Steepster

This tea seemed like the perfect fit for sitting in front of a fire and watching Netflix. I added a pinch of sugar because it seemed a bit tart and astringent on the first infusion, but I think I added just a hair too much – much of the complexity I detected earlier is hidden. I will have to see how this holds up to other infusions in order to give any ratings. Its still pleasant to sip on though.

This is a very fresh & clean tasting green tea.
I don’t taste the eucalyptus, pine or sorrel individually,
AND although this tea tastes slightly medicinal in a way I
cannot adequately describe… I truly like this tea so much.
It is a very nice palate cleansing tea and would be good with
Oriental foods (Chinese, Thai, Japanese, etc…)
But could easily be enjoyed after dinner and before any dessert.
This is GOOD ;-)

This is actually quite mild for a green tea, with a nice nutty flavor that downplays any grassy notes.

This is my second and final batch of Organic Long Jing from the Steepster Select sample pack. It’s perfectly fine, but not my favorite tea of this kind, so I will not be purchasing this particular version. I did enjoy the experience and will reinfuse the spent leaves this evening…

I recently learned that Long Jing actually means Dragon Well! So when we say Long Jing Dragon Well, we are repeating ourselves! ;-)

My travels through the vast land of Long Jin continue today with this entry from the January 2014 Steepster Select box.

Pale yellow, slight lima bean taste, smooth and buttery (lima beans are also called “butter beans”…). I like it!

second infusion: this was rather weak

This is from the January 2014 Steepster box.

Green tea and I aren’t best friends, but we sometimes get along. I have had one other dragon well tea and really enjoy it so I was looking forward to this tea. I think my excitement got the better of me though. I do not think I let the water cool long enough. The first few sips of this tea were very nice, a lighter green flavor. Not too chewy, or spinach-y. Sweet grassy/vegital flavor. As this cooled a bit it became extremely bitter to me. I will have a go with the second package. From the other reviews I believe the bitter was due to my error in steeping.

I decided to begin my foray through the January 2014 Steepster sample pack with Obukucha because, well, because I just ate lunch, and I love sencha post-lunch!

The liquor of this brew is whitish light green—more green than yellow, with a sort of ethereal glow to it. The taste is a perfect match: haute sencha with a slightly salty taste and a luscious, smooth and silken texture on the tongue. Yum! I wonder whether this was an award winner? Someone else mentioned that it reminded her of gyokuro, and I have to agree, since according to my palate super-fine sencha and gyokuro begin to converge at some point. Delicious!

The notes given on the packet are sorrel, eucalyptus, and pine, but to me the minerality is most dominant of all. This is a salty sencha, not so vegetal, and not at all sweet.

The spent leaves are actually mushy looking, which makes me wonder how good the second infusion will be….

second infusion: this liquor is much more yellow, but the taste is similarly salty. The texture is a bit less silken. It would be interesting to see the mineral content on this tea…

a floral black tea..for sure. I like it. It grew on my with every sip.

My green tea taste buds are not very sophisticated, my black buds tend to run the show around here. So all I can really say is this a decent green tea. Nothing mind blowing, but good with my dinner :-)

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp (2 sample packs)
Water: 1000ml at 205°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet, malty
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, caramel
Flavor: light vegetal, malty, carmel finish
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: malty, fruity
Liquor: translucent very dark red brown

From the Steepster Select tea subscription.

Company or farm obtained from unspecified. Listed as sold out

Resteep:
1000ml at 205°F for 2 minutes 30 seconds
smooth, almost silky, malty, less sweet

Resteep:
1000ml at 205°F for 3 minutes 30 seconds
Dark color but very light flavor

Rating: 2/4 leaves

Blog http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2014/02/loose-leaf-black-tea-wuyishan-black.html

I love the name of this tea!! I found online that it means ‘Great Fortune Tea’ and it is tradition in Japan to drink for the New Year to bring good luck.
The dry leaves look like a gyokuro,,,,, very moist, grass -clipping-like, thin, and dark green. But it is a Sencha. Smells good, like salt and red lettuce.
Brewed, the liquor is a lovely bright spring green color with scents of mineral and cooked mixed veggies.
The flavor is a deep green, grassy, salty mineral taste with notes of fava bean and the sorrel (which I haven’t had in a while but it has tangy notes).
As it cools, the tea is getting hints of pine and a zing of eucalyptus which is actually not my favorite aspect. Overall, a very nice green tea.

From the Steepster Select Box, January 2014

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp (2 packets)
Water: 1000ml at 195°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: roasty, floral
Steeped Tea Smell: floral, coconut, slightly roast
Flavor: smooth, roasty, nutty, slightly sweet
Body: Light
Aftertaste: roasty, floral
Liquor: translucent light yellow-orange brown

Resteep:
1000ml at 195°F for 3 minutes
darker, roastier, less sweet, still slightly floral and coconut?

