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Thank you LiberTeas for this sample. I hate to admit that I was busy choosing Beatles songs, wow what a list they have, and I oversteeped…twice. This note is then suspect by default.

The color-a nice pale golden green, lead me to believe I was OK since it hadn’t darkened. There was a little bitterness that may or may not have been there under normal circumstances. The wet leaves were crowded in my little infuser pot and had I read K S’ note first I woulda used my press as well. The smell was more grassy than nutty/woody.

The first sip threw me when I tasted that same grassy flavor. There was less wood and more vegetive flavor-like dry grass I think. This gave way to nuttiness that then gained a malty coppery edge. All of this happened within the first two steeps, I lost track of which steep I was on in the descriptive notes I was jotting down. Don’t let me forget the overall but slightly muted honey sweetness. The second steep (I believe) added a tiny bit of charcoal too.

Did a third steep and saved a little face with myself,though I know I missed out on some stuff in first two go arounds. Sweeter note more pronounced. More floral notes to the smell. And finally, it’s now less like dry grass and getting up into lighter wood flavor. You win some you lose some, right? I hold nothing against this tea and rather fault myself. We shall meet again I may have to force myself to listen to top 40 pop during tasting so that I have absolutely no fear of getting distracted.

tunes-as I said The Beatles(said in Ed Sullivan voice with the gesturing of hand)=Norwegian Wood/Ob La Di,Ob La DA/I Saw Her Standing There(where I started to get got)/I Want You-She’s So Heavy(where I finished getting got)/Rocky Racoon

I wasn’t blown away by this tea simply because I’ve not gotten into greens much. Beautifiul gold color and nice floral aroma. The drink was like fresh cut grass-wet grass,very green. There was a crisp water chesnut tone in there with a melon sweetness as well. I think the floral was more smell than taste. The astringency was low, but enough to make it not shine for me. By the third steep it had lost alot and only had simpler oolong notes to remain. Even though less grassy is a plus for me I opted to move on to another oolong so I can crank out another note this morn.

So I talked to Incindiare earlier and she reminded me of my heavy metal background as a yoot(youth). So I blew the dust off of some old grunge for this tasting. Not metal, but as close as I can get at 5:00am with no sleep.

tune-Alice In Chains=Love,Hate,Love/Nutshell Mad Season=Long Gone Day Pearl Jam=Garden/Release Soundgarden=Gun/4th Of July/ Nirvana unplugged=Where Did You Sleep Last Night

This sample came to me by way of LibeTEAS, thank you so very much for it and the generous amount as well.

I will start by saying use caution if you intend to abbreviate pu’erh as pu .Twice today I stated that “I could do pu everyday”. I need not explain the ramifications of such a statement.

So here I am loving some pu (easy) and I wanna tell ya all about it. The dry leaf smells too sweet for hay but not enough to be called floral. Another sweet plant… After doing a 30 sec rinse I steeped for 1 min to start. Wet the leaves take on a strong aquatic/earthy smell (as wife says “it’s fish,Dave”). I must note that it’s not unpleasant for those not yet exposed to pu’s.

The flavor of this pu is so rich and wonderful and silky smooth. There’s predominantly a leathery sweetness accompanied by mint. I must pause and say here that I’m either gonna have to find a new word or rethink what I’m tasting because this is the third pu I wanna say taste kinda like toothpaste! After cooling more vegeative notes are apparent.

Second steep 2 minutes with a little less water as well. Even after opting for a stronger cup this time to explore the parameters of the drink I can honestly say it’s still smooth and sweet with almost no astringency. I feel a nice buttery richness that maybe I’ve overlooked in past taste notes of teas due to my young palate. What a drink! This may make it on the ‘gotta have it’ list.

I ended up with 4 steepings before I decided to quit drinking tea for the night.

tunes-Bill Withers=Use Me Up,Geuss Who-She’s Come Undone,Harry Nilson-Everbody’s Talking At Me

Even after reading that the person who sent me this tea, thanks AZZ, didn’t like it I gave it a shot anyway. As a sidenote I end up going to Olive Gardens about once a year and 90% of the time I order Chicken Marsala. Since I no longer drink alcohol this is the best indicator I have as what to expect, I drank whites when I did still drink alcohol.
There’s cinnamon to be sure, it reminds me of baked apples loaded with it. Not tasting alot of vino yet, but saw other notes mention it comes later. It’s malty and maybe a touch smokey. Fair amount of body to this drink. For me the only drawback is astringency, which I will have to put a disclaimer in my profile about me being an astringent weenie. Other than that it ain’t bad, though not a potential ‘buyer’ for me.
That’s what this is all about right, finding what fits your taste with samples from tea friends and courteous tea companies so you can buy lots of the ones you love. Tasting notes are great and helpful, but we’re all still different and we have thousands of choices before us.

