Popular Tasting Notes
I’ve had a discussion recently about bread notes in tea, and it made me think about which tea in my collection was the “breadiest”.
This won my vote.
To me, it smells and tastes like dark crispy sourdough bread crust.
I also have some Yunnan blacks in my collection that have yeasty notes, but nothing feels as baked goods as this tea.
It’s pastry like, with a very distinctive fruity taste, a little boozy also. Makes me think of raisins soaked in rum for some reason.
Also, it’s bug bitten. So yeah, welcome honey sweet tastes, with zero astringency.
I’ve reviewed it many times, not much else to say…it’s already a fact that this tea is spectacular.
A must try.
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
All of the vanilla teas with real vanilla beans get better with a little age They get smoother and even more lovely. I am enjoying a cup right along with you right now.
Yep, that’s what I was thinking, schmoopie. I know that my GO improves with a little time, so I hoped this would be the same. Not that it’s bad AT ALL. I just think it’s the sort to mellow nicely and get smooooooth, like buttah.
(It’s subbliminal cherries!!!) Yay, glad you like this one….I like it so much, I ordered the poster to have it framed in my kitchen, lol. (And I would love to get me a few beans of that tahitian vanilla!)
I have some sort of vanilla beans… I wonder what kind. I will have to look!
I gotta try this with some fresh cherries. Or dried cherries. Or cherry pie. Or some of that coconut cream.
Yes! Some sort.
Oh I did cherry compote with the Terricreme
I know, I’m still gushing over that picture!
Pics, pls. And speaking of, I posted my pu haul for you on the Today’s Mail post, but here it is again.
https://www.flickr.com/x/t/0090009/photos/124304184@N02/14672325832/
Also, picture, in your mind, my new shelf on the wall above this table. It’s white. And it will have my cute little yixing gaiwans when they arrive from far away lands. Can’t wait!
(Sars that photo makes ME happy and it’s not even MY tea….)
Lord…I’m in awe. Best “starter kit” ever!!!! Actually, this will not only start you, it will last you for the next five years!!!
There’s a saying: Go Big or Go Home. LOL I went big!!!!
I really do need to stop now. For realz. I have a few things I want if the Butiki sale happens, and then I want some sleeping bear and jabber. But that’s it. Two orders. Then NO MORE TEA.
I know I am (sort of) a grown up, and I should show some self-restraint, that’s not really my thing. Moral support will be appreciated!!! Whatever it takes! Dex: please drive to PA and hip check me if I even LOOK at a new tea! :p
Got it – Butiki sale and TWO teas from WP… and then no looking – but for how long? What’s the goal?
I think there are a bunch of us who should be stopping, and we should be supporting each other – not that I would complain about a trip to PA for a little enforcing… ;))
Good questions… At least 2 months. Hopefully more. The goal, beyond not buying more than I can drink, is to be happy with what I have. That’s more of a personal Sarsy goal.
Also, I am going to stop enabling all of you! Instead, I think we should find new ways to enjoy our existing teas, either by mixing, icing or mixing and then icing.
Maybe we need to do a google+ Teahab Support Meeting once a month or something.
Oh, and I am cancelling my subscription services.
I know it’s going to be hard for all of you but you HAVE to stop reading about tea and looking at websites and seeing what everyone else is drinking. I didn’t have a problem as big as yours might be, but it was a problem. I was spending money I didn’t have on tea. I mean if I had the cash maybe I wouldn’t have worried. But I was borrowing money (credit card) to buy tea. So I kinda stopped looking around at all the tea I didn’t have. I read steepster notes but without focusing on the specifics. So “oh my god, that sounds so good, what tea is THAT?” turned into “that’s nice, she’s having a good time”.
I made a purpose of not looking up websites of tea companies. Cause once you’re there the pictures are pretty and they show juicy cherries or something equally colourful.
there’s always gonna be tea and no matter how much you try, you can’t drink all the tea because the tea makers just blend new stuff all the time. So just forget that. But hey, keeping up with the jones’ is an old, old habit. And if you do have the money, I don’t really see a problem with pleasuring oneself :)
I know, it’s unsolicited, but your chatter was inviting.
Good thoughts, Nxtdoor. I’m not going into tea-debt or anything, but I do (just as part of my personality) tend to go overboard on things in life, not just tea.
I have a good selection of teas now and I think it’s time to focus on enjoying them, which is what I plan to do. :)
Unless you get high on buying, not so much on drinking. Like someone I know, not naming names!
I get high both on buying and drinking :-o
Seriously, I totally understand what you are saying nxtdoor and thanks for bringing that out of genuine concern..,
I joke a lot about it all but things are not as out of control as they seem…oh, they are in the sense I could totally put that money somewhere else, but I don’t have kids and have pretty much only myself to take care of… But it is definitely an addiction, not gonna lie…
Totally agree, TTF. We have quite a few parallels.
I am guilty of retail therapy and I like shopping, but I genuinely love tea. I also joke around about my tea addiction, but I haven’t taken out a 2nd mortgage or anything. :)
Also, no kids, so no one is impacted by my little sprees!
I go back and forth with these attitudes:
-Life is short! Spend it all! Have fun!!!! Wheeeee!
And
- I am an adult. I will behave with decorum. Look at how grown up I can be.
What LTF said. I could do other things with the $ nand really I have too much tea – but it’s GREAT tea and I really am figuring out what I love and getting rid of the things I just HAD to try and now I have some and don’t LOVE it. And I got more mail just now. I got some HOT COWBOY and a pot. But SHOULD I slow down? Absolutely.
OMG! Which was the hot cowboy? The HOTOT right?
Yes ma’am
These days, and I mean by that in the last 2 months, I hardly bought any tea I dislike. That’s why I keep writing raving reviews, cause I pretty much only drink the teas I love. I’m also getting rid of all the stuff I don’t like and buying those allowed me to figure out what I definitely DON’T like.
And HOT COWBOY…and that pot…lol, thats all it took to get me going again.
(P
You know that’s me too – I’m just drinking stuff I don’t LOVE. I’m rooting around for last little bit of SB
I think I’ll make that in the AM, HoneyBelle. Last time I had it, I felt happy and serene. Seems like a great way to start my day!
I only have enough for one little cup because I only had a sample and I didn’t know how awesome it was and by the time I did, this month’s was already sold out.
I got a sample today. But I did talk to Brenden about it. He gave me the timeline, so I’ll be sure to get some of the August harvest. That’s one of my pre-approved purchases. :p
Good sleepytime tea
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…
I’m going to try my sample tomorrow night. I love a good evening tea to wind down the day with.
So, Sil is safely on the other side of the country, so what better time to do the Great Earl Grey Tea-Off Competition!
I have A&D’s Mount Gray, Hugo’s Grey Line and Justea’s Kathyrne Earl Grey… who will win as the best EG? Will I even notice any differences? Let’s find out!
I started by pouring ½ a perfect DavidsTea’s spoon into 3 different color coded cups. The I poured in roughly 6oz of 205F water, and I steeped them for 4 minutes.
Initial impressions:
I had to re-pour them into different cups because I realized they needed to have the same color inside for comparison. Whoops! So now that they are all in white cups I can tell that the Hugo tea is a much darker colour than the other two. It’s a reddish orange, while the other two are yellow-orange. Justea’s is probably a bit more orange than the A&D.
I sniffed them and they all smelled pretty much the same, except for Justea which was a bit earthier.
First sips:
A&D’s – smooth EG. Nothing to complain about. Bergamot lingers but doesn’t quite cross that too perfumy line.
Hugo’s – not quite so smooth – feels like there’s a little more going on in this cup, although it’s hard to put my finger on it. Bergamot is not quite as present as the A&D cup. I almost get peach or something with it.
Justea’s – this is quite a different animal! It’s musky and dark and the bergamot is fairly strong. Not a subtle cup!
Finishing the cups:
A&D’s seems to be the least complicated of the three. It’s an EG and it knows that and it’s not going to mess around. The base makes me think of a Yunnan black with the subtlest of honey notes, but maybe that’s because I’ve had the other two to compare it with. Overall? A solid EG that I’m guaranteed to enjoy! I know that this one re-steeps well but I’ve only re-used the leaves once.
Hugo’s almost has woody notes to it. At least after trying it after the A&D, that was the most obvious thing I noticed. It smells like lemon too! Along with the woody notes, I still feel like there’s a peach or some kind of fruit note in there. It’s a complex cup. Apparently it’s good for 3 re-steeps too!
Justea’s tea is better once it cools. It loses some of the musk (or whatever it is?) and mellow just a bit. I also can really smell the lemon and it makes me think of lemon cake because of the richness. I definitely enjoy this cup the more I drink of it, but the base tea is one that I’m still not completely used to and it distract me a little bit until I’m at least 1/3 done the cup.
OVERALL: Hugo’s Grey Line seems to be my favourite, although A&D’s Mt Gray is nothing to dismiss. Justea’s Kathryne Grey is enjoyable but one I crave less often due to the base.
Preparation
I love how scientific you made your study :-)
(part of me feels obligated to say “ewwww blergamont” on Sil’s behalf)
Nice comparison though. It’s interesting when you try similar teas together, because the differences suddenly really stand out. :))
Haha, Cavo, Sil might be away, but Dexter is around!!!
Great review!
I’m still watching you….I almost picked up the EG you wanted from out here today too but then I couldn’t remember what else we wanted if anything….
I definitely want the Grapefruit EG because it was surprisngly good. I’m not sure what else is available becasue their menu isn’t up to doate, but basically any of the chocolate blends I am interested in. The fruit blends were not as good as other tea companies, but Divine Temptation and Creme Brulee are good. I think those are the two that OMGSrsly blends together as a custom mix.
And thanks guys. :D It was fun to do a for-serious tea review for once!
Grapefruit EG? Where can I get that?
@Marzipan – I got it from Bayswater in Vancouver: http://www.bayswatertea.com
There website is really out of date but they will ship if you email them. Maybe they can send you a current menu as well?
I asked them today. Their website is only missing about 20 of he their teas, the prices are wrong (though not by much supposedly) I tried to get a new menus to take home and the woman seemed offended I would ask…. “Well just go to our website” me: oh is it up to date now? “Well no.” Me……..
Sil, does your real name happen to be Karen and were you friends with my friend, also Karen, who lived in Minneapolis?
Haha nope, sorry to disappoint..,in real life I go by sarah ;)
Sil – Um. Wow. Omg.
Y’know, I wouldn’t be that put out if you never went back there. That’s just awful.
Great comparison review!
Cavo…naw I liked the walk. It was all good. Plus I’ll likely pick up divine and creme….maybe one other. Then it’ll be off to steam :)
Do you know what you want from Steam? I didn’t see anything, but I don’t think I’ve had anything from there before. When I went into their store I wasn’t super impressed because all the prices were hidden/hard to find and I wanted to stealth browse without talking to anoyone.
If you see any great chocolate ones, grab me 50g of that from Bayswater!
Heh. Awesome! I find JusTea’s really, really easy to oversteep and overleaf… when I brew it “correctly”, I really love it (and blergamot is so not my thing).
