The Tao of Tea

The leaf is gorgeous. All uniform mostly golden and some black threads. Very fresh. Scents of orange, spices, golden raisin.
The wet leaves all turn chocolate brown and smell fresh, not briny. Very nice leaves.
The liquor is deep brown and smells creamy and sweet like honey.
The flavor is creamy, rich, not too sweet, no bitter and no astringency. There is a sweet note when you breathe out of dried apricot and a bit of date.
This is a beautiful tea!!
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8/4/14
Had some of this Gong Fu style this afternoon. This tea is not too sweet. I caught a smoky note today.

1.7 g in 10 oz of water

I give this an 8/10 on the boldness scale. This tea could easily handle a touch of milk and sugar but is sweet enough to drink on it’s ow n. A little woody, a little bit of fruit, and overall very pleasant.

Huh. Apparently this is my 100th tasting note. Took me long enough.

4.27g in 4.5oz of water.

Sweet and mellow with loam and malt notes. This is exactly what I adore about Yunnan teas. I always feel like I should be sitting in a summer forest when I’m drinking this.

Backlog:

A really enjoyable Oolong. Fragrant and flavorful.

The early infusions were soft and honeyed with notes of sweet fruit (reminiscent of a plum.) Woodsy tones and a rustic, earthy note.

The later infusions offered stronger honey tones, and the sweet fruit notes emerged, and by the sixth infusion, I started to notice the flavors soften and meld.

A really nice cup, here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/01/24/royal-phoenix-oolong-tea-tao-tea/

I kind of had that scratchy feeling in my throat that usually means the beginnings of a cold. Let’s hope it’s not! I haven’t been sick in over a year, and want to keep that record! Anyway, just as an extra precautionary measure I opted to drink green and white teas this morning instead of my usual black—hoping the extra antioxidants will help me out.

Mmm, I just love this green toucha. The apricot flavor is really yummy, and it is one of the few green teas I’ve tried in which the subsequent steepings are stronger and just as flavorful as the first. A good “Breakfast Green”.

One thing I’m confused about: this is classified on Steepster as a pu-erh, but then I went back and read the company’s description it seems as though this is really just regular green tea shaped into a bowl form. I know there are green pu-erh teas, and green toucha, and then green puerh touchas—which is this? Maybe I’m just incredibly dense and don’t get the differences between all of those. The description simply says this was made in the same place where the pu-erhs are made, but it doesn’t actually say this IS a pu-erh, so…just wondering.

I picked this up at my local food co-op on a whim today, and am really glad I did! I have never tried a green puerh before, but have been eager to for a while so…here goes!

1st steep: 4 minutes, ~180 degrees . Light, clean, sweet, tastes of apricot and clover. note I noticed after I removed the infuser that not all of the cake had been completely submerged in the water, and thus the tea leaves had not totally unfurled—they were still in a loosely-held ball. Still, despite this, I got a nice first infusion. Light, but still tasteful.

2nd steep: 4 minutes, ~180 degrees. This time I made sure to gently break apart the ball of leaves with my teaspoon to evenly distribute them in the infuser. The taste of the finished brew was much stronger. It definitely tasted of apricot and hay, but with a decidedly bitter finish. No sweetness detectible in this infusion.

3rd steep: 4 minutes, ~180 degrees. This time the tea was much less bitter (but still had a bit of a bite lingering), and contained hay and a mild apricot flavor.

Overall, the flavors I detected didn’t change much between the infusions. The same flavors were present but at varying degrees, and the extent of the bitterness differed among the steeps. The main undeniable flavor was apricot—which surprised and pleased me. I did not expect that at all. I guess I thought that because it is a puerh, it would taste more earthy/grassy/mossy but it seemed more like a normal green tea. Very interesting! And, I might add, it was a perfect antidote to the rich lunch I ate (turkey sausage with onions sauteed in butter, and a piece of 2-layer buttermilk chocolate cake washed down with a mug of whole milk! Definitely not the healthiest meal, but that’s leftovers and they should not be wasted, haha!)

I am looking forward to drinking this tea again. I think I will steep it at a slightly lower temperature next time and see if that does anything to assuage the bitterness. Also, I think I will have to buy some of the organic green puerh offered at Gong Fu Tea for comparison’s sake.

I have the Mate Mint by Tao of Tea and after trying the Chai, I haven’t gone back. I like the spice in this, it’s well-rounded and works on multiple brewings (as mate must). The first brew I usually only do for 30 seconds or so, and then drink as quickly as possible through the bombilla. Then I’ll do a 1-minute, and then on the third addition of water, I can usually leave it for a few minutes. The spice flavours aren’t as prevalent through the third steep, but they’re still quite pleasant. Overall, probably my favourite mate.

I like this tea. I liked it the first time I tried it, and I like every cup I drink of it. I’ve only had it black, and I can’t imagine ever adding sugar or milk/cream to it. The ginger is light and lovely. I don’t get pear out of this at all. But it’s a nice tea. I drink it a couple times a month. It’s usually not my go-to (as I prefer tisanes) but it’s nice every now and then when I need a caffeine boost.

