Camellia Sinensis

Thought the pine-y woodsy flavour of the cypress might cut through the fog of congestion I was feeling when I made this tea, but it was like drinking a diluted mug of this normally lovely blend – still had all the right tasting notes but not as sharp and intense as they should have been.

Left the tea in to steep the entire time I was drinking this cup and it ended up not being my favourite version of it. Still not bad because the hojicha itself is delicious and has a really nutty and earthy kind of complexity to it, but letting this keep steeping allowed it to get a little too strong and the dark roast engulfed the cypres notes a little too much – so it wasn’t the ethereal camphorous magic forest in a cup that I was looking for.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. This tastes like being one with nature, and now I have a new bucket list goal of brewing this in the middle of a pine/cyprus tree heavy forest as the sun starts to set.

Yes.

H is for… Hojicha Cypres!

Couldn’t resist – it’s just the best blended Hojicha tea I’ve ever tried and it would have been a waste of an H themed tea drinking day to not include it.

So deep, dark and heavy – both in terms of the charred woody/nutty tea leaves themselves but also the camphorous and woody pine/cypres notes. It’s like walking through an ethereal forest after a long rain – the smell of such rich and fresh nature in the air! I fall in love with this tea even more every time I have it.

It’s not just a great taste – it’s an experience.

When I got the email notification that CS had released this tea I sort of felt like a rabid dog; I was just foaming at the mouth thinking about how delicious and fucking brilliant this combination of ingredients seemed and I just had to have it. So I ordered…

It’s insane, y’all. Like – it’s just so fucking intense and interesting and ultimately good.

The best way I can describe it is is someone took a heavily, heavily roasted Hojicha with all those dark roasted, woody, and nutty flavours and then added in this dark magic camphor bomb. It tastes like what I picture walking in a dark, overgrown and mysterious and enchanted forest forest would be like – heavy, and entrancing notes of wood and pine with this ethereal quality. It’s so full bodied and cooling feeling, with that robust roast and char of the hojicha. They compliment brilliantly and I immediately want to go and give a big hug and handshake to whoever on the Camellia Sinensis team came up with this concept.

Worth shattering the buying ban.

This one has a very strong scent. I’m unsure how that’s been achieved as the ingredients list green tea, raspberry pieces, and orange pieces. The scent is quite offputting, but the flavours do come through. The raspberry adds a fresh tartness and there’s hints of orange that complement it. The green tea base is fairly nice as well.

Sadly, the scent almost ruins this for me! The recommended steep is 3-4 minutes, but I went with 2.5 minutes to attempt to lessen the scent (without much success).

Recently placed a CS order because they just put out a Hojicha blended with Cyprus that I just had to try – and I figured that I would use the order as an excuse to restock some cupboard staples and get a few new samples…

I love when tea mail and comic mail days overlap, because it means I get to enjoy an exciting new tea with a new comic – and in this case I sipped on this earlier in the evening while reading some Carnage Classic! Admittedly, I bought this tea because I was mostly interested in the visual of the loose leaf tea – it’s a rolled style black tea with a blueish brown/umber appearance and a super glossy finish, not unlike Gunpowder green tea. Gunpowder green tea, typically, sucks though – this tea did not.

The main flavour I got was actually a very beautiful wildflower honey note crossed with more of the darker honey flavour of something like Buckwheat honey. Despite the honey notes, it’s not overly sweet/sticky in terms of flavour and the finish is very clean and crisp, which I really liked about the tea. More of a medium body with a thick smoothness to the liquor – I also got muted notes of blueberry and Spring flowers/linden.

Very intriguing – I hope to finish off the sample Gongfu.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKkU9eKgWdB/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qARpNYBzitQ&ab_channel=TheMar%C3%ADas

Earl Grey Cream/Creme comparison 1/3 (see also Bird & Blend & Just Add Honey)

Camellia Sinensis 200° F, 4 minutes
The bergamot is somewhat floral here and the creaminess seems minimal, but still there to take the edge off the bergamot. There’s a sweetness at the end of the sip reminiscent of adding a hint of vanilla sugar.

This one is really tasty. There’s a subtle sweetness that’s adding to the creaminess here. And the creaminess tones down the bergamot really well. I’m really enjoying it.

2021 sipdown no. 9

I enjoyed this, and it hits the mark of being a chocolate tea. It’s like drinking liquid chocolate. The only downside for me was that it was almost too sweet. Otherwise, the base tea is smooth without astringency. And even with the sweetness, the flavour is still extremely well done. I would order another sample size of this one to have around.