Sil, just checking! I knew a Karen who went by Sil who was into tea, so I had to make sure!
NP mj
Cavo – after dark is the one I must get. Omg sent me some and I really enjoyed it….I think there was at least one other but I can’t recall yet…just woke up after a 12 hour nap
Sil, Chocolate Macchiato from Bayswater was pretty good. And Cavo, Steam makes a yummy maple tea :)
Oh, that one does sound really good! I’d split it, unless you’d rather keep 100g of it to yourself! The Hazelberry Puerh sounds good too!
Is the grapefruit one that isn’t on the site or is it called something else?
Yeah, it’s not on the site. It’s a new one they brought out last year – I assume it’s still there?
It is. I made sure to check for it
Azz this sample is being drank with great appreciation towards you. I’m also glad that I did not make the mistake to totally dismiss this tea, for I had made a small amount of a Spring Tieguanyin and found it to be bitter, problem is it was earlier on and I very well may have messed it up. I don’t think I messed it up this time…
A jolly little drink to be sure. Flavors jumped out at me too fast to pen with the first few sips, so I will try to get what I can out of it.
I followed the well written and informative directions to a TEA (yukyuk). At first I noticed a creamy/buttery mouthfeel that was saturated with a floral sweetness. We had honeysuckle growing thickly on a fence so I feel informed enough to agree with the description as to this part. I tasted the orchid note as well.
As the drink cooled the green flavors started to surface, though with such a faint astringency that I, AWM (see comments on Bananas Foster), was able to overlook it. The grassiness was not super strong either.
I’m on the third steep now and surprised at how strong this is still going. It’s changed without deminishing. There’s some kind of mouthfeel that reminds me of chicken noodle soup, though clean and not oily at all. I guess it’s the overall presence being bold, yet light, that impressions me with soup broth/stock.
The quality of this tea is obvious. I would definitely suggest this to others.
Preparation
I think you should program a shortcut into your computer so that when you type AWM it types out “Astringency Weenie Man.” I know you can do this because youngest programmed our desktop to change her sister’s name to “Booger.” Sigh. Discovered this on the first day of our homeschool year last year when I was trying to type schedules and I didn’t know how to undo it.
Oh man, Ashmanra, your little guy sounds hilarious! Kids are getting so technologically advanced with their pranks. :D
Ashmanra I love your kids sense of humor! That’s just too funny!
Hey, Zim! I didn’t know your username was a from a cartoon until I just about gave everyone a stroke when they were going through Netflix. I screamed, “WAIT! GO BACK! That’s my friend in Steepster!” So we watched an episode. Heehee!
Lol, yes it is! It’s a nickname someone, who liked the show, gave me because of my last name. It is a pretty good cartoon show too, although I do prefer Gir. :)
Mmmmm, this is such an amazing tea. It’s a shame I was only able to purchase an ounce. I may have to go steep some up right now….
I like this one-it was one of the 1st that I ever ordered from Verdant-that and the Autumn from last fall.
This is mighty good.
I’m inaugurating a new bright yellow and blue Gaiwan, I love it!
I don’t drink Dancong as much as I should. I like them only Gongfu style. They are so full of nuances and surprises, I find it all gets lost in a large cup.
This one is super fruity. Roasted bittersweet citrus notes are the stars here, at least during the first 3 steeps.
Have you ever grilled Ruby Red grapefruits on the BBQ? You caramelize them slowly and brush them with honey. They get sweeter, but they remain bitter at the same time. This is what is tastes like.
The taste lingers and lingers…
Then it gets more roasty and woodsy, I get incense and sandalwood notes, that’s even more present in the scent than in the taste itself. It also becomes spicier and richer, but the finish is a nice floral. Told you it was full of surprises!
It also gets sweeter, my lips tastes like honey after each sips…(it’s not my lip gloss, not wearing any!)
I made up my mind, this is the dark oolong I’m choosing to season one of my yixing pots this week end…
It is totally worthy!
Nice! Have fun with seasoning!
This sounds lovely.
Mmmmm Dancong my fave
This sounds good…as does the grapefruit on the grill. Just honey? Direct or indirect heat?
Thanks boychik, I’m sure it’ll be fun :-)
The tea is really good, and it steeps forever!!
Cheri, I cut them in half, and brush them with just a little coconut oil, then I put them face down on the grill, indirect heat. When they are well caramelized, I glaze them with honey face up otherwise it would stick all over your grill. It’s a quick dessert when you have people over during summer and it makes you look really smart even though it’s so easy! I serve them now with Terri’s coconut whipped cream instead of vanilla ice cream. yum, I think I’m gonna make some now, lol!
TTF, that sounds amazing and pretty easy. Thanks!
Yummo
Oh, and the same with pineapples, also delish!!
I need some pics of this new gaiwan :)
Beautiful description, & so spot on! I need to have a session with this tea, it’s been awhile.
I almost made coconut whip cream today. I picked blackberries, & really wanted to use my almond flour pancake recipe to make little shortcakes, with the berries & whipped cream, but I didn’t really have time to do all that, so I ended up just eating them instead.
Thanks Terri..and that cream is so NOM!!! My CocoTerriWhip :-)
Haha! Here it is just for you Sarsonator…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14322089098/in/photostream
Lovely!!!! It’s so pretty!
I would like to add that I discovered grilled watermelon this year and it is fabulous as well. Especially if you use it in a caprese salad with mozzarella basil and a little balsamic omg!!
Grilled peaches sprinkled with brown sugar and apples the same way are nice too.
And figs! Grilled figs – also with the coconut whip or with vanilla ice cream.
New gaiwan??? Oh! Pretty! It’s other Mandala one besides the pink one right? I oogled it too :)
I have some of this tea too. Maybe tomorrow morning. I had kind if forgotten about it.
Lol, i love how these threads turn into food fest! Great suggestions everyone :-)
mzPriss, I came so close to buy the pink one!
Beautiful Gaiwan!
Grilled watermelon…never even considered that! I have several sugar babies in my garden, so I might have to give it a try, although I can’t have the mozzarella, but I have some kickass balsamic!
Stephanie, that sounds amazing.
Those two tigers are head to head and create magic in my cup this morning!
Thanks to the wonderful and very generous Terri Harplady, I finally get to experience what Devotea is all about.
I chose this tea first cause with the name, I assumed it would be a good tea of the morning. If this stuff is an accurate representation of the company, well I am impressed!
The smell first. My grandfather was a farmer and worked really hard. At noon, he would come to eat lunch and my grandma always prepared a nice pot of strong black tea with sugar for him, just the way he liked it. The aroma took over the whole kitchen and I loved it so much as a child. My grandpa would let me have a few sips, winking at me.
The smell of this tea just reminded me of those special days, and I am already thankful for that…It’s super fragrant.
It says “a blend of Indian and Chinese teas” in the description…Assam for sure, and I am assuming Yunnan cause this tea offers boldness and mellowness at the same time.
First I taste a “bang” from the Assam and a light astringency, but I immediately get some comfort and softness from the earthiness and sweetness of the yunnan, (if that’s what it is).
There’s a very light touch of smoke in this tea, and though I’m not a fan of that usually, in this case it’s not offensive, it rather brings all the flavours together.
I am delighted I got to try this wondrful tea, thank you so much for choosing it for me Terri :-)
this story is beautiful. My grandpa has a special place in my heart.
Im in love with this tea. Do you know that AmazonV decided to make it tea of the month because of my constant whining.
Haha! Didn’t know it was a favourite of yours, now I’m gonna read your review…
Plwa
Please excuse my lack of knowledge but what is AmazonV? (Lol, I’m Canadian, remember?) Is that a special place for tea on Amazon that I’m unaware of???
(Haha, What the heck is “plwa” and what is it doing in my comment ????)
AmazonV is a Steepster member. She works for Devotea US
I’m going with “perfectly lovely wonderful assam”. Yep.
Lol, the minute you said Amazon, I was like, OMG more tea available to me please!! I know who you are talking about now :-)
Cameron B.: Hahahah!!!
pls read the comments of my note TheTeaFairy. you, Canadian friend is cracking me up (good laugh only);-)
http://steepster.com/boychik/posts/245567#comments
“OMG more tea available to me please!! " you are priceless ;-)
you need more tea???!!!!i can send you some. i now have an experience
Boychik, I read all the comments, lol, it’s good to be persistent :-)
Noooooo!!!! I don’t need more tea!! (345!!!) I just want more all the time, it’s a curse!!!
i dont think im far from you, i didnt log all the teas. i dont want to scare myself with the number
….i just got more tea. i’m afraid…
Lol, how much more???
Sil, don’t be afraid. Just accept it and enjoy. And we all know how good you are at sipdowns.
teafairy… i WAS at 205…aiming for under 200 by this weekend… bonny put me back up at 231 lol boychik…yes but sometimes sip downs are solo tiring…especially when you have like 131 small cups to drink hahaha
…and uh i might have one more swap, two travelling tea boxes and uh two orders still on their way bwahahaha
(i also really wanted to place a WP order tonight but i’m still sick and so sleep is taking over lol)
Poor girl…will you ever get rid of that flu/virus??
You made this one sounds wonderful!
I thought they decided to discontinue this one??
Thanks TeaTiff, it’s a wonderful tea…
Teabrat, I got it from a swap, but read the comments on boychik’s link just above.
I love this one too. What is this about it being the tea of the month?
@terri harplady i re-blended it for the tea of the month club – the website appears broken so i can no longer handle orders outside email until i have time next weekend to find a new host. :( 1 left i think
I am not proud to admit this, but I grunted when I tasted this tea. Not a mmmmm or an ahhhh but an absolute grunt like a pig. It touched the primal vanilla loving animal in me (who I have just discovered is porcine). I guess it could have been worse — at least I didn’t oink!
A subtle and delicious vanilla bean flavor. Slightly rubbery/tarry/dark (that’s a compliment) and the tea base is WONDERFUL. Smooth and flavorful and not the least bit bitter. Extremely elegant. Perfect. I’m drinking it with some sugar and milk, and it’s just lovely. Harney and Sons describes it as baking sugar cookies with your grandmother, but I completely disagree. It’s more like being served shortbread with your grandmother…the Dowager Countess!
…which makes my grunt even more inappropriate! I hope I can learn to control myself around this tea!
In short, I love it.
Preparation
I ordered a sample of it with my last order and drank 4 cups back to back!
This one is definitely on my shopping list thanks to your review, oink!
Oh man… I need to try this!
Is this your first time having Vanilla Black? This is one I had to buy by the pound because my youngest went through it so fast!
Might have to try this one!
I like the grunt admission!
Vanilla loving porcine. I love it.
Fabulous, absolutely.
Lovely note, Jackie. ‘It’s more like being served shortbread with your grandmother…the Dowager Countess!’ I miss elegant teas, I haven’t had any in a while and I see what you mean.
ashmanra – I knew I was going to love it because your daughter loved it so much, but I didn’t know I was going to grunt! I was waiting until I was finished my other vanilla tea before I bought this one. I think I found a new cupboard staple, to put it mildly!
Oh, my..I don’t know which I’d enjoy more: tea with Maggie Smith or tea with E.B. White (with Charlotte in the corner busily spinning SOME TEA.)
