Featured & New Tasting Notes
Yesterday was a heavy drinking session with my brother in laws which has left me misty headed today. Luckily they have all gone to London for the night to watch the Championship play-off finals (football/soccer) so it means I can recover in my own time and just relax in peace and quiet for the day. It’s 1:34pm and I have only just got myself a pot of tea, until now I just couldn’t stomach any. In desperation for something vanilla or cream I found this tea from my Black Friday hoard and grabbed the pouch as if it was made of gold. Orange & cream may not be the nicest tea ever but when you want something light, sweet and creamy it tastes pretty darn good.
I only made one evening tea tonight upon returning home from work; mostly because I took the time to have a night shower (I usually shower before work in the morning, not at night) – but I made it count!
I feel like I’ve shared this with lots of people but not really enjoyed it myself as much as I should have. I very much like it though; it’s a simple but INCREDIBLY smooth, malty black with the faintest hints of cocoa that just add to its subtle depth. Tonight I had it with milk and it was just splendidly divine.
Sadly next cup is a sipdown – and I don’t have a clue how I would go about getting more of this. Boosting my rating, because a “76” seems rather low…
Also just gonna plop this link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCpsusTta4w
Trust me, you want to watch it!
EDIT: OMG! The flavours list is updated! When the fuck did that happen!? I went to type in Malt and “Marshmallow” popped up and I just thought “Was the always there!?”. But there are so many new options! Ah! I’m totally freaking out right now! I just want to go drink more teas so I can use more of the thingers! So. Damn. Giddy.
Flavors: Cocoa, Malt
This is THE chocolate mint tea. Seriously, if you want chocolate mint, nothing quite compares. It is minty but not in a harsh way with creamy milk chocolate and fluffy marshmallow leaf to lighten everything up. Truly amazing!
Ok, ok.. It’s on my list to order when I place a Butiki order. :). I Love mint & chocolate, but so many good sounding Butiki blends it will be hard to choose.
I figured this would be a black tea but it’s not. That’s fantastic! It’s going on my wish list!
Nope. It is a caffeine-free herbal and better than the black tea versions I have tried.
Backlog!
What a pleasant cuppa tea. I quite enjoyed it.
Funny, lately I’ve come across a lot of 1st flush Darjeelings, so when I brewed this up, it slipped my mind that it wouldn’t have those crisp delicate notes. Took me by surprise, I tell ya.
After I got over the shock, I found it very tasty. Muscatel in nature, with a nice depth to it, and a very slight tangy edge. I’m looking forward to having it iced over the summer!!
This is my last cup…all out. The good news is that I’m waiting for the arrival of a new supply, yay!
I made this last cup a little stronger and this time I even get more sea salted caramel if that’s possible. Chocolate and dates/plums also very present.
It’s a very fruity cup, with toasty and nutty accents.
Hopefully, my order will arrive early next week so I can continue my journey with this fabulous gem of a tea!
Non tea related:
It’s girl’s night out tonight! 10 good friends of mine have organized a party for me. Some of them I haven’t seen in over a year due to some unfortunate circumstances.
Going for dinner to a nice Italian restaurant first, and after, heading to a lounge bar, hoping to catch up with each other’s lives…
(There’s only one tea drinker out of the bunch, maybe I’ll bring some Whispering Pines teas with me and try to make converts!)
It’s been a while since I’ve written any tasting notes, but i’ve been drinking a lot of tea. I’m going through this odd phase where I sort of drink tea automatically—haphazardly choosing a tea from my collection without giving it much thought, drinking it without really noticing it, and not really feeling inclined to write deep tasting notes with all my feelings and interpretations. But then I also think that one of the main reasons I update on steepster isn’t necessarily to explore all my feelings about a given tea, but mostly to feel connected to people who love what I love. And withdrawing from my various networks is never really a good indication for me, and so I’ll make more of an effort.
Random thoughts on this tea:
1. It’s wonderful iced; I haven’t even tried it hot.
2. I’m really into making my teas iced now, and I find I’m actually preferring them iced to hot now. I never thought I’d be saying that. Oh, and I really like the instant cold-brew method (that of steeping in a bit of hot water before topping up with ice) to letting it brew for hours on end, but that’s because I’m impatient.
3. This tea tastes like a conglomerate of tropical fruits, with perhaps the slightest hint of white tea at the end of the sip. I know this combination of fruit is meant to taste like nothing else, but you could probably tell me that this was a tropical papaya and guava punch and i’d believe you. That being said, I’m actually going to buy some more iced tea packs of this tomorrow because I still really, really like it.
4. I love that DT sells pre-packaged iced tea packs. People can carry on endlessly about how they can measure it out themselves, but if anything exists to support my laziness and reliance on all things convenient, I’m all over it. Besides, DT’s website says that iced tea calls for eight perfect spoonfuls of tea for each pitcher (and omg I got the blue and green pitcher and love it!), but each package seems to have far less in it than that but still yields a fairly strong and flavourful brew. So what gives? who knows. But yeah, packages are where it’s at.