My many thanks go out to Azz for this sample which came in an incredibly awesome care package, she is ‘the man’,er…uh…you know what I mean. So I steeped this up and my mouth was watering. I mean, who doesn’t like vanilla. Add to that the residual giddiness I still have after opening my package from Azz (there was even a cool little adjustable measuring spoon and a spongy biscuit that I believe to be Mr Bill and teas that convince me she has telepathic powers).
Then the phone rang. ARGH!…and it was important.
So between distracted sips I can tell you I got some vanilla. It tastes buttery and creamy, though mouthfeel(TeaEqualsBliss word) is not creamy- it’s a little astringent. If you’ve read many of my notes I’m picky about astringency so this may not be a factor to many of you. Also, it’s not super dry/bitter or anything like that, just a little dryness on the tongue.
There’s a sweetness on the inside of my cheeks, which is where the lingering sweet aftertaste is as well. I seem to taste a bit of nutmeg coming through. I still can’t get over how much vanilla I taste, I can’t imagine adding sugar to this already sweet drink.
Luckily for me this is one of those cases where I have enough left to do another note later. My appologies that this note is a flop, I am disappointed at getting a phone call and I’m sure it shows.
tunes-Eddie Vedder=*Satellite/Gauranteed/Society/Long Nights
Into The Wild soundtrack *live with a ukulele.His solo work is folky and nice and moody.

I was at work when I tried this. Had I read the description I might have waited until I could be more attentive to the infuzion. That said I may have over steeped this just a little. Luckily I have enough for another tasting so I can revise the note if needed.
As is common with pu’erhs dry leaf has a strong earthy smell, this one more aqautic (“fish, Dave…it smells like fish” is the reply my wife gives whenever I use that term for pu’erhs).Also common to pu’erhs is the dark color that quickly comes during infuse. Wet leaf smells like a pu’erh…
then came the difference. This pu’erh is sweet, like honey sweet. I’ve used the description of toothpaste for this flavor before, that hint of mint sweetness.As a sidenote; wife says I need to brush my teeth more when I drink pu’s, yet I say it taste like toothpaste=hows that work…anyway.
Also in the sweetness is a faint tart, like blueberries that are mostly sweet with a little tart. I detect a little toasty note in there too. There’s alot less earth or wood about this one. I would like to think it would be an ideal beginner pu’. My second steep was a tad astringent, but I chalk it up to being at work and poor steep management. Since I will taste it again I will close this one for now and will revisit soon.
tunes at time of writing-Laura Marling Dharohar Project=Anmol Rishtey/Meheri Rachi/To Darkness-Kripa/Devil’s Spoke-Sneh Ko Marg
Mumford&Sons appeares on. If you like Indian music like Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha You’ll love it. If you’ve never tried it I encourage you to do so.

All the hype has came down to this one moment. I just got my expedient package of gracious samples from Stacy at Butiki Teas.‘We was giddy as schoolgirls reading the names of and smelling the selections recieved. The leaves are beautiful and you can see that there was great care taken in the packaging not to damage them. On with te drink.
Dry leaf smells scrumpteous,though I’m running off of memory. You see, my wife whisked the samples from the mailbox and started the tea in a flurry whilest I was waking. I got a quick whiff and then the finished product thrust in my face. That aside I still have a great tasting note to share (great in the sense of the tea, not my writing). Color is a golden brown. Due to just waking I won’t bother mentioning wet smell(nose wasn’t working yet).
First taste I am impressed by just how how creamy this really is. A vanilla flavor almost sweet enough to compare to ice cream, yet still light and airy. Speaking of that there’s a subtle silky dryness with thirst quenching attributes. This tea is a gulper!
It took a few drinks for the melon to come out, but it definitely showed up. The afterflavor is pleasant and leaves you wanting more. As I said in my last note I don’t gravitate toward flavored teas normally, but maybe I will start to branch in that direction.I’m getting ready to start my third steeping. Thanks again Stacy for a wonderful sample that I was glad to write a note on

