New Tasting Notes
SNIFFFFFFFF!
Oh yes, the wood-y lovely autumn-y aroma. It reminds me of dried pine needles, actually. A little spicy and a touch of cocoa-y yumness. I remember that cocoa note being much stronger though. It’s coming through in the cup, but not really in the leaves.
In the cup, I found the funniest strong note, though. A bit like boiling broccoli or green beans. A sort of rough but green note. Weird thing is, I can only find it if I keep my nose at a certain distance from the cup. If it’s too close I just get sweet cocoa, if it’s too far away I get spicy slightly smoky woodness, but at that specific middle distance it’s rough green vegetables with a little butter.
This aroma? This aroma alone was so worth waiting for.
SLUUUUURRRRRRRP
Oh yes. I remember this. The initial very fruity flavour with strong notes of cocoa in it. There is a little smoke on the tail end too, but not too much. It will come. It usually showed up the strongest on the second steep for me.
I used plenty of leaf, water gone slightly off boil and a, for me, half-lenght steeping time. Good experiences were made with this method when I had this tea last. Bit expensive on the precious precious leaf, granted, but I dare anybody who’s tried it to tell me it’s not worth it. As a result I’ve got something that has a little astringency. Just a bit at the roof and back of the mouth, and other than that it’s so smooth and lovely. Such a long flavour.
The smoke comes through on the aftertaste here, building up gradually as I drink, and the same is happening for the cardboard-y Assam-y quality. Little by little it’s making its presence.
How I’ve missed this tea! I grieved and mourned when I used the last of it earlier and finally they have it again. A different year and a different harvest, of course, but this harvest totally measures up the other one. I’m turning it all the way up to a hundred points now. Like Auggy said, when I shared it with her, it just has everything as it is. Nothing about this tea can conceivably be improved. You can find stuff that is as good, but nothing that is better. I simply can’t see that happening.
It’s THAT good!
Now, if anybody needs me, I’ll be in the kitchen drawing little hearts on the label.
(I can’t figure out what people mean when they say a tea is ‘chewy’ because chewing a liquid? Really? That doesn’t sound like something I want to do, but I’ve gathered they mean it as a good thing, so maybe this has that too.)
Slight smoky, malty fragrance coming from a ruby black liquor. There is a powerful yeasty taste and a fair amount of bitterness. I’m really not tasting the oolong in this but it does have a nice complexity to the middle-taste (that taste you get immediately after swallowing as the liquid evaporates from your tongue but before the after-taste).
It’s an ok tea.
Preparation
This is my standing favorite loose-leaf tea. I prefer it with just a touch of honey and a little milk. When I first buy a canister of this tea, the creamy vanilla note is perfectly balanced with the Earl Grey. After it’s sat in my cupboard for a while (because I don’t drink just ONE tea, now do I?) the vanilla fades away, revealing smoky notes that are different from other Earl Grey Cream teas. I enjoy it in both phases, but a little more when it’s fresh!
Preparation
My first Tao of Tea purchase. I was so surprised to see tea made of tea flowers that I had to get it. And I’m so surprised that more companies don’t include this in their blends or dedicate blends to this. It’s sweet and very flowery, with notes of honey.
Preparation
This brews up to be a much lighter color than you would expect. The first time I brewed it, it was for 5 minutes and I double checked the tea timer after I saw the color. It’s a delicate, floral cup, and like the other reviewer said, it’s more like a white tea. I’ve debated brewing it for longer, but I do like the lightness of it.
Preparation
I was not sure what I wanted to start the day off with or what I ws looking for when I went to my tea cupboard. I finally decided to try this tea (excellent choice)!
This rich tea has a strawberry flavor that does remind me of strawberry life savors I ate as a child.
A warm muffin and this tea is a great start to my day.
Preparation
It’s black tea in a bag. Not bad, but nothing to swoon about. Definitely not my favorite from Numi. I got this bag at one of our commodity meetings…yes, they actually had a hot water dispenser and basket of Numi teas next to the coffee!
Would probably make a good iced sweet tea. But since I don’t drink sweet tea, it’s an okay cuppa for the morning.
Preparation
This was a sample that I saved until I had time to sit and truly enjoy. I will guard in my tea vault what is left of this sample until I can ordr some of this tea. The flavor was wonderful and the aroma while steeping filled the kitchen. This is going to be a tea I will only drink on special days when I want a true treat.
Can Not Wait To Order SOme Of This Tea!
Preparation
Strong smell of caramel immediately on pouring so you know you’re in for a treat. A lovely, naturally sweet black tea with a good depth of flavour. Described as a breakfast tea on their web site but this would be good for an afternoon pick-up as well
Preparation
52teas order arrived today. Well, it arrived thursday, actually, but I couldn’t pick it up until today because the post office is closed when I come home from work.
