Popular Tasting Notes

Sorry to hear you didn’t like it :( But every tea is a learning experience all the same :)

How short your steeps were? I’m quite successful with shortest steeps possible like 5 sec.
This particular shu I found too clean and too mild for my taste. Don’t dismiss it. Try some other time;)

Yes, it was a learning experience and I enjoyed trying it for sure!

boychik, I played around a bit with steeping times…probably a bit longer than 5 seconds, and as well tried longer times – still pretty earthy.

I would try it again some other time.
If any one told me 4 months ago that I would be so into puerh I wouldn’t believe. I started with shu( had a free sample) that was very bad quality, completely black fishy. But I had a feeling that it was a bad sample. It didn’t stop me;). I’m addicted.
Do you drink coffee? I find shu is similar to black coffee. I do drink 1 cup everyday no milk or sugar. If you like green tea then maybe sheng is the answer.

Yeah I think puerh takes a little time to get aquanted with you. My first was a disaster.

haha, yes I will have to try again another time. I really don’t know much about puerh at all.
And I do drink coffee but didn’t find this similar, except in color perhaps. ;-)

If you have only had this a short period of time let it “air” out. I usually put any new puerh in the pumidor for at least 2 weeks before I get into them. Just let it get some air and moisture and it will probably wake up a little. I get things from China that have been vacuumed sealed with no airflow or moisture and they are usually in transit a month or so sometimes. I just pull them out and hope they come “alive” again. I think this will change given a month or so.

Thank you, mrmopar. It was in a sealed bag – I will the rest of it get some air for awhile and try again. And, I never knew there were pumidors!

That should read, “I will let the rest of it get some air..”

Mopar, how big is your pumidor anyway? :)

Sighhhh… Fauchon doesn’t even ship to Canada. And I just had shipping shock the other day doing a mock order for both MF, The O Dor and Fauchon and then figured with all these shipping charges… I could fly there for cheaper. le sigh

I agree about the crazy shipping from Adagio! It feels like it’s almost the equivalent of agreeing to give up your first born, which is frustrating because there’s ONE blend from Adagio I’ve been dying to try since getting into loose leaf. However, I’m not going to pay $30 shipping for one blend :(

Tuscanteal – yeah. It’s frustrating. At least there are more places carrying it? Did you check your local Winners? They had some for a bit at least.

Roswel Strange – it’s absolutely ridiculous. I tweeted them to ask why they couldn’t send it USPS and they said it WAS USPS. I don’t understand why it’s so much. If they made an effort to lower their prices they would get SO MUCH BUSINESS.
Maybe you can find someone on Steepster to grab that one blend for you? That’s how I got this one and my beloved TARDIS tea. :P (I won’t give out my contact though in case that person doesn’t want to do it for everyone, but there are tons of nice people here who probably wouldn’t mind splitting and re-shipping an order for you)

I’m a tea mule for a few companies right now, including Adagio – actually making an order tonight with them! If anyone wants something added, send me a note. We’re getting it shipped to Blaine, WA to a company that specializes in this sort of stuff, and then I’ll pick it up and parse it out shortly after arrival. Lots of options.

Ooh, MissB. I will message you.

I didn’t realize that MissB! That’s great! :D
(I sometimes have access to a mule up here but more options are better)

Cavo, my dad lives in California so I ship orders to him. When I move back to Thornhill I can just add stuff to orders for you and then drop them off at your house.

MissB – definitely shot you a message!

MissB – a tea mule, that’s so funny! I could probably do the same for a lot of things, I have Nexus.

Oh, VariaTEA – I nearly missed your response! Thanks for the offer. I will likely take you up on it. :P (And we can meet at the DAVIDsTEA at Promenade!)

Ooh, Nexus. I’ve debated getting one. I always get questioned at the border if they ask me what I do for a living (will you be writing – anything – while you’re in the US? is my favorite question).

Worth It hands down!!!!

MissB: “My signature. On the credit card receipts.” Although sometimes they don’t have a sense of humour.

haha Hopefully one of us will get hired at that DAVIDs and then we can have discounts on their tea.

I’m about to order this one and am SO excited!

I hope you enjoy it!

OMGsrsly: Ha! Yes, I’ve learned to keep it serious at the border. Two hour cavity searches are someone else’s idea of a fun afternoon. ;)

i can feel my resolve weakening…

I saw the discount code too! Must…not…buy…more…tea! Oh, what the hell. ;)

I am going to steep some up. :)

Oh noes, only four 1 oz. bags are left and the rest of the sizes are sold out. The time is ticking.

One thing I’ve noticed is this company is very generous with sales. Granted, that may just be their strategy to lure people in, but whatever, everyone wins in the end.