Resteep:
1000ml at 195°F for 3 minutes 30 seconds
lighter, still roast

Resteep:
1000ml at 195°F for 4 minutes
roasty, sweet watery this may be the end

From the Steepster Select tea subscription.
Listed as sold out

Rating: 2/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2014/02/loose-leaf-oolong-tea-guiyuan-roasted.html

Sipdown! Sadly. I really like this one. It’s just roasty enough to be comforting but there’s also an intense sweetness to it that I’m amazed is natural. I would definitely buy more but four ounces is a lot of one tea that isn’t a 100 for me… It’s also expensive to buy in that quantity so I’m still wavering. I guess once I sip down about 150 samples (yes, really) I’ll decide what I really want to keep around.

I think I have one more of these packets so it’s not quite a sipdown, but at least I’m halfway there. This smells very roasty, more so than most oolongs I would reach for. There’s still a sweetness to the smell, though.

This is a nice medium-roasted oolong. I wouldn’t call it dark compared to some I’ve had. It’s very sweet brewed up, to the point that it almost tastes like Golden Moon’s Sugar Caramel Oolong. There’s a slight roasted oolong flavor and a strong brown sugar taste. I don’t know that I’d buy it, but it’s really nice.

Had to say I was a little surprised by the instructions to steep an oolong with boiling water. Glad I did, though – what a lovely cuppa.

Good amber color to the tea, with a nutty aroma. On drinking it the caramel notes and very faint floral taste did come through. Very drinkable – really the only bad thing about this tea is that as a unique sample you can’t order it. Maybe soon?

PS – A note on the temperature: I did try a resteep at 195° just to see what was up. Floral notes were definitely stronger, but an astringent taste crept in there. Stick with boiling on this one!

I thought this tea smelled a bit better than it tasted. Earthy and robust smelling, but a bit weaker tasting. Maybe I had too much water for the pouch? It was a very nice example of Red Robe, but I wouldn’t say its one of the best I’ve tasted. Still all around a nice cuppa.

I honestly can’t believe no one has commented on the most obvious scent of this tea (though maybe most of you are city folks)…a nice ripe cow field. I was repulsed by the dry scent at first, but thought I’d give it a chance, as I know all too well that dry scents can sometimes translate to drastically different steeped scents.

…Nope, it smelled exactly of cow manure. The tea itself wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, either. I never thought I’d describe a tea that way, but it really is spot on. I just couldn’t tolerate the last half of the cup with manure smells assaulting my nose every time I took a sip.

I’ll keep my second sample as a prank for my next tea party.

The dry leaves look like flattened yellow-green color raffia. They have scents of yellow squash, mung bean, rocks, and a hint of lemon.
Brewed, the leaves smell very much like mung beans. Very clear tan liquid. The liquor is very Earthy and again, the domant essence is cooked beans.
I always drink green teas with lunch and this one is nice and somewhat neutral-tasting. Tastes like my favorite Chinese restaurant’s green tea.

From the Steepster Select box, January 2014

Second steeping, I added way less water. I might have given too much water to the first one. Now the liquor is yellow-green color and has a nicer roasty aroma and flavor. There is a definite almond accent with collard green notes. Astringency cleanses my palette.

Oh my gosh so I keep dabbling between the steepster app and the site because I definitely want to get used to the app because it’s so cute!
So yeah. This tea. I wanted to drink one from my Steepster Select pack and asked my roommate to pick a tea out at random and she chose this one!
Dry, this tea smells nice. Definitely smells like an oolong.
Steeping, whoa oh ohhhh it definitely smells like an oolong! For some reason, I always hate how oolongs smells like, but when I taste it, it tastes so much better. Just gotta get used to it, I guess!
And now trying it out aaand oh yes. Definitely oolong-y and tasted all roasted and ash-y and liquor-y. Don’t know if I necessarily am in LOVE with the taste, but it’s still a pretty good tea :) not the best, but decent :)

Not bad. Savory sweetness with hint of mushroom.

I got one good steep from this tea (212 for 2 mins 30 secs per instructions). I added 45 secs to 2nd steep but the tea was weak.

Color: Brown with slight reddish hue
Aroma: Buttery, moist tobacco leaves, slightly nutty
Mouthfeel: Medium to full feel
Taste: It tastes like it smells with a definite nuttiness to it. There is a mellow rich sweetness with a mild dark chocolate finish. Some pepper notes became apparent as the tea cooled.

I really like this tea! It is so nice and mellow yet full of flavor. It sort of makes me feel like I am lazing in yoga pants and a comfy tee. Easy…