Featured & New Tasting Notes

I add this blend to alot of my teas. Gives it a nice fresh bite. Works wonders when I’m feeling under the weather.

Ok it smelled icky. Which was weird. I like honeybush and I like chocolate so that was not a good sign. But you can see by my rating that the initial weird herbally aroma was misleading. It has a pleasant chocolaty taste, it’s not the rich chocolate liquor of my favorite Valentines tea but it’s a nice caffeine free way to meet my sweet tooth.

Black tea and rose petals create a refined and undeniably floral-scented tea. Be careful not to over-steep it — the rose petals don’t take well to extended immersion in water, and the tea can start to smell like a corked wine if the leaves are left in an infuser for too long. Seasonal, and therefore not always available through the RoT catalogue, but worth trying when it’s in stock.

I like this tea.
The color is light yellow, It’s smell sweet and “clean”, and then it tastes good.
Sadly enough I overstepped the steeping time. I like to just dip the tea lightly in the water and then fish it out. One of my friends calls it “Sweet water” but this is how I prefer it.
And I normally like my teas strong, so I guess it’s just this tea.

While waiting for my other cup to cool of, I can tell you about the tea I wrote about before “Pukka night time”. I left the teabag in the mug yesterday, only to discover it ripped open with it’s contents scattered all over the table this morning.
To people with cats, please keep the package of this tea out of cats way
… Or don’t. They really seem to love it and it it’s kind of fun watching them roll around the tea.

Now to the tasting notes:
It’s sweet and bitter. I can see pieces of fruits and so, but I can’t taste them.
Maybe it’s so well blended that the different ingredients become one taste. I don’t mind, I like this tea. Guess it’s fitting to drink after a sweet dessert.

A very easy to drink white tea with vegetal notes underscored by burnt sugar sweetness. A lovely way to start the day.

Yum yum yum yum.

I had been planning on having some Jasmine Silver Needle this afternoon, but then I got this DEEEEElightful package from takgoti. I had an extended brain freeze moment trying to decide which tea to try first and then I decided to make it easy on myself and pick this one – replacing my planned jasmine with this jasmine.

I love jasmine teas but prior to the Jasmine Silver Needle, my last two jasmine teas were… not great. I was ready to avoid jasmine for a while. Then I got the JSN in a swap and I was reminded how well jasmine can be when it is done right.

This is jasmine done right. The smell is gorgeous. Light but rich, not perfumy/fake. But the taste is where this one really shines. Because even badly done jasmine teas can SMELL okay. But taste? That’s harder.

This one is surprisingly deep of flavor. Samovar says it has hints of cocoa and a baked, almost cookie-like flavor. Not sure if I would go THAT far (I taste no chocolate chip) but there is a richer taste that is totally unexpected but very welcome. It makes the taste less one-dimensional jasmine and more like an overall taste of jasmine with a note of something almost bready underneath it. In a weird way, it reminds me a bit of King Hawaiian dinner rolls.

And since I feel totally insane saying THAT on a jasmine tea review, I will leave it there. Oh wait, one more thing: this? is sooooo good.

I decided to reach to the back of the cupboard and pull out the “Stash” of Christmas/Holiday teas that get neglected through the summer. The main smell of this one is mint, and the taste…mint. Spearmint. Upon a second sip I can smell cinnamon joining the party. The taste is still mainly mint, and it’s a nice moderate mint. Not too strong or weak. If you let the tea stay on your tongue for a couple seconds you can notice more of the spicey taste. Tastes best when it’s hot, not just warm. Steep this one in a winter themed mug (like I just did) for the full effect!

I had to change my rating on this tea. I lowered it to 72 from 80. The tea doesn’t seem to have a pure smooth taste as it did the first time. I’m not just brewing some old tea that has been opened for a while. I bought more of this tea so it should be fresh. It’s got a hint of a young dandelion taste.

A delightful milky caramel fragrance. It has a very light taste, not heavy at all. I had stir fried Brussels sprouts for lunch and needed a sweet chaser. This is a nice one.

With all these updates I’ve been forgetting to drink tea!!!! (I hope you’re all happy)

I looked at some of the other reviews of this one and I’m afraid I don’t get it. Or maybe I just have a long way to go with my tea preparation knowledge…

Absolutely love the aroma! That’s the saving grace of this tea. Open the tin and you get hit in the face with chocolate (not literally). Some people probably wouldn’t like that but I do. But after that amazing nose, I only get slight hints of those flavors in the liquid. There’s a slight maltiness, but I don’t get strawberries. Maybe a bit of sweetness for strawberries…but I think that’s stretching.

Oh, and since situational drinking descriptions seem to be the trend now…I’m sitting in my apartment working on Steepster listening to 3Oh!3 (also from Boulder). Fatty (cat) is sleeping on the couch and Dexter (dog) is sleeping in his bed – real lively bunch.

Anyways, I’m really doubting my tea drinking skillz…where my Steeps at?
said in a high voice choking back the tears

A happy flowery soft and gentle scent. As most white teas the Select Tips has a light taste and is soft to the palate. Doesn’t taste as clean as a Rishi Silver Needle white tea. A decent tea. Next time I will be getting a different white tea.

The first Coconut Pouchong I tried was from SerendipiTea and LOVED it. When I received this sample from Golden Moon in the mail today I was excited to try it. I am just finishing the steeping process as I type this. Dry leaves smelled nearly identical to those of the other brand I tried…almost pastry or cookie like. Very nice. However, as this steeps it loses a lot of that scent. It changes to a green tea with a hint of coconut scent. First sip was a great enjoyment. 2nd sip…just as pleasant. The scent and taste together remind me of just-rubbed-on Coconut Suntan Lotion smell. It’s very light in color…next to no color, really. The taste is very even and smooth and brothy. It’s not overly coconut and not overly green tea to taste…everything just seems right together!