So, I didn’t do it, because I was lured to try a new company! Della Terra will have to wait…;)

That’s a bold move, really. I’m bad at getting stuck at ordering over and over again from the same company. Took me forever to try DTT as it is. Which company did you order from?

sTeap shoppe. Had to get the cinnamon swirl bread tea!

Oooh, I’m sure it’ll be a good choice. :)

I also love this, I ordered some more.

I ordered based on your review :-)

Aww yay, hope you’ll enjoy! Otherwise I’d feel bad if you didn’t like it. :p

Incendiare: no worries, I received my order and I love it :-)

That seems very strange that the prices are higher in the store. I know the online prices of course are in $CDN, but that would make me think the in-store price in the States would actually be lower. Odd. I’m positive it isn’t like that in Canada, because otherwise the pricing out of things using the online listing wouldn’t have worked as well as it did for Amanda and I when we arranged our large swap thingy.

I had a friend pick me up stuff from an NYC store a couple months ago, and everything was in ounces, and 2 ounces weighs more than 50g so that might play into it too. I was pretty surprised by the total even after that, because I had pretty much been going by online.

Oh, you reminded me I have a sample of this from my last online order!

Yeah, in the 3 Canadian stores I’ve visited the prices are the same as online, so there must be something in the conversion, or some sort of agreement when they made stores in the States because our dollars are pretty much equal at the moment. That would be an interesting question for customer service – I bet they would have a real answer for you rather than me guessing! lol

I think it’s a combo of ounce vs grams + transportation fees. You’re paying for them to ship the teas in the store to the states and also any customs fees and such. I just had a bit of sticker shock, especially after H&S where the prices are significantly lower than online. 2 ounces of Paris is $2, 2 ounces of Honeybee is $9! Considering DT’s cheap shipping, I’ll probably just go to the stores for drinks and get loose leaf online.

Oh wow… H&S is that cheap in-store?! Must… find… H&S….

They go by bulk numbers in store, so it’s the per-pound prices that they use. I just checked my teas from them: the cheapest is Lemony Gunpowder ($2.22 for 2oz), Paris was $2.60 for 2oz so I was pretty close! It’s nice, since I consider a lot of their teas “must have at all time” and it’s totally affordable to keep my cupboard full!

That’s crazy cheap, or it seems so to me!

I feel spoiled by H&S, their prices are so low but their blends are so good!

Those cheap prices for H&S might have something to do with them based in NY. I bought some at a tea shop in the midwest and the prices were more like $3-4 an ounce or so. Still not a bad price considering the quality.

I think stores that aren’t in NY have the same pricing as online (which is still pretty decent), it’s probably only the 2 NY ones that are so cheap. It’s still very nice, I don’t think many other stores use bulk pricing even if it’s their flagship.

Yeah, it seemed the tea shops price were fairly inline with Harney’s online. Very fortunate to have access to such great prices.

We love this one too!

Eee!!!!! The whales are SO CUTE!

Is this tea really minty? They say a “hint” of mint, but I don’t see mint in the ingredients.

I thought that upon first smell, but the more I sip away, the more what I thought was mint just becomes cucumber melon to be honest.

Would you say the flavours are weak though? so sad because I bet the smell would lead me on so much!

omg omg must get to dT! three hours to go now!

Yep keychange. The smell is much stronger.

Thanks. :)

Ahh I think I am going to my store tonight, I looked at all the teaware and am freaking out, I want ALL of it. Haha I think I’ve narrowed it to 2 for myself, 2 for the bf lol..and I really want to try all the new teas!! This one looks so refreshing!

Alrighty. Still so excited to check it out!

The new whales mug is SOOOO cute. The last thing I need is another mug though, LOL

Yay! We’re almost matching whale mug buddies! I chose the noric style bc I like the grip better, although I envy that yours has a whale in the inside…

Stephanie I didn’t either, whoops!

Cavo I contemplated the Nordic mug, because my Spock mug has a similar shape, but I love the inner lime green and little whale too much.

Ha, I was wondering if this would smell like late 90s cucumber melon lotion.

And I sure hope there isn’t lemongrass in the coconut oolong!

I agree about the coconut oolong Fjellrev.

Don’t call it coconut oolong then, damnit. :)

OOooo I love lemongrass! Maybe I will try that one. I remember Bath and Body Works had a Cucumber Melon scent in the ’90’s…that wouldn’t happen to be the one ya’ll are talking about, would it? That was my favorite for the longest time.

We’ll have to wait and see in April. That’s all word of mouth, so I could be wrong!

Hah! The cucumber melon scent is amazing.

Yeah, I’m curious to see if it’s just rumour or if it’ll be like the original! Oh, that blasted telephone game.

