2291 Tasting Notes
I have had this sample approximately forever. So with wanting to try my new tea cup, but not wanting a puerh, I decided to try this tea. Finally.
Dry, it smells sweet. Honey-sweet-potato, almost. I did a quick pour-through rinse of the leaves. They’re still carby, but there’s a bit of a spice, or pepper note.
Steeped ~ 20 seconds, it smells really floral. But it’s bitter as heck.
Ok, let’s try 5 seconds. (My new cup is the perfect size, BTW. Loving it!) That’s a bit better. Still, it smells quite sweet and floral, with lots of carby notes, but it isn’t really. It’s still bitter, but not undrinkably so. I am using hot water on this, as I’m doing shorter steeps. I would have expected the tea to hold up better for this (my options are 208F or 140F…).
This tea is a miss for me. There is some potential in the carby floral sweet notes, but it doesn’t come through. Oh well.
Oh man.
This is my second try of this tea (6g in 1/2 cup or so of water). And it’s really a “wet wood” type of puerh.
I’m enjoying it more than last time, but again, it’s not my favourite.
:(
Sorry Dex, this one was a miss for me. I’ll need to try the other peacock tea you sent, and see how different it is.
Preparation
Part of a sample pack a friend gave me…
And I was actually pretty surprised! I liked it. Really fruity, with an amaretto flavour just like the liqueur. Om nom nom. I didn’t add anything to it last night, but I’m going to try it again with milk. I think it could be really tasty.
Om nom nom.
So delicious, lemony vanilla today, and with a Russian tea cake! (So not a family recipe, but delicious and highly recommended. If you’re not gluten free, just use buckwheat and regular flour. If you are gluten free, use buckwheat and your favourite premix. Make it easy. Also, weigh the ingredients. That’s very important. http://food52.com/recipes/32290-buckwheat-thumbprint-cookies-with-cherry-preserves I just sprinkled them with loads of icing sugar. YUM.)
Preparation
Since I’ve been rummaging through my stash in order to give tea away to tea frens, I thought I’d try this one in comparison to the similarly shaped 100g tuo cha I tried yesterday. Was it yesterday?
This one is definitely stronger in flavour. It’s woody. A little spicy I think. Definitely shows a different type of storage, since it’s wet wood.
Not bad. Not super sweet though. I’m still preferring my nuggets!
Preparation
Yup, this again! I forgot my ~ fancy teas at home this morning, so I am having Work Tea.
This is less strong than the stuff I had last night, I think. Maybe. At the very least, it’s less of a squeaky-teeth tea. I wonder if the differences are legitimate differences of Twinings Canada and UK blending? Or if the differences are all in my head?
Anyways, it’s almost time for lunch, and it’s gloriously sunny outside. I hope I get some fun mossy pictures for Instagram. :)
(2 tea bags for 2 cups or so)
Preparation
I don’t get any smoke from this. It’s a pretty mild shou, much like one of the other descriptions. A little nutty, a little creamy, a little sweet, a little woody. Definitely no icky wet taste, which I’m really appreciating.
Still prefer the nuggets I have to most shou’s I’ve tried lately. IDK what’s up with that.
Edit: Also salty. That’s very true. Thanks to Morgana for mentioning that in her tasting note. (Her note wasn’t about this tea tho. It’s just a note I feel goes with shou in general.)
I’ve yet to find a shou I’ve actually liked, but I have some tea nuggets too that I happen to love, so idk what’s up with that.
I included some shou in your package because that’s what I had from Verdant. And the 2008 bulang from Crimson Lotus that was super amazing. And a lot of moonlight teas. :) Some local sheng, but when Dexter was here we mostly bought shou.
Ooooooooh thank you! Also!!!! MOONLIGHT TEAS!!!! I have this one moonlight tea sample I’m still holding on to because I tried it once and loved it and can’t find more of the same one.
my cupboard is mostly updated-ish but I still have a bunch that I can’t find on here, I can message you a list in a bit
Yeah, I have 3 right now – Treasure Green, Mandala, and this delightful cake from The Chinese Tea Shop. You have samples of all. :D (Spoiler: The cake is the best, but honestly they’re all so good. Use less water than you think for the thick honey flavours.)
Yay for helpful descriptors! ;-)
Haha. Indeed! I mean, the tea isn’t bad, it just isn’t what I was hoping for. Oh well! If Dexter likes it, I’ll just send the rest to her. :D
What are you sending me?
Ummmm – I bought quite a bit of sheng when I was there – just most of it was OLD samples. Still haven’t found one that I LOVE….
re the AMAZING moonlight cake – OMG it is soooooo good. Lots of leaf, little water – boiling – flash steeps = liquid honey apricot goodness…
all this does is reinforce my need to unwind with some puerh. Too bad that’s not bloody likely to happen until January at the earliest.
This is the white 2 tea stuff, Dex. From the tea club. I have finally gotten over some of my frustration and have packed up a box for you…
Heres hoping you manage to find a little time to sit and enjoy some tea, Sil..
Sadly, just realised this weekend we have family stuff..and then other stuff… sigh maaybe dec 24? haha
Haha. Not family stuff! ;) I think I’ll be at my parents just Christmas day, but the plan is to bring a few puer samples and my favourite kyusu and some teensy cups. :)
This brings me back to my childhood – we always had Red Rose, Twinings Earl Grey, and Peppermint teas in the house. I loved to horrify my father (still do!) by putting milk in this one. :D
So while this is a very furniture-polishy, tooth-squeaky type of tea, it’s also something I love because I used to drink it all the time.
I have a feeling this came from MissB, when she was in London. Thanks so much!
Preparation
Weird! I’ve nearly always drank my earl grey with a little milk. Does he despise it terribly? Then again, I guess that reminds me of my mom and her aversion to coffee with sugar in it.
Earl Grey is one of the teas I most love with milk.
Hahaha. He is just grossed out by milk + citrus I think. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him have an Orange Julius either, and that was another childhood staple for me!
I’m too lazy to go dig this out of the cupboard. But it’s a tulsi chai that Bear With Me gave me ages ago.
Yes. Tulsi chai.
It’s pretty good! I added some sugar and milk because why not. And even though coriander is the SECOND INGREDIENT, I’m really quite enjoying it.
Yay! Thanks, Bear With Me!
