Featured & New Tasting Notes

Celebrating national coffee day with my Earl Grey of choice. I’m sure you understand. Don’t even care that none go with me, this still speaks to me after all these years. My yardstick earl.

On a side note, I am so stiff today I can barely maneuver. Went out on the porch Sunday night around 11 pm to get a look at the super blood moon. Of course didn’t turn on a light and didn’t have my cane. Tripped on the mat at the steps. Fell on my face (on the porch). I might add, I was in my underwear as I live out in the boonies. So here is this fat boy sprawled out on the porch and after realizing I wasn’t broken, found myself thinking next time I wear pants! Saddest part is I couldn’t really see the moon through the trees.

As some of you know I have been off tea recently but on Wednesday, my dad finally brought me my teas from the 52teas kickstarter campaign and over the past few days I found myself wanting to try them. Unfortunately, Saturday was my sister’s engagement party (that’s not the unfortunate part), so the past week has been a bit of a whirlwind of busyness.

Then yesterday there was a death in the family so tea obviously was not on my mind. However, what was on my mind was calling in to work to let them know I was dealing with this loss, so this morning I called in and rather than approving the three days of bereavement leave I asked for, they told me the schedule was really tight and that they would see what they could do, and call me back. Seriously. I told them my grandfather passed away and they basically told me that it was too hard to accommodate me and I may have to come in. They even gave me a song and a dance about missing work for his funeral!!! Like are you kidding me?!? And it’s not like I am a manager or anything like that…I am an office supplies associate at Staples. Needless to say I am pissed with the way this had been handled. Oh, and they still haven’t called me back and my shift starts in 15 minutes. Well, I am at home, with my family, where I should be and if that’s an issue they can just write me up. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.

Anyways, in my severely pissed off mood, I decided I needed something to calm down and so in order to clear my head, I took the time to focus on brewing up a mug of this. Genmaichas have always been a favourite of mine with a special spot in my heart for those made by 52teas. Sipping on this particular one, I’m getting a lot of the toasted rice goodness that I love while the base stays mild and in the background. Meanwhile, I am also getting a combination of cream and spice/ginger that reminds me of the iced part of a gingerbread cookie. The flavoring is not the headliner that I hoped it would be but it’s definitely there hiding behind the rice. One just has to look a little bit harder to find it. Nonetheless, I am pleased and focusing on something other than my frustration has proved to be rather helpful. Also, a great start for the new 52teas!

Roswell Strange, I will have to remember to grab samples of all the teas for you :)

Sipdown (117)!

Another from TeaNTees!

I didn’t even realize that The Persimmon Tree Tea Company offered a black lychee tea, but I was certainly excited to learn that they do and be able to try it. The last black lychee tea I fell in love with, The Tea of Kings, was from RiverTea so I can’t buy it anymore. I need a solid replacement.

My initial thoughts about this cold brew are that the flavor level of the lychee and black base are pretty equal, which is how I feel it should be. The black base is brisk, clean and full bodied with malty notes and slightly more floral notes. It reminds me vaguely of a high grown Ceylon? The lychee is juicy and realistic and doesn’t taste overly floral or chemical which is a trap that flavour often falls into with lower quality lychee teas. I taste the pear notes a little too, but they’re fairly flat and certainly not the focal point of the blend.

I don’t think this is my new lychee black to keep on hand, but it’s definitely one of the better ones I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Thank you TeaNTees!

Oh dear.

OH DEAR.

I may have just placed a huge group order for the new 52Teas, after trying them at the tea meetup at Sil ’s house! (It was so great to meet you all! Christina at the zoo (hehe!), keychange, Kittenna, IndigoBloom! Of course I already knew Sil and Cavocorax, and it was great seeing you too!)

I took a sample of this one, and ordered it without trying because, duh, it’s maple and cheesecake and tieguanyin. Even if I didn’t love it, it smells so amazing I’d be happy to spend the $4 on a sample pack and sit there sniffing it.

But the tea delivers. It’s really quite delicious. Steeped at 175F for 3 minutes, just because. The leaves mostly unravelled and the tea is gentle and buttery with a huge kick of maple flavour. I think it’d be fantastic with a little maple syrup or sugar added, and even with milk.

So I’m sitting here at home, drinking a friends tea out of my new Niagara starbucks mug, wishing that I didn’t have to go back to work tomorrow. That I had more time to explore Toronto. That none of us got sick.

Thanks so much for having me over, Sil!

1.5 tsp in 12 oz.

Another one from yesterday courtesy of Indigobloom I was less impressed with this one because i think i always want more banana in teas. Not cough syrup flavoured banana, but real bananas. I liked that while this one was too subtle for me, you could still get the sense of it being not just “banana” tea, but banana bread. :)

I brewed this up this morning without reading about it. This was a sample provided for me and it was without cocoa nibs so it looked like wood and oolong. I recently talked with quite a few people at work about making teramisu for out month in lunch for October to find out that everyone thinks differently of tiramisu. While I like this, I must admit that I was really looking forward to a coffee taste/aroma within an oolong blend. I did not find any coffee taste though and the chocolate notes are gone because the nibs are not there so maybe I will just have to make my own.

