Featured & New Tasting Notes

First off, I invited http://steepster.com/lyssakitteh to Steepster today, and she could use some friends if you can follow her!

Second, holy fritos I can’t believe how many samples Just Organic sent me. I had offered to sample/review two of their teas, and they sent TWELVE samples. What a nice surprise!

You know I like my Earl Greys, so this was the first one I pulled out of the pile. They included enough or a good sized cup (maybe a teaspoon and a half, which is perfect). I like it a lot. It’s heavy on bergamot, but that’s…my cuppa tea (had to get it in here somewhere). As another reviewer said, there’s nothing fancy in here like mallow flowers, just black tea and oil of bergamot. It’s really working for me on this nasty, rainy afternoon.

Really impressed with Just Organic so far!

Sorry for my lack of posts over the weekend. As some of you may have read I attended my cousins wedding on Saturday and it was an all day event, the ceremony was beautiful and it was nice having the family together. Unfortunately as occurs at most weddings there were a few drunken incidents…embarrassingly my husband came off the worst. He ran face first into a tree which resulted with a bad black eye, cut up nose and fat lip. Worst of all I didn’t even get to see it :/ Would have been a sight!

Long story short my weekend was recovery for both of us, I do love my red wine. This Darjeeling Earl Grey tea is the only thing I can stomach right now and we’ve had copious amounts over the last few days. A splash of milk and sprinkle of sugar really brings out the bergamot in this blend and smooths it nicely into a silky liquid easily gulp-able.

Oh well, at least my cousin and family will have some amusing stories from the wedding…albeit this one at the expense of my very silly husband.

Cold steeped this in milk overnight a la Courtney!

I do think I prefer it this way to just shaking it with cold milk and drinking it immediately. Seemed more evenly mixed. Plus it was less work first thing in the morning, which is always good.

Good breakfast!

i just finished the last of this, finally. i am sad to see this go =0(

lovely as a latte, lovely clear… entirely unique, bright and fresh….. hmmm i have 3 14 week classes that have to be accomplished in 7 weeks apiece. (the rationalization begins…..)

always on the search for more ginger teas – especially non caffinated ones, i picked this up while at bayswater. I was originally going to get the ginger pineapple, but when i smelled this one, i knew it was the way to go. This is like lime gelato from david’s tea but less sugar and more spicy kick! Again, i could handle more ginger but on the whole, this is a really tasty one. it’s got just enough ginger to satisfy me and accompanies the lime really nicely. So glad i opted for this one over the pineapple since i think that wouldn’t have been as nice.

Bear with me guys, this will be a long tasting note!

I was lucky enough to be one of the first to try this fine new puerh offering from Butiki. Not sure I’ve ever had a blend of sheng/shu before! Also this tea is from when I was 8 years old. WOW!

I took time today to steep it gongfu style, and took notes on each steeping! Puerhs can be so subjective, really, so take my notes with a grain of salt. 1 tablespoon of tea, 4oz gaiwan.

Steep 1- Only about 15 second steep. I didn’t rinse it, this puerh is so old and precious I didn’t want to waste a drop! The wet leaves immediately smelled a tiny bit smokey, with faint damp earth, pine and cedar notes. I can tell there is some sheng in here.

Steep 2- 20 seconds. The smoke is already almost completely gone. It is richer, and almost creamy now. The shu elements are starting to emerge and take over.

Steep 3- 20 seconds. The leaves are really “opening up” now. There is a distinct pleasant woody flavor. Maybe like if tea could be made from a freshly carved branch of oak? The taste is round, and very open. Mild and gentle sweetness.

Steep 3- 1 min. This very much makes me think about the forest, but there is zero dirt or moss. It is like the essence of a tree. I’m drinking a tree! :D

Steep 4- I think the leaves are getting tired, but there is a wonderful energy about this tea and I don’t want it to quit. I think after this steep I’ll leave them in some boiling water for several minutes and walk away and see if anything happens, haha…

Anyway, to sum up- This is wonderfully woody! Not a single off flavor or dirty vibe. Very sweet and good! I’d consider purchasing more for special occasions.

I picked up an oz of this in my Butiki orer, & it’s tasty! I’m never had a Macaron, but this tastes like a light pastry with lemon & vanilla creaminess. Works for me!

Dexter3657 was so kind to have sent me some wonderful surprise samples of teas that I like as well as teas that were on my wishlist. Thanks so much!

This Fujian black is AMAZING!. The smell of the dry leaf is very thick and malty, almost as if there was a bread-y quality to it. The brewed tea smells very similar to the dry tea but with the addition of scents of wild honey. The brewed tea tastes like any Fujian black should. It is thick, with a thick malt. Some notes of wild honey. It is bold but I am getting no astringency. It is very smooth. I think Fujian blacks are my favorite. This one does not disappoint.

