New Tasting Notes
First tea from the TTB. I probably could use the caffeine, as I don’t want to fall asleep too early, but I also don’t want to be up till late. So I figured we’d start off with something new to my palate.
Smells like curry. I bet this would make a good curry base.
I’m generally pretty good about reading ingredients due to my allergies, but I completely skipped over the listed salt. Boy, was that awakening in a weird way. I’m sorry but… what in…. the… heck…. This is a cooking tisane… not something I want to drink. Not with that amount of saltiness. This actually would make a really good soup base. Just add some soba and tofu or chicken and bok choy. But on its own… I know it’s good for me, so I’ll finish it, but it’s going to be a struggle. I need some water…
UPDATE: I decided to try some soba noodles from dinner in it. Tasty, but would be better thickened as a curry. I can’t drink the rest. It’s making me too thirsty. I will need to keep drinking a glass of water every sip. This is not enjoyable…
I got this in London. I love green rooibos, and this one is super fresh and tasty. It’s so smooth and fruity. It’s delicious cold and lightly sweetened. The cold resteep is perfect as well.
I was hoping this was a deeper, darker tea! This gets fairly high rating from other tea fans, so I gave a sample a chance. Maybe the harvests have changed it. The leaves are fairly small, but the brew is so light. The scent from the mug is very brassy though. The flavor mostly reminds me of Ceylon — grassy hay. Not something I want to reach for…
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // >3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min steep
Flavors: Brass, Grassy, Hay
This is one of four grades of Tieguanyin currently being sold by Tealyra. It is Stock Code 405, and is currently the cheapest of this type that they sell. I don’t doubt that it is from the Province of Fujian, but Tealyra does not claim that it is from Anxi County, the “home” of Tieguanyin oolongs. That claim is reserved for two other somewhat more expensive products. Nevertheless, it is the product I naïvely bought and am reporting on here. To be fair, I did just finish sipping a competitor’s Ti Kuan Yin, but this (code 405) is clearly inferior in color, aroma, and flavor. It does hit some of the expected notes of floral fragrance and mineral flavor, but it really tastes more like a fourth steeping of exhausted leaf. And for goodness sakes, please ignore Tealyra’s health claims— get your diabetes remedy from a physician and don’t look to a knock-off tea for it. Ditto for cancer. Ditto for weight loss. Etc.
I brewed as directed, and got the pale yellow swill that was described, with echoes of the sensory experience promised. I did try a second, hotter and longer steeping with minimal improvement. I was justified in taking a grain of salt with the description of it being a “tea masterpiece”. The only masterpiece was in the florid writing by Tealyra. Not recommended, and rated as a 35 score. This is going to the compost heap. Some day I may try the more premium offering(s), but a lot of water will have to pass under my bridgework first.
Flavors: Watery
Preparation
Found this Ti Kuan Yin amongst the sample packets I recently received from Adagio. Steeped the entire sample (about 3 g) as directed in 8 oz alpine spring water at 195°F for 2 min. There was a quick flash of potent orchid aroma while adding the water, then a less bold scent as the green leaves unfurled. A deep golden liquor was produced, with a slight tint of green. The soft floral scent endured throughout the session.
The flavors were essentially as Adagio described: “warm, soft and soothingly mineral in texture. Notes of toasted walnut and tender collard greens. Intriguing lingering floral aroma, lightly orchid and gentle astringency. A meditative cup.” I will add that the mouthfeel was very thick and smooth, and I also noticed a gentle sweet butter flavor in the finish. Although vegetal, it was not the harsh grassiness I’ve sensed in other teas. The aftertaste continued for a few pleasant minutes after each sip. A re-steep of 90 seconds also at 195°F again produced a deep golden liquor. And this time the butteriness was somehow sweeter and more umami in character, making the second cupful different, but every bit as enjoyable as the first.
I really enjoyed this much more than other tieguanyins I’ve had. I’ll rate this as an 87, and no longer stand in fear of the Iron Goddess!
Preparation
A very interesting tea that my coworker brought back from Japan for me to try!
It seems like some, if not all, of the ingredients in this tea are upcycled. The yuzu seeds, for example. I was super curious about this one because I have no concept for what yuzu seeds should taste like – and new ingredients/flavours are always appealing. They looked cool! Because they were rather large and round (and also hollow?) they reminded me a bit of popped lotus seeds, and it was neat seeing them mixed in with the more twiggy hojicha base.
The hojicha was a bit of a lighter roast with more of a mineral profile that had some brassiness to it, a little bit of a woody or bark-like character, and a lot of nuttiness that read as quite golden. So, so smooth. Taste wise, I really didn’t feel like there was anything citrusy to the profile but that wasn’t really a surprise. Seeds and leaves rarely totally mirror the taste of the fruits they’re from. Hard to 100% say it was from the seeds, but there was an almost sunflower seed/oil kind of note that I think was stemming more from the seeds than the green tea.
