260 Tasting Notes

87
drank Orange Ginger by Samovar
260 tasting notes

And now, to complete my axis of [not-quite-evil] tea reviews for tonight:

5 MINUTES 30 SECONDS. 5 MINUTES 30 SECONDS. 5 MINUTES AND 30 FREAKING SECONDS!!!!!!

If you have been reading my previous notes on this tea, you will know what this means. [And even if you haven’t been, you might be able to figure it out because you’re smart.] Feed the birds.

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81
drank Lychee Black by Samovar
260 tasting notes

I love to smell this tea.

If this tea were household products, I would be in an elementary school PSA about huffing aerosol cans. [How 1990’s am I?]

Drinking it is certainly nice, too, but I need to play around with the steep times a bit because I think I tend to brew it weak.

Hey, Trish McEvoy! Want to make me a lychee candle? Kthx.

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84
drank Maiden's Ecstasy by Samovar
260 tasting notes

Today’s overcast day filled of greyness and puppy fecal matter told me that drinking a nice hot cup of earth might make me feel better.

It also told me it might wake me up a bit.

I can confirm on both accounts.

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87
drank Orange Ginger by Samovar
260 tasting notes

Apparently, the amount of time you should steep this tea is approximately put-it-in-the-infuser-and-then-forget-to-pay-attention. [If that sounds unfamiliar, it’s probably because it’s part of the metric system.]

Flavor is light and citrus-y, but becomes slightly more intense as you breathe in. Like it’s being absorbed by your tongue.

This is by far one of my favorite drink-before-sleeping teas, but it’s even better when I get the steep time right. [Let it sit too long and this one will get extremely strong. Like knock you upside of the head strong.] I just burned my tongue and it was totally worth it.

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100
drank Yunnan Golden Buds by Samovar
260 tasting notes

Shh…

We’re not going to talk about how long it’s been since I’ve logged a tea. In my defense I’ve been devoured by and residing in the bowels of schoolwork. Today I decided that for my own mental sanity I needed to put the books down for a few minutes [and Top Chef is on a commercial break]. Long preamble to simple question short: should you feel special because I’ve decided to spend some of my not-banging-my-head-against-my-desk-time to write this for you?

Short answer: probably not.

Longer answer: but if you do, have some warm fuzzies courtesy of me and the internets.

I tend to drink a lot of the same tea, so…I figure you can only hear about how much I want to marry the same four or five teas from Samovar x number of times. [Yes, that’s how I roll.]

However, the lack of money [being a student is over-rated] and time [ditto] has led to the need to branch out into my tea stash a little bit more.

Not that this is at all a bad thing, because as fall is beginning to waft into Virginia, I find the hot cup of Yunnan Golden Bud in front of me to be deeply satisfying. It’s got a bit of sweetness to it, but more of a brown sugar kind of sweetness. There are many different tastes that swirl around in this tea, but my palate isn’t nearly sophisticated enough to pick them out. I can tell you, though, that the flavor profile sings of autumn to me – it’s deep and rich and would probably be awesome with something heavy and savory. Oooh, like potato torte.

Oh my god I could really eat some potato torte right now. Want to make me one? I’ll split it with you!

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97
drank Ryokucha by Samovar
260 tasting notes

It is occurring to me how funny word “drank” looks. Maybe it’s because I find it difficult to disassociate it with any number of rap/hip-hop/R&B songs about getting your drank on. But I digress.

As I sit here, sipping on my Ryokucha, a couple of thoughts [other than Akon warbling something about dranking in a distant corner of my brain] are crossing my mind.

One, is that this tea is completely different from anything else that I drink. I love that about it, but given that there are already a number of mixed reviews on here, I think it’s safe to say that it’s not for everyone.

Two, is that I had some coffee the other day I am beginning to realize just how imbalanced [which is really just me trying to undermine the word crazy] it makes me. I talk like I’m on speed, and I can’t focus on what I’m doing. Granted, it makes for some…interesting…blog entries from time to time. I also imagine that I’m either incredibly entertaining or hugely obnoxious to those around me, but for general everyday waking up, tea is so much less taxing.

The matcha in this Ryokucha always gives me a nice little boost, which helps especially when it’s grey and rainy out, like it is now, and I need to get some work done, also like I do now. [The deterrence of steepster in terms of getting work done, I won’t comment on.]

It IS slightly vegetal, and the rice makes it smell a little bit like breakfast cereal, but it does have a bit of a sweet aftertaste. This is a tea that I like more the more I drink it. What I can recommend to you, is that you concentrate more on what it does to you mentally for the first few cups while you let yourself get used to it, and then take it from there.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get my drank on and try to crank out some of this work that’s sitting in front of me.

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87
drank Orange Ginger by Samovar
260 tasting notes

I JUST FOUND THE MAGICAL STEEPING TIME FOR THIS TEA.

Did I time how long I steeped it for?

No.

Was I at all paying attention as I was making it?

No.

Why?

Because I was too busy clicking on twitter and watching, of all things, Dumb and Dumber.

Dumb and Dumber.

I don’t even really like Dumb and Dumber. If there were ever to be an award for most appropriate movie title to coordinate with simultaneously occurring human behavior, I think I’d be at least nominated, because I just took a sip of this tea and it’s like rainbows and ponies and I think I just saw Jesus riding a unicorn pass by my window.

So I’m going to just savor this cup in front of me because while this tea is good, and I’ve had quite a bit of it, it’s never been THIS good.

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to teagasm all over your web browser. Seriously, though, this is good stuff. Does anyone have a cigarette?

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94
drank Moorish Mint by Samovar
260 tasting notes

Sweet baby Jesus, I love this tea. The proportion of the mint is just right – enough that it gives you that tingle, but gently. I’ve also found that a couple of deep breaths to inhale the scent every now and then does magical things for clearing the head. Definitely ordering the big tin when I run out of this one.

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85
drank Ocean of Wisdom by Samovar
260 tasting notes

Stressed out and looking to relax. Enter: Ocean of Wisdom. I haven’t had this for a while. I forgot how awesome it is. Mmmmm.

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97
drank Ryokucha by Samovar
260 tasting notes

Woke up with a little bit of this earlier today. Feeling downright peppy.

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Former coffeeist, turned teaite. Lover of writing, reading, photography, and music. Traveler of life. Known to be ridiculous on occasion.

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