As a sidenote for anyone that was following my ridiculous tasting notes/stories yesterday, my company came down, got ridiculous drunk and threw up all over the bathroom, and spilled Burger King poutine all over my couch. Is now sleeping so I have to be dreadfully quiet because I am scared to wake “the hangover”. Yesterday I angrily proclaimed that I was not going to be the one that was cleaning the bathroom, and all I got was giggles in return. So much for my recluse weekend. Next time, turn off phone, close windows and blinds, lock doors, don’t respond to any attempts of contact, and hope no one calls the police because they are scared something happened to me.

I think this tea was, surprisingly, the best one of the day…

I had it in the timolino with some milk, and I think part of what made it so good was the fact I underleafed and understeeped (plus the milk). It was light and creamy with a still apparent black base and a light “tang” in the aftertaste that must have been the cheesecake flavour finally coming out!

It was nice!

Work was good today; The Witch Carel, my manager, went home early and the night progressed very smoothly. We even finished closing paperwork/coin counts 15 minutes early! Tomorrow will hopefully be good too; Carel isn’t working but I’m doing a nine and a half hour shift (open to close), and our District Manager might be coming in for an evaluation of the store.

Cross your fingers for me!

Finally, a decent cup of tea!
(breathes a sigh of relief)
Here is my story…
I enjoy incense, but NOT in my tea, as is evidenced in my reviews of the Earl of Anxi. I didn’t get to drink very much tea yesterday, & this morning I have to get ready for a wedding, so I won’t get to drink much either, so imagine my unhappiness when I started sipping my first cup of the day, Lord Petersham, & it tasted of perfume. WTF????

I dumped it, incredulous that it wasn’t the beloved lord of tea that I was looking for.
I made a cup of Persian Princess…same problem! !#)%&$^@)P$#KUW)R!@%$TPQL???
Then I realized there was some fine brown powder on the table, (I’m not very observant when I first wake up) & yes, it was incense power, as if somebody opened a box of incense there & didn’t bother to clean it up. Right next to the towel on the table where all my little tea pots, cups, spoons, strainers, & other paraphernalia await me while I sleep. Except for my yixings (thank god!!). They all live in my office.

So now, finally, I’m enjoying a cup of something that doesn’t taste like perfume. I love Nag Champa, but not in my tea! I brewed this cup in my office, with my office electric kettle, & later today when I get home from the wedding, I will be on a cleaning rampage, washing all my tea stuff that’s in the vicinity of the desecration, soaking them in baking soda water too.
Speaking of baking soda water, some of you might recall that about a month ago the mother of one of my students gave me a beautiful stainless steel tea caddy. Unfortunately, she must have stored something other than tea in there, as it reeked of perfume. I ignored it for awhile, but yesterday I decided it was time. I soaked & then washed it in soapy water, then I soaked & rinsed it in fresh water. It was sparkling clean, but I could still smell a perfume smell. So I soaked it in baking soda water for the rest of the day.
The good news? It smells like…nothing!!!
Except it’s on that towel on the table, but it’s upside down, so hopefully it won’t smell like nag champa.
I will probably let it dry for a month before I actually use it, just to make sure it’s really dry!
Anyway…This is a tasty & welcome Assam, & I’m grateful to enjoy it.

Sipdown (165/169)!

Woke up at the crack of dawn this morning.

Ok, not really. I woke up at nine: but that was a full two and a half hours earlier than I was expecting to wake up/the alarm was set for – and I felt surprisingly well rested despite going to bed at like 4 AM. Anyway, it gave me extra tea drinking time so I finished this one up in some cold milk while catching up on the new Whose Line episodes.

“What can you say about your house, but not your girlfriend?”

Mmm! The coffee/chocolate was pretty well balanced today and everything whisked up well. I think I’ll miss it, actually. Definitely considering whether I’d want to add it into an order…

From the queue, written March 23rd 2014

This came from the EU TTB, round 2. I’ve never had this flavour in… anything before, so I definitely wanted to try it. I’ve had elderflower, I believe, but not champagne. Certainly not together. I greatly enjoy elderflower cordial, so it was a natural pick for me.

It smells like rooibos and elderflowers. It’s quite a sweet smell and reminds me strongly of aforementioned cordial. Or rather, if one had steeped dried elderflowers in some straight rooibos. Equal parts elderflower and rooibos here. I’m not really getting much in the way of champagne, except perhaps a slight sour-fresh twinge here and there. Nothing that really screams bubbly, though. My primary thought is that this is a good thing.

The flavouring seems quite subtle. It’s closer to unflavoured than flavoured if you see what I mean, but it’s not unpleasant. Unpleasant as in I don’t really care for unflavoured rooibos. As it cools a bit, the elderflower and champagne flavouring comes out more, but it still strikes me as somewhat subtle. Unlike in the aroma, it’s the champagne that dominates and the elderflower that takes the background.

I have to say I was expecting more from this. I’m a slightly disappointed, but again, it’s not actually boring and it’s definitely not unpleasant. It’s just… not what I imagined.

Interesting! Not one I would have bought directly but it’s good. It’s only partially an EG with subtle bergamot notes and creamy caramel and rooibos woodiness. I think of creamy lemon custard even though that may all just be in my head!

It’s Friday, you guys! Friday!
(170)

The chocolate and barley is great here. So unique.

In a few short hours, six more courses will be behind me.

