Vahdam Teas

Vahdam Advent Calendar – Day 1

Yay, I’m so excited for this calendar! My other calendars are all companies I’ve had before and enjoy, so this one will hopefully be new and exciting and get me out of my comfort zone with plenty of spiced teas!

So I had a bit of an incident with this tea this morning. After I opened all of my advents and was carrying the teas over to my little tea nook area, I was holding this mini-tin by the lid and the body of the tin fell off onto the floor. So of course, tea went everywhere (luckily not that much tea) and I had to scramble to scoop it up while my two pugs were furiously trying to eat it off the floor. So, you know, just another day in the #puglife…

Anyway. This is a lovely smooth, sweet, and mellow green tea with a nice nutty flavor. There’s a creaminess to it as well that makes me think of fattier nuts like cashews or macadamia nuts. I also get cooked green beans and a little toastiness.

However, I think there was some contamination between this and some of the other teas in the advent, because there’s a sharp menthol sort of herbal spice note that seems really out of place. I don’t see any of the other notes mentioning that, so I assume it’s due to this being in the advent, in such close proximity to many very fragrant teas. It’s not unpleasant, just a bit jarring as it doesn’t mesh well with the other notes here.

On an advent-related note, I wasn’t going to share or mention today’s chocolate from La Maison du Chocolat, but it was so effing good that I can’t help myself! It was a milk chocolate rocher – a praliné center (basically ground caramel-coated nuts mixed with chocolate) rolled in roasted nuts and then coated in milk chocolate. Now normally I’m not so impressed by hazelnut and chocolate, but dayum was it good! The nuts had such a range of roasty, creamy, buttery flavors and the caramel note was dark and delish. So good!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIRISjSAtzf/

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQxllmAUip/)

Since I really disliked the Earl Grey Green Darjeeling I sampled the other day, I noticed I had one other green Darjeeling in my collection, also a sample from Meowster’s cupboard destash (thank you!), so I still have a chance to try Indian green tea, without the flavoring. The dry leaf smells a little musty to me and I have no idea how old this may be by this point — I got it from Meowster in summer of 2018, and I have no idea how old it may have already been by that point. If it hasn’t held up well, I’ll likely cold brew the rest of my sample, since I seem to enjoy even the most ancient of green teas when steeped in ice cold water overnight. For now, I’ve brewed a hot pot, but used my “normal” leaf-to-water ratio and temperature for green teas (2.5g leaf for 500ml pot @ 175F, 2 minute steep) rather than what Vahdam recommended, after that sad sad pot of EG green Darjeeling the other day, which was waaaay too bitter using Vahdam’s recommended leaf amounts.

The steeped leaf smells deeply of cooked spinach. The tea is a pale yellow liquor and smells a bit smoky, a bit earthy (particularly of minerals/wet rocks), slightly nutty, and a bit of a dry herbaceous quality. The flavor reminds me of Gunpowder green tea or plain green yerba mate… I’m getting that tobacco smoke flavor over a dry grass/hay flavor, though the finish is heavily mineral. I’m getting a very subtle notes of nuts and lemongrass, as well. It’s mildly drying after the sip, but there is no astringency/bitterness during the sip.

I’m not much of a fan of smoky notes presenting in green teas, so I’m not really enjoying this one much (that “tobacco” sort of taste is just really off-putting to me). I’ll finish the pot, but think I’ll coldbrew the rest with a bit of peppermint leaf added to smooth out those notes until I’ve used up the sample. I’m still curious to try other Indian green teas; I wonder if they all have that “gunpowder” taste or if some are significantly different?

Thanks so much for the chance to try something new to me!

Sipdown (1334)!

Proud of myself for doubling down (pun intended!) on this sample and finishing it off over the course of the month – I need to do that with more Vahdam teas, but they’re just so incredibly… not fun.

I never figured out how to make this one work for me. It was always very astringent and the spices just a little too flat. Sometimes I did get nice anise notes, like in this cup, but never enough to compensate for the brashness of the black tea. Plus, I so rarely have milk on hand anymore that softening it with an addition of milk or trying it stove top was just never in the cards.

