Steven Smith Teamaker

I find myself at a crossroads in that I can not review this tea completely.

Upon tasting this very vegeative tea, my mouth & throat decided to swell up. I’ll be adding this tea along with Kukicha from the Tao of Tea to “Don’t Have List.” Then start a search as to why these two teas are causing this to happen and if there is more out there. hmmm….

I picked this tea up from SST’s booth at the World Tea Expo 2010. I steeped the tea four times in 8 oz of water. The 1st steeping was for 3 mins and turned out to be too short as that I only tasted the green tea flavors and none of the lemon myrtle or spearmint. 2nd steeping was for 6 mins and the lemon myrtle showed up more this time around. 3rd & 4th times were steeped again at 6 min but one cube of sugar was added. The flavors were more rounded by then and seemed nice. The leaves after the steeping smelled wonderful. I picked the tea more for the spearmint flavor but the lemon myrtle overpowered the spearmint flavor. Overall, I was somewhat happy with this tea.

AmazonV was kind enough to send me a sample of this one (Thanks AmazonV). While I don’t normally care for Earl Grey’s, this one is light on the Bergamot compared to the others I have tried and nice very easy to sip and enjoy without having to add cream and sugar.

It is a beautiful orangy brown in color and tastes of black tea a very smooth and enjoyable cup. I am not sure if my palate is refined enough to give a good description of it’s flavor but it’s good (lol).

I had a very bad experience with Teavana’s Earl Grey Creme and decided to give up on Earl Grey’s and along came this one and I quite enjoy it. Hmmm this may need to go on my to order list for when I am off my tea freeze! Thanks AmazonV!!!

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Water: ~500ml filtered, 212°
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (Herbal, Strong)
Steep Time: 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: chamomile, mint, floral
Steeped Tea Smell: rooibos
Flavor: delicate chamomile, rooibos and a hint of lemon
Body: Light
Aftertaste: vegetal, astringent
Liquor: translucent orange-brown

Chamomile overpowers everything in this tea, it’s not a bad tea, I am just finding it to be too boring for me. There is a hint of lemon and rooibos, but where are the other flavors?

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/steven-smith-teamaker-loose-leaf-herbal.html

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: ~500ml filtered, 190°
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (custom, custom)
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: jasmine flower petals
Steeped Tea Smell: jasmine flower petals
Flavor: vegetal, astringent
Body: Light
Aftertaste: grassy, floral
Liquor: translucent honey (yellow-brown) green

I love jasmine pearls and figured I would give this a try when I placed my order. I think I should have gone with the pearls. It was too grassy, and astringent, for my taste :(

Post-Steep Additives: honey, which took the edge off the astringency, it was still grassy with only hints of floral after each sip

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/steven-smith-teamaker-loose-leaf-green.html

iced was lack lacklustar…has it on the train in this AM while reading “wizards first rule” it was mellow, slightly citrus – not decreasing points but suggest having it hot not cold

3 tsp, 750ml, black, strong (breville one-touch)
1 cup drinking now with some german rock sugar
another now in fridge to be iced
nice, mellow citrus-black

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 212° filtered ~500ml
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (black, strong)
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: strong citrus (bergamot)
Steeped Tea Smell: black tea, hint of bake-y
Flavor: astringent black tea, hints of citrus
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: astringent, sweet
Liquor: translucent brown, orange hints

I am not a huge bergamot fan, and I am really liking this tea. It’s a mellow bergamot, smooth black tea, and generally a delicious cup. I can easily see myself restocking this once I have room in my cupboard.

The packaging was a nice sealed silver bag, with a sticker arrange so the bag could stand itself up. The packaging date was written on the bottom with what I presume is a lot number. The packaging is very nice, with the exception that it is not resealable.

Resteep: weak, left in for 15? 20 minutes, perhaps a cold brew instead overnight would work?

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/steven-smith-teamaker-loose-leaf-black.html

This is a bit of a backlog because I was away from the computer this afternoon whilst I was enjoying this tea.

This is definitely one of my favorite Darjeeling teas (I love Darjeeling, so, I have several “favorites”) It has a very nice fruit quality to it. I could taste apples and grapes. It was a little less woodsy this time than I remember it from previous tastings, and a bit less musky. But, still extraordinarily delicious.

Since I didn’t rate it numerically last time I logged, I shall do so now, since I can taste again!

I love Darjeeling.

Some years back, I received a beautiful tin that was filled with the tastiest Darjeeling. It was the first Darjeeling I ever experienced, and since that time, I’ve been trying to find a Darjeeling that compares. The tin has long since vanished in the “black hole” that is my art studio (don’t ask!) and the name of the company that distributed the tea has long since vanished from my memory. So I haven’t ever been able to restock my shelves with that exact brand.

However, I have found some suitable substitutes… that taste almost (if not just as) good as that first Darjeeling.

