Little Red Cup Tea Co.

Picked this because it’s a cold, cloudy, raw afternoon; need to be slamming away at a due-too-soon writing project instead of tasting notes, so I’m anticipating multiple cuppas to keep me going—-resteeps should keep the caffeine level manageable.

Used water that was a little too warm on this one, so it’s heavier on the “bite” than my previous experiences. But sometimes a little bite, judiciously applied to the proper spot, is what you need to get off your keister (keester? keyster?) and get to work.

Well…there goes a carefully crafted tasting note (don’t you hate when that happens)? Deep breath—-now what did I say that was worth repeating?

First, thanks to the Little Red Cup crew for the sample. Eyebrow tea is just cute. Perky, short, curly, happy leaves.

Went to the long side of the recommended steep time—2 minutes. I’m always pleasantly surprised when I can taste a green or white tea. Rice Chex with honey at the front of the sip; little bite of bitter (dark red leaf lettuce) at the end. Grain and veggies. I feel healthier already.

Thanks, Red Cup Tea Company!

This is a very refreshing oolong. It reminds me a little of rose violet calendula oolong by Butiki teas because it has so many prominent, natural floral tones. It’s tastes like violets or orchids. Jade oolong does have much more of a woody kick too it. It’s a powerful flavor that really spreads quickly. There is a light creaminess that prevents the wood from becoming too overwhelming. There is a little drymouth and bitterness to the aftertaste, but not much.

This tastes more like I assumed keemun would taste when I first tried it in spring—smoky (though less so than most lapsang souchongs I’ve had), strong, and bittersweet in a way that evokes dark chocolate, a little like an assam mixed with an LS. The ones I tried earlier (from Teavivre and Harney if I recall) were lighter, less smoky, and sweeter, much more chocolate than smoke. This would make a welcome eye opener. I especially like the dry and brewing aroma.

Thank you Little Red Cup for a free sample of this tea. :)

I had such high hopes for it, but it isn’t quite to my liking. It has a smokiness about it that distracts me from noticing any other characteristics. I’m sure this will make it popular with others, but not for me. I’ll have to pass the rest of sample on to someone else.

Ack! Steepster ate my note!

Thanks, Little Red Cup Tea Company for this!

This tea is light and bright and just like the description says, it tastes very much like a white tea. It starts out with creamy asparagus. It was almost buttery. There are some orchid-like floral notes that deepen the flavor. The aftertaste is very sweet! It reminded me of fresh lettuce. I’m on my second steep and there’s not a hint of the dreaded dry-mouth.

Doing short 30sec – 1 min brews.
Raises eyebrows
I can’t even describe the flavor. it has an openness to it.
the wet leaves smell like jasmine. with a kinda… fresh air woodsy smell thing going on…
Its somewhat similar to Tsuei Laun that i had from tea from tawain. but this one is not at all fruity.

This tea has exceeded my expectations. There’s a lot going on with this tea that I thought was pretty straight-forward. This time, on the first steep I was picking up on some pepper notes. They kind of came out of nowhere and it can’t be contamination from any other tea because this was my first tea of the morning out of clean cup. After the pepper tones, I got a lot of the fruity flavors that I had the first time I had this tea. On the second steep I got the more vegetal, semi-creamy side of the tea. It was still very fruity though.

Thanks to the Little Red Tea Company for sending out some samples! I got excited to try them yesterday when they came because they looked and smelled like some beautiful teas!

The dryleaf looks dark, chocolate-like and rich. It is in smaller pieces as keemun usually is, but bigger than some keemuns I’ve seen. It smells faintly like wood charcoal.

I’m usually disappointed by keemuns in general because they often will leave me with a really dry mouth and a bitter aftertaste, but I have not had this problem with this tea. It is full-bodied, rich, and smooth- no astringency!

The flavor of the liquor starts out with dark roasted green beans, but soon morphs into a wine-like flavor that reminds me of Merlot. There are slightly earthy undertones that sometimes taste of mushroom and sometimes of grass or dandelions. The aftertaste has a lovely warmth, which reminds me a little of golden brown bread. It does a nice job contrasting the main fruity flavors, which could have been too dark and one-note.

Overall this is a lovely, dark, and roasty tea that I would enjoy having again in the mornings to get me going.

This is my first review on Steepster, and I am thrilled to be able to praise Little Red Cup’s Green Mao Jian. The smell of the leaves pre-stepping made me raise an eyebrow, which is something that doesn’t happen often for a picky palate like me. I was intrigued. Its aroma was of moist, almost mossy earth. The green notes hovered quietly behind darker, warmer ones. I usually lean toward extreme-bright-grassy-spinachy-greens, and to “milky” oolongs, but the liveliness and balance of this green-earth won me over. It is layered and textured. An excellent, full, satisfying tea. Thank you Little Red Cup!!

I got this tea mostly for blending, since I don’t have any light whites to mix with stuff. In the spirit of making at least one cold brew a day, I mixed this up in a glass with cucumber slices, some shredded mint, and very finely chopped cantaloupe last night and let it steep for about 14 hours. I strained it all, including the cantaloupe, leaving a gorgeous-looking peachy brew. And it might be the most refreshing drink I’ve ever had—sweet from the cantaloupe, vibrant from the mint, cooling from the cucumber and there’s a lovely subtle tea taste in the background. A little floral and fruity, which really elevates this from “water with stuff steeped in it” to “fancy iced tea.”

