Pekko Teas

HHTTB #15/18

This was in my travel tea bag this weekend. I didn’t have the best tea making conditions, but I enjoyed this with some milk and sugar. Not much to say about this one. A standard Ceylon.

I enjoy Ceylons, and so when I got this sample ages ago from [b]Terri[/b] and it said “Champaign of Ceylon” I was looking forward to drinking it. I’ve brewed it both hot and cold, but either I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write a review, or steepster swallowed it. Anyway, Champaign of Ceylon it is not. Champaign of dryness and astringency, maybe. There is nothing of the lovely “teaness” of Ceylon, nor of its brisk and cheerful brightness. Great Ceylon tastes like TEA in all capitals, oftentimes with lovely fruit thrown in. This tea was boring, with no distinct flavour – just a muddy mixture of astringency, dryness and acidic flat tea.
If you hate Ceylons, this will reinforce your hatred of them. If you love Ceylons, I doubt that you will enjoy this one much.
Thank you very much for the sample, [b]Terri[/b]. There’s a box of tea on my table waiting to be shipped to you (and Sil) in September, once the post office returns to normal working hours (they are now on summer hiatus, and their hours are ridiculous).
Going to rummage in the tea cupboard after something delicious to wash this tea’s flavour away.

My second bowl of this Matcha today and I have a feeling it will be all gone over the coming weekend. I’m house/dog sitting for my parents for the long weekend, something I do a few times each year though I’m not complaining as it gives me time to write more reviews.

This Izu Matcha is nice quality, it tastes very silky and mild with only a hint of astringency. Also rather sweet and fresh tasting. A nice light green that steeps into a khaki colour.

I would buy more of this very happily. My husband likes it too, then I told him how good it is for his post workout sessions and he said he’s impressed. Matcha will rule the world one day.

Here’s hoping tea box

full-bodied soprano of a tea. Shimmering high notes with a fruity low range. A beautiful song of a tea.

Tea #40 from the Here’s Hoping TTB

I’m not familiar with Pekko Teas, although I do have one of their teas currently in my cupboard I haven’t tried yet. I was glad to see another of their teas in the TTB so I could get a better picture of the quality of the teas they carry; it’s really hard to get a complete picture based off of only one tea. I found this to be a bit more mild that I prefer in a straight black tea, I prefer more of a bold yunnan, however I did enjoy the sweetness of it. Now I need to get off my rear end and try the Jasmine Dragon Tears that I bought from QueenofTarts. awhile back.

Tea #7 from HHTTB2

Single estate Ceylon tea was my gateway tea to single estate Darjeelings. I know they’re not really anything alike, but it was kind of a ‘If these are that much better, I wonder what a tea I really enjoy is like’. And I’ve never really looked back. So drinking this now, is kind of like going back to my roots even though I’ve never had this particular tea before.

It’s a very light (tasting) Ceylon, far more delicate than I was expecting (but not in a watered down way). It’s just a touch brisk, with notes of orange and citrus. There’s a little but of floral sweetness I typically associate with Darjeelings. Very clean, minimal astringency, and super smooth. This was a really pleasant and surprising cup.

KittyLovesTea sent me this tea in a swap a while ago and while I had had it before, this is the first time I am doing it with patience and a computer nearby.

Not that I got much to say, this is lovely and making me realize how little I know of japanese tea and that i really should get to know it better (but please no seaweed notes, please, no. I fear the sea notes). This is a very smooth but somehow strong japanese tea, that grassy-vegetal note and is just what i was craving.

Must explore more japanese teas.

And thanks kitty, am enjoying this very much!

From the HH teabox – thanks again everyone! I don’t have Ceylon blends often, maybe because I prefer other black bases. This one isn’t bad but it is a little mild flavored! I think too mild even for me to give a description! Well if it’s the champagne of tea, then I couldn’t really describe champagnes separately either!

A sipdown! I haven’t had one in days!
This was a generous sample that was sent to me from Michelle months ago. This isn’t the first time I’ve sampled it, but I think this was my first milk oolong, & it is a pleasant cup, very gentle, lightly floral, & there is a milky quality to it. On rare occasions I add coconut or almond milk to tea, but I personally would never ever add milk to an Oolong. Nonetheless, this is a nice tea, & now it’s gone. Thanks Michelle :)

I’m enjoying a bit of a day off, for the most part. Originally I was suppose to have students at 9:30 & noon, & meet someone at 2:00. So far the 9:30 & 2:00 have cancelled. Hopefully the noon will show up! People tend to forget things around holidaze, so we’ll see.

Months ago I did a nice little trade with Michelle, & today I’m working on sipping down some of those teas. This one is not a sipdown, as I have enough to drink it probably one more time.

This is a gentle cup of milky rice pudding, probably made with jasmine rice, as it has a hint of floral to it. The floral is not jasmine, but that’s ok, don’t ruin my fantasy. :)

Thanks Michelle!

First tea I am trying from the returned traveling tea box!!!

