Camellia Sinensis

This tea tastes a lot to me like the Coconut Puerh from Republic of Tea but with a deeper chocolate flavor.

This tea feels cutesy to me, with its teeny tiny mini chocolate chips. The aroma of the dry tea is straight chocolate but more like bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate. Maybe even cocoa nibs. It smells kind of nutty too, like coconut. The taste is rich. The vanilla is more prominent to me now than the chocolate. I did notice that the chocolate chips had only just begun to melt so perhaps subsequent steepings will have more chocolate flavor.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 200 degrees + 6 minutes

The chocolate chips still have not completely melted. I will try to steep this until they are gone. The flavor and aroma is still vanilla.

Third Steep
8 ounces water + 200 degrees + 16 minutes

I finally got all of the chocolate to melt but the color is weaker with this one. The taste is still good but a little light.

Oxidated and fermented using spores, this is quite an unusual tea. From a strange taste it grew on me and I kept reordering it. To drink with moderation as too much of it can saturate you.

It’s been a lazy Sunday after what was a fun and family-filled Saturday afternoon. I love having my family close, all of us coming together to meet in the center and be whole again. We sat around the table with big steaming bowls of spaghetti and meatballs in front of us, slurping noodles and telling stories we’ve each heard a thousand times but that never get old. My family brings me back to myself and I always feel a little homesick when they leave. It takes some time for me to adjust to the quiet again. That being said, I’m also a pretty classic introvert so I relish the quiet after such a full day.

My husband made several types of tea for everyone yesterday, but every time I went to pour myself a cup I became distracted by something and never quite made it to the tea pot. Today I meant to be deliberate and pour a cup of tea for myself to enjoy in leisure. I’m very close to finishing my task of tasting each of the teas in my cabinet and one sip of this puts me just a little closer to the finish line.

The aroma of the dry tea is mostly pineapple, but I also smell the creamy coconut. My husband said right away that it smells like the beach so I knew I would love it. This tea is lighter in color than I expected but it’s definitely not lacking in flavor. It isn’t bold, but the tea is the prominent flavor with the fruit acting as more of an accent.

This tea was a very generous gift from Amoda with my first monthly box. Thank you, Tegan, for sharing!

Okay… so I’ve drank a decent amount of tea and to date, I have never came across something so funky.

I have no idea what I was tasting when I drank this.
I read the description and chuckled at the “Not recommended during pregnancy” as I thought about just writing a review saying: ‘thank goodness I wasn’t pregnant when I tried this one!’ but that would be odd, though technically I still did.

I’m not sure if i like the flower in this one. The aniseed and pear combination is a good idea with a white tea, but this flower in seems a bit overpowering for me (but I’m also picky with my flowers)

Drinking this at work today. That means it’s probably over leafed and over steeped – that would be my normal work parameters.
This is an interesting China black. I want to say chocolate, but it’s not – more like caramel. I think it’s a touch smoky, just a little coffee ish, and something resembling old library book. This is a big bold black tea. It does mellow a little as it cool, and then there are some stone fruit notes to it. It would probably be better if steeped properly, but for a work tea, this is making me happy today. I haven’t been drinking much tea lately and am really enjoying the caffeine (oh how I’ve missed you).

Sipdown (130)!

My laptop is fixed! I dropped it off yesterday morning, and got it back this evening. The hard drive was, indeed, shot but thankfully because it’d only been a year and a half since I replaced it I was still covered under warranty so I didn’t have to pay to replace it. Also, because it hadn’t completely failed they were still able to recover all of my information/files so when I got it back this evening everything was exactly like it’d been before all of the issues. And it’s running super smoothly now!

Plus, the whole headache cost less than $100 in total so I’m a happy person right now.

Because I had no internet last night, I took advantage of that and drank a lot of tea. More than I normally would in an evening since I didn’t have the distraction of Steepster, Tumblr, Facebook, or Youtube. Part of that mass tea consumption included a plain, Western-style sipdown of this tea. Admittedly, it’s kind of nice to be clearing out more Camellia Sinensis teas since I’ve got more on the way as well as many I’ve yet to taste at all. Plus, they’re always so generous with the free samples when I order. The last order I placed probably had close to 50g of freebie tea.

This was definitely the worst cup I’d brewed up of this blend though. Would it make sense if I described it as kind of “hollow” tasting? Like, the initial top notes of the sip were fruity raisin/lemon type notes and the finish kind of malty but the body of the sip was just very lack luster with a really, really neutral/plain sort of mouthfeel and no defining flavour notes. Not awful but just so boring. It was a disappointing way to finish this blend off, to be perfectly honest. If I had more leaf left I’d be sticking with Gong Fu: while the cold brew was nice that’s definitely the most delicious way this one tasted.

This is a queued tasting note.

For whatever reason, at some point I removed this tea from my cupboard despite not actually having yet sipped it down. That made finding it a huge problem because I couldn’t for the life of myself remember how to spell the name (sure I’ve nailed the spelling of Idulgashinna but not yet Meghalaya). You don’t ever want to see the list of misspelled attempts at finding this in the database. It’s embarrassingly long.