I hear you! Indulgence was called for indeed!

Wow! That sounds just a bit awkward. Glad this tea made it a little better!

Yeah. We’re still friends but this was the first time seeing him since they announced it on FB so I wasn’t quite ready for it….apparently I was still a bit upset that he forgot my birthday heh. Life is good though…wedding reception was great! It was at a fireball! I got to play on fire trucks :)

Yeah… I can see how that would be a bit awkward to deal with. But ice cream is good. :)

well it’s looks a little like a boor attitude you are definitively in better company with Laoshan Black :)

Yay for Laoshan Black! Yay for ice cream 2 times in one day! Yay for self-indulgences! Sometimes you just have to treat yourself like the pretty princess you are, have all the ice cream & tea you want, first class yourself all the way, & remind yourself that HE was definitely not the one for you anyway, so who give a f*@%, right? LOL

Lol. Yep. I think I was Mostly upset he
Forgot my birthday. But I’ve got Ian to make things awesome :)

Whoa. Very glad you had this tea to help you get through that!

Yay for Ian too, cuz he has you!

You deserve ice cream twice in one day after that!

Sounds like the best strategy! I enjoy a lot of flavoured puerhs now, but I’m afraid to try one on it’s own after the disastrous attempt with Zen Tea’s Puerh. (It tasted like dirt)

Dirt! Yikes, I’ll be steering clear of that one at least until I gain a firmer footing in the Pu-Erh department.

I know how you feel. I’ve only tried flavoured ones as well. One I quite like ( a blood orange one which has a rich deep flavour and re-steeps amazingly well for a flavoured tea) and another which was really horrible ( a strawberry one that reminded me of ammonia). So at the moment I am all for experimentation but only in small doses.

Congrats on trying your first pu’erh. This is one of the best/funniest tasting notes that I’ve read in a long time. :))
“Some exalting the rich earthy flavor” – this is just a fancy term for dirt. LOL I actually like the earthy/dirty taste of pu’erh, and have just started exploring them plain. I have several in my cupboard that I haven’t tried yet.
You weren’t revolted by this one so maybe don’t give up on all of them. I’m agreeing with your strategy, baby steps.

I loved this note! :-) I too have been intimidated by Pu’erh and have been putting off tasting them until I’ve tried lots of other things first. I am intrigued by the idea of drinking “dirt” though, so maybe I’ll do it soon.

@yyz – wow! ammonia, something must have gone when they made that flavor, but it’s good that you found the blood orange to enjoy, and the strawberry one didn’t scare you away from all Pu’erhs.

@Dexter3657 – Thank you for your kind words. Now that I think of the “rich earthy flavor” description, you’re totally right – fancy term for dirt – hahaha! Yes, for sure, baby steps seems like the way to go – so far, so good, at least.

@Fuzzy_Peachkin – We can explore the world of Pu’erhs together :) Hooray for dirt! ;)

Yes. Yes, they do taste like dirt. I like adding a little sugar to cheaper loose puerhs (Tealux’s Naked Puerh is AMAZING with a pinch of sugar), to really explore the spicy earthy sweet flavours. :) The smell is still intimidating, but I love the taste. Used leaves also cold brew into a fascinating tea.

Great review! Congrats on getting through your first Puerh experience. I haven’t really tried too many flavored ones, but the ones I’ve liked are:
Blood Orange Puerh from The London Tea Room.
Bolder Breakfast from The Tea Spot (mix of black tea, puerh, & chocolate).
I think there was one with Caramel too, that was kind of nice.

OMGsrsly – I’m glad I grabbed that one from Tealux then! I just haven’t tried it yet. I grabbed 6 different puerh samples from them and so far am happy. I like a few of the ones from DavidsTea too – they’re easy starter puerhs!

@OMGsrsly, Terri HarpLady and Cavocorax -Thanks for all the suggestions. It’s nice to have some ideas to help figure out what I should try next. I’m treading cautiously with Pu’erhs because I feel one misstep might scare me away completely. So your suggestions are very helpful – thank you

I’m seconding the vote for Tealux Naked Pu’erh. It’s a decent inexpensive loose shu pu’erh. I find with my sample that it needs a pretty decent rinse to get rid of the initial dirty socks/fishy smell. First steep is pretty strong, but mellows quite a bet for steeps 2 onward.

Canadianadia, when you are ready to make the step to plain pu’erh I would recommend a sheng (raw). They taste like pu’erh – dirty, earthy, but in a much gentler softer version. I drank a sheng for the first time last night (tried two different ones) and they were both much lighter on the pu’erh flavor. Might be a gentler transition for you.

