New Tasting Notes

The steeped tea was fun to pour out of the teapot. When I started to pour the tea into the pitcher it was a light yellowish orange color, then all of a sudden a blood red color comes out of the spout of the teapot. This gave the tea a dark red hue. The aroma of the tea is a mix of vanilla and mint with a licorice aroma in the background.

Wow, what an interesting combination of flavors and sensations. At first I taste the sweet vanilla, and then I feel the coolness of the mint. I few seconds later I feel the heat from the cinnamon in the back of my throat.

The tea isn’t has heavy or bold as I thought it would be. Steeping pu erh for five minutes scared me because I know how bold they can be. However, this one tastes more like an herbal tea. The only thing I’m getting from the pu erh is some astringency. It isn’t bitter at all. In fact, the sweetness from the vanilla and the coolness from the mint make it rather refreshing.

The taste is… unlike other green teas. It tastes nutty and buttery. It also has a sweet, honey-like flavor to it. There isn’t much of a grassy or vegetal taste to this green tea. The boldness of this tea matches that of oolong tea – roasted notes that linger for quite some time.

This should not be an intro tea to those trying greens for the first time as it is rather bold and astringent. The tea isn’t bitter, but the intensity of the roasted flavor can be a surprise. Although, if you want to drink green tea and you don’t particularly like the grassy taste, this would be a good one to try as it has darker qualities similar to oolong and black tea.

With that said, this is a great tea for those who are tired of the same old stuff. This Houjicha is a rather complex tea and it surprises me every time I take another sip. I have to remind myself that this is a green tea even though the taste is unlike anything else.

Started my day with this! See my previous review! Also log on to http://sororiteasisters.com for a longer review!

Refreshed for an 8th-10th infusion.
Still has a great mix of aromas that continue to shift around. Smell of a warm willow-covered sandbar on a riverbend. Redwood rich spices… clove, cinnamon, and bits of roasted ginger and tannin. Earthenware fresh from a kiln. Bouquet of flowers. I’m getting definitive Cymbidium Orchid aroma. Astringency plays off mild acidity nicely – crisp and mouthwatering in the back lower corners of the mouth sort of near where my tonsils once were. Makes my breath sweet like fresh toasted seeded crackerbread. Bit of black plum pit juicy tang in aftertaste.

Shorter steep. Sweeter flavor. Raised rating.

If memory serves me correctly…this is one of the first teas I reviewed on here, just under a year ago…I still love this tea, but it got buried in the avalanche that is my cabinet and on top of my counter tops, microwave and into baskets strewn throughout my kitchen. I have since found it and not stopped drinking it.

It’s base is Earl Grey, as we have discussed, I do not like the Earl so I tend to avoid him, but the issue I have with EG is the Burgamot. I do not like it, not at all, something about it, it is sour, it is sweet, it is slightly floral, but there is no depth of levels, it is one-dimensional and I do not enjoy it. Enough complaining. This tea, though Earl Grey based has little-to-no Burgamot, it instead swings right into a malty tea from China, then a crisp English Breakfast tea followed by a deeper rich flavor from Indian tea finished with a hint of Jasmine. The four flavors, though do not seem like they would meld, actually blend and compliment each other very nicely. They infuse into one complex mouth flavor that has levels of delicious depth with natural sweetness and crisp end feel free of any black tea twang.

I infuse tea hot, 3 minutes, no additives. The left over 2 ounces I let infuse about 3 more minutes then add cold water and pop it in the fridge to be iced for later.

This tea is excellent either way!

7g with 175ml water in a zi ni rong tian yixing teapot dedicated to Phoenix Oolongs. Single rinse with immediate pour – 10 second contact time. Multiple infusions in rapid succession using 85 degree C water. Takes 10 seconds to pour from the pot, so settled infusion is only 0-10 seconds for first seven brews.

Leaves twisted and fairly intact, though they don’t look too handsome. Toasty and floral dry fragrance mostly unnoticeable until placed in warmed pot. Wet aroma is like walking into a greenhouse. Not the heady meshed, buttery florals of Taiwan oolongs – here they are distinct, crisp flower and greenery aromatics of such a multitude that it is really difficult to parse them out. Definitely orchid, carnation, and lily. Also some hyacinth, tulip, African violet, and just a touch of star jasmine. Greenery aromatics of wetland grasses, oak trees, ferns, and duckweed. There’s also a good amount of wet lava rock, clove, allspice, and yellow peach in there. Base aroma is toasty and sweet with a warm adobe brick mineral accent. Liquor carries more of the toasty notes than florals. Color is clear light yellow.

