Chicago Tea Garden

I really dig this tea. It smelled amazing in the package that I received yesterday! I’m steeping it tonight while indulging in Alice in Wonderland again(such a good movie!). My initial reaction is the steeped smell of the wet leaves and the liquor is overwhelmingly like you stuck you nose into a freshly made plate of rice. Rice is the overwhelming smell. The taste, reminds me of a genmaicha meets green tea meets pu erh. The flavor profiles of all three of those remind me of this tea.The genmaicha is most likely because of the rice as well. I like this tea, it’s very unique! Bravo, Tony on another great tea you offer! :)

I go this as a free sample from Chicago Tea Company so thank you so much. This looks like black and brown twisted circles. Smelled like black tea.This smells like black tea. I steeped this up. This taste like a good black tea abit malty strong but not over the top and I added sugar. This tea is really good.

What? I had this tea ages ago and I thought that I had finished it off and written tasting note. Two surprises: I found a little tuocha today in my collection AND I guess that I haven’t logged this at all.

Puerh and I have an odd relationship — sometimes it’s brilliant and a nice change from my usual cups and sometimes it’s too earthy, dirty, fishy. I never know which to expect, but I usually know right after the water has been added. Giving this cup a sniff, it’s starchy, very much like cooked, dry rice. You know the rice that is a bit dried, but not toasted? That’s what I picture with this tea. I’m surprised that it calls for a 30 second steep time. It’s like dipping your toe in the water, hardly enough time or area for a dip!

Sipping… most of the flavor comes at the very beginning of the sip. I don’t find there to be much substance as the sip fades. It’s reminiscent of rice, but there is something leafy.. almost a little dried & and hay-like in the background. I almost want a little bit more of that starchy, sweetness.. but it is quite yummy the way it is. I’m sad that Chicago Tea Garden isn’t around any more… so I’m going to have to find an alternative supplier of sticky rice tuocha. I could definitely see myself drinking more of this kind of tea in the future.

Sipdown, 199. This was a very tasty tea so it is kind of sad to see it go because it’s never coming back! CTG being closed and all. I’m also sad that I wasn’t as into tea when I lived in Chicago because it would have been great to visit this place while it was still open.

For whatever reason this cup isn’t quite so buttery as the last one; I think it is possibly that the last one I had was more concentrated that I originally intended, although it turned out very well. Still, it’s fresh and green and floral with light buttery notes, so it’s making me a happy camper anyway.

Thanks to Ellen for sending me some of this tea in our recent swap! It’s sad that Chicago Tea Garden is no more because they had a lot of nice teas.

Upon steeping, this tea smelled amazingly buttery and floral and delicious. I tell you, I’ve been tasting a lot of teas this weekend that are not quite up my alley, but this is a return to form. This is a green green TGY, and I love it. Lots of warm, thick buttery notes, a certain creaminess, and a bunch of florals. Mmmm. Almost makes up for the fact that it is snowing heavily today (and is supposed to continue into tomorrow!)

Goooone! I bought this like over a year ago from Rachel on Teatra.de. It looks like it might be being sold at another vendor since CTG closed. It only got through about 5-6 steeps before it lost its zazz.

Another sample to finish and use for my post dinner tea with my husband. He doesn’t mind Oolong so hopefully this will be a hit with him, I notice other Steepsterites have rated it highly.

I love the little hand rolled balls that Oolong come in with each one unique in shape and colours. This Oolong is a mixture of dark green, brown and dark brown but I also want to note that I can also see what looks like stem in a few places. The scent is buttery and floral and there is also a delicacy to it.

Once steeped my tea is golden yellow in colour with a sweet floral toasted aroma. Very refreshing and warming at the same time. In taste the toasted flavour is the first element before it changes to a floral rather buttery affair that vanishes very quickly. There is also a little buttery hint at the end whilst it’s mellowed and the flavours truly are spot on. It does pick up in strength but remains smooth.

Delicious. It’s a hit for my husband too and is a very nice introduction to our pudding (home made orange sponge cake with vanilla custard..hubbies favourite).

