Steven Smith Teamaker

Okay, I decided to try it again this morning at 3 minutes 30 seconds… it is a delightful assam. Malty and very rich, an excellent breakfast tea. There is something floral about it, but the finish is also spicy and strong. I added some soymilk to mine but no sugar. Might even be a bit better at 3 minutes only. Not the best assam I have ever had but definitely up at the top in terms of flavor. Assams are my favorite breakfast tea so I’m glad I got a lot of this! I also recommend checking out the Brahmin if you like a strong tea.

Sorry, Sil. I’m keeping it! :-P

This was my tea of the morning, so confident I would like it that I bought 4 oz…

I let this steep too long by accident (mornings are not my best time). It seems very thick and malty (a real spoonbender) but I just need to time it correctly before getting an accurate review/impression.

Tea of the afternoon. I’ll have to take it easy on the caffeine after this because I had two cups of coffee while I was out at a workshop today…

I’ve had this in my cupboard for a while. It happens to be one of the only bergamot teas that I care for and I think that’s because of the quality of the bergamot in this blend. Smelling it reminds me of an essential aromatherapy oil. The black tea base isn’t bad either but I like this with a bit of sweetener.

Tea of the afternoon here. My sweetie and I went to the Deyoung Museum and then came home to take a nap. This is a nice waking up after nap tea. I got the news today I need to wear the sling on my arm for another 2 weeks and I thought I was done with it. The damn thing is so uncomfortable I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night. Revive me, Lord Bergamot!

I was listening to Jay Z this morning before brewing this up and am wondering if “Lord Bergamot” would be a good name for a rapper – he he he. Anyway this is one of my favorite bergamot based teas.

I’m back from my local Whole Foods and found that they are carrying a few select Steven Smith teas and this was one of them. This is one of the few bergamot/Earl Grey teas that I actually like. I think the assam makes a difference here. Very enjoyable with soymilk and a touch of stevia. I wish they carried the loose leaf instead of the pyramid teabags but beggars can’t be choosers!

Yet another tea sachet sample from Steven Smith… in the interest of full disclosure I am generally not a fan of Earl Grey/bergamot based blends but I have to try it anyway… right?

For a bergamot blend this is pretty tasty. The black tea base is dark and rich and the bergamot is bright and flavorful. Gasp – an Earl Grey I actually like!? Most of them are obnoxious and soapy in my opinion.

A splash of soymilk just really made this perfect for me. I might need to keep some of this on hand… yummy. It seems so well balanced and artfully composed. On the list it goes. I rather wish I had purchased some more of this.

Another tea sachet sample to try from Steven Smith…

Eh I wasn’t terribly impressed with this chai for some reason. I’m finding the assam tea base isn’t really standing up to the spices and the ginger root seems much stronger than the other spices in the tea. Better with soymilk and sugar but probably won’t go on my list of things to repurchase.

This is one of the better 2nd flush darjeelings I have had and I’ll be wanting to pick up more with my next Steven Smith order. It has lovely honey and stone fruit flavors and is equally good hot or as a cold brew. I really wish it was available locally — you lucky Portlanders!

Upped the rating by a few points today…

I may be getting weird in my old age but I am always seeing these chia seed infused juice drinks around and I thought I would try making a chia iced tea.

I cold brewed this overnight and added the chia seeds this morning. After letting them sit for a few hours they got nice and plump. It’s kind of tasty, albeit slimy. It you try this I would recommend shaking the drink every once in a while to prevent the chia seeds from clumping together.

OMG… I’ve never tried cold brewing a darjeeling before but it really worked well with this one and brought forth honey like sweetness as well as a lot of fruitiness. I will need to do this again soon!

After lunch tea here for me…

I don’t tend to gravitate towards second flushes very often but I have quite a few first flushes and thought I’d at least try it based on the description.

This review is for the tea sachet version of this tea. It steeps up to be a medium orangy-brown. I really like the fact that it has a sweet, almost juicy finish instead of the stubborn astringency I find a lot in 2nd flushes. Has a light muscatel flavor and some woodiness. I wouldn’t really describe this as floral, only slightly in the aroma.