Ok bye
I’ve been there!! Drinking all the tea but not logging it. Especially when I don’t have many new ones to try
Oh yeah, I have a ton of tea I have yet to try, but I just can’t seem to generate anything worth writing down.
I’ve missed your reviews, so I’m glad to see you’re here. :)
I completely agree with the laziness and convenience bit. Absolutely. I’m all about making things easier.
aww, thanks cheri! I’m glad to be back too :). And yes, convenience all the way.
Glad you’re back!
I also miss my “partner in crime” ;-) but I understand that phase, I get that often…but that part where you said «to feel connected to people who love what I love» is what keeps me coming back here…
Glad you’re back!
wb keychange
Queued post, written April 20th 2014
Four red fruits! This is a flavour that I am quite partial to, but for some reason rarely buy. This is a sample that Courtney shared with me.
This one smells strongly like cherries. Unlike many of my co-Steepsterites, I was never as a child subjected to fruit-flavoured medicines. The only time I ever had any illness that required antibiotics as a child I was an infant and therefore don’t rightly remember. It was probably given intravenously then anyway. Other than that, the closest I come was some cough medicine that my father once bought. It was the sort where you put a tablet in a glas of water and it goes psssh-pssssh-psssssh and disolves. Supposedly it was supposed to taste like raspberry, but it was not like any raspberry I’d ever come across then or since. It didn’t really taste like anything other than medicine and it didn’t help the cough much either. Other cough medicines were usually strongly licorice flavoured because they contained licorice extract, but that hasn’t stopped me from eating licorice with great relish.
So for me, a strong note of cherry is not a turn-off and it’s difficult for me to imagine how it could be for anybody. I mean I can understand why it is. But I can’t imagine it.
I feel like I’m picking up some raspberry and strawberry in there as well, but it’s muted by the cherry. There’s a feeling of something a little tart as well, which fits with red currant. A 4RF where I can smell all four fruits! This bodes very well indeed.
The flavour is very close to the aroma. Primarily cherry, with the other three under the surface, but still without masking the base completely. I can even pick up some grain-y notes from it under the flavouring.
This is very good and very well balanced. I like that the emphasis is on the cherry as opposed to the raspberry and strawberry, because usually in these blends the cherry is the flavour I have the most difficulties picking up. The red currant is not very easy to find, though, but I think that’s for the best. If it was stronger, the tea would have been very tart.
To clarify, Courtney and I loved the banana flavoured medicine we were subjected to as children, so it was actually quite a lovely childhood experience! :)
Yes! Banana medicine was the BEST :P
Four red fruit, heavy on the cherry – I think I would like this. Need to look into getting some Nina’s teas…
Yes, keychange, banana medicine was the BEST. But cherry-ish cough medicines and grape tylenol was a nightmare. To this day, those scents make my stomach turn.
So this is a tasting note for my second steeping on WP’s Apple Cinnamon Oolong. I don’t typically bother to resteep things: more often than not I’d rather have something else and enjoy as many flavours as possible in a day. However, I do make exceptions often for oolongs and WP’s comment about this being especially good with subsequent steeps made me hold onto the leaf to give it another go…
I’m glad I did: this is much better the second time around! I’m wondering if that’s in part because I added on another minute to the steep time? However, all the flavours are much more front and center which was my biggest complaint yesterday so cheers for that! Most impressively is how strong the apple-y flavour has become! It’s almost cider like, but without that kind of tart “tang” to it.
Definitely an improvement and I’m so happy I resteeped (maybe I’ll do a third tomorrow?). I’ll be increasing my rating now…
Oh yum. Thank you Terri HarpLady!
This is super rich and fruity! Very complex. This is something I would totally drink again. Sweet stuff. There are notes that remind me of a Dancong oolong. I loves me some Dancong. It is like a cross between a Dancong and a Yunnan black! I love the lingering stone fruit taste it leaves in the back of my throat.
This one is an interesting one, eh?
YES!
I think I ordered the newest rendition of this in my YS order.
I think the only purple teas I’d had before this one were purple greens.
The Wu Liang Ye Sheng puerh cake from them is pretty killer too, as well as the 100 gram brick.
Way to temp me with some sheng, mrmopar :)
Mr M, I’m not allowed to look at YS’ site for awhile…lol
First, thank you Brenden for including this sample in my order, I appreciate it.
My inner girly girl is really pleased when she looks at this blend. So delicate and pretty.
If the Bear is sleeping on a comfy cloud made of these mellow pine needles and this fragrant aromatherapeutic jasmine green tea, I’m afraid it will never wake up!
Since I had only one shot at making this cup as delicious as it should be, I followed Brenden’s parameters to the letter and it turned out perfect!
What a nice flavourful combination this is. It’s not an in “your face” piney taste, but rather a very subtle essence, rounded by the beautiful jasmine green floral notes. It is sweet and very soothing.
I’m listening to some music for the Gods while sipping , Viktoria Mullova playing Bach’s sonata…perfect afternoon.
