Steepster

Usually when I add a tasting note, it’s got some stuff in there about music or life or something. Not this one.

Got some Da Hong Pao, Red Robe #55 from the Steepster tea of the month (which I’d recommend to anyone) and let me tell you what it smells like:

Marijuana.

Not like skunk bud that makes neighbors call the police and/or move, but garden variety. The sort that your skeevy neighbor’s van smells like. The flavor is the same as the smell too.

It’s not a bad thing, I was just really surprised to get a whiff of it and think, “Where do I know this very specific smell from? Ah. Yes. Now I know. Pot.”

I love the nutty flavor, in addition to the smoky taste accompanied with the deep roast. It was a great tasting tea and great for sipping in the afternoon. One of My favorites from last month.

The pearls are elegant and have notes of caramel lingering in them from the start. There is a sweet and slightly floral grassy aroma and a hint of fruit and nectar.

My first steeping was only for 45 seconds in a gaiwan. I always enjoy doing a brief first infusion for white teas and seeing the almost colorless, slightly golden liquid that comes out into the cha hai. It almost looks like regular water but with a mysterious golden glow, and yields a full but delicate flavor. This is where you’ll catch most white teas’ sugary and honey notes without them being overshadowed by the earthier, grassier qualities. This infusion is smooth and subtle, a bit of sweet grass and floral notes. I’m reminded a bit of Ya Bao.

The second infusion was a beautiful pale gold. The leaves have opened up a lot more and offer heady tropical fruit and flower aromas. The liquor smells of cream. The taste is buttery and creamy, lightly floral, ending in cut wood notes.

The third brew is very buttery, the scent and flavor both have notes of caramel and cream. The woodiness and grassiness from before are mostly gone. The leaves have fully opened up now and the brew is a medium gold.

Whoa!!! By the fourth steeping this tea has become very salty and buttery but still sweet. Reminds me of kettle corn! I wasn’t expecting that salty quality to come out of these leaves so late in the process! This is really great! There’s a slight dryness at the end with just a hint of tannin, nothing too serious, also a very light floral lingering note.

On the fifth steeping the overall impression is lightly floral and sweet, but the flavor seems to be waning quite a bit, so I’ll stop here.

Overall, this tea brings a lot of changes from one steeping to the next for a white tea. Perhaps because the leaves are rolled this allows different aspects of the flavor to emerge as the leaves slowly unfurl from one steeping to the next. I really enjoyed this white tea and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a lightly sweet, yet grassy and woody tea with just a hint of floral. Overall the flavor is quite smooth and creamy, gloriously buttery, and easy on the palate. Give it a try!

Good morning Steepster!
I am so happy to be at home today, I can’t even tell you. My workplace is incredibly hostile to someone with a disability which is sad for me but maybe they’ll fire me soon and I can look for a nicer place to work. :(

This is one of the teas from the Steepster select box that came in while I was gone. Normally I’m not a big fan of keemuns as they can seem a bit harsh but I really like the cacao and pine notes of this, it reminds me a bit of an Imperial Bohea that I already have from Upton Tea. This is a nice one to sip on plain, it also is good with soymilk but doesn’t really need any additions.

All I want to do is stay at home all day and drink tea :)

Backlog:

The aroma was very unusual. Some of the other notes on this tea suggest a tomato aroma, and I’m not sure that it was tomato that I smelled with this tea, but, it definitely smelled different.

It also has a different flavor. In this case, different is definitely good.

Rich with a medium body with a sweet, honey-like flavor. Malty, earthy, and barely there hints of smoke. A very easy to sip tea.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/25/laos-black-tea-05-steepster/

The dry leaf aroma is certainly piney and chocolate! As it brews I get quite a bit of smoke, but it isn’t really lapsang souchong smoke, more like a bar-b-q smoke, or mesquite. A tang to it. Maybe a hint of paprika or chili chocolate

Not a very big amount of tea in the packet, barely enough to make a pot. Leaf size didn’t look that impressive, but I think it might have gotten squashed in the packet.

Thanks DCS!

This is a superb black breakfast tea, not too bitter, gentle tannins, and great body. I could easily see keeping this as my new standard breakfast blend.

Tooch summed it up very well: A very warm and cozy tea, like a fuzzy blanket or a hug in a cup.

Backlog:

From my February Steepster Select box. I found the jasmine notes to be just right for me. I love jasmine, but I don’t like it when the jasmine essence tastes as though it came from an essential oil rather than the layering of the leaves with jasmine blossoms.

This is a cup of jasmine paradise. The jasmine is soft and sweet and melds beautifully with the green tea, which is light and subtly grassy.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/19/jasmine-pearl-select-2013-green-tea-steepster/

Pretty little pearls! Gorgeous yellow-amber liquor. I don’t love the flavor, but y’know, my tastes don’t swing this way. And of COURSE I oversteeped it. Cause that’s how I roll. Accidentally. Whoops.

