Featured & New Tasting Notes

So I spent like hours in the Mariage Freres store in Paris. I think I smelled every tea, twice. And trust me, they have LOTS of teas. This one really struck me. It was definitely the bright citrus notes in the scent that caught me.

I was a little worried because when I opened the tin there was green tea in there. The tin and the box only list black tea. But reading the description I found on the MF website, it now makes sense, there is actually some green tea in the blend.

This tea is very decadent. The black tea base is very light, but it is thick. A lot of creamy flavour as well as texture to the tea. It is very smooth. The citrus flavours are actually quite light as compared to the smell but they are very definitive, which I think is what the “sparkling” means. There is a slight flavour profile of sencha, which I assume is coming from the green tea.

This tea reminds me of of very strong black tea, diluted with milk. Like a perfect lazy breakfast tea.

Definitely another one of my fav teas that I bought. However, I have only tried two so far… 2 for 2!

noms. i like this one. Mango, citrus, sweet tasty delicious.

Upon opening the packet I am met with a large leaf and floral blend, which was not quite as I imagined it somehow. I was expecting pieces of butterscotch in the blend to create the flavour, instead we have ‘natural flavours’ in their place to create a synthetic version. With that in mind I give it a sniff, and while it’s sweet (and again floral) it just is not butterscotch like. It does smell creamy and well it’s still a pleasant scent but not quite right.

This will be interesting! I put two teaspoons of leaf (as it’s large leaf) into my steeping mug with 90C water for roughly 3-4 minutes.

The resulting tea liquid is golden brown in colour and bares a sweet scent that actually does resemble butterscotch rather well. Less floral than it’s raw blend form but not as creamy or thick as actual butterscotch.

In terms of flavour this is very pleasant, a dark, toffee and treacle mix (without a lot of sweetness) with some creamy, floral undertones that linger in the after taste. It’s not bitter but I think the flavours would be enhanced a bit better with some sugar or honey, just to make it more butterscotch like. Even without anything extra it still does have a butterscotch essence and though it may not be perfect it’s still very well created.

As it cools it becomes creamier and a little thicker in the after taste, particularly the floral tones. At this point I can taste the white tea a little better and it’s also becoming increasingly dry.

For more information please view the SororiTEA Sisters post.
http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/10/03/butterscotch-potion-white-tea-blend-tealyra/

Finishing an old sample that I got from someone or maybe I bought it myself…

So good. I’m really enjoying this type of tea a lot. Its nice without anything added, which means I don’t have to worry about cleaning my travel mugs. :)

I brought this to volunteering today, and I’m going to credit it with the magic charm of snagging me all the wool and all the linen. Seriously. All of it. 2 LARGE bags of scraps, plus 12 pieces that are probably all 3m+ each. Plus I got more on Thursday. So now I have to wash/dryclean all the fabrics, and then make all the clothes and costumes…

Thanks to MissB for this! I was really excited for this since I love spicy teas but the base is quite astringent an the spices are rather muddled. I get mostly cinnamon bark, and no orange. I can see this being better with milk and sugar.

Don’t you find it frustrating when you try to make plans with someone but they will never solidify a time and/or place, so you end up spending an entire day (even sometimes the entire weekend) twiddling your thumbs waiting, on call, and avoiding doing anything else because that person may call you at any time when they’re personally ready to meet up, meaning you’d have to drop whatever it is you’re doing? On the bright side, it’s giving me a chance to sit down and drink a bunch of tea, which I haven’t been doing much of, as of late.

I’ve been absent for quite a while. But that is only because I have been traipsing through Europe. I’m not going to lie, it was amazing.

I picked up some really great teas. Not as many as I would have like to but they only let you bring back so much. Ha ha. Someone in customs needs to really start drinking tea so they would just understand.

This is the only Laduree tea I picked up. There were so many I wanted to get it was hard to decide.

This was smells beautiful. It is very citrusy, slightly floral.

The tea base is moderately bold, it is bolder than I thought it would be, I feel like there is a slight smokiness to the base. I know this sounds weird but the smokiness makes the tea more “garden-like”. There are notes of citrus, more so grapefruit I think. There is a floral undertone, it is definitely rose. There is a slight sweetness to the tea. I think if there was a bit of rock sugar added it would really make the citrus flavours pop. This tea is really smooth.

Impressed with this one. I am happy this is the one I chose.

I finished another tin of this today, and have transferred the one Dexter gave me into my cupboard.

YAY!

Favourite chai. So good. Yum yum yum.

My black tea selection of the day, which I’ve been sipping on all morning.

i have too many teas. My goal was to be at 65 by the end of september but then people…you know who you are…decided i needed 90+ teas in my cupboard. And to here i am, at 176 today. So my mini goal for this weekend? Get down to 150. Easily doable if i get any time whatsoever to spend at home this weekend. This was one of those single cup sipdowns. I’m not generally a fan of oolongs, but this was a free sample in one of my verdant orders and is decent. Not enough for me to want it IN my cupboard, but enough for me to sit and drink and enjoy, versus pouring it down the drain after trying it :)

nice roasty feel to this one, smooth and unoffensive.

