278 Tasting Notes
Thanks to the lovely Cameron B for sharing this tea with me!
Method: 4 balls, 6 oz, 200 degrees, 5 min, banko houhin (Eeeeee!!!!)
Aroma: smells a little malty and roasty. I catch a little hint of cocoa, too.
Flavor: I think it’s pretty solid. It has a nice weight, and a mild malty taste. It only has a bare hint of bitterness, and a slight astringent finish. The flavor lingers nicely. I think this would be a great candidate for a little maple booster, but I didn’t try that yet.
I ended up doing two steeps blended into one mug because the leaves really sucked up a lot of water. Both were 5 minutes long. To sum up – I wouldn’t kick this one out of bed. LOL
Preparation
I have had a very productive day, and I think I may just take a little nappy soon. I had some delicious Elderwood and Autumn Song for breakfast, then the mail came and brought my Verdant order! So I packed up all the samples I owe to Cameron B and started on my first seasoning!!! Because THIS arrived today, and it will be my straight black tea teapot.
http://www.shizentea.com/collections/japanese-tea-pot-kyusu/products/banko-yaki-tea-pot-takumi
Obviously you can’t season a teapot without something to drink, so I brewed this yummy offering from Verdant, the LBCG. After I boiled the new houhin, I used the Verdant Zhu Rong to season it. It’s still in there, just soaking up all the goodness!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124304184@N02/14689863484/
So for the LBCG-
Method: 1 tbsp, 8 oz, 205 degrees, 30 sec, strainer & mug
Aroma: Dark chocolate, rice, toasted things
Flavor: Wow, this is stronger than I expected! It’s really good, but it’s not meek at all! This has a strong black tea flavor along with the roasty goodness you’d expect from a genmaicha. The chocolate is the only quiet thing about this. It’s there, but its more like a hint that you get once in awhile. I seem to be feeling very Terri-style today, so I added a little maple. Om nom nom. :)
Preparation
apt, my boyfriend is Italian and there’s an import store near us that has a deli. So good! And they have desserts too. Really good cannoli. :D
Well, good morning to YOU, too, pretty tea.
First, I would like to say that I put my big girl pants on and broke into this cake yesterday, after hemming and hawing around for several days. It does seem kind of a shame to break up such a lovely and perfect thing as a tea cake, but I got some great advice from my tea friends about starting from the indentation in the back of the cake. This made it easy, and I used extra care, so the cake still looks perfect on the front. It’s all carefully wrapped back up now.
Anyways..
Method: 3.3 g, 3 oz, 198 degrees, 10 sec rinse, 10-15-20 seconds, ru kilk gaiwan & Dr. Who mug
Dry Leaf Aroma: This smells clean and pleasant. A little foresty, but not really earthy. More like trees after a rain.
Brewing Aroma: This has a distinctly apricot smell, like I found in the Heart of the Old Tree 2012, also from Mandala. There’s also a mineral note and a very slight hint of seaweed, but only when I sniff really hard. It’s mainly fruit and fresh tree smells.
Flavor: The 3 steeps indicated above were combined into one mug.
Maybe I will only drink shengs for the rest of my life. I really haven’t had enough of them to say that, but I don’t care. I just love this. There are so many flavors all up in yo face. Being a novice, it’s hard to pick them all out, but I’m having a great time making the attempt.
There’s fruit, then a little bitterness, then a little sweetness, then a little dryness.
MOAR! MOAR! ALL YOUR SHENG ARE BELONG TO US!!!!!
Preparation
Aaaaah Saturday morning yums!!!
Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 200 degrees, 3 minutes, French Press
Dry Leaf Aroma & Brewing Aromas: Chocolate cake. Om nom nom
Flavor: yum! This has lovely cakey and cocoa notes. I wish it was a little sweeter, but that’s easily remedied. I am going to try a second steep and see how that goes!!!
Preparation
I think you can wrap anything in a soft taco shell and it would be good. :)) Would famous Asian Peanut Sauce? That sounds interesting… like Thai peanut sauce?