This tea gives a nice dark orange liquor (see picture and video below). Off the nose, I am getting a musky & bitter citrus aroma (the oolong is semi-fermented). This oolong provides a nice medium bodied tea that has a clean finish, lingering little (simply the woodiness of the oolong), and no briskness. It is not too bitter/astringent on the palate either. I am, like the description states, getting notes of leather and smokiness, complimenting the light woody notes on the leaf. Right off the bat, you get subtle notes of a floral orange that aren’t overwhelming at all. They compliment the oolong nicely. This is a superb blend!

Addendum: photo (http://twitpic.com/q9b0r) and video (http://qik.ly/rHxz)

So, this is a drink from my college’s campus, the Freudian Sip. Whether there’s any actual tea in this stuff, I can’t tell ya for certain, but it tastes good and I always order it.
Very sweet and frothy. There are four cafes total on campus, but the one I go to seems to do it best. There’s not much to say about this one – a simple, extremely sweet pleasure, that makes you feel sick if you drink too much.
In any case, happy birthday to me! This latte is my birthday cake.
I get to go home today! For ten days! So excited.
My friend and i are planning on going out tonight, him with a video camera, and I’m going to ask random girls for sex. Let’s see how that adventure pans out!
In any case, it’s worth a CHAI. (Get it? Like “try”! It’s a pun. Because I’m drinking a chai latte.)

It was after the sweetness on the train ride home, I think. I just needed something now that went KAPOW! at me. (Oh look, punny! I honestly honestly hadn’t even realised until after I wrote it. Honest!) This is the first that came to mind and ARGH! at new Cupboard feature that caused me to put all tins back in the Real Life cupboard instead and organising them so they all fit in the small cupboard. This is not something that involves considerations as to which tins are used more often. It’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle project. Consequently I just spend some five minutes searching for this particular tin in a rather small cupboard.

Ah yes. This is more like it. The sweet note and the smoky note in perfect balance. When I’m done with the tin I’ve got at work, I’m getting me some more of this to drink there. (I wonder how shocked colleagues will be at the smell of this? Hey, I wonder if I can get any of them to taste it! That could be loads of fun. I think only one of them will like it.)

Kapow indeed. :9

I added milk to the tea just to see what it would do (I’m sure I’ve commited some horrible blasphemy by doing so, but whatever). The brew immediately took on an appearance a lot closer to hot chocolate than to tea. But as for the taste it didn’t really do anything for the tea at all, good or bad. Oh well.

Love the new updates BTW. _

I love this tea. Delicate green flavor complimented with coconut and accented with ginger, it’s a very full-mouth flavor (not puckery at all); the ginger keeps the flavor feeling fresh and alive.

One of my favorites, and a morning standard. This tea has a medium robustness to it. Steeped a little longer than 5 minutes and it might just pass for a semi-strong morning tea. It’s a beautiful blend of black teas that taste delightfully classy and refined. Can hold up to medium types of sweet and savory dishes without getting lost in the strong flavors of the food. Can turn bitter if steeped to long, timing is crucial. Although not needed, this tea gets an aesthetic boost when nurtured in a beautiful cup.

Definitely…interesting.

Unfortunately I’m drinking the bagged version, not loose leaf. And I’m thinking that is playing a big factor in the experience. I get a distinct, artificial aroma and flavor from this one. I’m thinking it’s coming from the plastic the tea bag was individually wrapped in, but I can’t be sure.

I’m not really getting any of the jasmine, just a hint of sweetness followed by the classic green vegetal flavor. I’m getting a ting of bitterness, but I think that’s just my feeling towards greens and the fact that my water might have been a little on the hot side. Even with the whole “artificial” aspect of the tea, it’s still somewhat pleasing. I think in some weird way it reminds me of my grandparents or something (try to take that in the least weird way possible). It just kinda makes me think of their house, which, is not necessarily a flavor I want everyday but a nice reminder every now and then.

Beautiful little nest individually wrapped makes for an excellent presentation. Smells like a pu-erh should with very earthy tones. About to try it in just a moment!

I had a decently sized, well thought out comment on this tea. But then I got distracted, ate dinner, did some work, watch a little South Park, and realized I never finished or posted the note. And then we had a system update, so it was lost.
All in all it boiled down to this tea tastes like sesame seeds and it was delicious in that sense. But I’m not a huge fan of sesame, so I won’t drink it often.
Also, the dried leaves smell exactly like soy sauce, and maybe a little bit of peanut butter if you stick your nose in there deep and good. They look super oily too. Very odd.

I love this tea! It brews up a very light color, and can handle multiple steepings. It’s a very light flavor, more lemon than strawberry, and it is my current favorite evening tea.

Since time has dragged by kicking and screaming to my 40th birthday, I decided to console myself by getting 2 teas from Bag Ladies’ on recommendation from Jillian. The package arrived the day before my birthday. I unopened it and pulled out the lovely canister and noticed there was a tea bag tag and string dangling outside the canister. The tea bag contained a quote from Peter Gabriel, my favorite guy. Inside, the other bags were all sealed in a plastic pouch. Nice touch - and, quite possibly, the nearest thing I’ll ever get to getting a B-day greeting from Peter Gabriel.

Anyway, what about the tea? I made myself wait until my birthday to have a cup. It’s Ceylon black tea and is really smooth and flavorful. It’s the kind of flavor that goes all the way down into your toes. Rock on!