This cold brew was interesting: at the time I was drinking it I didn’t really remember what my first initial Gong Fu session had really tasted like so I was pretty much trying it for the first time, again. I basically got a jumble of lemon/lemon peel/lemon zest type flavours are a medium astringency (no bitterness though) as well as cocoa, malt, and raisin notes. Then I went back and read my tasting note for the Gong Fu session…

The overlap of flavours is notable and impressive. So even if I didn’t really love this tea at least I’m seeing that no matter how I’m preparing it it’s tasting consistent. That’s a great thing; because when someone tries this who does like those flavours they’re going to love that it’s coming out the same way each time it’s made!

And looks like I’ll be trying it a third way, because at this point the leaf I have left will really only be enough for a Western style cup or mug.

Camellia Sinensis added a small tin of this to my last order (which was mainly supplies for class) and I’ve been meaning to get to it for a while – I’ve pulled it out of the cupboard only for it to find its way back in without getting tried many, many times now. Finally I decided that tonight was the night to drink it. Procrastination be damned!

I had a nice, soft of informal gong fu session with this one during the early evening while I packed my lunch for work and made the syrups for a couple different tea sodas. 3g in my smaller celadon chawan. If I’m being honest, the different cups definitely blurred together and I’m not 100% sure how many I ended up having. Probably about five or six which is quite a lot for me…

That’s why I’m not reviewing this one on SororiTea Sisters even though I had initially planned to; I don’t feel like I drank it ‘consciously’ enough to put a review up for it there. Side note; my celadon ‘winged’ chawan I got from VariaTEA is looking really good now with all it’s little tea filled cracks. When I first started noticing them I kinda freaked out ‘cause I wasn’t aware that was a thing that A) was supposed to happen and B) would happen so quickly what with this being my first celadon piece. I love the way it looks now though.

Anyway; first couple of cups I observed a more distinct smokiness to the flavour and stronger malt and cocoa notes. Initially this was rather astringent (but not unreasonably so) but that faded quickly throughout each cup. There were some soft raisin notes, but they too soon subsided after the first three or so cups/infusions. A little woody; not as much as anticipated.

The last half of the session featured more floral notes, less malt, about the same level of cocoa notes and a light honey and lemon-like finish that was especially prominent with the second last cup, before the leaf was totally spent. Overall, every cup surprised me with the lack of briskness and the instead fairly mellow and well rounded flavour even in the first infusions where there was more astringency and that stronger smokey note.

Very pleasant overall, though not my favourite Camellia Sinensis offering that I’ve tried. This session used about a third (or possibly closer to half) of the small tin I got as an extra sample, and I kind of want to do something different with the rest of it instead of another Gong Fu session. The steeping instructions on the tin are Western style, maybe I’ll try that instead…

I was very excited to finally get my hands on some of this tea. The leaves look very similar to Da Hong Pao. The scent is of a deep and hearty roast with a slight hint of olde parchment. I placed the instructed amount in my warmed gaiwan and shook up the embers. The scent that wafted from my gaiwan (didn’t even have to open the lid) was intoxicating. My tea room was filled with a smooth char aroma and burnt sugared dates. I knew this would be tasty. The steeped leaves gave off the scent of a campsite after a rainstorm. The embers from last nights fire still sizzling. The leaves were long blackened green. They had a bright oily texture to them. The flavor was potently sweet. The brew had an almost alcohol rum taste. It had a smooth and full body. I was getting a lot of different tones. This brew stood up well against multiple steeping. It only had about five or so potent pours. I was a little disappointed in this brew. It was a very nice tea, yet I could get the exact same for half the price. I’ve had a few competition grade DHP, and I could see a close resemblance. They DHP would be much cheaper as well, and the flavor may be even more prominent. I still have some of this, so I will be trying a much more powerful session later on.

https://instagram.com/p/4ztZVdzGfI/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

https://instagram.com/p/4ztZVdzGfI/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

This was a perfect fit for this morning. I slept… Very poorly. If you are a fan of rose flavor and rose scent you will like this one. Not only does it smell lovely but the taste is lovely too. Makes me want to make a big cup and go sit in a rose garden. Its a good blend of teas. The rose of course over powers the bases but that’s ok.

Sipdown (120)!

- Session spaced over two days for a total of approx 8 infusions
- Quite fruity and light; fresh and ‘Spring’ like
- Orange/citrus notes and a grapeyness
- A touch grassy, in a positive way
- Also very floral!

This is definitely an interesting looking tea, one I probably wouldn’t have chosen for myself had Camellia Sinensis not included it as a bonus sample in one of several orders I’ve placed with them this year. Personally, I don’t have much experience with Darjeeling teas, and I’m almost certain that this is the first Darjeeling Oolong that I’ll have tried.

