New Tasting Notes

If Constant Comment had a baby with a chocolate tea, it would be Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut. I didn’t taste vanilla or hazelnut at all, but cocoa and clove were very prominent. I usually prefer to drink spiced teas in the winter; maybe I’ll like it better then.

I also love this tea brewed hot and then chilled. One of the few iced teas that I like without sweetening it! I consider this tea one of my top ten of all time.

Attempted a mug of this last night, but abandoned it. At my best friend’s (where I am), there hasn’t been much rain, so the water tastes kind of strange. Thinking that the water ruined the tea, I waited until today to brew another cup (with bottled water this time), to really get a true taste of it.

Yeah, it wasn’t the funky-tasting water.

It doesn’t really taste like caramel. It doesn’t really taste like anything except “burnt” and “kinda gross”.

I’ll try it at 3 minutes next time. Maybe that’ll help?

Delicious! I haven’t had an Earl Grey Cream that I haven’t liked, but this one is light and fresh. The vanilla notes age well. I enjoyed this tea today with wildflower honey and low-fat milk.

This was the first matcha I ever had. I just finished my package of it today. I think this is a good stepping stone to Matcha. It is sweet and weak. The powder is a very light color. I made four cups the first night.

Finished up my stash this morning. Did a ‘double shot’ of it…doubly bold! Just as good! The Vanilla was ‘just right’ and it was bold yet smooth esp into the aftertaste! YUM!

Well, I over steeped and do not suggest doing that unless you want more of the ‘one the verge of bitter cocoa.’ – it’s still very good overall but less on the strawberry and more on the chocolate…more like dark chocolate instead of sweet.

Enjoying this on Day #1 of a four-day weekend. Yes, I’m still in my pjs and will be for a while yet.

Chocolate teas, in my opinion, tend to be hit or miss. This one is not only a hit, but a win! It tastes like you’ve brewed a cup of black tea and dropped an Andes chocolate mint into it. It’s also one of the few black teas I’ve drank that doesn’t suffer from being over-steeped, or from being brewed with not-boiling water (which makes it an ideal, just-woke-up-and-have-no-mental-capacity tea). This is a tea that I would happily purchase again, and will most likely do so next time I’m at Jungle Jim’s.

First time I’ve ever consciously tasted “not rooibos” in order to compare the two. Really nice…there’s something just a touch sharper in the taste profile than rooibos; enough so that my husband mentioned a similarity to Red Zinger minus the tartness. Better still—it was inexpensive; our local health food place has bulk-by-the-ounce so it’s doesn’t cost much to experiment!

Steeped at a hotter temperature than last time. Same steep time. More flavor is apparent. Sweeter and darker. Can’t name the tastes however.

My fault for storing this improperly…nice sample sent by Lori (I think … sorry for being forgetful!) has been in a baggie instead of a tin, so I think it lost some muscle during the summer months. Very nice and smooth and I will enjoy it to the last leaf, but I’m not sure if I were doing a blind taste test, I’d say, "Oh! That’s peanut butter flavored tea!) Next cup, I’ll try some milk and sweetener.

A super oolong tea, everything about it oozes quality.

The tea presents a dark brown liquor. It has a strong malty smell with notes of leather and fruit and the barest hint of smoke. It brews into a powerful wake-up tea with a bitter back note combined with maltiness and a very slight sweetness. It’s not really for me except for those few mornings where I need something truly powerful to wake me up.

I so love this tea, it is wonderful!

I love the memories that come flooding back when I get a whiff of it, truly magical.

Amazing Tea, my favourite tea of all times. Only slod from November to February, so I need to buy for the whole year.
I drink it mainly after lunch and/or dinner as I find it very tasy and it really helps me with digestion

I apologize for the sheer cheek, but as my veins are likely at least 50% full of cherry coke…I am wondering if there is any way to procure this long extinct tea. I could swap/purchase/loan a kidney if that would tantilize anyone.

Thank you fo consideration of the matter,
a.

This is one of my special friends.
Sure, I admit she does live in the shadow of Raspberry chocolate bliss, but if you look past that this is one of my happy teas. Fab with a bit of sugar and milk its like a gentle vanilla nutty tea-sperience. Not super strong, more subtle….but then in 1997 they were marketed as after dinner teas, so its kinda fitting. :)

The name gives you a hint at the amazingness, so prepare yourself. They were having a sale, so I caved. I had admired from afar here on my little island. But then Chocolate Mint & this wonderous one decided the time was now.

