New Tasting Notes

This was a gift from our delightful derk, along with a jar of home made plum and cinnamon jam which I have already devoured! Thank you, derk!

I saved this to serve when my bestie next came to visit, and it has been almost two months since we have seen each other. First there was the busy pace of Christmas and then her family kept getting hit with viruses passing around from person to person so it has been a while. Today was our day!

Bestie only drinks green, white, oolong, and puerh tea. My cupboard is overwhelmingly black tea, so I make an effort to have something new for us to try when we get together instead of the same five greens or whites over and over.

My friend loves “food as medicine” and is a fan of manuka honey, so I was very happy to see that this has manuka leaf! I did not read the company description first, so I missed out on the tea turning blue first while steeping and then yellow. Darn.

She really liked the tea! The rose is light and sweet and if you didn’t tell someone it had rose in it, they might not guess. The rose petals were gorgeous and in the steeping basket the petals rose to top and were so pretty amongst the brilliant greens.

The tea is described as vibrant, and I would applies to the appearance and the flavor both. This is a zingy green with lots of high notes. It has a lot of energy. Bestie gives it a thimbs up, and said to make sure derk gets a thank you from her, too!

I had same flavoured tea from Richard company and I have to say I like this one more.

Here are currants (black to be precise) definitely more distinctive, with their slightly tart flavour and mint is just a refreshing element. The base tea is fine enough, but not worth any further research.

February Sipdown Prompt – a breakfast tea

This is a breakfast tea that is not at all like you expect a breakfast tea to be. The temperature is low, the steep is short, the color of the steeped tea is light. It does not need milk and sugar and it would almost be a crime to anything to this, but that’s just me.

These delicate buds from China yield a rich and creamy tea that resembles a Darjeeling or Ruby 18 with all briskness completely eliminated. Delicious. Three steeps easily.

No combat boots, here, gmathis. But you might get an afternoon neck rub out of it.

idk if the years were not kind to this oolong, but I did not catch any of the tasting notes, just sort of a one-note “green tea” kind of flavor. Not a big fan. Steep 1 (3 min) was understeeped, so I figured I’d get a bloom of flavor in steep 2 (4:30, just slightly oversteeped). Still nothing, just louder. I will say I usually assume a minute longer steeping every resteep, and I added 30 seconds to calibrate for understeeping, and that was just on the side of too much, so this may benefit from a lighter hand on resteeping times than usual.

This is such a unique tea! The nuttiness of the oolong, the sweetness of the peach, the smokiness of the tea, all blends and contrasts so nicely together.

Advent Tea! Not sure what makes this Jolly or Fig, but the green is smooth. Mostly cinnamon, but some sweet fruity notes here too. Glad I got to try, but I like my cinnamon with other flavors.

I bought Heritage Honey Oolong from Mountain Tea 8 years ago, sipped it once or twice, and have kept it stored in a sealed jelly jar since then. And it STILL tastes great! Today, I brewed 2.5g in 8oz boiling alpine spring water for 4 min (after a 10s rinse), which allowed the huge leaves to unfurl nicely in the steel infusion basket. The aroma is intoxicating and the flavor powerfully divine! Floral and so very sweet, with strong tropical fruity flavors on the top of my tongue. I can’t call out a single fruit, so let’s call it ambrosia salad! The long, long-lasting aftertaste lingered, keeping a smile on my metaphorical mug. A second long steeping (like 10 minutes because I got distracted) was equally enjoyable. If one were to better limit the infusions to a couple minutes each, I’m sure this would have gone for 4-5 great rounds, and possibly more if starting with cooler water. I don’t remember why this got pushed to the back of my cupboard — surely not for lack of merit! Checking the Mountain Tea website I am shocked to find it now on clearance at a sweet price meaning my full session would now cost a quarter for the leaf, and I spent more just for the spring water! Mountain Tea does not transparently track lot numbers or production years for it, but I see prior reviewers from a few yr ago also mentioning clearance events on this tea, so they must just be making room for the next shipment. Here’s an opportunity for you! I hope you like it as much as I do. I’m rating it as a 95 only because of my prejudice favoring black teas.