While I was out on Mission Kimchi, I also bought concentrated tamarind paste? I usually buy blocks of Tamarind to make chutney – hoping that this will be good and take out a step. (Also hoping that I can just add a little to black iced tea….)
As for the kimchi – not sure yet. Probably some sort of noodle stirfry. Garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, veggies, chicken – and then toss in some Kimchi on the plate… that’s the plan, but things change as I cook… never quite sure what I’m going to end up with
I’m feeling so restless today. I want to do something, but I don’t know what I want to do, so I do nothing, then get annoyed with myself and even more restless. Rinse. Repeat.
I was going to try the Elderwood this evening, but I grabbed this instead because I thought it might have a calming effect.
Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 180 degrees, 1.5 min, muggy strainer
Dry Leaf Aroma: wow, gorgeous. Pine/evergreen and a very strong floral, like jasmine
Brewing Aroma: heavier on the floral
Flavor: the floral is first, with some gentle piney notes. Then there’s this fascinating and totally unexpected nutty note. It’s strong, too. It’s also got a creamy feel and a buttery taste. It’s also a little sweet and has a nice lingering aftertaste.
Is it bad that I have a reminder on my calendar to get this in August before the batch is gone?
Edit: Ehrmagerd!!!! 2nd steep. 3.5 min. Sipping this. Yum. Ok yum. What’s that? Holy crap! It’s pine nuts! This tea tastes like little pignolis on the end of the sip. SB- I love you!!!
Preparation
First of all. I need some moral support. I’ve only been drinking my loose pu’erhs because I can’t bring myself to break apart my new pu’erh cakes!!!! They’re just so pretty and perfect, all wrapped up with so much potential!!!
This video is making me super sad LOL
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=th86Ge4fFJs
So this tea…
Method: 1tbsp, 8 oz, 30 sec (1 minute) (1 minute), 208 degrees, brew in mug strainer
Dry Leaf Aroma: Earthy, but with a chocolate note that’s very enticing
Flavor: it tastes a little musty, but smooth, and I’m enjoying the chocolate notes. I guess that earthy sort of note is just the usual for many pu’erhs?
Preparation
I’m just gonna leave this here for now:
Not sure what to make of this. I didn’t follow the instructions because the steeps seemed SO LONG. I did do the three 10-second rinses, then went with this -
Method: 3 g, 3 oz, 208 degrees, 20-30-30 (40-50-60) (60-60-70) seconds, ru kiln gaiwan and Dr. Who mug
Dry Leaf Aroma & Brewing Aroma: Smells earthy
Flavor: Steeped 20-30-30. Blended all those into one mug. Mug 1 tastes earthy. I don’t get much else. It’s a little overwhelming for me. Mug 2 is 40-50-60 seconds blended into one mug. It’s not bad, but I’m not in luuuurve. Then there’s mug 3 with 60-60-70 second steeps. The earthy aroma calmed down and this has a smoothness.
I’m trying really hard to find more complexity and other aromas and flavors, but they aren’t readily apparent to me. I’ll try this again using Mandala’s exact instructions.
One thing I do know is that I think this needs longer rinses, for me anyway.
Preparation
You can always toss the first couple steeps if you are tasting storage. After awhile you will recognize storage tastes. By the time you get to the fourth and fifth you will be getting the tea. I use this method if the storage taste is overwhelming or unpleasant.
I have been excited to try this since my favorite Teacret Agents: TheTeaFairy and MzPriss, posted their reviews from the samples they received. So here we go…
Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 200 degrees, 3 minutes, brew-in-mug strainer & Dr. Who mug
Dry Leaf Aroma: I do not work for WP and I am telling you the honest to goodness truth – this smells EXACTLY like those gooey chocolate covered cherry candies, specifically the ones with the cherry surrounded by cherry goo and vanilla goo, then covered in chocolate. I brought the bag of tea into the living room, and I’m sitting on the couch, opening it and smelling the tea, then closing it to let the aromas accumulate again, then sniffing. It’s like a cherry-vanilla-chocolate heaven.
