537 Tasting Notes
Sipdown for a tea that didn’t make it into my cupboard.
Spring 2018
Boiling, 2-3 minutes
Super light even at high temperatures. Soft and creamy. A little bit of vanilla and honey. Of the two whites I ordered from Mandala, I like the other one ‘White Night’ better. I like my white teas to be a little more robust and not so delicate.
Flavors: Creamy, Honey, Vanilla
Preparation
Spring 2018 tea
I steep my white teas hotter than most of them call for at 205F. I find I like them better at the higher temperature. Time 2-3 min each steep.
I like this tea, but it’s not very complex. It’s soft and thick, heavy in the mouth. I get creamy lemon and some vanilla. I really enjoyed the creaminess of the tea. Taste is consistent throughout all three steeps.
Flavors: Creamy, Lemon, Thick, Vanilla
Preparation
This tea is technically Jun Chiyabari – Organic. I don’t feel like adding another tea to the database. Purchased at the 2019 Midwest Tea festival.
I went through this tea quickly. I drank most of it at work. Solid black tea with no real distinct flavors that I remember. I wrote malt on the packaging? Sipdown
Flavors: Malt
I put off trying this tea for a few years because I though it was smoked. I hate the heavily smoked versions of this tea.
This one though is very good and I taste no smoke at all.
205F, 2-4 min, at work
Very fruit forward – cherry, berry, bright; little bit of malt, caramel, and smooth. I’m torn between savoring and drinking it quickly. Berry aftertaste lingers on after each sip. This was a great tea!
Flavors: Berry, Caramel, Cherry, Fruity, Smooth
Preparation
I broke this cake up last weekend hoping to add some variety to the tea I have at work. I’ve had this cake for maybe 3 years?
2X rinse, 205F water, 100 ml shibo, ~5g?
10s, 10s, 10s, 15s, etc… I need to remember to bring one of my strainers to work.
A hint of camphor and earth off the liquid. Early steeps – smooth, hint of dirt/earth, nut skin or shell, faint bitterness. No off flavors or weird finish. Easy drinking.
Later – still smooth, almost cocoa, some vanilla, earthy, but light.
I like it.
Flavors: Camphor, Cocoa, Earth, Nuts, Smooth, Vanilla
Sipdown.
A solid peach flavored tea. Peach is strong on the nose, but the overall taste isn’t so overpowering. Very true taste, they do well with the fruit flavored teas.
Pretty good tea for the summer months and works well as a cold brew. I did drink most of this hot.
Flavors: Peach
Sipdown.
The last few steeps of this went better than my initial review. It’s still not one that I would want to buy again. It was a weird tea overall. I didn’t care for the edible silver – it didn’t add anything to the experience and the silver leaf got everywhere! The pine flavor mellow out some (or I got better adding less).
I didn’t get any of the white tea flavor from this. It was drowned out by the jasmine.
Apple, pine, jasmine, glitterfest = silver everywhere in the tea, stuck to my strainer, in the cup, etc…
I bumped my rating a little as it was a little better flavor blended in the following cups.
Flavors: Apple, Jasmine, Metallic, Pine
Sipdown.
This is a solid black tea. Good and malty, with sweet notes. Just a good tea of this style. Not a whole lot to say here. It can get a bit strong when overleafed. Very forgiving of time and temperature.
Flavors: Malt, Sweet