Featured & New Tasting Notes

A very good tea. I think you need to use more tea than normal given the nugget compression factor. That being said, the tea brews up nice and smooth, with chocolatey fruity notes. It is a high quality shu.

I had 2 steepings of this over the day today. With the second steeping I was also eating Darkside Skittles. OMG… the intense malt and the fruit and the sweet? A-MAZ-ING. Such a plebian desecration of this gorgeous tea, but it was soooo good. Now I need to try it with a splash of cream but I get the feeling that might be dangerous. I love it so much unaltered.

I made a cup of this before I left the house this morning on “Nana & Julianna’s Teatime Tour”, where my grand daughter & I went to breakfast, then to the London Tea Room, then to the humane society to visit the dogs & cats, then to Traveling Tea. I brought the cup of tea with me to the restaurant. Now that I’m home, I’m enjoying a resteep. This has never been my favorite black from verdant, but it is pretty good. :)

bold and beautiful. this one you have to be careful not to oversteep but it is a really great strong in your face sort of tea. I occasionally like to put a bit of honey and lemon in to this one as well.

Sooo goood! Qimen is gorgeous – delicate leaf with a honey, fruity, and dark chocolate flavor with a hint of smoke and floral. I did mine gongfu style for 8 infusions and even with a really long final infusion it didn’t get overly dry. Nice complex black that is easy to drink.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/limited-edition-qimen-from-joseph-wesley-black-tea-tea-review/

Sipdown (132)!

Thank you Liquid Proust for the sample! I’m pretty sure the spelling of “Fuijan” is a typo and it’s meant to be “Fujian” but since it’s a typo you seem to have made across the board, I’m leaving it as it’s displayed on your Etsy page.

I even did a Google search before writing up the review just to make sure this isn’t a common variant spelling and I was being a dunce but I can’t find anything that points to that.

Dry, the leaf looks a little broken up and doesn’t really give off much of a scent. Perhaps a little bit of a cocoa aroma, but I could also be grasping at straws with that observation. I steeped this up hot and plain and using the recommended steeping directions on LP’s Etsy page as a guide.

I’m enjoying this cup of tea. I don’t love it as much as I do a good Assam, but it’s a nice change of pace. Mostly it tastes like a good baker’s chocolate with a little bit of bitterness – which is a welcomed flavour when it comes to baker’s chocolate or dark chocolate. I also has some smokier top notes which wasn’t what I was expecting to taste, and a sweeter, fruity and honey like finish. There’s not really much more to go on about though; this is a simple enough tea with some basic flavours that I’m finding enjoyable to sip on.

In my opinion, it’s not the best offering from Liquid Proust Teas – and to be fair it’s the only straight/pure tea I’ve tried from the store but I’m probably not making a grand leap to assume that Andrew’s strong suit is probably his blended/flavoured teas which display a greater level of creativity than this tea does.

Ohhh, yummy. This is the only Butiki blend my mom has in her city apartment. It’s such a delight to have since I haven’t been touching my Butiki blends for months. At least it hasn’t gotten old or stale! Still that creamy lemon perfection laced with almond.

I also just put rosewater into my vanilla bean yogurt so I’m surrounded by fancy flavours.

Yes, this is a winter tea. Yes, I am drinking it Aug. 4. It is freezing as usual in my office and rainy outside, and I am super tired as it is the Tues after the long weekend. So cozy, warming caffeine was a requirement to make it through this morning. This one still has a ton of flavor and is sweet, comforting and cozy. I wish I was at home in bed lol. Tasty tea helps the day go by! See previous notes on this tea :)

I thought Dragon Pearls would be bigger coz of the name but it is the same size as my other Jasmine Pearl…steeped side by side with equal amounts.

i read that it is better to steep green tea by soaking them in a bit of regular temp water then adding the warm water later so i tried that here and behold, it was perfect. haha

my other pearl has a stronger flavor but in the 3rd steeping, the delicateness of Teavivre’s Dragon shone through like a beam of light and suddenly, the other pearls I’ve tried seemed too strong.

sipping this tea is like sipping the flower itself! and God knows that throughout my life, i have held many a jasmine flower to my nose until it was all squished up so i should know!

I wonder what it will be like to brew this with hotter water? I was pretty conservative with the temp for these greens.

New tattoo has started the itchy phase of healing…

Someone shoot me; this is gonna be a bitch. In an attempt to keep from scratching at my very itchy leg I’m drinking tea while scratching pretty well everything else I can. It’s sort of working. Kind of. Maybe not so much…

I’m nearly done this; this’ll be my penultimate cup of it. I made it with a little bit of milk and hot and I’m actually finding it quite nice. For whatever reason the raisin notes I normally dislike aren’t that apparent and the creamyness of the milk with the natural malt and smokey notes of the keemun are really pleasant. The finish reminds me of a darker rye. Delicious!

