Renegade Tea Estate

Its a nice mellow oolong tea. this is from the TTB. Has a slightly fruity flavor, almost tropical feeling. Its nice.

An unassuming black tea. Good for those who like to discover deeper flavors but not good for milk/sugar tea drinkers. There is no astringency and is rather light. It has a woodsy profile in aroma and flavor.

Sample from a TTB. Unfortunately, I feel like this one lacks much character. I’m not getting any maltiness or deep tasty flavors. It ends up a little thin and plain for me. I added some strawberry extract to make it more exciting.

Hello August. You came too quickly but there’s nothing we can do about the movement of time so let’s just drink more tea. This tea is quite delicious when cold. My daughter said she had a good mango iced tea with sugar at Caribou. I told her I could make her a better one. So I steeped Alphonso mangos in this tea and the match is fantastic. This tea has woodsy qualities to it but also some chocolate notes that really come alive when the tea is cold. It doesn’t pack quite the punch that an Assam or some other Kenya/Sri Lanka teas do but still very enjoyable. A bit of tobacco and smoke but not heavy to the point of revulsion.

TeaTiff TTB #14

Drank this one at work and honestly wasn’t paying the closest attention, but I remember it being a perfectly pleasant but slightly boring oolong. Not good, not bad, just…there.

TeaTiff TTB #10

If I hadn’t known this was an oolong, I would have thought it was a green tea. It brews up bright green and has a very fresh, floral flavor. Although it’s nice and smooth, it doesn’t really have that buttery mouthfeel I associate with oolongs. Still quite enjoyed it, though!

TeaTiff TTB #7

Though not the best green tea I’ve tried from the box so far, I still enjoyed this one. It was quite vegetal in flavor, but not at all bitter.

2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 24
From Skysamurai.

This has an interesting flavor that I can’t quite seem to place. It almost tastes like an oolong to me, but I’m pretty sure it’s a black tea. It’s curious, but otherwise uncomplicated.

2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 14
From Skysamurai.

This had that roasted aroma I always notice when I drink an oolong, but it was lighter than others I’ve tried. I ended up using the full sample for a pot to share. It smelled really fragrant in the teapot but I didn’t get much flavor in the cup. Most likely I’m just not accustomed to oolong. I’m sure someone else would have loved it.

2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 11
From Skysamurai.

Green teas are admittedly not my favorite. I like my tea sweet (maybe it’s growing up with that Alabama sweet iced tea), and green tea to me almost always smells like cooked spinach or some kind of green vegetable. I can sometimes appreciate flavored green teas, and I do kind of like the ones that taste like sugar snap peas (again with the sweetness). Overall though, I’ve never been able to enjoy them the way others do. My taste buds just aren’t that sophisticated. Unfortunately (for me), this one falls squarely into the cooked spinach camp. It smells very savory. Thankfully my husband enjoyed it!

A decent green but you can tell it’s by a developing company with someone who (even though they are a tea master) just started a tea farm. The flavor is somewhat vegetal but a bit blander than one would hope. The mouthfeel is soft at first but then feels astringent without the tang.

Renegade is fairly new. This is very evident in the appearance of their tea. I’ve tried their black, green, and oolong; and each is very similar in its impression. Though there are plenty of heavier oxidized oolongs this one more closely resembles a black before steeping and a green after. Which makes sense because oolong is supposed to be in the middle as far as oxidation goes but it still looks darker than your usual oolong. It has a soft taste, somewhat woodsy with earthy notes and little astringency. Bare mineral notes and some unique green pepper hints.

This one is no longer on the Renegade Tea site, but this was one of their earlier methods for making black tea from 2019 and was one of the company’s first. The closest you can get from them right now is their Burnished Beauty from what I remember reading from one of their blog posts, which I have yet to try.

I got it because it was a sweet mellow and has the elusive cocoa note, and it’s the easiest of the Renegade Teas I got to drink. Dryleaf, it’s chocolaty/breadsy and has an floral autumn leaf aroma and taste like high quality 2nd Flush Darjeelings; albeit much softer and less acidic or spicy. Like all of the Georgian Teas I’ve had, it’s very forgiving. Even though it technically expired last month, it’s held up pretty well and actually tastes better than when I first opened it and bears a lot of similarities in body to the Eco-Cha Alishan Black I have.

To compensate for the expiration. I’ve dumped between 7-10 grams in a French press for 12 oz of hot water. Western has been the best style, and while it’s decent Tumbler/Grandpa style after 10 minutes, the tea can get a weirdly drying fruity/leafpile sitting too long in water astringency that I’m not sure how to describe. I’ve only done 2 Gong Fu attempts, but the session requires hefty leaf or only lasts between 3-4 cups, first and second being the best of the session.

