Popular Tasting Notes
Oh, nom, nom, nom….
Stacy, you have ALL the best Taiwanese black teas, what’s up with that????
Oh, little leafhoppers, how I love you. You little bugs, you…. Thanks for making my tea taste so sweet and scrumptious!
This is all malt and honey.
It makes my tastebuds want to party. Some fruit, but not in a PTA kind of way.
It’s creamy and yeasty like sourdough bread.
It’s a little salty and mineral, but maybe that’s coming from my tetsubin pot. I’ve been using it a lot for lately, it’s devoted to black teas only but I’m thinking of using it only for my butiki’s Taiwanese black teas, they taste fabulous in it :-)
I’m so happy I got a decent quantity of this wonderful tea.
Cause I want MORE!!!
Pic of the session:
So, I was supposed to go with my friend on a DT date. I was waiting for that to go and get the fall teas. But, with all the reviews up on here, I couldn’t wait any longer. I finally got my fall teas yesterday! Fall teas are probably my favourite flavours and it is my fav season as well. I am rambling….
This is what I have been waiting for!! Sweet and a little spicy. Cute little marshmallows that dissolve quickly. They do make the brew a little bit cloudy though.
As for “toasted marshmallow,” I would agree with DaisyChubb that it is probably closer to eggnog. Either way, it is delicious.
Oh, and did someone say latte?…….this would be amazing as one…..be right back!
I had 1/4 of my cup left, but then I warmed up 1/4 cup of milk in the microwave and poured my remaining tea into it……….WHAT? Who put that eggnog in my cup? This is honestly delicious! What a sinful treat (but not as sinful as eggnog….lol).
Preparation
They posted a recipe for using this to make s’mores cocoa. I didn’t want this until I saw that and now I won’t be able to resist.
Oh man, I didn’t see that before but now I will HAVE to make it!
I totally wanted to try that recipe. Let us know if you do
Ooooh I can’t wait until mine arrives! You’ve inspired me to make a latte with it asap!
I just bought this tea (along with a few others…well…does 14 qualify as “a few”? hahaha!) I put this one at the back of my cupboard because I wasn’t as excited about trying it as some others but after reading your tasting note, I will have to move it further to the front of the line.
Thanks to Dhart1214 for this sweet sample tea!
Happy new old car to me!
Well, I sold my baby, my Silver Rav4 and now, I have a new, old,
Grandma car! Hooray for me, sigh! (I really am grateful though)
Don’t you think the best way to celebrate would be with some White Bubbly Berry Tea?!
I am now driving an older Mini-Van. It’s in perfect condition with new tires and low mileage (116,000) for a (gulp) 1995.
The poor grandma who owned it has MS. Her name is…Bonnie. No lie! Not a rattle or scratch on the car. (Weird her name is Bonnie,huh)
So, here I am driving an old lady car and learning again that the things I have don’t matter. (The turn indicators go click, click which my granddaughters like…they think it’s retro! Heck, I’m retro!)
BUT, THE TEA I DRINK DOES MATTER! HUH! (Got that right!)
I’m celebrating with a sweet bubbly berry tea and I like it!
The wet leaves smelled like raspberry green peas and I giggled.
How cool? I wondered what the tea would taste like.
I would have slurped down a sweet pea raspberry tea, but the sweet pea wasn’t there. Arh.
Instead, there was a soft, floral raspberry flavor which made my mouth tingle. The tea was smooth with fire around the edges of my tongue and sweet enough not to need a thing added to it.
I added some sweetening to it anyway.
I spent the whole morning getting a smog check, and at the Larimer County Building doing the car registrations.
If you don’t think I needed something sweet after that, then you probably haven’t done this task in awhile!
I loved kicking back with my sweet bubbly berry tea! I’ll enjoy this again and again! (She sent me an ounce…goodie!!!)
Thank you so much for the White Berry Bubbly!
Am I the only person who never saw this funny/cute Japanese/Thai Tea commercial with the little dad and son worms? http://youtu.be/TgPmaNMReKQ
Pimp out your Van with a licence plate that says TEABAGS or ERLGRY or PU-ERH
If I was brave I’d just put Pu- but it would attract an element I don’t want to attract.
(and maybe dogs that can read)
That was the first time I saw the commercial too! so cute!
TEA*LISH, EQUL*TEA, CHAR*TEA, NOVL*TEA, INFN*TEA, MORL*TEA, CRAF*TEA, ANTQ*TEA, LOVE*TEA, LOVE*SHU
If there were enough letters mine would have been Stupidi*tea
Congrats on your new transport! Who cares if it’s old, a car is only meant to take you from A to B! or maybe in this case, from A to «TEA»!
Ha Ha…such a cute idea! A nice blog name!
Oh I think you’re on to something… Your blog publicity would say: Embark on a tea journey with Bonnie, she’ll take you from A to Tea!
My blog name is already done though…more me…Tea and Incense and almost ready. Maybe you need the blog name TeaFairy!
Can’t wait to read your blog, nice name! As for me, a time will come maybe…
Congrats!!! A New Old Car sounds super exciting! :)
Congrats!!
Yay for new car!
I’m liking Temple Stairs more and more…I find myself longing for it. Could it be addictive?
It fills me with positive energy in the morning. What a great warming feeling it provides.
I think it’s my most “elegant” shou pu’erh, not as bold and strong as some others, but still imposing its presence in a sophisticated way.
I love how the steeps evolve, and contrary to Special Dark, I prefer drinking this one Gongfu style. (Special Dark is my Big Mug guy!)
It’s got a light brothy mushroom flavour or “dampness” if the word mushroom in tea scares some of you.
There’s faint bittersweetness about it, hard to describe. Cooked turnips come to mind.
I love how creamy this is. I also detect notes of cocoa, but they aren’t prominent in this tea.
(Now, something I read put the thought of fresh cherries in my head early on this morning.
I think I have enough Temple Stairs energy stocked in me now to jog to the market and get me some!)
Have a great Wednesday dear Steepster friends!
You are right, Special Dark is great for “big mug” type steeping. I haven’t tried Temple Stairs yet but I hope to sometime soon! Also I too think puerh can be addictive :)
Mushrooms….you’re making me nervous about my Temple Stairs purchase, haha
Yay! I had Temple Stairs this morning! I am really excited about this tea. The 100 gram cakes will begin arriving in a few weeks and while I don’t want to wish time away, these cakes will be cha-mazing in 2 to 3 years. I hope I had enough of them pressed (500 cakes, 10,000 mini-tuochas) cause I’m gonna hog a few of them for myself :) Happy wednesday to each of you.
Stephanie, don’t we looove our big mug of special dark!!
Whatshesaid, I was actually thinking about you, lol!! It’s nothing offensive really, no worries :-)
Garret, i just love ALL your pu’erh!! Cha-mazing sounds just perfect :-)
I am having Imperial Dark for the first time and now I just don’t know which is my favourite anymore, so good!!
Your reviews are so seriously adorable. You make me want to do nothing but drink tea all day long.
Lol, Sarsonator, that’s because I haven’t been working for the first time in my life. I usually work 50 to 60 hours a week, so I actually DO take advantage and drink tea all day :-) life will take its course eventually, work madness will pick up where I left it and you won’t be seeing these notes quite as often, that’s for sure!
