Mountain Stream Teas

I’m finally getting around to trying this Honey Black tea stuffed lemon “tea ball” that I’ve been waiting for a special occasion to steep. This will not be my last tea of the year (I drank this on December 31st), but it did feel right to finally break into this beauty given how unseasonably warm it was outside which meant that for the first time in probably forever I was able to actually have an outdoors tea session on New Year’s Eve. Such a rarity and treat here in Montreal!!

This tea is also quite a special treat in and of itself! I don’t know if I’ve seen a lemon stuffed with tea in this way from anyone other than Mountain Stream Teas, and it’s not even the most “out there” chenpi-style of stuffed fruit they’ve offered. Unwrapping the rope to crack the peel almost felt like destroying a piece of art, though in the end it was worth it to get to have a taste. This is very much more than one session’s worth of tea leaf, but the portion I did steep up was phenomenal. Full bodied with just a bit of a sharper and borderline medicinal top note of brisk, pithy citrus before pivoting into a sweet, lingering mix of dark honey, lemon, malt, and florals that coats the palate and back of the throat. It’s dynamic and packed with flavour while still serving up so much nuance. Perhaps the most elevated version of a lemon black tea that I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEQhHRuyDJz/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxqfTLJ_BZk&ab_channel=PolyvinylRecords

Adventageddon Day 16

I only really had time today for one gongfu session so it was a coin toss between this and my Inoki tea since both sounded so good. In the end I ended up making this as a very large Western pot of tea at work. The liquor was so soft, silky and soothing with a mix of creamy fresh churned butter notes of aromatic, florals like lilac and violets! Though I have a sneaking suspicion this Jin Xuan might have been tastier brewed gongfu it was still damn good brewed this way, and making it as a pot of tea let me share it with some coworkers too and I know they appreciated that.

There’ve been some real bangers in the Tea Thoughts advent this year, but this might potentially be my favourite so far!?

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDp8zy5SWRb/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fkt2pR8uxU&ab_channel=ClaireBrooks-Topic

Day 16 of the Tea Thoughts winter countdown. Peeked ahead and gong fu’d this yesterday with the teeny tea tray that I’m still in love with. Even before I looked at any information about the tea, I was jotting down notes about how creamy it is, with a slight marine note at the back end of the sip and overall big “high mountain oolong” vibes. So zero surprise that this is a high mountain oolong made with jinxuan cultivar. Made some more today in a smallish steeping mug. It’s even creamier today. Loving it. 

2024 sipdown no. 50

I didn’t take any notes, but remember this being absolutely lovely.

Soft and sweet but suffers from woody dry mouth after the swallow. It’s overall like honeyed ruby red grapefruit-rose something… with sparkling demerara sugar on top. I don’t want to say marmalade or gelatin because those imply a thick mouthfeel. It has some zest in the taste/aftertaste and the way it feels on the tongue. The rose is perhaps more fruity than floral and goes very well with this style of red oolong.

Gongfu was rather a waste; western is where it’s at and good for 2 steeps. Despite the dryness, I would purchase this again. It’s comforting and mellow yet with a citrusy character that has brightened my mood during these monthly moments.

Phew, it’s been a whirlwind of a month. Waaaay too much going on. I took the day off to care for Kiki after she broke her wrist last week and had surgery on it yesterday.

In desperate need of respite, and all but a handful of teas already moved into my new house, I opened this freebie from my last order.

It’s okay. Very drying. It’s also over a year old and packaged without an oxygen absorber. Stale but ok. And it’s getting me away momentarily from the high-energy out-of-towners that have taken over our home this week. Sigh. It’s all a little too much for Kiki, too. She’s getting cranky. Uh oh.

2024 sipdown no. 34

This tea is really lovely, there are hints of cinnamon coming through that I have found in other high mountain blacks as well. The body is light-medium with a sweetness that is subtle and fruit-like.

Spring 2023 harvest

Dry leaf: tangerine, passionfruit and cherry, indolic and fleshy white florals, vegetal undertone

Aroma: moderate with a sugarcane sweetness, rich florals, orchid, golden raspberry, milky

Taste: less impressive than the dry and warmed leaf. The base tea tastes stale with dried clumps of cut grass. It is slightly milky but more noticeable is the dry, mineral taste. More vegetal than fruity compared to the dry and warmed leaf scents. Certainly floral with a mix of fleshy white flowers, orchid and at times something aquatic like water lily. Short and mild milky sweetness. The energy is more caffeinating than relaxing, which is not what I desire in flower-scented teas.

I would like to try this fresh but the base tea quality doesn’t seem that great. The magnolia orchid, or white champaca, scenting is lovely, though.

I picked this up one after seeing it in an email from MS. I was intrigued because I miss the ocean daily and love all things ocean-related. There is a definite marine-esque flavour at the forefront here — not fishy, but like seawater. The taste transforms into a light milkiness (like skim milk) towards the end. The tea is very light and steeps up a beautiful pale colour. Really fascinating!

2024 sipdown no. 33

I’ve been meaning to write a note for this tea. Since I’ve just steeped my last cup, procrastination is no longer an option! This is slightly vegetal at the front, with a mellow vegetal taste. There is a subtle unripe peach flavour starting in the middle and becoming more prominent towards the end of the sip. I have enjoyed this and would re-order.

