New Tasting Notes

So I opened my Christmas presents tonight since I’ll be away from my family on Christmas. I had no idea my mom got me the 12 Teas of Christmas, and she had wanted to give it to me at the proper time but that wasn’t going to work. At least I hadn’t looked on Steepster beforehand today so a quarter will be surprises! Although by now I don’t think I really remember what was when so I can still be surprised.

I made this as a latte because I don’t like chai too much by itself and I have the s’mores chai and I figured this too would be too peppery for my liking if I didn’t. I have no idea if there’s some sort of more proper way to do it but I put enough tea for 8oz in but pour only 4oz of water in, then whisk 4 oz of milk on the stove, and once the tea is made, add it to the milk, make sure it’s all nice and hot then put it in my mug. Works for me, I taste everything so I’m sticking with it!

This is pretty good, I don’t know if I would drink it again after this because I have enough chais for the rare times I want it. I do like that it’s sweeter than most though, thanks to the caramel vanilla part.

Also the set of tsacs is going to save my life while staying in a hotel for 5 nights next week. I was trying so desperately to find a way to still have MY tea despite us staying really close to an Argo Tea.

I drink this relatively often because it’s the tea carried by Starbucks. It fills the need, but I don’t think I’d ever buy a box of it.

Can be quite strong if not prepared just right. Best without milk. A good once-in-a-while tea. I should try it cold some time…

By far my favourite non-English Breakfast tea. Sooo tasty. I drink it as a dessert sometimes.

A bit too heavy on the spices for me, but a good blend nonetheless and with classic Twinings quality.

The tea I drink most often at university due to cost considerations. It’s a good trade-off, tasty and soothing enough to suit a light wallet.

Now that we are afraid to go to our Chinese buffet because they started using MSG and gave hubby a horrible migraine, I decided to try to make some of our favorite things at home. Tonight I made Chinese green beans with ginger and garlic, and faux lomein. Don’t ask. Okay, it was Ramen noodles but I made my own sauce and added lots of water chestnuts because I LOVE them.

I wanted a good, authentic green tea for after my meal, and as I went through my box of samples from Teavivre I found this! Ad I am so glad I did!

The dry leaves were soft and fluffy like Zhen Qu Super China Black, an excellent tea. I didn’t read the directions and steeped for three minutes since I was not brewing gong fu style. It is very good.
Even exceeding the recommended limit as much as I did, this was smooth and there was no bitterness.

I am astounded at K S’ description of Cheerios on the front of the sip. Absolutely! Nail on the head! And so forth. :) A lovely grain flavor at the beginning, and instead of picking up floral, I am getting light buttery taste. Another great tea from Teavivre. Thank you, Angel and Teavivre!

I thought I was going to be over the moon in love with this tea, based on the smell and the name. I LOVE creme brulee. With great big hearty hearts. So I was disappointed when I tried this one. It didn’t remind me of creme brulee at all. I got the mild taste of the green rooibos, and a bit of creaminess, but not what I was expecting. Oh well. Can’t win them all. I’m still glad I got to try it.

Tea of the afternoon…..

And tea 23 of 24. First of all, I have to say this has been a great way to encourage me to really tackle my sample stash. I also love that these samples were all basically gifted/swapped to me. It really makes me so thankful for this community where we all understand each other’s tea obsession. And that however you choose to drink it, it should make you happy. I have to admit in real life, there are only a few who get it. So, I would like to thank you all for sharing your tea, as well as your impressions of the tea you are drinking. The reviews have been invaluable in my tea journey. And this community has helped it along so much. Thank you!

This sample comes to me from ashmanra. She was generous enough to share her Harney greens with me. I really appreciate that, because it is a place I order often, and I am trying to drink more green tea. This particular tea is a lovely green with a light citrus and a light floral taste. It makes me think of Spring, even though there is a light dusting of snow on the ground today. I am enjoying this, but I think floral and green tea is not a combo that I would drink regularly. I still prefer the Tropical Green from Harney. (I have a sample of Bankok to try in the new year! I am so excited!)

Mug method, about 185 water, about 2 tsp tea, 3 minutes. Tasted without additions, then added a super light amount of sweetener just to bring out the flavors a little.

Had this as a sweet pick-me-up after a loooong day at work.
The flavor is superb.
See my other tasting notes on this gem

My first post, and my first taste of Paris tea. I fell in love with Hot Cinnamon Spice at the local donut shop. Found a holiday classics package on special on the H&S web site, with one tin each of Hot Cinnamon Spice, Paris, Earl Grey, and Chamomile. I don’t care for Earl Grey or Chamomile, but I have coworkers who do, so I got the classics package and gave those two as gifts, leaving me with my favorite plus a new one to try that has lots of rave reviews.

