Imperial Organic

Ehhhh too tart and drying for me. Definitely get the pomegranate but I don’t taste the berries. The green tea base is pretty subtle.

I pulled this one off my tea rack for a morning cup. Since it is labled as a white tea, I used 180F water and steeped for 2 minutes. In appearance, the tea is a pale yellow. There is no discernable fragrance. Rather basic chamomile but with a dusty, chalky feel to it. Something I would expect at local restaurants for their “tea selection” that is steeped too long at high temps.

Yay! I’m back on Steepster. I worried it was down for good.

This morning I’m having a cup of lemon ginger green tea while prepping for a day at a local graphic novel festival with my kiddo. I did not have high hopes for this tea after not really liking the others that were in this sampler but I will say, this one is pretty good. There is a good balance between lemon and ginger for me. I wasn’t looking for a strong ginger tea today and this fit the bill. I get a slight floral hint as well. There is a nice light yellow color.

I had this one at church yesterday with the boiling water that was available and it was bitter but drinkable. I was excited that someone had left something more than the usual Red Rose. I thought I’d try again today at home. Steeped in 175* water for 3 minutes and it still is bitter. I do taste the peppermint but it’s not a strong flavor.

The bag has a roasted yet floral Tieguanyin or low elevation Taiwanese oolong smell. It’s definitely dark roasted, brewing red colored tea with a deep floral, nutty, and roasted aroma. There’s a slight caramelized sweetness, but it mostly tastes like almonds and peanuts to me. It tastes like a green oolong that was dark roasted, rather than a more traditionally processed oolong with a little more oxidation, so no fruit or spice or anything else that makes me love darker oolongs. To be fair, this was a dollar or two at Walmart, so I didn’t expect a great traditional style Tieguanyin or Dong Ding, and for what it is it’s actually fine, but it’s way too nutty for me to want more.

I was incredibly pleased with the overall flavor of this tea. Not too spicy, a good amount of sweetness. Honestly, I couldn’t taste any distinguishing characteristics of the rooibos and thought I was drinking masala chai. I gulped this down too fast and no longer have any more to savor.

If you’re looking for a caffeine free chai, I’d highly recommend this one.

I was in a rush this morning for work so I made my green tea in my timolino and didn’t pack any other tea. This was in the staff room so I thought I would give it a try.

I know usually with bagged chai’s they tend to be too overpoweringly spicy, so I steeped this only for about 30 seconds. The spice is actually a nice compliment and not over powering. I wouldn’t go out and buy it but It isn’t bad.

Light peppermint tea found in my local asian market. Basic but gets the job done. I like it because it cleans my palate well. Good before bed.

Sample sipdown!

I’m still new to the world of pu’erh teas, but this one didn’t really excite me much. It tasted kind of fishy and even a tad sweaty, and compared to the other pu’erh I’ve tried (Verdant’s amazing Tian Di Ren Bulang Sheng from 2006), this one seemed kind of flat. It was in a teabag so I didn’t rinse it – maybe that’s why.

This was a swap from Jude. At least I got to broaden my horizons a bit!

I like these for travel mostly, and they do get the job done. I would rate them higher if the spice were stronger. Recommended for travel, but you can get better if you are willing to hunt some better loose leaf stuff.

I’m really not very familiar with pu-erh’s yet (this is my first one!) but will rate this tea anyway. I realize that most people don’t drink pu-erh made from a tea-bag but this was enjoyable enough. :)

It was smooth…and kind of earthy. I probably won’t buy it again because I want to try a fancy one next time. But I’m definitely going to finish the rest of what I have.

Rich flavor, marine notes are just barely detectable, it’s cleaner in that regard for those who have an aversion to puerh for that reason. I think Kasumi no Chagin hit it with the ‘peat’ descriptor. ‘Forest dirt’ hits more on the second steep. I know, this sounds so appealing, doesn’t it? But it’s a pretty good puerh for everyday drinking.

This tea is fairly bitter, with a weaker peppermint taste than other peppermint teas I’ve tried. If you’re looking for plain white tea and noticeable peppermint flavor, this will suffice.

I like the Vanilla Roobos Chai by the same company better, and have it with soy milk. But recently i have tired of all the spice in it and gone back to plain Rooibos

Bagged
Aroma when Dry: sour, sweaty
After water is first poured: sweaty
At end of steep: earthy, slight musk
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: dark, earthy brown-red
Staple? No
Time of day preferred: unsure, first tasting
Taste:
first notes: forest dirt, mustyenss
As it cools? Notes get sweaty, peaty again
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? With slight sweaty, chemical notes

A co-worker, who is working on waning herself off of coffee, purchased this tea from a local heath store; and seeing as how I’m the recognized local tea connoisseur, she had peaked my curiosity.

The aroma given from steeping is extremely promising, with an almost rich woodsy atmosphere, deeply green, very dark, and a slight smokey tinge. The color is a very satisfying deep and handsome red of pu-erh.

The flavor is amazingly rich, with a smokey earthy taste that empowers it’s roasted base; this is the flavor of a fresh forest.

There are times when a teabag tea surprises me. This teabag is one of them.

bagged

I can’t say that i like this.

It tastes artificial in every way.
It’s sweet and not-a-very-good-spice factor either.
This just doesn’t work for me, sorry!

I’m in a carbohydrate coma – now I remember why I don’t usually eat burritos for lunch. This is a tasty & cheap pu-erh in a teabag so I just keep it at the office – let’s hope it revives me soon. :)

Some where out there a pu-erh snob has fainted. That’s right, I am drinking pu-erh out of a teabag. $6 for a box and you can get it even cheaper on Uncle Lee’s website.

I bought this just to check it out for experimentation. I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. It has the nice brownish-red color of a pu-erh. For a teabag this has some tremendous flavor. It’s very woodsy, and roasty/toasty with a hint of smoke puffs. The aroma reminds me of the redwood forest groves in Northern California. This is reminiscent of the wild tree pu-erhs I like a lot. It’s actually quite pleasant and it’s organic.

Don’t tell the tea snobs but I actually think this is more flavorful and interesting than both the tuo chas I had earlier today. It will just be our little secret… ;-)