Today I decided to finish some samples that are taking up space and I really should aim to remove the samples from my cupboards (both real and virtual). This morning I received my Adagio order which included their personaliTEA so I may as well test the teapot with my samples. :)

This tea is dark green/brown in colour and consists of thin and fairly long curly shapes. There is a sweet nutty scent with woody yet floral and fruity tones. A lot going on there but it’s pleasant.

Once steeped the tea is light yellow in colour with an uplifting floral earthy scent. For my first cup I waited roughly 1 minute from when the water was poured from my new teapot into my cup.

In flavour this green tea has grassy, nutty, floral, sweet, freshly woody and fruity. In essence this tastes like you would expect and imagine from a green tea but this particular blend is magical. The more I drink this tea the more I can taste all of these different flavours. There are many different layers to taste and each one works well with the other.

Now let me explain my flavours and descriptions. The nutty factor is similar to almond crossed with a peanut or sesame seeds, it has that dry slightly salty and rich flavour that is not overly strong but very noticeable. Amongst the nuts are sweet grassy tones (like fresh cut grass) with a kick of floral hues that remind me of peony blended with a crisp almost pear like fruitiness.

I was honestly not expecting much after my first experience with Chicago Tea Garden which was not a happy one when I sampled their Sticky Rice Pu-erh Tuocha (which was really not to my personal taste). This tea however has impressed me with it’s combination of flavours and as a whole it’s character.

I’m happy to drink this and watch the world go by while I’m looking for a nice orange cake recipe. Bliss.

tu– cha

Appearance: hints of green, woody bits
Aroma when Dry: sweet, nutty, sticky rice
After water is first poured: buttered wild rice
At end of first steep: same notes
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: clear
Staple?No
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first?: buttery rice
As it cools?: notes get warmer, earthier, slight honey notes surface, then starts to get brothy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? yes, with a creamy, earthy texture

Second steep (5 min)
Aroma: same, warmer
Taste:
same notes, hints of metallic notes

Third Steep (5 min):
Taste: getting a bit creamier, honeyed in the butter notes
As it cools: starts to get salty, brothy notes

Fourth Steep (3 min):
Taste: Buttery Ricewater broth

Fifth Steep(8 min):
Taste: Buttery Ricewater, hints of brothiness

Sixth Steep:
brothy ricewater

Seventh Steep:
Light brothy ricewater

My fifth flavoured Pu Erh of the day :) I’m on a roll!

The little tuocha’s are so cute, I love using them. The tuocha’s are dark green in colour with a slight sweet ricey fragrance. Sort of like rice pudding without the cream.

After a 10 second rinse the tea smells much more like cooked rice but not as thickly so as Genmaicha. I haven’t cooked rice in a while and this smell is making me crave it.

Ooh I forgot to mention I am using my gongfu with two of these tuocha’s. Copying other peoples steeping time of 30 seconds (as that seems about right).

Steep 1 – The same sticky rice smell with a light yellow colour. The Pu Erh is mellow and a little floral with a light rice flavour. The smell is thicker than the taste which is good because stodgy rice would not be nice. It’s also still sweet but naturally so and not overpowering.

Steep 2 – A little darker in colour and thicker in smell. The taste is also much stronger now with a thick floral perfume flavour taking over the light rice which is now mostly in the after taste. It’s also picked up more of a toasted flavour.

Steep 3 – Now it’s a light gold colour rather than yellow. Now it’s twice the strength it was before and a little bitterness is noticeable along with a fairly harsh and dry perfume taste. The sweetness has almost gone but the rice remains at the back of the throat as the after taste. Not as pleasant as the first steep.

Steep 4 – Same gold colour but more toasty in smell. Not as strong as the previous steep (thankfully) but that wonderful rice flavour has still been over taken by this perfumey one.

I’m leaving my steeps there, it started off well but ended abruptly shortly after. I have never had a Pu Erh that has changed so much between first and second steeps. The first steep was pleasant where as the second and third were much too strong for my personal liking. It’s low score comes down to this tea’s problems with re steeping which is mandatory for most Pu Erh.