Since all of the teas I got from Renegade Tea were a little bit lighter than I expected, apart of me thinks I should have tried the more bolder teas to see how bold they actually were. I personally do not like intense Assams or Sri Lanka Teas, so a full bodied Georgian tea might have a little bit more nuance in comparison. I’m going to try to finish of the rest of this that I can today..unless someone can stop me. I am glad I am actually catching up my backlogs and inventory, and I think this company deserves more love because they have some very unique teas that are all very mellow and notable.

When you have a lot of tea that is near its expiration date, and it surprises you to have a lot of flavor. I heavily leafed my cup, and it was pretty complex. All my notes are still on there, but the rhapsberry, lilac and bread notes were really working with todays 60 degree weather. Each cup gong fu got sweeter and sweeter leaning a little bit into tannin and brown sugar towards the end. A part of me wishes I could have gotten a smaller sample since I have at least 30 ish grams to work through on top of all the other teas I’ve had, but I’m happy I figured out a season this works in. It’s a spring-summer tea.

I overleafed it gong fu, but I flash steeped it in 10, 15, 20, 15, 25 yielding three solid cups and four subdued ones. The hibiscus, currant, and rasberry notes were there in the background in steep one, then more prominent in steep two. Since I filled half of the gaiwan with leaves, some astringency poked through leaving more dryness in the tongue.

I was reading some notes on other teas and under the power of suggestion, the drying quality and grittiness made me think of buckwheat in steep one. All of the Georgian blacks I’ve had tend to have it, and it’s really pleasant when it hits the tongue right the the fruity notes afterwards into a yammy malty boddy. At the same time, the grainy quality can add some discomfort. The dry wheat quality and occasional astringency is why I’ve drank this one so slow in the last few years. It’s still a quality tea that stacks up against Chinese teas or Balhyoachas, and it’s not really that astringent normally.

My hesitation is probably my sensitivity to caffeine. It’s grown the past few months because I’ve backed off from the amount of coffee and tea I drink together. I still plow through my oolongs easily because they are easier for my stomach and head. I do still recommend this one if you’re getting into Georgian teas and want a close equivalent to some Korean or Chinese blacks.

2020 Backlog:

Lighter malt in comparison to the Evening Lilac, but more punchy with flavor. Berry Breeze won my heart over the Evening Lilac catching me by surprise. Their notes" red currant, raspberries and hibiscus. A fresh and fruity black tea, no sharp edges." are spot on despite it being a forgiving tea. It has a little bit of cocoa nib dryness to it that’s kinda nice in contrast to it’s juicy body. I haven’t iced this yet, so I can’t say if it tastes like a hibiscus iced tea.

Like it a lot Western, need to experiment gong fu and grandpa.

Backlog: Got 100 grams of this because I thought I’d really like it. Renegade Tea mostly does large servings of 50 grams, and I almost picked the white, but I decided too late as it ran out of stock so I got more of this tea and an older one, First Kiss, which is no longer on the site.

This one’s extremely floral and heavy with Lilac, and juicy and smooth like cranberry juice. In contrast to the sweeter notes, it’s got a little bit of a buckwheat dryness behind the floral component.

I haven’t done a proper session with this one in a while, but it’s a soft, resilient tea lacking astringency. It can get a little bitter like jasmine after an extremely long steep, so grandpa style might not be the way to go unless I figure it out a different way.

That’s all I’ll right for now, but it’s a tea I’m having a hard time getting through. I enjoy it when I have it, but I have to be in the mood for it.

I will likely amp up the rating in the future, but I’m giving it the “This is seriously good tea rating not quite a staple; still exceptional rating” of 88. I also did find myself craving it because it’s fresh without being too grassy, but smooth and easy to drink when I’ve already had too much tea and caffeine. Tulips,jasmine hints, florals, cream, a little bit of apple/citric acidity and sweetness, and zucchini/squash buttery greenness.

I had this immediately after an Alishan, and the profile is pretty damn close. I see myself coming back again, and it did surprise me with a 5th steep I didn’t expect. You really have to be generous with the leaf and precise with the brewing to get the right flavor profiles gong fu. That means I will probably finish this one faster before it’s expiration date.

Got this last year to try it out. I’m not going in depth right now, but it’s a very smooth, buttery, breadsy and floral oolong. There are a lot of similarities to a Bao Zhong in its lilac and jasmine notes, but it’s extremely soft and thick with a bit of grainy biscuit like texture you get in Himalayan oolongs and greens.