I’ve been looking forward to this order. Having this tropical blend again. I’ve said it many times before, but it was a total ambush. I just thought I’d give it a go because I was ordering a few other fruity blends at the time, and it turned out that of that order this one was actually my favourite. I definitely think this is my very favourite 52teas blend.
And now I have it again! I will savour this pouch. Or maybe just yum it all up in a couple of weeks. :)
And now while in preparations to have this one, the TeaSpring order arrives! With Tan Yang Te Ji in it! ARGH! Tea angst! What to have first???
I’m sticking to this one first though, mostly because I’ve already got half a post ready for it. (Yes, I do this. I start writing the post before I make the tea. That way I can concentrate about the tea while drinking it instead of writing all this boring intro stuff.)
Yummmm fruit in my mouth! The coconut is really standing out today and with the other fruits underneath. You take one little sip and the flavour expaaaaaaaaaaaaands.
Explosion? Oh yes. ♥
Tan Yang Te Ji will have to wait a little while longer. Now that I’ve actually made the cup, that’s not quite as difficult anymore. Because this is awesomely awesome, and I’m shifting the rating up a good bit more, based on the way I hugged the pouch (yes really) when I unpacked it.
I will admit to hugging Thomas Sampson!
It just makes my day that we can make someone happy all the way in Denmark. Glad you are enjoying your tea.
I’m having a really good day myself. Had a meeting yesterday with the General Manager and Sales Manager from a regional coffee and tea service provider who are interested in distributing our teas (in 3 and 4 ounce filter packs for commercial iced tea brewers) to restaurants and convenience stores throughout Kansas and a large part of Oklahoma. I’m super jazzed about it.
That’s great Frank, wish the best of luck!
I hug my Pineapple Lychee tin. Good luck Frank! May be worth the drive to Kansas to try your teas in a restaurant setting! I hope it works out.
Grats, Frank!
This sounds really good!
I happen to be out of the bread pudding I made this week, but! I did get a delicious new dessert tea to console me. This came out a bit weak, so I need to watch how much water I dump into the ingenuitea. It’s so easy to just fill it – I have a giant coffee mug so I know I won’t make too much.
Smells like hibiscus. Which is… KIND of a rasberryish smell?
First few sips, I’m getting a surprisingly un-hibiscusy sour taste. Don’t know what it is.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand why hibiscus is at the TOP of the ingredients list in all these kinds of blends. It’s too powerful, put more of the actual intended flavours in. As it cooled I only got hibiscus.
I ALMOST think I taste raspberry, but I’m not sure. It was mentioned to try this iced, and I guess I probably should. Still, it’s a very pretty shade of red.
The tea’s cooled, and I’m starting to pick up a bit more raspberry.
Preparation
Bleh, I’ll remember to avoid that tea – all those horribly tart hibiscus blends need to go die in a fire. >:(
It got a bit sweeter and less tart as it cooled, but I really don’t seem to have any ability to pick out anything from fruit teas but hibiscus.
The problem is likley that so many tea companies ‘cheat’ by adding hibiscus to replicate the flavours of tart fruits like raspberry and pomegranate – problem is, it still all ends up tasting like hibiscus.
Cuuurse them!
I think it would be okay if hibiscus WASN’T the first ingredient in every fruit blend. Putting in less hibiscus than the other flavours, so it would just add a but more tart instead of being the focus.
I noticed, that when getting ready to taste the tea, you are hit with a smoky/woodsy aroma, which is one of the tea’s strengths. The liquor is a dark orange/brown, almost a deep amber. The tea has a robust, roasted flavor with notes of nutty, sweetness and a hint of chocolate. (for a detailed review please visit :http://tyrosoftea.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/obubu-farms-houjicha-%E2%80%93-dark%C2%A0roast/)
Preparation
Made a gallon of this cold and drank 32oz of it… raw leaf is slightly peach scented, but also has floral/perfumey notes… tastes a bit like peaches… spicifically peach COBBLER. Way more bakey than I expected it to be (since I didn’t expect it to be bakey at all). Still floral and perfumey… not creamy… hmmm… not gonna rate it til I can figure it out.
I think chewy means it tastes a certain sort of caramely. Like an old fashioned caramel chew candy. When I taste the tea it makes me want to chew the caramel candy :) If that makes any sense!
I think I’ll just stick to calling it some sort of sweetness, then. I don’t really find the idea of chewing tea all that pleasant. :)
Chewy for me is more of a dense mouth feel, sort of textured instead of silky. I tend to get it from Irish breakfasts and the like…
PS – YAY TAN YANG!!!!!!!
Yeah, it’s a quality that’s hard to pin down. I get it with green oolongs too, which are pretty silky…and some greens, like Sencha. Maybe it varies for all of us! I’d say a dense mouthfeel is probably the common thread though.
Also, this tea sounds delicious. :(
( :( because I’m tea-grounded until I get rid of some of my tea. >.< )
I must have some. A glowing review….