Mmm… I kind of forgot I had restocked some Keemun black tea a while ago, and as the Pineapple Express is rolling through here in the western US, this robust Chinese black is really hitting the spot against the dreary and wet weather. I wouldn’t say it is exemplary among Keemun blacks, but it is exactly what I was expecting… Rich with malty notes leaning into a savory flavor of leather and smoke with an overall brassy mineral quality and a hint of bittersweet cocoa at the back of the throat. It’s also very smooth rather than tannic or drying. I really enjoy this type of tea!

Just finished another Moomin tea and there is already a note that I wrote before? Yep, I recall it a bit.

In my cup I got quite well the blueberry muffin notes, as promised. Pastry and blueberries. Or candy blueberry is maybe a better descriptor.

Either way, it’s enjoyable and brings back memories. Maybe the latter affects me a bit more than I want to admit.

I was intrigued when I noticed cantaloupe in the ingredients for this one. When I opened the bag, I was hit with the scent of fresh cantaloupe, which was very promising. The flavor leans more toward the cantaloupe as well, despite raspberry being in the name. I really don’t mind because raspberry teas have historically been some of my less favorite ones from 52teas, and I almost never see cantaloupe teas. I drank this cold with sugar and a splash of milk, and it’s so fresh tasting and lovely. I have some cantaloupe juice that I made in the fridge, and this might be even nicer than that. The resteep was incredible too. I vote for more cantaloupe teas! The second time I had this, I tasted more black tea and less fruitiness. It was still lovely, but I wasn’t as wild for it as the first time.

Sipdown

This is a decent rock oolong, but I wouldn’t consider it to be complex and award winning. That could be my fault – maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to it or something but it just hasn’t had a wow factor for me. Deep roasty notes, which I enjoy, are the main attribute of this tea. Most of it was taken to work by Ashman, but I finished the last teaspoon today.

Finished off a 25g bag. Very sad day. It’s a pretty pricey tea- $17.50/25g, but I really enjoy it, so just ordered another bag. One of the few teas I really measure and savor.

Sipdown

A delicious Earl Grey cream style tea with rich flavor. All the quality you expect from 52teas.
So glad to have tried it!

Calming in times of national peril. Fortifying when courage is required. So says the product description on the Rare Tea website. Considering family events of late, I’d brew this by the gallon on that guarantee alone :)

But fortunately, it has a lot going for it beyond the description. At just a two-minute steep (heresy!) it is strong, bready (dark pumpernickel), and slightly sweet. Those of you who prefer tea that doesn’t wear combat boots would want millk.

A tangy, tarte, yet fruity tea! Cannot be made into a latte. I actually prefer it hot, but it is great cold as well. I enjoy how it isn’t sickeningly sweet, however, wish there was more of an herbacious note.

Cold Brew!

Currently sipping on this one tonight while I crack out these tasting notes. I obviously had to stop my Momo’s booth at the festival because I’m always so, so impressed with her flavoured green tea blends. In fact, her sencha is the only sencha I actively go out of my way to try because the quality is just soooooo good that I can’t turn my nose up at it even as an incredibly picky person when it comes to green tea.

I realized though that I owned every flavoured except for this one, which is her signature. So obviously I rectified that. I knew it was peach flavoured because momo means peach in Japanese, but I didn’t realize until I was setting up my cold brew this morning that it also has rhubarb in it. Kind of a game changer for me personally as a bit of a self professed rhubarb slut.

Sipping on it now it’s exactly what I want it to be. Very, very smooth and silky with buttery, unctuous notes of sencha couple with fragrant, floral and sweet Japanese-style white peach and just a little bit of fleeting tartness from the rhubarb. I’m finding it really well balanced and refreshing. There are certainly other teas from Momo that I’d reach for over this one like the melon sencha or budo sencha (ie. the grape one), but they’re just all soooo, so good!