So the truth of the matter is that for some reason or other, my beloved grandma’s pumpkin pie (aka auntie’s pumpkin pie) is just not cutting it this year. I have a strong suspicion it’s a change in the tea base, but regardless, the pumpkin pie tea of my dreams is no longer available to me. And so the quest begins (continues?), and I picked up 25 g of this last night to experiment with. i also picked up:
-the new curve travel mug, which i have been lusting after so hard i can’t even explain the lengths i went to or you might think i was verging on criminal;
-A tin of silk dragon jasmine (the tins were buy two get one free, and my friend wanted two and I got the third);
-Two pumpkin chai chocolate bars (and two for the same friend so as to balance the tea tin expense);
- 25 g of spiced pumpkin;
- 25 g of spiced apple
And the free honey crisp apple candle that I no doubt qualified for with my magnanimous order. So yeah, I’m pretty happy at the moment. I’ll review the curve travel mug after I’ve had a chance to use it a few times. But so far, it might have led me to believe in god again haha.

Ok so I brewed this up this morning to have with breakfast. Mr. keychange and I make it a point to have breakfast together every Friday, and that makes me so happy. Anyway, I brewed this up for five minutes, added in some rock sugar and cream, and went about drinking it. Honestly, I keep wanting to love this tea as much as so many other people do, but it’s just, I don’t know, so lackluster. Muted pumpkin that’s not objectionable, but so, so not memorable. I could use way more in the way of spice, and I don’t know if I could taste the base at all. Maybe I’ll try it completely without additions at some point, but I don’t tend to like any of my black teas that way, so we’ll see. Anyway, I’m still going to try to coax magic out of these leaves, because otherwise what do i do?

And oh my sweet dear god it’s Friday. There needs to be a drug called “it’s Friday”. It would sell like hotcakes. Or whatever else sells fast. Ipads? I don’t know.

today, this was spot on. caramel, vanilla goodness. thank god it’s almost friday!

I’ve set a goal of drinking a different black tea each day this month, and there are currently 33 in my collection, so this is number one. It’s deep & dark, as implied, very rich, and yet there is a brightness as well, peeking through the clouds like rays of sunshine on a stormy day.
My daughter Ari came over, so I had a second cup, and made one for her as well, which we enjoyed with a homemade gluten free dutch baby.
Afterwards we also each had a cup of Laoshan Black, because I get to drink a 2nd black tea a few times this month, and I let her select it.

So the meds I’m on for my adhd have some side effects, at least in the beginning… it reduces my appetite and ability to consume liquid! This has been a problem for my tea drinking ways. And staying hydrated. It was downright depressing!
But!!! being sick seems to have helped that. Arse backwards huh…
I must have lost enough fluid that my body is finally convinced that drinking tea and other stuff is kinda necessary. Wheeeeee!!! I managed to get three cups of tea and two glasses of water down today already. and damn did they ever taste good, despite my muted ’buds. happydance

Another solid ripe from Chawangshop, and a bargain at $7 for a 100g cake. They say it is one of the best ripes they’ve ever tried. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is good tea. A little bitterness, some chocolate, and very little fish. Deep and rich, hearty and earthy, a little sweet, not too complex.

From the EU TTB

I’ve more or less given up on bagged herbal teas like this, because typically they smell a lot nicer than they taste. This one smells divine, too – very appley, like a fresh baked apple pie. I wasn’t expecting much from the flavour, but it’s actually pretty good. I can taste apple, and it’s a nice, fresh, crisp, “green” tasting apple – not too sweet, and not too tart, with just the tiniest hint of sharpness. The ginger is definitely second fiddle, but it provides a pleasantly warming background and just a touch of sweetness, with a mild gingery tang. It’s a really good pairing, and it’s really putting me in mind of apple pie! It’s just perfect for sipping on an autumnal afternoon, and it’s nice to see something other than the usual pairing of lemon and ginger, too – it’s just a little unusual. A definite winner with me!

I just reviewed this one but wanted to make note of a drastic change in steeping style today.

I have been looking for/saving for a sterling teapot for five years. I have not purchased one yet but I think I may have found “him”, the one that calls to me. It is not the bachelor size I anticipated getting and I wanted to see how well it would do for my breakfast, so I got a pot out that is about the same size and tried a different style of steeping today.

I put two tablespoons of this tea in the large pot and used cooler water to steep it, but I did not remove the leaves. The tea was good and not too strong. I realize I can only do this method with very particular teas.

Then life happened. I had a noon meeting, hubby needed me to go to the bank, mother-in-law was sick at rehab and needed something from her assisted living room, daughter had to be picked up from her early college class, and then taken to training to work the election. And the leaves sat there in that pot aaaaaaallll day. In half water they had started in.

No worries, I strained the tea into a microwaveable pot, added water, and reheated the whole shebang. AND IT WAS GOOD! The headache I have nursing for a couple of hours went away, too. It is back now, but I am also out of tea.

