New Tasting Notes

Rawr!

Backlogging from yesterday.

Yes, more lilac experiments. Having done the two extremes I decided to start exploring the middle regions of the tea spectrum and chose Life in Teacup’s 2010 Pre-Qingming Da Fo (Great Buddha) Long Jing first day harvest. After steeping, the liquor was the palest of pale green-golds (oxidizing to a slightly darker pale gold by the end of the pot). The lightly vegetal, acorn-like flavor was a perfect compliment to the delicate lilac note.

My most beautiful herbal tisane! Ruby red as all get-out! Blood orange and cranberry – tart in a good way. Not overpowering. So nice before bed. Excellent with a snack of pistachios!

I’ve tried changing the leaf dosage and the steeping time back to my ‘old’ brewing pattern for this one. The new one didn’t seem to be ideal for it. If this doesn’t work either, I’ll try a combination of the two.

It’s still as black as coffee (nearly) and the flavour is very close to what I found the first time around. I think I’ve got the leaves right. I’ll just have to try a shorter steep time.

Still not giving any points on this one. Not yet.

Not bad, another tasting sample of Gschwender which turns out o be nice. But its nothing special, a bit too bitter in the aftertaste, lacking subtle notes before. Might be worth trying more, i will add it for now to my shopping list.

Polishing off another sample but this is one I’m sad to see go -particuarly since Lupicia teas aren’t readily available here (though I did get some very kind offers from people).

There’s a rather spinach-like taste that seems to develop when this tea is steeped longer along with the bakey flavour. I’m still not sure what exactly osmanthus tastes like and what part of what I’m tasting is made up by it, but I do know that this is a tea I’d like to drink again sometime in the future.

I’m not very familiar with Assam teas, so I’m not sure how exemplary this would have been of the variety. The company’s description says it’s malty, and I’d agree that there is a hint of that in the flavor that particularly comes out with the addition of a little milk and sugar. I also got a bit of a peppery scent/flavor at first, before I added anything. Overall fairly weakly flavored and not a very exciting tea, but it does remind me that I need to try some more Assams soon – starting with the TeaFrog Banaspaty Organic, which I have waiting for me back home.

Dragonwell is probably my favorite tea to drink, and this one from Red Blossom Tea is delicious. The dry leaves have a wonderful and fresh aroma that you would expect to find in a 2010 pick.

The first 3 steepings had a wonderful buttery/chestnutty taste that was very rich, yet also very mild and delicate at the same time.

3 steepings however was about all that this tea could handle and the 4th and 5th steepings that are made tasted like lightly flavored water.

I enjoyed this tea and can’t wait to make it again!

Eh, there’s nothing the matter with this tea. It’s orangey and oolongey, it gets a smiley face, but… It’s nice and orangey — smells fresh and good. The oolong seems more earthy. It’s a good balance. I had three nice steeps (adding a minute per steep). I guess that for the most part I’m not a huge fan of flavors added to oolongs. I just want amazing oolongs that show off all by themselves. I’ll happily finish off the generous sample that Daniel Mann sent me when I feel like having a fruity tea, but it won’t be on my reorder list. NE

tried iced: a little better, but not much

As the head of Utopian Tea, this is one of my all time favorite Oolongs. When I got it as a sample from the actual tea farm, I knew I had to choose this to start off our first wave of teas in our online selection. I know you’ll all enjoy Great Buddha’s Palm :) Goes great with sushi btw..

I’ve been having this every morning. It is a nice blend without being overly caffeinated. There seems to be more rooibos than black tea leaves. :)

Cue Rabs: You can’t a have-a the Mango. slap (There, I did it for you this time. ;-))

This is my first taste of a more recent TeaFrog sample purchase (which accompanied a full order of the Chocolate and Cream and the Assam Banaspaty… yum!)

I was expecting to smell mango when I opened the sample packet but I smelled something that was more like chocolate, or maybe vanilla. You know how those notes can actually be reminiscent of each other depending on concentration. At first I thought I’d picked up the wrong packet by mistake, then it dawned on me that was the yogurt I was smelling. Duh.

Now that I think about it I’m not even really sure what moved me to get this one as I am not a yogurt fan in the least. It has that sour milk, baby puke thing going on for me. Curiosity, I guess.