How about this… green dan cong powdered with coffee and roasted, shaken gently to reduce the coffee powder once roasting is complete, cocoa nibs and vanilla bean chopped side by side and roasted with the leftover powder from the tea, and then finally all shaken loose to remove the powder and aired out before packing.

Here’s to the 2015 I picked up: https://instagram.com/p/8GgHqdRYOv/

The first thing you will notice about this tea is how bright the tea needles are. Second, the aroma is a bit overwhelming. I love me some dianhong, but dang… I had to pull my nose back :p

This brews up one very strong cup and I’m unsure of how to make the strength kind of take step back. Some potent tea, but I rather like it because it made one mean brisket :)

In my honest opinion: This dianhong is an amazing value at $8 for 50g!

Thanks to Chi Whole Leaf for the samples! This was easily my favorite of the bunch. It’s a light and spicy chai, with the dominant flavors being cinnamon, ginger, and anise. I used a milk frother to blend the powder into cold rice milk. The powder stayed suspended in the rice milk very well – only a small bit of settling at the bottom. I like that this is caffeine-free, so I can have it with dinner. It goes especially nicely with spicy Thai food. Yum.

Queen of Random Steepings/subscription boxes reporting in! Today’s report is about the Bruu Gourmet Tea Club. I bet you haven’t heard of it, and you will wish you had.
https://tealover.net/2015/09/bruu-monthly-subscription-box/

I bought this. I’m drinking this. I like this.

Yay tea.

Boo packing.

It is fall already. Where did summer go? We are getting some really cool nights and some awesome warm days with very low humidity. The leaves are turning. This made me crave white peony. I don’t know if others feel this way but white peony just feels fall to me. It tastes dark but feels light. The leaf on this one is very lovely and smells like fall with touches of honey and melon thrown in. The brew is honey colored and just goes with the sunshine. The taste is pronounced for a white tea. Of course light by assam standards. It is deep woods leafy with honey drizzled lightly on top. While it has a natural sweetness it isn’t overly sweet. A really nice example of the type.

Had some this morning before work. I think I overleafed a bit, but I was surprised by the flavour. It was very smooth and had no astringency, but it wasn’t fruity like a typical Darjeeling. There was a savoury note here – kinda like a Chinese black, but not quite? Hard to describe.

Backlog, as I had this yesterday morning.

I was part of simple loose leaf’s monthly subscription program for a few months last year, but then the tea sort of just started piling up and I felt overwhelmed. But the idea of a milk oolong has always entrigued me, mostly because I like my drinks to be milky, so I thought I’d give it a shot yesterday. The dry leaf smells “milky”, although it’s underpinned by what I imagine to be the hallmark roasted sort of nutty oolong smell. I brewed this for three minutes, which I think was on the longer end of the steeping instructions. The resulting brew retained the smell of the dry leaf, and it was even more intense if that’s possible. Tasting better and better as it cooled, I felt as though I was drinking a cup of hot, slightly nutty and deeply creamy milk, and I actually think it would go into the category of a comfort tea for me.

Now I want to try more amazing milk oolongs, because I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get this exact one again. Any suggestions? I wasn’t a fan of the one from davids tea, if I remember correctly.

And thanks weet f*** it’s Friday.

I got my 5 for 5 sample pack in from Verdant Tea the other day. Steepster was down so couldn’t post about it but it really took me by surprise. I had forgotten all about it.

Of course the laoshan green was the first one I’ve tried . I had it yesterday and having the remainder today. It’s that good. I wasn’t expecting it to be that good. I’ve had this tea before from a travelling tea box and thought it was decent but not amazing. It probably all depends on how old the tea is and the harvest.

So anyway, this tea is so good, I’ve got to have more. Yes, it got the nuttiness and a bit of green pea taste. I’m not really good at describing what I taste. I think the chestnut flavor is really pronounced compared to some other green teas. There’s a bit of sweetness too. The way it all comes together is amazing. So I’m giving this a 95. I’d like to give a 100 but just don’t know if the next batch will be as great as this sample so holding off a bit on my rating.

I suppose a Verdant tea order is in the future for me…..

I cold steeped this tea overnight for a quick review today. Unfortunately I have no idea what the ingredients are as the sample packet I had didn’t say and this is not on the website. Other than Oolong I have no idea, though I did note it had a spicy scent when I was steeping it. Perhaps the spice was why this is Mexican?

In flavour the spice has continued to a point that I’m thinking it resembles black pepper and cinnamon. Perhaps some clove in there too as it has a refreshing after taste. Rather spicy but it does have a sweet and refreshing after taste that lingers. Also getting perhaps a citrus note, like orange rind though subtle compared to the spice. And Oolong wise it’s a dark Oolong.

It’s quite nice but even if I could I don’t think I would purchase this one. It’s not special in terms of flavour or blend and while it might be a nice drink today I can guarantee it will be forgotten about tomorrow.