Then I will enjoy them while I can. :)
“Your reviews are so seriously adorable.” +1
You guys are very good for my self esteem :-) :-) :-)
oh my num num num num num……. I can’t even think to type to busy drinking.. Delicious.
yup.
MzPriss have you done a comparison to Zhi Gong Fu Black? If my memory serves me right, this is really similar… I am kicking myself for not ordering more than an ounce. Haha
It is similar. But that is from memory – not a side by side test – but I could do that…..I love both of them a lot.
If you get a chance it would be interesting to see how they compare. I am really enjoying this one and it took me all of 2 sec to sip down the sample of Gong Fu you gave me:)
I will do that and let you know what I think. Some more GFB could come your way if you want…
Thank you for the offer, but no need. I have plenty to work on these days. Between WP and the Verdant order that should be here anyday:) I will be interested to see how you think they compare though.
I wish my Verdant order would get here. Because Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha.
I will compare the FB and the GFB and let you know :)
My Verdant order just shipped! :D
And my WP order just shipped :-)
(And my Verdant as well, haha! Too much tea??? There’s no such thing!!)
Woot, lots of tea for everyone! I checked this morning and my Verdant tracking number now exists that means it will be here soon:) I think THIS tea will not be here for very long though. I am still thinking about my cups last night.
TTF- another WP order? Haha I get it now, everything is sooo good.
Yep TeaTiff… another order :-)
Hehe, what can I say? Happy to see you’re a believer also now that you are trying them!
Tiff – I’m doing the Fujian Black/Gong Fu Black comparison this morning. And they ARE similiar. I made a cup of each, exactly the same way, same amount of leaf/water/time/temp. They are both incredibly good. I find the GFB a little more “bright”, but just slightly and the FB a bit deeper with a little more of the “woody-ness” that I love in Fujians. I need both of them, but I would just the very slightest edge to the Fujian Black as I love that little extra depth. Both are hoard worthy.
MizPriss- Thank you for the comparison! Without having them both side by side that was my guess about them. The FB was slightly more “deep”. I am finding this type of tea to be one of my favorites. They can both take up space in my cupboard any day! I hope you are enjoying your cups this morning.
I really really am! I slept for 6 hours which is unheard of! I’m making what I call my Dark Beauty cocktail for my drive-to-work cup this morning. It’s a big giant western 6-7 minute steep of Special Dark with a big pinch of Black Beauty added in for the last 3-4 minutes. Happy me!
6 hours! Yay! Enjoy your Dark Beauty! You will be supper women today.
Yes!
Dark Beauty…wow! I’m gonna try that, cuz I have both of those teas now!
MzPriss, Thanks for your Fujian Black/Gong Fu Black comparison. Is the FB more similar to cocoa or chocolate?
Yes Terri – try it!!! I use a big pinch of the BB so I get that sweet honeyish taste in the Deep Dark Sea of Love that is my Special Dark.
@looseTman – to me it’s more chocolate than cocoa, creamier to me rather than dry.
“… more chocolate than cocoa, creamier to me rather than dry.”
Ooh la la – YUM!
I woke up this morning knowing I needed a serious tea to power me for some cleaning that needed to be done. I grabbed this on because EOF is expensive so I made a dumb association with $ to qi.
This was quite nice. Chest warming and a mild head feel with a taste that mellowed out by steep four; became quite nice but I think that it does need a few more years. The mouth pucker is almost, ALMOST, gone. Probably only 2 years of some storage on this and it will be golden. The only negative aspect to this tea is that it is on the darker spectrum of sheng, to which people will continue to hear me say that I like my light sheng.
Ranting time:
Last night I had some friends over and we were talking about how one of my friends was kicked out of the church because he took a stance that homosexuality is not a sin… as difficult of a conviction that such a thing can be right now with things happening in the US and the church figuring out how to respond, it’s just beating me up. So, anyways, if only it was that simple!
My parents ended up joining us and it’s only around my friends that I discuss such things because I know that they will throw the: ’ I thought we taught you better’ and make me feel as if they ‘failed’ me…
My stance on not understanding psychological and biologic implications to life choices leads me to believe that this whole issue revolving around gay marriage is stupid. The condemnation has now put me in a position were I may not speak to my parents as much because they think that my thoughts are tainted and I’m not sure if I can channel my love for them to see past these negative comments that they spread to the rest of our family. Stupid ass drama that doesn’t need to occur; my thoughts do not change the way in which I act. Whether I think A or B is right or wrong, I’ll always treat people with respect and treat them as I would want to be treated.
Tears are shed as I lose my family because of my own thoughts which now define me…
p.s. that friend who was kicked out was a pastor and it was done via email; for real?
Dude, I know exactly how you feel. I grew up in a Southern Baptist household and my best friend, of 14 years now, is gay. He also used to be an active member of my parents church. In fact, we met at this church (lolz how times change). There were many, many times that I had serious conversations with my parents that inevitably devolved into arguments because my parents were incapable of understanding at it’s root that it’s just not a choice. Eventually, things came to a head when their church pastor spoke out one Sunday around the same time the US was legalizing marriage for the LGBT community and started saying things like, “Real Christians will vote against this.” I don’t like people thinking for me, and I sure as hell am not going to sit and listen to some pastor telling me that the person who has willingly been there for me and been the best friend I could ever ask for was going to Hell, solely for being gay. Fuck you, breh. That’s not what my Christ teaches. So I started looking around and I now consider myself part of the Presbyterian Church of USA (PCUSA, not to be confused with the archaic PCA). Their beliefs are more in line with my own, and they consider spirituality and religion to be a very personal journey, to be defined by free-thinking individuals under the tutelage and guidance of the church who focuses around the ministry of Jesus more than some Old Testament verse that is surrounded by controversy and misinformation, even amongst scholarly circles.
Whew! I didn’t mean to blow you up, I just say that to say, if you wanna talk about it, I’m all ears. I’ve mostly retained my faith through the whole ordeal, but it’s definitely caused me to view differently how I integrate my religion and spirituality into my life. :)
don’t worry Andrew, we love you just the way you are! :D
AS Christ drew the symbol in the sand and asked who among you is without sin? I ask you those who are withut sin cast the first stone. Then said “Those that condemned you are not here. I condemn you not”. As the Bible said “Judge not lest ye be judged”. It is to be judged by God not any of us here on earth.
God made us and loves us for who we are. No matter what. Else fore, why would he have sent his son to save us all. Jesus was asked how much do you love them. He said this much an spread out his arms to be nailed and crucified for us.
He loves us all as we are.
I’m sorry you are going through this, LP. I have been surprised and touched by religious people here treating me with kindness and respect. A friend and I parted ways not too long ago because he was always fast to tell me that my ‘lifestyle’ was an abomination to God. I have been told and have told others that God created us in His image so did not create anyone who is imperfect. Thank you LP and thank you, too, mrmopar for being kind, generous, decent, caring, open minded people.
I wouldn’t give up on them. My long experience with conservative religious people is they are likely to change a stance when confronted with someone they love, given time. The key is an issue that is close to home, not just a hypothetical moral dilemma. When one’s own child is gay, that hits home more than someone else’s child. Look at Dick Cheney, if he can become an advocate for gay rights, nobody is a lost cause.
