985 Tasting Notes
Tea of the afternoon…..
I can’t believe how long it has been since I last had this….. I seem to be gravitating more toward unflavored teas these days. However, this is a lovely honeyed berry flavored tea. Truly lovely with the holiday cookies my neighbor just brought over!
Usual parameters for the new mug! (2 tsp tea, boiling water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweet.)
Preparation
Tea of the morning…..
I only had enough left for a mug of this. It is now gone, and I was sad enough to go forward with my Upton order. Even though I have a ton of other Keemuns, I do really like this one!
I also have new steeping paraphernalia. I now posses a ForLife 15 oz tea mug in white. I had been considering a gaiwan, but really this fits my current needs better (and the infuser also fits both of my teapots. I also know I would have issues with the pouring as I am kind of klutzy!) It is nearly half the size of my smaller teapot.
15 oz mug, 2 tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.
Preparation
You will enjoy the gaiwan, I sure do. It has become my workday tea pot…
At home I change things up a little, with a french press.
Teawing, where have you been? You have been AWOL for a while now! Welcome back!
Thanks ashmanra, still drinking lots of tea, just had a majorly busy October and November. Things are slowing a bit now, heading into Christmas and winter. Thanks for noticing and I hope you and yours are well!
Tea of the evening, and most evenings, for that matter….
Lovely, spicy, relaxing. Somehow, this one just works. I have a few more things to do to get ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. And then more visits to family over the weekend.
Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! (And if you are not in the States, have a safe and happy weekend…it is coming up quick!)
Preparation
Tea of the morning……
I cheated. This was supposed to be Day 2 of my Tea Advent, but I needed to try it sooner. It had been lost in my sample stash until yesterday, and I really had been wanting to taste it weeks ago. In fact, I had already put another sample in my Upton shopping cart not remembering if I had actually bought it. Well, I am updating that sample in the virtual cart to a full size.
This tea is a lovely Keemun. I love that it is organic, but I would still drink it anyway. Also, the price is great at under $6 for 125g. The taste…..all a good basic Keemun should be, plus more. Slightly smokey, cocoa noted, and satisfying, but missing one component of the cheap stuff that kept bugging me. It was kind of an earthy flavor, now that I think of it….kind of like rich, humus soil would taste. Yep (I am from farm country IL). This one does not have that earthiness that I really did not like in the other. I do find this one slightly richer than Harney English Breakfast and more near the Fortum & Mason Keemun. However, the leaves are much thinner and probably slightly more broken than either of the two. The fineness of the leaves is kind of reminiscent of Upton’s Keemun Mao Feng-ZK98.
Steeped by the usual method.
Preparation
I was actually eyeing this tea a few days ago. When their previous lot of this tea sold out (I think it was $7.40 for 125g), I was expecting a price increase. Thanks for your review. This will definitely be in my next Upton Tea order. :))
I had been looking at this one, too! Thanks for the review, Jen!
Hmmmm. Tea of last evening after a few glasses of wine….
And that is where the comedy of errors started. I steeped it way too long, and as I was looking into the infuser, I saw this thing that reminded me of some kind of worm. I say reminded, because on closer inspection, it was some kind of seed. Weird. I did not see any others (I have two samples, one from Uniquity and one from DaisyChubb. Thank you, Ladies!) The bamboo was light, but I really did not get any of the blazing or strawberry…but then I could have killed those tastes in my epically long steep. Moral of the story…don’t drink and make tea…..
Preparation
I know what you’re talking about with the weird seed, because I saw one in my blazing strawberries dry leaf and recognized it from a different tea I had before (but can’t remember what it was now). I wonder what it is??
Strawberry seed?
I’ve known a couple people to have that issue. I feel like it is mallow blossom or something like that that is mistaken for snails or bugs or what have you? I think @Ashley had a post with a similar experience.
Yeah, I’ve had them in this tea as well. I’d recently read some bugs-in-tea stories and had to convince myself it wasn’t a worm.
I think they had good intentions with the mallow blossoms, but every time this tea comes up with bug references I want to throw it all out haha
Tea of the afternoon……
I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I was expecting something similar to Adagio Blackberry, but I have to say I like this one more. This black tea base is nothing spectacular, but it is pleasant enough. I don’t feel like it it is something I would rush out an buy, but it is enjoyable. The blackberry seems less tart than Adagio’s. Thank you to Dinosara for the sample!
Steeped by the normal method….
Preparation
Tea of the morning…..
Man, this is so good after the few days of trying to like the inexpensive Keemun. (And we all know life is too short to be drinking tea that is ‘meh’.) Roasty, toasty, and sweet, with light hints of cocoa and honey. On the shopping list it goes!
Preparation
Tea of ‘Second Breakfast’, but really just the second pot of the morning….
It has been a weird morning. I feel like I have just done surgery on my keyboard’s space bar. And now it is working better than having a sentence all strung together with no spaces. You would not believe all the little hinges and teeny little clips in there to hold everything in place! If my fingers were any bigger, I would have needed a good set of tweezers!
Anyway, onto the tea. I decided to give this one a go since I feel pretty well versed in a few Keemuns that I drink regularly. My references are Keemun from Fortnum & Mason and Harney & Son’s English Breakfast. So far, this one just seems a tad more bitter and slightly more smokey. Actually, it is pretty close to the F&M. This one comes in as a tea bargain at something like $3.69 for a half pound at my local Asian market. It comes in a yellow round tin. The thing that concerns me…it was produced in Aug. of 2008, and expires in Aug. of 2014. Cool that they have the production date, but a 6 year shelf life? Egads!
Steeped the usual way.
ETA: I did not finish this pot. That speaks volumes to how much I like it as the pots of tea that I love are gone very quickly. This tea has been used to add body to my Chocolate Rocket from David’s Tea at a 1:2 ratio….
Preparation
Tea of the morning……
I have mostly been drinking cupboard staples the last week or so (and how many reviews do you need to see about something I have reviewed 8+ times!). Lots of crazy things going on, and I do finally feel better! Yayyyy! It will soon be time for experimentation and sampling, again. Fortunately, my sample stash holds some really finteresting stuff!
I haven’t had this one for a while. I do like the chocolate and subtle rose notes. Definitely one of my favorites.
Steeped by the usual parameters…..
I had to do a double take, it is still morning here… :)
Ah, the Tower is a lovely blend indeed.
And I have been up since before 6 so it almost seems like evening…. ;)
lol, maybe an afternoon nap is in order.
This is one of my favorite blended teas from Harney and Sons. But like you I’m really favoring straight teas these days.
This is one of my favorite Harney and Sons blends. But I’m really loving that I’m moving to straight teas too. I might have to have a cup of this when I get home, I haven’t had it in a month or so (I think).