Thanks Dexter3657 – I’ll have to keep that in mind when I venture towards the plain pu’erh

Have you tried making pear cheesecake matcha yet? :3

No… I try to limit myself to 1 matcha per day… I’m already breaking that limit with this latte. I can’t drink that much matcha otherwise I’ll never sleep.

This sounds like the perfect use for my milk frother fancy gadget thingamabobby. I’ve never had matcha, will investigate.

I just broke down and ordered the Mocha Matcha to make some lattes from eldest daughter and myself. Sigh. I wasn’t going to give in, but Azzrian and the rest of you guys led me down the path…

MUAHHHAHAHAHAA

I can’t wait to get a set of Matcha bowls and matching kettle, even if I don’t like Matcha, still be great to have, when I am feeling especially ritualistic about tea time. I am hoping I can find a better set in person, other then going to Teavana.

@Lynxiegrl – unless you’re really set on having a set like this, might I suggest visiting Etsy? That’s where I’ve bought all three of my Matcha bowls. They don’t match or anything, however, I am sure that if you find an artisan that you like, I am sure that they’ll make you a matching set. Maybe not the kettle … but, the bowls will match. I prefer to buy handmade stuff direct from the artisan, that way I’m supporting an artist rather than Teavana … and as an artist myself, I like doing that. :) http://www.etsy.com

Sorry to read about the car deal. I hope a better one comes along soon. In the meantime tea is definitely a good solution.

It will get better Bonnie. :) Everything for a reason.

Got a call from someone else who says they will pay cash and are meeting me at the Bank at 1pm with my son-in-law. (I’m selling the car…Silver RAV4…. at a really good price!)

Well there’s lots of people looking for cars so don’t worry your will find a new home :D Tea is awesome, all hail tea :D

You know, I don’t think I’ve tried Pu-erh in a latte yet … perhaps I shall need to do this. I’m still trying to get over that period of time when I did not like pu-erh … and now, even though I’ve liked nearly all that I’ve tried, I still get that sense of apprehension when it comes to a pu-erh. I hope I get over it soon.

SOLD MY CAR>>>CASH IN BANK>>>>CAN NOW BUY SOME TEA!!!! (I haven’t been able to buy tea even so whoopie!)

YAAY! more tea is always a good thing :D

Congratulations!!

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven…

Yay! Now you can celebrate with a good tea!!

KS you are so right. I wrote the note on being grateful yesterday, today started as a downer and a reminder to remain grateful even when things don’t go my way. Then…everything turned around again. Hallelujah!

Dear Gussie, you are making my mouth water!

My goodness that tea sounds delightful!

Haha I think that is where I differ. To me, anyone wearing Chanel no. 5 would not smell delicately flowery to me. That stuff is so heady.

Lol, Fjellrev, it was only to illustrate the high end side of this tea! That’s why I wrote a drop !! I know, way to strong for me also :-)

Yeah yeah, I know haha. Just teasing. ;)

Gmatis and Amanda, I have sampled a few other Baozhong before. This one is the best so far for me. I have received some in a swap that can’t wait to try and compare :-)

Awee get better !!!

Thanks. It sucks because mostly I feel perfectly fine. But that’s how it is with colds :(

Poor thing! I just got over that myself. Warm milk and honey might be just the ticket! Hope you feel better soon.

Feel better!

Aww no, I hope you’re feeling better.

Butiki is becoming a fast favorite of mine – which reminds me I need to put in another order very, very soon! :)

Get some rest – sounds like your brain’s been pretty busy! :)

Oooh, this sounds good. I think I may have a sample of this from Mercuryhime! I need to try it. Teas from Nepal are pretty close to darjeeling, and I usually like them.

Thanks, Yes…and it is an effort for my brain to do the work it has to do. I drink tea to create beautiful quiet places. Scenes that are tranquil. Rest.

Let us know when the blog is up and running…. but don’t stop the wonderful real life stories on Steepster.

Can’t wait to see this blog in action! :D

No, Steepster is you guys and #1. The other is not the typical tea review thing. I am a run-on sentence! It’s more space to write about tea and life. I have a title already… Tea Traveler.
Just simple like me.

Hope you get feeling better!

Thanks/you know how it goes…I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Part of life. I feel bad for the people with no power and air conditioning. OH YES! THE FIRE IN MY BACK MOUNTAIN IS 100% CONTAINED!!!! The other ones are still not…but we are on our way! It took 1800 firefighters! About 700 homes in Colorado are gone and 3 died. It’s only July 2nd!

Oh my goodness!

Hope you feel better soon. :D

Looks like I’m feeling better! Gotta go eat!

Get well Bonnie…glad the fire situation is getting better. The Tea Traveler sounds really good, I like it!