First three infusions are smooth, crisp, clean, and lean toward toasty dried grasses and hops aromas and flavors. The florals are there, but are sort of a hushed persistent chatter in the background. For the fourth infusion the florals let go of their restraint and come forward full force. Carnation is the most present in the cup, but lily takes over for the nose and afteraroma. Roasted chestnut, toasted poppyseed and crispy noodle characteristics come through in the sixth and seventh infusions and warm cut willow and cattail herbaceous notes mix with gentle spiciness similar to grains of paradise mixed with paprika and roasted chipotle. Bewitching balance of sweet, spice, herbal-bitter, mineral, and nectarine-astringent. Aroma is shifting and complex but nose, afteraroma and sweet aftertaste more heady than the draught. By the seventh infusion I’m really reminded of the smell and taste of the air while hiking through freshwater marsh on a mildly warm late summer evening.
Tea has much more to offer, but I’m being lulled to sleep by its comforting melody of aromas and flavors. I’ll have to refresh these leaves in a couple hours.

Yum yum, tasty toasty aromatic inviting smooth sensualness…

Lately I’ve been drinking a bunch of tea that is seriously outside my budget. Most is $1 per gram or more with 25g being the typical minimum I can buy. I just did two comparative tastings of Long Jings with the highest quality I can find for lineups of six, all brand new fresh crop (first tasting was one week after harvest) and all superbly crafted from the same general locality.
Today I decided to give another taste to the Long Jing sold at the coffee shop I work at to bring me back to reality. We have terrific coffee, but pretty much all the tea is the very antithesis of our coffees’ freshness and quality. Gah, I regret my choice.

I used about 5g with 200ml water in an infuser basket set inside a small latte mug. Our water dispenses at 88 degrees C so I hit it with cold water to buffer the tea first.

Leaves are dried moss color. Muted green with brownish tinge. Smells like spent autumn leaves raked off the front lawn and tossed in a heap. Underlying aroma suggests it was stored next to something peach-scented about a year ago. Not much aroma – pretty good example of stale tea. Wet aroma has toasted rice sweet note I associate with under-assertive puerh mao cha that may not age too well. I happen to really like young mao cha, so this is a pleasant characteristic for me… when it isn’t a green tea. Most of the aroma is quick to leave the cup and never return. Liquor is pale yellow and a little hazy.

Sigh, yeah, I actually tasted this the same day I finished off one of the great WuYi YanChas I was holding onto. I’m sorry, mouth.
Flavor… where is the flavor… oh, wait, I didn’t eat yet today, that’s not the taste of indigestion, that’s the feeble aftertaste of the tea. But where’s the foreflavor? sip guh, there it is. Old hay. Some clay-heavy wet soil. Sort of a musty hint. Strange how much this makes me think of the smell of a cow pasture on a drizzly day. Like I kneeled over and drank some of the rainwater collected in a hoofprint. Hmm, what else? Old uncooked green beans wrapped in a wet paper bag…
There is a pleasant old leather note in the nose and a mineral sweetness, but these are – again – positive attributes I like in puerh, not a green tea.
On the real plus side, the tea is way too stale for any of these characteristics to actually be overtly noticeable.

All in all, I reeeeeeally hope we change our Long Jing soon. We buy from this vendor because it’s all organic and fair trade – doesn’t mean fresh or good by any stretch of the imagination. Sungarden doesn’t make their list of teas available to the public unless you request a catalog and I say don’t bother. Their Jasmine Pearls (and supposedly their second flush Darjeeling too) are worlds better, and at least acceptable as a tea I’d want to drink.

To be clear on the rating – this is still better than a lot of bags in the supermarket, so I can’t justify below a 5.

I was craving some more of the Jasmine Pearls, but since it was late I exercised control and picked this caffeine-free tea. This had a pretty typical rooibos scent with an underlying sweetness that hinted at the caramel. After brewing, the tea smells a bit sweeter and tastes a bit like caramel. I’m really getting more of the cream flavor than caramel, but as it cools the caramel is starting to come out more. I like this one. It isn’t my favorite rooibos but it is certainly nice. I feel another caramel tea day coming on!

I must say, The Republic of Tea’s 100% White Tea/Emperor’s White Tea is another varietal tea that I love. I purchased the traveler’s tin as a sample before I invested in a full size tin; I’m glad I did, it is very good and enjoyable.

The flavor profile is more along the lines of White Peony, which I think this tea is because the longer it steeps, the more of a green tea characteristic it takes on; the color turns towards the coloring of a Chinese green tea. You can definitely detect green tea characteristics, meaning you get the brightness [and a little of the tannins] of the top tier leaves that are picked with the buds even though this is a 100% white tea. The prominent flavor is of white tea with it’s floral delicacy with a slight hint of cream, but not much with this one and a transparent, sheer sweetness.

