1228 Tasting Notes

90

The last person to update this tea with a review was over 10 years ago. I find this a bit surprising but also understandable. It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing website but functionally it does what it needs to without being confusing and that is what really counts. I was privileged to be able to meet Eva Mar 3rd, 2024. Granted we paid her for a tour but still privileged nonetheless to be able to go to the Big Island and do what we did. If you are on the Big Island please make sure you do a tour with Tea Hawai’i. It’s an amazing experience. I’ve already had one cup of this. We were at the Hilton Waikoloa and I’m so glad I brought tea with me. My first experience was fantastic but I forgot to write tasting notes. I do however remember malt, chocolate, and cream. Let’s see if this second stea bag is similar.

Dry Leaf aroma: (She only had bags and it’s not really coming through but I will cut and see if I can release the aroma that way)
Dry Appearance: Mix of small and big leaf. Mix of brown hues.
Liquor aroma: creamy, dark caramel.
Wet Leaf infusing: Caramel, dried pinewood, cream, slight leafy compost
Flavor: Mainly woody. Different wood types including pine and redwood. A bit of malt and cream. Funny how each cup can prove to be its own character.
Mouthfeel: Smooth with a touch of astringency. (How I like it best!)

Please note that you will find them on Google but not on Google maps. All of the tea farms allow tours but are run at their places of residence so please contact them for a tour date, don’t just show up. Also as a heads up the road to get to Tea Hawaii is not for sports or low-riding cars. It is quite bumpy.

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74

Back from Hawaii. Only got to two tea plantations. But it was still a wonderful time. Gorgeous Leaf. Lots of silver buds. Some lime green and evergreen mixing in with the slight browns and other hues of green. Aroma of dried leaves (anyone reading this who is not a tea drinker will roll their eyes at this but it does indeed remind me of dried leaves in fall), a bit of chocolate and cream. The taste is mainly farm. Wet hay. Dry hay. A mix of both. Nut milk.

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79

Generally I tend to avoid tea bags but I just wanted a super simple cup this morning. And being that we are in a hotel they had a tea bag. I was glad to see Harney instead of the usual ugly choices they give. I quite enjoy Chinese Keemuns. Creaminess mixed with woodiness to top off thus first not raining, not super windy morning on the Big Island. But you just gotta go with the flow. Enjoy every moment. It’s even more enjoyable with a nice cup of tea

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Having a collapsible travel kettle has been incredibly helpful. Wish I had discovered these sooner. The dry leaf is a nice mineral and floral. The infusing leaf has notes of wet rocks, The wet leaf leaves an interesting sweet note in your mouth. The leaf has unwound nicely. But still has a bit of way to go. On the third or fourth infusion now the flavor has remained fairly constant. Mineral and floral.

Michelle

I like my immersion wand, but I love love love my collapsible kettle Don’t know how I lived without it. My favorite piece of gear.

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83
drank Imperial Green by Mei Leaf
1228 tasting notes

Aloha. Mac nut honey and poi toast for breakfast. Without knowing what I was drinking (this is a sample so there are few things on the package). Very visibly a dragonwell/longjing when I opened the packet. The dry aroma is oh so nice! A bit of vegetal notes here, some cream there, and stone fruits all around. Steamed peas. Adzuki beans A bit of astringey but nothing too mouth-numbing. The kids have awakened so it is time to go.

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70
drank Young Gushu 2022 by Mei Leaf
1228 tasting notes

OH boy. There is that telltale pu erh fishiness. The dry aroma isn’t heavy or off-putting with it but just enough to have my hair stand a bit. Lots of different leaf in this sample. Single leaves, short leaves, really long leaves, silver hairy buds. Bud, first, and second pluck. Fascinating. After the rinse the wet leaves have lost the fishy altogether there was a bit of Big Island orange and star fruit and old beach wood. Flavor is resin to begin and remains that way with the first infusion. Pu erh, like many teas, really needs a deep dive to develop a palate for it. The aftertaste is very nice vanilla and tropical fruits, custard. The astringency is strong with this one is left unchecked. Whoa.

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94
drank Honeycomb Black by Mei Leaf
1228 tasting notes

This is a great tea to start the morning. A bit of briskness and a nice touch of astringency, all come together nicely with this beautiful leaf. Long leaves tightly twisted with fuzzy golden buds. This leaf is just gorgeous. The wet leaf reminds me of dark chocolate and raisin bread. Maybe a mixture of both. The flavor is very similar to the aroma with cocoa and bitter chocolate notes also a bit of malt, and some lacquered wood. The mouthfeel, as I mentioned earlier is a bit astringent but mostly it is smooth. The astringency just helps to add some depth. My first brew was bitter with a slightly overwhelming astringency. I had my dad try it first and when I tried it I felt bad that the first experience was so off, luckily the second was better. He said he still prefers coffee though… I’ll keep trying.

ashmanra

I have found that a lot of coffee lovers love puerh and can move to other teas from there!

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87
drank Swallows Nest by Mei Leaf
1228 tasting notes

Reason number 3 that it is important to inspect your tea leaves: Bugs. It is good to push around the leaf with your finger to discover all the secrets of the leaf. To find the small, the big, the few fuzzies, and whatever gifts come with. I can’t quite call this a gift, but at least he was nicely toasted.

Dry aroma: Coffee toffee, roasty, toasted pomelo, coffee husk.
Dry leaf appearance: twisted slightly, dark chocolate brown.
Flavor: Roasty, charcoal, toffee a bit burnt, slight plum/pomelo, minerality (more so with the following infusions)
Wet Leaf: Dried plum, Slight cherry-rubbed wood.
Wet, infusing leaf: Uh… latex paint? O_o Yeah. Definitely latex paint. That was the third infusion. I forgot to smell the previous.

So funny not funny story. I found out that I am one of those people who can’t stand to look at lotus seeds. Actually even saying the name kinda gives me an icky feeling. My randomness comes from the fact that it says lotus seed on the package so I was about to look up what the taste descriptors of that is but I really do not want to have that image stuck in my.

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68

Dragonwell / Longjing are not as fussy as Japanese teas but they still require some research to bring out their best. I’m starting with water at 170 F. I know it can take higher than that but I’ve already burned my mouth a few times this week… What I really need is more patience.
Dry aroma is very vegetal. Split peas soup. Overcooked peas. Slight hay.
Hay, a bit of stone fruit (mango),
Flavor is a bit of stone fruit here, some hay there, tossed around with a pile of composting leaves, and cooked peas.
There is a bit of astringency when it is left to steep too long. Overall, this is a nice dragonwell. I have had better but I do also wonder if maybe this one has just had too long of a sit time.

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47

The cardamom is strong with this one. I don’t hate it but I find it to be a flavor that reallly need to be balanced well. Like cilantro. Of course, cilantro also tastes like soap to me so… Ew cilantro tea…. gag. Anyway, this one is… okay. the rooibos is a bit subdued and I’m not really sure I like the addition of the cocoa nibs. But ultimately it’s the cardamom that keeps winding all the flavors back to it.

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If you love to discover new tea companies please check out my blog www.teatiff.com

Cupboard updated: 7/27/2023

Tea Profile:
Allergies: Almonds and Dairy.

I’m a purist but I will try a flavored as long as it doesn’t have artificial flavors.

I will drink any type and love to taste whatever I can get my hands on.

(Purple is not a type of tea it is a cultivar known as TRFK 306/1)

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Minnesota

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