Having just come off of another fruit tisane experience where I didn’t use enough fruit the first time, I’m using the whole sample packet in my steep. It’s a chunky fruit mix in a palette of browns, burgundies, tans. My second of the evening.

I think I probably was right to use the full packet because the liquor is that deep red color you get from hibiscus in blends, but only if you use enough of the mix. It smells fruity and creamy. I can smell the hibiscus, too.

And it tastes pretty much as it smells, with one small modification. There is more fruit and less cream in the flavor than in the aroma. I’m not tasting mango so much as a generic fruit flavor that seems to have a lot of apple and a lot of strawberry to it. There’s a slight tartness, which I am guessing is from the rose hips.

I don’t know for sure, but I think increasing the yogurt/cream aspect so that it is more of the balance could really make a positive difference in how I perceive this tisane. I wanted it to taste more like it smelled. I can taste the yogurt (as cream and sweet, not sour milk) particularly in the aftertaste and it’s a good combination of flavors, but the fruit and herbs overpower it to some extent and relegate it to showing up primarily in the aftertaste. The idea of a creamy, fruit tisane is very appealing to me, but this one doesn’t lean far enough toward the cream for me. I wonder whether if the mango taste had been more prevalent the cream would have tasted as though it was more present as well. It seems to me it might have, as I got the sense the yogurt was spending most of its creaminess taming the tarter aspects of the flavor.

It’s like drinking citrus dish soap.

Had this tonight to help ease my mind with everything that’s been happening lately.

A tremendous dried peach fragrance wafted out of the sample packet as soon as I opened it. The mix is another chunky dried fruit trail-mixy sort, but it looks more like trail mix than some of the others I’ve had because it’s all neutral colors: tans, browns, burgundies, off whites.

It yields a really interesting colored liquor. The first time I tried it, I don’t think I used enough fruit and it made a dark peach, red melon sort of color that was gorgeous and gave off a light peach fragrance. The second time, I doubled the fruit to water ratio and got a dark red, hibiscus inspired color, just as gorgeous in its own way.

This isn’t unique among fruit mixes in that I find that I had to use a lot more of the fruit to achieve the flavor I was hoping for than one might expect to based on spoon measurements or even weights. The first time, I used two cups worth of fruit for two cups of tea, and it was tasty but a little watery and though I could taste the sweetness lurking, it was a little tart because the lurking sweetness was diluted. I pretty much doubled the weight one would expect to use for one cup the second time and got a much less watery, much more flavorful drink. It’s a sweet, peachy flavor with an earthy hibiscus base, but fortunately the presence of rose hips and hibiscus don’t render it puckeringly tart or bitter.

This is tasty, but I think the real thumb on the scale as to whether I’d order more will be if the boyfriend likes it. He’s a huge peach fan (he just had peach ice cream for dessert tonight) whereas I am a more moderate fan except in those occasional instances where the peach is ripe, juicy, and has a superconcentrated flavor.

Ok, I’m moving this one up a little. I steeped it more concentrated – maybe 6-7 oz. water, then added a generous spoonful of sugar and probably 2 oz. of soymilk. It is pretty good! I’m definitely tasting the vanilla more, and the tea flavor is nice and smooth. Maybe it was a bit oversteeped last time? This time I made a point not to go over 5 minutes. Even shorter might be sufficient. I recommend it, with some reservation that it might not be very good without milk and sugar.

This reminds me of the discontinued Plum Harvest from Teavana with one exception, this TeaFrog blend is spot on with the sweetness. Not too sweet, Just right IMO.
If you are looking for a caffeine free herbal blend with berries, your search is over.
A nice Red brew in my cup, enjoyable to the last drop:)

This is a nice crisp taste with a caramel likeness to it. It’s mellow aftertaste is perfect for my palate! This is YUMMY Cold as well! I had 1 hot cup and 1 cold cups-worth. Enjoyed them both.

The hairy-fuzzy leaves left a little pollen-y residue to the touch but still a very neat leaf!

Cheers!

The leaves are ugly and broken with rather long stems poking out. Each time I brew this, I just don’t expect much. But the taste does certainly deliver. Sweet with a faint nectar/floral honey top note and an almost nutty bottom note. Why can’t I remember the tastiness of this tea when I’m not actually sipping it?