That’s a great point mr mopar
Christ died for everyone! :) there are far worse things out there. And I’ve been guilty of one of them. But Jesus loves me and died for me. Remember this, if god did not care about you, me or anyone, Christ would never been born. Keep your head up! Enjoy the good things of life that’s what god likes. When we do that and care about others. I care about you.
If you need to talk to me, send me a message
I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but your comment struck a chord in me. As a gay female who is, incidentally, an atheist and someone who cut family ties early in life… well, I’m often dumbstruck by the willful ignorance and disrespect that I see people direct at one other as if doing so were a badge of honor. It’s a wonder that anyone has the unmitigated gall to tell others who & how they should love and to pass such harsh judgments upon their character and worth as people is… wow. Just… wow.
That said, it’s always reassuring when I see people such as yourself who, despite what personal dilemmas may come of it, choose tolerance over bigotry. I can’t speak to reconciling theological morals and family dynamics, but I do hope that open minds and open hearts prevail.
@Teazilla The most important part is keeping dialog and not being exclusive with conversations. Why people won’t discuss comes out to what I find to be ridiculous answers… as if they have the plague or something.
@Kirk Nobody should dismiss someone because of their thoughts. If I acted on my thoughts in a way that harmed someone sure, but meerly just saying I believe this or that shouldn’t be enough to put me in a category of people someone can’t talk to.
@mrmopar exactly… and I had thought that the Golden Rule stretched beyond all people as a simple practice, but I continue to learn it doesn’t :(
@whiteantlers I never let the people speak or act for me which I believe causes some disconnect with religion nowadays. People tend to associate the actions of one for the whole group; it’s understandable, I helped a friend work through prejudices that kept her from religion all together because of a tragedy (sister was raped by a pastor on church grounds). This is the same reason that any type of people get prejudged to do or act a certain way which is wrong. Everyone is different and at the least deserves their chance.
@Cwyn I still have a lot in me, but it’s really hard when your mother gets on the phone with your family to tell them that her son (being me) is going to hell… just not the kind of thing I would like to be said around my family because of my thoughts. It’s really awkward at family events now; especially the time I told my mom I was Baha’i and she believes anyone who is non Christian is atheist so everyone kept saying they were praying I’d find God again…
@Shade I hope people can get past private affairs of one another as well so we can communicate without such anger and disgust. It really takes a lot out of someones day to think about the private life of two people who are attracted to the opposite sex and then bash them; it’s as if you’re missing life that can be lived by following a passion instead of tearing another one apart. I don’t get it… I mean, I tell people oolong is the best type of tea and I believe that but if they say otherwise I say cool and then it’s to the next topic.
@All Every year my beliefs change because I encounter new people and learn new ways to view things. As Kahlil Gibran explains things, you really have to travel around the mountain and not just up and down it to figure out the angles. The coolest part about all of this is how much dialog I have with those who drink tea about these matters or I get to speak to those I never would be able to because of the internet.
Thanks for your thoughts all :)
@lquidproust your right! you’ve been so kind to me and i appreciate that. you are a good fellow and friend :)
@liquidproust ive done terrible things in my life and to have people be friends with me. it’s such a blessing.
Kirk we all have done things we are not proud of. It is a learning experience on this world. The Golden Rule will always apply. It can take some people a while too learn it. I know it did me.
GRANDIOSE 1000TH TASTING NOTE! RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW.
It’s been a busy past few days, and here I am sipping on the last ATR sample in my arsenal. I am sadly going to only enjoy one steep this first time because the leaves have already been dumped since we’ll be flying the coop to the other place soon. Collect garbage, clean now!
The dry leaf is dangerously creamy. Velvety coconut, which goes with the creamy coconut conditioner my curly hair just soaked up. Coconut heaven! I don’t see any coconut shreds in the mix, so perhaps it’s only infused with the flavour?
This first steep is an absolute dream. Very heavy on the creaminess and the room is saturated in its lovely coconut aroma. The coconut doesn’t taste rancid or off at all. Lightly toasty but not too much. My mom, who is also enjoying a cup, comments that she especially picks up on the floral notes. Orchid-like more than anything else. It’s just so damn rich in flavour. I’ll have to see what the second steep will be like next time.
As lovely as it is, I’m not sure if I could justify the price. At one steep, these two cups we are both drinking cost $2 per cup. :/ I’d have to resteep the pants off of it in order to justify it, and I’ll admit that I rarely steep oolongs more than twice, even. Let’s not even talk about using this for cold brews. Maybe I’d consider getting more if/when our dollar reaches parity with USD again, because even the 20% off sales barely cover that difference/makes it worthwhile.
congrats on 1000!!!
Woohoo!
Congrats on milestone!!! :)
Congrats! Sounds like the perfect milestone commemoration tea, or maybe that’s the coconut oolong bias showing :)
Yay 1000!!
CAD is depressing me too, i can’t satisfy my online retail urges…argh
leaf in hot water, there’s a thread in the forums about Canadian tea companies! (I’m here to enable…)
oops also wanted to say, congrats!! thats a lotta tea – 1000 cups!
haha thanks OMGsrsly :) i will check it out!
Congrats on 1000! May
**May the rest of the year bring 1000 more!
Whoo! 1000!!
Muchos congrats!
Thank you Brian and 221tea for sending me a sample of this one. It sounded so amazing, but I was hesitant to spend $12.50/oz without know if it was REALLY worth that much.
Yes. Of course it is. It really, really is. Where’s my credit card? :O
(Oh, I’ll wait a little bit. So much to sipdown first, including the rest of the Whispering Pines samples those 2 sent me!)
It’s like decadent fudge – the chocolate notes are just that strong and with a bit of depth/weight to them. So amazing. I also get honeyed vanilla with this as well. I’m going to resteep this for the rest of the afternoon. I WILL!
Thank you, again.
Yum! This sounds delicious :)
Everyone is making this sound so good!
Eii! Even more excited to try my sample of it now :)
…yes but would I like it…. cough
Hahah. I can send you the second half of my sample!
Corrected: I AM sending you the sample!
I’ll give you 2% off your next order if you put this review on this tea’s product page at www.whisperingpinestea.com :)
Glad you liked it! It is currently my favorite morning tea. :)
I’m happy to spread the love there! I forget about reviewing retailer sites more often than I should. /0\
Right? There’s such an amazing community here that it’s easy to forget that not every teadrinker reads these reviews :P hehe. Thanks! Sending your code now! :)
Also, anyone interested in this tea has the chance to win some! ;) http://steepster.com/discuss/7515-prepare-yourself-for-the-flash-sale-d
Thank you mrmopar for this pu-erh sample!
Yikes! What a hardened packet of pu-erh nibs! I had to SOAK the little devils for a bit to soften them enough to break apart, all the while letting no color from the nibs leech into the water.
As I said, “Hard!”
Once they were pliable, color began to swirl rapidly in my glass pot and timing began.
A minute later, I pulled my basket and took a sip of the dark coffee brown liquor.
The flavor was savory mushrooms, sweet and salty. When I moved my head back from the cup, I smelled vanilla tobacco as the scent of the mushrooms mixed with vanilla wafer.