Bonnie-I hope you feeling better today. So glad you are enjoying the Guranse. Wow, cooking with the Tangerine Creamsicle seems like such an interesting idea!

So glad to hear the fire near you is contained. That’s just terrible that so many people lost their homes and that a few have lost their life. It puts things in perspective.

Ha. Procrastination sometimes rocks. Now I have a car to go to the mall. And for Costco in the morning. Sweet.

Capsule wardrobes—reminds me of spaceship gear. :)

Also, brilliant idea separating everything.

I used to be able to wear whatever to work – PJs, workout gear, jeans, whatever. But I can’t at my new job, so my closet needed to be reorganized. And the really shabby stuff needs to be replaced!

Thankfully, I can be fairly dress-up casual at work, but I tend towards more casual casual. My shabbier items go in the home ‘cleaning’ and crafting pile. That pile is growing.

I have to wear nylons, Evol! I used to be able to wear leggings and casual skirts, but now I have to wear nylons. The horror! (It’s really too bad Costco only sells sheers – I really only wear opaque tights.)

What, no leggings? That sucks!

UGH I KNOW! I do on “casual Fridays”, but it’s not “professional attire”. Boo. (Seriously, it’s not like I’m wearing leggings and a crop top. Or pretending my semi opaque tights are pants… :D )

Seriously, I don’t get why you can’t wear leggings in place of tights. Do they also make you wear more formal shoes too or can you wear something nice yet comfy?

Hahaha. I wear Clarks mary janes. Old lady shoes FTW. I think it’s the “socks + leggings” thing that isn’t business enough. If I had ankle boots, no one would know. :D I’ve been looking, but I haven’t found anything that works for my sore feet yet.

I prefer opaque tights myself, although I usually buy the warm kind and only wear them in the winter with skirts or dresses.

I was going to specifically ask about Clarks! Well hey, they make some nice ones. Have you tried Rieker? They make some fabulously comfy, stylish shoes.

If I had to wear tights, I’d take the opaque route too.

I haven’t found anything, unfortunately. The Clarks I have are good, but I tried on another style yesterday at Winners, and nope. So ouchie. I also tried a super cute pair of ankle boots, but I needed 1 size bigger… they only had an 8. Oh well.

I can never find ones I really like in my size at Winners. But Marshalls tends to have a much better shoe selection. Have you tried there?

We actually only have one Marshalls here, and it’s in a really weird to get to area of town.

Honestly, I googled. I had no idea the store existed here.

Nylons! The horror. The expense.

Ankle boots. I suggest Blundstones. Expensive, but they’ll last for three or four years if not longer.

Ah, I see where it is. That would be so annoying for you, for sure. Too bad they didn’t put it in Richmond already, eh? Like one of the shopping centres along the sky train line so the trip would be more worthwhile.

Ours is at the extreme south end but at least there are many other interesting stores around (IKEA!) so the trip seems worthwhile.

Actually, I thought Metropolis would have one but I see they have a Winners already. That would be sweet too.

Yeah. Brentwood is mega renovating so maybe there? But as it is it’s just over an hour from home, longer if I go after work. Meh. I’ll check it out one day I’m sure!

Sadly Blundstones aren’t really work suitable! I need something a bit dressier, and those look like work boots. I mean, I’d LOVE to have a pair, but they’d be weekend/Friday wear.

:(

I have some of this, and I’m dying to try it. Everyone who has tried it seems to agree that it’s wonderful. Glad to hear that you also are enjoying it. Need to find a day that I can spend some time and enjoy it properly.

The full 3 minute steep is something I need to try soon too. I am also tempted to bake with this. I may pop it into someone’s birthday cake as a surprise.

I haven’t found a puerh I like yet, is this worth trying if I don’t seem to like the fish food barn flavor?

Maybe? This one doesn’t have the marine & barn profile. Either that or my brain is starting to filter those flavors out! :)

Tastybrew: have you tried Chocolate Strawberry Puerh from Lupicia? It hardly tastes like Puerh at all.

cough i have a birthday in july..just saying grace lol
@tastybrew – i second ash’s comments on that one from lupicia! it’s delicious!

This one is also in your box…

terri…yeah but the CAKE grace is going to make isn’t grin

Haha. We’ll have to see if the cake turns out well. My baking experiments usually end up either good or on fire.

THAT should be interesting! :)

I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who pokes at my puerh to make it fall apart faster for more flavor!

If you’re following the notes on the China trip on Verdant, it talks about two Pu’erh ‘experts’ and the two methods they prefer for serving which I compared to my own. I like this method because unless I have a guest or intend to steep all day, this is very effective.

i break it up into small pieces on the breaking board before it hits the yixing.

