Steepster

I’m not a big fan of white tea, and this one was just not complex enough for me. I only tried two steepings, so I will try a few more with the second pouch. There were a few sweet notes, but not enough to keep me interested.

Beautiful color, as with many Japanese greens. The leaves expanded a lot in hot water. I absolutely adore Japanese greens when they are like this. There’s that smooth creamy greenness in the background that makes it so perfect. I love the pine. I love the savory sweetness. Really lovely tea.

A very interesting black tea that I would describe as being more like an aged green than anything else. A lot of vegetable notes in the body, peas and spinach most obviously, with a charming aroma of dried grass. I did not taste bitterness, however I could not detect any sweetness in the tea either, and so I was missing some depth and balance. This was a tricky one. I prefer more freshness to my greens, and more malt and oak to my blacks, so I don’t really know how to categorize this most unique Darjeeling. 6/10, would not pursue again, but I am interested in playing with temperatures and brew times for my second sample pouch.

Wow the dry leaf aroma is very powerful. Cocoa Puffs, toasted almond and the whiff I get when first opening a nori package. What an amazement when those aromas presented in the tea. Not so much the Cocoa but definitely the Puffs. Made 4 steeps drinking 2 at a time. Although I tried this at work in the morning I would really like this while watching Ran.

Not the best Long Jing I’ve had, but none the less smooth; offering grassy, buttery pie crust flavors and a most pleasant aroma.

A deeply flavored tea with a nice, mild tannin profile. A gently astringent flavor winds its way through the first cup, not strong enough to pucker, but bracing enough to refresh and perk up the palate. The tea was bone dry, with depth from some toasty and nutty notes, but not a grain of sweetness to it. A beautiful malty flavor developed as the tea cooled, which really endeared this cup to me. Fantastic example of a balanced black tea. 8.5/10, really enjoyable overall.

A very nice example of a malty Assam without bitterness. But it doesn’t have a whole lot of maltyness or coppery metallic taste either. The second steep tasted much like the first. An enjoyable cup of tea but not one I’d need in my tea cupboard

I had half an envelope left of these 2013 Jasmine Pearls from Steepster Select, so I brewed up half a glass—twice. It was good. Definitely an above-average Jasmine-scented tea.

Perhaps it was a sense of dejection engendered by my momentary lapse from the self-imposed and somewhat solipsistic Blazing New Ratings challenge, but I spent the entire afternoon walking around in the sun! Upon my return, I read a note by Cheri who seemed to think that I had thrown in the towel—or sachet, as it were.

No, not at all! I accidentally brewed up a tea which I had already reviewed, but the point of the Blazing New Rating challenge is precisely to brew up every tea in my house still new to me before consciously choosing to brew an old standby. Mistakes were made, but they were unintentional. My lapse was closer to involuntary manslaughter than to first-degree murder. And so I pick up the ball—or pearl— and move on…

Tonight’s steep-off chez sherapop pits Teavana’s Jasmine Dragon Pearls against the Jasmine Pearls “curated” by Steepster Select (can we talk? I hate the way the term curated has been appropriated by the social shopping industry! It used to actually mean something. Now it means: we want you to buy this product. To illustrate the utter vacuity of the concept, ask yourself the following question: what product for sale was not curated?).

Tonight’s more pressing question is simply this: Which Jasmine Pearl reigns supreme? Could they perhaps be the very same tea?

No, I have determined, they are not. In a direct side-by-side comparison using 2 grams in a 9 ounce glass of water at 76C steeped for about 3 minutes, I have determined that, although the Steepster Select pearl is good, the Teavana is just a touch better.

The dried pearls look very similar, with visible silver striations. The fully unfurled leaves, too, look nearly the same: long, slender, and light green. The first noticeable difference between the two teas was the color of the liquor. The Steepster brew was slightly more golden than the Teavana, which was slightly more green. More green does not necessarily translate into better tea, but often it seems to—at least to me.

I am not knocking the Steepster Select Pearls, mind you. I started with that glass and determined that the tea was very good. It’s just that when I a took a sip of the Teavana Pearls glass, I realized that it was slightly better.

(Blazing New Rating #27)

Everything you want in a good red tea. Subtle flavors, nice aromas, good mouth feel and great energy.

My first experience of a tea from Laos, this one, Laos Black #05 was included in a Steepster Select sample set. This tea was not produced in India, but the flavor and demeanor and scent and dried leaf form are all very Assam-esque. Which is to say that this is a good breakfast brew: heavy and stout and fairly smooth.