Late in the tasting, the feel of spice tingled my tongue the way cinnamon feels.
I wasn’t expecting this much complexity out of the work I put in breaking up the nibs. They were pretty ugly and the liquor was uninteresting to look at.
People can be like tea. Not much to look at and uninteresting on the surface. Some are very hard and take time to get to know! If time is taken, and if we can look past that initial hardness they can be the most interesting, unique and memorable people of our lives.
Like always, tea is an awesome teacher.
Nice. This is on my list to sample : )
mmmm This sounds lovely! I really like your analogy! So we don’t know where to buy this tea? :(
I wish I could get this complexity from pu`erh and keep drinking it until I can. Currently it tastes better and better with each try.
I’ll try to find out from mrmopar where he got it from.
I thought this was a selection from mandala?
Don’t know where he got it from but I shot him a message to find out.
Its a Menghai Dayi brand .Azz sending you a message with a link.
Lao cha menghai 2011 Terri
Liked the people/tea analogy :-)
It was only a couple years ago that I had my first taste of puerh. A lot of people seem a little freaked by the experience but I found it instantly accessible. At first I could only tell by taste if it was raw or ripe. Slowly I am beginning to grasp the wide range of flavor of each. This one gets my award as the best aroma ever from the dry leaf. It is hay, green tea, and citrus. Really nice. The steeped leaf is minty, anise, citrus, and deep green steamed vegetal. Again, really nice. The sip reveals the youth of this cake. It is not the bright metallic taste I usually expect. This is dusty and musty. The taste is very earthy like fresh clean damp soil. It reminds me of digging potatoes as a kid with my dad. So mega-points for memory association. I very much enjoyed this cup and look forward to seeing how it changes with age.
Preparation
I reaaallly enjoyed this one as well :)
I think I may have a sample of this waiting to be sampled. :)
If you don’t let me know. I think I have more.
Looking forward to your notes on it Terri. I wish I could afford a cake!
I loved reading this note..,
That’s cuz you’re awesome, KS!
I am getting low on puerh. I might need to put this one on my next order. Sounds excellent.
I am just all kinds of stressed right now, so I needed something soothing to calm myself and my stomach. I couldn’t really decide on anything until I got to good old Love Tea #7.
I just adore the chocolate strawberry combination in this one – it’s the best I’ve come across so far. You can taste the chocolate and it compliments the fruitiness of the strawberry. Just like drinking a chocolate-dipped strawberry. And I have no qualms about that. :)
Preparation
Sorry you’re so stressed. I know the feeling!
Indeed
Thank you ♥ I’ll get through it somehow.
good name…
Isn’t it now? :)
does shu cha calm you?
I don’t believe I’ve ever had it!
ripe puer(shu cha)tends to have a calming effect for most people and it’s good for a bad tummy too…
btw…I’m sorry to hear you’re stressed…
That’s ok – it’s nobodys fault but my own :) Just going through really tough times, that’s all.
Oh, I should get some somehow! I’ll be on the lookout for some…hopefully I’ll have money when I find some.
if you want I can send some your way…I have a decent collection of it and could never drink it all in my lifetime…I keep buying it too…haha
been there/am there? lol. sending zen thoughts your way!
Really? That would be so, so nice of you – thank you so much!! Would you like me to give you my shipping address?
Hope the tea helped the nerves, Yvonne…I too know the feeling, Steepster is a good place to be to feel better sometimes:-)
Oh, it did! Thank you :) You have all been wonderful – I couldn’t ask to be with better people on a better site!
I always say that Facebook’s got nothing on Steepster :-)
Wow. Definitely one of the most unusual teas I’ve tried, and one I’ve wanted to try for a while. Can it really smell, taste, like fresh tomatoes? Yes, yes it does. It brings me back to living at the Salt Spring Centre of Yoga as a karma yogi a few years back, where everything we ate or made for the guests came out of the garden. Tomatoes and beans were the huge crops that year, with more than a handful of varietals of each. I learned how to save and process the seeds there, and sent a bunch to my son’s Grandmother for her to try out in her own garden. This smell, flavor, feeling… reminds me of processing those seeds. Mushing up the tomatoes not fit for eating in a huge tub of water, letting them ‘process’ for a day or two so that the seeds rose to the top of the water, skimming the seeds off and dumping the rest of the bucket in the compost pile, and then carefully arranging the seeds on screens to dry in the greenhouse.
Yes, this tea reminds me of all of that.
There’s also something else in the mix. Lemon, perhaps? It’s faint, and adds a bit of whimsy to it, which may be the first time I’ve ever described a tea as whimsical. Super fun!
Thank you to Ysurella for sharing this with me!
1.5 tsp in 12 oz.
Preparation
Oh dear… I love tomatoes, but my recollection of the smell of “processing” tomatoes to collect seeds does not make me want to try this tea! (Also, I had a tea from Whispering Pines that tasted like tomato soup… not a flavour I want in my tea, it seems.)
Ysaurella sample twins!
That sounds so cool! :)
What a strange tea!
Wow, sounds like a really cool experience. And an interesting tea!
I’m very happy you liked this surprising tea.
I do agree, there is lemon too in addition of fresh tomato.
Yep, lemon – I also tried this thanks to Ysaurella and it is one of the strangest tea ideas ever but which somehow it sings. Its own very eccentric tune, but it somehow works. Lovely.
Kitenna, this does not quite smell like cooked tomatos not processed ones, it´s more like being in the garden and smelling the tomato plant and ripe tomato smell. With a definite hint of the tomato plant or leaf.
Mmmm, I love the smell of tomato foliage!
I decided to purchase one of these mini sheng bricks recently after Phoenix told me via Twitter that there was not a lot of bitterness in them. When it arrived, I immediately thought I should have purchased two because they are so cute and the packaging is really lovely!
Anyway, I could hardly wait to try it this morning. I attempted to break a piece off but it is compressed very tightly and I ended up with mostly tea dust which is okay. I steeped that up in my yixing.
Steeps #1 and #2 of this tea were about 15 seconds. What I got was a light yellow tea liquor. For a young sheng, it is fairly mellow with a nice sweetness and a definite acidity, but not one that I am finding terribly bitter. After the first two steeps, it is starting to quiet down a bit more and is becoming mostly pleasant and mild.
I steeped this tea 10 times and after the first 3 infusions, I was enjoying it a lot more.
This is my first Douji sheng tea, but I spent a little time this morning looking up Douji on the ‘net. They certainly seem to have a good reputation and they have these bricks made from different source materials, I’m just not sure which this one is because the label is written in Chinese. I can see more experiments will be required in the future. I think perhaps sheng is an acquired taste, and one I am still getting used to. I think this will be excellent with a few more years of aging.
Preparation
Already on my shopping list! :)
China cha dao also has these….
Is that the ebay seller?
Yep!
Thank you!
I ordered one from them today!
Ohhh Congrats! I wonder why they don’t have a web business – good to find a great tea place on ebay though.
Buying food on Ebay makes me nervous. :/
@CHAroma – me too… but I have read other positive reviews of China Cha Dao on Steepster, so I feel more comfortable.
Reading good reviews on Steepster would definitely make me feel better too. I’m glad you’ve had good experiences and enjoyed this tea!