I’ll be honest, this is the only matcha I’ve ever tried, but I do enjoy it. I finally got a bamboo whisk and it helps tremendously. Apparently the David’s Tea matcha is really good, but the price was right on this one. I like it halfway through the morning. I find I have to drink this one fairly quickly to ensure that the powder doesn’t settle. I like the flavour, very grassy and rich. I’m not sure that I would branch out into other matchas, as I like to stick to caffeine-free teas. I can’t compare it to any other matcha, but I do like it.

Earthy, with an astringent aftertaste. No bitterness.

I drank this on Friday for the first time – I don’t remember how long I steeped for. The directions say 2 minutes, but I may have gone with 1. It was delicious!

I was experimenting with the steep time today, since the last time I brewed this, I steeped for about half as long as the company recommends (2 min vs 4). Today I went with 3 min, same tea-to-water ratio. I think I like the 2 min steep better. This was still excellent, but there is definitely more astringency.

I have been having a hard time finding black teas that I like, that do not end up bitter and astringent when I brew them. So I was pleasantly surprised when I brewed this for the first time! it’s delicious – no trace of bitterness at all. The ginger is the predominant flavor to me, mellowed by the peach, with a nice full black-tea base. I will be drinking this one a lot.

One of the indulgences that got me through my undergraduate work. I’m not the biggest hibiscus fan, and mentioning a tea that has a “floral” taste usually sends me scurrying in the other direction. Curiously, this blend appeals to me anyway. The flavor is cool and soothing, likely due to the heavy dose of mint it contains. Beware overbrewing, as that brings the tartness of the infusion out to the point where I wince a little with every sip I take. If you’re looking for a summer brew, this also happens to be great on ice.

I was completely out of a classic Earl Grey, and we know we cannot have that! My husband was doing an Amazon order and asked me if I wanted to throw something in the cart. After a little hasty searching I chose this. I was a little nervous, despite liking another tea from this company, because I didn’t do my usual hemming, hawing, and fretting over what tea to get!

I shouldn’t have worried — this is lovely! A good, medium bergamot and I really like the tea base! It’s slightly smoky — very very very light — I would say verging on smoky. Really nice compliment to the bergamot, especially for winter.

I’m drinking a second steep right now, and it’s delicious — less bergamot-y but still a bit smoky and of a very enjoyable strength!

This is my last new non-decaf. tea to try. Kind of sad. I think I will let myself order some new teas when I get done with my first 8 week class so that I can enjoy them on spring break. Only 8 weeks till new teas, hooray!

This one surprised me with how light and sweet it is. I notice apricot in the flavor, but the aftertaste is a sweet grape that lingers. This would be a nice cup to have on a hot summer afternoon, since it’s almost refreshing in its fruitiness. It’s certainly a nice tea to have on this cold and dreary morning. The upstairs of our house is always much warmer than the middle floor where the kitchen and living room is. I literally gasped when I walked downstairs today because it is freezing on our middle floor! Today is a day when the fireplace needs to be on all day long. :) Thank you, KiwiDelight for this wonderful sample!

-Dry blend has small clusters of green and brown rolled tea leaves and small white and yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of fresh flowers. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet fruits.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow color.
-Light fruity apricot flavor and finish. Sweet grapey floral aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Light sweet floral and fruit flavors with a soft hint of grapes.

While not a favorite, this is a nice dark oolong. Definitely some fruity flavors coming through, primarily nectarine and plantain. It’s not as sweet as peaches, and is definitely on the greener side of the fruits I tasted. Definitely a roasty element, that doesn’t taste like smoke, but more like crunchy fall leaves. It’s a very flavorful and warming cup.

Thanks Shelley_Lorraine.

I got this at HomeGoods, thinking that I’d give it a shot. I do love most chai at any rate. I was not expecting it to be this good of tea. I love it as a latte with some honey. It smells amazing and no one flavor is really overpowering.

At a dollar and a half per ounce for this heavenly brew, there is nothing to complain about. I’ve had Tao of tea before and never been disappointed. This oolong is floral, buttery and full. I can’t even think of how to best describe it yet; I’ll have to update this post once an impression sinks in. Its flavor lasts multiple infusions and is best drunk in a gaiwan. You could have this thing for dessert, no kidding!

Backlog:

A really nice Oolong. I like the charcoal-y taste to it. A nice, roasted taste with notes of mineral and hints of wood. One of the more masculine Oolong teas that I’ve encountered. It’s earthy, sweet, with notes of peach and very, very faint notes of flower.

I enjoyed it.

This is one of those teas that makes me want to order a milk frother immediately. It tastes great with and without milk, BUT the spice mix reminds me of the chai latte that I used to get at a coffee shop where I want to school and it was so delicious and I want to remake it ASAP.

It’s possible that it tastes even better because of the amazing price I paid at HomeGoods but it is a nice chai tea nonetheless.

This time, I’m drinking this with 1/2 milk 1/2 water and lots of sugar… Sooo luscious!

I was thrilled to find this at TJ Maxx today! An 8 oz. bag for only $6.99. I figured I’d give it a try because the base is Assam (which I love), and it smelled good through the bag. The black tea is strong, and the spices are very well-balanced (which is basically the gist of what every reviewer has mentioned before me). The cardamom flavor is definitely there, with cinnamon and the rest of the gang trailing behind. The smell is creamy with lots of spice. I’m drinking it without milk, and I added a bit of turbinado sugar. So good!

Excellent tea in a pot or gaiwan, develops nicely over time and has its own light, fruity sweetness.