Steepster

So I’m horrible at describing scents and flavors of oolong, but I already love the smell of this one. I have to say, I love the taste of this tea. It’s got that beautiful grassyness that comes with oolong with a velvet feel across your tongue. At first sip, I immediately felt relaxed. This might become my new favorite tea.

Un-steeped leaf: lots of cloves. Not much else really.

Steeped: smells still heavily of cloves, but much less concentrated. I tasted it after the 2 min and 45 seconds and realized it was incredibly weak so I’m having it steep for a bit more.
So after a second steeping at a lower temperature of sorts, I am still getting primarily cloves. A slight bitter aftertaste, but I think that’s just because of the tannins of black tea. Not really my thing, but I’m willing to try it again.

This tea is ok. I don’t really know what other words to describe it. The first smell is very refreshing. But the taste is a bit lackluster. I think it may also be because I don’t particularly like turmeric, but the citrus is certainly nice. The citrus comes out significantly more in the aftertaste, which is ok. I think I will add a couple cubes of dried pineapple to sweeten it and flavor it a bit more

Origin: Fujian, China
Leaf Appearance: Tie Guan Yin pellets but they have brown edges and accents all over the usual green rolled balls. Scent is very creamy vanilla cookie and citrus.
Method: I am doing a side-by-side comparison,,,Western steeping 8oz water with 1 tsp for the 2.5 minutes as Steepster suggests; and my gaiwan with shorter infusions—both with 200F water.
Liquor: Golden creamy – light light pineapple juice color but very pearl light. Smells very vanilla.
Flavor: Roasted nuts/almonds, vanilla, citrus being squeezed into my palate in surprising ways,,,in the back of my throat then on the tip first part of my tongue. Very exciting. There is a tiny tiny bit of astringency as my mouth is dry and clean feeling but not overly dried or annoying and no bitterness. No stomach upset either which TGYs usually give me but I just drank my homemade fruit smoothie before so thats probably helping.
Wet Leaf: Very dark forest green color . They are crinkled all around the stem and you can see that they were really wanting a good roast on them. They did a good job because it is toasted nuts roast, not smoke and burnt food flavor roast.

I actually enjoyed the gaiwan version of my tea best, they were both similar in flavors but I enjoy watching the leaves and controlling the color and intensity of the brew.
Very good tea, one I would come back to visit rolled TGY oolongs for.

From the Steepster Select Box, September 2014

This was a lovely, rich oolong that I received as part of my first Steepster Select box. I loved the roasted, nutty flavor of it and confess that I sucked it down. I was also thrilled that the envelope told me how many times I could resteep the tea – so exciting! I’ll be enjoying this one for many days.

Got another one from the TTB. The description on this was, “Sweet and smooth with notes of caramel and sour cherry”, so I figured I’d try it. This one had only a tsp left, so I figured it was safe to take.
It says “sour cherry”….but honestly…it tastes like sour wood. xD It’s like wood…with a bite to it. xD
This is just….weird. xD Apparently I did not pick out good teas from the TTB. XD

Backlog:

A very smooth Assam. A bit smoother than I usually expect from an Assam. Assam usually is a hefty tasting tea, robust and just bordering on the edge of becoming bitter, but I didn’t get that from this tea, in fact, it might be a little smoother than I want my Assam teas to be. At least my “breakfast” type Assam teas.

Don’t take that as my saying I didn’t like this, because enjoyed it and it’s a really good Assam, but its not one I’d reach for as the first cup of the day. I like my first cup to be just a wee bit edgier than this one is, but again, that’s not to knock this tea because I really, really enjoyed it. It’s smooth, rich, delicious, malty and just … wonderful. I’d save this one for late morning or early afternoon!

Vegtal, spicy. Very green like. Pleasant.

I got this tea as a Steepster Select member and my wife and I loved it! The sample they send is perfect for brewing a full pot of tea and it went great with honey. I usually don’t like green teas, but I love oolong and this really did the trick for me.

When I went to India, I loved the chai they would serve in their homes and on their streets, but when I came back to the US, I realized I could not make this tea on my own and that I could only handle so much sugar and milk. This tea strikes a good balance but tasting similar to the chai I had in India, while no needing sugar or milk to add to the flavor.

I am not a big fan of oolongs that are this lightly roasted, but this one was pretty good. Nice for a change.

For a Chinese green tea, I was surprised at how much I liked this one. It was pretty good.

I was surprised at how much I liked this tea. The flavors blended well. I don’t normally drink herbals, but am considering repurchasing for late night usage.

This is a good chai, but I prefer mine to be more spicy. Recommended for new comers to chai.

Lemony fresh and uplifting with a ginger finish makes for a refreshing cup of tea. While the taste was great, I felt it was lacking substance. Generally I tend to blend herbal teas with other types of teas, as herbal teas always seem to be lacking something. As such I have paired this with a chai and blended them together, and they seem to cover each others weaknesses beautifully.

Lemony citrus with subtle spice on the nose. Very clean smelling. Visually fun with small bits of ginger and turmeric interspersed with fine green sprigs.
Taste: Ooo. This is very different from what I expected. Earthy, creamy and sweet with a lingering sweetness. Less bite to the ginger than I expected. I get a little brightness in the overall flavor as well. This could be a herbal alternative to hot cocoa, perhaps.

Pleasant, but like others noted, not overpowering, even though I accidentally oversteeped it on the first brew. Mild but indistinct floral notes, not much finish, but again, may be altered by accidental steeping for almost 2 min.

Nicely balanced flavors. Not overpowering. Man the aromas from the pouch are impressive. Subtle citrus notes. Spices: cinnamon, clove, some cardamon.

I just got back to my office after a few minutes and upon entering the space was greeted by this chai’s spiced aroma. Very pleasing.

As some reviewers have noted, this is not a strong knock your socks off, concentrated chai that you might mix with milk. I found the it just right, without any additions. If I were making my own blend, I’d shoot for something similar to this blend.

While the leaves themselves smell of seaweed, the tea itself has a fuller body and tastes more of the earth, with notes of nuts and honey.