(Oh, I really wish this hadn’t been out of stock when I placed my order…)
I can not WAIT to harvest the next batch of white pine for this! I’m going to give it a slightly longer oxidation and also work on bringing out more of the buttery flavors. Harvest time should be mid-June :)
Yay, that sounds amazing, I will definitely return for it :-)
That sonata was beautiful! Thanks for sharing :-)
Mj1851, as much as I love modern music, I also need my classical… glad you enjoyed, Bach is my favourite composer :-)
Aw! I almost bought this, but chickened out because of the pine. Now I know :)
I love a little of everything, but grew up playing classical, & still love to return to it often.
Virginia, I don’t think you will regret buying this one, now i’m sad I don’t have more!
Terri, I think classical is the only music that will bring me to tears. I,m mostly a fan of soloist work though. I love melancholy, big happy symphonies are not my thing…
I still have sooooo much of this. I never loved it.
I enjoy it now more than before, but 4oz was way too much. And I have to drink it.
Not sure if I just don’t LOVE H&S’s chocolate flavour, or maybe that the hazelnut in this one isn’t striking me the way it should, I definitely don’t get “Nutella” when I drink this tea.
I think the hazelnut just has a bit of an odd taste to it or something. I will keep drinking it though, I have no choice!
Anyone want some Florence?
Haha
ETA Oh yeah – forgot to add that I’m officially starting a sipdown mission of my older teas. I was doing it unofficially but now it’s crackdown time on account of the massive load of new tea I’ve got coming to me in July.
ETAX2 this was my 300th tasting note. D’oh. :/
Good for you! I’m turning some of my older flavoured greens into ice tea and I’m icing some of my Oolong’s or I’ll never get through them ( though I might experiment with reroasting some of them).
Yaaay for 300!
congrats on 300. very impressive. Good luck on official sipdown mission;)
Great mission! And happy 300th :-)
Yay 300! :)
This tea is not in what I would have called my tea wheelhouse. I’m not a fan of black teas, really, unless they’re flavored. But I ordered a sample of this one just based on the inspiration from the website. (Seriously, read the whole description of this tea. I mean read it. Traverse City, Mackinac Island, bridges (although I have to point out that you can’t take the Mighty Mac to the island), yes, this tea is supposed to remind me of a trip Up North.
So I added this sample, because I’ve been wanting and needing a trip up north (we’ve got one scheduled for next month, but that’s sooooo far away!)
And wow, you nailed this one. It is sweet, almost like a cherry, not quite, but yes, and chocolaty, like good dark Mackinac Island Fudge. I love the malt in this one. Not too malty, but just enough.
This mug really makes me want Northern Michigan all that much more. If you’ve never been, I suggest you go sometime. It is peaceful and laid back in a way that I just can’t explain. And beautiful. I love Michigan. I love Up North.
I’m really enjoying this tea. Like I said, it’s not my normal tea, but it is nice. I would like to have this one occasionally, when I need an escape Up North.
Preparation
you convinced me. I’m going ;)
I’m finally moving back…in a week! I can’t even contain my excitement!!!
I’m so glad that you get the references in my descriptions…I feel like a lot of people don’t TRULY understand Up North. I know that before I lived there, if you had told me that the most beautiful place in the world is northern Michigan, I would have laughed in your face ;)
I’m sooo happy for you! If I could live way up there, I would, but my spouse’s job does not allow for telecommuting most of the time. (Mine does, so I can work from anywhere he needs to be.)
I’ve been to both of these places, and I just love it up there. At least it’s only a “short” drive to Traverse City or the UP and we can make long weekends or even week long get aways.
Yay, to returning to a place you love Brendan! Up north, what a term… Growing up, up north was anywhere North of Barrie(less than an hour from Toronto). I don’t know why because I’d been to Wawa on Lake Superior a number of times when I was little, but the ridiculousness of my perspective didn’t hit me until I worked in Chapleau for two summers and experienced the 8-12 he drive up there and entered the Arctic watershed while watching the seasons regress that my perspective changed and even then several members of Steepster live in places much further north than that. I lived in a Crown Game Preserve and experienced worse culture shock coming home than when I returned from India. There is something amazing about being surrounded by life! The furthest North I’ve been is Iqaluit but only for a short period of time.
In metro Detroit, the term Up North is loosely interpreted as anywhere “north” of here, although it can also mean west in some cases. It’s getting out of the Big City and into the “wilderness”. Where I grew up, Up North was my family cottage 45 minutes away, about 2 miles north, mostly to the west. But it was on a lake and out of suburbia. Interestingly enough, that’s now mostly suburbia out there as well, so I’m not sure it counts as Up North anymore.
It’s always changing isn’t it? How awesome to have a cottage only 45 mine away. My cousin’s is in a beautiful spot it’s on a finger bay off Georgian Bay. It’s private enough that it seems to be on a private lake but they have easy access to the Great Lakes watershed. There is a wildlife reserve on one side ( The first time I was there, I went jogging and saw a bear), but it’s @2.5 hrs to get there.
Yep! I don’t think I could consider any larger cities “up north”. I’m moving to a city of 450 people (White Pine, MI) right next to the Porcupine Mountains. Now THAT’S up north ;)
I haven’t been to the Porcupine Mountains, but it’s on my list of places I want to go in Pure Michigan.