Good afternoon Steepster!
Ugh, I have been out on disability for almost 3 months and I got back to the office today, working part time until June. I don’t know why but sitting at my desk is causing me some incredible pain. I am definitely more comfortable at my desk at home but they won’t let me work at home. I think because here I have a drafting table and a drafting chair and it seems more comfortable than being all scrunched up at a short desk.

Anyhoo, I got two Steepster select boxes while I was gone and decided to open them both up today. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a buckwheat tisane before. This smells really good, very nutty and bready. The flavor is nice and sweet. I am getting a grainy sweetness and even though this is a dark roast, it doesn’t taste like something that’s been dark roasted. I like this fairly well but maybe not enough to actually run out and buy any. It’s nice that I survived my day but I wonder if anyone around me noticed how I was so whiny and grumpy. Harumph!

Brought my second sample packet from a previous Steepster box into work, and I brewed it this morning. I really should bring a teapot into work. I think these leaves really need a chance to expand, and my cramped work mug is not the implement in which to do it.

The dry leaves smelled heavenly.

I’m not liking it as much this second packet, but it’s really hard to brew a great cup at work, so I don’t fault it. I can still tastes the hints of awesomeness that made me really like the first packet.

Also, I may be grumpy and overly picky this morning. :D
harumph.

Got this in the March (I think – not looking at the card now) Steepster select box.

This is quite marvelous. Reminds me of my favorite Keemun a bit, not quite as malty though, and it does have that honey-ish taste.

Made into a latte, and happily sipping away. Paired with leftover duck curry from last night’s D&D game. It’s just the thing for a lazy, very late-rising Sunday morning.

I would gladly add a tin of this to my cupboard.

This Souchong variety is famed for its pine scent and soul-warming flavour. If I had to compare this Lapsang Souchong to a painting, I would image one done in oils of a mountain, with light snow, tall pines, and dark brown all around. The stars shine at night whilst a small fire burns inside. This Lapsang Souchong has a campfire taste and smell, with a hint of pepper. It is definitely one of my favorite teas, and something I will search for and hoard come winter.

Liquor is clear and bright yellowish green, blemished only by a yarn clipping I hadn’t noticed sitting in the bottom of my cup.

It smells like a cup of steamed spinach (I wonder how steeping spinach would taste?), and the risk of a burnt tongue was barely deterrent enough to give it a few minutes.

I don’t know about the pine and the sorrel, but that’s okay. It’s really good. . . Green, grassy, vegetal, clean. It feels substantial in my mouth. I’m already excited for the next steep.

Hmm. The reviews led me to believe this was great. I don’t hate it, it’s ok. I’m not having any trouble getting through the cup, and I definitely taste the Golden Crisp flavor. I guess all in all I can take it or leave it.

Found this yesterday afternoon. There is a nice malty honey scent. Maybe a little darker than I remember. It’s still a nice, sweet flavour. Good with my b-day cake.

This was part of my Steepster Select box. It’s rainy here, so I needed some black tea. The scent reminds me of a breakfast tea blend, except a little sweeter. I enjoyed the malt, and honey flavours, but that is a little hidden under the black tea flavour.

I’d probably enjoy this on Winter mornings with oatmeal or something.

The aroma from this tea is a combination of toasted bread, coconut, and molasses. I am worried that it will be overly sweet in flavor, but it is quite pleasing to smell. As the tea has cooled, a new aroma of cacao has appeared leveling out the initial sweetness. The first flavor that I am detecting is more of the cacao and chocolate. The sweetness from the aroma is non-existent in the flavor of this tea, and given the roasted notes present it drinks more like a coffee. However, there is a slight sour finishing flavor to this tea. I would say it is similar to red grape skins. Given the rare perfect spring day we are having today this is a perfect after lunch drink.

This tea has aromas that I associate with South Georgia during the summer. I am reminded of boiled peanuts and freshly cut grass. Given the rainy weather this might be the best choice I could have made for an afternoon tea. There is a slight flavor at the beginning of the tea that reminds me of dry-roasted peanuts. This is quickly replaced with a heavy vegetal and grass. Finally, there is a slight earthiness that is quite pleasing. It really is summer in a cup and a solid reminder of why Dragonwell is one of my favorite green teas.

A lovely, warming, soothing evening tea. This tisane has a robust nutty flavor that reminds me strongly of genmai cha. I was not expecting a deep flavor profile because the tea itself was so light, but I very much enjoyed the full-bodied cup. I felt nourished and calmed after enjoying this tea, and it is the first tea from Select that I am seeking out to purchase. 9/10, will drink again.

Thanks Steepster Select, I might not have tried this otherwise.

The scent reminds me of brown rice, or toast. It has an interesting flavour, like a mild coffee and houjicha hybrid. Which is actually pretty good.

My expectations were this: Lotsa matcha, notsomuch genmaicha. I was completely and totally wrong. It’s got a strong genmai flavor and only a hint of the matcha. I steeped this guy for so damn long, too—because I subconsciously ignored the timer—and it didn’t ruin it. Gotta like that.