I ended up drinking Laos #05 with cream by force of habit. It probably would have been perfectly fine au naturel, but I associate Assam maltiness and cream as perfect partners. The adulterated brew looked greyish brown more than caramel colored, and the unadulterated brew was dark amber, not red, which is no doubt why.

I followed the instructions on my envelope and so brewed only for a couple of minutes, though ordinarily I would infuse this type of tea for a full five. I’ll definitely try a second infusion with the presumably not-entirely spent leaves later today.

(Blazing New Rating #25)

Brewed up my second packet for brunch in my small white teapot.

I really enjoyed it, it’s got a nice caramel taste. I would definitely welcome a tin of it in my cupboard.

I am sad that it’s gone. It’s one of my favorites from the two Steepster select boxes I’ve received so far.

I am back from England! Trying to get my body back on Central Timezone instead of Greenwich, so after powering through to at least 8:30 pm before sleeping when I woke up a little after 5 am I decided to go ahead and get up, as that’s only a bit earlier than my normal waking time here.

My Steepster select box came while I was gone, and I thought that trying an English Breakfast was a good way to ease back into being home. Now, I don’t generally like English Breakfast teas that I have been able to get in the states – and I only had a couple in the UK, which where fairly nondescript – but this one is REALLY GOOD. No bitterness that I normally associate with E.B. obtained in the US. It’s malty, which is the Assam, and I taste the carmelized fruit that’s on the description. It’s somewhat dry, but not astringent, which I like. I used sweetener and half&half, and this is a nice gentle morning cuppa to wake before the sun.

That’s part of the weirdness of being back after a fairly long trip – I think I mentioned before that the sky starts getting light before 4 am in Windsor? Here’s it’s almost 6 and it’s only just starting to lighten. That’s a readjustment that’s going to take some getting used to.

Now I am on the second steeping, which was steeping while I drank the first, with the same water from the kettle, which was below boiling. It’s a little bit brisker, not as sweet and caramel-y, but certainly not bad. Still a bit fruity.

Third: Hmm… caramel is back, but there’s a soapy quality. I would recommend sticking with two steeps. The attempt at a 4th was barely colored water.

Overall: Thumbs way up. I really enjoyed the first steeping, and the second was good as well. I would be willing to make a place for this in my cupboard.

Steepster Select Jan 2014 box

This was a nice green, but not one I need again.

I got a slight bit of salty from this. I thought I might be going crazy until I saw other people said this in their notes. It was more hay than grassy, but the steeped leaves really smelled spinachy. I didn’t get spinach from the tea itself. It had a good mouth feel.

Overall, I haven’t been too impressed with the Steepster Select box I got for free. Ah well.

First steep was too grassy, acidic, and bitter for my taste. The second steep has lost the bitterness, and has been replaced by a mild apricot sweetness. Not a tea I would reach for again, but it’s nice to taste once. I was surprised that it is a black tea, I would describe it as a green.

This is my favorite tea I’ve had so far! The flavors are really strong and delicious!

Dry leaf has scents of fresh picked garden vegetables, tomato, basil. There are a large spectrum of greens in the twisty chopped leaves.
Wet leaf is a nice “oak leaf green” color,,, scent is very unique,,,I had to really think about this one,,where have I smelled this? I think I am detecting mild yellow tomato and some sweet herbal.
Liquor is a dark golden, still clear color. Scent is the yellow tomato, dried apricot, sweet date sugar.
Flavor – rich, thick mouthfeel, tomato, basil, pickle, bitter note (if you have ever eaten bitter melon, it has a small note of that so it is a sweet bitter),,,,I finally placed the flavor,,it is those Moroccan oil-cured olives. I had to taste and smell a lot to bring back my memory of where I had tasted or smelled this scent before.
This tea is fantastic for a tasting bc the complexity is stumping big time!!! You have to really involve your senses and it’s a flavor trip!!! Definitely an interesting tea,,,thank you Steepster for placing that one into the Select box!!!
I am glad I chose after lunch to try this tea,,,,this is definitely for tasting in the afternoon.

From the Steepster Select box; May, 2014

I am by no means an experience Darjeeling connoisseur. My first impressions of this tea was its particularly grassy notes and mineral flavors. I only later realized how bitter, almost bittersweet, it was. Behind the bitterness was a pleasant creamy flavor.
I expected it to be more of a black tea, but I do think I brewed the tea slightly too strong.

