13 Tasting Notes

I received this tea as a sample from Joshua – thank you!

The dry leaves smell a lot like the Chinese dried plums that I loved to eat when I was little. I followed the directions and used 2 tsp/cup in boiling water for 3 minutes. The resulting brew was a pretty amber color. I’m not sure if I used too many leaves or accidentally oversteeped, but it was quite bitter. However, I do also get a maltiness and a fruitiness. It does pack a punch, so I think it’s great as an early morning wake-up tea! I rarely take my tea with milk, but I think this tea would be good with some milk.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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90

Unfortunately, no brandy involved in making this tea. =P

This tea smells amazing – the dry leaves have a sweet flowery aroma. I brewed this gongfu style 1tsp (my scale died… =( ) in 120mL starting at 10s. The first three steeps were super strong. It tasted exactly like described – like honey and molasses. There was also a slight flower aftertaste. The later steeps were fainter, but still tasted like I was drinking honey. I will have to also try this western style!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIX6oFKBNfz
Bunny was a fan of this tea too! https://www.instagram.com/p/BIX60dAhenL/

tperez

Aww the bunny!

Whimsical Aria

He’s my tea drinking companion! (I call him Mr. Fluffybutt) =P

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90

Whoa, I totally understand why this tea is so highly rated and popular! It’s amazing! I didn’t want to wait for the tea to cool before tasting, so I I took a sip with a spoon, and before I realized, I had sipped almost half of the cup! I taste honey, butter, and cream. There’s a floral aftertaste that has me going “mmmm.”

Unfortunately, this tea doesn’t re-steep too well – I was only able to get 2 steeps (1 and 2 min) out of it. However, this is definitely going on my re-purchase list!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Rasseru

roswell strange got 16 steeps – time for you to start the magical world of gongfu-ing tea me thinks. I much prefer tea this way now :)

Whimsical Aria

I recently picked up a 120ml super cute little teapot so I’ll definitely try this gongfu some time! =D

Rasseru

perfect size! I use 120ml gaiwans :)

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Fujian Shou Mei White Tea Ball from What-Cha

I received this as a mystery white tea. The tea comes in individually wrapped balls. I’m not very familiar with white and definitely not ones that come compressed into balls! The instructions recommend 1 ball/cup of 90C water for 1-2min. However, I wanted to try my new tiny 120mL teapot so I dropped used one ball, 90C, 30s, adding 10s each re-steep.

The wet leaves smell quite medicinal – reminds me of chinese medicine! Fortunately, the brew tasted a lot better. It tastes quite mellow and relaxing. There’s a hint of honey, nuts, and a slight astringency. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much fruitiness that was advertised on the package. However, this was quite a yummy tea!

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This tea is definitely interesting! On opening the package, I was hit by the strong scent of rum. I’ve never had tea that tastes like alcohol so I was super excited to try it!

I used 3g in about 8oz of boiling water for 1min. The brew smelled like rum and something kind of… mushroomy? earthy? muddy? which is probably the puerh coming through. I couldn’t taste much rum in the beginning, but the rum flavor started coming through as the tea cooled. There was also a hint of sweetness that complemented the alcohol flavor very well.

This tea is very unique, but probably wasted on me since I still haven’t learned to like alcohol yet! I might brew some of this for my more alcohol-loving friends to try.

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95

This is for the Spring 2016 harvest.

Wow this tea is amazing! I really love high mountain teas, so I ordered a sample of this – should’ve gotten a larger bag! The liquid is a very pretty light glowing amber color. It’s very smooth and slightly floral. Had me going “mmm” every sip! I bought a tumbler of this to my all-day test and it got me through the day.

I western brewed this, but I will try gongfu with the rest of my sample to reveal the complexities of the flavor.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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88

Actually, this is my first jasmine scented tea! The dry leaves smelled soooo bright and flowery. I steeped it according to package instructions – 1tsp at 80C for 2.5min. The resulting tea was really flowery. I don’t know what jasmine is suppose to taste like but it reminded me of lychee! I really liked it, but it was slightly overpowering. Maybe I’ll try a shorter brewing time or less leaves next time. I cold-steeped the remains and the resulting brew had a light jasmine taste that was amazing. I will have to try more jasmine-scented tea in the future!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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95

This tea is great! The dry leaves have a strong aroma of sticky rice – mmm! We’re off to a good start! =D

I steeped 1tsp (2-3g?) in a cup at 80C for 2min, adding 30s for each subsequent steep. It tastes exactly like sticky rice! I was concerned that the aroma/taste would be overpowering, but it’s perfect for me. The tea is sweet and comforting. It would be perfect for the wintertime! Or really, any time!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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90

This tea is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also delicious! The tea is very smooth, rich, and slightly sweet and creamy. It tastes a lot like honey. Mmmm. Reminds me of sitting by the fireplace with a nice hot drink. It’s a very comforting tea, but still has that oomph to wake you up in the morning. The 2nd steeping is sweeter and less bold, but continues to have that smoothness that I really enjoy about this tea.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 7 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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This tea smells like the strawberry Kellogg’s protein bar! It tastes exactly how it smells – there’s a warm toastiness from the genmaicha and a tartness from the berries. I’m not the biggest fan of tart tasting teas, so next time, I might add some sugar or try cold brewing it.

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