The Tao of Tea

Second steep with half as much water at boiling for five minutes, to see if you really can get two steeps out of it. Much better on the second steep, actually. Stronger and fuller bodied, even though it was a resteep. Which goes to show how weak the first steep was. Lesson learned: read ALL the directions on the tea tin.

The mango scent is still very much there. I’m getting gentle whiffs of it as I write this (the cup is sitting right in front of me). I love mango. The smell is making me want it. I also get mango on the taste. Not particularly overpowering, although I’m starting to think if I can pick up on a particular flavor, maybe it would be overpowering to the more refined, experienced palate. Food (or tea) for thought, I suppose. The tea goes down relatively smoothly, it doesn’t have a dry, astringent feeling like some others I’ve had.

Overall, I’m definitely happier with this cup than the first, and can’t wait to have it again. I may have to revise my opinion about getting more of it.

Smells lovely. I think I get more into teas based on the smell, rather than the taste. I think I get more out of it. I don’t know. Its a pretty light black tea, but I did use one teaspoon and I saw on someone else’s review that you’re supposed to use two, so that could explain that. Directions also say to steep at 185 degrees, which was surprising. I did that, but might try it at boiling next time to see what happens. It is a pretty gentle tea, something I was in the mood for. It was a gift, I like the tins, but don’t know if I’d replenish it once I finish it.

Sipdown/restock #1 of the season! The October air helped us breeze through 100g of this in record time. It was perfect for yesterday’s Oct 13th. Between the creepy cloudy weather and low chill, this was the perfect toasty trea. Polishing off the second tin shouldn’t take long.

I was very wary of this blend as I have the opinion that chai masala should contain no cloves. The absence of ginger is also odd but it was a good choice. This is very cooling and and stretches out the yerba energy. This ia a great blend for cold brewing or cold.

I finished this sampler of Dragonwell tea the other morning. Of all the loose leaf tea sampled to date this one brewed quite nicely in the cup with the leaves in their fullness. It is amazing to see how one scoop of this finely curled tea unfolds when brewed.

It is a rich, toasty aroma while the leaves are smooth, vegetal and earthy in flavor. The leaves are not buttery like that of other tea sampled. In the end it is the cup of tea that matters and this mattered quite nicely.

Review of The Tao of Tea’s Dragonwell sampler

I wanted to begin my day with this cup of Dragonwell and looked forward to doing so most of the morning while the water was brewing. I picked a new cup and gently rinsed it with warm water and left it to dry.

I so enjoy the tin that contains this tea, the little flat disc fits so nicely in the palm of my hand and I can see the leaves, very green in color and they look pressed not pan fried since the coloring is green not dark or black. In opening the tin, the notes hit me right away; green, grassy, vegetal…wet grass even. I like this smell very much.

I placed one large spoonful in my now dry cup and proceeded to pour the hot, boiling water into the cup. This is how I most prefer the loose leaf teas I try; in the cup no diffuser separating it. I like for the leaves to float around the cups’ rim and in time to settle in the bottom of the cup. I placed a lid on the cup to let it steep, this I do and kind of forget about it for a while, 3-5 minutes pass while I prepare to receive this liquor.

When the time seemed right, I removed the cover to find that most of the leaves (now full bodied) did settle in the bottom. I can see the coloring to be light green in color, but since the leaves are at the bottom of the cup; it is reflecting in the coloring as well. Perhaps.

As this was the 1st steep, it had a very strong vegetative scent and flavoring to it. The notes detected are astringent, pungent even in the grassiness of the taste. The more I drank this first cup the astringent became somewhat less noticeable while holding true to the vegetal quality.
I most enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd steeping of this Dragonwell since the astringency quality in the cup is gone. What I am enjoying is more of a sweet drink, buttery even when tasting some of the leaves as they leap up while sipping the tea.

This would make a good iced tea, but preferring teas to be very hot is how I am enjoying this for the day and no sweetener added. However others may want to add a drop of honey to this tea and cooler perhaps since the notes are softer as it cools.

Characteristics of this tea: Earthy, vegetal and very smooth by third, fourth and so on steeps. It is very good tea.