OMG! This is good tea. Chocolatey, cakey + chai — all at once? Its like a flavor orgy. (And did I mention its a tea name that raises eyebrows and has coworkers clinking teacups in desperation to have a try. :)

If you want an adventure, I highly reccomend that you indulge on this one.

First, I should note that I ripped the “company description” and image from Silk Road Teas’ Monkey Picked Tieguanyin. David Lee Hoffman is the former proprietor and buyer for that company and the high-end Tieguanyin they offer is pretty much the same sort of TGY he’s now offering through his new venture The Phoenix Collection. However, there is no real website and no company descriptions or the like to be had from The Phoenix Collection as of yet… Best bet for most teas from Hoffman is to go onto Bon Teavant for images and descriptions.

This tea exemplifies the trend in oolongs away from their dark and twisted roots to the light and crumpled incarnations of today. Sure, sure, TGY is certainly a traditionally rolled oolong, but it wasn’t ‘til Jades took over in Taiwan that the red-tinged dark moss colored leaves of Tieguanyin began their march to grassy green. I happen to love medium-ox well-roasted TGY and find it sort of disheartening that it’s hard to find among the “Competition Grade” teas. I do think Jade Oolongs definitely have their place… I’m just a bit biased in thinking that place is Taiwan. I love the notion of diversified processing methods throughout the land, but think it’s sad when trends wind up wiping out traditional methods in a fell swoop. The second issue of The Art of Tea Magazine had a nice article about how Red Water style Dong Ding has all but disappeared due to this same trend…

Anywho, despite my reservations about changing styles eclipsing the old, and barring my preference of darker oolongs, this is a lovely tea. It’s got a good amount going on and it’s pleasant in presentation.

I used 4g with 100ml water in a glass gaiwan. Single rinse using 84 degree water. I only did three evaluative infusions (I was hungry): 1minute-83C, 30seconds-82C, 1minute-80C. I brewed more, but drank from the gaiwan.

Dry leaves are bright green with yellow accents. Fragrance is like banana leaves with a slight squashy and rubber (ficus sap/latex) note. Smells similar to a stand of horsetail fern in a freshwater seep near the coast. Smell carries through to the wet leaf aroma, but sweeter and more buttery, like a cinnamon roll without too much cinnamon. Liquor is bright yellow-green (sorta cartoony toxic color, but clean looking) with steadfast transparency. Aroma very different from either fragrance or wet leaf aroma – notes of zucchini skin, cucumber, cardamom, true cinnamon, Cymbidium orchid, iris flowers and foliage, rosemary, sage, and some watercress.

Not much to say about the flavor after the aroma – it’s mostly tactile accompaniment to what’s going on in the nose. Sweet and sour are played with a bit. Sort of a home made whipped cream effect going into a lingering milky-sour note that stimulates the salivary glands. Faint notes of orange bell pepper, cooked green pepper (as in a chile relleno), tomatillo, mugwort, and pounded rice and soy confections (like mochi). Thick mouthfeel and very smooth. Despite all that’s going on, it’s a mild tea. Light bakey notes and a sunflower nose in the aftertaste.

Soothing tea that I wish I had easier access to.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I didn’t see Jessies delicous lavender tea wasn’t on here yet, so I couldn’t resist grabbing the David’s Tea description and photo and smacking ’er on here!

One of the most calming teas that have met my lips. As usual, I add honey to my tea, and might I say, Jessie’s Tea and honey definitely correspond beautifully. Today I spent about half an hour with my sister and grandma in the centre of the Pine Centre mall drinking the tea and I had not been that calm in ages, it felt like it went surging throughout my entire body, calming every nerve. Ever agitated? Try Jessie’s.

One of the only teas I’d really appreciate during any time of the day, especially would be excellent staying up late, it’s decaffinated but definately puts me on the edge of my seat!

Drink it as a tea? Nahhh…. definately make a latte out of it, certainly worth it, and to add just a little honey makes it to die for. The flavour itself almost makes me think “nostalgic”, or “children’s tea”, but that’s no excuse for everyone to drink it! It’s like a Never Neverland in a cup.