From the Puerh TTB #3

One of the benefits of organizing the TTB is that I get first crack at the promotional teas. Two days ago I received a huge box from Paul at White2Tea, which was really exciting, but then I found that I already owned about 80% of the teas, so won’t be taking samples. This was one of the few I hadn’t tried.

I also want to set an example in writing reviews, so I’m posting this right away. I’m afraid the review may be a bit confusing as I’m kind of emotionallly involved with the tea. When I made my purchase for the moving day sale I went back and forth between this and the If you are reading this… and went with the latter. Then I started reading all sorts of reviews of how good pound cake was and was filled with regrets. Now I don’t know whether I’m doing a sour grapes thing (oh I bought the right tea) .

So, on to the tea. I wasn’t as excited as some of the other reviewers. I think part of the reason for this is that there is a vegetive/weedy element to the taste that while not unpleasant doesn’t add to my enjoyment. I’m mostly a black tea drinker and I think a green tea drinker would find this more appealing.

The tea is structurally sound: good nose, reasonably strong taste that blends smoothly into a good finish. Early steeps have a weedy straw flavor to a more woody style that has a lot of acidity but not much bitterness. Moderate cha qi. Not a lot of complexity in any given steep.

I have an unusual steeping style: 2 grams in 50 ml for 10, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60 s. Usually the flavor peaks at the 3rd steep, but this one kept going and I found myself liking the 4th steep better than the 3rd and the 5th better than the 4th. There is an appealing richness, and I’m noticing more complexity.

Not long ago my eldest daughter mentioned the trend toward adding savory flavors in unexpected places. In steps this sample from Cameron B! I have had it for a while but a lot of my samples disappeared in a kitchen clean up and were found on a high shelf months later.

This was the second tea served at our tea time and was a really neat tea experience. We began the tea time with tea cookies made with fresh cardamom that had been rolled in ground sugar, which made it the perfect texture between fine granulated sugar and powdered sugar. The first tea had been Decaf Ceylon Orange Pekoe, a sturdy workhorse of a tea with classic pekoe flavor.

Then I sipped this and – WOW. So much thyme! Brothy tasting to me because of the savory herb, I still liked it. My youngest daughter said she still tasted a lot of peach but I did not. She believes it is because loves peaches and eats them so often that the taste is more apparent to her, which is likely true as I rarely eat peaches.

This isn’t something I would buy by the pound but it was a really neat tea to try and I enjoyed it. Thank you, CameronB!

Enjoying this one while I’m working thru lunch. It’s been one heck of a week! I like it. Fruity with hints of floral. It reminds me of a sweet strawberry floral tea but I’m also eating right along with this tea so that may be screwing up my taste buds. No matter, this one is pretty good. Can’t say I’d want a ton of it but today I’m enjoying it.

Hahaha. I quite enjoyed this tea, even though Sil didnt. Must be because I don’t actually mind the whole flowery thing. I felt the chocolate was pretty nice, although yes somewhat flowery. Finished the mug pretty quick without thinking about it.

Probably if it were less flowery, more people would appreciate the actually pretty good chocolate flavour.

This one went south quite fast. When I first picked it up, I thought, “Splendid, a maté that I may enjoy.” But I was wrong. So, so wrong.

First cup, I was in the zone where this tasted decent. Spicy and very little base, plus a sweet background brought to you by the added sweetener. I can dig it?

But evidently, I can’t. The final two cups of this horror house were fish. Salmon to be precise. Mega fishy salmon that needs to be taken back to the supermarket.

Sure I may only be running on three hours of sleep but I know what I’m talking about!

Ohh, this is a tasty white tea. It reminds me more of a black tea, as it has malty chocolate in here that tones down the hay-like notes that are typically present in white teas. This is the kind of white teas that I tend to go for the most. MissB, you just knew I’d love this one, didn’t you? Thank for you much for including this in my package!

This tea was excellent. For the price of $22 a bing it’s hard to beat. I didn’t find much bitterness in this tea. There was a little in the first couple of steeps and that is all. Another reviewer described a light floral taste. I think this is on the mark. It’s got a lot of sweetness to it too. More of a floral sweetness than an apricoty sweetness. I bought this largely because Mr Mopar’s review made it seem quite interesting. This tea is not a disappointment. It was quite good. I steeped the hell out of this tea in a 60ml gaiwan. Gave it fifteen steeps in all. While that was enough for me I think I could have gotten a couple more steeps out of it.

I steeped this tea fifteen times in a 60ml gaiwan with 4.3g 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, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, and 3.5 min. What I did not get from this tea was any noticeable effect of qi. That is not to say it didn’t have any, just I didn’t feel any. I am happy to have bought the bing.

I purchased this cake with my Chawangshop order. A large leaf Bulang ripe for….$8! I had to see what it was like. I have to say, not bad! It really is large leaf material. Medium ferment, somewhat bitter and acidic, but also pretty tasty. Lots of caffeine. A good daily drinker for the budget minded. Chawangshop has some over the top bargains, even with the over the top shipping cost. You just have to plan well! I think my last order cost $40 to ship, though it was a large order.

I am drinking all of Sil ‘s Crimson Horizon while I’m here. Om nom nom tea.