240 Tasting Notes

88

In the mood for a green tea this morning, and right now this is the only one I have. I may need to solve that oroblem soon, but at least the one I have is this one.

This is simply a great, solud, simple green tea. Nothing special, it’s not trying yo be anything, just a greag example of what a green tea should really be. Earth grass and ocean aroma and taste, with that light, dryish feel. You want a simple, solid, go-to green tea? This is it.

Flavors: Dry Grass, Earth, Grass, Ocean Breeze

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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88

2nd review, this time for the refrigerator brew we did while sipping the hot brew. Yup, this is a very, very flexible, capable tea. I just dropped a 1/2 full tea ball into a 1 quart Mason jar and stuck it in the fridge over night.

This morning, it had the same light, sweet, super delicate arona, taste, and feel the hot tea had, complete with hints of honey and blueberry muffins. But it had another quality. It may have been the smoothest, richest tea I have ever had without overbearing taste. It was almost creamy in feel, but with that same light, delicate taste.

Wow.

Flavors: Blueberry, Creamy, Fruity, Honey, Smooth

Preparation
3 tsp 24 OZ / 709 ML

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88

I brought my girlfriend up to The City a few weeks ago, and convinced her yo stop at one of my favorite places, Red Blossom Tea Company. I left with a big Pu-erh, and she went home with this jem. Last night we brewed it for the 1st time. And then the 2nd.

Wow. Super great! The aroma is so delicate, with hints of sweet honey and berries. The taste is super light, really sweet, and if you close your eyes, you can almost taste blueberry muffins.

The 2nd steeping was actually better than the first. The flavors popped better, it was less bitter, and it was so smooth and delicate it almost delt more like a white.

If you make this, you MUST:

Rinse the leaves before every steeping. Or else it gets really bitter.

Red Blossom recommends nearly boiling the water and onky steeping for 45 seconds. Trust it. The 1st steeping I let it go for a full minute, and it had a slight bitter feel. The 2nd steeping I cut it at 45 seconds and it was perfect!

Flavors: Blueberry, Fruity, Honey, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 45 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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90

This was the 3rd and 4th steeping of the same leaves, and they really hold up. It’s not as crisp and clear as the 1st, and the individual flavors are more mixed, but they are all still there.

The aroma is the same for every steeping. Sweet, charcoal smoke with a hint od coffee and caramel. The taste has a little less pop, but it’s still very good.

Aaaaaaand, that was the last of these leaves. I think I’ll be ordering more soon, they ard worth it!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 15 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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90

First day of Fall today, yeah? Good day for a Formosa Oolong. Steeping #2 for this Charcoal Roasted Tung Ting.

Same leaves as yesterday, I little more than normal since I didn’t want to leave a single teaspoon in the bottom of the jar. Although, now that I think about it, I probably should have saved it to try a little mixing and blending. Oh well. I’ll probably be buying more of this, so no worries.

Anyway: This is such a big, roasted tasty brew, I did not up the steeping time for the 2nd go, I kept it at 2:00. Here we go:

The aroma is exactly the same. Big and bold, very sweet charcoal roasted smell with hints of coffee and caramel. A bit of a dry feel.

The taste is much the same as yesterday. The roasted charcoal taste is not quite as heavy today, allowing the coffee and caramel colors to shine through more, and the whole flavor pallet is more balanced. It’s also not quite as sweet as the 1st steeping, and it has turned more towards the dry feel away from the sweet.

The natural Earthy tea flavor and feel is more apparent today as well. I think now that the roasted charcoal flavor has subsided some, those flavors are just more apparent.

Yup, this is a good one. I’ll be buying this again sometime soon, in hopes and dreams of sipping this while reading a book with rain pattering on the window and hockey on the TV.

Flavors: Caramel, Coffee, Earth, Roasted, Smoke

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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90

I had almost forgotten about this one. I’ve been rotating through my most recent Red Blossom Tea Company purchase, and I guess I skipped this one!

I had a little more remaining than the normal 2 heaping tablespoons for my 32 oz Bodum Assam tea press, so I just put it all in, not quite 3 tablespoons but probably close. I kept the steep time to the short end for a Formosa Oolong, and hot damn did it turn out good!

The aroma is nice and complex, with an initial burst of charcoal roasted goodness, followed quickly by sweet, caramel, almost coffee hints.

The taste is just as complex. The roasting process is definitely the first taste and feel, I can actually imagine Mr Chen controlling the longan fruit wood fire in order to get the perfect amount of roasted taste. Big, but not at all overwhelming, and certainly plenty of room for the sweet, caramel second tastes.

I’m sad that I used the rest of these leaves in this batch, I’ll definitely need to steep it 4 times to enjoy this incredible brew the next 4 days.

Flavors: Caramel, Coffee, Roasted, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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