The aroma pretty well matches the flavor profile.

The aftertaste is of a usual tea, a little disappointing since I do love white teas and how some linger a little afterwards. There is a modest afterthought of the floral delicacy and sweetness along with the hint of tannins of a green.

I would have given this tea a 100 score but because of the somewhat tannin characteristic and carry over into the aftertaste, this is why this tea scores a 90.

I would highly recommend this tea; and this is a very good choice for an evening tea to relax and unwind with; it has very little caffeine, not stimulating at all.

P.S. – Since I truly LOVE and absolutely adore Steven Smith Teamaker’s Bai Mu Dan (his White Peony), I tend to compare every one else’s white tea to his; but I do try to be fair and judge each white tea for what it is and of it’s own.

Not much to say really, it was too juicy for me. Not much green tea flavor or characteristics, it tasted like a tart juice you would drink with breakfast. Not impressed and would not purchase; I received a sample so at least I didn’t waste my money on it and don’t you.

It went down like this Steepsterites:
Oh! They have a Jasmine Green tea in this set, since the Mad Party Tea was serious enough of a blend to merit a Steepster mention, then it MUST be good.

Jasmine Green tea entails the visualizations of tiny fragrant jasmine blossoms floating into a cup of perfect golden jade liquid, complete with monks bowing in the background and an effervescent hum of prayer. Little did I know that I was wrong. Oh so very wrong.

I was filled with doubt, fear, and most importantly, I doubted my $20+ purchase of tea blended by the hands of corporate Disney. My biggest question still left unanswered is why a tea labeled “Jasmine Green Tea” would at all taste like cauliflower?

I would definitely buy this one again. It makes a smooth and mild cup that is good for two or three infusions.

Backlogging. Three days ago.

This is the last tea I had left to try from the four free tins I won from LeafSpa. The first three were quite good and I’ve drank them multiple times each. But it is summer and hot and I tried to try a new tea when I can concentrate on it at least some. (Ironically, I’m not concentrating on this tealog very well. But I am four tealogs behind and it needs to get posted while the tea is still fresh in my mind.)

This tea is a green darjeeling, which is somewhat uncommon as far as my googling told me, and indeed, the leaves look like a darjeeling, except in shades of olive green with hints of black. They smell strong and distinct, unlike other greens I’ve smelt, but I can’t put my finger on what the smell is reminiscent of exactly. Musky? Musty? Pungent? Sharp? But in a good way.

The reason I was looking up green darjeelings was because 2-3 minutes at 180°F seemed like it might not be the ideal temperature for it and I wanted to confirm it correct. I didn’t find much. I did find a site specializing in darjeelings which recommended 2-3 minutes at 150-175°F. So I tried it at the parameters that LeafSpa suggested this time with a mind to try a lower water temperature next time.

1st steep: 2 min.
Woody. Bamboo! Different and tasty.

2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
More vegetal than woody. Still yum.

3rd steep: 2 min 30 sec.
Light. Leafy. I need to steep this one longer, at least 30-45 seconds longer.

4th steep: A really long time.
Since the third steep was light, I decided to steep this one three minutes instead of two minutes and 45 seconds. Very little color and tasted like water. I steeped it another minute. The same. Another two and a half minutes. The same. I left it in and walked away to do some stuff before bed. The same. This tea hold out for a forth steep, but that’s okay cause the first three was quite good.

The wet leaves looked like a pile of raked leaves in autumn, but in greens and browns instead of fall colors. They grew bigger with each steep. Both the wet leaves and the tea smelled nutty, citrus, and apple at some point during the steepings. I have more to say about both the smell and the taste but I’m not remembering as much as I’d like to. I plan to drink this again next time I have an afternoon tea, which is not often during the summer as that is the hottest time, if I don’t want something else specifically.

I’m rating this tea a 72 initially, which is in the middle of my good range (60-80). I do suspect it will go up. I kind of think as I drink it more that it will switch with the Blink Bonnie from LeafSpa and be the higher rated of the two. But, I don’t know. I like the Blink Bonnie quite well too.

This tea only takes three steeps. Increase the steeping time of the third steep by 30-45 seconds or more. Later, try at a lower temperate.

Nice stuff. The perfect proportion of citrus flavor. Downright tasty. This is really good as is, but my wife has found a way to make it even better. She created a custom blend on Adagio, mixing the Citron Green with Oriental Spice making “Citron Spice.” Delicious either hot or iced. I think Citron Green would mix well with other flavors as well.

I’m an Adagio fan, but this is probably my least favorite green I’ve ever gotten from them. The raspberry flavor impresses me as being very artificial. It may very well be natural, but it comes across as artificial and ultimately disappointing.