Oh well.

I just cannot seem to get the steeping on this tea right!

I thought I was being really careful with my steep time when I made this today, but then the cup was just this tannin bomb with soooo much black pepper and ginger coming through. I mean, I finished the mug because I feel like even a unpleasant cup of tea is still a potential learning/educational experience – but it felt like a chore. Cannot wait to sip this one down, but gonna have to get creative with how I finish the rest off.

I have a bunch of Vahdam samples, mostly from Advent season, that I need to finish so I think I’m going to start taking the same approach as I have with 52Teas and keeping one next to my kettle until I finish it off – starting with this one!

Over did the steep time and the result was a very thick cuppa with one hell of an astringent punch to it. However, initial dry shock aside, the flavour was pretty good. Clove and anise forward, with cinnamon, black pepper, and a bit of cardamom. More clove than I remembered, that’s for sure. Not really my thing, but better than your typical Masala profile. If I was less lazy, it would have been great with milk but I couldn’t be bothered to go and get some…

The Vahdam Advent that I ordered showed up last week, and this was kindly added in the box as a free sample – the advent is really pretty looking, but dang is it a heavy box/lot of tea! I’m going to have so much extra after each day, for sure!

This tea is alright; spiced blends aren’t typically my style but I want to push out of my comfort zone so I’m glad it was included and I’m pleased enough with my takeaways on it! I thought it mostly came off as cardamom forward, but there was a solid medley of spices at work. The black tea is a CTC grade, and as such it steeps really strong/intense but the brisk malty notes and slight citrus pithy qualities of the black tea were a good compliment to all the spices, and I didn’t find this CTC to be bitter or that astringent.

‘m hoping after an advent of mostly spiced teas I’ll find a few new favourites. This is not a new favourite, but it’s drinkable!

Had this one, in sachet format, earlier this week. It was a bit bean-y but overall pretty lightly and delicately flavoured without any obtrusive or upsetting flavours. Decent cup of green tea…

Adventaggedon Day 1 – Tea 2/6

Normally I would probably groan about getting a straight green from an advent (I certainly did last year) but I’ve actually had this one before and it’s not a green tea that I mind very much, so I was more impartial about seeing it today!

I steeped it hot and it’s much more bean-y as a hot tea than it tastes cold brewed, which is how I’ve had it in the past. Like an edamame/green bean kind of taste but backed by a whole lot of toasty, fatty nuttiness. My first instinct, sipping on it, was just how much it reminded me of a pan fried Chinese green tea – lots of those wok kind of notes.

Not my favourite, but definitely not bad either. I think I’d still opt to drink it chilled though!

Advent pics from today: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIRXCaNAoMq/

Cold Brew with fresh lemon!

It’s always a good day when you have new tea mail to dig into!! Thanks Vahdam for sending me three new teas to try this month, including this green tea! I’m not a big green tea drink, but free tea is free tea – so trying everything as open minded as possible.

It’s super crisp, light and refreshing & compliments the brightness of the lemon perfectly, which makes it an awesome choice for sipping on while working from home. I’ve been drinking tea from Vahdam for about three years now & I admit I’ve never paid close attention to the packaging, so I was surprised and pleased to see that it’s both climate and plastic neutral and that a portion of their revenue goes back to the education of their farmer’s children through the TEAchme initiative! Maybe I’ll make myself a Golden Milk latté next…

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGFkAuSgaqi/

This is a light and brisk infusion, starting with herbaceous and citrusy notes, then slowly evolving into base notes of grapes and muscatel. Not my favourite tea, as I find it slightly too astringent for my taste, but pleasant enough.

I loved almost all Darjeelings from Vadham, but this one doesn’t cut it for me. No matter the amount of leaves I put in my cup, it always ends up tasting weak. I tried two different batches of this tea, and both performed poorly. It’s not undrinkable by all means, just unexciting.

