New Tasting Notes
This is a fantastic tea. The Harney & Sons store site says this tea contains black currant, vanilla, bergamot, and caramel. I get different notes each time I have this tea. I guess it depends on the steeping time and the temp of the water. I always have this tea in my cupboard. The smell is like vanilla caramels over fruit. The taste is mellow and leaves a dry fruity taste in my mouth. No bitterness or astringency, just a delicious cup of tea.
Preparation
This is my VERY FIRST Lahloo experience!
It smells a little nutty and a little blossomy. The first sip was a little gritty, almost, until I was ‘used to’ the change of taste from my last cuppa. From that point on I enjoyed this tea.
I’m not really picking up on the apricot notes but the grapefruit – certainly and the honey – indeed!
This is a nice change-up
In the mood for something a little out of the ordinary this morning. I didn’t add my usual half teaspoon of sugar (forgot to replenish my work stash!), and it’s a teensy rough around the edges. That little bit of sugar really makes the berries, citrus and caramel pop. Still, an enjoyable treat.
Preparation
Does anyone know how to break the seal on a 65 ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts?
As with Bai Hao and Chi-Tsu Bing Cha, this tea is characterized by a sweet, tannic and woody base with walnut-shell notes in aroma and flavor. Darjeeling is certainly the most tannic tea of this trio and a tea I often enjoy with coconut milk…without feeling guilty about it. It’s a classic—the basic Darjeeling, like say, the basic pair of blue jeans. They’re not bell-bottomed, scratched-up, flared-out, torn-down, or designer jeans, they’re just your basic pair of jeans you would wear to the park. It’s a lovely, standard tea…the quintessential flowery headnote with it’s broader declamation of “paradigm tea flavor.” This tea is an Aries tea. It comes into the world and says, “I am tea!” And for the Western tradition, it pretty much is.
Preparation
I met my college advisor/mentor at a local coffee shop yesterday and was floored to discover that they carry loose leaf tea as well. I plan to go back when I don’t have a meeting to ask the friendly baristas more questions. The one thing that I’m very concerned about is that they have their teas in glass jars. Yes, they’re near the back of the shop, but still I’d like to think that they’re UV resistant. I also want to find out if they’d let me bring in a gaiwan to use instead of their cup and strainer-thingy. And water temps, and yeah, I’m trying to spread out my questions over time so I’m not that customer. ;)
Anywho, I was pleased when one of the guys raised his eyebrow and asked “have you had this tea before?” And I got to explain that I’ve had many lapsangs, but not this specific one (I need to find out who their supplier is as well). He laughed and told me some funny stories about customers’ reactions. The tea itself was fine. It wan’t the best and it wasn’t the worst. Not a lot of depth, but I still got the nice “plantiness” that underlies some lapsangs. It did its job and I enjoyed the cup. NE
Preparation
Pai Hao, Bai Hao, “Oriental Beauty,” “White Hair”…So when Payton and I did a comparison of this tea with Darjeeling Himalaya and Chi-tsu Bing Cha (see other notes!), we recognized a core note of woodiness which we later modified to “walnut shell.”
Bai Hao deviates from this center in that it breathes an earthier, saltier flavor…which I have always considered the perfect likeness to a pile of crisp autumn leaves fermenting and baking in the orange October sun. Now that I have been eating seaweed granola for several months, I also detect an unmistakable flavor of seaweed in Bai Hao’s cup. Dulse, to be exact. Payton commented on a burnt sugar flavor, and now I’m thinking of (vegan) pumpkin pie along with that pile of leaves…I always crave this tea when the season shifts over to the vermilion days of fall.
HOWEVER…{I humbly implore the Vermont sun}…that won’t be for a while yet, right?
I’m liking summer. Thanks.
Preparation
MMMMM….loving the smell of the tea leaves :) I bought a 6ozish sized container of this when I was at the O’Hare airport the beginning of July. The container is thick glass (unfortunately clear glass, so the tea will be affected by light, but it resides in my dark cupboard when not in use). The glass lets you see the leaves and strawberry pieces and it looks very nice, the leaves are dark and long.
While steeping this tea is very fragrant. It is sweet and tart, similar to strawberry fro-yo with a sencha background. On the tongue it isn’t quite so yogurty but more of a sweet strawberry flavor. The sencha is a great pairing for the strawberry and vanilla flavor as it is upholding it’s own against the strong strawberry. The vanilla adds a little creaminess to this tea. I wouldn’t need milk or sugar for this brew, it is good and flavorful on it’s own. Very happy I was able to get some of this tea.
Preparation
Finally got around to trying this this morning and what do I do…I forget that it’s brewing as I go about my morning rituals. I think it steeped between 10-15 minutes. I’m screaming at myself in my head because this tea has got to be incredibly spicy by now…and I’ve ruined it. With high hopes I added 2 tbsp of soymilk and took a first sip. A second sip. After a third sip I was burning and tingling. I couldn’t drink anymore :( Will try again this afternoon…Cofftea, I don’t think I am up to the overnight in the fridge cold brew chai challenge with this one!!!!
I am kinda avoiding this one for now – the bottom of my sample package looks remarkably spicy!
Meghann M, I still think you should try it. I was shocked at how not scortching it was in the fridge. I nearly fell over when I read a 15 min hot steep though. lol. If this would ever happen again add 2x as much milk as the amount of water you used. I don’t think even 2TB of something thicker like coffee creamer would have been enough to save it lol.
I know I said I was going to write about Bai Hao and Darjeeling, but I’ve got to slip this one in there just for kicks…
This was a piece of Da Hong Pao brick that James brought back from China. I had been holding on to it (as I do with all my aged oolongs), hoarding it for a special occasion…Then I got over it and decided that the tea itself WAS the special occasion…
Nicotine. Dry sandy soil. Bitter, with only a suggestion of roundness. Both aroma and taste reminded me so strongly of tobacco—not smoked, but the dry leaves…although one could say there’s a hint of ash thrown in there. Feels earthy in quality and not so much head-y as heart-y…although I felt it in my 3rd chakra, too! An ancient hearth, charred bits of old sacred manuscripts…the royal secret safe.
Preparation
I had this hot last night without any milk, but did add about 1/2tsp of german rock sugar (as I do to most of my teas). Now, the smell of this tea smells soooo good, just like a glass of Promise Land strawberry milk! When I went to search the bag/tin for how to steep it, it said “boiling water for 2-5 minutes”! Now, I was afraid with it being a green tea that boiling water wouldn’t be a good idea, but I did as they said and steeped for 2.5mins. The smell off the strawberry milk is still very much there with a bit of the sencha smell. I tasted it and it tastes like strawberry milk…umm in tea form! LOL which is a little watery since it is tea, but my brain and nose kept telling me, “this is strawberry milk! It will be thick and creamy!” sooo since it wasn’t “thick and creamy” my brain was 10 different kinds of confused by this! Still a good tea, but I imagine this is one that definitley needs to be iced and/or have milk added first before drinking =)~ I will be trying this one very soon with some milk!
Preparation
This tea is another good example of a daily-drinker that has moderately above-average complexity and yet is easy to brew, with satisfying simplicity and flavor. Crisp, chestnut-laden vapors, warm mint, and some long lasting bright open-field greenness. Also works well as a cold-brewed summer tea.
Yes, why don’t you? I do:)