Well if you make it up to that area, let me know and we can break out some of my reserve teas! :)
Definitely!
LOL I grew up in Florida, so up north was anywhere north of the mason-dixon line.
Funny you say that. I have a friend from Florida who is coming to visit later this summer, and he said that it’s his “first trip up north because it’ll be the first time [he’ll] be north of the mason-dixon line.”
That is funny! He definitely picked the right time of year to visit “up north”.
Thanks 221tea for the sample! I think this is officially my first blend from Whispering Pines? I hope I made a good choice, heh…
The amount of cinnamon chips in this intimidates me a little bit to be perfectly honest: I like my cinnamon in moderation and this looks like it could potentially be fairly overwhelming. Steeped up though it seems harmless enough, inviting even.
Taste wise this is much more mellow and gentle than I was bracing myself for. I almost wish it packed a bit more of a punch because while the apple, cinnamon, and oolong components can all be checked off and marked as present they’re sorta those classroom “ruffians” who sit in the back row where the teacher can’t notice them as clearly. And, when that’s the way all the flavour notes in the tea are behaving it doesn’t really work too splendidly. Someone has to be in the front.
I guess if I’d have to name a more dominant flavour it would be the apple? It’s slightly more noticeable than everything else in the aftertaste as you swallow the liquor: but only fleetingly.
So to summarize: I’m finding this a touch weak and it’s not what I wanted or expected but it’s still pretty good – definitely drinkable. I have one more cup left and since it’s about the same leaf amount as this one increasingly the leaf to up the flavour isn’t as viable an option so I’m probably going to see if I can push the flavour out a bit more by slightly extending the steep time.
Cinnamon really terrifies me in tea, sadly. I love cinnamon, it just doesn’t work in teas. Do you want ALL cinnamon in moderation, though, in (for example) baked goods as well?
You can get 5+ infusions from the one :) also, i not sire if you knew this, but the apple notes are natural notes coming from the oolong, which is why they aren’t more intense.
^To add. Try steeping for 5 minutes instead of the recommended 2
Wow, my not-out-of-bed-or-awake yet comments are totally not helpful. Haha :)
What I meant to say is that because the apple notes are natural notes in the oolong, increasing the steep time would be a great choice because these notes will be accentuated by the longer steep time :)
Thank you so much Terri HarpLady for a sample of this!
I have been drinking this all day. The leaves just keep going and going, huh? This is VERY nice shu. Rich and creamy with just enough earthiness and sweetness and no funk. I love that it is organic, too :)
This is a shu I would definitely reach for any time I have a puerh craving! Glad I got to try it.
No funk is good!
I can totally see why, even sans the funk, that puerhs can be an acquired taste. I mean, it is a taste unlike anything else! If you aren’t sure what to expect I could see it being off-putting at first. Once you get used to it though it is totally craveable!
Well…. some funk is good! A fella’s gotta dance, after all :)
Good call Garret. Plus, some funks are good funks! Take “stinky” French cheeses for example! ;)
Amen, sister!
As far as acquired tastes with pu’er – i have been showcasing alot more of the raw pu’er teas these days here in the shop and in tea classes with great results. The raw pu’ers are completely different in flavor, color, aroma. And the energy (cha qi) one gets from raw pu’er is quite different than ripe. I love it.
I though Westerners would be more averse to raw pu’er, but I am finding out that was a false assumption.
But still, I’ve started every morning for the last 2 yrs with a large pot of the Noble Mark ripe. Great ripe tea is a fantastic way for me to start the day.
All my best,
Garret
I think raw puerhs are quickly becoming my favorite type of tea actually, and I attribute that to the cha qi I get from them! They’re so fascinating :)
Steph we need to make a road trip to MN for tea tastings.
yeah… I love raw pu’er. Investing a lot more in mao cha to have pressed into pu’er these days. Just sipped some of our Autumn Song pu’er here in the shop with two Teavana employees who had only ever had bad ripe pu’er before. Boy, oh boy, did they get turned on! It was fun to watch. They were so excited. Great to have Teavana employees buying some tea from us :) Good times.
Marzipan I would LOVE to visit Mandala’s tasting room some day! :)
Stop by & pick me up along the way, will ya?
I initially like shu better than Sheng, but that has changed. In part, due to the amazing energy, without a doubt.
Chesnut flavoring always smells a bit weird to me, so this tea definitely has that smell… and I’m finding it comforting. I wish there were more chocolate in here than just at the end of the sip, and it’s very much a milk, light chocolate flavor. The chestnuts come through in the flavor as well, although I doubt I’d know if someone didn’t tell me. Still, really creamy, vanilla-y, kinda roasty (almost) and comforting. I can see myself ordering more of this eventually.
Yay for Lupicia orders, and for having a tea mule to grab packages for me across the border from my box over there! :)
Flavors: Chocolate, Nuts, Vanilla
Preparation
Golden Orchid, I wrote a haiku for you:
Rich silky liquid
Flavours blossom in my cup
Indulge. Joyful mouth!
It’s really that good. Cocoa and vanilla, what a taste.
I loved the base tea as well (North Winds), but the vanilla is the secret. Vanilla makes everything taste better, literally, everything.