I opened the tin at my mother-in-law’s apartment last night, in the company of family members and a friend who is French. The smell was almost overpowering but yummy. It smelled like candy, but I couldn’t put my finger on what kind. My French friend thought is smelled like Twizzlers. I’ve been googling for descriptions of the taste to try and identify what it is that I was smelling, because it is VERY familiar. Finally, a year-old post here hit me – it smells like the cherry flavored pipe tobacco that my father smoked for a short while when I was a pre-teen. One of the few tobaccos (and he went through a cigar phase for a while, too – yuck!) that I actually liked. I suspect that what I smelled in both the pipe blend and this tea was the mixture of mostly cherry, some vanilla (but not too much), and possibly some citrus, plus the leaves themselves.

This morning, I actually had a cup to drink (last night I had the Hot Cinnamon Spice). I’m a lazy tea drinker. I put the sachet in the cup and just left it there (and I didn’t throw it out when done; I’ll re-steep when I get home from work). The water was boiling when I poured it. It didn’t really taste like it smelled. Much milder, more subtle, and the flavor changed over time. I had been afraid the tea was going to taste like candy, but it doesn’t, which is a good thing.

I’ll have to try it again to be able to come up with a better description of what it tastes like and an overall rating. I don’t think it’s going to displace Hot Cinnamon Spice as my favorite, and it won’t replace the unflavored Roland Food Corp Keemun I ran out of last month and haven’t found yet, but I do like it.

Rebeccah

absolutely lovely!

The flavor is crisp and clean, with an astringency that develops. The first couple of sips were so smooth and sweet and then the astringency kicks in right when you need it, to cleanse the palate so that the sweetness does not become overwhelming. I taste notes of hay and sweet grass, reminding me a bit of the air in the small town where I grew up on the days of the hay harvest and bailing.

A very pleasant cuppa.

I’m going to have a flowering tea per day to enjoy the holiday weekend! Yesterday was Variety of Colors. Today is Love Goddess! This bloomed up so beautiful! I love how the jasmine flowers make a basket handle and theres a pretty flower at the top. The taste is good too. It is mild with a little nutty taste to it. There is slight jasmine and floral tones to it, but not strong. There was no bitterness to it, surprisingly, as I had steeped this for longer than I thought I should have. After a few sips, I ate some spicy Korean fried chicken, and this tea went well with it.

Happy Holidays Steepster buddies! I hope that everything is going well. :) This is one of the only cups I’ve had all week as I’ve had a terrible cold.
This smells wonderful today. I’m still a little stuffed up but I can smell a very distinct cinnamon tint to the liquor this time around. I think that this blend would be fabulous with chocolate. I really love sipping this on cold days. It is a great dessert blend.

Picked some of this up on Amazon because it had fairly good reviews, and it was a mere twenty dollars for eight ounces. For a dragonwell, that is a phenomenal price. Upon opening the bag, the leaves were a little bit discolored and quite varying in size and shape, which you won’t normally see in a good dragonwell. Upon tasting, it wasn’t bad but I was unimpressed. Just a very mellow and basic green tea flavor. There was nothing that caught my attention, nothing that stood out. If this were expensive, it would be receiving a bad rating. However, it is very cheap – and for everyday drinking purposes I think it is suitable. If you’re looking for an affordable everyday green, this makes a fine choice. Just don’t expect anything special.

no winter without a well made snow waltz!!

The general consensus seems to be in favor of this tea, and I have to hop on the bandwagon. As others have said, the aroma of the dry leaves is intoxicating. According to Harney, this tea is flavored with bergamot, fruit flavors, and vanilla – and I must say the bergamot and vanilla take center stage in this brew. This is just a great tea, all the flavors are PERFECTLY balanced. The tea itself is smooth and full flavored and is neither too strong nor is it overpowered by the other flavors. At first the bergamot flavor hits you and then it’s rounded out by a smooth vanilla creaminess, which is finally followed by subtle, delicate fruit notes. This is a delicious and soothing flavored tea and is quite a bargain. Without a doubt, I suggest you pick some up. This is one of my new favorites.

Toasty rice infused with a bit of green tea. I mostly taste the brown rice in this. The actual “tea” taste is very “quiet”. Soft.

Luckily, I love toasted rice and “roasty” flavors, so I think this tea delicious. Genmaicha and matcha were what had me started on this tea tasting journey, so I think I will always have a “soft spot” for them, whatever version I find them in.

This genmaicha is particularly mild and smooth, yet tasty. I detect the flavor of browned rice in abundance. It’s almost like I’m drinking a pure hojicha, with its toasty flavors!

No astringency or bitterness whatsoever. Very drinkable any time of day.

My one-year-old is driving me bonkers… when I need something to calm my nerves I reach for this.

It’s light green when steeped and oh-so delicious! Smooth, nutty, with hints of freshly mowed grass and popped rice. Honestly, I don’t drink this tea often enough, and I should because every time I discover something new and delicious that I love about it.