493 Tasting Notes
I was desperate getting nice quality white tea cup. White because it shows the true color of the tea.
its not that easy. The cup had to be around 80-90ml and not too thin. While i like thin cups they are not practical for me. its too hot to hold them. and im always afraid to break them.
So Zen Tea Life has pretty extensive Korean ceramic pieces which i happen to love. And i found my perfect cup there.
They got new Taiwanese teas . I had to add a sample of this tea.
Its delicious. made gongfu 5g 100ml 195F
Leaves are gorgeous, long full,not broken. had many steeps. it has usual Taiwanese black tea profile of fruity longan sweetness and raw nuts.
Zen Tea never disappoints me with quality of teas, teaware, pricing and careful packing. And i got it in two business days from Canada.
http://instagram.com/p/ypTfYbhwi_/
Preparation
I’m so sleepy. I thought this tea would give me a nice boost. It did, nice and gently. It’s very smooth, not bitter or doesn’t need any additions if you make it @200F for 3min
Preparation
Marzipan sent me this tea. it was a total surprise along with our joint Tao Tea Leaf order.
I love smoky teas. And i love this tea. smells pretty strong but doesnt taste too smoky/ashy to me. in fact, its quite sweet. i didnt need any maple syrup which i usually add to LS.
I really enjoy this tea during our Juno Blizzard all morning. thank you so much Marzi for sending this tea to me. im sure this 50g wont last a long time ;)
Preparation
I saw Sil say something about putting maple syrup in LS the other day, and I had never heard of that before! I have some LS from zen tea that I can’t decide if I like or not, and I think that trying it with maple syrup would be delicious. Adding maple syrup to my grocery list….
Also, STAY WARM!! Thinking of you in that blizzard!
Hope you are nice and cozy in the blizzard, boychik!
Thank you Steph, im drinking tea non stop. very warm. cant wait till tomorrow when my family will go back to work and school, haha
Maybe I just don’t like LS, then, if I’m wanting to drown the zen tea LS in maple syrup. haha
Your pictures are lovely, by the way. :)
I find that most smokey LS need just a little bit of maple syrup (the real stuff) but there are some that I think need more than others. I have yet to find one that I wouldn’t add MS to.
i was going to order some but i decided on replacing it with fancy grade dragonwell. (i adore dragonwell). i hope my parcel arrives soon. i spent almost 200$ on it :(
revisiting. This is a perfect Assam. very smooth. no additions needed. i would call it elegant. it was comforting. no astringency, no bitterness. perfect !
Preparation
Oh, i LOVE your photo! Elegant, indeed! :D
thank you DeliriumsFrogs. i tried lol
that IS a nice photo! and your description sounds like an impossibiliTEA, i mean, an assam that doesn’t cry out for milk and sugar? hmmmm. i may have to check it out.
ok juliebeth, the temp was 200F and 3min. it works 99% for all Assams and Darj. This particular is extra smooth.
A blend of Assam and Ceylon, nice. I’ll have to try this one out! Thanks for the recommendation!
sipdown of old version. i do have a brand new tin ;)
made gongfu. 5g 100ml. Rinse/ short steeps.
Delicious tea. i came to conclusion that chinese red teas have to be made gongfu. having long steeps turn them spicy bitter with earthy notes. for many people it is not appealing . I really enjoyed this tea. perfect breakfast tea. it is replaced by the same better quality better leaves. but they dont taste the same. im glad i still can have them both ;)
Preparation
Revisited. This tea is delicious. in my previous note i used 4g, this time 5g. thats my ratio nowdays 5g for 100ml. as previously mentioned its citrusy, longan, grapes and raw nuts. Still love it. i would restock at some point
http://instagram.com/p/xkTybEhwr7/
Preparation
today i tried this tea . it was on my wishlist and Stephanie was so kind to send me in Christmas care package.
it was delicious. it does have espresso notes ( i love espresso). Strawberries and chocolate are great addition. the tea is so pretty to look at. smells and tastes heavenly.
Thank you so much my #teafiend for making my dreadful afternoon so yummy and cheerful. i need to make that last order w/Butiki.
Preparation
Eee! Tea Fiend? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_Fiends_%28TV_series%29
this is hilarious ;)
So glad you enjoyed <3
Making Fiends is amazing. :)
i know i reviewed this tea before. Steepster eats older notes… Sigh…
This time i’m tasting a new version. I liked the older one but this just blew my mind. It is liquid chocolate people. Without any sugar or maple syrup. You dont have to guess the flavors. Bold yummy chocolate, maybe some malt, but not much.
i still have an older one, and was hesitating if i should get another once. Im so happy cause this one is so much better and richer (not that anything wrong w/older one ;)
NW sounds wonderful! My 1st WP order (CM) is to arrive this week & it fortunately includes WP.
it is. dessert in a cup without any additions. did you order the cake ?
Yes, I ordered a cake of 2012 Huron Gold Needle Shou Pu-erh, 2013 Shou, as well as an oz. of their Fujian Black.
Wow, sounds truly divine.
I’m looking forward to your tasting notes. If only Steepster wasnt hiccuping :( i have no patience and time.
I completely understand. I compose in MS Word & paste into Steepster. Hopefully, our favorite tea suppliers will notice that the website issues are affecting forum particpation & will encourage Jason to correct them w/o further delay.
I sent an email out yesterday…doubt I’ll be getting a response though :/
Thanks Brenden. Any other ideas or insights?
I told Jason that I could put together a crowdfunding thing to pay for a web engineer to fix the site, which would be super easy…but it’s up to him wether or not to do this…so I think we’re all stuck at this point until he makes his next move :(
Thank you for offering crowdfunding assistance to Jason. That was very kind of you!
There’s also a Steepster member, Blodeuyn (a professional web developer) who graciously offered to help 3 months ago. See: http://steepster.com/discuss/9388-steepster-member-w-slash-forum-tech-support-background
i’m so glad i picked this tea during BF without trying first. i trust my Puerh buddies reviews !
Its good. Very rich and soo smooth. very easy to drink.
7g 100ml 212F
rinse/ pause/5/3/5/5/7/7/10/15/20sec
I even brew it the next day. pretty potent for a shou.
Preparation
yesterday i decided to lower temp. i find that i use boil water only on shou puerh. so i made it western 200F 3g 8oz 3min
it made a big difference. there was no agressive spicy and sour notes. it was smooth sweet and so satisfying on a chilly morning.
YAY!!! The cup (which is exactly the type of thing I need…need? maybe more ‘want’, but it feels like a ‘need’! haha), sounds so perfect! I haven’t looked at their teaware before, but now I have to check it out.
Gorgeous pictures, too. :D
How does this Taiwanese tea compare to similar offerings from Butiki and TTC?
looseTman, the tea is very good. $20 for 100g . and you can get a sample, their samples are 20g. Pretty generous. This is not Taiwanese Assam,so I cannot compare it Butiki’s PTA, but Taiwan Ruby #18. i’ve sampled some TTC black teas. Some I liked , some were ok, or so so. its not side by side tasting but I assure you it is very good tea.
Red #18s are interesting teas. Eco-cha has a nice one, lots for rich sweet sundried tomato and minty notes. They set me up with ’12 and ’13 from the same farmer, and it was really fascinating to taste the two side by side. Clearly the same tea, but so different at the same time. Like the same girl dressed for an upscale restaurant one night and beach bonfire picnic the next.
lol, never seen a tea seed in a black tea before, only in puerh bricks