New Tasting Notes

As I sit here drinking this tea I am having an odd thought. Last year (2024) I had a tencha from 2023 and it was phenomenal. I couldn’t help thinking to myself, this tea is fantastic perhaps if I stored it properly would it age nicely like that? So we are going to try.
1/31/2025 Tasting notes:
Dry Leaf aroma: Slight tropical fruit. Mango. Fresh pile of grass.
Dry Leaf Appearance: Shiny, tightly twisted. Dark and creamy light green.
Wet Leaf: Very vegetal. Freshly steamed asparagus and spinach. Makes my mouth water.
Flavor: High in umami. Heavy in spinach notes. Mainly wilted spinach.
Mouthfeel: Soft. Filling. A slight astringency.

Really enjoyed this one! The spices taste fresh and potent – mostly the cardamom is center stage, with ginger and a touch of cinnamon and clove supporting. And then the cocoa powder gives it a nice chocolaty flavor that isn’t artificial or over the top. It’s not a super dark chocolate note, I would put it somewhere in the middle. The CTC base is strong enough to stand up to the added ingredients, but not tannic, even though I’m currently sipping it cold.

I bet this would be wonderful prepared traditionally too! Might have to put a tin of this blend on my wishlist for later this year…

I’m not a lover of lime flavoring, so I find myself watering this one down. The green rooibos base is lovely, and this makes a nice cold resteep. The first steep is refreshing and fruity, but I wish I could taste the mango over that strong lime.

Another Nordqvist tea; another tea bag… and another flavored black tea. Again, steeping for short as recommended by vendor; and sadly the impressions about the flavours are pretty same. They are present and well done, but a bit too weak for me and disappearing quickly.

This one is supposed to be with wild strawberry flavour and the flavor is definitely well executed; but as I wrote above — it’s too thin. I am actually curious if loose leaf version is better in this matter, but on the other hand I don’t want to buy a bag of, quite lots of tea, that can be pretty much flavourless.

Well, thought I would try this waiting to get my oil change this morning. Turns out that it wasn’t a good idea. Its not a pleasant sour like from hibiscus heavy blends, its… spoiled sour really. It’s a shame, I usually enjoy Bigelow’s teas.

A great tea that, while not the best tea I’ve ever tasted, absolutely worth taking a chance on for its unique nature and how it makes your house smell. Warm, christmasy, and mildly bitter, it won’t be my go-to, but its great for a bit of a shake-up.

Edit: Tried with 3 minutes of steeping and 5, 3 minutes is plenty, 5 just added extra bitterness.

Day 9 of my DIY mostly-Adagio advent. I’ve been a bit slow finishing this calendar! I was optimistic about these, but I ended up not particularly enthused. I found the jasmine to be more “jasmine flavoring” than “jasmine scented.” Drinkable but not exactly wowing me. Just tastes very mid to me.

Usually with these blends I can’t really tell much about the individual teas that are in them. but for this one, I could.

First sip and my immediate response was, OMG that’s foul!

Second sip and I kept thinking about lawn mower clippings and over boiled greens of an unidentified type.
Isn’t this supposed to basically be an earl gray? Isn’t there supposed to be bergamot in it?

And then I looked at the ingredients. That’s right, this is a black/green blend which might explain some of the flavors I’m getting. But its completely overriding the bergamot almost completely and I didn’t realize that was possible.

Even as it cools. I sip and I think maybe there might be some bergamot there and then BOOM!!!! BOILED GRASS IN YOUR FACE!

And I thought bergamot could overpower just about anything. :)

Have tried this a couple of times now but first chance making notes.

First steep does have a lovely raisin flavor to it. A little sweeter than I would like, but its nice. Base seems to be nothing special. It doesn’t fight with the raisin flavor but doesn’t seem to have much of its own to add into the mix. It does seem smooth and isn’t competing however.

Second steep is much less raisin. Base still seems smooth and still not adding much to the experience.

Third steep I very badly over stepped because work.
There’s no raisin flavor now. Base is harsh and a bit bitter. Kind of expected that.

Overall, this is ok. Think of it as a flavored tea. The first steep is pleasant and then it drops from there. I recommend one steep and then move on to something else.

I’m working my way through the teas in the break room at work. This one is labelled as a black teas but is primarily rooibos. I’m confused as to how they missed that on the ingredient list.

There is a lot of rooibos flavour, so a bit woody and some minerals. I also taste some slight tannic bitterness from the orange peel and possibly the chocolate chips (if they are semi-sweet). I get a smell that reminds me of cheap dollar store chocolate (the waxy type with a heavy chocolatey scent). Overall not really a black tea but it made a nice latte with a dash of barista oat creamer.