I finished the last bit of this fine leaf green tea. It does brew a deep green; very rich with the sweetness of an early dew freshness in the cup.

I followed brewing instruction and did not boil it as hot, since I don’t have timer I just let the water start to simmer and then pour it into the cup and place the saucer on top as lid for 2 minutes.

It is a tantalizing cup of green tea.

Review of Sencha Shinrikyu’s The Tao of Tea sampler

This sampler arrived in a round tin disc like a Petri dish. Upon opening this sampler I could not help but take of the smell, which is like fresh milk and honey hovering in the air and lingering on my fingertips through out the day. This is a very nice smell indeed.

The leaves are finely chopped (resembling very minute straw flakes). The leaves are bitter and crunchy. I placed two teaspoons in the cup and poured the boiling water into the cup. I like all tea steeped (boiled) very hot. In smelling the tin with the leaves inside, I can’t help in recalling the smell of freshly cut grass; moistened-dew after a rainfall.

1st steep of this tea is strongest with a prevailing vegetal quality. Its flavor is slightly bitter and the color a rich liquorish brown.
2nd steep of this tea is lighter in color, feigning to light brownish tan and one can start to appreciate that milky dew trace of the cut grass in the texturing of this drink.
3rd steep is very similar to previous steep; the color is lighter still since adding hot water is diluting the tonal notes and strength. The leaves at bottom of the cup are loose not full leaves and the coloring is light greenish in color.

Adjectives in describing the quality/tone of this tea would be: Delicate, slightly sweet within 2nd and 3rd steeps. Overall it is a calm tea for contentedness during a lazy, rainy or hazy day. It is a cup of goodness with calming qualities.

I have had Sencha Green tea in tea bags and now I can truly appreciate the texturing layers in the notes as loose-leaf tea in this Sencha Shinrikyu from the Tao of Tea sold at Lelia’s Tea Ware whose motto: Pure Enjoyment!

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping tsp
Water: 500ml 180°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vegetal yet malty or maybe toasty
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, chocolate
Flavor: malty, thick mouthfeel
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet
Liquor: opaque light orange brown

A naturally sweet, mild (despite the name strong) black tea. It reminds me of an oolong with the hints of vegetal green-ness that sneak into the end of each sip.

Resteep:
Water: 500ml 180°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 4 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, chocolate
Flavor: Thin, malty
Body: Light
Aftertaste: astringent
Liquor: opaque light orange brown

I don’t recommend re-steeping.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/09/tao-of-tea-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

Smells wonderful and is very pretty. I like Nilgiri so this base appeals to me. It is a strong Earl Grey. I’m not sure the flowers smooth it out at all like the container claims. If you don’t like Earl Grey, this will definitely not appeal to you – this is a slap you in the face Earl. Compared to others I probably won’t buy this one again. I think my tastes have become a bit more subtle when it comes to the Earl. I love it and it is one of my favorite teas, but I have come to like a bit more depth and a little less bergamot.

Delicious with mysterious (because I don’t think there’s any in there) notes of coconut. The ginger takes a back seat so it isn’t very spicy, but outstandingly smooth.

I love ginger and I love peaches (we get a bushel every summer from one of the local Mennonite families) this tea reminds me this annual event with the ginger reminding me of spiced peach crisp. The flavor is nice and smooth peachy goodness with a delicious hit of ginger at the end. The tea base is there but is subtle under the fruit and spice. The peach and ginger are for my tastes nicely balanced. Delicious, when the Steepster Select pouch is empty, I might get more of it.

My 2nd tea from the Steepster Select box from August. This is a good Ginger Peach. Well-balanced. Not too gingery, but enough warmth and spice generated from it to let you know that there’s ginger in this. The peach is sweet and smooth but not too much sweetness or fruitiness from it. The black tea base is solid and strong. Pleasantly flavored.

A really good Ginger Peach if you’re one who likes ’em… I happen to like them.

Last night we had Italians for dinner. As in, a colleague of the boyfriend’s and his wife, not actually for dinner.