I believe Fong Mong Tea sells their tea on Ebay, & I would buy from them.
I have no idea what happened this morning, but this is in the running for the most perfect cup of tea ever made. It was oozing, overflowing, positively dripping with caramel vanilla goodness, and had a thick, buttery quality underlying the whole composition that made me want to snap my tongue greedily against the roof of my mouth. I also steeped for only three minutes and not four, and perhaps that’s where the magic happened? I should have known better than to doubt Stacy’s steeping instructions.
A computer guru is coming to try and remedy my computer problems this morning, and you know what else I’m going to get him to do? tell me who this recent tea box is from and help me identify each tea! someone sent me a box! I’ll find out who it is soon enough, but just in case it was you, and you used frilly-edged paper for labels, identify yourself at once! :)
I hope they get your computer all fixed up.
I hope so too!
I hope your tech person gets everything sorted out, and that he/she can also identify your tea. And this tea sounds delicious!
Oooh, everything is so exciting! That tea sounds LUSH and fixed computer and a box of tea! Wonderful times!
Yes! I feel very lucky. And hopefully a fixed computer very soon!
Yay for perfect cups!!! I get that with this tea sometimes – no idea what makes it so unbelievably good some times and ‘just’ really good other times.
That’s it! it’s always awesome, but sometimes it’s just out of this world!
Oh, I think that was me who sent you the package…
Hey Steepsterites. Do you remember me? No? That’s cool. Can’t say I blame you.
Anyway, I hope all has been well in the Steepsterverse. I poked around a few times during the frenzy that was the final leg of the semester and saw that I missed a few contests, the start of a book club [how fantastic, btdubs] and the NYC meet up. Looks like y’all have been having a blast!
So yes, I actually only have a week before summer session starts up and life gets crazy go nuts again, but I did want to drop in and say that this tea has been maintaining my morning to afternoon happiness levels a really long time. Like, since the last time I wrote a Steepster log, easily. I received some when I went out to San Francisco and, while I was expecting it to be lovely and tasty because I enjoy the oolong grown on the same farm, I was NOT expecting it to be the extravangelical [not a word] explosion of starchy sweetness and tropical florals that it is. Hear my words: YOU SHOULD DRINK THIS TEA.
Okay, I’m about to watch a movie that has subtitles in it, so I need to go pay attention, but this tea has totally earned a 100 in my book.
Preparation
WELCOME BACK!
Oh my god, it’s the famous takgoti!! (Of course with a Samovar review, after a long absence ;) ). Welcome back! I enjoy reading your notes! :)
I might have contacted the grower in Hawaii about getting more of this tea after sampling what you sent me. This tea is awesome. ♥
Welcome back! I think we just barely overlapped, I started showing up here around the time things got crazy for you. Nice to “meet” you.
Yay! Good to hear from you again!
you’re back! woot
Good to see a post form you!
Takgoti who? ;P
I’ve been keeping your spirit alive by drinking the sample teas you sent :) Good luck wit the rest of the semester!!!
Stranger Danger! Stranger Danger! lol…nice to see you peek in on us! :)
Thanks a ton for the review I have been thinking about buying this tea for awhile.
Good to see you around again! Your reviews are the best.
I feel so very loved! The semester is over and I have been soaking in every bit of weather that I can outdoors [more rain than I’d like, but I’m not complaining too hard as today is lovely], but luckily this cafe has wireless internets.
I look forward to diving back into the Steepster pool, as this summer promises to be full of some free time. But, thank you, thank you for the comments, you beautiful people!
[@_morgana_ Nice to meet you, too!]
sipdown! (and that makes 160! everything else tonight is just bonus time!) I can see why omgsrsly loves this chai. It’s different than my preferred chais but in a good way with a spicy kick that makes my mouth a little hot. It’s not overly hot, but the blend works well together. There’s not dominating clove or cinnamon presence which makes me happy even though i love both. I have a feeling this will be an order just so that i can play with it more with milk and honey etc… thanks a bunch missb!
Preparation
Yay!
Yep, this is my favourite! Thanks for the reminder. ;) I think I’ll go make myself a mug.
You’re very welcome! I found this tin at Holt Renfrew, and they still had lots last time I was there. $24/100g though…
I know, isn’t it expensive? I got another tin right before Christmas, but there was only one left.
Oooh, I saw this at HR too but was hesitant since I thought it may taste like a generic chai.
I can pop some in an envelope for you if you’d like, Fjellrev. I have loads. :)
Balzac’s here in toronto sells it…as does Williams Sonoma, for 1$ cheaper than Holt Renfrew had it. I’ll likely pick up more..if i ever have money to spend…pretty sure i blew through jan and feb budget already haha
You don’t really have to, OMG, but actually, I think you should pick out some things of mine that you’d like to try so I can send some stuff over to you. :)
LOL. Can I promise to just send you one tea? I swear one tea would mean one tea, and not a well-stuffed envelope or a box!
Good to know about Williams Sonoma, Sil!
Haha do whatever you wish, but I also need to send some stuff to you too. :D
This is my favorite chai as well – though also the inspiration for me to make my own chai blend which somehow I lucked out into liking as much as this and much better than other chai blends.
Fjellrev, maybe it is a generic chai, but it´s kind of a perfect chai to my palate! Nothing earth shattering different (not the tomato and lemon darjeeling, or tea flavoured with zucchini and blossoms which is something my favorite tea blender comes up with and somehow makes it work), just black tea with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper and ginger. But it is sort of just right balance. I think Mariage Freres is often very very good at make excellent takes of classic ideas. Not new, maybe a generica idea, but sort of the best take on that generic idea you ever had.
Tweaking parameters to see about getting back to the stronger caramel flavor. Water from the Zojirushi at 208° into an empty pot, then poured in the leaf, left the lid off for most of the brew (honestly I just wandered away and forgot). Decanted, let it cool for a few minutes while I made the husband a big mug of PG Tips.
Now I’m sipping on it and it’s heavy and silky so I’m thinking this is good. I’m barely into the cup at all and getting burnt sugar. The smoky flavor is just a hint without the edge I sometimes get from it when brewed stronger.
Okay, half way through the cup now and this tastes like a silkier, slightly heavier version of the Lupicia’s English Caramel from yesterday. And the more I sip, the stronger the caramel taste becomes and the more in turns into a caramel chew.
The last third of the cup is filled with sweet caramel. So sweet and smooth and just awesome. It’s like a thin caramel sauce – silky, heavy, sweet, rich, sweet, caramel. I pretty much gulp the last third of my cup down because it is so delicious.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.
3.7g/12oz
Preparation
Argh!! I feel sad because I’m still not getting caramel chew, just smokey pine :(
Nice! I’ve liked your reviews of this one. I just gave in and bought the set, but haven’t tried Jackee yet cause I usually prefer Assams to Keemuns. This will totally useful for when I do.
Does this tend to work with keemuns in general or is it just this one?
Auggy, which Zojirushi do you have?
Is Shantea purchasing a Zojirushi now? =]
Shanti, the less leaf I use, the less pine I seem to get and the more caramel, but the cup has to cool a decent bit for it to really pop and get gooey.
Harfatum, I adore Thomas! Jackee didn’t overly impress me until I accidentally ended up with the caramel and then it became pretty awesome.
