The Cultured Cup

ADVENT DAY 19
I got so excited when I opened up my bag this morning – maybe for the last two months, I’ve been looking for a grape flavored tea to try. It did not disappoint! It didn’t taste anything like grape or wine – I looked up the ingredients, and there is no mention of grapes either – but it was really yummy and relaxing on this cold day at work!

Ever since TeaSource discontinued their Black Mao Feng, I’ve been on the hunt for a replacement. This one isn’t quite what I’m looking for (I’m not getting those baked bread notes promised on the label) but is quite a lovely tea in its own right! The leaves are unbroken, long, dark, and twisted. The primary aroma is molasses and I get strong notes of molasses, honey and raisins in the sip with a lingering fruity sweetness in the aftertaste. It’s very robust and full-bodied and holds onto its flavor through multiple re-steeps with no bitterness or astringency. At the price, I probably won’t be re-purchasing but I’m glad I gave it a try.

I was in Dallas this weekend and got to visit The Cultured Cup’s storefront for the first time. While their prices are on the high side, the quality is outstanding! This one is a beautiful mellow, nutty oolong that’s been flavored with real lemon oil (not that awful furniture polish-tasting artificial lemon flavor) and just a hint of basil. The resulting flavor is sweet and creamy but not too cloying and it holds up beautifully to multiple re-steeps. I would definitely re-purchase this one!

I’m quite a bit behind on some of my advent reviews. The last week before Christmas was wild, as expected when working retail. I’m so sad all of my advents are now finished. I particularly loved opening the one Inkling put together for me (thank you so much!). So much warmth and kindness went into the assortment, I so appreciated it. This was one of my favorites of the bunch. So rich, so robust. The combination of pu’erh and deep, dark chocolate was divine. I will absolutely be repurchasing this one.

Thank you for the sample! I should have bought more than a sample!

I missed darker dancongs, and since I was trying this company out, I asked for a sample of one of my favorite types of tea. This one is especially fruity, and extremely good.

I was going to gong fu it, but it turned into a western session at an accidental three and half minutes. That was not a problem because it was insanely good. White peach is a good name for this tea, as it smelled and tasted like something made in an orchard. Immensely peachy, sweet, soft, oddly fuzzy, and then complex. Some floral notes of peach blossom sprang up in the smell, and in mid sip ending in wood and honey. Minerals rose as the tea cooled down, and came up again in the later steeps. It just kept on giving, and it was such a nice return during this cold weather.

I am also holding off on rating this one, but it is very, very good. My only complaint would be price at $27.59 for 2 oz, but I will say it does compare to the higher end Dan Congs I’ve had. I only wish I knew the varietal.

I’m finally rating it, and its between 85-90 for me. For those of you who have not read the previous note about this one, it’s very similar to a Baozhong with some baked characteristics. It’s got the mainstays of lilac and orchid with some vanilla, nutty hints, perhaps gardenia, and definitely some green bean, butter, and watercress notes. Minerals tends to develop in the longer steeps gong fu or western, and there is a little bit of swamp plant aromatics to it from the watercress notes. Brewing the tea shorter helps alleviate the notes, but they can be pleasantly sour when done right. I would recommend this one as unique experience from America, and although the general profile remains the same, there are some shifts in notes from florals, to green, and minerals that make it unique, and it is a little bit more savory than other Baozhong’s I’ve had. I think tea snobs should try it to give America a chance.

When I saw the picture of this tea, I thought finally! A Dancong style American oolong! I was wrong as it is more Taiwaneese, but still, it is the kind of oolong I like.

I brewed it an easy western, starting off at around 50 seconds. The description of this one was apt; it looked like a dark Baozhong, and tasted very close to a Baozhong and a Four Seasons of spring. It had a savory squash note too, but it was very green and IMMENSELY floral. I got orchid, lilac, gardenia, watercress, and more green and mineral based qualities. It did make me think of a swamp interestingly enough. Perhaps that was psychological, but there it was.

You could probably pass this as a Taiwaneese oolong to someone just getting into teas, but the bizarre mineral, green quality was what set it a part. It was almost earthy and sour like a sheng, although the tea overall was not too astringent or bitter. It was very pleasant, and I do think it can compete with standard Taiwaneese teas. I am also glad I got this before it sold out, because it is that good. I’m holding off on a rating just in case I give it a high novelty rating, but I will say it’s good and I hope there is some way to encourage more American grown teas in this style. It’s a shame that the demand for this kind of tea is so niche, though.