This one wasn’t my favorite. Chocolate teas and I don’t tend to get along, but also this type of hazelnut flavoring reminds me of hazelnut coffee creamer and for some reason that taste is just so cloying to me. Not sure why, it’s not like I had a bad experience with hazelnut coffee ha ha.

I actually didn’t get a ton of chocolate, but the hazelnut was quite strong. At least the glitter was restrained! ;)

It’s no secret that Zhi chais are my favorite ever. I thought I had more of this, but my tin is almost empty and I can’t find any back up bags. I also can’t find any bags of Cacao Chai or Coconut Chai, which is a bummer. They were the first place I encountered and fell in love with Kashmiri Chai, but they stopped making it when they could no longer source all the organic ingredients. (Super glad David’s later blended a match.) ALSO sad…. I opened my email this morning to find an announcement from Zhi saying their founder, Jeffery, died last April. I do remember encountering him on some of my visits to the first location of their tea shop, which was very near my home in Austin and I’m sad to hear of his passing. Jeffery, you blended amazing chais!

This cup is delicious as always. I’m having it with some honey and oatmilk. It’s a very warming and comforting cup that I always want to have around.

Another one from my second NS order. This one is really strange tbh. I dont know how to describe it. Seems pretty watery in mouthfeel yet simultaneously fairly thick. Has a lasting spiciness (think cloves) that is unusual in puerh. Supposedly, Kuzushan means “bitter bamboo mountain.”

Infusions 4-7 certainly started to bring out the bitterness. Not an overbearing bitterness, but still not quite my jam. I can see how people would like this one, though.

The taste later changed again to become a bit more acidic/spicy and the bitterness faded. Lots of complexity here.

Location: Kuzhushan, Jinggu County, Pu’er City, Yunnan, China
Cultivar: Da Ye Zhong

Another one from my second NS order. This one is pretty similar to its 2011 counterpart, but it’s hard to tell the differences without doing side-by-side. Also love this one, but will do a side-by-side comparison in the coming week or so to really tease out any nuances. Definitely high 90s, but will hold off on formal rating until then :).

Edit: Did a side-by-side comparison of this one with the 2011 from the same company. They are pretty similar overall. I will say it is perhaps an unfair comparison. The primary difference is less sweetness and a lingering off note in the 2012. However, looking at the leaves between the two, the 2012 leaves are much more broken. I’m not sure if they just got more crunched somehow, but certainly these leaves will let off more unpleasant notes quicker than the more intact 2011 leaves. Not sure if that’s the only factor contributing to a difference. Nonetheless. this is still a great tea!

Sipdown! First of the year. I was digging in my green tea bin yesterday and uncovered this tea. I’m not sure how long I’ve had it, but it’s not the first bag I bought of it. It’s very enjoyable and I’m sure I’ll eventually buy it again. This cup is the last bits in the bag and a little underleafed, so not the best cup ever, but the cup I had yesterday was perfect and flavorful. I kept thinking I was smelling it hours after having finished the cup. If I come across this again I’m sure I’d grab another bag.

I started to do postcrossing again this year; with a hope that it won’t be that hard year and will have time for this hobby… and first postcards reached my mailbox. And yesterday, one a very full envelope from Finland too! And inside, there were 9 different tea bags in their outer wrappings! Every single one is different which is perfect and many teas to try (again) and tea bag form is sometimes welcomed.

Like today. I came home again later than usual (and work is not yet done!), so I grabbed simple ta bag and lemon flavouring was something I was craving for. I do have a lemon black tea in the office, but hopefully Moomin tea will be better.

Well, kind of. This tea has got a nice and mellow black tea base, but somehow not distinctive at all as I became probably more serious about tea since I was in Finland — it will be 9 years this fall. And lemon flavouring was a bit like lemon pie, but sadly with short effect and as the tea was cooling down, it dissappeared completely. That’s a shame, because otherwise I liked that note.

Unlike Cameron, my tea wasn’t cardboard-like; so I assume it was sadly an issue of their Advent back then. I completely with her other comments though.

January Sipdown Prompt – a tea that makes you feel better when you are sick

Sipdown

This was a gift from whiteantlers long ago and it was a big enough sample that I have had it a few times now. Many thanks, friend! We miss you!

I am not sick, but I am drinking this tea with lunch as a preemptive strike because I am having red meat and I rarely eat red meat. My sensitive might rebel so I am going in early with the digestion help of puerh tea.

