417 Tasting Notes
This black tea is incredibly smooth. It has a very creamy texture in your mouth and doesn’t have any “bite” to it. Someone on the Canton blog said it smelled like rust, and now I can’t help but taste a slight iron-y-ness. The flavor is of cream, malt, cocoa, and a little bit of fruit that I can’t name.
I usually like my black teas to be strong and tannic, but this one is terrific and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys smoother blacks or even to those who don’t usually drink black teas at all.
Preparation
Thank you Kasumi no Chajin for the sample!
Well, work has finally calmed down and my sudden strong espresso craving has subsided. So, I finally have the time to enter the notes that I have for my side-by-side tasting of “new” and “old” Golden Fleece today! I’m pretty sure that they must be different years or something, but I think I will email Verdant to ask (I still haven’t done this).
Instead of trying to figure out what my rough notes meant, I’ve decided to just put them here as is:
“Old” Golden Fleece- elegant, whiskey, peanuts still covered in cellulose, silky texture, Morel mushrooms, sour.
“New” Golden Fleece- unripened banana aroma, earthy, mushroom, vanilla, wet forest floor, foam on leaves.
I remember liking them both very much, and I am unable to come to a strong opinion as to which I prefer.
Preparation
Did you notice a change in flavor? One could be a spring and one an autumn harvest.
There were differences in appearance, aroma, flavor…Only the color seemed consistent between the two. I’ll edit this post with my complete notes after I’m done. I’ve only steeped each three times so far.
This is my first time actually brewing this. I don’t drink much Earl Grey, but the Bergamot seems rather strong in this one. I drank this in the loose leaf form, so that might make a difference. It’s been my experience that I’ve had a lot of stale tasting Earl Greys, but this one tastes fresh. Very nice.
Preparation
I feel terrible for not being certain of who sent me this, but I’m pretty sure it’s ToiToi, so thank you ToiToi!
This is a nice bagged sencha. It was very drinkable. Nothing stood out as particularly bad or good, but all in all I enjoyed this very much.
Preparation
I think I might like this one better than Laoshan Black these days. Enough said.
EDIT: I just noticed that this tea has thousands of tiny sparkling hairs suspended in it. This is something I have not seen in a black tea before. It looked beautiful glittering in the afternoon sunlight!
Preparation
This tea was okay. It lacks that refreshing, almost minty quality of a Darjeeling, has none of those thicker muscatel notes, nor strong savoriness in the finish. The woodsy tannins were also pretty weak. (Unfortunately, these are all the things I love in a Darjeeling!)
It absolutely did have the light floral scent of Lily of the Valley and an amazing sweet lemon meringue note. This might be a good tea to have with some lemon butter cookies, but I don’t think I like it enough to want to drink it alone.
EDIT: I tried another steeping with slightly more leaf this time, and now I am picking up a buttered spinach vegetal note and a lemon flavor. I don’t know what to think of this tea. I don’t really like the taste of it as I am drinking it, but both the aroma and aftertaste are wonderful. Yuck…Also getting a grassiness now.
Preparation
I have to agree with Zeks that this tea smells and tastes like Cognac, but without any of the bite. It is smooth and creamy- much lighter than the black teas that I tend to enjoy, but I love this one just the same. This is great brewed both Western and gongfu style.
Preparation
This tea is awesome. I’ve been searching for my perfect cup of Darjeeling, and this is the closest I’ve found yet.
The only things I could wish for are more aggressive tannins and a stronger floral finish. (I want a Darjeeling that can stand up to a curry dish!) Maybe I’ll try brewing this one for a bit longer next time to see how it does.
