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This is a sipdown of a sample I got as part of the Canton Tea Club. I haven’t had puerh in a little while now. It brews a honey-colored liquor. There’s not too much going on here. It’s got a nice astringency. It’s quite green, mildly floral, not smokey. Overall quite nice.

Why didn’t I try this sample sooner? This tea was wonderful. It tastes so much like honey and has a nice fruitiness. So good!

I live on the edge of the winery property, and this morning my neighbor had someone in his yard using a leaf blower starting at 8 am! This did allow me to have an early morning gong fu session with this tea, though…

I really enjoyed this tea very much. I was concerned that the subtle savory/umami flavor of this tea was a product of what I had just eaten last time I tried this, but that flavor is still there. I would really like this tea with lighter vegetarian noodle dishes and brothy soups. I might even reorder this one!

Decided to drink a favorite this morning. I need to treat myself. I’ve been having a stressful week. I almost quit my job just a few days ago, and I’m still questioning if I am doing the right thing in staying. This job could be a wonderful opportunity to learn and develop skills that could help me to one day pursue my dream job, but let me emphasize could…

My dream job would be working for a tea retailer. And, yes, I know exactly what I would be getting into. Most of my work experience is in retail sales/management, and I am one of those sick people who loves it despite the hours, stress, and pay.

Anyhow, about the tea. I find this tea to be soft and comforting, but also indulgent. It’s like getting into an oversized fluffy cashmere sweater. :-)

I’m going to hold back on rating this one. I steeped it per the instructions directly after eating a small potato that I must have put 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast on. My mouth was already full of umami flavor, which made this tea taste especially yummy. I guess I’ll have to wait to see how it tastes on its own. It seems to have a nice balance of floral and vegetal flavors, though.

This is a really nice tea. The picture on the Whispering Pines website makes the tea look like a yellowish color, but the leaves are in actuality a dark, fresh green color. The aroma and flavor is mild but very pleasing and fresh. You’ll notice my emphasis on “fresh”. I often find that green teas taste a bit sour/past their prime, but this was wonderful and sweet.

I took a half day from work today, met Casey in Santa Rosa for dinner at 5 o’clock, and am now home brewing a lot of tea. Today is a good day!

My first impression was that this smelled like cooked rice with a dash or soy sauce. Casey said the flavor reminded him of slightly burnt caramel corn. There is a slight sour (not bad) note, I belive Stacy said it was like sourdough and I’d say that’s accurate. This is a very interesting, unique tea!

After eating a few clementines, I poured another cup of this tea. Maybe it was the fruit taste still left in my mouth, but suddenly there was a strong note of blackberry mid-sip. This was a very nice way to end my evening!

I ordered a lot of tea from The Republic of Tea because they had a BOGO promotion for their Rare Tea Republic teas, which I suppose they’re discontinuing. :-( I really like these teas to brew a big pot of. This one is very tannic and bitter when you first sip it, but once you adjust to that it is wonderfully brisk and refreshing. This was the perfect tea to help settle my stomach after eating a big Ethiopian meal.

Love this tea. Trying to enjoy the things I love about being in California (such as my tea collection is here!) It was hard to leave New York this weekend, and not just because of the weather. I made this western style this morning, and it wasn’t quite as fabulous as I remembered it being, but I am still very happy to be drinking it. I hope Verdant brings this one back someday!

This tea isn’t well liked by the reviewers on Steepster, but I happen to like this tea. The taste is disappointingly mild for a black (at first), but the wet leaf aroma is really interesting. It has lots of typical Yunnan black flavors such as dark chocolate (possibly with a trace of orange) and caramel, but it also has some earthy notes sort of like wet forrest floor, but in the spring when it’s very wet and warm and all the leaves are decaying. The aftertaste is a lot like coffee, which wasn’t my favorite.

By the third steeping I brewed it for 3 minutes to get a stronger flavor. The fourth steeping was about 4 minutes, and was too long. The fifth steeping was only 10 seconds and seemed like just the right amount of time. You really need to adjust the time for how little or how much the tea brick has separated. I like this tea pretty well, but it certainly wasn’t the rich, sweet taste I was expecting from the description.

The harvest date for these was Autumn 2012. I am considering ordering some of the spring 2013 bricks from Yunnan Sourcing. I tend to find that I like spring Yunnan blacks better than other harvests.