We could use a tea pub in our area too. I really like that concept! You could have Happy Hour and two-for-one drink specials without the repercussions that occur with OTHER pubs. Hmmmm…here’s something else to add to my list of things to do when I win the lottery!

This review. So. Cool. <333 you!

Yay! I AM SO CAFFEINATED!!!!!!!!! Are you at work? Steepster at work? Yes? If yes then YAY!

Er, what? You put strawberry jam in your tea? Like honey?

Interesting. People are just surprising me all over the place today with weird food combinations.

Denisend, seriously, go check out the Samover link in the log. The video is really short but kinda crazy because that’s how they say to do the traditional method. I thought it was pretty intriguing!

I looked at it, but it’s a video and I can’t listen to it right now. I’ll have to look at it when I get home.

I have to admit the jam sounds odd to me too, but on the other hand I’m also strangely intrigued. I wonder if it would work in my black powder blend…
This sounds all kinds of yummy! I do wish I could get to try out Samovar.

YES! I WANT THIS! I’m placing my Samovar order tomorrow (pay day). This was already on my list to buy, but OMG…adding the jam? I might have missed the video if not for your review. Thank you for this wonderful post!!!

I had known about the jam in tea from some of my random fiction reading, but I’ve never talked to an actual person who has done it. I’m so want to try it sometime.

@denisend – it’s basically saying the ‘normal’ brewing and then it gives the traditional method as 3 tablespoons of tea in 16oz of boiling water, steeped 10 minutes, then diluted with more boiling water and then adding some strawberry jam.
@Angrboda – I think we talked about the weirdness of adding fruit to the 5th of November, right? I mean, this already has lychee in it but the sweet fruity of the strawberry actually blends surprisingly well with the pine tarry in the tea. The idea is still weird to me but it works!
@Lena – they only had this in the larger tin when I made my order last week but it smells so awesome that I think I’m going to be very happy I got the big tin! I probably would have gotten this anyway (love the smoky teas!) but that jam thing? Totally made it a must have!

Auggy, yes now that you mention it, that does ring a bell. I can definitely imagine strawberry and lychee being a good combination too. You really ought to try them in their natural fruit-shape. We get them here but they can be fairly pricey. So worth it though. They’re sweet and yummy.

Wombatgirl – I hadn’t ever heard of it before so I think that it is pretty neat that you have. Is it always strawberry? Do you know?
Angrboda – After having lychee tea and now this one, I’m quite curious to taste real lychee! I’m hoping it will show up in my grocery store sometime. Enough weird stuff shows up, lychee should too!

This is really exciting to see. I just put this on my order yesterday. The flavors you describe are totally intriguing. This was a fantastic tasting note.

This is such a cool review! :) Strawberry jam and smokiness sounds so interesting..

What a great post! This one’s going on my shopping list. They ought to pay you.

Mmm this sounds so delish. I actually did know that Russians sweeten their tea with jam (my mother is Ukrainian) although I’ve never tried it that way myself.

1. This log rocked my world.

2. I’m excited to give this a try. I’ll need to pick up some strawberry jam when I’m at the store next.

3. If there’s an Asian mart near you they may have lychee, though you have that specialty grocery store so I guess they’re just as likely. If I stumble across some the next time I find myself in the Korean grocery store I’ll send some your way.

Aw, yay! So happy people enjoyed this log. It was fun to do!
Jillian – Any clue if it is typically strawberry or just any jam?
takgoti – The closest Asian grocery is about an hour and a half away I think. A little too far to go for fruit but I hold out hope that my regular grocery store will have them. And I can’t wait to hear how this goes for you!

I think that it’s most often strawberry jam (because that was the most common type made, perhaps) but any type of jam/fruit perserves can be used. So I think it’s really up to your tastes – though I don’t think they’d use say mango-guava jam traditionally. ;)

Ha! I wasn’t sure which was most common… all I could think of is if it were here, it’d probably be grape jelly. Which actually might not be too bad either!

You should try this one : http://www.jkteashop.com/mt-wudong-imperial-bai-ye-dancong-black-tea-p-718.html

I find them to be somewhat alike but I like JK’s a bit more.

Never tried JK teas that I recall .. will have to in the future. :)

You did :) I remember you having note on some JK tea :)

http://sororiteasisters.com/tag/jk-tea-shop/ here :) Or was that not you?

Ah, I missed the reviewer on the bottom of the page – it was actually liberteas

I had this today, it was ehhh. I put too much syrup in it I think =/

Evil evil taunting us with you raspberry oolong.

But I don’t have any is the problem! wibble

But we can’t get any, that’s our problem =P

But you can haz Samovar. And H&S. And Damn Fine Teas. And so on and so forth.

