Chakra 4 Herb

I am quite fond of the Ti Kuan Yin varietal teas. This one is a lovely balance of the brightness of a green and the richness of an oolong. The tightly bundled (mostly) whole leaf unfurls with the first infusion and tolerates a longer steep time than the normal recommendations from the tea house.

Full disclosure: I am an employee of Chakra 4 Herb and Tea House.

My favorite of all of the full-bodied teas at Chakra 4, this Pu-Ehr reliably yields 5 full-bodied cups before beginning to wan. I like to discard the first 10 seconds of the first steeping to reduce caffeine content, then steep 1 tsp of leaves in 6 ounces of water for each cup thereafter.

Full disclosure: I am an employee of Chakra 4 Herb and Tea House.

The tea is a bright orange coloring showing that this is a much lighter black tea than I was expecting. However, the higher steeping temperature doesn’t seem to have a bad effect on the tea. The smell is subtle and sort of like malt and Carmel. The malt I was expecting, but not the Carmel.

The malty flavor is traditional with an Assam tea like this. However, this tea seems to have a middle malty tone. It isn’t until after you have drank the tea and let it sit for a little bit that the malty taste gets stronger. This is a brisk tea that gets stronger as you drink it. There was not a lot of bitter taste in the beginning, but it sneaks up on you as an undertone as you continue to drink it. The Carmel smell in the taste flavor is the an undertone that provides a sweet flavor that livens up the tea. The overtone of this tea is a sweet and somewhere between leafy and grassy flavor which reminds me of wheatgrass. It isn’t quite as sweet as wheatgrass, but it has many of the same tones as it.

For more information check out my blog.

http://teasnobbery.com/2010/11/26/assam-ftgfop-from-chakra-4-herbs/

The color is far darker than I was thinking it was going to be. It is a dark amber color, like a dark green tea, or a light black tea. The smell is light, and not very fragrant. It is sort of floral, like roses.

This has a very light taste that is easy to ruin. A slight overbrew and this will become bitter quickly. It does taste sort of like rose petals. Soft and sweet, this tea drifts over your tongue easy. At the end there is a bark like aftertone to it that finishes off the taste with a little bit of bite. This is the opposite of the smell of the tea leaves.

More information on pictures see below.

http://teasnobbery.com/2010/09/17/tea-review-white-peony/

The tea is a bright orange color, typical of Hoijcha.

The smell is a light roast, comforting and warm and slightly nutty.

The taste is rich and roasted, not quite nutty. Slightly astringent, but not quite bitter. It doesn’t have a very complex flavor profile. The flavor doesn’t really come out until you slurp it however. Caramelized and sweet, there are hints of strawberry.

For a more complete review go here: http://teasnobbery.com/2010/07/30/tea-review-hoijicha-made-from-kukicha/

It is a sort of orangy red. It is a very rich looking liqueur. It smells intoxicating. It is not too strong, but it does smell a lot like the orange flavoring. The tea shines through that though and smells vegital.

The tea is very interesting. It tastes sort of like Swiss chard with bergamot orange dripped over it. It is velvety and sweet, although I think I steeped it a little too high, a little too long. It is far more bitter than I was expecting it to be. It tastes like the bergamot flavor, not like the tea sort of bitterness, so I’m not too worried about having over steeped it, but the flavor profile seems to be a lot stronger than I was expecting. As I get to the bottom of the cup the flavor has changed a little bit, and there is a bitter sweetness there that isn’t in the rest of the cup. It is sort of like the bitter green grapes, and it makes my mouth pucker a little bit, but the sweetness compliments the orange flavor well. At this stage I like sipping it better because slurping it seems to wash out the flavor too much.

Find a more detailed review of this tea here: http://teasnobbery.com/2010/07/02/tea-review-earl-gray-from-chakra-4-herb/