985 Tasting Notes
Tea of the morning……
Even though this is the end of my sample, there is no SRP* count on this because I bought some for my stash. This one has become my smokey tea of choice over the version I had from Upton. It is a little smokier and maybe brothier…..I kind of want to call it slightly bacony. The version from Upton was a great starter Lapsang for me. I would call this a little more in the medium smoke range and could be a little more long term for me…..or at least for 100 grams worth!
Usual teapot method.
*my Sample/Stash Reduction Plan
Preparation
Tea of the afternoon…..(loose leaf version)
….immediately after the UPS man stopped at my house! I am so happy to have Diamond Jubilee in loose leaf and I have a whole pot to myself. It is just as wonderful as the sachet version….well, perhaps even a little better and you can see the tea. Oh my, the silver tips are huge! I still get the wonderful scent and taste of sweet grapefruit and lemony bergamot. Thank you, Mr. Harney, for listening to our pleas to offer this loose. I am still squeeing!
Usual teapot method.
Preparation
Dang. I just placed a Harney order with a friend and didn’t even look at Diamond Jubilee since I wasn’t out of the sachets yet. Had I realized there was a loose leaf option I would have jumped on it. Next time… :)
Nicole- I did have to call in my order because it was not yet on the website. So far they are offering a pound for $26.
I just got my beeeeeea-uteous tin today! Will taste soon :)
I got my loose leaf today! And thanks to Jen, I knew to order an eight ounce size tin with a label for it for just $1.25 extra! Now my OCD tea shelf still looks lovely!
LOL! I have a 4 ounce labelled tin. I asked for just the labels. Actually, I asked for one 4 oz Diamond Jubilee label and 2 blank labels. I got 2 labelled 4 oz Diamond Jubilee tins….. Perhaps I will have to sell some off!
Tea of the morning…..
I have enough of this for a few more pots of tea. I love the malty chocolate notes, and it is always fun to watch these open. It is definitely a good resteeper. In fact, it really takes two steeps to get the pearls to open all the way. Not sure I will purchase here as there seems to be a few vendors of very similar tea. It will depend on where I am shopping at the time. This is not the most convenient place to shop for tea in small amounts.
Usual teapot method….12 pearls in my 24 oz pot.
Preparation
Iced tea of the day, again!
This is for the resteep. I put the used tea bag from yesterday in the refrigerator overnight and then steeped it all over again today for 5 minutes…..
The verdict: It is nearly as good as the first steep. I still get notes of creamy, citrusy, sherbert-i-ness. I do think the flavors might be slightly diminished, but not by much. Definitely ordering more. So refreshing!
Iced tea of the day……
I am so glad I decided to try a few of these. Iced tea is a necessity in the Summer, and what better way to get teenagers interested in good iced tea than Rainbow Sherbet flavor? It sounds so much more fun. I definitely get a creamy, citrusy, sherbety sweetness and the tea base does not compete with the flavor. Well done! While these fun flavors won’t completely replace my usual iced teas, I will be picking up a few more bags of this and trying a few more. How fun!
Usual iced tea method…one bag. I did add ice and water to close to 2 quarts. Definitely trying a resteep later.
Tea of the morning…..
I seem to be going through all of my floral, citrus, and Earl Grey varieties these days. I guess that is what I like in the summer. This one is always reliable hot or cold. It is definitely my favorite iced tea, but hot it is wonderful, too. Notes of citrus and rose perfectly together with a good solid tea base. It is definitely in my top teas to always have on hand.
Usual teapot method.
Preparation
Just ordered my Diamond Jubliee loose leaf pound with matching black and gold tin! :) Thanks for telling me we could get a custom label made!
Did you call? I need to do that today!
Oooh! Diamond Jubliee is back in stock! (runs over to the Harney site) I just placed a wee order for the sachets (I WANT THE TIN!!!), a tin of Lychee, and a tin of the classic black iced tea sachets to try out. Wheee!
I did call! And she applied my free shipping coupon and points without me even asking first. When she gave the total, it had already been done! She offered to have them apply the label for me, too, so it will be straight.
I called and ordered mine….they were not as good with the codes for me…. :/ I had to tell them.
I told her that Michael had offered it for $25 on Facebook and their price was listed as $26 which would have been fine but she changed it anyway!
Yes, and I said the same thing and did not get the price. I had to pay $26. Hmmmm.
Oh dear. Maybe I spend more money there than I realized….
