Martin Bednář Send Message

I started to do postcrossing again this year; with a hope that it won’t be that hard year and will have time for this hobby… and first postcards reached my mailbox. And yesterday, one a very full envelope from Finland too! And inside, there were 9 different tea bags in their outer wrappings! Every single one is different which is perfect and many teas to try (again) and tea bag form is sometimes welcomed.

Like today. I came home again later than usual (and work is not yet done!), so I grabbed simple ta bag and lemon flavouring was something I was craving for. I do have a lemon black tea in the office, but hopefully Moomin tea will be better.

Well, kind of. This tea has got a nice and mellow black tea base, but somehow not distinctive at all as I became probably more serious about tea since I was in Finland — it will be 9 years this fall. And lemon flavouring was a bit like lemon pie, but sadly with short effect and as the tea was cooling down, it dissappeared completely. That’s a shame, because otherwise I liked that note.

Unlike Cameron, my tea wasn’t cardboard-like; so I assume it was sadly an issue of their Advent back then. I completely with her other comments though.

A sipdown! (M: 7 Y: 7)
A very sad sipdown of tea that I have received from Courtney — thank you a lot.

It is a wonderful mild and smooth oolong with warming cinnamon notes that was just perfect today evening. My family apparently likes oolongs, mostly because they’re not so heavy as black teas; and green tea is not always a good pairing or opinion.

The pot I prepared with this tea was finished so damn fast, and it was loved just by everyone; and now I want to get more… and I just see it is discontinued tea? Sad, so sad…
I hope to get a replacement somewhere somehow!

Raising rating from 78 to 86.

A sipdown! (M: 6 Y: 6) prompt: Your newest tea

Definitely one of the newest, as it was in the advent. There is another tea I drank for the prompt A leftover advent tea.

I decided to use second half in my gaiwan and steep rather long, as the amout of the leaf was too small. So, on average the steeps could be around a minute long, but it seems it doesn’t ruin the tea.

It was very mellow breakfast tea with hints of florals, as mentioned when preparing western in December; with scents of orchids and lilacs. That was complemented with smooth, almost creamy, mouthfeel, which lasts long.

While I am not definitely convicted to buy more of this, it is a perfect and easydrinking oolong that doesn’t have any off notes that could, for instance, beginners, discourage to try other ones.

I bought this tea when I finally found an Ivan-chai (willow-herb) from European market and not from Russia or other places that I don’t trust enough.

I had this herb once, in a tea bag form; and since then I think it tastes like black tea, but without caffeine. Well, this one is slightly different. It’s definitely fruitier, somehow like red wine and grapes together, with smooth and round taste, definitely strong though. It is also a bit drying, especially in the aftertaste and tip of the tongue.

Nevertheless, I still like it and sadly it’s not avaiable now. I hope Moychay will have another year of harvest soon; as I think I will get another pouch for the alternative strong cup.

The suggested steeping parameters seems off to me though. I prepared today 6 grams and steeped for 2-3 minutes and… well, it’s the upper limit IMO.

A sipdown! (M: 5 Y: 5) prompt: January 19 – World Snow Day – drink a white tea!

I am in the same boat as Coutney. It’s not too flavourful, but thea dry tea bag smelled slightly of dragonfruit.

It is a sipdown nevertheless.

I had last 10 grams remaining, as I sent some across the pond because I just didn’t cared too much for this tea. From those 10 grams I used 5 grams today and steeped in the pot and… I think I just found the best steeping method for this tea!

I tried gongfu, western in a strainer or fillable paper tea bag, but it has been always somehow meh. But method I tried today changed my impressions by a lot.

Smooth, forest honey tasting, with kind of floral impressions, that’s basically how first steep is like. That translates later to the malty notes; along with hints of caramel and stewed fruits, with longer mouthfeel.

Second steep is like the later notes of the first one, with some kind of spicy notes that black tea sometimes produces; and it has been highly enjoyable, warming and cozy.

I assume that the steeping temperature, which was 90°C and steeping time (3 minutes) in a big basket strainer is the key for this tea. The tea pot is said to have volume of 1000 ml, but I actually never measured it myself. The oolong leaves needs to expand well and maybe they were a little bit more prominent in the bottom of the tin. When steeped it was a wonderful two-coloured combo in the strainer.

A sipdown! (M: 4 Y: 4) prompt: Your oldest green tea

A very focused tea to sipdown. It is rather old (about two years), but it never tasted good in the first place. It was somehow expected from me though.

It is very generic green tea, with lots of hay notes, and if steeped well (short steep and not boiling water), it was okay-ish. Very good for not tea-enthusiasts; for me it was just boring and definitely not tasting fresh green. Longer steeps leaded to mineral notes; and harsh mouthfeel.

11 tea bags finished within January, well that is an achievement to share.

This tea I drank last two evenings as those two days were a bit harsh at work; leaving late, tired and with a mood for simple but delicious tea. I just picked this one because it needs to be drinked anyway.

The orange (tangerine) note has weakened a lot and I am actually glad for that. Now it is rose-y chamomile tea that have a wonderful texture, nice scents, and tastes good enough too.
Works so well for relaxing purposes; and there are no too strong flavours to be cloying. Now I can see a chance to finish the box :)

I went to the store that I don’t visit often; as it is nearby my work, but closed when I go to work and when I am going home, I am catching the train and have no time. But today, I have left work late; and train just left when I was left the company. And another one in a hour.

As there is no place to wait but outside, I decided to call home if someone could pick me up (it’s about 20 minutes) and they have agreed. But I was hungry, so I went to that shop. And when I was shopping, I saw this bottled kombucha, from a brand I never heard of and decided to give it a try. There was “last chance” label on it, so probably it isn’t sold as they much as they have hoped. To be honest it is no surprise, because I bet there aren’t much people who would buy a glass bottle with something they don’t even know how to pronounce correctly; with rather higher price tag.

I digressed greatly from the tea itself, so sorry for that and here below are my impressions:

It is very refreshing and not sweet. Actually as they claim, they have used apple juice instead of sugar; and well, it works well. The green tea isn’t too strong, giving me impressions of mediocre tea used, hay-grassy notes. On the first sip I couldn’t notice jasmine at all, but later on it became prominent and gave me a nice impression and brought florals, but in just right level; so it wasn’t soapy. Definitely there are no artificial or chemical notes in this bottle. For the price tag, I wouldn’t buy it for daily drinking, though.

A sipdown! (M: 3 Y: 3)
I assume this was one of the teas that ignited my love for Georgian teas. I decided to buy this, with no or very limited experience with Georgian teas, especially different ones than black.

And well this tea delivered!
Today I prepared last 6 grams that I had in sealed wrapper for long time and apparently the best before day was the last day of 2022, so… yep, old! Especially for white tea! Vendor have still some available, but there is no harvest year mentioned.

Those 6 grams I have used in my teapot, used 90°C water and steeped for 2-3 minutes.
Naturally, it used to have much more flavour; but nevertheless there are notes of meadow flowers with flax notes.

Also the texture used to be more thick. But on the other hand it was light-feeling tea; good for evening, easy to drink even for not so experienced tea-drinkers as my family members.

Happy to have it finished, but sad to call it sipdown. Should I buy another 37.5 grams? Maybe one day… or other white from this region. Afterall, I still have some from the group buy that I organised!