I am glad you found a new, grunt-worthy tea love! It is delicious! Daughter was in such a panic about running out when she was about twelve that a friend gave us four ounces to tide her over until my order could arrive. Said friend also ordered it by the pound, LOL! And I did pay her back! :)
stares in awe
OMG ITS SOOOO GOOD
New favorite tea omnomnomnommn
I get the box with 25g of each tea in it. eep excite!
This one is thick, in such a good way. Edit: Okay folks, this tea tastes like pumpkin. No fakes, no extract, it tastes like pure real pumpkin goodness.
I make my own pumpkin chai by steeping regular chai in milk and adding pumpkin spice & a can of pumpkin. This is totally on par, and way less work.
I actually can’t wait for fall so I can drink this all day every day. I can wait for winter, however.
Sigh what am I saying, I have to enjoy the hot weather while it lasts!!
(In Saskatchewan, where I live, the summers reach a high of +40 C and the winters a low of -50 C ) Convert that to F and then come talk to me. haha
I don’t like pumpkin and was so sad this tea came back again. I’m glad you like it though!!
To be fair to both you and the tea, it is the only tea I haveever tried that actually DOES taste exactly like pumpkin!
The other teas in the fall collection smell AMAZING though, maybe one of them will make you even happier ^^
You added….. A CAN OF PUMPKIN?! Oh dammmm
Now for Halloween I want to roast a pumpkin in the oven and use it as a punch bowl. I see that ending in disaster, though.
You could use a pumpkin as a punch bowl if you didn’t roast it. It’d be less likely to fall apart on you. : )
yes agreed! If you scrape it out deep it could be a good punchbowl. Just need a strong arm and a big spoon
But uncooked, wouldn’t it affect the taste weirdly?
Probably! haha but when I think of a cooked pumpkin I think of when they sit on the counter and get all mushy. But I guess if you get all the meat out it would harden hey?
This calls for an experiment….
Uncooked would definitely be more firm and less likely to explode everywhere. If you let it dry a day or two, it seems like it might be less likely to affect the taste? I honestly don’t know!
I NEED A PUMPKIN. gets labcoat and crazy scientist goggles
pictures or it didn’t happen >_> haha it’s not pumpkin season here yet but maybe I’ll give it a try for my Halloween party! As long as I don’t forget and carve a face in it first. I love carving punkins ^^
My wife does too, when I get one, I’ll have to hide it from her XD
I only buy one pumpkin a year and it is always for carving. Luckily, the beau likes to eat the seeds. He always wants me to make a pie, but I like to look at my carving too long and it tends to mold. Ugh!
I roasted my own pumpkin once, made a cheesecake with it, enjoyed it, and promptly went back to using canned pumpkin XD
hahaha amen to that!
homemade pumpkin pie, delicious but way too much work.
I feel the same about thehomemade pecan pie I made. I spilled thick syrup all over my oven and floor and it tasted just like a bought pie. So eff that. I’m buying them from now on too.
Oh no, now, see, I’m from Tennessee. You don’t buy pecan pies. You just plain don’t. You make them from scratch or by god, you do without! XD
haha I was hoping someone from the south would set me right!
Pecan pies aren’t something you find around here anyways, hey wait you’re in Canada now correct? Mind if I invite myself over a few provinces for pie? :)
XD Absolutely. Next time you’re in Toronto, let me know .
I apologise for the store bought pies, I didn’t mean to shame the good pecan pie! I just shame the sticky floor and burnt sugar in my oven n_n
I live in Saskatchewan as well and I totally agree that this tea is awesome on a really cold day, especially as a latte!
Oh, a fellow Reginan – yay! (Although I like in soggy Vancouver now) I just had to add that this tea is awesome on a cold, sopping wet day as well :-)
Yay hello fellow Reginan!
My bf and I were sooo close to moving to Vancouver too! Instead we’re moving to Halifax in 3 months. Yay no more -50 winters :D
Whoa. Moving to Halifax, you say? It’s not so bad here, though very rainy in the last few years. Welcome (almost!) to the Maritimes!!
ee thanks! I’m definitely looking forward to a change of environment (although I will miss the land of living skies)
Living in Winnipeg I can feel your winter/summer pain.
This tea is officially my favorite tea. I have put my order in for a pound! Frank has kindly said yes to my request and if all goes well with the mail, I will be receiving a beautiful pound of tea in two weeks!
It is just as delicious every time I sip it. I am almost out of my 2oz pouch that I received, not that long ago. The tea smells so rich and delicious. I love that the smell of the brewing tea invades my entire house. It could easily be confused for someone baking a blueberry pie. Delicious.
It tastes sooo good. I finish my cup and actually have to practice self restraint in order to not make and finish one cup after another in quick consecutiveness.
The sweet blueberry and the taste of fresh backed goods makes me smile every single time.
I can’t wait for my pound to arrive… I feel like it will be the first pound of many that I will have to order. It really is THAT good!
On a side note— 100th tasting note!!!! Yay!!!
YAY!! Congratulations on both the pound of tea and the 100th tasting note!! :D
oh wow congrats on 100 notes!!!:)
Congratulations on reaching 100 tasting notes! I agree, this is a fabulous tea. Probably my favourite 52teas blend (well, tied with the Malted Chocomate).
Way to go on the milestone tasting note! That’s great that Frank is reblending this for you! I’d love to buy a pouch of this from him, if he’s reading this! Waiting to order again from him so I can try a couple new teas that pique my interest, in addition to ordering the five I need to restock (specifically the Forest Berry Silver Needle!).
Congratulations!
Woot! Congrats! This tea sounds lovely!
Congrats on 100! and the pound of tea!
Congratulations! Both for 100 notes and the awesome tea!
Yay! A whole pound! HOW COOL! Oh yes Will Work for Tea – I love the forrest berry silver needle! Both are excellent !
Congratulations!
A whole pound…that’s commitment! Nice to have a dependable standby that you don’t have to keep replenishing, though.
Congrats on 100 notes!
The accidental pairing of Banana & Keemun
Soooo, being a big fan of The Banana makes me quite critical and hard to please when it comes to recreate its taste.
I have encountered only one banana tea that I truly enjoyed, the others end up tasting weird to me.
One day, I was drinking some Keemun tea while eating a very sweet and ripe banana. I thought, hey! That’s pretty awesome, they taste incredible together!
Then I decided I wanted to have fun and pretend I could make my own blend. I soaked some walnuts in a Keemun infusion then added some mashed banana and a little nutmeg. Beleive it or not, it was tasty! ( but of course the texture was awful, unless you like banana grime floats!)
I started wondering how come Butiki didn’t have a banana tea to offer, cause if someone can do it right, it’s Almighty Tea Alchemist herself, Stacy!
So I emailed her and told her about the accidental pairing on Banana Keemun and my own concoction. Turned out she was already working on a banana blend! She told me she had tried a few blends so far but was not completely pleased with the results, so she gave the Keemun a shot!
The rest is history :-)
So, am I biased when it comes to describing this tea? Of course I am! But the fact that I am is so irrelevant…just try it and see for yourself! It is fantatic!
The dry blend looks amazing as always. Lots of walnuts and pieces of sumptuous freeze dried bananas! I am loving the sweet natural banana taste, and paired with the walnuts, it’s an instant cupboard classic!
I love the fact that the taste of walnut isn’t overpowering. I’m glad she didn’t put any nutmeg, it would be too much. Her Keemun makes it just the perfect base to bring it all together. And it re-steeps pretty well!
Thank you so much Stacy for giving me my perfect banana cup and making me part of that process, it was so much fun! Whenever I have a conversation about customer service, I mention you cause you are the standard in my opinion. At this rate, I think your business will unstoppably bloom, like a big blooming tea flower!
But I hope not too much though…selfishly, I wouldn’t want to lose that proximity you so graciously offer :-)
_________________________________________
ETA: Well, this was good while it lasted…but I’m afraid it’s all gone now :-( So long Foxy Roxy, till we meet again. Don’t want to tease too much, but this little tea just got better and better, such a nice and soft creamy bananarama delight, let’s just see how long I can resist another Butiki order!
Yay! I’m so glad you sent her a note about this one. I’m excited to try it out :)
Ok, I could persuade myself into not buying the Caramel Vanilla Assam right now but this is another story. It sounds amazing.
Haha crow kettle….
Girls, feel free to indulge! It is amazing! Caramel Vanilla also looks irresistible, I got a sample of it, smells divine, yum! Can’t wait to try, but I have to calm down my banana fever first!
Oh i’ll be placing an order, but first I need a few more sipdowns and my swap packages to arrive because otherwise i’ll be back up to 300 before you can blink!
Oh, Sil, just embrace your addiction, I accept you as you are :-)
I’m so glad you mentined the banana keemum combo and at just the right time. :)
Me too!
Wowza! This is officially on the list for my NEXT butiki order!
Terri Harplady, hope you like it as much as I do :)
on my list as well! lol
Sil, no more list for you!! Just sipdowns, remember???
hahaha ok fine, it’s on my spreadsheet? :) I’m actually hoping i get put a nice dent in my tea stash on the weekend since i have a lot of small sample sizes to go through (like 60). Luckily with stacy’s teas, i can hold off because they’ll be there for a while, and because i like to place giant orders at a time. I have about 20 of her teas in my cupboard so i need a few more of those gone first heh
LOL for the spreadsheet! Have a happy sipdown week end then :-)
Oh, wow, thank you for helping bring this to the world! ~~
I love banana, I’m excited to finally try a tea blend that lives up to the fruit.
Rie T., what I like the most about it is the fact that there’s none of that artificial banana taste your normal get from banana flavoring. It is subtle though, you can really taste the base tea and the walnuts through it all, so don’t expect a big bold banana taste, this is not it. But if you want a delicious mellow black tea enhanced with natural banana and walnut , THIS IS IT :-)
In that case, definitely cemented on my list. (‘v’)/
Mashed banana and tea. Crazy!
Incendiare, oops! What can Ii say? I know this one was a little over the top, my tea obsession gets messy sometimes :-)
Wow I can’t wait! I ordered some of this and Ruby Pie because… after reading this… I just could not resist! Ack!
It’s allowed though, since Butiki is one of the only companies I will allow myself to buy from while I do my sipdowns lol
Another WIN from 52 Teas – tastes just like it should! I again added some rock sugar to this tea just to really make those flavors pop but I don’t feel it NEEDED it.
I get the caramel, the pumpkin and then just enough of the cheesecake flavor to make me want to chew on it.
A VERY aromatic cup! Smells DELICIOUS made my whole house smell good!
Daughter gives it a thumbs up as well :)
Gah you get your stuff so fast I’m so jealous! I cant wait for mine to come! This will be my first 52 teas tea to try I’m glad it a good one!
Yeah Im sorry – I felt like I waited forever for it lol
Lol I’m glad you like it. i’m so excited!
Thanks :) Hope you like it too!
ugh I want my order! My first order this month only shipped nearly 2 weeks after it was placed. It will be a while for me Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake :(
OMG, THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD! This is why I love fall; all of the Pumpkin shtuff!!!
