2291 Tasting Notes
Yes, another assam.
It’s assam-like. I need to steep 2 min instead of 3, or use a lower temp. Plain, it’s too bitter. With milk, it’s great, but I don’t want to use milk in my travel mugs because it makes them get grosser faster.
Preparation
Perhaps noshing on a gingerbread star while trying this tea wasn’t the best idea. :)
Thank you for the sample, MissB!
It smells fruity. Intensely candy fruity. Mmm. I didn’t look up the steeping instructions, and chose to steep this low and short due to the sencha base – I don’t want seaweed, thank you.
Brewed this way, it’s pretty much FRUIT. There’s a hint of fresh grass and some marine breeze in the background, but mostly fruit. It’s quite lovely.
And (bonus!) it was in a tea bag which made it super easy.
It’s pretty good, but for someone who doesn’t love green teas, it’s a touch lost on me. I guess… really lovely to try, but I wouldn’t purchase it.
Preparation
I received this sample from Kittenna. Thank you!
First I noticed that the leaves have that “chocolate dirt” scent to them. Uh oh. Thankfully that’s not too apparently once steeped. It’s more sweet potato or roasted squash in flavour. A little malty.
Not bad (actually pretty good) but not flavours that I think I’d find myself craving.
I’ll probably steep this a couple more times today, just to get the most out of the leaves.
Preparation
Ooo. Lots of honey. LOTS of honey. Some fruitiness, stone fruits mostly I think. Apricots and golden plums. Very rich, as well. Hints of pie crust. :)
I haven’t steeped this tea quite this way before, and I think I like it more now that I’ve used more leaf.
And yes, ANOTHER assam. I’ll probably pack up a resteep of this and some Tiger Assam to bring with me for this afternoon. Now to go finish getting ready!
Preparation
Om nom nom nom LOVE Taiwanese blacks! :D
This is no where near as good as Butiki’s PTA! It’s not as rich or flavourful, and has more of that cardboard flavour so common in assams. Haha.
I dunno, PTA has never been my favorite just because I prefer the ones with strong honey notes (like her TWMB).
Isn’t the TWMB a leafhopper tea though? This one isn’t. The honey isn’t as strong as that. But it is a lot more present than the last 2 assams I’ve had this morning. :)
Yeah, I believe it is. I was very pleased to find strong and yummy honey notes in the one TTC tea I’ve tried so far. :D
This assam is a lot more sweet-honey-malt than the last. Practically no bitterness, although I put milk in it again. What can I say, but that I like my teas with milk!
I agree with Sil that it’s juicy. Perhaps a bit of spice lingering at the end of a sniff as well.
I really like this one. In fact, I think my mom would really like it as well so I’m going to save most of the rest of the package for her!
Preparation
Mmm, this is pretty good. I swear I’ve had it before, but there’s no note from me.
I added some milk, as usual. It’s a little fruity, and bitter. Really strong, even though I only steeped for 2:30.
Still – yay tea! I didn’t have any tea yesterday and that was sad. And now I’m lazing about in my PJs instead of heading to my volunteer gig for the weekend, because my neck is borked and I have a migraine from the muscle spasms. I’ll probably head out for a bit after I’ve been tea’d and fooded. Wearing my, uhh, retro tshirt I won at one of the clubs.
Preparation
Had this with some cinnamon sticks broken into the pot this morning.
I forgot to rinse, but it was still delicious. This is a really good intro tea, as long as you rinse! Otherwise it does smell a little footy/fishy.
My first deliberate foray into puerh! And it tastes a lot like the one my favourite chinese restaurant serves (only theirs is super watered down…).
Preparation
You are a pu head in the making.. ;)
agree ;)
This was one of the first teas I bought online ~2 years ago. And o dreamt last night that my mom got me the swirly black and white pot from YS and I was so sad because it’s not as tiny as I wanted. Of course I also dreamed we got it at a hiking shop and that Vancouver island = Swiss alps, so…
I too love a little cinnamon stick in with pu’erh.
LOL if you are dreaming about pots being the wrong size – then we need to stop looking at them :))
Lol. Yeah that was kinda funny. I was more concerned with the size of the mountains though.
I think I might get this one, even though the shape isn’t perfect and it has no spots…
http://www.esgreen.com/yixing-zisha-jiang-po-ni-clay-teapot-100ml-palm.html
That’s nice – when you sign up for an account and join their news letter you get points. I was able to use those points on my first purchase – so you should be able to get a couple dollars off that. :))
I did toss a couple of tea samples from them into you box….
Oh, cool! Mostly it depends on how impatient I get. Birthday order from YS and waiting for shipping, or something soon? :) Hard to say.
IMHO – I still think he perfect one is out there. I think you try to be a bit patient…. maybe email YS and see if they have anything that’s not on the website…
Oh yeah, I was going to do that. I look forward to the box! So many new things to try.
im concerned with the clay quality of this pot. its not yixing
Haha, no it’s not yixing. It’s also not the “perfect” pot for me. I want spherical or egg shaped, with a tiny spout, and speckles, about 100ml. You know, just a teensy bit specific. Dexter and I searched and searched last night. Most of the spherical speckled pots are 170cc+.
Or with less speckles as a decoration, like this… http://www.esgreen.com/zi-sha-qing-shui-pure-clay-tea-pot-220ml-stone-gourd-ladle-d.html
Definitely trying cinnamon in my next shu pu!
“Assam-like” :) I guess that’s still a step up from my classic “it tastes like tea”.
Lol. Too true! I mean, Assam is narrowing it down, and I do find them pretty identifiable. Malt, cardboard-ish, this ones pretty fruity even though it’s bitter.