818 Tasting Notes
Okay, let’s try this again. Steepster just ate my note.
Anyway, what I want to say is:
Mmmmm, buttery! This tea is really buttery! And thick! I also got a vegetal note like corn. It’s bread-y and sweet also. I steeped it maybe 4 or 5 times at 195 degrees for 30 seconds each. In later steepings, there was a bit of spice…maybe the peppercorn that Verdant notes. I didn’t really get raspberry or pound cake, but if I think really hard, it might have been there in the first steep. I’m just so thrilled to find a truly buttery tea. On the shopping list it goes!
Officially on my four-day weekend! Woohoo! And between my Verdant order and my swap with Stephanie, I have lots of new tea to enjoy!
I had this tea to help wake me up this morning. I didn’t want to waste a new tea on my crappy morning taste buds, if you know what I mean! I’m also having allergies, so I’m hoping they won’t mess with my experience.
What’s interesting is that this tea was my favorite last fall when I started getting really into loose leaf, and I still like it, but it’s not wow-ing me. It’s deliciously nutty and raisin-y, but right now I feel like it’s better suited to the fall season. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been drinking more fruity teas lately.
Well, now to new teas. Which shall I try first? Oh, this is going to be a hard decision!!!
Thank you, Stephanie, for this sample! I really wanted to try this one because I love genmaicha, but I was worried about buying a whole bag, based on people’s not-so-great reviews. I was also a little worried about potential smokiness, because I’m not a fan of that. So, I had some last night, and overall, it was just okay. It had the same flavor as marshmallow treat genmaicha, which I like, and there was something else in there, but that something else was just too subtle to pick out. I have to tell you, though, the dry leaf smelled delicious. I definitely got a chocolate aroma from the dry leaf. I just wish there was more flavor. I wonder if there’s a way to tease it out. I steeped it at 175 degrees for 3 minutes. Any suggestions for achieving more flavor? I still have a cup left.
I agree with your assessment. Not bad but not very chocolatey in flavor!
Your steeping parameters look good. I think I tend to steep mine a tad longer, maybe about 4 minutes, but that’s probably just my personal taste? There seems to be quite polarized opinions with this tea. I do enjoy this one whenever I make it, but it’s not a tea that I find myself reaching for on a regular basis.
I forgot to post this! I had a lot of tea today! I made this one iced, since it wasn’t that great hot. I had great expectations that this would be good iced, but alas, it was not better. It still is too perfume-y of a pear tea for me. I was actually first surprised by the taste of the black tea, because I haven’t iced any black teas yet at home, so it threw me off, even though I’ve had iced black tea before. The dry leaf is so cute, with it’s little shiny ball sprinkles and petals. Oh well. You know, I think if it had something to round it out, it would be better. Maybe like vanilla or caramel?
This tea definitely tastes better steeped at a lower temperature. I like it almost as much as Della Terra’s, but it’s still not on par with that one. Today I steeped one cup hot and then iced the second steep. Iced, this one gets a little bitter, so I’ll probably stick to enjoying it hot.
This morning was a blueberry morning! I had this tea after I had the stronger black blueberry cream cheese danish by 52teas. :) I decided to steep this one at 185 degrees too, to see if that made a difference. After all, there is green tea in this blend. I think the temperature difference was a good change, in that it seemed creamier, smoother, maybe because the green tea isn’t oversteeped.
In other news, we are battling ants in our house…no specific trail, but they just keep appearing in different places. It’s irritating, and I’m really worried they might find my tea stash! So today, I put all the most important teas in plastic containers. These two were included. :)
Made this iced for the first time and it’s great! Smooth coconut! I have to say though, I poured one glass over ice and it definitely diluted it. I am letting the rest of it cool and will chill it in the fridge, so that should come out even better! Yay! I am having a little too much fun icing teas!
Me too! The local street market here, kind of a farmer’s market but better, has a new tea vendor. Samovar Gardens is just local here in northern Alabama. They sell large mason jars that you can have them filled with their iced teas while you shop the market. I bought three of their tea blends. The smashberry tisane was soooooo yummy. They grow all their own herbs, use their own grown fruits! They are only on Facebook. Can’t wait till Thursday (market day) to see their new blends!
Nice! Cool to be supporting a local business too!!
Steeped up some of this tea to see if it was better with a lower temperature, using my new variable temperature kettle (man, that was the best purchase ever!), and it wasn’t. Still super floral. The second steep was more nutty and a little buttery, but it’s just so overpoweringly floral. I didn’t make it to a third steep, but it might have been even better. Only thing is, I don’t want to have to wait until the third steep to get the best cup of tea!