Thank you, BoxerMama, for this sample. I think these tuocha pieces found a good end, although they definitely aren’t something I would find myself drinking regularly!

To me they have a musky odour. They taste exactly like moist clumpy rice ,that has been wrapped in vegetal bamboo leaves, once steeped. I went with a rinse and 30 second steeps.

I have two cups of this beside me right now (first and second steep). First is more oily and buttery and makes me think that there might be egg in the middle of this rice ball. Second steep comes off more green, although equally buttery. Mild astringency but no bitterness. Picking up salty and sweet notes.

Third steep is more astringent and bold; the tuocha disintegrated completely (so cool!). Almost have to reduce the steep time when it falls apart to reduce the briskness.

Pros for me: not fishy, coffee-like, or bitter. Flavours of buttery steamed rice with a pinch of green. Savory and filling profile.
Questionable qualities: light musky body that may rub people the wrong way if noticed (like eggs, mushrooms, or fat). Also picking up a note very similar to cilantro. I like cilantro but it’s a wild card.

I think this may be very good alongside certain dishes.

This is at the top of the chart for puerh, for me. Drinking it, I feel as if I’m descending into my own private cavern of meditative bliss. I wish I had more of this tea! If anyone would like to trade, please pm me!

Back Log from last weekend.
How can a tea that smells so good, taste so bad?
How can a tea that tastes so bad have such a high rating? I LOVE Puerh, this one turned my stomach. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth or the smell out of my timolino for hours! I feel like rotting leaves steeped in boiling water would be the equivalent. I’m feeling like I must have meesed something up seeing as how everyone seems to love it. I’m not sure I’ll give it a seond chance even though I have some left. :(

It’s good, and nothing super special. I had good success putting one tuocha in a pot with boiling water and steeping it until I remember that I have tea steeping (as I often forget). The jasmine is not overpowering at all, which is what I like most. I would recommend it, however CTG is no more…and that’s sad.

When brewed right, these tiny, fuzzy, tender leaves work wonders. When brewed wrong, you’ll be lucky if the liquor merely turned out insipid: oversteeped biluochun takes on the taste and feeling of rubber bands. I got through the majority of my bag making it various degrees of Wrong before the tea gods blessed me with a ~20oz pot of ambrosia. I was completely winging it, turning off the kettle when it felt right and counting off 40 sec before starting the pour from the pot, which I’d left unlidded this time. I have a kyusu, a gaiwan and a Korean infuser mug—which can all pour much faster than this ungainly 32oz pot that drains slower than glaciers do—but past attempts to strictly control all the parameters ended up failing anyways. So imagine my surprise when the mug touched my lips and the liquid poured in as a sweet, gentle caress. It had an amiable sweetness and an airy lightness. The fragrance was fruity (specifically like honeydew, if you want my subjective, unreliable observation), which is a quality I find a lot more pleasant than the grassy or floral notes from other greens or green oolongs.

Before steeping this tea it seems to have a sweet earthy smell. Visually, it is made up of tight clusters of leaves and contains no stems upon brief inspection. I am drinking the last of my ‘monkey picked’ and have plenty of experience steeping this particular tea now that I am finishing up the last of this .25 lb bag. I personally prefer steepings between 1 and 2 minutes for this tea.

The tightly packed leaf clusters slightly unfurl after the first steep. The smell is sweet with floral grass like undertones. The colour is a pale yellow. The taste is excellent and lingers after sipping to the point that I can still smell it as I breath through my nose. This tea’s flavour is extremely deep, the initial sip will produce one flavour while the aftertaste produces another. This took some time for me to note as the favour is so well composed that it blends into itself. The texture seems creamy simply because of how the flavour changes so smoothly from that initial sip to swallow to wonderful aftertaste.

Since I enjoy this tea so much it was excellent to experiment with. Varying temperate, steeping vessels and length of steep has allowed me to get the most out of this amazing leaf. As I re-steep the flavour intensifies and opens up more to the point where I am getting maximum enjoyment from the third steep. If you like Oolongs and have a taste for them I would strongly recommend investing in this tea. It allows for forgiving steeps that never disappoint and a quality of leaf that is hard to find…