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I was reading on the internets and saw that one company recommended that white teas be steeped at 160F for 15 minutes. I’ve had one of their white teas, and I’ve smelled others… and I wasn’t terribly impressed. Now, that’s not the steeping recommendation that came with the tea, so that might have something to do with it.

Since I’m out of that tea, I thought I’d try some other Silver Needles I have in my cupboard. Sorry, Stacy. This review might not be so great because I’m experimenting… :)

Dry, it smells (to me) pretty typically like a white silver needle. I pre-heated my mug, and steeped for what felt like AGES. Pulling the leaves out, they smell… green, actually. Green and hay and astringent. The tea doesn’t taste of much, but I bring it over to my desk to sit and really focus on.

It smells delicately floral. The taste is somewhat syrupy and floral. There is some bitterness (Ugh, it’s on the back of the tongue, not drying on the teeth. So that’s correct, right?) at the end of the sip. Sweet honey and a touch of hay. It feels green in my mouth.

This is a really interesting way to steep a white tea. I’ll have to try it with others! Maybe Watermelon Xylophone? Or I have DavidsTea’s silver needle as well…

And now for this tea. I’m not sure I love the combination of flavours and textures, but that might be due to the steeping method I’ve chosen. It’s interesting, yes. And I’ll drink the other serving I have left, for sure (I won’t finish this cup because it’s late and caffeine is a bad idea.). But would I buy more? Probably not.

This is another one of those chocolatey teas that tastes like dirt to me. Dirt tea. Made better with some coconut milk creamer, but it’s still pretty much dirt tea. I expected it to be rather different from the description, so that sucks. And now I have 50g of it. Sigh.

Edit: Oh, there’s some spice as it cools. But still, dirt + spice. (I’m drinking it. I’m going to give this one a good try out. Gong fu style later as well.)

I got this because the description said it was an “accessible, easy to prepare tea.” Sounds good to me. It’s super light and fluffy; a loose tea, not a brick.

8g in 100ml
Dry: Woodsy, spicy.
Rinse: Yep, smells like a shou. I let it rest about 5 minutes just because.
Rinse 2: 5 seconds (I’m doing this with a basket in my tea cup because it’s easy.) Smells like a shou. Earthy, foresty. Honestly, so far I can’t tell that it’s different from other shou puerhs I’ve had. IDK. Oh hey, that does taste different. I can’t tell that it smells really different right now though. Might just be my nose.
5s: This is quite dark, but very clear. It’s somewhat resinous smelling. Mushrooms, forest, etc. It reminds me of the puerh I have that I really like (1990 Kunming), only both really strong yet mellow at the same time.
10s: A little more spice. It’s not clovey, but the feeling in my mouth is reminding me of cloves.
15s: Quite a bit darker, maybe a little sweeter?
15s: Not as tingly.

And I have been catted, so I can’t lean forward to get more water without tossing him off my lap. :)

It’s certainly accessible. No raunchy flavours, even though it is quite dark and strong. Super mellow. Actually, as I’ve drunk this and edited my writing… I’d almost call this boring. Have I already been exposed to too many puerh teas? Was I expecting too much?

Cold steeped, but I cheated and wanted some now so I took a cup after 2 hours and topped the jug up with water and put it back in the fridge.

Mostly vanilla and hibiscus right now. It’s super thin, it needs a longer steep to become “juice”. But this is enough to take my vitamins and sip a bit before bed.

1.5 tbsp in a small takeya jug from teavana. I don’t think it’s quite a litre, which is weird, because the big one is just over 2.

Oh, phew! I thought there’d be chocolate chips in here so I was avoiding trying this lovely sample from MissB. No, just cocoa chips. Cacao chips. Whatever.

So I’m brewing it up! There are bits of anise and ginger and cloves and it smells like a chai. Steeped, it is almost pungently floral from something. Lots of spice flavour. Maybe it’s the cardamom? There’s loads of cinnamon and star anise as well.

I added a bit of coconut milk creamer thing. (Not homemade.)