Thank you Tea Merchant for the hook up on the wave of samples you sent out. I obviously happen to be one of those people who got in on it before time ran out, and I’m glad I did. To be honest I have reservations and I ain’t talking about dinner. Generally I’m a straight up, unadulterated, give it to me as God intended( or mother earth if you prefer, or alah,or krishna,or whatever creator you believe in. I’m not here to discuss doctrine,another time and place maybe)kind of tea drinker. I haven’t strayed off of the oolong, pu’erh, black tea path too much so I have preconcieved notions about what to expect with blends/flavored tea. I missed the mark on this one.
For me added flavor equals bitter (there’s none) and cover up (the oolong is coming through just fine). In fact, I tried to screw this up by eating about a half dozen cookies worth of dough while it was steeping. In turn, I couldn’t taste it due to the tastebud overload with all of the sugar i just had so…I did what any clear thinking wise old tea drinker would do… I threw more fresh tea leaf in with what I had steeped already, microwaved the contents of the pot, and then resteeped it all together and assumed it would work splendidly, luckily for me it did.
Fruity is an understatement (not describing me, the tea you fools!). Not sure if it’s closest to plumbs or something else, but I can say that it’s very pleasant indeed. The oolong is light and smooth. There are floral notes in the flavor but not much in the way of aftertaste. The sweet is kinda here & gone. The friut part kinda reminds me of sugar cereal.
The second steep showed me just a little astringency and even more fruity (I told you already, not me the tea!). I would try to get a third batch goin but it’s getting to be that time. Thanks everyone for your comments yesterday about my wreck. There’s headaches o’ plenty and the great and terrible beaurocratic monster has reared it’s grotesquely ugly head so all prayers and encouragements are genuinely welcome. Thanks all for listening… speaking of listening…
tunes- thank you a bunch Charles Thomas Draper for exposing me to the amazing Townes van Zandt. I listened to Nothin’/Lungs/Mr Mudd & MR Gold/St.John The Gambler to name just a few. There’s a playlist on Youtube with 100 songs. Also, I’ve encouraged several people to list their tasting tune as well, after they complimented this idea. It aint my concept, I got no copyright. I’ld love it if others did likewise, just like Thomas’ suggestion. I want exposed to new stuff.

After totaling my truck and having some aches and pains I’m starting to feel back to normal so maybe I can start getting more tasting notes in.
This is another LiberTeas sample and I’m sure glad she selected it for my sample box. It’s good!
Dry leaf has a nice sweet aroma. I’m starting to fully subcsribe to the thought that my nose is not to be trusted; for the second time in a week I say leaf smells like bubblegum-probably grape.
Add boiling water and that soon changes. Its still fruity, even berry notes, but definitely not grape. Color is a deep red/brown.
First thing I found after sipping was a coppery malt flavor. The sweet vein is undeniable and reminds me of a certain type of syrup. I’m not sure what kind, but can pretty much rule out maple. There’s a little astringency, though not enough to scare me away.
This tea gives me a nice warmth in the back of my throat. Couple that with the third shift that I can’t seem to adjust to and my eyes are getting heavy. I will put this in the;‘will make a new tasting note later’ file so I can pay better attention then. The drink got cold and so did this note, better luck next time. Thank you and goodnight,…your humble servant.

tunes-Bob Weir & Ratdog=Two Djinn/Even So/October Queen/Lucky Enough

Smelling the dry leaf made me think I accidently grabbed the Black Merlot I had last night (I checked and it was not). Theres floral notes, as well as something else, but I don’t wanna pour the contents out again to see what it is and the outside of the bag is heavily scented by another tea so….
I thought I oversteeped this since I forgot to set the timer. Liquor is a very deep red/brown, also making me think I oversteeped. Wet leaf still floral. The flavor is much more mellow than the aroma lead me to believe which made me think I didn’t oversteep afterall. It’s not dull or drab, just mellow with the tiniest bit of astringency. I first thought malty but then backed that off to a wood flavor with a touch of smoke. Though floral it’s not too sweet, but a little. I liked this tea well enough and would visit it again, though not enough to put on my right away purchase list; which I guess I should start since all of the samples that several fine Steepster folk have so graciously shared will eventually run out. There’s so much work to do to make oneself a fanatical obsessed tea drinking addict.
I tried a second steep and it was a hair lighter but also sweeter. Astringency went up a notch too so after this cup I’m done.
tunes-Dave Mathews Band=Christmas Song/Long Black Veil/Gret Street/Big Eyed Fish…all live versions