1st steep 1 min
2nd steep 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Sipdown

Anything regarding this tea has been removed from MST’s website. I purchased this back in 2022ish and opened the packet about 3+ months ago; however, the sipping truly began within the past couple of weeks. I was able to get this sipped in a few sessions while drinking other teas in between. I had to constantly remind myself that this was a red oolong, not a red/black tea. It had the maltiness of a red/black tea, without that heaviness you may get with said genre of leaf. There wasn’t as much caffeine energy as with a red/black tea, either. Not that I’d recommend it, but I’d say this isn’t likely to hurt your stomach as much, if one were to sip on an empty stomach…by accident. Clears throat

2024 sipdown no. 32

I would say the description is spot on: dark florals and sweet raisin. The only thing is that the flavour is lighter than I was anticipating. I steeped 5g last night and ended up adding my remaining 5g to the resteep leaves to get more flavour overall. This was my favourite cup, but so much leaf!

Didn’t care for the smell, quite artichokey and savory. Taste was something else though! Ended up dumping the first steep as recommended. But, subsequent steeps were marshmallowy- like a distinct marshmallow flavor. It’s slightly floral, but mostly quite sweet. A really interesting, unique flavor.

Backlog & Sipdown

I drank this down on Wednesday, but while working. I only recall creaminess and some florals. Unfortunately, it was a busy night at work, so I never got the opportunity to sit down for notes.

As we don’t have anything blooming in our empty containers yet (though I’m hoping to plant zinnia seed tomorrow), I put some sweet little flowers in my cup this evening instead.
Not perfume flowery, not mulch leafy, just liquid gold with a little honey flavor around the edges. Here’s lookin’ at you, derk!

derk sent me a beautiful little bouquet of chrysanthemum buds (Christmas-anthemums!) in a bag. Now some of them are in my cup. Wow. Just wow. They do not taste like lawn clippings. Lemony without being citrusy, buttery without being dairy, honey without being sticky. Sunshine in a cup, for sure.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #8

This is a lovely green. I thought it was a Korean green at first because it tastes a lot like sejak. I get some umami – almost like seaweed or miso soup but with more loamy minerals. It’s actually very well balanced for a green tea that I overleafed and oversteeped. The bitterness is balanced by the potent flavour without being overwhelming. It is not astringent or drying like tannic greens can be. It reminds me a little of a vegetable broth but without the salt. The flavours are subtle in general, but strong for a green tea. Lightly vegetal but I can’t pick out any specific vegetables except maybe faint kelp.

Sweetness: 2/10
Sourness: 0/10
Bitterness: 4/10 (in a good way)
Potency: 7/10

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #4

This tea is delicious! It’s a really nice oolong with a good balance between toasty and vegetal. It is slightly sweet and creamy, but not quite a milk oolong. There is an orchid floral flavour in the background. I love that this tea is not drying at all. It actually is quite thirst quenching. No bitterness or buckwheat/tasoted rice that some oolongs have. It leans towards a green oolong but has a tiny hint of tastiness in there as well. It reminds me of oats.

2023 harvest

Fresh and flavorful with a minty edge and a lightly sweet aftertaste. Liquid sunshine in a glass pot. All chrysanthemum I’ve had pale in comparison, except snow chrysanthemum buds which are in a class of their own. I can steep these flowers any time of day and they give me what I need in the moment — my personal adaptogen.

I really hope these will be a regular seasonal offering at Mountain Stream Teas. These tiny flowers are so complementary to my system that they sometimes make me not even want to drink caffeinated tea.

Feeling: calm, content, clear headed, cooling, respiratory system cleansing

Well, this is a delightful little number. Maybe an oddly springlike choice for a fairly dreary late October day, but I’m enjoying it!

It’s very smooth and silky, and actually quite mild. There’s a hint of sweet pea and powdered sugar and very little grassiness or vegetal earthiness. So mellow!

Very light and just a tiny bit creamy. I’m not really getting the “fruit leather and sweet black raisins” promised in the description, though. It’s more wet earth and maybe a smidge of breadiness?

This is my first GABA tea. So far I notice no special calming effects. :)

Free sample with my last order, thank you.

February 2023 harvest

Si Ji Chun cultivar tastes like the quintessential green oolong to me. This one’s fresh, smooth and intensely floral with a light soymilk taste/texture and an undercurrent of pureed green vegetables. Too expansively perfumey for my preference but it is a tea I would recommend for its strong and long taste. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed it most prepared gongfu style in a glass gaiwan but I still tired of it quickly.

2023 sipdown no. 96

I sadly barely paid attention to this for a proper note, but there was a lovely creaminess with subtle florals. I would get this one again.

1st steep: 1 minute
2nd steep: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

2023 sipdown no. 84

The notes from MS include “honey, rose and dark oolong goodness”. I would say it’s mostly dark oolong with some honey. I didn’t get a lot of rose. The honey was lovely, but not as nice as some of their other offerings or other Taiwanese honey-like teas I’ve enjoyed. Overall a good cuppa, but not a permanent cupboard resident.