661 Tasting Notes
I bought this tea in January and have had it before but just leaving a review now. This shows tea in teabags but my tea is loose. It smells just like Bordeaux wine in the bag. Brewed up , I only taste Pu-erh. It’s okay. Not a bad pu-erh but I was disappointed, no wine flavour.
Preparation
I had Cherry Rose Sencha many years ago and was not impressed with it. I do like this one. I used a slightly hotter temperature than they recommend because my tea cools down so fast. They do warn on their website not to because it will bring out the bitterness of the tea. The tea I brewed up does have some bitterness but it’s still a nice cup. Love the subtle cherry notes followed by the rose. It’s done nicely. For this tea, I think it’s a tea that could grow on me so I’d need a few more cups variying the steep time and slightly lower temperature to see if this is one I’d buy again. Unfortunately, I only had one cup of this. They were pretty stingy with the sample size. I like to have at least two cups in a sample size.
When I placed my order with Tea at Sea they generously gave me some more samples free. This is one I looked forward to trying. In the package it smelled so rich, almost chocolatey. I brewed it up and was drinking from the first infusion when I read on their website to discard the first infusion. Don’t know why. It was tasting pretty good but strong. So i followed their directions, discarded it and did a 2nd infusion. More of the mushroomy taste comes through in the 2nd infusion and the bark/woody flavor is just a little less strong. It’s still a pretty strong tea but sooo earthy and rich. MMMMM I’ve just slurped the last sip down.
Flavors: Mushrooms, Wood
Preparation
My weird design from Design a Tea. Blackcurrant Hazelnut Green . I think the Hazelnut is a bit more prominent than the blackcurrant although I am picking up both. I think this tea would be better as either Blackcurrant Green or Blackcurrant x2 Green. Thank you Design a tea for allowing me to design my own. Lots of fun! I will keep the little paper that came with the sample to record my own notes for future designs.
I only got a sample size of this and wanted it to last so didn’t put enough in the teapot. My tea is now too weak to leave a proper review. Only posting this here so I don’t make the same mistake for next time. It’s hard to measure by spoon since the leaves are so big. Better to go by weight.
I’m really liking this one. The leaves were dark sencha with strawberry pieces. Smell: a nice strawberry scent from the bag. Brewed up: The strawberry notes are done very well. Not too light and not too strong. Doesn’t come through as artificial tasting either which is quite common with strawberry teas. The sencha is a bit astrigent tasting and pairs perfectly with the strawberry.
Preparation
Not the best tulsi tea I’ve had but it’s okay. I can’t seem to pick up the lemon verbena or lemon grass, the two things I was looking forward to in this tea. The tulsi is a very strong tea and it dominates any of the ingredients added to this. Still, it makes a pleasant cup of tulsi tea.
Preparation
I had to get this one after David’s Tea came out with their Coconut Oolong. I got that one of course but with a search on Steepster, this one intrigued me. Of course that led to a whole new order from Tao Tea Leaf since it made more sense to at least order 35.00 to take advantage of the free shipping!
Out of the two oolongs I think I prefer this one. The coconut flavor is very subtle unlike the one from David’s tea which is quite prominent. The oolong is a really high quality one for this. I’m getting buttery, sweet notes with a bit of the coconut.
Preparation
Got a sample size of this tea to try out. I don’t taste too much raspberry but there is some hibiscus. The hibiscus is not overly strong. I had this as a hot tea but on their website they suggest it as an iced tea so I think I will try that next time I have this. I might get more of the raspberry flavor then.