Even better than this being my second last cup, I was finally able to move the last little bit into a sample bag and clean the tin out to put something else in it! I’ve got so many weird assorted bags of black tea in my cupboard right now that I want to move into tins, and I finally got to kind of do that! One step closer to a more organized cupboard.

I’m sorry I’ve kind of been neglecting Steepster as of late. Between unexpectedly having to stay in the city for a lot longer than anticipated, walking 20+ kilometres per day, and never being around to actually drink tea, I feel like such a stranger to this wonderful place right now. Hope everyone’s summers have been fantabulous!

Onto this tea. I ordered this last time I was at Remedy rather than having one of their legendary chais, which is kind of crazy, but come on, they put me in a difficult position! While they have the greatest chai in Canada (I’m sure!), they also carry a wide variety of loose teas that no other cafe in Edmonton does. On their tea wall, you can find Kusmi, Løv, and Sloane, and probably more cool ones if I took more time to look.

This sounded like a good idea on a rainy day. Earl grey with orange blossom. Count me in. I let it steep for a few minutes as I walked down the street with the teabag still in the cup, not wanting it to forget about it and ruin it. It ended up just tasting like black tea with a hint of orange blossom and a whisper of citrus. It was so incredibly faint. The base was bold but not bitter, at least. Overall, it was an uninspiring cup. But I’m looking forward to going through that tea wall of theirs and trying more.

I am so happy that I am the first to review this.

This is a prime example of what Sheng should be like. The dry leaf is gorgoeus. This cake is an array of loosely compressed autumn colored maocha. The bing carries an almost medicinal scent. I can pickup a slight eucalyptus scent mixed with an underlining sweetness. I broke off a chunk and placed in my warmed yixing. The scent was unusual. I’ve never smelled something so lively. It was like escaping to a jungle. The scent was thick, hot, and humid. I could smell the vines growing rampant around me. I washed these leaves once and began possibly one of my best gongfu sessions. The steeped leaves changed dramatically. These oily olive colored leaves carried the scent of an old Victorian home with a slight peppery aroma. The liquor was a pale gold and shone bright. It looked like translucent white gold. The taste was spectacular. I’ve never tasted something so silky and sweet. I was drowning in huigan. This brew gives a thick, and I mean THICK, mouth coating. The flavor was like watercress, silk, cream, and sugarcane. There was absolutely no bitterness or astringency. I found out that you can’t make this tea bitter. I used boiling water and steeped for a little bit of time, and the brew only grew sweeter. This was well rounded and the taste lasted well after steeping. The qi was incredible. My body completely soothed and my spirits became uplifted. This tea gave an all encompassing comfort to my body. I took my time with this session. Eventually, I had to go to work. I left my table until afterwards. I came back several hours later and resumed brewing. The liquor was still powerful and just as sweet. I honestly don’t know how many steeps I got out of this. This is by far my favorite sheng. This is a delicious brew, and I can only imagine how it will be aged.

https://instagram.com/p/5zpJIYzGaY/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Yes, I bought a canister of this tea. How could I not?
I can’t ever miss a new A & D blend, no matter what!
Malt, Cedar, charred wood, slightly burnt toast, unsweetened dark chocolate
these are a few of my favorite things…
It’s almost smokey, but not quite.
I hear a lot of low instruments: Tuba, didg, bassoon, timpani, Bass, plus some woodblocks, clarinet, and a gong.

This Tea has rested a while before I drank it and it has become quite interesting with notes of loganberry, honey, and cloves over strong floral notes mixed with cream and faint pastry and Roasted leaf notes. It is tingling nicely in the back of my throat and feels lively on the tongue. I am steeping this gongfu style in two teacups @70ml with steeps beginning around 10s. I am quite enjoying it.

This note is for my custom, Florida-grown tea by Single Origin Teas

First of all, I ordered a green tea, using the bud and the first leaf and with a soft rolling.

Forget Florida for a minute. Transport your mind to China, to Zhejiang Province, to the village of Longjing. Taste the longjing tea, the buttery, hazelnut-y liquor, perfect in every way.

Now, open your eyes. What’s that? It’s a tea from Florida and not longjing? I couldn’t tell the difference. Seriously. That’s how good this is. I felt like I was drinking some really good dragonwell tea, not something that was handmade for me.

Thank you, James for this experience.. If I could order an ounce or two, please let me know.

91/100

Essence of malt, leather, & plum, with an exotic quality to it. It also gives a good head buzz, almost like drinking a sheng.
This is the last of it, and I’m really aching for a Teavivre order, because I only have a few teas left in my cupboard from there. And they are having a sale. And I have no money…sigh…

My Golden Tips order arrived this morning with this tea being amongst them, something I purchased 100g of after craving Assam. Usually when I eat Indian food (which is a few times a week) I like to follow it with a pot of tea, unfortunately my supply ran dry of everything but Darjeeling. So during the promotion of spend $75 and save $25 I thought it was too good to pass up. From those I ordered this is the first I am tasting, it called to me in particular today.