Ok, now I’m really wishing I had ordered this.
How are you getting your orders so fast? I placed mine like 10 days ago and it hasn’t arrived.
Well it wan’t exactly fast – I ordered two flavor of the weeks two weeks in a row and just got both of them together in one package. So that means I waited over a week for one HOWEVER keep in mind – 52 Teas is in Wichita Kansas I am in Topeka, Kansas – a stones throw.
What was your steeping temp and time?
195 until it smells ready to drink pretty much. I have gotten lax on timing with an actual timer. Also the 195 worked perfectly even though it is a black tea – Im lazy and my zojirushi was set at 195 so I used it.
I tried 212 with 3 minutes, and it didn’t have much flavor until I reached the bottom of the cup (then it was delicious). I’ll try the lower temperature and see what happens.
Sure hope that helps – mine was WONDERFUL so maybe that is the ticket!
It’s a little strange that I actually like this blend. I mean, I hate red Rooibos, I’m not a fan of Lapsang, don’t even like my Keemun when they are too smokey…Basically, I only like smoke in my food or in my fireplace.
But this tea is like eating something deliciously smokey. It feels like a real treat. It’s not something I would drink at any hour of the day though.
Why did I choose to drink it tonight? Cause I ate some delectable smoked salmon for dinner and I thought this tea would end the meal perfectly.
And it did!
The blend is pure alchemy, I think that’s why it works so well, it contains a little bit of magic..
The Rooibos? I can’t see it, I can’t taste it, that’s the way I like my Rooibos!
The smoke? It’s just right, not bitter, not too pungent, just very campfire woody. The cinnamon and the smoke work so well together, it’s the most pleasurable thing.
I’m outside in the gazebo, it’s nightfall and I’m just chilling, listening to a little frog’s symphony, little pleasures are so rewarding!
I love smoked salmon! :3
…and this tea sounds amazing. Definitely adding it to my Whispering Pines list.
Tea + Magic is how I roll! :) Oh, and salmon, too…I LOVE SALMON!!!
Cameron B, I’ve noticed from previous posts that you like cinnamon a lot, right? I think this will really work for you :-)
And yes…SALMON is food of the GODS!!! (And so is the kale dish I prepared for it!!!)
almon is food of the gods!!
It depends on the tea, but I would definitely enjoy it in this. :D
Ohhh we should share recipes :)
Hmmm…maybe you wouldn’t like my recipes so much. I’m a “semi” vegetarian, I eat meat only once or twice a month, and I am a green smoothie fanatic lol!!
Veggies, seeds, nuts, fish, fruits, health freak!! But I love bacon, if that counts for anything :-)
I need someone to teach me how to eat like that, The TeaFairy! You must be super healthy!
Man, EVERY tea that WP makes sounds so good. One of these days…
mj1851, it’s just a lifestyle…I have no merit, I really love the way I eat and I never liked meat all that much. But because I eat it so rarely, if I crave it I just have it! The good thing about eating well 99% of the time is that you can indulge once in a while without feeling guilty! And I eat my dark chocolate almost everyday :-)
Haha! Christina, I guess it depends of everyone’s personal tastes, but so far, WP teas just fit so well with me :-)
Tea fairy – I eat the Mediterranean diet. Only eat chicken sometimes and fish if I catch it. Everything I eat is homemade, locally grown, and/or organic if possible.
I make my own yogurt, pasta sauce, rice milk, kombucha, etc…
And I’m nuts about nuts, berries, and fruits. I try to eat at least an apple a day and always have at least one meal of rice and steamed veggies a day.
In conclusion, I think I’d like your recipes ;)
Haha! OMG, you are a few steps ahead of me Brenden! Your own kombucha?
That’s awesome! So happy to know you’re not a hunter.
And of course, I too loooove the Mediterranean diet!!! I’m not crazy about rice milk, but I make my own almond milk and peanut butter, so good!
Lol, this tea review really digress ;-)
:) Yep, I’ve had my kombucha going for about a year now…I’ve actually just installed a heating element and thermostat to control the fermentation, too!
You might be interested in learning how incredibly simple it is to make your own kombucha…hehe… www.whisperingpinestea.com/kombucha ;)
I’m glad to hear about the dark chocolate or I might suspect that you are not human, TheTeaFairy
Aww, thanks! My goodness, good job, you really make it sound full proof. I will have to meditate on that a little before deciding to try. What’s scares me is not knowing what the heck I’m doing, but your step by step guide is pretty clear. Will let you know ;-)
Lol, mj1851, I also eat pasta and cheese every week and drink red wine if that makes you feel better ;-)
(As long as if I do a HIIT workout on that day!!!)
One of my requested free samples from Angel at Teavivre. I was very surprised when I saw this tea. Usually when a tea is called golden tips it means there are golden tips included. This one looks like it’s almost all golden tips! It smells malty and there is a strong apricot scent along with some honey.
First time, I did a 4 minute steep at about 190 degrees. The aroma is very malty with honey and a light stonefruit note along with some raisin. It tastes like yummy toasty bread with some honey over the top. Maybe a tiny bit of peach or apricot jam. Very tasty!
I saw that a lot of people had mentioned sweet potato so I tried a 3 minute steep. The flavor is definitely lighter, but it’s still primarily malt. I can see how it might be a little sweet potatoey. The honey is still there but I don’t really taste fruit anymore. Overall, I think I preferred the longer steep, especially with a touch of sugar. And it doesn’t seem to be astringent in the least.
Thanks again TeaVivre!
Edit: I forgot to mention that I also received a sample of this from TeaTiff! Thanks lady! :)
Flavors: Bread, Honey, Malt, Raisins, Stonefruit
Preparation
Teavivre does free samples?
I just requested samples to review as well: http://www.teavivre.com/contacts/free_tea_tasting/
Marzipan, yes they allow you to pick five teas to try, and the only stipulation is that you post reviews for them. They send super generous samples too! I was shocked!
I didn’t expect 3 packets of each :O
No kidding! And some of the black teas I ordered were fluffy, so it ended up looking like a giant amount when I emptied it into a tin!
Oh but you have to have a blog =\
lol fluffy tea! Did you get black teas mostly?
I’ve only opened the larger packet. I can’t drink any of them for the next day or so because my nose is stuffed xP Aroma is one of the best parts and I hate missing it.
Marzipan, Steepster counts!! :D
Thanks, here goes!
Yay! Which are you requesting?
I actually got all black teas. :) I opened them all and transferred them into tins since the packages aren’t resealable.
Marzipan I hope you enjoy them! :)
Funnily enough I saw someone mention that Teavivre does samples but didn’t link that link so I just contacted them separately asking to receive samples in exchange for reviews, and they responded back with 5 teas they said they could send me. I didn’t even think of picking out the specific ones I wanted. They should be here soon and hopefully they’re all good anyway (:
Mandy, I don’t think I’ve seen a negative review for any of their teas, so I’m sure they’ll all be good quality. I just hope they’re all types of teas that you enjoy. :)
Cameron B That’s what I meant, good tasting to me, haha. They’re sending me an assortment of greens and oolongs since I mentioned in my email that that’s what I prefer. Wish I would have requested some black now though, since in the last couple of weeks I’ve been starting to fall for them too.
This is what they’re sending me:
Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui Green Tea
Lu Shan Yun Wu Green Tea
Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea
Anxi Monkey King (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea
Taiwan Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao) Oolong Tea
I offered to let them pick which they want reviewed.
Marzipan, that’s so nice of you! I was like GIMME THESE ONES NAOOOOO! :P
Well I said non smoky blacks or very oxidized oolongs, so it wasn’t wide open.
I’m sure they’ll do a great job picking out. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t pick mine because I would have gotten over whelmed by all the choices, and the ones they picked all sound like something I’d like! (;
If you have enough left pls do gongfu. You don’t need gaiwan. 1 tbsp 4 oz rinse 5/5/10/15sec etc. you will notice more flavors including sweet potatoes ;)
boychik I have a ton! Ha ha. I was planning on trying some pseudo-gong fu this week with a couple milk oolongs and I’ll be sure to try some of these blacks as well, especially this one and the Fengqing pearls. I’ll jot down your parameters. How long of a rinse would you recommend?
The gongfu process is magical.
Rinse just few secs to awaken leaves. 2-5 sec
Oh boychik, always so helpful. :) I’ll make sure to try gong fu this week.
I have only gotten sweet potato a couple of times from Yunnans/Dian Hongs. Everyone else seems to get it a lot more than I do. I usually get a lot of malt in the ones I like and not as much malt but added smoke in the ones I don’t care for as much. :) Everyone’s taste buds are different!
Hah Kiwi, I got my first tea drunk experience today from gongfu!
Nicole I’ve only gotten smoke from one Yunnan so far, and it was extremely mild smoke. Enjoyable smoke! :)
Marzipan It’s such a euphoric experience, no? :D
I love this stuff! Stacy of Butiki Teas sent me a sample a while back that accidentally had some vanilla added to it but I loved it SO MUCH that when I ordered this she included a bag of vanilla powder for me to incorporate into my blend! So I did and let it sit a good long while and now it is bliss!
That is one thing I love about Stacy – she lets you doctor up your blends when possible and is not afraid to divert from her regular blends to suit your taste. Such as the time she left out lemongrass from one of her teas for me since I dislike it so much.
She is working on a special ordered blend for me right now and I am excited to try the first sample run soon!
Thank you Stacy for always being so flexible and inventive!
As for Tamarind Pop with Vanilla. OH YEAH its GOOOOOD
Also a huge thank you to Aplhakitty who inspired this tea!!!
Now I really want to try this with vanilla! I can imagine it being soooo good.
Azzrian-You are way too kind! :)
Alphakitty-The vanilla that I sent Azzrian is pure vanilla bean powdered with no fillers. I can send you a little pouch of it if you would like to try some in your Tamarind Pop.
Wow that is so nice of Stacy! Seriously … I was going to offer a sample of mine but she beat me to a better idea!
Oh, I’d love to! Thanks so much for offering!
No problem. I still have your address and should be able to send it out on Monday but definitely Tuesday if I can’t get it out tomorrow.
Oh maaaan! Now I want this one even more!! Vanilla sounds lovely! Something you could offer for sale on your site, perhaps??
Also – I’m so curious about your blend, Azz! Is it one with hops and such?
Yes – Peach Hoppity! Or something like that is what I will call it I guess lol unless Stacy comes up with some cool inventive name. I have not tried it yet I think Stacy is sending me some tomorrow or tues. I can’t wait to try it. Peach Flavoring Hops, Peach Pieces, Guranse. YUM!!
Azzrian-Oooh, I like Peach Hoppity. That’s a great name! I will be sending that out on Monday unless I can get an emergency doctor appointment for Monday. I broke a toe on Friday and its pretty blue.
Kittenna-I probably won’t be adding the vanilla to the website. Its very expensive. I remember you mentioning placing a larger order sometime in the late summer, so definitely feel free to ask me to throw some vanilla in a pouch for you.
Peach and hops sounds delicious! And with the guranse base too? YUM. I agree that Peach Hoppity is a good name, cute and evocative of the taste I assume it will have.