First two steeps were very rich and dark, third a bit weaker but still worth it.
I’d tried this yesterday in the middle of painting but didn’t have time to sit and properly enjoy it and take it all in, so I had it first thing this morning again, so worth it.
I also used bottled water, what a difference….
Definitely a restock!
Flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla
Preparation
:)
After reading this I am SO pumped to get my order! Well I already was. But now I’m on a whole other level.
You are a poet #_#
Dangit, man. I just get my first Butiki order after months of people raving about them and now everyone’s raving about WP and I’m so desperate to try them now. I CAN’T WIN.
Added to wish list.
I still haven’t tried anything from WP. I guess I’ll have to get with the program. :)
Memily Steepster is a dangerous place!
Yeah you guys all need to try some WP. I see another order in my future for sure. I love reading everyone’s reviews!
Terri how is it possible that I’ve tried a tea you haven’t?!
Haha! It well deserves its own inspirational haiku!
Can I quote your awesome haiku on my facebook page? You’ll get credit, of course :)
Yeah, go for it!! :)
whatshesaid, I have no idea! LOL
Aaaahh… I see we have finally received our WP order! I love this review. :)
:) IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT!
/capslock
Last night, after my four hour hike in the wilderness, I indulged into an Offley 10 years Port wine and some good quality dark chocolate, the one that snaps when you brake it.
But since a girl can’t stuff herself with that kind of goodies everyday day, I chose WP Mint Chocolate Chip to satisfy my chocolate craving today.
I’ve said it before, I don’t have a big sweet tooth, but dark chocolate is my weakness.
I could not pass the opportunity to buy this cause I’m also a mint lover. The combination of both mint and chocolate is to die for.
Oh, this smells wonderful, and tastes even better. Just the right amount of peppermint freshness and natural sweetness from the excellent Fujian black base.
I love that there are only two ingredients in this: peppermint, black tea. No fake candies of any kind, my idea of the perfect flavoured tea :-)
Oh, and this is my 200th Steepster note!
Woohooooo! Grats on 200! C’est magnifique!
Haha! Merci ma chérie :-)
Oh, felicitations! :)
Ah, merci, vous êtes bien mignonnes de pratiquer votre Français pour moi ;-)
Oh mais tout le monde parle francais! Moi aussi je veux parler francais! :D Haha
Lol, I love this place ;-)
Hey! You’re near MTL and I’m in MTL! Cool! :D
Virginia, I,m actually in the Laurentians, so it’s not that close but I go to Montreal a few times during the year, we could arrange for a meet up at Camellia Sinensis someday :-)
Sure! I’d be happy to share tea with you the next time you are in town :D Let me know!
J’ai beaucoup besoin a practiquer parler Francais, haha
I was never very good, especially at speaking it
happy 200!
Your French is good enough for me Whatshesaid :-)
Thanks TeaBrat!
Congrats on your 200th note! What are your favorite chocolate brands? Have you ever tried Raaka chocolate? They have one that is vanilla rooibos flavored :)
Thanks Kat_Maria!
To answer your question, no brand I’m afraid. There’s a nice chocolate bakery near by, they make the perfect super glossy 80% dark chocolate, that’s where I buy it all the time. Nothing compares to it IMHO. But I do have occasionally some Lindt sea salt dark chocolate, I love it too.
I don’t think we have Raaka chocolate around here. I don’t like Red Rooibos, but it’s interesting that they would make a tea chocolate :-)
I suggest the Lindt Madagascar bar….can’t get enough ;)
another great cup of tea this morning while i clean up the kitchen, do a little work and get it ready for my other half to then wake up and cook me breakfast! lol this is pretty much par for course when we have a day off together on the weekend as i’m a morning person and he’s a night owl. So i get up, prepare the kitchen, make coffee and bring it to him in bed…then he gets up and makes my delicious breakfast to go with said coffee :) it’s perfect. Today we’ll be doing that and then i suspect it’ll be an extended bike ride down to high park to check out the cherry blossoms for fun :)
I had this tea twice yesterday so I will include both reviews in this one note, as they were made differently and I had a different companion each time.
My first cupping was Sunday morning. I had a gong fu session with my dog, Sam, and a wheel of Camembert. It was my first time having Camembert, and when I first opened the package I kept looking for the broccoli in the garbage can, wondering who had cooked broccoli without me knowing about it, and noting how remarkably clean the can was and oh my goodness was that smell coming from the cheese???? Yes, yes, it was. It smelled like Panera’s broccoli soup and since I love broccoli soup I figured I would like the cheese. I did. Sam did.
Hubby stumbled in about thirty minutes later, all stuffed up. As far as I know it was his first time having a sheng puerh. It was also his first having Camembert, but he loved it.
The tea was quite yellow, a really lovely color, and we made about a liter all told. It really could have gone longer but we couldn’t drink anymore and hubby had to leave. We were drinking from Teavivre’s double walled glass cups. I love them! A friend saw them and handed me money and said, “Get some for me!” Next I want to get the bat cups!