Time to make another pot and enjoy this thunderstorm by candlelight…

It’s yet another subscription box review! Today I take a look at Teabook’s monthly tea service for people on the go.
https://tealover.net/2015/09/teabook-subscription/

I am the sick! with a head cold. So this was perfect to soothe my hoarse throat. I know the flavours are muted but hey, it is delicious either way. Thank you MissB for sending this along. Yum!!
Definitely tastes like a lemon candy, or a lozenge. Refreshing and comforting to be sure.

Decided to give this tea the proper gongfu treatment today. Last time I had not quite given it the gongfu treatment.This tea has pretty much cleared. There wasn’t much fermentation taste left, maybe a little. This tea was sweet. Gave this eight steeps today.

Steeped this eight times in a 85ml Yixing Teapot with 7g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec. 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

Holy shit. Last night, i was craving this tea, but I have a no caffeine after 3:00 rule, so I thought I’d wait until this morning. And oh my god, it was perfect. 1.5 tsp of leaf, used a generous amount of cream, two tsp of sugar, and brewed for four minutes. And I was blown away by how well this tea took the cream in particular. Both the grapefruit and bergamot were prominent, and the cream just amplified the latte-like thickness and comfort, but the zing of the grapefruit was not muted which was mind-blowing. I really hope this tea keeps well. I’m still on the hunt for the best tins in which to store tea. My ideal would be a tin where you can’t smell the tea from the outside, no matter how hard you try.

I know you guys know what it’s like to brew a perfect cup of something. Doesn’t always happen, but when it does, boy do you know it.

From the Puerh TTB #3

Thanks to EoT for providing this and other samples for the TTB

One of the benefits of organizing the tea box is that you get to be first to try the teas. I was really excited when the EoT box arrived, since I like to try older sheng and there isn’t that much of it available. Also, I can now mail out the box to all the other tea-addicts who have been waiting patiently for me to get it all together.

My first few cups were disappointing. The tea had some camphor and tobacco notes but was dominated by the flavor of ashes (think fireplace on a damp day a week after the fire). Fortunately, the ashes became less potent by the third or fourth steep, though they never really went away. I’m still drinking the tea, but have lost count of the number of steeps (around 10). It is a burnt sienna color, fairly strong in flavor, with a sharp, somewhat tannic bite, and flavors of wood and leather (and just a hint of ash). Drinking it was an interesting experience, and I’m glad I had the opportunity, but I don’t think I would go out of my way to drink it again.

In some ways I wonder if older sheng is really worth the wait. I’m reminded of the wine experts raving over 50 year old Bordeaux raving about the flavor of shoe leather, and thinking the younger stuff tastes like fruit and other stuff that I like. It might also be the difference between wet and dry aging. I was also a bit disappointed with the W2T 1990’s wet storage sheng, which I bought in part to learn how aged sheng was “supposed” to taste.

Next day: I’m up to about 15th steep and still getting a lot of flavor out of 1 minute steeps. No negatives: just an enjoyable, interesting tea.

Oh my, this is such a sophisticated blend of floral, fruit, almonds, and chocolate. The dry leaf smells like a blend of chocolate-covered almonds, bergamot, and rose.

Can I wear this as a perfume, please? I imagine Marie Antoinette’s tea party to smell like this. Everyone’s dressed to the nines in their wigs and gowns. I can taste every single note in here. Nothing gets lost. The base is bold but I managed to prevent it from going bitter.

I’m so glad I got this one in the group order, and grateful to Marzipan that she was willing to split this one with me. It’s a winner.

Good morning Steepster. My day did not get off to a good start as I already spilled a cup of coffee on myself and the floor of the cafe I was at this morning. Maybe this is a sign I should give up on coffee?

I got this as a small sample pack from Happy Earth a while back. I didn’t time my steeping too closely, so I would say this is a pretty forgiving tea. This stuff is also truly delicious! I am definitely getting the notes of chocolate, malt and spice. It does have a slight fruitiness in the finish. They call it plum, I was thinking red wine. It’s a very rich and bold tea, it stands up well on its own but mght also be nice with a touch of milk. Another quality Nepalese tea from Happy Earth. So glad I tried this one, I might need more :)

Thank you Angel for this sample.

The mood struck me for some Pu Erh steeped western style which I almost never do, usually because I enjoy the ceremony in making tea traditionally. Today however I am making Christmas decorations as the craft bug has bitten and I have no time for tea traditions at the moment. Still need tea though!

As I open the sample pack I am impressed by the large pieces of tangerine peel, hopefully that will mean it’s got a lot of orange flavour.

Once steeped this has a mild yet sweet orange scent with some dry earth undertones.

Flavour is rich and dark with earth, dry wood, sweet orange and a light, creamy after taste. It is very orange in comparison to the actual strength which is about average thickness. The sweetness is a nice contrast to the dry earth tones and the melody lingers nicely in the after taste.

I shall keep re-steeping this until it’s completely spent, but at least it’s a comforting and delicious aid to my crafting.