Thanks ladies!
Stacy omg OUCH you poor thing! Hope you DO get into the doc! The tea can wait!
Thanks Azzrian! I’m just so clumsy. I hope they have an appointment available on Monday. The blue makes me worried that the toe isn’t getting enough oxygen.
Are you sure you don’t need to go to the ER Stacy?
Thanks Alphakitty! :)
Too late for that I guess.
Man breaking a toe really sucks, the little toe on my left foot is permanently misshapen now :( Hopefully you get into the doc soon Stacy.
I am definitely curious about this tamarind pop, next order I guess!
Having my fix on this wonderful pure cup of awesomeness.
The Tea Gods have been so good to me lately.
But really, this one I have a soft spot for.
I covet it and I cherish it.
Salty, sweet liquid caramel with plums dates and figs. This is what this is. It’s a little grainy and boozy as well, I notice now.
I just can’t be without it.
So I ran to the market yesterday to get me some cherries!!! (By now, you might know I kind of have an obsession with them)
So this morning, I am dipping them in Terri’s coconut whipped cream. And I promise you that nothing in the world tastes better than this…except maybe my Ailaoshan Black!!!
Have yourself a great day everyone :-)
I am trying this one tomorrow AM! MzHoneyBelle was kind enough to send me a sample, and I am itchin’ to try it! I’m sure I’ll love it!!!
Can’t wait to find out what you think!
(Well don’t feel bad if you don’t but I’m pretty sure you will like it :-))
And MzHoneyBelle is awesome!
Coconut whipped cream? How do you make that? It sounds amazing.as does the tea)/
Frolic, here’s Terri Harplady’s recipe:
2 cans of regular coconut milk you keep in the fridge for 2 days to hardened it. You scoop out the white part and dispose of the water that you can keep for smoothies or whatever.
You mix the coconut cream with a hand mixer until it becomes the consistence of whipped cream. You can add a little maple syrup or if you want it sweeter. I’ve been also adding lemon and orange zests to mine. It is to die for!!!
This one’s my favorite :-)
My hubby likes this one the best i think, even better than Fujian Black
I just had a bowl of cherries but no coconut cream sad face
Mj, its ”our” favourite ;-)
Tommy, it is obvious that your hubby has great taste!!
Boychik, you have got to try this cream….but cherries are cherries, excellent au naturel :-)
Haha, definitely our favorite :-). I had a whole pot of it on Tuesday in “our” teapot (the white and teal one from David’s Tea)
MzHoneyBelle likes this one a LOT too and mj it is indeed “our” teapot as mine is on the way. I cannot stand it anymore and I am going to Whole Foods and getting me some damn cherries like right now! And TerriWhip is awesome (even if it makes her sound like a dominatrix) and I have some in the fridge
Haha, mj and MzPriss titally “our” teapot!!
And get them cherries!!! With TerriCocoWhip (the rated PG version) it’s just heaven in a bowl.
I tried my sample this morning and it was just so gorgeous. It made me happy, and I was even drinking it at work! And I STILL felt happy! LOL. Thanks so much to MzPriss for the sample. Obviously, I ordered some.
My Whispering Pines “must try” list keeps growing. :)
Haha! Welcome to the club Nightshifter :-)
Sarsonator… obviously!!!
It’s been a week since I received this sample and I’ve only just now got around to drinking it. I was feeling a little under the weather when I got it, and I didn’t think those were the best conditions to have it in, having promised to do my best with it. And now a week has gone by and I still haven’t got to it. I was beginning to feel a little guilty about it, so I decided that today was The Day, especially as it would come in handy as a pick-me-up after the c25k torture of the day. (Horrid today! Horrid! A marked difference from Friday which was a 3.2 km running, no walking, powering through triumph! But horrid today.)
Nuvola Tea approached me by email, asking whether I would be interested in receiving a free sample and posting about it. That’s the first time I’ve been approached with such an offer, so it felt rather special to me for them to do so. Like my opinion mattered. Kind of flattering and humbling all at the same time. I know some of you others have tried this several times, so you probably know what I mean. After having asked a couple of questions, I eventually agreed and promised to do my best. So this is it.
I don’t normally pay any attention to recommended parameters. Water temperature, yes, leaf amount and steeping time, no. I know which strength I prefer my teas to have and which length of steeping normally produces the best cup for me. The person who wrote out the recommendations may not share my particular preferences, and so tea brewing becomes every bit as subjective as the actual flavour experience itself. So most often I go by my own experiences first. If that doesn’t work, then I might start looking at instructions and get some inspiration that way.
With this particular tea I thought I owed it to Nuvola Tea to try and follow their instructions as closely as I could, since they were providing the leaf for free in order for me to post about it for them, and there only being enough for the one go. As it turns out, though, I do actually still get to do it my way, as these instructions fit pretty closely into the procedure I was planning on following as mentioned above. I would have have made the steeps a wee bit longer initially, but the difference here is fairly small, so I might as well follow theirs. Coming that close to their instructions based only on my own experience and educated guesswork makes me feel all validated and smart!
Now, when I received the sample there was also a leaflet included which showed a table of the different teas Nuvola offers, sorted according to strength and degree of oxidation, with a small one sentence description of each. That was pretty inspiring. I found a couple more things in that table which I would like to try at one point, and at least one of them was a tea that I don’t think I would have otherwise even looked at.
More importantly for me, however, the leaflet also has a map of Taiwan with the origin of each tea is drawn in. I love that! I love knowing where a tea comes from in slightly more detail than just ‘Taiwan’ or ‘Sri Lanka’ or whichever tea producing country you can think of. There will be differences even within the same country and that makes for half the fun of exploring a region. This particular tea was produced right in the middle of the island
Okay, enough with the introductory chatter. The actual tasting begins here.
So now, the first steep was given 30 seconds as according to Nuvola’s oolong brewing recommendations, because in spite of all intentions to do my best, I still managed to botch the temperature. It has a very sweet aroma, quite caramel-y, and with just a smidge of something kind of floral waaaay in the background. It mostly cararmel. Actually it rather reminds me of that Jade Orchid Oolong that I liked from Shang Tea. The one that tasted like creme brulee! Could this actually be something similiar to that? It would be awesome if it were!
The initial flavour I’m getting is a something mineral, but it’s fleeting and quickly gives way to a mixture of floral and caramel. This is indeed caramel-y. If I didn’t know any betting I might have thought it had been flavoured. There are some slightly dry-ish cocoa-y notes as well but they seem to stay mainly on the edges of the flavour, letting the caramel really take the lead.
To tie off the comparison with the Jade Orchid Oolong from Shang Tea, yeah, this really does remind me a lot of how I remember that one to be. All sweet and dessert-y.
For the second steep I made sure to go by the recommendations for a black tea rather than an oolong. All this really entailed at this point, was giving the temperature a notch upwards, but the steeping time was the same. This time the caramel note has stepped back a bit and the cocoa-y note is coming more into the mix. The primary note, though, is nother caramel nor cocoa but something vaguely fruity. I can’t tell which sort of fruity, but I think it seems most like some kind of stone-fruit, like nectarines or apricots. There’s a slightly floral top note here as well.
Again, there is a fleeting note of mineral and then it’s gone all fruity! It’s definitely a stone-fruit, I think. Plums! In the background the mixture of caramel and cocoa-y-ness, which provides a sweet and smooth aftertaste. Like just having eaten caramel-flavoured sweets.
Hey, this is going rather well in spite of my initial confusion!
The third steep combines tea drinking with one of my favourite things in the world: Being sat on by a cat. Especially one of mine as they are so adorably cute and they purr! I just have to be really careful not to spill hot tea on her. The aroma of which has now taken on a wooden sort of oolong-y note (oh, and now my cat went away. Boo. I can’t compete with the lure of the water bowl apparently) with cocoa and that same fruity, plum-y note underneath. No caramel at this point.
The flavour is the same as the aroma. AGAIN that one fleeting flavour of minerals, which is odd, actually because it’s always there in the first sip, but only the first sip. I don’t get the logic of that, really. Perhaps it has something to do with temperature or something. Anyway, after that initial misleading sip, the flavour is largely fruity and cocoa-y-wood-y. There is still a wee bit of caramel left, but only on the aftertaste. Something tells me I’ve seen the last of that caramel at this point.
The fourth steep is had after a few hours break with a puzzle (and a cat halping me). I do loves me a good puzzle, but they never seem to last long enough. I’ve got one 4000 pieces one which I’ve taken out now. That ought to keep me entertained for a while, but I’ve only done it once before and it’s quite difficult, so here I am for a bit of liquid courage. It took a month the first time around! O.O Not sure what I’ll do with it in regards to hoovering, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.
Anyway, my liquid courage has an aroma that is very much like the one in the third steep and therefore shan’t be commented further upon. The flavour is all smooth and slightly cake-y, and to my surprise the caramel bottom note is there again as strong as ever. It was just that the other notes were covering it up some before. Those have receded, though, so I’ve got caramel-y smoothness which even tastes ever so slightly thick and milky. That’s funny, I was certain the caramel note was finished.
The fifth steep seems to be the last. For one thing, I’m running out of day. For another thing, I’m also apparently running out of flavour. It’s still quite caramel-y, but that’s the only flavour note left to me. Maybe if I had increased the steeping time more than I did it would have been a different result, but I didn’t.
In that event, I shall pee, post, have dinner, watch The Pirates and go to bed. In that order.
Hahah love the ending, and love the cat sitting on you comment! :) I have one of mine on my lap now! :) HE actually came to sit on me JUST as I was reading about YOUR cat!!!
cats are psychic, you know!
Nice review! I’ll have to check out their website…
lol great review! Enjoy Pirates! :)
nice review, very lengthy. I could not do this type of recording. Good of you to, that is all.
Azzrian, awwww kitty! Maybe he thought he might get to meet Charm. :D
Terri, oh do! I really enjoyed this one, and I think I would have liked it even better had I done it Western style. I will definitely be back there at some other point in the future. I would like to try their other black tea as well. Taiwan is such a blind spot on my tea map and now I think I’ve been missing out.
Yogini, I did! It was good. I’ll have to watch it again because I’m sure I missed a lot of detail. Hooray for blu-ray. :) It makes me want to read the books again too, and that’s never a bad thing. :D
Seule771, thank you. :) It did take several days to write though. I spent all day writing the tasting bit one at a time with some breaks in between and I wrote all the introductory blather on a different day. :)
Georgia Tea Company sent me a little bit of this and I’m eager to try it because most weight loss teas I have tried thus far have been very herbally tasting to me. Let’s see what this is like, shall we!?
First I must say – it smells WONDERFUL! :) The Papaya and Mango really MAKE it! Tea-wise I can smell the Oolong a little more than the green as far as the actual tea aromas go.
It’s medium brown in color.
WOW! This is nice! It’s hard to describe because everything meshes together so well. The Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Papaya, and Mango all come together to form it’s own taste, really. It’s just enough fruity and wood to notice both…it’s sweet and refreshing.
I really like this especially because it tastes good AND it’s for weight loss!!!! NICE!