Angrboda, I’ve never had this happen with another keemun but I haven’t tried to get it from any others either. I think it’s just this one. Maybe.
Shanti, I have the 4-L Zojirushi CD-LCC40 (http://www.zojirushi.com/ourproducts/elepots/cd_lcc.html ) but have been eying the CD-WBC40 (http://www.zojirushi.com/ourproducts/elepots/cd_wbc.html ) since it has a 140° setting. Just waiting for an excuse!
I have that one! The one with 140F. I realize it wasn’t that important after I got it and I wish I got the newer ones that allows me to unplug it from the wall and still dispense water. So how do I knock it down to 140F or any temperature quickly? I usually leave it around 3L. If I need to drop the temperature really quickly, I just pour in some room temperature water. That seems to do the trick =]
Part of me wants to make some of this today, but a bigger part of me wants to try some of the tea I got in the mail, so Jackee shall need to wait until tomorrow. I’ll be trying less leaf when I do, though.
What’s the minimum amount of water you have to add to the machine for it to work? Can it do 8 ounces of water at a time, or do you have to do more?
You can do 8 ounces, but it’s kind of a waste. Basically you fill it up and just leave it there and it keeps the water at that temperature. It’s 700watts when it’s boiling and 120watts when it’s keeping warm. I use to boil water throughout the day with a 1500watt kettle so that burned a lot more electricity. 4 liters of water lasts me about 1-2 days.
Ooh, I’m so glad you mentioned wattage since I’m trying to keep my energy bill low. :) So do you set it to boil once (using 700 watts) and then keep it on the “keep warm” setting all day? Does that use up 120 watts every hour?
Oh wait, I think that’s wrong…anyone want to explain to me what watts means, in terms of the amount of electricity used?
Well, we’re billed by kilowatts. Zojirushi has an energy saver thing. Basically you can set it to go to sleep in X time and then wake up and reboil. I’ve never used it.
Before I use to hit the reboil button on my 1500watt machine 5-6 times a day. Let’s say it took 10 minutes to boil water. That’s 1500watts a day. My zojirushi, it’s basically, HEY, I’m not saving electricity =P It’s only if I use the energy saver that I would really be saving electricity. Oh well, it has it’s convenience. I should time how long it takes for my electric kettle to boil water. I know I use to hit the reheat button a lot of times throughout the day. If it’s only ten minutes to heat water, it won’t make much of a difference. If it’s 15 minutes and I boil it 6 times, then zojirushi wins. Too many factors to weigh in.
So the most energy efficient way would be to just boil each time you want hot water? Or is there some other way… (Sorry for all the questions…I am awful at engineering and physics, lol)
Yeah, I’m pretty bad at this too =]
I believe so, I mean if you just boil exactly what you need it would obviously be the most efficient. Then you wouldn’t be wasting any electricity =]
I have a tendency to boil a huge pot of water, because I’m too lazy to keep refilling and reboiling, etc. Basically it’s just convenience here. I don’t have to wake up in the morning fill my kettle with water and hit the reboil button. I mean I could fill the kettle with water the previous night and just hit the button in the morning, but whenever I want tea, I can just press dispense on my Zojirushi.
Ah, okay! That makes sense. Thanks Ricky for your patience with my ignorance :)
I love my zojirushi so, so much. Having hot water immediately ready when I stumble into the kitchen in the morning is awesome. The only way in which it could conceivably be more awesome is if you could program it with a clock, so that it automatically popped to 208 in the mornings to give me my black tea caffeine fix after I spent the evening drinking oolong and white at 175 for those times when I forget. Hardly complaint-worthy!
Yeah, the convenience is amazing and the fact I can actually get the water at the correct temperature! =] I’ve done that a few times, but 175F to 208 doesn’t take that long to annoy me. If I’m in a big rush, I just use my good old water kettle.
I’m with sophistre on the Zojirushi love. I’m too impatient to wait for water to boil each time I want a cup. And then if I had to wait for it to cool down to 175? No way! Each night I set the sleep timer so the water is at 208 for morning tea, then set the timer again (this time on 195) when I go off to work. When I come home, I knock it to 175 and do my normal just got home stuff. By the time I’m ready for tea, so is my water! When I don’t have the convenience of my Zojirushi, I drink a lot less tea. ♥ my Zo.
Just to jump in on the power discussion really briefly, we’re actually billed by the kilowatt hour. [Not to nitpick, but I’m taking physics this semester which is bringing up to a rumbling two years.] There’s some extra conversion that needs to happen to really be able to figure out your actual bill [Shanti, if you really want an explanation feel free to DM me], but I’m not going to get into it because I’ve been whipping my nerd around a bit too much here.
Regardless, figuring for proportionate power usage will help you figure out things well enough, though some companies have fixed payments for power usage no matter what you use, and some bump their rates up once you surpass a certain number of kWh.
Ok, seriously, that’s it. Yay Zojirushis, even though I don’t have one. I’d like one. Someday.
I stopped at Happy Lucky’s for tea today looking for a headache cure for the smoke I’ve inhaled from the big fires here.
I asked if there were any new tea’s to try and this Ruby 18 was suggested. When I asked my expert server Sam more about it, he said it was an Assam Oolong blend, a toasted old leaf Oolong cooked and left with the leaves whole and straight like black tea. We discussed this category of darker Taiwanese Oolongs that would possibly place this Oolong with Black Tea’s in China. It is dark, has long leaves and isn’t green. Not sure.
Just learned the Assam is a hybrid with Chin Shin grown in Taiwan and introduced to the U.S. in 2011.
After my pot of tea steeped. I smelled the dark ruby red-brown colored leaves which smelled slightly of cinnamon and flowers.
The flavor was lighter than an Assam, not malty or smoky but mild with a little Oolong personality and no astringency.
The pairing was more successful than I would have imagined. I thought about how this would make a very fine cold brewed tea. Just the right balance of fruit and body.
I can’t stress enough how much it means to have a tea shop where you know the staff and where they and the owner are knowledgable about tea. If you can find a place…a tea pub…for yourself…do it! Search for such a special place.
Happy Lucky’s is the Best!
I wish we had such a place locally and am also glad to hear that you are still safe and sound despite the smoke headache.
And they are probably happy to have you as a customer… :)
Ah Amy that was so sweet of you! (feet shuffling…)
(Uh, oh yeh there is the part where I bring THEM samples and BUY tea!)
It seems that if you edit your review it goes to the top of the list again or am I nuts?!
It does, I edited mine from earlier today, and one of Amy’s was like 4 minutes after mine, so it had been on top. Now it’s below. I was wondering what was going on, and that would definitely explain it.
Detective!
Glad you have a special place to go and buy yummy teas.
I am literally out in the middle of nowhere, online and catalog ordering is my only option.
Like Autumn said, very happy that you are safe!
And glad you have a new yummy tea to sip:)
yeah I noticed the switch too, it’s a bit weird
Hopefully Happy Luckys will have an online store later in the year!
This is my one complaint about our one local really good tea shop. Their catalog is fixed, has been for years, and seems unlikely to change. I’ve tried everything they have on offer that is likely to appeal to my taste and so the joy of trying something new is largely off the table when I go there.
