Sometimes I feel like I should just log teas every time that I drink them, but I wouldn’t be able to keep it up all the time [hahaha] and it would bother the completionist in me that I had missed some stuff. You should see me game, it’s horrible. If there are achievements, it bothers me to hell if I don’t get all of them. Even if they’re stupid difficult. RPG’s are the worst [and the best]. Usually in these cases, when I can see it coming, it’s better for me to stray from even trying, so that I don’t feel like I’m a big fail ball. When it comes to tea, this means that some of the teas I drink fall by the wayside, even some of the ones I drink fairly often. This is unfortunate, especially when they’re good teas, like Bai Mu Dan.
I haven’t had this from anyone else [though I think I might have a sample of Adagio’s that I haven’t bothered to try yet lying around somewhere] so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I really like it, though. When I was first drinking it, I think it was a little bit…darker, maybe, than I’m used to with white teas. The flavors aren’t bad, it was just different, so there was a small appreciation curve I had to slide up to get the point where I am now with it.
It has a lot of those darker sweet flavors to me. Corn, for one – more like…creamed corn [which I happen to like] than fresh corn, but it has that kind of corn sweetness to it. Sometimes I get notes that remind me lightly of honeydew melon. At times tastes toasted, almost roasty, which mainly happens when it hits the back of my throat. It reminds me of walnuts.
The flavor is light, but it’s not picnic in the park, butterflies flitting about light. It’s more like…end of a summer day, drinking lemonade on the porch as the sun sets through the trees light, if that makes sense. I’m trying to avoid the oxymoron of saying it’s a dark light flavor, but there it is.
It’s a good tea. I don’t drink it nearly as much as I do my other two Samovar favorites – Osmanthus Silver Needle and Downy Sprout, but I probably see it once a week or so. Maybe a little bit less, maybe a little more. It’s pretty easy going, so that’s how we roll.
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I dream of the day when I’ll be able to pick up on all of those notes in a white (or black, or green, etc.) tea. Until then, I will loyally read your reviews and hope that some of your skill rubs off on me! :)
Yummm, cornnnn. :D I haven’t had any corn flavored tea yet. Sounds interesting, but corn and honeydew melon o.O, how does that work. Send some to teaplz, she’ll let us know if she detects any honeydew :D
Mmmm. I love your descriptive imagery. I totally know what you mean about the white being “darker” than normal.
Shanti, I was having problems, too, trying to pick up little subtleties. :) I found that if I just drink the tea by itself, and very slowly, sipping and smelling and sipping, I’m able to concentrate a bit better and figure out just what I’m tasting. Some tea is too difficult to describe in words, though!
P.S. I have completionist tendencies in video games too. Still trying to get “Superb!” on 4 Rhythm Heaven games (I got that rank on all the rest!).
@Shanti Hahaha, you probably already have the skills, it just takes some time to ease into them! It’s just like teaplz said; take it slow. Just make sure you’ve let it cool enough for it to be able to touch all the regions of your tongue without burning yourself and you’re golden! Also, completely unrelated, but is that your cat? He or she is adorable!
@Ricky Hahaha, actually, you’ve just spurred an idea for a fantastic summer salad for me. I’ll have to give it a whirl…in six months.
@teaplz Oh thank jeebus. Even as I was typing that out I was thinking, “They’re going to think I’ve lost it.” And that’s hilarious that you should say that because I’ve gotten superb on everything and need perfects on like, six more. COMPLETIONISTS FTW.
http://www.wordnik.com/words/completionist/examples
Okay, Rockstar 2 is giving me SO much trouble in RH. Ugh. That and the space shooter 2, Ping Pong 2, and the Moai 2. I am stupidly addicted to that game.
I HATE the strumming on Rockstar. Though it kills me, I’m probably not going to complete the extra little cafe strummy bonus thing. It’s by far my least favorite of all the things. Even more than ping pong.
I hate the way the little spikey-haired dude scrunches his face up when I mess up. I want to smack him with my stylus when that happens! I’ve gotten As on all the beginner songs, but I only place second in the cafe contest thing. :(
I haven’t had this brand of Bai Mu Dan but I have had Wegman’s brand. I thought this tea was very good, especially because I used it with cold water and didn’t actually steep it at all. Just let it sit around for a while in a water bottle then drank it. It has a very sweet floral taste.
Ah, celebration tea! Although mine is a different brand. :) I can definitely recognise a lot in your post, especially the bit about walnuts. I hadn’t thought of that before, but it just hit me when I read it. Of course it has walnut notes in it. :)
@teaplz Urgh, I know. I think I tortured myself into beating the first round of the cafe things, but there’s a point where it gets RIDICULOUS and I just said, “Well…poo on this.”
@Angrboda I can see this being an excellent celebration tea. I rather like it, too!
@takgoti Thanks! :) She’s my mom’s new kitten, actually. She’s the sweetest cat I’ve ever met, but she has such an angry, angry face!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragashanti/4106544213/sizes/o/
She’s the angry grey one :)
AH! Fluffy kitties! I want to hug them!
Aww! I do like fluffy things!
Awww those are gorgeous! Maine coons?
