557 Tasting Notes
Backlog #9 (and last one): I had a craving for this tea for several days before I gave in and made some. I don’t know what I did to this the first time I brewed it, but I can’t seem to get the rich buttery-taste back. I got the water temperature right this time though and it was smooth and tasted a little slick to my tongue. I have had this for going almost on a year now. Maybe it is just getting old. Either way, I am going to finish up these leaves (because they are tasty) and then look for another dragonwell to try.
Backlog #8: I was drinking this and all of the sudden it hit me! This tea tastes almost like the bubble tea I was drinking obsessively when the Chinese Club was selling it. The base is a medium body with just a touch of a caramel. Not much, but enough that I can tell it is sweeter than my Yunnan. I need to try this in a latte now and find out if my hunch is right.
Backlog #7: I am liking this more the more times I drink it. I can see how it can be an everyday cup of tea that goes well with meals. The flavor isn’t heavy enough to interfere with any food flavors, but it is enough to make it pleasant. The green tea also dries out my mouth just a little bit between bites so that my palate doesn’t get overwhelmed by flavors. This would go fantastic with sushi!
Backlog #6: You didn’t think I would stay away from some type of Yunnan that long now that I have this, did you? This one is a little less chocolately than the Golden Imperial Lotus from Teavana, but I don’t have to steep it as long to get a full cup out of it. I still only steep it only two times or else it just gets too weak for my taste.
I really want to know how this would taste in a latte, but I love it too much plain to drink it with milk. Maybe one day I will try it before I get other Yunnans.
Backlog #5: My TARDIS mug came in on the same day I got hit with a huge Earl Grey craving! I love this mug. It is so geeky and I just adore it! It is bigger than I expected it to be. It takes 1 1/2 fills from my french press to get it all of the way full. And the fact that it comes with a lid to keep your tea warm is just amazing. Everybody should have a mug with a lid.
TARDIS Mug from ThinkGeek: http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/mugs/e5c5/
Backlog #4: I made some of this tea after ranting about how it tasted like butter the last time I made it. I got the water a little bit too hot because I couldn’t hear my kettle, but it was still pretty good. My friend Emily liked it too. I am introducing her to tea.
Backlog #3: I needed something sweet and rosy to get me through the day. I am almost out of this tea and I am so glad I tried it. I love rose and I need to get more tea with roses in it. Or just get a bunch of rose to blend with other teas when I want an extra rose kick.
Backlog #2: I was having a really bad day and close to tears for the entire day when my friend made me this cup of tea and brought it to our class we have together. So sweet of her!
I have had the Samurai Chai mate before and I didn’t think it was that bad, so I was a little hesitant to try it. The smell won me over. It smelled so good and warmed me right up. Then the taste was fantastic! It had just enough spice from the two chais to make me happy and enough kick from the mate to make my mind happy and relaxed. If I don’t get anything else from Teavana, I need to get these two teas to be my comfort blend.Thank you Jordanne.
So, I just got done with exam week and I have some backlogging to do from my past few weeks that I have been absent. My computer charger died the first week I was gone. Then I just didn’t drink that much tea until after exam week. But I am back and very happy to brew some lovely teas.
Backlog #1: Jasmine “Dragon Pearls”. I brought this one out when playing Skyrim and it is only the second Jasmine tea I have ever had. It smells fantastic and it is so much fun to watch the pearls float around in my french press. The tea itself isn’t as sweet as I thought it would be and it didn’t taste like much. It was a pretty standard green tea to me, but my roommate who also tried it said it was the most fantastic Jasmine tea she has ever had. Maybe I just need to try more Jasmine teas before thinking of this one as “generic”. I will happily drink up the rest of my sample.
I have been looking forward to this yunnan ever since my tea samples came to me. The leaves were long and slender. They wouldn’t play nicely with my flat bamboo tea spoon, so I just filled the bottom of my press with leaves. The brew is nice and dark brown. It looks like a solid black tea and I could probably fool some of my friends into thinking this was coffee. It is that dark at just three minutes.
The second steep (4 mins) is just as delicious as the first (3 mins). Bold and roasty. The second steep has a slight undertone of chocolate that I love with this tea. I keep timing my teas wrong. This is a good tea to wake up with in the morning. It is slightly heavy tasting for the afternoon, but I adore it anyway. Maybe the promise of this in the morning will actually get me out of bed earlier so I can make it.
Later… third steep at 4 and a half minutes. The flavor isn’t as strong, but it is still tasty. I think I only like doing two steepings for yunnan blacks because I like them stronger.