This is one such Darjeeling. It has a very pleasant muscatel essence to it – slightly spicy, musky/woodsy, with a pleasant, palate-cleansing astringency. Tannic, but not pushing the edge to bitter. Like a fine, dry wine.

Steven Smith rocks!

As I’ve noted before, until my senses return to full capacity, I won’t be offering a numeric rating to this tea – as it wouldn’t be fair. However, I do have enough of this tea to last me until I’m feeling better, at which time, I’ll rate it accordingly.

Tastes like Toast minus the butter this morning. Pretty good indeed…
SIPDOWN #2 for today!!!!

Okay so this tastes much better today than the last time I tried it! I am going to bump up the rating! This is lovely today! It rainy outside and the co-workers are all gloom and doom and this seems to help! I am getting a buttery and toasty flavor and even nutty! Still not very fruity but GOOD. :)

I’m not tasting fruit but toasty, nutty, buttery – YES. It’s Medium Brown in color and has a bit of a toasty after taste. This is a nice, average cup. I don’t think oversteeping/infusing would be wise…I think it may be bitter if over steeped/infused.

I needed a good tea for wake up this morning. The tea bag is huge and I steeped about 16 oz of tea. The tea is robust, brisk, and malty. I get more of the ceylon taste than the assam from it but its still very good.

This is a very brisk, robust, malty tea. Its a very good choice for breakfast or for waking up in the afternoon like me when watching soccer. I can taste the assam, but the ceylon really stands out in this blend. It doesn’t have too much bitterness and does have a little astringency. I was hoping to taste the keemun, but alas I just can’t find it. Sill a nice cup of tea.

This is a brisk robust tea. I can’t find any bitterness and only a slight astringency. It has a nice kick to it like a strong coffee. This blend has excellent teas in it, you can taste it. It makes a very nice breakfast blend.

OK, now I’m very confused. I fixed this the very exact way I did yesterday and today this tea is strong, bitter, and very astringent. I can hardly drink it. This is getting dumped and I’m going back to the drawing board and try a 4 minute steep. I’m dropping the rating until I can see what it wrong. The 5 minute steep is the directions on the box.

2nd try;
I increased the water to 12 oz as this is one huge tea bag and decreased the steep time to 4 minutes. This is much better than earlier. The tea is smooth and not bitter. Yet this tea just tastes like tea, a strong tea. I’m not getting any of the nuances that I get from other teas. Maybe its the blend, I’m not sure. I really expected a lot from this tea. If anyone has any ideas on how to prepare this tea, please leave me a comment.

This is an interesting blend of teas. It is brisk, robust, no bitterness, and just a touch of astringency. This tea is in a tea sachet. It is slightly floral and has a subtle sweetness to the tea. I really do like it, its just very hard to compare this tea to other teas. I can definitely taste the assam in this tea. I can say that I like Simple Leaf’s Mountain Malt and Rishi’s Golden Yunnan better but they aren’t blends.

Backlog:

One of my favorite Earl Grey teas. Steven Smith did not disappoint.

I was so happy to receive a box of this tea in one of my Knoshy boxes earlier this year.

I love the base for this tea. It’s a blend of Ceylon teas and an Assam tea. This provides a rich, full-flavored base that’s a little malty and very smooth and robust. It is a substantial base for the strong bergamot flavor.

The bergamot doesn’t taste fake or perfume-ish. It’s bright and tangy. And as I say in my full-length review of this tea – http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/08/04/lord-bergamot-tea-from-steven-smith-teamaker/ – the combination of the bergamot and malty notes and caramel-y undertones of the black tea is quite moreish.

I would recommend this Earl Grey to anyone who appreciates a good Earl Grey!

Today while running around, I got to the point where a stop for tea was required. I could feel the beginnings of that lack-of-caffeine headache. Here in the Pacific Northwest, there is a starbucks at nearly every corner (seriously, if you miss the starbucks at this corner, you don’t need to turn around, just keep driving and there will be another one within a mile). But, I don’t like starbucks, and I like Teavana even less. So, hubby was nice and took a detour and took me to Brewed Awakenings where they serve Steven Smith teas. I don’t like that they serve the tea in paper cups because I can taste the paper, but, at least I got some good tea on the go. It would be better if they found a better way to serve it, but, at least I don’t have the caffeine headache now.

I do love this tea, definitely one of my favorite Earl Grey teas out there.

I am finishing off the last I have of this tea – looks like I’m going to need to place an order with Steven Smith soon as I can’t be without this tea for very long. I do have a lot of teas at the moment, enough to keep me busy and my mind off this one, but, I’m sure there will be a time soon when I want more…

It’s beautiful, as always! Smooth, rich, and delicious. A lovely way to wake up.

Time for my Earl Grey!

This morning, I decided to find one of my favorites! Even though I’ve been drinking and enjoying other Earl Grey teas lately, this one stands out above the rest. Smooth, rich, and delicious.

Absolutely delightful.