Since it’s a Georgian tea, it’s on the softer side so I have to be extra generous with the leaf western, and even more generous Gong Fu. This one works well as a cold brew, and I’ve grandpa’d it, but I need to experiment more. There’s a nice astringency/acidity like fresh peppers or green apples on occasion like I got today along with tulip florals. This and Berry Breeze were my favourites when I got a discounted pack from Renegade Tea Estate. Definitely recommend it, but I will write about this again in the future.

This is a tough one to review. With a name like “Banana Rama”, it’s tough to get into tasting this without smelling and tasting bananas everywhere.

The dry leaves just…smell like dried bananas to me!

The wet leaves are completely out there, so different than the dry leaves. I get this minty, strong, mineral aroma, typical of assam-style tea.

But when I take a sip of the 1st steep, there’s none of that. It’s a pretty sweet, smooth tea, which tastes…like dried bananas. But! It’s also surprisingly juicy, with a hint of acidity in the back, which makes the finish more like fermented bananas.

The 2nd steep is, again, smooth and juicy. I get some fragrant wood out of it. Like the tree bark of a pine tree.

The 3rd steep shines with a beautiful dark amber colour. The acidity really kicks in (something which I’ve started to notice always happens around the 3rd steep, with a lot of Renegades tea), which reminds me of Nordic forest berries, shining through the foresty woody aromas.

The tea goes on for 2-3 steeps more, before becoming a bit acrid.

Lots of the dry leaves are quite dark, mixed with green. The contrast shows even more on the wet leaves, where dark emerald leaves are mixed with leathery colors.

The wet leaves are sweet, fruity, slightly roasted.

The first steep (75 degrees) is a bit weak, due to too short steeping I’d assume. I get some wood, quite a smooth/juicy feel, and some pleasant baked sweet dough aftertaste.

I’m excited for steep 2!

Not such an exciting steep 2.

It falls a bit flat in aromas. It’s still a pretty pleasant tea though, to be fair. Light, nice texture, barely any astringency, juicy, maybe even a bit of a pineapple aftertaste, very very far back ? I don’t think this tea is like a tasty adventure that will bring you places, but it’s a good tea.

Well, the 3rd steep was a surprise! Somehow, a pinch of acidity just appeared in there, giving the tea much more personality. To me, this reinforces the whole pineapple thing, and I like the tart feeling that it gives, mixed with the slight astringency that just joined the party.

Now for the 4th steep, let’s crank up the temperature to 85 and see what happens.

Well, it isn’t bad at all! Nothing special to mention there. Probably getting close to the end of this tea, but still giving a pleasant, full taste.

Dry leaves: Sweet, dry hay. Cookie dough.

The wet leaves smell out-of-this-world good. Fresh, snow peas, cut grass, fruity melon-like smell. Their color is dark emerald.

Liquor color: Greenish yellow.

The first steep is a bit weak, steeped at about 80 degrees. Hard to tell exactly what’s happening there…Bits of astringency. The tea doesn’t have an immediate strong aroma, but already seems to leave a pleasing aftertaste.

The second steep, is pretty good! 75 degrees water, for a longer time, brings out all the aromas felt in the wet leaves. Again, very sweet, pleasing aftertaste.

The third steep lost a bit freshness, but still holds itself in body and aromas! The cut grass, the sweetness, maybe a bit of apple seeds? Hard to pinpoint.

The fourth steep is starting to lose in aroma, feels kinda watery, but still reinforces the lingering aftertaste.

An “Almost Oolong” definitely on the greener side.

The dry leaves remind me of sweet hay, greener tones. The sweetness reminds me of butter cookies.

It recommends 70 degrees, but I went with 80 on the first steep, with a normal amount of leaves, in a small gaiwan.

The liquor is of a light yellow/orange

The wet leaves are dark green, with bits of oxydation showing through.

The wet leaves smell amazing, reminding me of flowery oolongs, with some thick grape juice tones.

The tea has aromas of fresh flowers. Melon. After a few sips, some savory cooked green vegetable (aspargus) hit me, possibly cause of the higher temperature. Bits of astringence.

The 2nd steep is at 75 degrees. The tea doesn’t give much fine aromas as it did before, but keeps a nice texture.

After a 3rd steep at about 75 degrees, not much sweet aromas again, but a lingering sweetness sticks around in my mouth, reminding me of young shengs.

I re-heat the water at 80 degrees for the 4th and 5th steep. The tea has more character again, but getting a bit acrid after the 5th.

15 minutes after my last sip, sweetness still lingers in my mouth.