Damnit I lost my tasting note! Fuck.

Anyway: made a cup for me and one for Tre when I got home from work today. He sweetened his, I had mine straight. I thought it really hit the spot tonight: lots of chocolate and just enough fruit. And he said he enjoyed his, so that was good too I guess.

Work today was ok I guess. We have a new manager and she’s pretty old (borderline elderly), and pretty conservative. The conservative nature of her personality would be ok, but the keyholders, myself included, are noticing it kind of treads on the line of racism. She’s been really rude to all employees but me and another older guy named Doug. Coincidentally, the two of us also happen to be the only other “white” employees other than herself.

Some of the other questionable things she’s done/said include referring to someone as a “little native girl” and complaining all the Indian employees stink and need to be spoken to about their hygiene (and no one else feels this way but her). So we’re keeping an eye on it, and if it progresses then I guess we’ll contact HR and formally file a complaint.

Sigh.

Birth Day, Verdant and Teavivre orders arrive, and sipping this while watching Awkward and waiting for my hair to dry after stripping the color (currently, it’s flurorescent orange). It’s a good, fun day. :)

It has been way too long since I drank my first and favorite sheng. SO GOOD! I need to drink this more often. I also need to order another cake before they are gone! Guess I need to work on another Mandala order soon :)

Om nom nom. Tea. And it’s my birthday, happy birthday to me.

The other teas I had today were matcha macaron with white chocolate too-soft-ganache at breakfast, and a green tea latte at sbux.

Yep.

I am so stressed about this whole moving thing. So after I got a (ridiculous photo and) drivers license update, I came home and chilled before painting my nails and remembering about tea.

Nails are a dark navy shimmer with gold and black glitter on top. Yeah! Go me! I really like them but the polishes aren’t playing nice and it’s still not set. Hopefully it doesn’t get too messy while I sleep.

Tea is delicious as always. Very gentle, vanilla and sweet. Yum yum.

This is the second Jin Pin I’ve had and I’ve come to find that I am quite fond of these teas.

This tea has a strong roasted scent in the first steep before it settles down in the background. It has consistent tones of cocoa and butter toffee, and longan.

The initial steep had a fruity top note of longan and peaches with cocoa over roasted grain notes,and a butter toffee where the candy has been slightly overcooked giving a stronger browned butter note and a little bitterness. The tea has a soft and slightly powdery texture.

In later steeps the peach dissapears, leaving only longan, the cocoa transitions to milk chocolate than Ovaltine and a nutty roasted cashew type note appears. As well a malt note becomes apparent. I steeped it 4 times( 20, 35, 50, 90s).

Quite enjoyable. Special thanks to Dexter3657 for the sample!

Whoa, I’ve been so very lazy about checking the in-depth details of my tea before drinking it lately and was not expecting this to be the way it is! It tastes more like an oolong than a black tea to me (perhaps not surprising given the source…oh Taiwan, you and your wonderful oolongs!), with a steeped color that reminds me a bit of the old fashioned Formosa Oolong from Harney, not dark and not light, in between. The overwhelming “whoa!” note that hits me immediately is apple cinnamon. Not tart-then-sugary apple juice-like teas (which I hate), more like eating homemade, still-chunky-firm applesauce made with rosy apples, a a variety with a lot of floral aroma. I’m so busy being surprised and enjoying it I think I’ll return to this note later. Tea! I love how you tempt me and flirt with me, how just when I think I’ve got you all figured out and we’re comfortably married and middle-aged in our relations, you go put on a new dress or I find out you can fix an engine or something I had no idea you were capable of. You sexy thing.

Good morning Steepster. I was up early and I’ve already had a pot of Kangaita OP and a fruit smoothie with cheesecake matcha in it. I thought I’d revisit the rest of this sample I got a few months ago from H & S but first I had to use a nasal spray and now I cannot taste anything.

I am sorry Stanley — whoever you are — I guess my previous tasting note will have to suffice.

Just okay. I consider this a medicinal tea, and thus, it suits for those purposes. I can definitely taste the orange, fennel and herb-like stuffola in here.

Butiki is here!

This one came in an awesome wee tin and this was the first tea to try. I’m really enjoying it. The orange is more subtle in taste than in scent, but it’s unmistakably there. The chocolate tastes like dark chocolate. And the marshmallow seems to provide a subtle creaminess. There is a sweetness here but the darkness of the chocolate keeps it from being sweet. Delightful.

Stacy is there a specific reason this one comes in a tin?

I don’t get why DT put 98 degrees as the recommended steeping temp for this, considering the green tea. I did 92 as a compromise but probably would do closer to 85 or so next time.

I mean, if there was a next time, but I don’t think there will be.

I bet this tea would be amazing iced, or even hot for someone who likes fruity teas which apparently I no longer do.

It’s very peachy, it’s kind of hurting my teeth. I also just recently within the last hour realized that I have a mild headache, and I can’t help but associate that with drinking this.

Sooooo, another one for the pile!

Drinking lots of teas I don’t overly care for lately, and it’s sucky.

I find myself unsatisfied.