761 Tasting Notes
I think I over-leafed this one, as it is a little bitter and sour, but still pretty mild. I measured on my bamboo spoon and seemed like a good amount, but that left less than half of the sample packet left. It is still pretty decent, aside from that, and I am surprised that such a short steep brought out as much flavour as I got. The dry leaf of this one smells so fresh and green, but the brewed tea seems to be a little heartier. Almost roasted? To me, at least. I dunno. It could be me, or maybe the over-leafing.
I’d say that this tea, given the faults in my brewing, is still pretty nice. I am grateful that Angel at Teavivre sent me this one. I hope my follow up steep with the rest of the package will give me a slightly more moderate flavour profile. So far, I think I like Dragonwell greens the best from China. Especially really butter ones.
Preparation
Backlog…had this one last night. I think I may have used too much of this in brewing, as I got a strange taste. It was kind of a strange dough-y taste, for lack of a better description. Also, I’m gonna have to drop my rating, because this one gives me a bit of grief if using my steeper. It is fine in a bag, or in my perfect mug, but it simply does not steep well in my steeper and I have to swish a spoon around to help it filter, but it still clogs up some.
I do not know if I will refill after this bag is up.
Like a coffee dessert! The coffee is most definitely the most prominent aspect of this tea, but the chocolate does come out. I sorta wonder how this would be, iced hong kong style with sweetened condensed milk?
This was just my first time having it, though I had two travel mugs worth of it, and I liked it.
This tea is very pale and fairly mild, in contrast to some oolongs I have had in the past. It is lightly sweet, and a little bit silky and creamy. I don’t catch too much floral in this one, and it almost reminds me of a green tea, but there is just that bit of separation between the two. It is not bitter or astringent at all, and my first cup was straight with no additives, though I did add a little raw sugar to my second cup since I’m craving something sweet right now. Wish I had cookies.
This is a pretty nice oolong…it is mild enough, that I think it might be a nice starter oolong for some.
Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for sending me this sample. I’m just sorry it took me so long to try this one. I have not been in an oolong mood for a while, but I had the urge tonight, so I jumped on the feeling and had this.
Not sure if it is the new base, or if I’m getting overzealous and overleafing, but the last few steeps with the new stuff I got seem more astringent than I remember. I’m going to try to be better about using less leaf next time and see if that helps some…though I do still really like the tea.
HELLO SWEETIE INDEED!
Just got me my Amoda /Butiki teas (Nutmeg Cream and Champagne Cider), and there was a lovely sample of this included!
YESSSSSS! This is one of those custom teas that are so awesome that they cross over into regular production. Yes folks, it really is that good!
The dry leaf smells amazing…amazing! Did I say amazing yet, cuz if I didn’t, it smells amazing! The first sips are sweet, but sooo smooth. No bitter black base here! I mean, it’s the Premium Taiwanese Assam, and you really can’t go wrong with it. CAN’T GO WRONG! It’s smooth and sweet and requires no milk! It is pretty much sheer perfection as a straight tea alone, but what did JustJames add to this perfect base? Banana, coconut, praline, toffee. Yeah, you heard me.
So what I have here is an incredibly smooth and sweet, but subtle tea with hints of banana and toffee and a little of that praline. I don’t think much coconut got into this steep here, but I can see some in the rest of the sample.
I want to gulp this now that it is cooler. GULP IT!
Uh, CrowKettle…when we do our shared Butiki order, we are getting this. :) I think I am gonna have to save up more money for this order. I’ve already upped the amount of Lemon French Macaron, per JustJames suggestion. I don’t think we could possibly be disappointed with anything we order from Stacy…just saying. :P
Preparation
I want to try this and the Lemon French Macoron so badly, you don’t even know. :/
Do you want me to save you the rest of this sample? I’ll do my best to not scarf it down, but otherwise, if you trust me, we can just order like 2 oz of it, and you can have as much or as little as you want from it.
I trust you, I trust JustJames and Stacy, and I trust my love for coconut, banana, and this awesome tea base. If you can’t resist gulping your sample I’ll take that as another good sign.
I pretty much know you will love it because of the PTA base, and that it is along the same lines as Caramel Vanilla Assam.
Ok, I’ll probably gulp the last bit (resisting would have been very hard) and just make sure we order enough to go around between us.
It was a weird sort of day today. It started out cold and overcast, then sunny and warm, then the wind kicked in and it got cloudy again. Work was refund city, so it seemed like every step we took forward, we got pushed back again. It was a struggle for sure. And I’m still feeling super emotional right now, and just mentally and physically tapped out.
So, I decided on this tonight, even though it is some caffeine, but not much, and I even had it with milk…it’s just a little bit of comfort in a cup right now! I dunno, it’s a weird taste, initially, but it really grows on you. If you love toasty teas with a bit of sweetness, this is for you.
Gave this one a go tonight, since I wanted something calming, and oddly, like the last time I made this, I had a headache, and thought this would be good. It was another stressing day. Things happened that created some closure for me in a specific way, and while the closure is good, it was also a bit sad. It’s hard to explain without going into all the details, but basically, I’ve been a semi-emotional wreck today, and I’m sure the headache is part stress, part hormones, part sinus…
So I did not oversteep this one tonight. It’s pretty tasty. I am still getting mostly lemongrass and ginger, but I can pick up the carrot and apple some. I do like this though I don’t know of I’d go out of my way to get some, when I can get other herbal blends I like as much (or better) locally. I have one serving left of this, and I think I will cold steep it at some point.
Thanks again for the sample OMGsrsly!