Had this at work today and it was not bad! I didn’t really remember it as something that I’d enjoyed before, so my expectations were lower and maybe that factored in slightly. Quite hojicha forward but I enjoyed that toasty roasted cereal/grains goodness a lot, and even didn’t mind the subtle brassy/mineral twang that accompanied it. The coffee notes are present but very cream-laced and somewhat alcoholic in a fake-y kind of way. I get where the tiramisu direction comes in though, but it could be a little richer and/or more authentic.

Sipdown (2791)!

Finished this one off at work today and really, really enjoyed how smooth and jammy the mug was. Full bodied from the black tea, and with a surprising punch of cinnamon. I think there was A LOT at the bottom of my bag, though. But the star of the show continued to be that wonderfully thick, cranberry jelly type of note. Probably best not to keep hoarding this one, but I will miss it. Maybe we’ll meet again in a future year’s countdown box or something like that!

Sipdown (2792)!

I was excited to see Nepal Tea Collective at the Toronto Tea Festival this year – they were really kind to speak to, and so generous with their sampling as well. I ended up getting their 14 tea sampler box as well as a box of one of their reserve teas.

It’s going to take me a while to get through the box, but I wanted to start with this one because the inclusion of Szechuan peppers was really fascinating to me. I’ve had two or three teas now with them included and it’s always a really distinct taste and mouthfeel that I adore. Westholme Tea’s “Boom” lapsang blend that includes them is maybe my favourite example of this.

Opening up the tea packet, the dry leaf smelled incredible. So fresh and aromatic with really distinct, lively notes of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and citrus. It made me nose tickle/burn, but in the good kind of way! Steeped up, those three spices definitely still come out the strongest initially without a whole lot of the turmeric. It’s also more of a hot ginger than an earthy one, which in this context I enjoyed alongside the very aromatic, soothing and slightly cooling notes of the cinnamon and cardamom.

Immediately I felt the numbing sensation of the szechuan peppers with my first sip, though it started light before getting quite tingly and intense near the end of the cup. If you’ve never felt it before, it really does feel like the food/liquid version of static electricity. There’s a citrusy note to it as well, which was doubled down on by the sort of grassier citronella-type taste of the lemongrass. I did kind of feel like the aftertaste was a little soapy though.

You definitely lose the notes of the white tea pretty completely, though I think it probably is adding mouthfeel. Without the white tea I think the liquor would be very thin feeling. Still, I wish I got a little more tea and maybe just a bit less spice? It’s such a unique blend though and that mouth sensation for the szechuan is something I feel like everyone should try in a tea at least once.

Sipdown (2793)!

Finishing off the other sachet of this tea I was gifted because after bringing in so many new teas this weekend I kind of needed the easy sipdown win. Honestly, this felt great on my incredibly raw throat if nothing else. The flavour was tart but with a soothing cinnamon spice undertone and some very lively citrus notes too. It’s a nice tea, but nothing I’ll particularly miss.

I drank this one yesterday, but actually not as a latte despite the name. Instead I added a ton of the powder to a bottle of ice water and shook it all up until I had a beautiful, soft pink bottle of iced tea. The flavour is incredibly delicate so it still barely tasted like anything despite how much I included but I did get a little bit of that lightly floral and sweet cherry blossom note on the backend of the sip. More than anything, this was just refreshing though.

Thankfully I took yesterday off work as a comp day for the time I’d spent working over the weekend because when I got up in the morning my voice was so shot. I truly sounded like a dying toad.

I used that extra time off for rest/recovery, but also to add my grossly shameful Tea Festival shopping haul into Steepster. Plus I drank a lot of tea – including this one which was something I’d sampled at the festival and liked enough to bring a bag home with me. It was a nice tea to sip on during the lazy morning of logging teas into the datebase.

I wanted to check out Selicious Teas last year at the festival (it was their first year attending) but their booth was so packed I never got a chance to wiggle in. This year I was looking before the show floor actually opened to the public so I had a quiet environment to sample in. This one stood out to me because the cinnamon was so smooth, without either being cloying/sweet or drying and woody. I also found that the tea had a really pleasant custard-like flavour. Not vanilla/cream which would give this a sort of cinnamon bun profile, but specifically the type of golden custard you might have in a flan. It felt kind of unique in that way!