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Feeling tired this afternoon and all of a sudden started sneezing so I am either getting a cold or allergy attack. I’m hoping some green tea will help me feel better. I find this is a good solid choice for the afternoon due to the relaxing effect of jasmine. This isn’t too bad for a teabag but I gave 1/2 the box to my boyfriend who prefers teabags. I am really fighting to stay awake this afternoon!

Sipdown…
I did not sleep that well last night and have a raging headache so I think this will be a long day. I am finally finishing off a tin of this. This is one of the teas Peet’s has discontinued with their shift to the Mighty Leaf line. It isn’t a really great yunnan so that’s not a big loss. Still it has been growing on me, lol. Good breakfast tea with milk and sugar.

Finally we are getting some cold and rainy weather in S.F. which is perfect for tea drinking. So I need to start working on drinking down my stash soon. Currently I have enough tea for about 10 people so the greener ones are going to start going stale quickly.

I am still not blown away by this Lishan but I’m getting some nice vegetal notes as well as a light bit of butter. Good words to describe this are “fresh” and “light”

Good morning Steepster. My day did not get off to a good start as I already spilled a cup of coffee on myself and the floor of the cafe I was at this morning. Maybe this is a sign I should give up on coffee?

I got this as a small sample pack from Happy Earth a while back. I didn’t time my steeping too closely, so I would say this is a pretty forgiving tea. This stuff is also truly delicious! I am definitely getting the notes of chocolate, malt and spice. It does have a slight fruitiness in the finish. They call it plum, I was thinking red wine. It’s a very rich and bold tea, it stands up well on its own but mght also be nice with a touch of milk. Another quality Nepalese tea from Happy Earth. So glad I tried this one, I might need more :)

Sipdown… finally finishing off a bag of this today. I have a lot more Japanese green tea at home. I wonder if I will ever drink it all but at least I have stopped buying more (for the time being). This is an enjoyable afternoon cuppa. I like that this sencha is a bit sweeter than some others I have tried.

Trying this tea I got from Dragon Tea House a few weeks ago. It’s been ages since I had a sheng, but I’m in that kind of mood this morning. :) I know these are not top of the line teas in terms of sheng but I usually like them anyway.

This smelled very smoky after I took the wrapper off. I decided to do some steeps in my xiying teapot. After a quick rinse, I found steep #1 was very strong and aggressive. A typical Xiaguan young sheng. Definitely has a lot of smoke and a bitter finish.

Steep #2 – I did for 5 seconds at the most. I think less is definitely more for this one. Also I am using water that is below the boiling point, at about 180 degrees. The shorter steeping time did help a bit on the aggression but this is still strong, smoky and somewhat brothlike.

Steep #3 – smokiness is subsiding somewhat. Still a bittersweet finish with bitter fading a bit

Steep #4 – this is finally being a little more palatable, ha. Getting less bitter and some apricot and floral notes are starting to emerge. Still a hint of smoke in the finish.

Verdict: this seems to me a typical Xiaguan. I wouldn’t say the purple tea has made much of a difference to my palette. OK to drink now but will really benefit from a few more years of aging to balance this sucker out. I am not sure how to rate this but I have enjoyed it. Not recommended if you have a dislike for smoky teas.

Good morning Steepster. Just trying to revive myself here after not sleeping too well last night but I think I just need a nap later, ho hum.

Anyway I am finishing off my supply of this today. I’m guessing it’s been 2 years since I originally purchased it. Today I am really getting the molasses and brown sugar notes. It seems almost too luxurious for an every day morning tea it’s something special to be savored. Glad I can enjoy it on this foggy day in San Francisco.

This is not really a winner in my opinion. I was suckered in by the cute packaging and thinking these loose leaf puerh packets would be good for travel. I have been done a few short steeps (of around 10 seconds) in my yixing teapot. I am finding the fermentation flavor to be too strong in this. Yes the dreaded fishy flavor that we all hate in puerh, it smells funky too. After the third steep I decided to water it down some and that made it sort of palatable but it also seems bitter to me. It’s sad but life is too short to be drinking yucky tea. I will contact Dragon Tea house to see about getting a refund.