It paired nicely with the food. My first steep was short and the golden liquid was smooth, lively, and had nice woodsy flavor. The second steep was left a bit longer and was brisk, but pleasantly so, and was perhaps a better steeping time considering how strongly flavored our cheese was.
The second time I had this tea was with my bestie who came over for tea and cookies. This time it was prepared western style, using a 22 ounce Beehouse pot. We made two steeps. Again, the liquor was golden-amber. I am pretty sure it was my friend’s first sheng, although she has had a lot of shu and loves it. We were having this time instead of savory but the tea was quite good paired with cookies. There was not a terribly noticeable difference between the first and second steeps. I saved the leaves and will most likely be making a third lot western style later today.
Thank you, Teavivre, for the opportunity to try this tea!
I have Gongfu sessions with my dog as well :-) Sometimes the tea smells so good, I see his nostrils going like a radar!
LOL! Sam was very intense about the cheese but he really freaks out when I offer him tea. I don’t know why. (I fostered his family from the time he was one day old.) His sister got to some of my shu puerh when she was about nine weeks old and just lapped it up!
Aww, puppies and tea, adorable!!!
TeaFairy: does your dog drink the tea or watch?
Not only does your significant other like your tea and cheese, your hubby does, too. ;-) Lucky girl!
Oh, Carol Who, that is too funny! Last weekend I was looking in an antique shop that has a section for spoiled dogs and the lady asked me in front of my husband who I liked snuggling with more, him or the dog. My husband said, “No contest, definitely the dog!” (I can force him to cuddle!)
Hubby used to drink only cheap black tea with tons of sugar and milk, but joyful, joyful, now loves green, white, and oolong tea sans additions and doesn’t even touch black tea anymore except iced!
Teavivre’s double walled glass cups +1
“… smooth, lively, and had nice woodsy flavor.” – Sounds good!
Raw Pu-erh Western style? I only read about pu-erh Gongfu-style.
Ashmanra, yes he does drink it, pu’erh being his favourite it seems…probably due the smell!
An antique shop with a spoiled dogs section, awesome :-)
LooseTman: we frequently go western for puerh! Bonnie taught me one of my favorite summertime ways to drink it. Make one western style pot hot to drink, save the leaves and put them in cold water in the fridge for a day or two, and drink cold. Delicious and ultra-refreshing! I have only done this with shu thus far, but might give it a try with sheng.
I wish I had been more elaborate about picking my voting day tea – this is not like me at all. But it was hard – I mean, what does civic duty taste like? So I just picked the black tea that smelled most appealing this morning, and, apparently, civic duty tastes like Studio 54, which I guess makes sense.
There were ticket inspectors on the tram! I’ve heard of that happening, but never witnessed it. So me and F, who came along to hit up the Swedish embassy with me, got to show our crisp, newly stamped and fully legit tickets while numerous Romans threw loud hissyfits around us, because that simply wasn’t acceptable, expecting them to cough up tram fare like that. Monday! Who pays on a Monday?! &c.
I had this with a breakfasty fruit plate and some almond butter, and it was surprisingly good with it. I usually drink fruity/floral greens and whites with fruit, but this tea brought some kind of deep, smooth caramel note to the plate (HA! I wasn’t even trying!) that was really nice and unexpected.
If I had to pick one of my basic black German blends to restock, this would be the one.
Preparation
Another Sipdown from Yunnan Sourcing, & the 2014 version is on it’s way to me, so it’s sort of a joke to even count it. In fact, if the truth must be known, my sipdown extravaganza is a bit of a farce, as I have received boxes of tea from several sources & placed a couple of orders. I won’t add those teas in until the last day of the month, but will probably end the month with more teas than I started with, LOL.
However, it won’t be a total waste of sipdowns, simply because I will have polished off all the older samples, TOMC & TOMCR, etc. Everything I have will be fairly new!
Except for all the puerh…sigh…but that’s a different story all together, right?
I like this tea (I should say something about the tea, right?)
It has a savory & floral quality, & a bit of spiciness that lingers & builds up to a tangy quality, kind of like buttermilk.
I don’t feel so bad about breaking my buying hiatus now as I can blame it on you as my inspiration.
I blame her (quietly, to myself) a lot for that. I like what she likes :)
+1 with you guys…let’s blame Terri, lol.
I’m at 333 right now, trinity…that means I,m destined to spend the rest of my life with a cupboard over 300 sigh. Month of may has been more lethal than Black Friday and it’s only the 18th!!
I love you guys, & it has always been my dream to inspire others with my music, so why not inspire them with my tea purchases too? LOL
Short review…just checking if this is as good as it was two days ago (and because I just reordered 4 more ounces!!)
Yep, still fantastic, I did a super strong brew the way I like them. it’s complex, multilayered and super sweet. Nothing but love.
Now up to a little hiking session with the dog, have a great afternoon everyone :-)
Have fun! :)
oh man I have to get trying these WP teas.
I was hiking today, too! Hope you had fun. We had a blast, but ended up wading through a trail that was more like a creek due to all our recent rain!
Thanks WP, it was fun!
