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So, I had my first test for my Managerial Accounting class, and I got an 82%. I skipped the last two classes, which is when we learned chapter 4, and I didn’t really study (maybe 20 minutes total today). I’m still mad though because despite all of that, I felt like I did really well on the test, and before submitting I was pretty confident that I got most of them right. I really didn’t feel like I got 9 problems wrong. So now I’m going to have to work extra hard to swing an A. And the professor said that it was a hard class to get an A, but I really felt I knew this material. End rant.

So I cold brewed this and took it with me to campus. I’ve never had sencha before so I don’t have anything to compare this to quality wise, but this taste like exactly what I picture a plain iced green to taste like. Like, if I were to go to a place like Panera Bread (or similar “fancy” quick casual type food place) and got an unflavored iced green tea, it would taste like this.

It does make me really want to try some high quality sencha though. And I’ll try it again hot, its just not a priority, and I have a lot of other teas to try first.

I’m more used to the green end of the oolong spectrum, so it’s fun to try some on the black end of the spectrum. This one has a lot of honey notes, as well as a fruitiness. I agree with CameronB its like a raisin. There’s also a natural sweetness, which just solidifies the honey and raisin notes.

I’m also getting a bread-like note in this. And by the 4th steep the oolong takes on some green tea characteristics. It gets lighter and slightly vegetal. This is a great oolong to have if you want to get to experience some of both ends of the oolong spectrum with on tea.

Mmm, honey. That’s the biggest note I notice here. The mouth feel is quite thin, but pleasant. I’m also getting a bread-like aroma, and together it’s like eating a piece of fresh warm bread smothered with honey in the morning. I dont know if it because of my method, but I’m not getting much fruit notes, just lots of sweet delicious honey. I was able to get 5 cups out of one serving.

I learned my lesson with Temple Stairs and gave this two rinses before doing my first steep. To me this smells like the other two Shu Pu-erhs I’ve tried from Mandala, like a pond. I’m starting to appreciate it, because I’m starting to associate the smell with the much more pleasant tastes of pu-erhs.

1st Steep 30 seconds: I’m assuming rinsing is to thank for the lack of pond water taste in this cup, for which I’m most thankful. First of, this and the other two puerhs I’ve had from mandala all have been so smooth and silky in the mouth feel. It’s very pleasant, and even with that first not rinsed cup of Temple Stairs, I appreciated it. I’m getting that flavor that I get from all puerhs, that sort of earthy flavor. I don’t eat mushrooms because the texture freaks me out, but that might be what this note is. There’s also a creaminess to it.

2nd Steep 1 minute: There’s a hint of spice hiding out in this cup! It was there on the first sip, but when I look for it I can’t find it. And then I let my guard down, and it pokes its head up. And I found the cocoa! If I loudly slurp this one I get it as I swallow (I like to slurp to aerate the tea so that I can pick up on more notes).

3rd Steep 90 seconds: At this point I got tired of getting up to go make more tea every 5 minutes (lazy, I know) so I made 3 steeping into 3 different cups and brought them all back to my room with me. This is much like the second, but with more cocoa.

4th Steep 2 minutes: I’m starting to get a nice nuttyness now. Mmm chocolate and nuts go so good together.

5th Steep 2.5 minutes: The texture is slightly thinner on this one. I’m getting honey this time, and the cocoa is more like milk chocolate. And it might just be the power of suggestion, but I’m feeling a little tea drunk. Considering I just drank 3 cups back to back its possible though.

6th-8th Steeps: Made three more at once, adding a minute each time. They were all much like the last cup. Cocoa and honey and yummy.

The first thing I noticed is that this smells like roasted peanuts. If I closed my eyes I would swear thats what I was smelling, roasted peanuts.

I threw in my whole sample (~7g?) into my yixing pot, added 8oz of just shy of boiling water, and steeped for 15 seconds. This tastes just like it smells! Like roasted peanuts. My grandpa used to keep a jar of roasted peanuts on the little side table next to his spot on the couch in his Florida room. Taking a sip of this took me back to all those summer days when we would go to my grandpas house and run inside, grab a few peanuts, run and jump in the pool, swim around for a bit and then run back inside to fuel up again. Of all those fall nights when we’d sit in the Florida room with my grandpa, with the fireplace going even though it was 80 degrees outside, and just listen to my grandpa talk and joke.

I went through 8 infusions of about 15-45 seconds with this tea before the roasted peanut taste started to weaken. It that point it was 2am and time for me to hit the hay. I imagine I still could have gotten more infusions out of the leaves though, because they were still quite fragrant, and the liquor, while less roasty, was starting to get a slightly vegetal taste to it. I imagine I had just scratched the surface with this tea,a nd wish I had more to play around with and see just how far I could make it go.

The dry leaf of this smells exactly like fruit gushers, those little fruity sugary chewy gummy snacks that my mom refused to buy for me as a kid because they weren’t healthy.

I decided to cold brew this (I’ve been cold brewing a lot this week) over night. After about 12 hours, the taste was a little weak, so I gave it another couple hours and tried again. Better this time, though still mellow.

This is what I consider a nice light refreshing tea. Something you can gulp down easy on a hot day, and feel hydrated. There’s not much but a fresh taste at the front of the sip, but mid sip the fruit pokes it’s head up, and sticks around through the end of the sip, leaving a sweet tropical fruit taste, accented by a slight green taste, not quite vegetal, just fresh and sort of crisp.

The fact that you dot get much until mid sip is the reason I can see myself chugging this. Another one I might be on my reorder list.

Backlog from last night.

Of the samples Simpson & Vail sent me, I went for this one first. This definitely is a light gentle green tea. I got lots of fruitiness from this one. The fruit was distinct enough that I double checked that this wasn’t a flavored tea. As far as I can see it’s not, which is impressive. There’s also a bit of a floral note in it.

Second steeping brought forth some astringency. The fruit was still there, but mellowed out a bit. The floral note is more noticeable at this point though.

Third steeping is much more astringent. I’m not really a fan of astringency so this was the end of this session.

Cold brewed this last night and added a splash of milk after straining. The strawberry isn’t as strong as I would like, but it’s stronger than when I brewed it hot. I took it with me and drank it in the movie theater today (we watched Deliver Us From Evil, not a bad movie).

This smells exactly like a raspberry truffle. Sweet and juicy raspberry filling and dark chocolate shell. It’s mouth watering. Raspberry and dark chocolate is one of my favorite combinations. Once what the chocolate smell is more promo mate than the raspberry.

But sipping it, there’s a perfect balance between the raspberry and the chocolate. This is decadent, filling, sweet and satisfying. Delicious, I’m starting to understand the Butiki obsession! (;

This smells phenomenal, like orange peels and chocolate. Mmm, definitely a good sign. I can stiff this all day. The smell mellows a bit after steeping.

When I first took a sip there was a slight bitterness, which could have been from the orange or could have been I added a little too much stevia, or maybe the combination of both. The front of the sip is mostly orange, which melds into sweet chocolate by middle of the sip and the two marry together by the end of the sip, and leaving an almost fluffy creamy taste and feel. This is very yummy. I don’t get too much marshmallow and I’m fine with that.