The menfolk having that icky fermented grain beverage, Mrs. Italian was interested in trying this tea, which suited me fine because I’m not that keen on it myself so it was a good way to use some leaf. Actually, when I asked her what sort of tea she would like, she answered ‘something spicy’ and I suggested this one to her. In truth, I think it’s actually the only real spicy tea I’ve got. I don’t really do spices in tea.

Anyway, I made her a big pot of it so she could top up if she wished, and it got me rid of a large amount of leaf. I have to admit though, that I forgot to ask her what she thought of it, but she didn’t look like she found it unpleasant, so I’m going to assume that she did like it.

Out of the Select box so generously provided by Ricky my first try is this.

I’m… uh… slightly frightened. I don’t have a very good track record with peach flavoured teas. If it’s a naturally occuring note of peaches that’s fine, but peach flavoured not so much. I’m also not a big fan of ginger.

Frankly, I thought these leaves were dreadfully stinky. Probably due to above caveat, but still. After steeping it’s more peachy and I like that aroma a lot better, although I remain sceptical about this whole peach thing.

Oh gosh. Ginger. Actually it’s not as bad as I had feared, but it’s not really surprisingly nice either. It’s just… ginger. Spicy and prickly and… gingery. This is a very primary note for me. I’ll give it 10-ish points though, for not being totally horrid in spite of being ginger.

The peach is rather more subdued, difficult to find under all that ginger and mainly present in the after taste. That really takes care of my peach reservations, because it’s not very pronounced at all. Subtle and discreet. That’s a rather pleasant surprise and it shows me that there are ways in which I can like a peach flavoured tea. It just has to be quite faintly flavoured. So fifteen bonus point for that.

The base is a Fujian black. If it was a basic black that would have been at least 80 points right there, but as it is flavoured and therefore not supposed to be the primary anything, I’ll have to say only 30 points on that account. Besides you could have totally fooled me about the base. You can tell it’s Chinese because it’s so smooth, but Fujian-ness? Can’t find any for all that ginger.

That’s a middleish score then. I shall have to try it in a cold brew also and see if that changes things any.

Finally did this tea right. 2tsp/8oz, 160F for 3 mins for the first steep – DELICIOUS. You’re gonna need 2tsp/8oz for sure (this is what Tao of Tea recommends). My second steep was at 165F for 3.5mins. Another satisfying infusion. I did the third steep the same as the second, but it was pretty weak. I was just happy to get 2 good infusions out of this yummy tea!

Steeped it at 180F, 4.5mins – great, rich flavor! Second steep at same temp without removing leaves yielded a weak infusion. Looks like 4.5mins is too long for the first steep…

Very light flavor – Tao of Tea recommended 2tsp/8oz, I used 1tsp/8oz. I think I’m going to bump up the ratio to the recommended amount next time. Nice tasting green tea though … very grassy. I’m going to need to do some more experimentation with this one.

YUM! Brightens up my afternoon =)

Ok. AMAZING. I don’t know what my problem was last time, complaining about this tea being weak. I used the same ratio – 1tsp/8oz, and it had full, delicious flavor! Gotta try more darjeelings now!

This is my first legit Darjeeing that I’ve tried, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the muscatel flavor, but it was a little weak. I think I’m going to increase the tea/water ratio next time. The flavor was very subtle, and I think I’m going to have to taste some more Darjeelings before I can make a good judgement here.

I was a bit apprehensive about trying this tea at first. Fruit flavored black teas aren’t really my favorite usually they taste too fake. However, this one doesn’t. I don’t really taste the peach. It’s a really subtle flavor. I taste more spiciness from the ginger than anything. I’ve had a few other ginger teas that have been way over powering but this one is not. This was tried warm. I have yet to try it cool.

I just picked up some more of this from my grocery store, and I tasted something I never tasted before – a chocolaty note! DELICIOUS. Maybe i’m noticing it because this new batch of tea is fresher…idk – but this tastes even better than I remembered it!

I’ve had this tea for breakfast for the past week. LOVE IT! I can leave it in my travel thermos without taking the infuser out, since this tea doesn’t over-steep =)