63 Tasting Notes
There was a free shipping promo so I bought this and a clearance hand cream. Wish I hadn’t wasted the money. In no way does this remind me of peanut butter cups – it’s nutty but with barely any chocolate and it is so bland, even though I put in extra tea. I gave up on it hot and let it cool before trying again, so nothing. Even the dry leaf doesn’t remind me of peanut butter cups.
Just used up the last of my banana nut bread tea :( Coming from someone who doesn’t eat bananas (mainly a texture issue, I do put them in smoothies but even then it is only because bananas are good for you) I hope this comes back someday.
I didn’t quite have enough for a full cup so in my search for something to mix it with I chose lapsang souchong – it was a great idea! Smoky but the banana/nuttiness totally held up. I think I’d try this mix again even if I wasn’t low!
I was a little disappointed with this tea. I didn’t get any rhubarb notes at all, but instead a “strawberry quik” type taste. It isn’t bad, it just didn’t meet my expectations at all. I didn’t get anything out of the puerh either. It reminded me of Red Leaf Tea’s Strawberry matcha (which also seemed all flavouring and no tea). I might try brewing this a different way (cold brew? less leaf? I’m undecided) to try it again.
This is a nice, mellow cup for me. It has a sweet, comforting smell (much more prominent with the dry leaf) and I’m so happy I picked it. The taste isn’t as strong as I expected, considering the smell, but I may not have steeped it long enough/used quite enough leaf (I only bought 1/2 an oz so I’m being a little stingy perhaps). My only other experience with a Kenyan tea is Davidstea’s Kenyan Tinderet which I didn’t care for at all (it was very bitter).
The blueberries are definitely the upfront smell upon opening the bag of blue lagoon. The smell reminds me of a blue/blueberry candy (gummy sharks maybe?) and although I like blueberries I don’t find it as appealing as I thought I would.
I decided this sounded best iced and steeped it overnight in the fridge. When I first added the water, the color looked awful – a dirty black-grey. I actually had to stop and think about whether I accidentally used our tap water from here (we are in the country right now and on a well – the water is safe to drink and doesn’t taste bad but has a high mineral content) instead of the water we bring from home. I left it though and overnight it turned a purpleish color that was much more appealing! (But doesn’t say blue lagoon to me – though I suppose artificial colors would be the only way to get the swimming pool blue I somehow expected, so I can live with the purple).
Taste-wise, it was sweet but not too sweet (I didn’t add anything to it) and had a light blueberry taste. I didn’t get any pineapple flavour, but I’d imagine that is what contributed to the sweetness.
Overall, this isn’t special enough to want to buy more of. I much prefer the assault of flavour from blueberry jam! This reminds me of blueberry jam that was resteeped a few times.
sigh
I can’t wait to get back to Canada where my collection of tea awaits me…I brought a few teas with me thinking that if I was moving to China there would be plenty of options for buying tea….well, no where close to me! There are supermarket teas that I can’t read and don’t particularly trust. And there are some that I recognize – like this one, which has become a staple for me as I try to ration my favourites that I brought along!
My favourite thing about this tea is that I find it wonderful for an upset stomach, which, unsurprisingly, is fairly common here. It’s a bit weaker than I’d like – if I was home I’d use two teabags, but I try not to go through it too quickly. Ginger is one of my favourite flavours – I’m a huge fan of homemade ginger beer so any tea that is gingery (Davidstea Super Ginger for example) is great for me!
I do find that the bag breaks apart sometimes and I end up with floaty bits of ginger in my timolino. Not a huge deal for me at all but it might bother some people.
A friend brought me two new teas to try from Taiwan – I can’t read the packaging but I think one is a green and one is an oolong. Lemon and ginger is nice but I’ll be happy to switch it up!
I really can’t rate this because I think it’s just awful, but if it works, who I am I to judge? Bleck! It really makes me think I’m sick – like Buckley’s. Tastes awful, but it works. I’m assuming that the overbearing sweetness is the licorice root? I’ll admit, I’m not a licorice fan but I don’t actually taste any in this blend, just an icky sweetness that takes over my entire mouth. Despite the taste issues, it does seem to be making me feel a little better. I made sure I stocked up on all the essentials before moving to China – but I’m glad I only have a small bag of this and a much larger supply of Cold 911.
I am just about at the end of this sample – It made I have no idea how many pots of tea, maybe 10? It seemed like a ton! I’ve lost count over the last few days. My last steep wasn’t particularly long, but for the first time I can tell it is getting to the end. I’ll probably do one more longer steep, but I can definitely say this lasted a longgg time.
When I opened it, the earthy smell seemed less pronounced than others that I’ve tried (that is a very small list anyway). Dry, it reminded me of charcoal leftover after a bonfire – the layers were so interesting. After rinsing, I was surprised at how many small bits of tea went through the strainer (I have a large strainer that fits in the teapot and so far this is the first time I’ve ever had anything go through it; it is very fine) but they remained settled at the bottom and didn’t have any affect whatsoever on the drinking experience.
My first steep was quite dark, but I should have left it a little longer (I’m still a bit afraid of turning it into fish soup…I don’t even know if that would happen but I’ve been doing short steeps to minimize the chance that I’ll need to pour it down the drain). It didn’t taste nearly as strong as I expected, but it had a strong smell that was clean, crisp, and earthy. Subsequent steeps were a bit longer (I’ve been judging based on colour mostly, once it gets nice and dark I take the leaves out) and each steep has been flavourful.
I’ll admit that the crumblyness and bits on the bottom had me worried at first, but this is definitely a very well rounded tea. Mellow is a great way to describe it and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, particularly to someone who is either new to puerh or who – like me – has had bad experiences in the past!