I probably shouldn’t have dug my spoon into the almond butter. It’s taken down the accidental spice from my salsa, but wow that coats the mouth. Oh well.

Mmm. This is nice. It’s really quite strong on the spices. Star anise, cinnamon sweetness, clove, some heat from the ginger, and I guess the pungent “floral” is the orange peel. I’m really liking this, but then I do tend to like chai.

This might be even better brewed with milk.

Definitely something to check out if you can get your hands on T2 and like strong chai. :)

Edit: Ok, I’m confused. The website lists: Our classic Chai blend of black tea with cloves, star anise, sweet cinnamon, ginger and orange peel and delicious cacao bean pieces provides a distinctive, warm chocolaty aroma with nutty nuances. And then it lists: Black tea, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, orange flowers, ginger, cardamon, gingko leaves, flavour. I do NOT notice chocolate flavour. At all. I do notice the orange peel/flowers/whatever. Pungently floral when dry, and it carries through when tasting, although more as an afterthought than at the front of the sip. I thought I tasted cardamom but second-guessed myself. There is cardamom in here for sure.

Hmm.

Mixed 50/50 with Limeade Twist (http://steepster.com/teas/teavana/47151-limeade-twist-herbal-tea) as a before bed drink. Kinda. I usually like to have water or something beside my bed for when I wake up, so this will also serve that purpose. And because it’s tea, the cat won’t drink it.

:)

I do really like this blend, for all its sugary lime and berry flavours. So sugary. And I added some honey too! I actually rinsed the tea with about 8oz of boiling water, just to try to take away some of the flavouring and the sugar from the candied fruits. I’m not sure how well it worked, but it made me feel a little better.

Oh, and if you crush and break open juniper berries you’ve steeped, you’ll get sap all over your fingers and have to use olive oil or nail polish remover to get it off. Or both. Just FYI.

1 tbsp each tea in a 1 quart “mason” jar. Actually Canadian Dominion Mason Wide Mouth. (I have a 1928 Heinz ketchup jar, but I’m scared to use it for tea. I don’t want to break it!)

I am pretty sure this is the one sent to me by Dexter (I have so many puerh samples from you! Thank you!) It’s marked 2011 on the label.

Yeah, this one I like. There’s something about it that reminds me of forest. Plus a very sweet scent that comes and goes. And a hint of spice. I think I liked the other one better, though. The one I said I didn’t like. Whoops!

10s rinse, few minute rest, 10s steep.

This would be really good with a little cinnamon.

12s: Oh boy, this is really strong. I wasn’t really expecting that. Why, I don’t know. I have had this before. My tongue is tingly. I think I’d call this leather. Maybe. Possibly.

Actually, this is a very nice counterpoint to fresh veg, guac and salsa…

12s: More of the same, also lots of distractions playing with the cat.

12s: More tingly tongueness again.

12s: Still going strong.

I’ve had to refill my Zojirushi, whoops. This thing takes forever to boil.

Etc. I’ll edit, I suppose.

Super fake, like fuzzy peach slices. Super sweet, PLUS I added some honey. Not something that I’ll get again, although you never know. Sbux is now carrying Teavana teas, and apparently they don’t have many decaf options. So I might be getting this a lot in the future!

Still, I’m finding it really soothing right now. I’m feeling better than this morning, but I’m still considering another nap!

I got some coconut creamer to have in some of my teas that don’t necessarily go so well with eggnog. :)

Yum. I love the fruit and bergamot together in this tea. It’s a perfect balance for me. Still earl grey, but not so in your face that it exacerbates the nausea.

As… an eggnog latte. Hahaha, omg. I found MORE almond noel nog stuff at yet a different grocery store today. WHEE! So of course I bought it.

This tea is really woody. I’m not sure if it’s gotten worse as it’s aged or what, but it’s REALLY woody. The ginger is pretty mild right now. Thankfully it does go pretty well with the nog. I’m getting a teensy bit of warmth from the ginger, but I really can’t taste it.

I don’t know if I’ll buy this one again, but I did enjoy it last winter.