Tea grown in the mainland of the U.S.A. was a bit of a quest item for my tea journey. Most American teas tend to be herbal or traditional takes on green teas and English Breakfasts, so it was awesome to find an oolong that was not in those fashions, and not from Hawaii as they can be very expensive. This was grown in Mississipi, and I will say that I’ve had very few teas that taste quite like this one.

This was on the darker end of the oolong spectrum, but the apricot and honey notes and lighter body denoted oolong. Himalayan or Indian oolongs might be the best varietal to compare this to despite the difference in elevation, but there were some aspects that reminded me of an Oriental Beauty or Darjeeling black. The smell is very sweet and honeyed with a little bit of a savory end, and some dryness like an autumn leaf pile. THe same could be said brewing it up.

This tea was incredibly flexible, responding well to short and longer steeps. I’ve done it western at four minutes, and not a single brush of bitterness or astringency sprang up. Honeysuckle began the sip, smoothing out into apricot, butter, and a sweet honey finish. I swear there were some cocoa hints, but those could just be in my imagination. I’ll have to write about this tea again to see if I do find any. Shorter steeps at 45 seconds emphasized honeysuckle more, and a slightly lighter sweetness. The rest of the brews both short and long were much the same in terms of notes.

I was surprised by how savory this one could get, making me think of squash and butter on occasion. The mouthfeel was just as thick and enjoyable. ’m also impressed with the longevity-I got 5 rebrews western and 7 in my shorter steep version. It does lighten up, but it was giving a lot.

My experiences with Pu’erh were not the best. But this blend of dark chocolate and Pu’erh is really amazing. The dark chocolate goes very well with Pu’erh and it settles the hay/barn yard aroma I get with pure pu’erh. I think this is a great tea to have in the colder months of the year.

I love Japanese green tea, and the kukicha has got to be the best Japanese green tea I have had to date. First, the dried leaves are a beautiful light green color and the aroma is very grassy and reminds me of matcha. The liquor is a very neon-green: so beautiful in a white, porcelain cup. The taste is very brothy and “umami”.

This was ok. Very full bodied. The raspberry is very predominant, in a good way. A good tea, but not to my personal taste. I’d like to try it iced.

Margaret’s Hope is a very famous estate in Darjeeling that most tea shops carry. Unfortunately I found this tea to be a bit bitter and and too astringent while lacking the beautiful muscatel tones that I love in Darjeelings.

A good basic white tea with plenty of white hair on the tips. Didn’t have too much flavor, so I left mine for a very long time, making a darker color. It was a little pricey though.

This may be more a fault with the actual tea estate, but I found a high number of stem and twig in my package. It might just also be the quality that Cultured Cup is buying. Pretty bland and not really expressing the characteristics of Ceylon teas that I love.

This is the go-to tea if you must focus on tedious tasks, i.e. Microsoft spreadsheet data consolidation. The amber liquor will cheer you and banish any lingering thoughts of monotony. Although some may prefer this with sugar, for me it’s perfect without it.

Beautiful, tea. Not muscatel but certainly unique high elevation grown. A bouquet of flowers, with rose being the dominant note.

Scenting a white tea with grape flavorade is a horrible idea.

White grape would be the perfect ice-tea drink for some yuppy mother wanting to get as much of the ‘anti-oxidants’ she can while still getting some purple drank.

I had this again and enjoyed it very much.

This black tea is good, but I’ve recently enjoyed several others more. I probably didn’t give it a good chance to enjoy, though, as I was swamped at work and didn’t get to it when it was the hottest. I’ll try again later and see if it improves.

I like this tea, but not as much as the French Breakfast tea from Marriage Freres. It is a lower price point, which makes it easier to drink more often, but it doesn’t have the rich, full taste that the French Breakfast tea exhibits.

The second infusion of this tea was quite good. I also did a third and even a fourth infusion of this tea. Strangely, it now is much darker and tastes more like the black teas I’ve been drinking. This could be byproduct of the tannin and buildup in the Breville tea carafe, but it is odd. It also could be related to the longer steeping times I did because I was doing the extra infusions. I much preferred this when it looked, smelled, and tasted like a green tea. I’ll have to check this again in the future.

I’ve been adapting to the green teas, but I really like this one. I brewed it as suggested by The Cultured Cup with tea teaspoons per cup of tea at 175 F for 3 minutes. I find it to be a wonderful cup of tea. The nutty flavors are very pronouced in the first cup. The aroma of the tea before it brewed was very grassy. The tea itself has a thick feel on my tongue.