Tea Sipper, so far I have enjoyed all the ones I have tried, if that encourages you :-)
Sarsonator, glad you also chose to hike today :-) I just came back , I went in the afternoon instead of 6 in the morning as we normally do so we did only 4 hours, the dog was disappointed, he just can’t get enough!
Ohhh my dog is going to be sooooo happy to get to the woods next month! :D
I bet your puppy will be ecstatic! Mine is so good at this, when we get to certain areas that seem a little tricky, he goes ahead first, feels things out for me and comes back with that happy face of his, like saying, “all clear, common, move your butt and join me up here”!
It’s priceless, I’m glad you get to experience that again very soon :-)
:D when we go out to the woods here, my dog just runs and runs and runs…but there’s not much for him to explore…mostly rocks and empty space between the trees.
Every time I pick this up again, I’m all like, ‘I know I rated this a solid 95, but seriously, how good can it be?’ and then I smell it and I’m all, ‘Oh, right, it’s this one.’ and then I steep it and drink it and it’s just so insanely good. The florals are complex and beautifully balanced without ever becoming overpowering or cloying.
I stumbled over a tasting note by a user who’d mostly been reviewing Lupicia teas – it said that the biggest problem with Lupicia was that they recommend boiling water for all their teas… and that any true tea drinker (whatever that is) would know this to be incorrect.
Since so many of my followers find me through my Lupicia tasting notes, and since so many people ask me about Lupicia because I am, obviously, the undisputed #1 Lupicia fangirl (Those pesky Canadians are catching up, though, I have to watch that.) around here, I feel I have to stress this again, because it keeps coming up.
The biggest problem with Lupicia is not the above. It is that prejudiced tea drinkers insist on either ignoring Lupicia’s steeping instructions and hence, in many cases, get a lesser result and/or question Lupicia’s know-how due to these steeping instructions to the extent that many avoid the company altogether.
(Also that their teas are delicious, irresistible and will eventually ruin you, because once you’re hooked, you’re hooked.)
Numerous unnamed tea-litist people have approached me and told me they definitely aren’t going to drink sub-par Lupicia teas because a company that suggests boiling water for a green tea is surely run by amateurs and why am I so excited about their teas since I clearly don’t approve of Teavana and their ilk? (This is particularly hilarious, seeing as Lupicia are Japanese, not American, as most of these people have assumed.)
So no – Lupicia know what they’re doing. Strangely, so do A.C. Perchs when they recommend 11-minute steeping times for some of their teas. And those teas were weird, yet tasty experiences I wouldn’t have had if I’d stubbornly insisted on misguided tea snobbery.
As for the above user, I challenged her to try temporarily dropping that whole all green teas are the same prejudice and to following the steeping instructions, just to see what it was like. (Let’s hope for squees of delight rather than hate mail.)
To sum this up – Bravissimo! is one insanely tasty tea, especially steeped for 1.5 minutes in boiling water.
Preparation
I agree, but only to an extent. Brewing recommendations are just that. A recommendation. Meaning this is the way whoever wrote them prefers their tea, but it may not be the way I prefer mine. I did try ACP’s recommended 6 minutes out of curiosity on one of their Assams once. The result was… well. Let’s just say it was definitely not how I prefer my Assams. I can only assume that they use a different leaf dosage than I do. I prefer strength to come through leaf dosage rather than extended steeping.
Initially I followed recommendations to the best of my abilities. These days I know my own preferences quite well, but that’s something only experience can teach you. Recommendations are a place to start, but they’re not the end-all and be-all of a good cup of tea. (I find the idea that they are to be quite snobbery as well, actually.)
Oh, but instructions as the be-all end-all are not what I suggest at all, I honestly have no idea how you’d even get that from my note.
What I’m saying is that if someone ignores steeping suggestions entirely because of preconceived notions, that’s unfortunate, especially in terms of Lupicia.
That is all. I fiddle with instructions all the time, but I always try the recommendation first, just in case. And I definitely respect companies more when their instructions work for me, as well as for a wide variety of others. That, to me, equals a good product + good product knowledge. Hence, my distaste for Dammann Frères (and numerous ACP teas).
However, I’ve already outed myself as an incurable tea snob, so even though your implication was based on a misreading of the above note, it still remains true: http://steepster.com/clareborn/posts/212352
Actually.
I think you’re misreading now. :) I didn’t say (or mean to say) you thought it was => snobbery. I said (or meant to say) rigidly following instructions without accepting different strokes for different folks => snobbery.
Also, link. Was that only hibiscus? Who would produce such a thing? A vampire? I’m sort of morbidly glad that you found it tasted like blood. It’s that exact association I get from hibiscus. Not so much tartness and certainly not the berries it’s often used in an attempt to imitate. Just metal and blood. Yuck.
OH I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID.
(I agree, though.)
And I’m totally sending you some Karkadé now. Anonymously. And when you least expect it. I literally have NO IDEA what that tea was supposed to taste like, but I feel I need to inflict it on everyone else just to see what happens.
