TeaGrotto

Simply logging the sipdown, and yay! I am back under 100 teas!

This was in the big tea box from Youngest – many thanks!

I have had this a number of times now. I like Nepali teas in general and while this one isn’t bad, it is not my favorite. I tried making it different ways. Based on the name I thought it was going to be a really strong breakfast tea but it steeped ip quite pale. I realized it is probably named for a place and not for its characteristics!

I tried overleafing it next time and it came out a bit drying. This time I made two steeps and combined them, with boiling water and four minutes for the first steep then five minutes for the second.

Again, it isn’t a bad tea, it just isn’t doing anything to make me want it more than another tea on shelf. I don’t it is a milk and sugar tea, either, but I may finish it as a sweet iced tea and see how it goes.

Sipdown

Such a rich mouthfeel! Lots of coconut makes for lots of oil floating on your cup and it is delicious. Everything is really well balanced here and this is rich and flavorful.

This came in a box of tea from Youngest – many thanks!

I have never had a sesame sweet bun so I don’t know how authentic this is to the taste of one. If it is accurate then I would say they must be delightful.

The aroma is very sweet, powerful, and coconut heavy. The blend itself is full of good size pieces of coconut and the steeped tea is quite milky looking from all the coconut oil in it.

I didn’t pay close attention to the dry leaf overmuch the first time I made this but this time I did notice that there were lots and lots of sesame seeds. They lend a strong nutty flavor.

As soon as Ashman took a sip, he said, “Wow, this is a good tea!” That is noteworthy because he rarely comments on tea unless asked directly what he thinks of it. It is logical that he would like this a lot since he really enjoys both Cookie and White Christmas by Lupicia and this has a lot of those vibes to me. The popped rice is lovely here.

The last ingredient listed is flavorings, and I wonder if one of those flavorings is cardamom. I didn’t see any in the infuser basket but I feel like I taste it.

August Sipdown Prompt – your biggest leaf tea

This is ONE of my biggest leaf teas but not THE biggest. The very biggest would probably be my Bao Zhong or a puerh but this is a new tea from Youngest and I wanted to go ahead and try it – many thanks, Youngest!

The package is confusing because mine is labeled “Plum Blossom Chinese Oolong” and under that “Taiwanese Tea”. If you look at their website, their package says “Plum Blossom Taiwanese Oolong” and “Taiwanese Tea” under that. But the online description says it is a Wuyi Rock Oolong…which puts us back in China.

It says it has award winning complexity but I didn’t get that using the steeping parameters I used today. I may need to gong fu this one. It does have the characteristic minerality of rock oolong, very much so, in fact. In addition to that just-lick-a-dusty-rock taste, there is a deeply browned bread toastiness.

It was good, but I think it has more to give when made differently. I will switch it up a bit and see if I can draw more out of it.

Very rarely do I submit teas on here, but this one is worthy. For starters the smell is out of this world. You can smell the deep oolong aroma with just a hint of ginseng and licorice. This cup tastes comparable to “Monkey Picked Oolong” from TeaVana. You don’t taste the licorice but can taste a slight hint of ginseng. This is my favorite tea! It can be re-steeped 3 times on one teaspoon. (Per 8oz glass)