I am sure you do order quite a bit with your tea parties, but I am not anywhere near an occasional orderer. I have probably spent over $500 with them in the last year.
Well, we should both get a Bat Phone line, then!
Well, part of mine is because I went to the shop/tearoom for my Birthday last year…. but a Bat Phone would be cool!
Tea of the morning…..
I am so glad to be home from a short trip to the lake. We had a lovely time with family, but it was so hot! Temps were over 100 deg and that is hot for this north east Ohio gal. Plus, the water is not ideal for making tea, so I was drinking mostly bagged tea. I missed my tea bar. (I am not sure what else to call it, as it has all my tea making stuff and a stash of more loose leaf than I can reasonably drink!)
Since I have been home, I have had some of this, plus Diamond Jubilee from Harney & Sons. I am trying to get a read on their differences since Harney will be offering Diamond Jubilee in loose leaf soon. This one is very light bergamot and orange, and Diamond Jubilee is a light bergamot (as opposed to very light) with sweet grapefruit. For me they are different enough. I do seem to be going through the Gout Russe pretty fast, too, so hopefully the Diamond Jubilee loose will help slow that down a little. I can’t afford to be ordering from Dammann Freres more than a few times a year.
And Happy Anniversary to my Jim. We are celebrating 18 years today!
Usual teapot method.
Preparation
Hmmm. Thought I reviewed this before because I got a sample from Indigobloom and it was the reason I decided to purchase this….
Anyway, second tea of the morning…..
I think pu’erh is usually a cooler weather tea for me, but I decided to have this today anyway. I did pick this up on a recent trip to Williamsburg, VA where they have a Spice & Tea Exchange. It was a fun stop. I picked up an ounce of this, the Coconut Oolong, and a Hazelnut tea that I cannot seem to locate at the moment….This should tell me it is time to do some rearranging…. I do find their tea a little on the pricey side. I think $4.89 per ounce is very steep for some, but not necessarily for others like the Coconut Oolong. They did give $2 off for buying three ounces. I do appreciate the ability to buy in small mounts, though. Bulk amounts there are definitely cost prohibitive.
I really like this one. There is something wonderful about the combination of chocolate flavors and pu’erh tea. It is like they were meant to be together. The addition of the strawberry just makes it taste like a decadent dessert. I can’t really decide if I like this one or the one from Lupicia better. I guess it will just depend on where I am shopping at the time of needing more….
Mug method, 3 minute steep. Lightly sweetened.
Preparation
wow I can’t believe I inspired a purchase! :P
We used to Williamsburg a lot! Where is the Spice and Tea Exchange there?
It was right down town! I think they have only been open for a little over a year. We were checking out the area looking for a place to eat dinner….I saw the store and my hubster went around the block to let me out….then he parked. It was quite comical.
Iced tea of the day…..
Oh, this is perfect for a late night pitcher of iced tea! We have been working in the yard today in the heat, so water was definitely the main drink of the day, but about 7 pm I decided I needed iced tea. I also like the idea of a good night’s sleep, and too much caffeine at this point could really hinder how easily I can fall sleep. So, I chose this! It is perfect. Refreshing, notes of black currant and bergamot with a hint of vanilla…..yes, I can taste them all!
Usual iced tea method, just with a 3 minute steep.
Tea of the morning….(SRP #48)
I definitely wanted the opportunity to taste a high quality Bohea. And this one is also from my favorite region for tea (it is a Fujian Province black tea.) Lucky for me and all of us, really, Upton offers just about anything in a sample. I have to admit, this is probably the most expensive sample I have purchased there, but this is worth it!
I will probably be comparing this to other smokey teas. I think it is sweeter and less smokey than Upton’s Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon. TeaVivre’s Lapsang has a slight bacony edge over this one. Hu Kwa from Mark T. Wendell is much smokier. Light notes of malt and honey, but no where near the cocoa notes like you would expect in a Keemun. I would not call it particularly winey, either, like Keemuns can run. I guess that leaves me with light smoke, malt, and honey. The stand out characteristic for me that makes this tea unique in comparison to other light smokey teas I have had…the honey notes.
I have enough for another cup or two, and I will thoroughly enjoy them. Does that make this worthy of purchase? Price is definitely a factor here. If I did not have a few other smokey teas or so many black teas in my stash, I could probably get over the price and purchase. With the current state of things, though, I need to pare things down a little more first.
Usual mug method.