FINALLY a cup of tea! Had to get up early today and get ready in five minutes flat and out the door NO morning cup! :(
Finally back home and was having major withdraws. Kept making ACK sounds and jerking around making my daughter and husband laugh.
Brewed up some of this tea here.
Its alright – probably a bad time to give it a first try as I would have done better with an LS to punch me in the face but this is a nice mellow morning cup.
No astringency, no bitterness, juicy, slightly smoky, and nice.
Its not my favorite morning cup but it is far better than I was anticipating as I too did not have the best luck with one of their other teas.
Will withhold rating until I have a chance to enjoy this when I am not already having major caffeine withdraws.

I am trying to brew this tea correctly, but it is really fighting back. My first steep (1 1/2 teaspoons, 190 degree water, 3 minutes) was awful. So so bitter, it totally overpowered any of the actual flavors of the tea. The second steep I dumped out half the leaves, lowered the water temp to 170, and steeped for only 2 minutes. And it tasted… like water. Well, the beginning of the sip was watery, then in the middle there’s some nice actual tea notes, then at the end… bitter! What the heck. It does say this is a “sharp” tea but it should NOT be bitter like that at only 170. Something here is going really wrong, so I am going to hold off on actually rating it until I get a gaiwan and can do some really short steeps.

Purchased on Fab.com during a foodie sale. I had Fab credits so got all five of their teas at a very good price. Basically paid shipping.
I am not in love with this tea although I would not toss it out.
I am going to give it more time, and a few more steeps before I decide on a rating for it.
I may give it a go with less leaf.
This steep however is leaving a lot to be desired.

I love this jasmine. It’s definitely a sometimes tea for me, but it’s so great – I describe it to my friends as being like the tea you’ll get in a chinese restaurant, but 10 times better. The aroma is so wonderfully floral that you could smell it for ages, but when you drink it it’s smooth, balanced, and not overpowering at all. I really should drink it more often, but it’s a lovely treat whenever I remember to break it out.

This is my go-to tea at my job – I drink it practically any day that I go to the gym before work and thus don’t have a chance to make a cup of coffee. I’m operating under less-than-stellar tea-making conditions there (just getting hot water from a water cooler), but this turns out consistently well for me – pleasantly slightly bitter, not too tannic, and overall pretty delicious. The fair trade, organic aspect (and the immensely reasonable price) are a welcome bonus.

Loose
Appearance: large, bicolored curled leaf, green tones
Aroma when Dry: nutty, fuzzy, hints of sweetness
After water is first poured: seaweed broth
At end of steep: sweetened seaweed broth
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? Yes
Preferred time of day: Any
Taste:
At first?: bitter sea vegetal, salt, brothy chewy notes
As it cools?: first notes get a bit grassy, salt notes surface more upon close
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, meaty, with sea salt notes

Second steep (5 min)
Salty, lightly brothy, very minor seaweed notes

Loose
Appearance: gunpowder pearls, deep green
Aroma when Dry: slightly smoky, vegital
After water is first poured: grassy
At end of steep: grassy, vegital
Tea liquor:
At beginning of steep:
At end of steep: grassy green
Staple? Type No, but will drink if offered/around might drink brand again
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first?: vegital, grass notes close
As it cools?: harsh grass notes surface
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, crisp grass, vegital notes, then the harsh grass notes follow as tea cools

Backlog: Another tea that I’ve been enjoying as I deal with whatever ails me. I could only taste barely there notes of the jasmine and the green tea, but I found it a comforting tea.

I held off trying this tea even though I bought it at the same time as the Keemun and the Bai Mu Dan from this company. Why? This jasmine is really quite good. Much better than I had come to expect from this company. OH, don’t get me wrong, the Keemun and the Bai Mu Dan were good teas, but they weren’t great. Of the three teas, this one is definitely the best of them.

The jasmine is soft. Not sharp. Not soapy. Not perfume-y. The tea is smooth and supple, with a soft, silky mouthfeel. It is sweet, even a little creamy. The jasmine is sweet and exotic tasting … and a bit on the lighter side of things. It is not in your face.

This reminds me of a jasmine tea they might serve you with your meal in a fine Chinese restaurant. The flavor is soft enough not to disrupt the flavors of your meal, but instead will compliment them.

A very pleasing Jasmine.

Like someone else said, this is not the fanciest, highest quality bai mu dan. It is, however, a fantastic one. Floral, light, and misty, I just can’t get enough of it. At a price you simply cannot beat, this is probably the purchase I recommend most to anyone interested in white teas. I typically get 4-5 steeps out of it, which is more than enough.

first post in awhile! anyway, I actually like the bitterness in this tea. I prefer less vegetal green teas, so this one works for me. It doesn’t have a huge amount of flavor, but it is slightly vegetal, bitter, and punchy.

Thanks to Nicole Martin for a sample
This tea comes in a cute brown baggy bag.
Quality Whole Leaf Tea from China
Packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable, biogradable.
www.LittleRedCupTea.com

This is my first Bai Mu Dan that I have reviewed. The tea leaves are dry and crunchy. I boiled some hot water. The flavor was very light.
The taste was light. A light tea taste, sort of when you drink a bit of Pepsi with lots of ice and all the cubes melt. You taste the Pepsi but it is diluted.
This tea reminds me of a tea called Lagg’s, a weak tea that darkens the water, but fails to come up big on flavor or caffeine.

I will blend this with Yerba Mate for now.

9/18/2012 – Tried this tea again. Crunchy leaves. Small cute twigs. Web site www.LittleRedCupTea.com has lots of information and brewing instructions. Here’s my take..
1. Used the best water you can (I’m using NYC tap)
2. The flavor is very faint, floral.
3. Used 1/2 the amount of water.
4. This is a late afternoon or night tea for me.

12/6/2012 It sits on my tea shelf, I haven’t touched it in awhile. I love the graphic brown bag. I’ll keep it around for awhile longer.