Preparation
Hype teas annoy me- but at least it tastes good!:)
Yup! I rated it higher just because of that fact…lol…
usually they taste too herbally…
Er I should say the teas don’t annoy me- it’s the companies that try to get ignorant or gullible people to cave into the hype.
Hey gals,
I completely understand where you’re coming from on then name. I don’t like ‘hype teas’ either. The reason we came out with the health line with teas like "Cancer Fighting Tea’ and “Weight Loss Tea” is because we get nearly daily emails and phone calls from people who just read an article about tea and want to know which ones are good for weight loss or cancer or digestion or what have you. We decided to blend together a line that would take the guess work out of it for them. There is quite a bit of very reputable research done on green tea and oolong tea to show it’s abilities to aide in weight loss. In a study reported on in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditure (a measure of metabolism), plus also had a significant effect on fat oxidation. The article went on to say, "The researchers indicated that their findings have substantial implications for weight control. A 4% overall increase in 24-hour energy expenditure was attributed to the green tea extract, however, the research found that the extra expenditure took place during the daytime. This led them to conclude that, since thermogenesis (the body’s own rate of burning calories) contributes 8-10% of daily energy expenditure in a typical cubject, that this 4% overall increase in energy expenditure due to the green tea actually translated to a 35-43% increase in daytime thermogenesis. "
As with any ‘weight loss program’ it all has to do with a balanced routine of exercise and proper diet. Replacing high carb/calorie drinks like sodas, with green tea with no sugar, you are not only lowering your carb intake, but according to research, boosting your metabolism. I don’t believe in ‘diets" but only life changes. If someone, over a number of years, replaced their sodas and drank green tea with their meals, that should see a slow and gradual reduction in weight. The tea isn’t meant to be an instant weight loss supplement, but to aide in a life change.
VERY well said Daniel! :) Either way…I’m very happy with this tea…it was tasty! I Enjoyed it! LOVED that someone put together a tasty flavored – non-medicine-E-tasting Green and oolong tea tho!!! Thumbs up from me…no complaints here! :) Cheers!
@ Daniel Mann: awesome response. Georgie Tea Co. is now on my “to try next” list :)
Rabs!!!!! You will NOT be disappointed!!!! Daniel & Crew over at Georgia Tea Company are AWESOME!!!!!
hahaha, Rabs I totally had the same reaction! Because, you know, being articulate and well spoken = good tea. (proven by science!) I am also impressed with the concept of a non-herbtastic, tasty weight loss tea. My relatives in Poland used to drink these horrific uber concentrated herbal monstrosities that were supposed to help with weight loss and I’m afraid my perception of weight loss teas has been colored by that precedent ever since.
I feel a Georga Tea Co. Steepster Select coming on.
Yea know…I was thinking about Steepster Selection…let’s network folks!!!! Let’s get The Steepster Gurus and Daniel from Georgia Tea Company to chat about a Steepster Select SOON!!! :P
How does the Steepster Select work? Is there a particular process that the tea must go through before it’s featured?
Daniel, send a PM to http://steepster.com/jason or email [email protected]
Thanks Cofftea!
No… thank YOU!=D
Sounds lovely :)
I emailed jason, so let’s see what he says.
Keep us posted!!!! We’re pushin’ for ya! :P CHEERS!
Can’t wait! ::does the impatient child dance:: ;)
Thanks for all the encouragement! I better run off to bed….zzzz
Who needs tea- just take a shot of matcha:)
I was just telling Tea=Bliss about a guy I know who puts matcha in his fruit smoothies… Yummy! Heh.
The only way I like matcha and dairy together is half OJ and half milk (I use Smart Balance milk). I’m sure I’d like matcha, milk, and chocolate- just haven’t found the right formula yet.
Half OJ and half milk? I would definitely want to put some vodka in that! Heh. Speaking of which, just to let you guys know, we’ve been working over the last 2 months on making tea alchohol recipes. So far we have found some really good mixes. One of my favorites has been Rooibos Rainbow and Dissarono Amaretto. Yummy! Rooibos Belgian Chocolate, milk and Kahlua, very good. Also Vodka and Cherry Kiwi is yummy, we are trying to finish the recipes and will be posting the list on our web site soon.
Definitely already had the vodka idea- just need to get some- matcha dreamsicle or matcha screw driver (if you forgo the milk) shots.:) I wonder how a dirty matchatini would taste? I’m thinking the olive juice would pair well w/ the green grassy, vegetalness of the matcha.
Yeah, that sounds good. Now I must go drink! Haha.
Congrats TEB! This was a Featured tealog.
Chrine? On the frontpage of steepster? COOL…thanks for letting me know!
Yeah, I noticed it was on the frontpage, pretty cool.
Yup! =)
What a beautiful tea this is tonight…gives me the clarity I need on certain decision making. Tea does that for me.
They say “sleep on it” when uncertainty hits you. Well, I’m not much of a sleeper, I’d rather have tea and reach for a nice cha qi moment, that warming feeling that makes everything seem brighter and gifts you with its silent lucidity.
I’m loving this tea. It’s robust, not for the faint of heart. It’s the solid type you can rely on, it welcomes you and embraces you when you feel weak, a hugger. A deep black sea once brewed, I just stare at it with gratitude.
I know I’m weird, but often, tea has a “gender” for me. Leathery, and earthy, very manly, this on is the “Stetson and Chaps” kind of guy. Masculine and yet, it works its magic on the girly girl that I am…
Thanks Sil for this last sample, simply wonderful…and thanks Mandala for providing such a tea.
YAY! i’m so glad you enjoyed it my dearest teafairy
I liked most of the teas you sent me my dear Sil :-)
oh man.. that’s a hard act to follow lol
Lol, no pressure…I had a few misses with the flavoured ones, but really, I pretty much liked all the straight teas :-) we’ll have to do this again, but I must bring that humongous stash of mine down first!!!!
I’ve thought many things of my teas, but never gender. I find that concept fascinating and will have to reflect on that. Thanks :)
Haha! TeaExplorer, maybe this just works for my crazy mind, but yes try it, you might be surprised :-)
i totally agree with this whole note! it is a very masculine tea. makes me think of a classic old man type library with leather upholstered furniture and musty old books and a window opening out to a wet forest. this was the first pu erh that ever blew me away and i think it’s still my favorite (granted, i’m still a pu erh newb though so take my excitement with a grain of salt maybe, ha).
TeaExplorer, when i had this one the first time it made me want to do a tea party where “gender” was a theme…floral things like victoria-type earls, the french perfumed blends, but also these leathery pu erhs and smoky chinese teas.
How is it possible that I haven’t tried this one?
So happy that you enjoyed it!!!
When Grace first introduced me to Mandala (THANK YOU GRACE!!) she referred to Noble Mark as a gentlemanly pu’erh – interesting that ifjuly thinks this one is an old man type. Love you guys and your interesting comments. :))
This is what makes patty cake if I remember right. I’ll put some in your box dexter
Loved this review so much that I am brewing this one up in the shop today for sampling, gosh darnit! Grinning from ear to ear with your postings!
Sil… yes, the Phatty Cake is made with this exact same material. Phatty Cake II is this same material with the addition of some slightly larger leaves to switch is up a bit. They were steamed and pressed 2.5 yrs apart or so.
Wishing everyone a very joyful day!
Ifjuly: love your description!! I’ve been reviewing with “gender” in mind for a long time, glad to know there’s other people in my “tea gender club”! And a tea “gender” party sounds awesome, what a great idea :-)
Thank you Dexter, we love you too!!!!
Garrett, thank you and a joyful day to you also :-)
it has a minty quality to it, subtle but cooling and clean, as a heads up Dex. at least i think so. i love it—it’s what sets it apart and to me takes it over the top—but i know you have an uneasy relationship with mint, so i thought i’d mention it. i don’t know yet if phatty cake retains it (i mean i suppose it should, but it’s funny how things work sometimes), haven’t broken into mine yet…
tea gender club! hee. it is nice to know i’m not weird. or, if i am, i’m not the only one. ;)
Yes, I had only a sample of Phatty (from Dexter actually), and I checked my note, it does seem to retain it as I wrote «a minty fresh finish». Lots of good quality pu’erh have that finish I find, but it’s more a fresh feeling in the mouth than an actual mint taste most of the time for me, so maybe Dex could tolerate it? So thoughtful of you to mention it…
I think we should all fully embrace our weirdness together :-) :-)
http://steepster.com/Dexter3657/posts/198968#comments
That’s what I wrote about Phatty cake… I didn’t think mint at the time.
I think WE are perfectly normal – it’s the rest of the world that whacked…. :))
Lol, Yes Dex, it’s us against the world…and I bet we are having more fun than they do!!!
Thank you Stacy (Butiki) for this sample tea!
(I’m Whispering…
…..we all know how good Stacy is at creating tea’s that
are…
not nasty and artificially flavored…the really special tea’s that we love! Shhhhh, listen up!…..
…..This one is my favorite Butiki Tea Flavor of all!)
I want a pound of this tea already. I ONLY HAVE A SAMPLE! STACY!
The wet leaves had the softest aroma of green beans and sweet grapefruit as though the clock had been turned back and Spring was here once again.
I had just enough tea leaves for one precious mug full.
I took a sip of the pale yellow liquor and was amazed at the restrained taste of the grapefruit next to the more robust but smooth savory bean flavor. This was a juicy tea.
I added a little sweetening (as Stacy suggested) which brought more of the grapefruit flavor to the forefront, still perfectly complimenting the savory base flavor of the tea.
I used to make a grapefruit salad years ago with ruby grapefruit, carefully removing segments of ice cold fruit from it’s membrane, then mixing it with chopped avacado, salt, olive oil and lemon. The acid and sweetness of the grapefruit with the smooth creamy avacado were perfect compliments to each other. (It was an 1980’s popular California salad.)
This tea embraced that idea of combining crisp grapefruit and the creamy savory tea in a similar way. It worked really well!
There was that Umami thing happening in my mouth when I added some sugar (but without the bitterness, and the sour was just the normal grapefruit tang).
Yes, this was/is the best flavored tea in my Butiki book! It hits all the marks for me! Bravo Stacy!!!
oh man this makes me SUPER excited to get my teas already!!! Stupid living in canada taking forever! I’m so ready to place another order with Stacy but since I know i’ll be picking up larger orders, I want to try and get them all in one go…plus i really shouldn’t order anything more until i get back from vacation with the timing of shipments.
I couldn’t even tell you WHY i’m so excited about grapefruit tea….it’s not my favourite fruit but the idea of grapefruit tea just makes me happy…
oooh, I am getting a sample of this soon!
Nice review, Bonnie. That salad you’re talking about is still very popular here in the Maplewood area of St. Louis, at least in this house! Grapefruit and avocado were made for each other!
So glad you are enjoying this one Bonnie! Mmmm, that salad sounds amazing. Avocados are one of my favorite foods.
Lot’s of people taking certain medications can’t have much GRAPEFRUIT, it increases the potency of the med. ME for instance. And I’m allergic to BEANS! This tea allows me to indulge in two! favorites without worries or illness!!! So wonderful! Yeah Tea!