Now ~$50 shipping isn’t too outrageous ;)

…compared to what, exactly?

Raspberry Oolong, eh? Sounds like a good combination. Maybe we should create such a blend…

And then I shall purchase it ;)

Haha, compared to ummm…….. =]

The one in question here is this one: http://www.perchs.dk/default.asp?doo=changeLang&opt=2&page=specifik.asp&id=3035
It has raspberries primarily and also black currants and it is MADE OF AWESOME! Just ask Ricky.

Amazingness! =]

Just ask Jacqueline.

And TeaEqualsBliss

It’d be rude if we forgot Jillian ;)

Who had the lowest rating of it. At 75.

Is it silly that I read this and my thought was, ‘mmmm, Top Gear’? I guess some things can compete with even dessert tea.

They were building their own electrical car. It was hilarious. :D

I. LOVE. TOP GEAR. Seriously, I heart it so freaking hard. I don’t know what it is about them three and their goofy ways. Oh, and The Stig. Cannot forget The Stig. And The Stig’s African cousin.

I totally agree! I love that show, and I’m so immensely uninterested in cars. Heck, I don’t even have a driver’s license. But that show is one of the best things north of the Alps, srsly.
Today they had The Stig’s Vegetarian cousin. He had a green driving suit and a solar panel on his helmet. :D

The Stig’s American cousin was.. interesting.

(But, also LOVE that show.)

They’ve also had The Stig’s Lorry-Driving cousin. He was overweight and had a tanned arm.

If I were a celebrity, Top Gear would be the one show I’d fight a bear to be able to go on. I’d just be afraid that I’d kill myself on the lap. And that I wouldn’t be funny enough.

What is about Mariage Freres? can you point me on the right way? I am very interested in MF!
this tea sounds interesting btw!

cteresa, the thing I realised about MF when writing this post was that I was going to Paris a few days later at the time and I thought I might be able to pick some up while I was there. Sadly, it didn’t happen (I forgot), but I did get some nice Kusmi while we were there. :)

Oh, duh then :) Thank you for the reply and wishing you many tea shopping opportunities.

This is one I loved! Really tasty! I went back and bougnt it because I hate the fake flavor and this was fresh tasting. You know what I mean. Oolongs are gentle…and a fake flavoring on top is just obscene. Natural flavor is so much better.

Yes, definitely quite tasty, and I agree that especially with lighter teas, a lighter natural flavour works best. Blacks can handle a lot, but flavouring has killed many an oolong and green (in particular) for me. Not the case here :)

Ohhhh cherry is fine with me too :)

Have you tried this one, Azzrian??

this sounds quite lovely!

Aaaaaannnnd…. number 75 on Barb’s shopping list!

Congrats on 400!!

Hooray for you!!!!!!!

Wow, congrats on 400!

this sounds amazing. MUST try!

If you’re a fan of fruity oolongs, this one’s fabulous. And re-steeps wonderfully!

Congratulations on reaching 400 tasting notes! Wow, what an accomplishment!!

Laughs!

Hehe!

You guys are too cute!

Lol, we do have an acceptable cuteness level, you included sarsy :-)

Yum, saltines! :D

Oh! Look who just joined the cutness club! It’s cammeron :-)

Thank you, thank you very much. takes a bow

Hehe.

are y’all in the same time zone? I can barely coordinate my feet, let alone a virtual tea party!

And Cameron IS adorable.

@donkeytiara – we are an hour apart – but neither of us sleeps much so we are usually awake at ridiculous hours

I still want to have a virtual tea party on google or something :)

Terri – YES we have to!!!!

Shopping list!

Woot tea order!

Last night I was discussing it with OMGsrsly and MissB and I think it ended up being like $80 after I added all the 52 teas and SBTs I thought might be tasty. I think I might have to trim that down a bit :P.

$80? Oh my.

Hahaha oh my. Perhaps. I find I can trim when I make up for it in other orders. Which isn’t really trimming. :P

dying to try this one…it sounds exquisite!!

haha. It was for a fair bit of tea and I have a pay pal balance so I am not concerned. I just have a lot of tea already so I want to make sure I only get stuff I really want.

I am waiting for my brother to place the order because he will drink the iced teas with me in the summer. That could either make the order a whole lot bigger or help trim it down. We will see how it goes.

Good luck! I say to get them all!!! :)

I’ve always wondered… how do they get that “pastry” taste. I’ve sensed it also but how do they make it? Oh the questions that occur to me…

Magic, carol who. Pure magic.

That must be it! :)

Ohhh I have been to garden of the gods!! Lovely place! I will have to get this – if they still offer it that is.