My boss has had a big bag of rosehip tea standing in her office now. Nothing else. Just rosehip. I live in fear of her suggesting we try it. Rosehip is the same sort of deal as hibiscus for me. I can’t get it through my esophagus without grimacing. (Strangely, I’ve had rosehip marmalade and liked it although it wasn’t something I’d ever buy. But in tea… shakes head violently )
Don’t you guys do nyponsoppa at all? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_hip_soup
Never heard of it before. It’s traditionally marmalade here. (Or itching powder)
Elderberry soup, though. In a mug with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream. :) (Or more traditionally with little biscuits. I don’t care for those. I’m not a soggy bread product sort of person. It’s a consistency thing)
My understanding of English might not be perfect, but to me when you say “insist on steeping the wrong way” just doesn’t sound right. There are no right or wrong, just what works for you. It’s like wine, a sommelier told me one day the best wine in the wold is the wine you like. To me, that also applies to tea.
Having said that, I think I do understand what you are saying about trying first the recommended instruction. But trying it any other ways doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way.
I have some tea knowledge, but I’m not a tea snob. I’ve been trying Lupicia teas only recently. (I’m one of those “pesky Canadians” haha!) I can assure you I am not dropping boiling water on White Melon, and yet, it’s the most delicious melon tea I have ever tried! I’m not a tea elitist, but I have had white teas before and learned what works best for me, that’s all.
That’s a fair(y) point – thing is, with the whole ‘You Steepster people rate your teas all wrong’ discussion in the forums fresh in mind, I just didn’t feel the need to clarify that I am entirely for everyone doing tea exactly the way they want to do tea, seeing as I was so hugely vocal about my opinions on the matter. Then again, I get that everyone doesn’t read the forums or (for unclear reasons) don’t memorize everything I write. I also hoped it would be obvious from the context of the post what I was saying. I have now changed the offending sentence into something far, FAR less snappy, but hopefully less confusing.
Individual choice, however, is not the point of this post.
This post has nothing to do with tea in GENERAL, or WINE, or PREFERENCES in terms of TASTE.
This is solely a comment on how some people tell me they won’t try Lupicia because Lupicia are obviously idiots for suggesting said steeping instructions, and because green tea can only be steeped a certain way.
That’s it.
…and I can assure you I sure as hell am dropping boiling water on Lupicia’s Melon White, and while as tasty as a white tea can get, it is never even close to how delish the Melon Oolong is, so go try that immediately, if you haven’t already. I know there’s a whole bunch of pesky Canadians HOARDING the stuff. Don’t tell them I sent you.
Angrboda, that’s CRAZY! I thought I’d had elderberry everything, but I’ve never had elderberry soup! I have to look this up. Also the little biscuits in the rose hip soup don’t really get soggy unless you leave them in there for hours. They’re super crunchy and resilient.
How about blueberry soup?
Anna, No, not that either. I think elderberries are the only actual fruit that we make soup out of. We’re far more likely to make fruit porridge.
TeaFairy, I completely agree. It’s a subjective matter, so there can’t be right or wrong. It’s the same thing with this or that note as well. If you say something tastes for example like apple, then it tastes like apple and that’s final. I’ll just have to accept that even if I don’t think it tastes like apple.
Does this recipe look right? (Obviously ignore the strawberry cream thing.) http://www.receptcentralen.se/snabbt-och-enkelt/fladersoppa/
(Or do you actually make it from the BERRIES?!)
No it’s made with the berries. (I’ve never had it home made, but you can buy it frozen) http://www.gastro.dk/opskrifter/forretter/Varm-hyldebarsuppe-med-karamelliseret-toast-og-vaniljecreme/ is an example. Sometimes it’s also served with apple chunks in, that’s very nice. Apples and elderberries suit each other very well. :)
Okay, added to the recipe bookmarks. There are, I think, three kinds of elderberry bushes/trees in Sweden, and two of those have poisonous berries, so I need to do some research. =) I’m excited to try this!
If you first choose, ‘produkter’ and then ‘Frukt- & bärsoppa’, you’ll see all of them. Blueberry and rosehip soup also come as a powder you can mix with water. (When I googled, I found someone selling it on Amazon, haha. All these poor expat Swedes trying to get their food fixes.) http://www.ekstroms.se/#/produkter/produkt/?product_group_id=12&
Anna, it’s actually because I remembered so well your position and your comments in the “rating system post” that what you wrote rubbed me the wrong way a little I guess (you know us fairies, we’re sensitive) i just did not understand why you of all people here would say that. Thanks for clarifying.
I did try melon oolong, I reviewed it recently and nearly died, that’s how good it was. I’m a huge oolong fan, it was really hard for me to decide which one I liked best, but I lean towards the white just a tiny little bit more, I even reordered some. I think their oolongs are fantastic so far. The pineapple one, OMG, so yummy. I have some Honey Dew on its way also. It’s costing me a fortune, but well worth it!
Aww, well, thanks for setting me straight, TF – I hope I’ve made my position clearer now!
I’m so behind on tasting notes at the moment – I’m going to go back and read all about your Lupicia odyssey when I get a chance. The oolongs are ridiculous, I agree – but it was their ripe mango oolong who got me hooked on Lupicia in the first place, so I’m probably biased.
sounds like a fun time :)
Damn hangovers!! Too bad fun has a price to pay ;-)