I’m really surprised they don’t rotate in new teas, like, at all.
Sad and lazy! This tea was a new one. Every employee is tea educated and the employment is a career not a job. Partly because this shop has an altruistic mission building schools in Cambodia. 10% of proceeds and many events at the shop support this effort. (OCMC needs a tea house!)
What better tea to drink while writing my love letter to Whispering Pines Tea for the contest?
http://steepster.com/discuss/8397-the-profess-your-love-contest
This tea started it all…my addiction to WP. I remember when I read that description, I knew this it was going to me mine!
I just love it. The taste is perfection. It flows like a silk ribbon in my mouth. Sweet salty caramel, cocoa, dried fruit compote, slightly floral…I can’t get enough of it!
It’s an explosion of liquid happiness.
I never want to be without this. Ever.
This is my absolute favorite tea ever :). I must never be without it. We belong together lol
I know right? And now I’m running low and I’m hopping my order hasn’t shipped yet cause I want to add some!!
I bought 3 oz not too long ago, so I’m sitting pretty for now. I’m sure Brenden can hook you up! He let me change my order from 2oz to 3oz with no problem. It was Monday and I was on the struggle bus hardcore, which he understood.
Yes, as long as it hasn’t shipped yet, I ordered just a few days ago so it should be ok. Lol, for the last few months, I feel like I’ve had an ongoing order that never ends with WP, I always want or need someting else!! I want ALL the TEA!!!
I’ve felt the same way and it’s completely his fault. As soon as I order, he comes up with a new amazing tea that I just have to have!
Lol, EXACTLY!!!
I know this isn’t a snaily yum review, but I couldn’t resist. This snail is like “Oh hey Tea Fairy, thanks for stopping by”
https://www.facebook.com/425528437562422/photos/pcb.626639454117985/626639314117999/?type=1&theater
Awww…ok, I am so angry at people who eat snails right now!!
Gastropods FTW!
Haha!
Snaily pic!
Someone just sent me a sample of this!
@christeana1 – you will love it!
It’s pure awesomeness…
I get my vanilla from Penzey’s, & when you get to the bottom of the vanilla bottle, there is harp of a vanilla bean in there. The main thing I used vanilla for is almond flour pancakes, so I usually squeeze out the seeds into the batter. Today I dropped the bean into my cup of this tea, just for fun.
At first I thought it might be a fail: I could smell the remaining alcohol from the vanilla, but I let it sit for a few, added a little sweetening, & it was damn right tasty! We had pancakes, so this made for an after breakfast treat.
i picked a tin yesterday on tea festival. this tea is sooo good!
i want their keemun to go up on the website
Yes, & YES!
I got Keemun but didn’t try it yet. Maybe tonight. They didn’t offer it for tasting but dry leaves are perfect gorgeous black curls
I can’t wait!
I can send you some to try
they just need to put it on the website. it will be an insta-buy for me
boychik, I’m totally open for that! Feel free to check out my cupboard to see if you’d like something(s) in return :)
On the other hand, when it comes up on their site, it will also be an insta-buy for me, as I can’t resist those damn fine teas!
I know I bought it without trying. Will message you later.
They do a Keemun?
mzpriss..they mentioned it at their FB post re: the tea festival this weekend..not up for sale yet on their website
I really really want some
now! haha
I am not aware of this tea company, but it appears I should be. I’ve been reading about their Double Knit and it looks like I might need some of that too. sigh
Right before David Duckler jetted off to China, gathering more tea for Verdant and to see old friends, he added this new Alchemy Blend. It seems that this kind of herbal blend is what you might find in Chinese tea stalls this time of year when people begin needing a remedy to boost their immune system.
I’ve been well so far this year, but my poor daughter and her 8 children have been on a merry-go-round of flu and colds. As soon as one child gets better, another one gets sick. (I keep my hand sanitizer in my pocket and had a flu shot!)
When I saw this blend, I bought a packet for me and one for her.
Another thing that really intrigued me was what I read about how you could customize this blend by adding your own tea to it.
You could add Black Tea, Green Tea or Pu’er and create a custom flavor blend you like. I knew what I was going to blend first for as my favorite. I just had to give this a try!
Today my herbal blend arrived! Off to the business of experimenting!
UNO
First I made a straight brew. You can’t tell by sniffing the dry tea how it’s going to taste so don’t be put off by the strong smell.
The actual liquor was soft and slightly sweet with a light lemon ginger taste. (Very light on both) Even the sage was light tasting and added a pleasing warmth that I liked.
I was thinking about how and when I would drink this blend. Before bedtime and if I wasn’t feeling well. I’d brew it longer though if I had a cold, and add honey. Aha! Honey was missing!
I added some clover honey and it was meant to be! The blend was outstanding! The sage, ginger and lemon tasted lovely with the honey and were soothing in all the ways you want an herbal to be. Fabulous!
DOS
For the next test, I made a whole POT of tea+blend with a teaspoon of Laoshan Black and a small little nugget of Pu’er.
OH SHUT UP!
For those of you who love the Emperial Breakfast Summer Blend…just imagine a slight ginger and lemon added and BAM! WOW! This was so good! I can’t imagine this being any better!
TRES
I mixed up a little Laoshan Green (probably too little green tea) and got a spicy reaction that was unexpected and a camphor sensation. I’ll have to try that one again.
The best, awesome taste for me was the Black Tea and Pu’er but you could really experiment and see what you like the best!
Quatro
That’s up to you!
UNO, DOS, UNO DOS TRES QUATRO…. http://youtu.be/QAvaJ0o_-9o
I LOVE this idea. My kind of BLEND to KEEP on hand all WINTER!
Sipdown! (181) Since i’ll be away from my cupboard for a few days and don’t feel like going through the hassle of packing up a tea basket and such since i’m only bringing a small suitcase, i’m enjoying a few teas today as well as getting in a couple sipdowns. I fulle expect tea to show up while i’m away so i need to make sure not coming home to 200+ teas. At least i still have 3 weeks to get to 150. :)
I added a slice of orange to this one today since lala’s done that on a few occasions and i thought it would be fun to experiment with my last cup. It’s adding just a bit of sweetness, along with the orange to this cup and turning it into something entirely different and yet just as deliciously good! Maybe i’ll try a few others like that today heh…maybe.
That’s one of the experiments I’ve been wanting to try for awhile :)
yeah same here. We have an orange that needs to be eaten so i’m steeping it, drinking the tea then eating the slice haha warm orange slice heh
I bought an orange a few weeks back, specifically for this experiment, & somebody ate it, heh
LOL
Unfortunately, I’ll have to take a rain check on the orange experimentation, but at least I can now add this comment: yeah, this tea is awesome!! Haha!
Steepsterites, let me deviate momentarily from Project Ceylon for a moment. I have been waiting for this moment for quite a while. A new shop in the city where I live has opened. They sell tea, coffee, wine, and other various delicacies, and while I would normally be slightly put off by the coffee in particular, I have been waiting impatiently for them to get ready to open the shop, which they finally did this Wednesday. You see, the name of the shop is ‘Fru P’ which means ‘Mrs P’, and you know what? I’m Mrs P too! Clearly this is a sign. Clearly.
