t taste like much, but it didn’t taste like soap either, so I’m happy. I ran into someone online who had a similar surgery to mine about 5 days before me. She is getting little bits of scents again now. So hopefully, by next weekend I’ll be able to smell a bit too. Can’t wait to taste all my delicious teas!

This is a very interesting selection from Yunnan Sourcing recommended by a few whose opinions I value. Reportedly a special production by the Mengku Tea Factory made with material from 400-500 year old trees. According to YS, the tea is 100% Ban Zhang Wild Ancient Arbor. The leaves of the cake appear to be clean, thick and stout. These leaves yield a dark gold tea liquor which is bright and clear. There is an enticing floral-fruity scent on top of a smooth woody base which is long lasting and powerful. The sip is full and complex yet strongly sweet. There is a pleasant bitterness but this quickly dissipates then a full, delicious, sweet taste dominates and remains in the mouth for quite some time. Dominant presence in the mouth – the tongue and mouth tingle after just a few small sips. The Qi comes forward after just one cup and builds over several infusions. I find this to be a very enjoyable tea.

Backlog from last night.

I chose this tea last night to have with dinner – a few slices of meat-lovers pizza with sausage, bacon, and pepperoni.

Good call! The saltiness and smokiness of the pepperoni and bacon really went well with the smokiness of the tea. And I love the fact that the base tea itself is slightly sweet.

I was seriously considering buying some dark chocolate after dinner to have with this tea since I had at least half the pot left, but the convenience store was closed. Too bad. I bet this tea would be GREAT when paired with dark chocolate squares.

Dry – Standard bittersweet ripe notes, some starch, faint earthy and sweet.
Wet – Sweet, fruity complexity (dark dried fruits), faint cocoa/chocolate hints, citrus?, thickness.
Liquor – Burgundy to a reddish-brown. mellow fragrance.

Initial steeps were all sweet and smooth with a noticeable thickness and developing some dark dried fruit notes of dates and sometimes berries? with a caramel or better yet molasses finish to it. As you continued to steep the following steeps had more bittersweet-ness to them, but maintained the character from the first steep.

Around 4-6 some changes developed and I had to adjust the steep times being a bit more conscious on the color and smell of the steep, longevity issues. The steeps here are still very smooth, but wear less thickness and the fruity notes are more active. The notes remind me of dates, molasses and perhaps a Chinese dried persimmon.

Late steeps were from the 6th to a 8th and a very forced 9th steep. The notes are still here, though they are faded and is already lacking some thickness. Still very good steeps with some camphor being detected (was there before but the thickness mellowed it a bit).

Final Notes
A very good and simple ripe, the longevity is a bit… inconsistent, specially considering that the description says 25 infusions…. It also depends a lot on which portion of the cake you are steeping from. The middle get just a rougher with more sticks here and there, which honestly isn’t bad I felt like the middle lacks the thickness, but it has some more bitter notes that at some points may trick you into think ‘cocoa notes’.

Finally getting around to more of my Tea Ave samples. By now I’ve tried 2 of 3 (plus a bonus), and this one (#–2) is the last one to try. Funny, since by rights it should have been the first one I grabbed given that I love rose. I’m brewing this one western style using my typical green oolong method. I will take the rest home to gongfu, perhaps this weekend.

Some people may appreciate that this tea has light rose notes. They are definitely present, but playing around the edges. I myself prefer a much stronger rose flavor, since rose is one of my favorites. I could forgive that, however, if the base was anything to write home about. I find it a little meh. Vegetal, a little buttery, but lacking the creaminess I would expect from a Jin Xuan. I will say that I get a little bored by Taiwanese high mountain oolongs, although I have them as the base of a few other scented teas and enjoy them well enough. Even in Tea Ave’s own Ginger Lily, it worked better. I think this one is just so dominant in the flavor, and one-note (vegetal). Maybe it will be more nuanced in gongfu. That said, I drank it easily enough.

The thing that sets me off the most about this is the price. Right now, the sale price is more than double what I would pay for a rose green oolong from Dammann or Taiwan Tea Crafts. Now, I am not one to cast judgement at spending a lot on one tea, as I have done my damage with some reserve teas in the past, but their prices seem a tad excessive to me for the product. I am grateful that they sent me the samples to review (as well as the aroma cup set and such), but I will be perfectly honest in my review: I expect mind-blowing for that price, and this is decidedly not.

Looks like dried grass clippings. I have a lot of tiny particles in mine. The other tea in the package was undamaged, so I don’t know if this was roughed up in shipping? Others didn’t comment on this so I am believing it is just my bag. Steeping temp of 158F is hard to do but I stood guard over the kettle and got it.

I think Curious Tea nails the taste profile on their webpage by saying this “has a full vegetal and slightly toasty flavour. It strongly evokes green vegetables, such as spinach or greens with a nori undertone and a distinct dryness in the aftertaste.”

