Popular Tasting Notes
Backlogging this mornings doings…I went all out with Ceylon Sonata this morning. about a teaspoon in a large mesh ball (plenty of room) and HOT water at a full roiling boil! 4 minutes and I had a perfect cup of tea. As I’ve noted in the past, this is a good tea, not an outstanding tea…I’ve had better “Kenilworth’s”, but all things considered, I’m talking about the difference between really good and really, really good…not between trash and good.
Not too bad of an iced tea but not as fruit tasting as I would have liked. I ended up mixing a few cups of lemonade with this batch in a pitcher and it balanced out the taste a bit. I’ll give it another go next time and see if I can steep it longer since it is an herbal tea.
Flavors: Blood Orange, Honey
Preparation
Was comparing two Li Shan teas from two different farms. The first one had been left out too long and was stale. The second one had an incredibly baked, oxidized taste to it. We opened up a new package of the first one and the fresh package was incredible smooth, light, and floral.
A cleansing and fragrant green tea! The fragrance is sharp, flowery and quite long lasting. The aftertaste is smooth and the tea leaves are mellow green before brewing, and turns yellowish green after steeping. I am not a dragonwell aficionado by any stretch, but the aroma and flavor of this tea is complex and the long-lasting aftertaste of this tea is just, wow.
Brewed in gaiwan at 175F, with brew times: 20s, 40s, 1:20m, 2m
Preparation
Another tea that I picked up on sale 50% off yesterday. It smelled delicious in store, and when I got it home last night and brewed a cup, I remembered that I had received this in a gift set last Christmas, though I think it was just a herbal blend, while this claims to be a white tea, nevertheless, they tasted exactly the same. I’ve decided that I simply can’t stand hibiscus unsweetened. Sweetened, I can handle it. Though I think I added a bit too much honey, it was still enjoyable.
I found this on the end of summer clearance shelf at the grocery store for $4.79. At that price I couldn’t resist the draw of watermelon even though I don’t usually buy bagged tea. I liked it, but it is a bit candyish and the melon has a strong after taste. If I saw it on sale I’d buy it again.
Preparation
If I’m getting a cup of tea at Starbucks, this is generally what I get. This tea has a fairly strong spicy flavor that works well with milk, and I find it more interesting than the Awake blend, which is basically the only other option for black tea when one is at the ’bucks.