Brewing Aroma: Oddly, this just smells like tea, with a light creamy note. I don’t smell cherry. I start to get a little sad.
Flavor: I take a sip. Tastes like black tea, with a lovely sweetness, but WHERE’S THE CH…
Ooohhh. There you are, sneaky monkey. The cherry is hiding on the end of the sip, and it’s not on every single sip. However; when it’s there, it’s just lovely.
I have a feeling that this one may even get better with a little age. I have about 8000 lbs of pu’erh to keep me busy for awhile, so I’d like to try not to drink this, let it sit just a couple weeks, then see what’s what.
Even though I know this isn’t scented or flavored with cherry, my mind doesn’t seem willing to believe it. What tea magic is this??? :)
Preparation
If you change your mind and still want me to send you some just say so:-)
I’ve been having it almost every night, that’s why I need a monthly subscription…
Lazy people of the world: please join me because I am about to share the most amazing news about this tea.
There is no need to brew hot, then chill, because this makes an incredible cold brew. MIND = BLOWN
Being a lazy brewer myself, I knew I had to try this cold brewed. I placed all the ingredients in my large libre tea glass with room temp filtered water, then put the whole thing in the fridge overnight. And today: amazeballs chocolatey mapley sweet tea. I made my co-worker try it and she immediately proclaimed me to be a genius.
OK, that last part isn’t true, but she did like it and ask for more. So there you have it!!!
Edit: please note that I heaped the tsps when measuring the tea and berries, so the end result wouldn’t taste weak.
I know, dearest. It did occur to me that if I am going to continue drinking NST at this rate, I’ll need to have the GO auto-shipped once a month of something like that LOL.
My boyfriend just ran me up a mountain, in the woods, in the summer. I thought I might die. But somehow I survived, and I think it could be due to the fact that I knew this tea was getting nice and cold in the fridge for me.
MzPriss was kind enough to share some dried elderberries with me, so that I could try this out. Thanks so much, HoneyBelle!!!!
I ended up adding a little more maple syrup when I got back and tried this for the first time. But this is SO GOOD. It absolutely does taste like maple chocolates. No lie!!!! I’m glad I made a triple batch because this will be a go-to for summer. I can’t wait to make this for the next family gathering. I’m certain that everyone will love it as much as I do. :)
Preparation
Oh, I absolutely do.
On another note, can you please join us over here, HoneyBelle? I need some assistance!
Ooh is that the cute little pot that you just seasoned? :D
Indeed! That’s my new pot for unflavored black teas. So this was my first one in the new pot. Hooray!
So very cute, I can’t wait to get into teaware eventually!
It’s a whole new addiction!!! But super fun. :)
Sars – the vanilla pot is full of win!
My vanilla pot will be here Monday!!!! Can’t wait!!!! Hhhm. I guess I’ll use GO to season that one… Which did you use?
GO of course! I highly recommend that
I’m on it!!!
I used GO also, and it’s FANTASTIC!!!!
I’m really interested to try the vanilla teas in the banko clay, and I wonder if the clay type had any influence here. I keep reading that this type of clay makes astringency lighter, makes tea sweeter, and unifies the flavors.
It just seems like a lot of claims! But if you’re starting with quality tea, maybe there’s something to it. I’ll probably season the vanilla pot and do a taste test with the banko vs regular glazed porcelain.
Of course, I’ll be using GO for that taste test! Speaking of which… I need to order more!!!
I will tell you, it hurt my feelings a little bit to use that much GO for seasoning – but I look at it as an investment in the future. After seasoning the Tea Hobbit way, in a bath over a warmer for several hours, I decided it was COMPLETELY worth it. I LOVE the way the Go tastes in the vanilla seasoned pot. And I keep thinking about how good it is now and how much better it will just keep getting. I think the warmer is key.
I did the unflavored black pot on the stove on low heat yesterday for 2.5 hours or so. worked great!!!!