I think the only thing I would add is though the temperature is a bit of a pain to hit, it is worth the effort as the cup was nicely smooth.

Tried this in the store yesterday, and wasn’t crazy over it even though I like my orange blossom. The base was quite loud and covered up the delicate floral notes. They served it iced, which I imagine is the better way to go with this one, but it still gets a “no thanks” from me.

’Here’s Hoping’ Teabox Round #4 – Tea #13
Somehow this one wasn’t on Steepster yet, but this is a great herbal peppermint. Super fresh, sweet and strongly minty. Not much else to say, but I definitely need to keep mint in stock at all times! Second steep was delicious too… aren’t they usually? Not sure why I say it all the time!

Thanks to my buddy BezoomnyChaiVeck for the sample :D

This is incredibly solid shou. Sweet and rich and very satisfying! Looks like this was a very good price too but is now sold out. I will remember for future reference that Feitai is good tea and 7572 is a nice recipe! :)

Happy Earth Day!!!!

MissB is my hero. She found some of this for me while travelling around europe and sent it back to me. I’ll likely still share if some of the girls want to try some, but if not then it’s all mine! mwahahahah. i picked this one for today just because! I wanted all delicious teas today.

Soapy. Very soapy. Drinking dishwater would be more appealing. Yuck!

However, I am sure that taste will go away in a few days. Everything I eat or drink right now tastes off, probably due to the sinus surgery on Thursday. Surgery went well, and no splints or heavy packing had to be used. That means that I can breathe a little bit through my nose, and the pain isn’t nearly as intense. I go back to the ENT on Friday for a follow up and debridement. Hopefully once the crusty, bloody mucus is removed, I’ll start tasting properly again.

The last time I drank this tea (#6), I said I wanted to try it at a higher temp to see how it performed. And I actually read the note before steeping it, so I remembered to do it! The answer is: not very different? It’s still hugely chocolatey and creamy and sweet, and the base tea is still a little thin. I think I would have been happier if this had been on their usual black tea base instead of a roasted oolong. Still, it is quite tasty.

Hmm, this sounds like something I would like but somehow I am not loving this particular tea. It is flavorful but also on the tobacco/bitter side of things, at least when you steep it for 2 minutes. So maybe the answer is to gong fu it. I hope I find some way to enjoy it as I now have 50g. Not leaving a rating for now…

Oh this tea is delicious. Sooooo milky. In fact it’s so milky I was wondering if it was flavoured but I’m not getting any tongue tingling I get when flavours are added. The package does not show it as flavoured either.

I brewed it in my gaiwan with the infuser this morning. I’m loving this gaiwan and think I will get more like it. I find it a bit annoying to transfer from a gaiwan to a pouring pitcher. This just simplifies the process with it’s own infuser.

So did a quick rinse on the leaves this morning and even from the quick rinse I was reluctant to throw away the water. A beautiful milky aroma was coming from it.

Meant to brew 30 for first brew but it went 50 before I got to it. Didn’t matter. It was still good. There might be a faint floral aroma from this tea but it’s mostly all milky & buttery , smooth & sweet. Yum!

This is a malty ans somewhat sweet tea. When I brewed it I was for some reason thinking it a black tea so I brewed it at the wrong temperature. It is listed on the Yunnan Sourcing USA website under black teas. It is tasty and a good tea but I am not feeling any effect from the GABA. I find GABA to be hit or miss and that usually means miss.

I brewed this twice in a 8oz teapot with 3.7g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for three minutes each infusion.

Brewed with a test tube steeper. No rinse as recommended. Steeping times: 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, 180.

Such a wonderful aroma. The dry leaf smells of malt and wood, and the wet leaf of sweet potatoes and a little hot fudge. I started craving sweet potatoes… The liquor is amber-colored, mostly clear (fuzzies from the leaves), creamy-textured, and full-bodied. Depending on my mood, the flavor profile switches back and forth between pine and dark chocolate. Always sweet, if on the woody/malty side, but never bitter or to woody. There is a sweet cinnamon aftertaste. Cozy feel, seems to be best for late autumn or a cold, rainy spring day.

Again, a sipdown. And again… meh. I really don’t need flavoured matcha, honestly. Just plain stuff is perfectly fine for me, then mixed with “regular” (aka a bit sweet) almond milk. I did mix this stuff with unsweetened almond-coconut milk, and it had the perfect amount of sweetness, but it’s silly to pay high tea prices for sweetener. Anyhow, it wasn’t overly vanilla-y, but was good. I believe I prefer Red Leaf’s matches, however, especially with their ability (if it is still around) to select your matcha grade and flavour intensity, so you could really amp up on vanilla flavouring if desired.