I’ll happily finish off the bag I have of this… IMO it was a bit better than the No. 47 I tried yesterday.

Good morning Steepster.
This is a sipdown for me. Although it’s a nice morning cuppa, it isn’t my favorite from Steven Smith and probably won’t be a repurchase for me. Also their shipping costs are pretty outrageous unless you buy $75 of tea, in which case it ships free. Other companies have a much lower cost for free shipping.

I have been seeing more of their teas in the Bay area so maybe I’ll just stick to buying the ones I can get locally.

This is a good choice for morning time but there is a bitterness present which I am not enjoying a lot, I think it’s the keemun but I also didn’t totally enjoy the plain ceylon I got from Steven Smith. Not too bad but won’t be ordering more when my current supply runs out. See previous notes, if interested.

Tea of the morning here. I don’t know what it is about keemuns, but if brewed for slightly too long they just taste like a cup of dirt, as was the case with this tea blend. Note to self: keep steeping time under 3 minutes.

Yum, this is a great tea for waking up in the morning when you can barely get out of bed (for me this is practically every day!)

see previous notes for more details

Tea of the morning here, this stuff is very good for wake up time and is so flavorful and good with soymilk… it has an almost chocolatey aftertaste. I know I will be done with my 2 oz. soon and will wish I had purchased more. Luckily I know where to get some. ;)

Raised the rating slightly today,

Happy Monday!

Tea of the morning here; dark and luscious – and a real eye opener. I reviewed it a few days ago. It’s so yummy!

Surprised at the meh sort of reviews this blend has received, I thought it was pretty good.

Definitely a lot of assam in here but the ceylons add a bright note. The keemun is likely my least favorite part, to me it makes the blend slightly muddy, it is very rich though and the bit of smokiness is a nice touch. A good eye opening breakfast blend… I enjoyed mine with a bit of soymilk!

Sorry for the short review but I’m late already.

I’ve had this one for way too long (over 2 years, I think), but it came in the individually sealed packages so I’m hoping it will be good for a while longer yet.

This is a mix of first and second flush leaves and brews to be quite a lovely brownish-red. The flavor is fairly woody with some nice, sweet fruit notes. I know the teamaker describes this as having buttery and floral notes but I don’t get these and don’t think I ever did! It’s a fairly decent cuppa though. Nice for sipping on in the afternoon.

Good morning Steepster,
Life has been sucky for me since I broke my arm last Saturday. I’ve been in a lot of pain and it’s also difficult to do things with one hand. Luckily I can type a bit with my left hand and use the mouse. Teabags seem easier because less clean up is involved, but getting these individual packets out is not. I’ve had this particular SS tea before and it isn’t one of my favorites from them but it’s pretty good for a 2nd flush darjeeling. See previous notes for more details.

This came with the black tea sampler I got from Steven Smith teas today…

I love darjeeling (at least the first flush) so I had some pretty high expectations about this. It’s a blend of 1st and 2nd flush teas and came in a sachet.

The instructions say to steep this for 5 minutes which seemed a bit excessive to me. I went for around 4 minutes.

The aroma of the wet leaf is woody and toasty and the tea liquor is a medium reddish brown. I’m definitely getting the nutty and toasty notes from this tea but the fruit /flower flavor seems to be eluding me. I was hoping for some muscatel which I’m not finding anywhere. For a darjeeling, it is very mellow and gentle.

Overall, it’s fairly good but nothing I would bother to keep in stock on a regular basis. If I was going to buy one teabag form of a blended darjeeling it would be Mighty Leaf’s version. Still I am glad I tried it!

sipdown! (237) This is a sipdown thanks to the lovely nicole who is getting the rest of this one to try out! There was just a wee bit left at the end of packaging this up for her, so i had one last little cup to send it on it’s way. I didn’t mind this one and thoroughly enjoyed having it around but given the choice, i’ll take #49 first :)