@Angrboda They are actually Ragamuffins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragamuffin_%28cat%29). They’re very similar to Ragdolls, but come in more colors and have a couple other differences (larger eyes, puffier whisker pads, a scooped nose, a rounder forehead, etc). I had always wanted a Ragdoll, but was worried about their health and adopting from a kitty mill or unethical cattery, so I went with the ’Muffin. They are less interbred and the breeders are closely monitored by the breed association. I love Maine Coons too. One of our adopted former-shelter cats is part Maine Coon (probably)…I love pretty much any kitty (or puppy) that is fluffy ;)
@all Fluffy cats + tea = perfection!
Shanti, ah okay. MC is the semi-longhair that I’m most familiar with, but I can’t actually tell them apart, so that’s always my first guess. :) I had an MC and it’s a lovely breed, but I’m so done with semi-longhair. Mine had a deep hatred of brush and comb, so I had the hardest time keeping up with the fur. I’ve decided that if/when I get (hopefully) another cat I really really want a british shorthair. I like the larger breeds and they’re so cute with their round heads. :)
I dream of the day when I’ll be able to pick up on all of those notes in a white (or black, or green, etc.) tea. Until then, I will loyally read your reviews and hope that some of your skill rubs off on me! :)
Yummm, cornnnn. :D I haven’t had any corn flavored tea yet. Sounds interesting, but corn and honeydew melon o.O, how does that work. Send some to teaplz, she’ll let us know if she detects any honeydew :D
Mmmm. I love your descriptive imagery. I totally know what you mean about the white being “darker” than normal.
Shanti, I was having problems, too, trying to pick up little subtleties. :) I found that if I just drink the tea by itself, and very slowly, sipping and smelling and sipping, I’m able to concentrate a bit better and figure out just what I’m tasting. Some tea is too difficult to describe in words, though!
P.S. I have completionist tendencies in video games too. Still trying to get “Superb!” on 4 Rhythm Heaven games (I got that rank on all the rest!).
@Shanti Hahaha, you probably already have the skills, it just takes some time to ease into them! It’s just like teaplz said; take it slow. Just make sure you’ve let it cool enough for it to be able to touch all the regions of your tongue without burning yourself and you’re golden! Also, completely unrelated, but is that your cat? He or she is adorable!
@Ricky Hahaha, actually, you’ve just spurred an idea for a fantastic summer salad for me. I’ll have to give it a whirl…in six months.
@teaplz Oh thank jeebus. Even as I was typing that out I was thinking, “They’re going to think I’ve lost it.” And that’s hilarious that you should say that because I’ve gotten superb on everything and need perfects on like, six more. COMPLETIONISTS FTW.
http://www.wordnik.com/words/completionist/examples
Okay, Rockstar 2 is giving me SO much trouble in RH. Ugh. That and the space shooter 2, Ping Pong 2, and the Moai 2. I am stupidly addicted to that game.
I HATE the strumming on Rockstar. Though it kills me, I’m probably not going to complete the extra little cafe strummy bonus thing. It’s by far my least favorite of all the things. Even more than ping pong.
I hate the way the little spikey-haired dude scrunches his face up when I mess up. I want to smack him with my stylus when that happens! I’ve gotten As on all the beginner songs, but I only place second in the cafe contest thing. :(
I haven’t had this brand of Bai Mu Dan but I have had Wegman’s brand. I thought this tea was very good, especially because I used it with cold water and didn’t actually steep it at all. Just let it sit around for a while in a water bottle then drank it. It has a very sweet floral taste.
Ah, celebration tea! Although mine is a different brand. :) I can definitely recognise a lot in your post, especially the bit about walnuts. I hadn’t thought of that before, but it just hit me when I read it. Of course it has walnut notes in it. :)
@teaplz Urgh, I know. I think I tortured myself into beating the first round of the cafe things, but there’s a point where it gets RIDICULOUS and I just said, “Well…poo on this.”
@Angrboda I can see this being an excellent celebration tea. I rather like it, too!
@takgoti Thanks! :) She’s my mom’s new kitten, actually. She’s the sweetest cat I’ve ever met, but she has such an angry, angry face!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragashanti/4106544213/sizes/o/
She’s the angry grey one :)
AH! Fluffy kitties! I want to hug them!
Aww! I do like fluffy things!
Awww those are gorgeous! Maine coons?
@Angrboda They are actually Ragamuffins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragamuffin_%28cat%29). They’re very similar to Ragdolls, but come in more colors and have a couple other differences (larger eyes, puffier whisker pads, a scooped nose, a rounder forehead, etc). I had always wanted a Ragdoll, but was worried about their health and adopting from a kitty mill or unethical cattery, so I went with the ’Muffin. They are less interbred and the breeders are closely monitored by the breed association. I love Maine Coons too. One of our adopted former-shelter cats is part Maine Coon (probably)…I love pretty much any kitty (or puppy) that is fluffy ;)
@all Fluffy cats + tea = perfection!
Shanti, ah okay. MC is the semi-longhair that I’m most familiar with, but I can’t actually tell them apart, so that’s always my first guess. :) I had an MC and it’s a lovely breed, but I’m so done with semi-longhair. Mine had a deep hatred of brush and comb, so I had the hardest time keeping up with the fur. I’ve decided that if/when I get (hopefully) another cat I really really want a british shorthair. I like the larger breeds and they’re so cute with their round heads. :)