289 Tasting Notes
Another sample provided by Angel at Teavivre. This one is smack your lips good! (even though smacking lips is one of my biggest pet peeves lol) Thank you!!
First steep, one min. At first it was mostly just a roasted nutty flavor , which I was enjoying, with an occasional fleeting floral note. As I neared the bottom of the cup it got increasingly sweet and bakey, like whatever oven it had been roasted in was also used to bake bread, and the tea had soaked up bread nuances. Bread is kind a big deal for me. I have several close relatives and friends that are either celiac or gluten intolerant; I’m hanging on to bread with everything I’ve got!! :P
2nd steep, two min. Mmm it smells so good! I’m trying to wait to sip it, my experiences so far have proven that it tastes the best when it’s cooled a minute or two. I busied myself with getting my daughters lunch ready. She has the strangest tastes for a two year old. We had leftovers from a Japanese place and she was so excited to get edamame (Beans!!!) and stir fried noodles (Noodles!!!). Now that she’s preoccupied, back to my tea! So far this steep is primarily roasty, with some barely discernible floral notes. That oh-so-sweet baked bread profile returns somewhere around the middle of the cup, and strangely more floral notes as well. It’s delicious.
This tea doesn’t strike me as a typical Tieguanyin; isn’t it usually greener, and more floral, not so roasted? Either way, I like this tea! I’m going to save the leaves for steepings later, it doesn’t taste nearly done!
Preparation
This is my first Sencha. I am excited to try it out!
I thought I would try this out western style first. It brewed up to a pretty grass green color. There are a lot of tiny leaf fragments in this tea that made it through the filter, so my cup has a lot of floaties; doesn’t bother me though. I’m hoping I didn’t get the water too hot, as my digital thermometer died.
:(
My first sips are pleasantly ‘green’ and sweet. That’s about all the flavor I’m getting. I like it but I’m assuming I need to add more leaf, like Dens has kindly suggested in their brewing instructions. I will save that for next time; for now I like it the way it is! I was craving Japanese tea after lunch today. My two sisters and I went to a local sushi and grill place. I ordered tea, and they brought me this really pretty cup ; at first sip I knew it was genmaicha! Anyplace that serves genmaicha as their signature tea is my new favorite! :-)
I will rate this now but may change it when I try it with more leaves next time.
Preparation
Thanks to The Tea Merchant for the chance to try this tea!
I was a bit concerned when I saw the recommended steep time and temperature, but I went ahead at 205 degrees for three minutes. It turned out well! This is a nicely balanced tea. I can taste both the green and white tea, and the bergamot is light, especially after the first steep. I wouldn’t use this tea when I’m craving Earl Grey but it is a good relaxing cup. Which really is why I like tea, sooo..I like it! :-)
Preparation
Actually we went back and checked and it was a typo! We recommend 175-185* F. However since we are new to the site we are unable to edit the teas.
So give it a shot at that temp and see if you like the difference!
Haha ok! Yeah I thought that was a little strange. I will try it that way next!
There! Fixed it for ya! ;-)
Thank you!!
Thank you to Teavivre for this sample!
Sniffing the brewing leaves was actually kind of exciting! It smelled like delicious, simmering garden greens. I brewed it according to their directions of 194 degrees for 1 minute.
The taste is as good as I was hoping. Juicy, mouthwatering, savory, brothy, salty. I really think green teas like this could make a really good soup base. Onto the shopping list it goes!
Preparation
Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for a sample of this tea!
This bagged green is pleasant. Nothing about it really stands out; it’s mildly vegetal and a bit sweet. This is my first tea from India as far as I can remember, so that’s kinda cool!
Preparation
Thank you to The Tea Merchant for this sample!
First off, I like their packaging. The tea is in resealable bags (looks just like the ones Verdant uses) and then they wrap the bags in brown tissue paper and seal it with a pretty wax seal. I’m all for old timey stuff like wax seals!
This tea smells pretty decadent when you open the bag. The aroma was a little strong for me actually; but then I am a bit sensitive to artificial smells. The tea is very pretty, with the white tea and the blue cornflowers.
1st steep 1 min. My favorite part about this tea is that you can still taste the white tea. Since it smelled so powerful I was expecting a strong flavor but it’s pretty mild. The white tea base is nice and delicate, with the characteristic hay notes; the coconut lends a nice creaminess.
2nd steep 3 min. I like this steep best. Same flavors of the first steep just a little more full.
I think I would have preferred it with less of the flavoring or none at all; but overall I liked it and I’m glad I got to try it!
Preparation
I’ve had this tea in my cupboard for a while; I was so excited to try it. I was expecting sort of a spicy chocolate, which really does describe it, but it’s lacking something. Theres no real depth to it. I steeped it for 5 minutes, and it smells great. If only it tasted like it smells! This tea is much better with milk, I think.
I loved this! This is better than Teavana’s Monkey Picked to me, and that is kne of Teavana’s best teas! I bought this eons very quickly after trying it because I started craving that bake-y flavor you talk about and had to have it.
I’m finding that bakey flavor is one of my favorite things to find in tea, especially since many times it’s accompanied by honey notes! Yum yum