(1st steep: 2 min) Still fighting a little bit of congestion, but the floral jasmine aroma cuts right thought any issues. The aroma and flavor are exactly what I would expect from a jasmine green tea. Much like spring captured in a tea. I have to agree with the tasting notes that this tea has a soft mouthfeel. I don’t think there is a better way to describe it. There are the usual floral notes that you would expect from a Jasmine along with the subtle grass flavor from the green tea. It is a well balanced and flavorful tea. As the tea has cooled, I am picking up what I can only describe as honeysuckle. I am looking forward to see how this tea evolves during the other steepings.
(2nd steep: 2 min 30 sec) There is still a strong floral aroma from the tea, but I believe I made a mistake increasing the steeping time. The tea has taken on a metallic aftertaste. Many of the flavors from the first steeping are still present including the honeysuckle. However, most of the pleasant notes are displaced by the metallic finish. I am going to attribute that metallic finish to my over-steeping the tea.

(1st steep: 4 min) My first thought with this tea is that it is a subtler Lapsang Souchong. There is a definite smokey armoa and flavor to it, but not as strong as I have come to expect from Lapsang Souchong. There is a slight pine resin flavor to it as well. It finishes with a slight earthiness that I would expect from a pu-erh. However, since I am fighting a cold and needed something a little stronger this morning, this tea is a good choice. Hopefully, it holds up over a couple more re-steepings.
(2nd steep: 4 min 30 sec) Surprisingly, the tea has all of the same aromas as the first steeping. A good bit of the smoke flavor has disappeared from the the tea, but has been replaced by a subtle chocolate flavor. The earthiness overpowers the pine resin as well. I have a feeling this tea will become more complex as I continue steeping it.
(3rd steep: 5 min) Much of the original smoke aroma is now gone. However, there is a still a nice earthy aroma present in the tea. It reminds me of many of the black teas that I enjoy. I don’t have a better description than that. A surprising change in the flavor is the addition of a slightly sweet stone fruit flavor. Something between lychee and peach. It blends well with the reduced flavors and adds a new layer to this tea. Something I forgot to mention but has been noticeable through all steepings is a lack of astringency. This tea allows the flavors to remain after the tea has been swallowed.

I would recommend this tea for a nice lazy Saturday or Sunday morning when you have time to sit and enjoy the multiple steepings. Great coffee substitute.

OK, I have no idea what I’m doing with this tea. Darjeeling is foreign to me so I definitely need to take a class or two. Did my prerequisite reading but there is so much it confuses rather than directs. It seems mostly brewed western style but that didn’t stop me from doing a gongfu session with the two packets from the box courtesy of Steepster. I don’t know why I resist western brewing so much, probably has to do with my impatient nature not wanting to go the whole 4 minutes in order to taste my tea.
I thought that the two packets looked like a lot of tea for 160 ml pot, and I was right, the first steep was way powerful after 20 seconds. I did 15 sec for the 2nd and 3rd steeps and back up to 20 for the 4th. The 4th was the best of the lot, nice muscatel, apricot, flowery, spiced tea with a pronounce bitter aftertaste which was not cringe worthy but seemed like it was meant to be there. The energy was more than I like but I need to awake for the evening “get out of town” for the weekend. This reminded me of oolong more than black, guess I will wait for now and read more reviews of Darjeeling before adding to my cupboard. If anyone knows of a good resource please pass it on.

Average nothing special black tea. I’d say it’s on the milder end of the Assam spectrum—easy to drink for a wide array of peeps just getting to know teas. Maybe not too dazzling for the connoisseur.

(1st steep: 2 min) My first thoughts on smelling this tea is that it might be the most toasted green tea I have had. It is unique compared to a lot of green teas I have tried. The aromas are more unsweetened cacao, wood, and roasted nuts. There are no vegetable or grass aromas. The aromas carry over to the flavors. I pick up lots of unsweetened chocolate and roasted nuts mixed with wood. I can’t quite put my finger on the wood except that it isn’t a pine resin wood flavor. Maybe something more like oak or a dry hard wood. Finally, there is a solid astringent finish to this tea that I am not used to from green teas. After the tea cooled, I am beginning to pick out some grass flavors. They are subtle but stand out a little more once the tea has cooled.

(2nd steep: 2.5 min) The second steeping of this tea presents a more grass aromas. The wood and cacao are still the primary aromas, but they don’t overpower the subtle grass aroma as much as the first steeping. Overall, the flavors are similar to the first stepping, but more mellow. I am picking up a slight green vegetable flavor that I want to say is like asparagus.

(3rd steep: 3 min) The third steeping of the Houjicha Ichiban the chocolate and wood aromas are almost completely replaced by grass and vegetables. However, there is a slightly sweet chocolate flavor that has appeared. It is not quite milk chocolate in the mouth-feel and flavor, but it is close. There is a slight grass flavor right before it is overwhelmed by the chocolate.