The dry leaf of this blend it fascinating to me; it definitely doesn’t look like a lot of oolong I’ve encountered. I know it’s definitely on the lower scale of oxidation, for sure – but it doesn’t even look like they even attempted to roll it which is definitely something I’m accustomed to with greener oolong. More so, it just kind of reminds me of Bai Mu Dan, but a little twisted up.

I brewed this one in one of my Gaiwans because it felt more right to be brewing it that way instead of in an infuser mug, though I did brew it Western style instead of Gong Fu. Normally I’m not one to resteep things, but I got three resteeps of this blend before I decided that was enough for the day.

The first infusion was very soft and delicate with such a lovely silky mouthfeel (which was definitely a consistent trait between all three infusions). The flavours were kind of in line with green teas and greener oolong; crisp and sweet sugar snap peas, lighter fruit notes like slightly under ripe honeydew, some floral notes, and a slight creaminess. However, the overwhelming gentleness of the brew reminds me a lot of white tea as well. I was looking forward to experiencing the “tang” like described by Camellia Sinensis, but I definitely didn’t taste anything close to that. Nor did I taste anything “spicy”.

The second infusion definitely brought about a change in flavour though; while the liquor was still very smooth and delicate and I still got some lovely snap pea notes there was also a touch of a herbaceous quality and the more floral notes were traded in for something quite a bit fruitier. More like over ripe honeydew than under ripe, and with an almost white wine like quality. I also experienced the “tangy finish” like described. I was definitely a little taken aback; the body dramatically and quickly shifted into this long, drawn out pleasantly sour finish that I wasn’t expecting. This was easily my favourite infusion of the three I did; it had a great balance between the flavours of the first and third infusions.

The third infusion was still delicate but that tangy note was even more vivid and instead of just being present in the finish it started to creep up into the body of the sip as well. In this infusion I definitely thought it was much more distinctly like white wine. In fact, I almost immediately was reminded of the few Reisling wines I’ve had (I’m not a huge wine person). It was super interesting, and still quite enjoyable but quite different from that first infusion. I can only imagine how much more interesting this would be Gong Fu brewed.

It’s a shame I can no longer find this on the Camellia Sinensis site; I want to learn more about this tea as it was very different from other oolongs I’ve tried, and quite memorable. I 100% recommend trying it, even if oolong isn’t your jam.

Not your ordinary Kukicha (Camellia Sinensis is careful to also mention the other Japanese name for this tea, “Bocha”), this tea steeps well 2-3 times, shows pleasant hints of tropical fruits, lots of body, and is naturally sweet. No kelpy to allusions Sencha here, this tea stands on its own. I’ve tried many, have only come back to this Kukicha, again and again.

Thanks to thelastdodo I was able to try this :)
I know the reviews haven’t been well but I was intrigued by the sound of it.
This tea just isn’t smooth enough for me to enjoy more than a sip at a time, nor did it invite me back well either.
I wish it was better, but I’m very glad I got to try it.

Been brewing this as a mostly afternoon tea. Took me a while to narrow in on the best brew pattern, Darjeeling is not my forte. The thing is, I wanted to not like this tea for that reason even without tasting it. Too much fuss, then one day my hubby wanted a pick me up and since he was the guinea pig I made it for him. He’s not a refined tea critic but he knows what he doesn’t like and this tea received an “OK” from him. Well if its good for the goose……it tasted “OK” for me too, so now I guess its time for expending effort and do my whole Mike the Martian thing and do a “waiting is” and “grok” this tea. I used the suggested brewing method and thought it too pale, so I added more tea and reduced the time and now it is fit to serve Jubal. Flavor is of sweetgrass and faint peach. It really shines with a hint of honey. Guess the lesson is get out of the comfort zone every once and a while and allow yourself some mystery.

yep, not a fan of this one…there’s a really dirtlike/earthy aroma that is just off putting for me. The taste is better, and i think it works better gongfu than western. This isn’t a BAD tes…but it’s not something that i really want to drink ever. So going to put this in to the same bucket for anyone who wants to try some.

don’t brew this on western. Today i had a mini gonfu session with this tea and it is MUCH better. It’s still a little “heavy” for me, so maybe i need to get through the first infusions a little faster (akak don’t drink them). but this works with shorter steeps. Still won’t be a favourite tea, but at least i know how to make it work better for me now :) very leathery and earthy.

not sure how i feel about this one. CS lists this as an oolong but there is way more a puerh like feel to this. I’d like to try brewing this again gongfu style, as today i simply tried it western brew according to the paramters on the bag. The result was a fairly strong earthy brew. verdict is out until i try this again

Nice Pu, not into chocolate flavors unless milk is involved. I tried all combo. I steeped it with water alone which did not give me a good choco flavor, then added a little milk, again to watery, added 1/2&1/2, no go, then steeped it in hot milk but the Pu flavor was dissipated and not enough of the choco. In the end I got what I kind of wanted by adding extra cocoa to a 1/2 water 1/2 milk. Too much work for me. Plus wasted alot of tea in the process. I like Camellia Sinensis just not this one.