Does it work? It does for me. Years ago I had two pieces of pizza and then was daft enough to give in and eat the crusts dipped in garlic butter at the end. The food felt like an immovable insult sitting stubbornly in my belly and refusing to budge. At that time, I had only had puerh a few times and it was mediocre shu, but after sipping a cup of it the sun rose and the birds sang and all was right with the world.

This is really lovely. I think it has matured nicely into a very well-behaved sheng. I get a little smoke, some leather, no bite, no astringency, a little creamy/oil mouthfeel, and thirst slaking wetness. A hint of sweet soil follows. Really nice.

Edit to add: burger is finished and tea is going strong still. New note I notice without food obscuring it – minty minty minty! Some dry fall leaf crispness and aroma.

A Natural Grocers opened in town a while ago and I’d bought some teas there that aren’t in my normal grocery stop, this being one of them. I have been out of tulsi blends and didn’t read the packaging very close, thinking this was a tulsi rose blend, and while it does have those things, it’s actually on an assam black tea base. Which I wasn’t too bovvered about, as I like rose black tea as well.

The blend, however… is a little weird. The rose flavor is nice, it’s pretty strong and I wouldn’t recommend it to those averse to florals, but it doesn’t taste perfumey (at least to me, but I love strong rose tea). I’d put it on par with the rose flavor of Kroger Private Selection’s rose black tea. But I don’t think I’m as much of a fan of the tulsi mixed with a black base, because while I normally like tulsi on its own, it leaves this really strange aftertaste to me on the assam. Sometimes it just comes out kind of minty which is pretty pleasant, but other times it just comes off with this weird oaty/hay note that just isn’t playing nicely with the rest. It’s not bad, but I think I’d prefer a rose-on-tulsi or a rose-on-black more than this amalgamation of both.

I don’t taste the peppercorn specifically. The black base is decently hearty, but the spice combo is pretty meh. These Savoy chai blends are unfortunately not working out for me at all.

A blend that beckons with a discreet charm. Its spicy profile, dominated by nettle, is interwoven with a delicate floral note courtesy of calendula, knapweed, fireweed and oregano flower. The leaves themselves are a sight to behold – large and elegant, as is the hallmark of Camellia Sinensis herbal teas. These bigger leaves demand a rather tactile approach, as a spoon would not allow a balanced selection of ingredients.

The infusion offers a mild, soothing taste. Beyond its flavour, this tea’s virtues lie in its utility—relieving headaches and aiding digestion. A quiet yet dependable ally in one’s collection albeit its steep price, perfect for moments of restorative calm.

This ‘Menthe Verte’ from Damman Frères, acquired as a delightful sample during a shopping jaunt in Paris, offers precisely what one might expect: a straightforward yet pleasant expression of peppermint. The finely crushed leaves make for a refreshing infusion, although it’s fair to say that their modest size sacrifices some of the elegance you’d expect from a premium herbal tea like those from Camellia Sinensis in Montreal. It is, by all accounts, a good and simple mint, though hardly a revelation.

However, I cannot help but question the necessity of getting peppermint from France when Quebec’s own local offerings are equally robust and satisfying. A lovely infusion, to be sure, but hardly a compelling reason to forgo locally sourced herbs. Certain pleasures are best savoured within their local terroir.

The jasmine really comes through, which normally isn’t my favorite, but with the gunpowder and ceylon, it really blends for something both flowery and musty (postively) to remind you of books.

Sipdown! (33)

From the January subscription. I’m actually sending the rest of the pouch to a friend, but having a cup from my own tin to mark the sipdown (shipdown? sharedown?).

I will say, the age of this tea is definitely noticeable after tasting the fresh batch. The blueberry is much more muted, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your preference ha ha. Still a nice tea, but I feel like green teas in general suffer from age more quickly, so I’m not getting much flavor from the base. Still an enjoyable and mellow cup, but next time I think I’ll add more leaf.

Sipped this last night and don’t recall a whole lot other than I enjoyed it. The spices were well-balanced, potent but not overly strong, and I could mostly taste cardamom and ginger. I didn’t specifically taste lavender, but I feel like lavender and cardamom can be somewhat similar, so perhaps it was just melding in there. The base was smooth and inoffensive, maybe a tiny bit nutty. Overall it was a pleasant afternoon/evening cuppa sipped while knitting. I’m not sure I feel the need to have a green chai in my cupboard, but this would be a good choice if I did.