Overall I thought this was really nice, though! Quite clean, balanced, and a really nice medium level intensity that felt well suited for a bunch of different times of day or moods.
Heh, I guess I’m not too surprised that you mention a woody bark-like character for the hojicha. You are generally professional and charitable in your notes. Earlier today I was reading Harney’s description of their own hojicha product, and was amused by their somewhat less charitable reference to it as “roasted twigs”! I guess their elaborate explanation was educational, at least. And who’s to say that roasted twigs are less than wonderful? After all, the same could be said of rooibos, which appeals to many, and is graded according to the amount of stems in it (according to Wikipedia.). Anyhow, the coincidental references to woodiness amused me. Thanks for making me smile!
Cold Brew Sipdown (2938)!
Another sipdown that is a little bit sad because I do really adore this blend. I find the root beer flavour really, really crystal clear with a surprisingly crisp and clean sweet finish. Though I can still distinctly tasting the mineral and woodier notes of the rooibos or the lick of sweetness in the back of my throat from the licorice root, there’s still something quite refreshingly balanced about the taste while note ignoring the distinct characteristics of the ingredients that make up that sum.
That said, I own a lot of root beer teas so it feels a little silly to not finish a few of them off. I mean, how many root beer blends does one person reasonably need. It’s certainly less than like five to eight, right? Right!?
A bit thinner in mouthfeel than something like a hojicha, but ultimately that exact same sort of vibe of liquid warmth, comfort and toastiness with distinct notes of roasted grains or nuts like barley, chestnut or buckwheat. Maybe especially the buckwheat.
I think it’s largely because I’ve gotten to hear Mark and Denise speak so much about what Manoomin means to them and the way it’s harvested and hand roasted and that has only deepened my appreciation, but I just find this ingredient so beautiful and I wish more people were familiar with it because it makes such a comforting cup of tea just entrenched in so much history, culture, and love.
Sipdown (2939)!
Definitely one of the more unique blends I’ve had from 52Teas, so it’s something that I’ve been hesitant to finish off since I for sure have a penchant for hoarding things that feel special. Trying to be better about drinking those teas down, though…
Between the warming and aromatic notes of cinnamon and other festive spices, the citrusy finish of the lemongrass, and that deeper and slightly jammy stonefruit note this final mug was really making me think of the “spiced plum” sort of candles or body soaps you mind from shops like The Body Shop, Lush, or Bath & Body Works around the holidays. Not in a bad way, though. Sometimes when people make that comparison it’s because it’s SO intense and perfumy/artificial, but in this case I more mean it as something very nostalgic with that iconic almost “hallmark” feel about it.
I just said in another tasting note that I’ve been doing doing some initial work on winter tea development, so it was actually really nice to revisit this blend and kind of lean into that mindset.
Iced Tea Sipdown (2940)!
Continuing my weird and unexpected green tea kick, I used that momentum to finish of this somewhat older sampler. It’s not my favourite blend because I found the green tea pretty lawn clipping-y tasting, and I wish the passionfruit was stronger either in sweetness or maybe acidity. However, I found a pretty nice way to finish it off by making it iced and adding in a splash of lemonade. I found the lemonade balanced out the green tea a bit more without masking the banana notes of the blend, and added that little bit of brightness I felt was missing.
Cold Brew Sipdown (2941)!
This is a 52Teas blend I wouldn’t mind seeing come back in the future. Not only does it kind of fit with every season thanks to the unique cranberry and lemon combination, but that cranberry is especially crisp, clean and bright tasting with such a pleasant citrusy finish and a fresh note of green tea.
I have vert weirdly and uncharacteristically been in a green tea mood the last few weeks and this was one of those blends that just called out to me on so many different levels. I was sad to see it go.
Iced Latte!
It feels like almost the exact opposite time of year to be drinking a gingerbread matcha latte right now, but here’s a little peak behind the curtain for my work life: I’m actually doing the development on a future winter/holiday collection right now despite the fact it’s getting to be peak summer weather. Always working ahead, and constantly in a strange push/pull of seasonal mindsets…
Anyway, this is one of two mini tins of this matcha that I’ve now polished off. It does capture that gingerbread flavour really well with those molasses-y undertones alongside distinct notes of ginger, clove, allspice, and cinnamon. I made the iced latte with oat milk, and it added such a nice thickness and almost a kind of biscuit or pudding-like undertone to the profile as well. I wish it was more matcha forward, but fine overall.
Good for helping me channel that wintery mindset I needed this afternoon.