I’ve never heard of the grapefruit salad but it sounds delicious! I love grapefruit, although it is a pain to eat.
Oh yum. I wanted to wait to try this one until I had a day when I needed something to wake me… today is that day. My daughter’s wedding was Friday, yesterday I was practically a zombie but I didn’t want much motivation yesterday, I was just kind of enjoying the fact that I didn’t have anything that I had to do. I didn’t have to make cupcakes, bouquets, programs, or anything else. I just pretty much vegged out yesterday, wrote a few reviews but that’s basically it. But today, I need to wake up and get back to the normal routine. So I’m looking for a little Guayusa turbo charge.
Mmm… I love the way that this tastes fresh and citrus-y, but there is enough of a creamy note so I’m not getting that acidic taste of the citrus. Just the sweet, bright flavor of it. This is really quite good, and I can already feel it start to energize me.
It is incredibly smooth and delicious!
Congrats to your daughter!
I hope it was a magical day to remember :)
Yay! Happy for you all!
It was a wonderful day. I am really proud of the young woman she’s become. And she’ll even drink tea now. LOL (There was a time when she rebelled against anything “mom” … including tea)
Congratulations on your daughter getting married! :)
Congrats on the wedding and yay for enjoying having nothing you have to do!
She sounds like a wonderful young lady. Joy to your whole family.
Congratulations on surviving the wedding! Glad that you got to recover with a yummy tea :)
Thank you everyone. My daughter was breathtakingly beautiful on her special day (and I’m not just saying that because I’m her mother!) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her happier. I know that her husband is a good man and will treat her right, he adores her and really, what more can we want for our kids but to find that kind of happiness and joy with the right person? She’s got herself on track with her career (she is a cosmetologist, and she’s loving every minute of it) and she’s on track with her personal life too. And while she’ll always be my baby girl, I am so proud of the young woman she’s become.
You sound like a very proud mother!
This will be my last logged tea before leaving florida tomorrow for my cross-country road trip and move to Seattle, Washington!
Living in the Pacific Northwest has been my dream since visiting 2 years ago, and now it will be my home.
My boyfriend and I are making the drive all the way from south Florida, and plan to stop in Roswell, NM, then the Grand Canyon, then California and Yosemite, and then most amazing of all, onto the Redwoods!! I will finally see them for real. I also cannot wait to see Oregon, which I feel so connected to even though I’ve never been there.
My plan is to study the forests and determine my place in the environmental and forestry field. There is nothing I love more than the trees and forests, and I want to be near them always.
A friend of mine brought this tea over who funnily enough got it from a friend in Seattle, while the tea itself comes from Oregon.
The magical scent of this tea alone immediately makes it the best tea ever. It is the tea to end all teas for me.
It smells like a forest, and burning a Frasier Fir candle at the same time transforms my room into one. I cannot wait to be in a real forest and to drink this tea among the trees.
What was even more special about my first time having this tea was that my favorite song ever came on my pandora while drinking it. The song is When I Grow Up by Fever Ray http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-CpE73o2M&feature=youtube_gdata_player
When I hear it, I understand why I am alive. I know where I want to be and what I want to do.
I can drink this tea forever.
I can’t explain the tree flavor other than its lovely, and has a lemon-like concentrated end.
Its super calming.
I also feel a special energy from this tea. Sort of like when I’m sitting on the ground leaning against a tree, and I get this incredible relaxed and happy feeling in my back. Its hard to explain.
This is literally, my Cup of Tree.
West coast!! here I come!!!!! Woohoo!!!!
I have been meaning to try this out for a long time, I think your review has pushed it into “must order” territory!
Have a great trip!! sounds like you experienced Tea Chi. Love that feeling!
Thank you Indigobloom! Funny it does just feel like a trip but I’m actually moving over there and I can’t believe it.
Tea Chi for sure :)
I hope you have a wonderful move! I made a similar journey two years ago, from San Diego to Baltimore, it was amazing. Stay safe, and the Grand Canyon is one of the most awe-inspiring things you will ever witness. I have never seen the Redwoods though, it’s always been a dream.
Best of luck with the move! I love the Seattle area. Such a lovely place:)
Have a wonderful safe trip. You’re going to a great place for forests! My mother-in-law lives in Port Angeles on the Puget Sound. Beautiful place. I moved to LA in a car in 1978, right out of college. Met my husband there, came back with him to the East Coast for career and family reasons in 1985. But the road trips were great each way. We’re in the Atlanta area now and have raised 3 kids. It is great to follow your dreams by having a great adventure like this when you are young.
very inspiring, good luck with everything!
p.s. great video:-)
I have a lifetime of great memories in all the places you’re about to visit and live. You are just beginning! I’ll tell you one thing…drinking tea will mean much more once you’ve connected with the trees and the forest floor. (especially pu-erh for me). Have the grandest time in the quiet!
Thank you so much every one! :)
@InvaderZim I hope you visit the Redwoods in the future!
@DonnaA I cant wait to visit Port Angeles!
@Bonnie Ahh yes, the quiet :)
@Hesper It really is, hopefully you can go back there!
@TeaFairy If I Had a Heart by Fever Ray is good too. :)
Have an amazing trip! I’m so excited for you!
Have a safe and easy move! This summer I moved to SF after living in Ashland, Oregon for the past two and a half years, and I miss it quite a bit.
Thank you momo! :D
@Claire Thank you! Aww I would miss it too. Will you be moving back?
CupofTree – probably not, I moved back to California because Rayn is here and I missed him more than I miss Oregon. :) He works in IT, so as much as I would love for us both to move up to Oregon it would be very hard for him to find a job there.
oh! I saw “road trip” and that stuck in my head haha. I’ve seen pics of the Redwoods, they’re gorgeous
I had a similar move almost 7 years ago…Orlando, FL to Victoria, BC…we took 7 weeks to cross the country and visit family, friends, and sights along the way.
Brenden sent me a sample of this tea…almost gone from his stock now…and I hope he gets more!!! This is one of the best black tea’s I’ve ever tasted!
I shared some with my teahouse assistant manager friend Joe.
Don’t under brew (Joe saw the timing and almost didn’t follow the instructions, thought it was too long).
When Brenden noted 3 minutes steep time it was for a good reason. This tea is multi-layered, deep, full and nuanced like fine wine.
Morphing…the flavor changes often as the tea slowlycools.
Milk chocolate, cocoa puffs cereal, butternut squash, dry papaya or mango. Sunshine…jam.
At first sip…“OH WOW”, from both Joe and I. Total surprise and delight.
Like I said…this tea is almost gone. I ordered some more for myself.
Hope there’s more to come in the future.
The way I purchase tea on a budget is this:
I have my inexpensive but very good quality (tasting) tea…and I do some home blending with dry herbs and spices.
Puerh is a bargan! Believe me, it’s possible to find a puerh you’ll like with a little help from someone who guides you.
Then, my more expensive tea’s are treats that I indulge in several times a week.
Yes, I treat myself…and delight in every sip!
BTW, if you go to Whispering Pines Website just to look around, check out the video on the back page of Brenden doing his slackline sport. He’s on YouTube also.
He just won a competition in Germany!!!
Don’t we have a bunch of creative genius’s here on Steepster!
Love you all…
Preparation
I agree! One of the best teas I have ever had!
OMG, look, a note from Bonnie!!! WE ALL MISS YOU!!!
(I have started replying to you, you’ll here from me very soon :- xxx )
(I meant “hear” lol)
Haha…hello!
That sounds delicious. Hi Bonnie, hope you are well! :)
so nice to see you back ! and with this tea rated 100 it sounds really like a fantastic return :)
i ordered this tea because of your wonderful review. it is amazing. Thank you!!!
Ahhhh, a day off after a very busy week end…
Cleaning up the house listening to The Black Keys: Little Black Submarine anybody? The second half of that song makes me backflip and play air drums and guitar in the tub while cleaning it! Yeah, it’s that good!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdw95xR_MOY
And I wont even share the silly moves Lonely Boy will have me going for… well…maybe we do know each other enough by now… Just think Cave Man having the very first dance ever on this planet:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WcS8CcqPJcI
Now, need I to specify I don’t look this way, but my moves are pretty darn close!
It is not my place to condemn any style of music, BUT, in a world of BieberMania, good solid bluesy guitar, drum & bass done in such a crafty way that this music appeals to both younger and older generations and makes these guys nothing short of greatness…
The tea to match this music must be on the robust and strong side. Perfect occasion to try that tuocha I’ve been saving for a couple of weeks now.
The mini cake is really well put together, very hard and compressed with a smooth surface. It doesn’t fall apart with manipulation as some other tuocha I have tried. It looks like a real hard candy! Since cleaning up the house doesn’t go well with Gungfu style, I choose Butiki recommended Western brew over the gaiwan today. It is said I should brew 7 min for 18oz of water, so that’s what I do in my glass pot, but I use only 14oz of water.
To my surprise after such a long brew, the tuocha has not completely broken apart. And the liquor is not as dark as I would have expected. It’s sweet and fresh tasting and not «fishy» at all!
I know you puerh lovers out there will be outraged to read this, but to this day, I have never had a puerh that really blew me away. There are some I really like, but not in an «OMG This is amazing» kind of way.
But as I’m getting more and more acquainted with it, having tried lower and higher grades, I now find a HUGE distinction between «earthy» and «fishy». To me, not that long ago, all puerhs had some level of fishiness. This one has none whatsoever. I’m happy to see that my tastings have evolved and that I can now see the difference.
I feel a thickness in my mouth, as if it turned into a beautiful tea syrup. I’ve seen reviewers using «chewy» when I read pu’erh reviews. This feels somewhat «chewy» to me, the way you get that feeling in your mouth after biting in the flesh of a raw mushroom. Oh, I can’t help gulping it down, it’s so good! But then, something in me says STOP !
However good The Black Keys may be to my ears this morning, I have to shut them down and stop everything for a moment…there’s something it this puerh, a fragrance and taste I must identify, it’s like screaming at me to get it right… It reminds me of something fresh and powerful, it has triggered a stir of emotions in me.
And I think of the place I used to spend my summers as a kid…
I know many of you have made forest parallels with the taste of puerh. Here’s mine.
My Grand parents were farmers and therefore lived in a very rural and remote environment. They owned many acres of land and forest. Up to my 14th birthday, I have been lucky to spend almost all my summers there. Me and my cousins used to go play in the dense forest and explore. (Yep, back then, people would not freak out about how dangerous everything was for a kid, so we were lucky to have some freedom, however dangerous it might have been in retrospect!).
Some magic would happen every time! Especially when it rained…we used to lay down on the damp fertile soil, it was spongy and fragrant of the earth…we would open our mouth and try to catch every bit of raindrops that could escape and reach us through the big oak and maple trees…
….it tasted like everything it had sinuously contoured before reaching our mouths, savory and nature like.