This just came out! I just put it on Steepster!

Now that’s a good review. :)) 97

Awe thanks Scott. Missed you yesterday.

What was yesterday?!?

wow this sounds amazing. Kudos to you for adding sugar, I’d do the same. Just a tad!! :P

why do you always inspire movie memories Bonnie! singin’ Mamma Mia now… (worse than Brosnan I tell ya)

You were missed Scott! That’s the point!

Thanks Bonnie! :))

Oh wait thats right it IS new thanks for reminding me. :)

I wish I could write reviews like you, Bonnie. I guess in part I don’t have the life experiences from which to draw upon, but I also don’t have a way with words the way you do!

Krystaleyn thank you! Remember I don’t go to school like you either, already worked 30 years and don’t have a husband or boyfriend or roommate or kids etc. You’re right about time creating many experiences. Many good and some horrors.

Yay Bonnie, Happy Saturday! (I realize that it is now Sunday but that doesn’t change a thing) I am glad that you were able to enjoy this one, beautiful review too!!

Thanks Jason! I know you’ve been to the Greek Islands too and can visualize!

Yes nectar! I know I had read this a month ago, but didn’t reread anyone’s notes before posting mine. But yes I was totally going to use the term “nectar of the gods”. I need to revisit Garden of the Gods.

Enjoy! :)

I love the idea of Sipdown Saturday haha. Muchly needed. And I LOVE this tea. :D

Oh, I totally need to rock some Sipdown Saturday! :D

i have a bunch of samples i think? i can finish in one cup….but then i have a TON of samples that i haven’t tried that will take a few cups. so i’m hoping i can use sat and sun to do that since there are 15 teas in bound to me…no way i’m hitting 150 this month with all the travelling.

I wish I had time for a sipdown Saturday or Sunday this weekend, cuz I have SO many samples & such. Maybe I’ll make this coming week a sipdown extravaganza :)

I’m going to try and get through as many as i can…since i suspect there will be tea buying in the very near future…

:) there always is…

i’m looking at verdant, herbal infusions and river tea at the moment…plus since we’ll be going to florida in february, i’m likely planning an order from at least one place that i can ick up while there (H&S? S&V? Adagio?) AND if i get any free time in chicago this week, i’ll be stopping by adagio and tea gschwender…so team might be picked up there…

I placed my Verdant Birthday order yesterday…just sayin’…

So…where in FL are you guys going?

Always Orlando :) “family” is there

Nice flavors!

What’s wrong with keeping shengs in the kitchen?

If you intend to keep a puerh for a while, they can absorb the odors from food/cooking and alter the taste

If you are storing pu’er at home, it will help if you keep it in a cardboard box to at least shield it a little from cooking smells, spices. Incense, perfumes, colognes, air sprays… all of those things will quickly absorb into pu’er tea (not to mention they are hell on the body because of the chemicals). The more one can keep pu’er away from odors, the better. Here at our shop, we have all our teas in a special vault with proper airflow, proper humidity and temp, air filtration and ZERO odors other than the livin’ thing that is pu’er tea.

One also does not want to store it where dry air (heating, air conditioning) is blowing on it. It will dry out the tea and stop/greatly inhibit its aging.

Totally going on the shopping list, thanks for the review!

Great info Garret…….Thanks. :))

Garret – I have steam heat. I wonder how that would affect the tea?

Aha. Thanks!

Hi everyone :) Steam heat is nice because you don’t have that forced air drying the heck outta your stash! In MN it gets cold and dry during the winter and even without forced air, the humidity in houses can get quite low. If one has the space (and the gumption), they can make their own little humidor out of a closet (as long as you can get airflow established) using a small humidifier. One must be careful, though, to really watch the % of humidity. Too wet and you’ve got mold and funk. No good.

I can’t imagine it getting too dry in the Bay Area, though, even in cold weather. Am I correct in saying that?

I did have a customer bring in a cake of tea she was all excited about that she had brought from some dealer while visiting China. She had not used it because she didn’t really know what to do with it. She brought it here to me, after discovering we were here. I took one whiff of it in the ornate box she had it in and knew instantly that it had been stored in a cupboard with curry and other spices. Not good. Sure enough, when we made the tea… it was totally wrecked because of the spice aromas that is had stewed in while in her cupboard. It was useless. Too bad, too, because the tea factory itself is a good one and the leaf looked tremendous. It does not take long for pu’er to soak up the odors around it (cooking smells, INCENSE, cigarettes, air spray, perfumes, etc) and it never lets go of the aromas once it grabs ahold of them.

Be careful out there, people :)

May you all have the best of health!!

Lemon, yes. I can taste that now! Surprised I didn’t think of that while writing my review.