This First Flush Darjeeling Blend is quite delicate for a black tea, in line with the general characteristics of first flush Darjeelings. It has notes of grass, apricot and a slight muscatel aftertaste. The second infusion leans more heavily towards the grassy and muscatel notes, and doesn’t seem to loose strength. I generally favour second flush Darjeelings, but this is a pleasant tea, well suited to summer afternoons when I prefer lighter flavours.

Enjoying this tea again today. It sits on my shelf and I normally bypass it for other black teas because I don’t want to use it up, but was really in the mood for it this morning. I seem to overlook how much I enjoy the lightness and flavors of second flush Darjeelings. I’ll be sad when I brew this for the last time. The muscatel and apricot are amazing here!

Another tea I forgot I had, but found once again while re-arranging my tea cupboard this week.

Definitely taste the muscatel and apricot in this — apricot is particularly strong as an aftertaste. Initial flavor is slightly floral. Also slightly astringent overall, but in a good way — not bitter.

As far as Darjeeling teas go, I prefer second flushes to first flushes. This tea is a perfect example of why — much more flavor and body. I’m glad I have enough of this one to last for the rest of summer!

Date of picking on label: 12 June 2017

My first tea from this brand, and I’m not disappointed! This Darjeeling Oolong has an earthy smell with notes of cocoa, quite strong when dry, more mellow and fruity when brewed. It’s a medium strength tea with the classic Darjeeling muscatel flavour, with notes of nuts and fruits. Love it, I can’t wait to try the rest of the samples I bought.

I had this yesterday at work and y’know, for a three year old tea, it was actually VERY good. I feel bad that I waited so long to try it, but at least it held up. Very fresh and floral tasting with a rich muscal grape note as well and just a slight hint of astringency/greener edge. Really easy to sip on, and a good change of pace from the black teas I’ve most recently had.

This is actually ‘Seeyok Classic Autumn flush’ according to my package, but this seemed like the most likely place to review it. Also it doesn’t look like Vahdam carries the classic version any longer. It’s about time I started sipping this one down, darjeelings are not a favorite of mine so I tend not to reach for them too often . I don’t think I’ve had a bad darjeeling from Vahdam, and this one is okay. Its nutty to start and floral to end, a rather light cup but still enjoyable. As it cools, its becoming a bit more floral, but not cloying like some darjeelings taste to me. The second steep adds a bit of bitter dark chocolate aftertaste and is less floral. On the whole, its a nice cup of tea, I might add a bit of assam to my next brewing to make it a more interesting blend.

This isn’t a great matcha. Added honey and oat milk, and it was still pretty bitter and astringent. Very dull greenish brown color.

Close to a sipdown on these sachets. After further reflection, while this has some higher-order flavor notes, it’s one of the un-Assam-iest Assams I’ve ever had. It may the fatigue talking here, but I just want my malt handed to me straight. I still appreciate it, but probably not enough to restock it.

You all know what a sloppy steeper I am, but I am aware that timing can make the difference with some teas. I believe that may be the case here. First cup (4-ish minutes) was smooth and pleasant—I gave it a sweet wheat-bread rating. I took a bag to work and gave it 5-ish minutes, and what to my wondering tastebuds should appear but things that reminded me of mahogany, molasses, and apples—much more depth of flavor to ponder. This one doesn’t need to be hurried.

Birthday surprise from my husband, whose love language is good gifts. Not necessarily pricey ones, but proof that after 34 1/2 years, he knows me better than I do.

I went ahead and made a separate entry for this one, as it’s a sachet rather than loose leaf and makes no mention which-flush-is-which on the packet. The sweet notes come through first—a little fruity; a little like honey-wheat bread. I’m not getting strong malty flavor, but it leaves a little buzz on your tongue after you swallow. Extremely drinkable—my first tumbler is already gone!

For the price point I was disappointed. The tea is just ok. Nothing wrong but nothing great. On lighter, subdued side. Not bold. No bitterness. Smooth for what flavor there is. Mildly fragrant. Floral hints.