We would laugh and then pick some authorized forest food, like «Thé des bois» in french, which is really Wintergreen in english, but if you translate word for word, it is «Tea of the Forest». You can eat its rosy-red berries, they are light tasting and delicious, but if you chew on the leaves, you get a woodsy freshness that invades your mouth. See where I’m going with this? This puerh has that fresh wintergreen feel to it. I’m not saying it really tastes like it, but there’s an imprint of that taste that lingers in my mouth and my soul after every sip. It is so vivid and reminds me of such a happy and carefree stage of my life, it has me all chocked up. Oh, am I making any sense at all?
And why do I always have to write such looong reviews? What’s up with that? My intention this morning was just to have a robust uncomplicated tea while cleaning the house, then write a quick review about it… look where it got me? Let’s face it, I just can’t write short reviews…
I guess I will never be the most prolific reviewer on Steepster, but every one of my reviews leave me with a sense of wellness, so I guess I will continue my Tea-Therapy-Writing sessions in the hopes I won’t bore people to death with all the rambling :-)
As I know there are many other fantastic puehrs out there, this one is the first that totally captures my attention, that’s what I was waiting for to write my first puerh review. And I didn’t even experience it Gungfu stlyle as I know I would have gotten all the layers it has to offer. But it goes to show everyone that you can experience tea bliss in a very simple and unexpected way… For me, it is the validation I was waiting for to continue my puerh journey, Verdant is next on my list for that…
Thank you Stacy from Butiki for such a lovely moment.. I will now call my very alert and healthy 87 year old Granny to remind her of those memories, and tell her how lucky I feel to still have her around…
appreciate the great review of this!
Thank you Sil :-)
Great review, I love your descriptions and the story about lying on your back and catching the rain in your mouth!
Have to be honest, I normally skim over long reviews but I enjoyed every word. Though I am still confused how this went from cleaning the tub to running through the forest, but glad it did. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Claire… maybe not such a great idea today with the acid rain unfortunately!
Hahaha! KS, my thoughts EXACTLY, how did it happen?? This one being several miles long, I thank you for going the distance, I take it as a big compliment if you normally skip long reviews!!
Hooray for you! You stopped and listened and the tea took you back to a place that was magical. Every word you wrote was an opening for us to peek into your life. Thank you for stopping when you had almost raced on by. This is not the last of these journeys!
Thanks Bonnie! I learn from you :-)
I always really enjoy reading your reviews! :) You write in a way that I have such vivid images of the stories you tell. That brought me back to my childhood. We had woods behind our house and would always explore them and lie on the ground just talking for hours. Thanks for sharing!
Stacy, I’m so happy you can relate to this story… then you understand how special this memory is :-)
I can definitely relate but I must say I miss living in the woods.
Thanks Paul… And The Black Keys are definitely good tea companions :-)
I love this review!
I just read this again and it makes me happy!
Review:
Brewing Method: 4 oz Gaiwan
5 grams leaf
208 degree filtered water, 1 rinse
5-6 sec. each steep increasing by 2 seconds each round
(although 18 steeps can be done at 5-6 seconds, I’ll comment on 5)
Liquor Color: Consistantly very pale yellow-green
Wet Leaf: Vibrant varigated deep greens, small curled leaves which unfurled slowly with each steep. Salty, savory, sweet aroma becoming more spinach scented as it cooled.
I think it’s wiser to give an overall impression. The tasting wasn’t static, so I don’t want to approach it as though it was some sort of school project with an outline.
When nobody is around, I can slurp, spraying the tea to all the tastebuds even the top and way back.
I was at first nervous, which is pretty common with a new tea, nervous with excitment and nervous that I would miss something.
It’s odd that I judge myself that way…but I forge ahead until the tea takes over and my brain stops thinking so much.
Sweet, Summer white corn, lightness…and mountain water.
I began to think about the fresh ‘spring’ that blesses Laoshan Village’s farms. You can taste the freshness in these leaves.
The corn changed to pale green summer squash with butter as it cooled, coating my mouth.
The scent of stargazer lilies in a distant place caught on the thread of a light breeze was barely there, but I was aware of it coming back …like flickering light.
As soon as I thought the tea was clean and fresh, cool as cucumber and edgy, it rose up filling my mouth and nose with an intoxicating, dense aftertaste as though I had been injected with tea, rolled in tea leaves and eaten them!
Every pore was Laoshan Green Oolong!
There was a morphing from light to bright, thin to full, green to gold. And I loved the changes!
Tea that takes me to unexpected places, turns my head and surprises me is a rarity.
Teasing taste…wait for the punch at the end! The finish is lush, fat and savory.
The 5th steeping was the best at 30 seconds.
My lunch was an Italian chicken salad with lemon, fresh basil, olive oil, chopped spinach, grated parm and the Laoshan Green Oolong tea leaves (no salt). Oh yes, they can be eaten!
This is my favorite of the two new Oolongs!
Bonnie’s comments: OR Tips from Teama…Teagrandmother
I’ve always loved driving along country backroads, buying fresh eggs, fruit and vegetables from local farms.
Back in the 1970’s, I took my children strawberry picking in Watsonville, close to the Pacific Coast, where the fog would come in and mist the berries.
It was fun picking a few berries then popping some in our mouths. We did the same with raspberries and blackberries. We didn’t think about GMO’s or any other bad things on fruit back then! We just had fun!
On our many drives we bought brussel sprouts on the stalk, bags of artichokes, apricots and cherries. The bounty of fruit and produce in Northern California was outstanding.
We moved to Paradise, further North past the Delta rice fields to farms of walnut, pecan, peach, olive and apple groves. Salmon came from the Sacramento River or local lakes.
Half the fun was going home to fixing what we picked up at those farms.
Halved fresh brussel sprouts in olive oil and butter, mixed with garlic and bread crumbs (to make the garlic butter stick to the sprouts) is still a favorite of all the kids!
If you want to learn to ‘taste’, reduce sugar and salt, and eat fresh food! Everything that you eat, becomes relevant to tasting tea.
I’m convinced that my appreciation for tea was born from the appreciation for how things grow. Loving the Earth. It makes sense.
Love this tasting note!! Thank you, Bonnie
Thanks to you and David for “bringing”,most literally, this tea to us for our enjoyment.
Thanks Bonnie!
I’m looking forward to the TOMC Bundle Box! :)
Nice
This quote spoke to me personally:
“I was at first nervous, which is pretty common with a new tea, nervous with excitment and nervous that I would miss something.
It’s odd that I judge myself that way…but I forge ahead until the tea takes over and my brain stops thinking so much.”
I love your way with words!
Oh, and all around lovely review, of course:)
Gracias…
i always eat the steeped green laoshan leaves as well, lol. excellent snacks…. but now i have visions of chicken and massacring my basil shrubs, lol.
lovely bit of writing.
I had these leaves in my salad this afternoon after reading your review. Went nicely with the cranberries and almonds!
only just trying this now. i can definitely see the corn and mountain water flavors! and i so, so agree with and appreciate this statement: “As soon as I thought the tea was clean and fresh, cool as cucumber and edgy, it rose up filling my mouth and nose with an intoxicating, dense aftertaste as though I had been injected with tea, rolled in tea leaves and eaten them!”
Oooh, love that ‘raisins soaked in rum’ description. Yum!
Mmmm….Now I’m thinking of a “raisins soaked in rum” tea with TWMB as a base. Haha! Wouldn’t that be glorious!
Well, that would be entirely doable. I think you should submit that as a suggestion for our next custom blend contest. Just saying!
Hehe…might just do that Stacy :-)
Isn,t it in the fall?
Couldn’t help myself: http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i446/butikiteas/Breadiest_zps21eb4cf9.jpg :)
Yep, it’s in the fall. :)
Hahaha! Goodness, you gave me the best laugh I have had today Stacy, love ya <3
Excellent, love making people laugh! :) hugs
This sounds Deelish! And you know that I’m all about teas which have the TTF seal of approval!!!!
Haha! And I’ve got my own personal stamp now, thanks to Stacy!
Sars, I promised this tea to a few people already and don’t have enough to send you until I restock. But really, it is like nothing else I’ve ever tried, completely in a category of its own!
I just got a little bit and I want to try it, but apparently I’ve forgotten how to make tea. Both of the cups I’ve made this morning taste bland and underleafed even though I made them the same way I always make them. My allergies are raging so maybe it’s that – but I hate to waste my tea if it’s going to taste so blah to me :(
Lol…you are one of the “person” I have mentioned. This tea is so light, it takes tons of leaves, and since we are both “over-leafer”, I understand why you got a bland cup. I’m sending you enough for a gongfu session, this one is much better for me in the gaiwan :-)
I have some of this LTF – I just got some in a Butiki order. I got the Leafhopper Sampler – cause I love my bug bitten tea and I also got two kinds of oolong. I’ll try it in my gaiwan when I’m tasting right. The other cups I made this morning weren;t this one. I’m looking forward to this one, but not today since my taster is apparently off. I made a cup of Zhu Rong and a cup of the yezi tea that I love and nothing tastes right to me. I’m gonna do a big fat cup of Special Dark and lay off tea for the morning until my taster gets right. You are a sweetie for putting me some back, but I have this :)
TTF: that’s ok. I was planning a Butiki order for the near furure. I’ll add it to my wishlist. :)
Also, good morning lovely tea ladies!!!!
Also, this is a pre-approved Butiki order. :p
Good morning Sars – how are you today??
I love this one. This is one I tend to keep hidden and not drink b/c I do love it so. I need to just drink it:) I have never actually had this one gong fu style before. I will have to do that in the near future. Love the description! You are so good with describing flavors.
And yes, good morning, all the lovely ladies!
Gotta run, hope to catch y’all later!!
Yes, Totally pre-approved, thanks SARS!!
Sorry for bad taste buds MzPriss, I hope they start behaving soon :-)
Thank you Teatiff, let me know what you think after trying it with short steeps, so GOOD!! And don’t save it, DRINK IT :-)
Well HoneyBelle, it’s Friday, so woo! I’m also drinking some Butiki (peach hoppitea). The boss started her vacation today. I broke into my 1st pu’erh cake this AM ( ), I have zero meetings scheduled for today, AND I’m going to happy hour with my friend after work. So I’m freakin’ fantastic!!!! How are you????
How is peach hoppitea? That is one I have been iffy to order. Glad to hear you are having a great day Sarsonator. MzPriss sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. I hope your taste buds hurry up and get back to normal.
@Sars – THAT is a good Friday!!! We got some rain which we needed. How was breaking your first cake?
Hey Tiff – I feel fine other than sneezing – but I HATE it when my taster is off – because i WANT tea, but I feel like I’m wasting it :(
Y’all have a good day – I’m out the door for work
Foxy- I meant MY future Butiki purchase was approved. I won’t police you b/c Dex seems to have everything under control LOL
Tiff- it’s ok. Not my fave, but my boyfriend is crazy about it and he picked the tea this AM. Hope you are having a great day, too!!!!
MzP- I was a little sad about the cake, but it workd out just fine. I broke off a small piece from the back, at the indentation. I wrapped it back up carefully and you can’t even tell it was violated! I hope your taster gets back to normal ASAP!
Oh, so happy that you’re having such an awesome friday Sars, and WOOT for breaking Pu’erh!! (And don’t worry, you’re cake won’t even notice you cruelly poked it with a knife)