It just felt like a Ceylon day, and I love me an estate Ceylon.

This one is a lot more subtle than others I’ve had, there is absolutely nothing brisk about it. It actually tastes more like a Darjeeling, minus any astringency. It’s very citrusy, definitely orange, with just a slight hint of flowers.

Very, very clean on the palate. Super smooth, too.

Sorry Pekko Teas. I was really looking forward to reviewing this tea. I haven’t had a straight sencha in a long time. I opened the pretty golden pouch and removed the fresh looking leaf. I thought it smelled a little off. Steeped it up and sipped. Yep, I accidentally contaminated this. I had a highly fruit flavored sample I opened and put in the drawer. The next morning when I opened drawer all I smelled was fruit. I removed the fruit tea and put it far away. Apparently too late. This was unopened and it still leeched in to it. Be warned to keep strong odor teas away from more delicate teas. Sorry again Pekko, I’m sure this would have been really good.

Many thanks to Pekko Teas to their very generously sized sample and offer!* It’s been awhile since I’ve had Bai Mu Dan/White Peony straight, back when I was exploring as many different grades and varieties of white tea mostly from Upton. It’s not something I would have picked out for myself now, but I’m glad for the opportunity all the same. I am always struck by the diversity of color, size and full/brokeness of the leaf. There are a few vibrant unfurled green leaves, many silver buds and lots of brown, olive and grey withered chopped up leaves.

I find White Peony to be both ugly and beautiful and am admittedly spoiled by whole leaf tea most of the time. This being said I do enjoy the herbaceous and woody personality Bai Mu Dan has compared to delicate Silver Needle. They remind me a bit of Darjeeling (and that’s the exact same reaction my friend had with this, her first White Peony) which also has a wonderful mix of color, but I find the company’s comparison to Keemun interesting, I’ve only had one unblended Keemun before so I can’t really speak to that, but I do get jammy.

I’m going to hold off on rating this one until I’ve had it a second time. I just guess I have a hard time seeing peony as a “luxury” tea and have a hard time justifying the price. but I don’t want to give it a low rating based on my bias. Still nice tea all the same!

got this tea today as a sample from pekko teas, didnt even know it was coming so a pleasant suprise i guess. upon opening, this package is pretty, its wrapped in a colored light paper(???) inside is a tall thin golden package with the company name/logo + tea name. one negative i would note is that although the bag had a golden twist tie like peice wrapped around the top, it was not sealed(probably not ideal for longevity) but it is a sampler so not a huge strike unless you plan to keep it sitting around a long time before trying it.

since this was sent to me as a free sample i felt i should add this tea to the site, and ill try to give a brief impression in-spite of not really liking green teas >.<

the tea itself comes out yellow/light brown liquor, smells of a very subtle green. the leaves look black in the bag but are actually more darkgreen/brownish. smells kind of like … maybe a ladies arts and crafts store??? kind of like a florally/minty scent.

the tea tastes green in a very subtle way, slight mintyness to it. the consistency is thin but smooth maybe what some would call a bit buttery?
aside from that im pretty sure i brewed it incorrectly :( there where no dirrections on bag and i didnt see it under “Black” on the pekko site, was under the impression darjeelings where black. so the water was probably a bit too hot and the tea had a slight bitterness/astringency to it… kind of like a straight alchohol but very subtle (probably due to my error)

all of that said i will not rate this tea because of my personal bias against green teas… which i hate… this tea was subtle enough, i had no problem finishing the cup.

I haven’t drank this one for awhile.
I have 2 ladies here practicing their Harp duets & I always serve them tea. I served this one, in part because I’m really trying to make it through my entire menu of teas by the end of the month, which won’t actually happen, LOL, but at least I can make it through all the black teas then. Also, I haven’t drank this one for awhile, as ceylon teas tend to not interest me much, they tend to upset my stomach if it’s empty (along with white, green, puers & oolongs), and so I figured it was time to give it a try again. After breakfast!

It is, of course a much more gentle brew that what I tend to go for, very light & ‘clear’, with a taste closer to the ice teas of my youth, but today I’m really noticing a very lovely apricot flavor to it! Perhaps I originally judged this tea unfairly, for today it is quite nice! The ladies are enjoying it too. :)

I was reaching for the Laoshan Black, but then I thought to myself, “Quit copying Sil”. So I looked around to see what I hadn’t drank for awhile, & this Ceylon was it.

I’m not a huge ceylon fan, I admit it. It tastes like tea. Just plain old tea. Like the kind we all drank when we were kids, like lipton, or something. I want to dye eggs or white fabric in it. It doesn’t have all the malty, chocolatey nuances I tend to reach for. It’s a light & refined tea, & I’m into bold & deep. Ceylon is royalty, I’m a pirate.

BUT regardless of that, this is a high quality tea with a bit of a citrus-ness & maybe a little allspice. I overleafed a bit, & I think I’ll do so from now as, as that added a little thickness to the brew.