Today I got the chance to go in there, where I met the other Mrs P (and Miss P as well). She had a few beginner’s troubles with her till and such, but hey, they’ve only been open for two days. I’m sure they’ll come after it. She seemed very nice and helpful and she smiled when I told her that I was Mrs P too. I also got a cherry flavoured black and another one for Project Ceylon. That one was an inspired bit of a find, actually, because being currently in the process of learning that area, I automatically looked for it on her shelves, even though I thought that she would be more likely to have a Ceylon blend rather than anything single estate, or even single growing region. I thought I’d get some anyway, and then I saw a sticker with a name on the tin and asked if that was where it had come from. She wasn’t sure, but she tried to pull the big mylar bag out of the tin enough that we could see its label, and agreed with me that it probably was. So that’s another one for the Sri Lanka reference map as soon as I look it up and work out where it actually is. (I can’t remember it off the top of my head, but I wrote it down)
Anyway, the first one I’m going to try out of the three I got is this vanilla. You know, Steepsterites, about my ongoing quest for my Perfect Vanilla black tea and how I have been despairing of it even existing at all. I did have it briefly. Chi of Tea had a Vanilla Nilgiri which lived up to all my ideals of the Perfect Vanilla, but they appear to have gone out of business, so when I thought I would stock up on a significant amount of it, my plans were sadly thwarted by there not being any.
So this one. The leaf smells very sweet and it’s got a good deal of that vanilla pod-y quality to it that reminds me very much of a specific sort of licorice sweet that you can get here (and which actually have nothing at all to do with vanilla). There is a certain sharpness to it, though, which makes it feel like it has been very strongly flavoured. This had me initially sceptical, but a strong flavouring isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. It all depends on how well the base tea can keep up in the flavour.
After steeping, the cup smells like a whole sweet shop. It’s vanilla-y, of course, and with notes of caramel, coconut and marcipan. Even a little bit of nougat as well. There is also still that licorice sweet note to it, which is a good sign indeed. Nothing of the sharpness that had me a little wary with the dry leaf, but I can’t pick up much of the base either.
OOOOooooh this is gooooooood!
This tea hits all the right buttons in the flavour. Everything seems to be just so and the only thing about it that currently bothers me is that I don’t know what the base is. Which is funny because with flavoured teas I don’t normally care about what the base is.
At first when I sip, I just get vanilla. A flavour that I seem to be able to taste not only with the tongue, but with my entire mouth in a way. It seems to sort of get in there and then just expand. It’s one of the vanilla-est vanilla teas I’ve ever met where the vanilla doesn’t feel artificial or more along the lines of vanilla sugar.
It even has that vanilla pod-y feel to it. The sort of darker vanilla-y flavour that reminds me of the leathery rubbery texture of the pod.
I’m still not getting much of the base here, but I don’t feel like it’s missing either. The details of the base just aren’t that important here as long as it seems able to hold up to the flavouring without feeling either over-powered or dominating. I think it’s doing so quite well.
This reminds me so strongly of the Chi of Tea vanilla Nilgiri that seems to be forever lost to us, that I’m nearly ready to say that, yes. I have found it at last.
The perfect vanilla has to taste Just So. (Check)
The perfect vanilla has to smell Just So. (Very Nearly Check)
The perfect vanilla has to be easily available without a ton of shipping and/or helpful Steepsterites playing middle-men involved. (Check)
I don’t even have to buy it ONLINE for crying out loud!
I have to taste this through thouroughly before I can say for sure if it really and truly is my Perfect Vanilla, but it’s a very strong candidate. I just need to see how consistently I can brew it with this outcome and whether I can reconcile myself with that bit of sharpness in the aroma. The former being more important than the latter, obviously.
I knew the name of that shop was a sign!
if you make a final decision of YAY on this one, I may have to try and convince you to do a swap with me haha
Still waiting for Mr KS to open. Oh, I can dream. Even if this turns out to not be the ‘one’ its awesome you have a nice shop nearby.
Woohoo for nearly perfect vanillas! I feel like you have been looking for that forever.
I have followed you for years, and know of your diligent search for THE vanilla tea of vanilla teas. So glad you have found him!
This post makes me smile. I think I will feel the same resounding hoop-ti-do when I find The Perfect Decaf Black. (cue Judy Garland)
Someday I’ll walk into a shop and find a Decaf Tea that finally suits me….
Oh! That sounds divine!
what luck frau p
Sil, I’m sure that can be arranged. :)
KS, it is! But it’s also going to be dangerous, because I pass right by it on the way to the bus when going home. I was already close to getting myself in trouble. :)
Dinosara and ashmanra, I have! I’ll probably still keep trying as many vanilla teas as I come across though. I don’t see any reason to stop looking. :p
gmathis, keep searching! It is out there! :D
Last night I was grumpy after getting a notice from my Landlord that the rent is going up. I can’t lie, I’m glad I am all stocked up on tea for a while, because my tea budget is about to go down. Having a bit of disposable income was fun, but living in San Francisco is challenging me at the moment.
Anyway, wuyi oolongs are some of my favorite, so i thought I would have this today. Da Hong Pao means “Big Red Robe” in Chinese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Hong_Pao
I have a few wu yi teas but the description of this just intrigued me. Right after steeping, the dark thick leaves have a roasted coffee like aroma, due to the fact that the leaves are roasted over charcoal.
The tea liquor is a very light reddish brown. At first sip it seems almost unassuming, but as the tea settles onto your palette, amazing flavors of charcoal and plums appear, with a sweet, lingering finish like that of brown sugar or caramel. This tea is memorable, it really stays with you for a while. I had two steeps of it at work the other day and was very impressed with it.
I had a second steep with slightly less hot water. An aroma of molasses and caramel wafted up into the air. This cup has a bit more mineral flavor but still has the essence of plum and a slight burnt sugar sweetness. Utterly charming.
Me and the BF both really like Dong Ha Pao, and I believe it will keep well so I’m not regretting this one at all, just savoring it happily…
Preparation
I hope things get better and your challenges are conquered.
Thanks Scott, I might need to just up and move one of these days.
Yes, good luck with your challenges. San Francisco is beautiful. I used to travel there from Nevada for good sea food. I never really got to see any thing but the touristy part but it was just gorgeous.
Maybe I’ll try this. I haven’t found a big red robe that I like very much.
@Triumph – I like the wuyi oolongs so you’ll have to take this review with a grain of salt.
Hhhmmm, this is a “new” Da Hong Pao, since I last checked their site. I bought a DHP a couple yrs ago from H & S. I think it was $18 for 2 oz. I liked the flavors, but could only really get 3 good steeps out of the leaves. Did you ever get more than 2 steeps Amy? I do miss a good DHP, but I dunno if I want to drop $24 for1.5 oz & yet another tin sitting around. I wish they had more size options & samples.
Sorry about the rent increase – thats a bummer!
@Scott- I just got it a few days ago and haven’t tried steeping it more than twice. In any event I agree it would be nice if they had a sample size of it.
I think I’d rather spend $36 on a sparkling FF Darj-I can’t help it. Well, maybe I can, but I don’t want to. :-p
oh no…You should not write anything about Taiwanese teas…because now I want this Sansia Black right now ! :)
Sounds awesome, sweet pea!!!
Indeed to pull this one out & start drinking it :)