2021 sipdown no. 28

This was thrown in as a sample in my CS order and it was truly delicious. So silky I couldn’t believe it. I would order this one in my next CS order.

CS added this as a sample to my order. The package I received is called “Yunnan Da Ye Organic” (https://camellia-sinensis.com/en/yunnan-da-ye-organic/2261).

This tea is wonderful. It’s similar to Teavivre’s Bailin, but smoother. Like drinking the lightest malty silk with hints of sweetness.

I would pick this up in a full size, once I sip down some other straight teas I have around.

2021 sipdown no. 72

This tea is really well done with not too much malt, but then cut through with almost astringency, but not quite. It’s a nice bold cup and I quite enjoyed it. I think I will re-order this one.

Malty and brisk. No astringency, but a hint of smoke comes forward as it cools.

2021 sipdown no. 66

This was far too scented when it first arrived (I had to put it in a separate cupboard from my other teas), and I’ve never been able to pinpoint all the flavours that are meant to be here. I cold brewed the last of this and the strawberry is there and perhaps either rhubarb or lemon is coming through with a slight bitterness. The scent is more candy-like than the actual flavour.

I didn’t realize this tea had a blended base of white and green tea. I can taste hints of pineapple, lemongrass, and maybe cherry. The lemongrass is becoming more apparent as the tea cools and some of the sweetness of the cherry is fading away. I can smell rhubarb, but I can’t taste it. I prefer this one warmer.

I was working away on a super cool assignment where I have to design a vulture safe zone for 100 breeding pairs of vultures and I completely forgot this was steeping…I set the timer for 6 minutes but didn’t even hear it go off, so I’ve no idea how long this steeped for.

I picked up a sample of this one with my order and the scent is quite intense. The other teas all had to be ‘aired out’ when I opened the post box because the scent of this tea had permeated everything.

The rhubarb is apparent, and hints of strawberry, but the remaining flavours get lost. It has that fruity mix scent that fruity teas often get, but I don’t know if I can pull a lot of other flavours out.

2021 sipdown no. 107

I really enjoy the freshness of this one, but love how it’s not over the top due to the pineapple pieces and lack of added flavouring. I think I’ll reorder this one in the spring.

Enjoying this one this morning before we head out on a day trip to look for snowy owls! Snowy owls often hunt in the daytime over the prairies, so we’re hoping to catch a glimpse of one (or more!) today. It’s incredibly difficult to capture a good photo of one of these incredible birds, but I’m bringing the camera just in case. Fingers crossed!

This tea is so lovely. The base is light and pairs perfectly with the tropical fruitiness of the pineapple and coconut.

2021 sipdown no. 44

I really enjoy this tea. The pineapple and coconut with the black base is like a tropical breakfast treat. The pineapple almost has a caramelized flavour to it.

The pineapple flavour is great here — there are big pineapple chunks in the blend. The coconut is lighter, and lends a creaminess, accenting the pineapple perfectly in the background. The base is full, yet not overpowering to the fruits. I will re-order the full size of this one to keep in my cupboard.

Dry leaf smells like pure, intense honey and flowers. Warming brings out stewed red fruits, cinnamon and this flowery scent that for some reason reminds me of lipstick. I’ve experienced that kind of powdery floral note in many keemun. Brewed up this tea has a strong, sweet aroma but is not sweet in taste. I get a perfume of honey-drenched toast and berries-redfruits, cinnamon. Taste is mineral, tangy, and much like stewed apples and berries or apple bread with a bit of wood. A very clean, viscous tea with an oiliness felt after the swallow. It’s very warming, gently at first especially in the chest and face, and becomes stronger while still leaving a minty cool, mouth-watering finish.

I haven’t had many gui fei. In fact, the only one that stands out in my recollection is an unpleasant one. This one, though, is very nice. Recommended? Yesyesyes, especially for people new to oolong. It’s very approachable and rather straight-forward. This shares a lot of notes with aging pressed Fuding white teas if you have an interest in exploring those. Thanks for the share Leafhopper :)

This is like a wee cup of soapy sweetness with slight edges of bitterness. It almost reminds me of Thrills gum, but not as enjoyable.

This one has to go to the swap pile.

The first whiff of the steeped scent smells a bit like malt mixed with soap? Cool, cool, cool.

The taste is floral, not soap. Floral mixed with the subtlest hint of mineral. And a hint of sweetness in the background. This is a good tea.