Again this is quick notes as my back is still bad and I’m not in the right frame of mind to write a full review.

The leaves were thin, long, a bit squiggly and very wooden smelling with a hint of sweetness.

Steeping in my new teapot (red clay measuring 125ml) with approx 1tsp/3-4g leaf.

Flavour is malty but not as thick as you would think. Dominantly sweet wood with soft dark fruit tones (date and mature plum) before the malt and dryness kick in during the after taste. Some musk/smoke in the after taste which leaves a thick and full flavour in my mouth.

I liked this tea quite a bit, the flavour had authentic Assam tones I had expected but was also more delicate and pure tasting than I had anticipated. This had no bitterness and was not overly rich as some Assam can be, perhaps helped by the rather large leaves. Glad I got 100g of this rather than a sample as my husband would probably like this too.

In other news it looks like I’m too ill still to attend tomorrows concert, which with the hotel booked has cost us £80 and now shall go to waste. Money isn’t everything though and we agreed to spend the day together regardless. We also have tickets for Saturday so with some luck I will be able to make that one.

Pretty excited that I got a Dianhong for Christmas in July :)
Not sure if I am suppose to disclose who got me this…

Anyways, this does not have the furryness to and it is more of a darker leaf which made me curious as to the taste. I’m not sure exactly how the process works with dianhong teas in generally, but this is missing out on the velvet taste that happens all around my mouth with other dianhong teas. This is more of a very smooth black tea. While it will be my breakfast tea for quite awhile as I really enjoy how well it goes down, as a dianhong tea I am missing out on the natural cocoa notes that go down with some sort of texture I can’t touch but I can taste… I’m sure this is fantastic for those who enjoy their straight blacks :)
https://instagram.com/p/5sktHzxYEc/

p.s. no tea will have an easy shot to impress me after the Imperial Golden Bud from Whispering Pines :/

I can’t even…

Shou Mei is like 4 hour old McDonald fries to me :/

I went into this tea with positive vibes because there was blackberry chunks it in which make me happy, but… the base tea is what brings this tea down. The flavoring might come off as good, but I’m not sure if it is because it shines through the tea or if it’s being held back by the tea.

It’s going to be hard to finish drinking this cup…
Edit I give up, i cannot drink this.

This is a sample i got with my recent order. Thank you so much Yunnan Sourcing

The dry leaves are gorgeous, long and twisted. Floral and hay aroma.
4.5g 50ml celadon gaiwan 200F
rinse/flash steeps/gradually increasing time
The tea is smooth, creamy, bitter, sweet, very little astingency. quick lasting huigan.
I was craving for some bitter sweet sheng and this one was perfect at the moment.

https://instagram.com/p/5k6GjQBwj7/

https://instagram.com/p/5k7kSaBwnp/

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the ‘sticky rice’ taste, but regardless, this was a pleasant afternoon tea session, with many steepings. I’ve been out of town for most of the past 2 weeks & my garden is insanely overgrown & in need of attention. I had planned to head out there, but a downpour informed me that I would not be doing so, and so it’s tea & harp playing, all for me!

This is clean, with that shiny & bright feeling, as if a group of brass players were all playing, using mutes. Yup…that pretty much describes it. Also, the taste of olive leaf. There’s more, but there are no words to give. Thanks to Stephanie for the sample :)
Sipdown! 267

Made this with the intent of three warm sips, then ice it down at work…and suddenly I find there is very little left to ice. (Ever do that? Just look down and your cup is mysteriously empty?) Unsweetened, it has a little bit of a bitter edge to the sip—not sure if that’s sloppy steeping or if it’s a natural trait of huckleberries. You sweet people might like a bit of sugar or syrup in this, but otherwise, it’s a natural for summer sipping. Chilled, if you can let it alone that long.

Tea soda from yesterday.

I made the syrup for the soda a few nights ago at home, and then just brought it in for my shift in a little container with a can of club soda. Because of the colour of the liquor and the shape of the container it almost definitely looked like one of those “pee sample” pots/containers you’d have to fill out at the doctor’s for testing and that sort of thing. I kind of felt a little weird taking it out of my bag to mix…

It was so good though; perfect sweet lemon notes fluffy vanilla and almond pastry notes. It could’ve been a vanilla cake type thing, could have been a sugar cookie – either way it was delicious and the perfect kind of elegant flavour of something worthy of being sold in a high end Patisserie in Paris. And somehow, it just works as this super light, refreshing tea soda. I wanted to share it with coworkers, but ultimately didn’t because I am a selfish, selfish person and drank it all by myself.

Also, there’s the fact is looked like weird bubbly pee – and I just felt too tired to explain to vapid highschoolers what a tea soda is.

I have been doing a side by side tasting of this with Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company’s Farmer Lee’s Sun Moon Lake. My palate is not very nuanced, I know, but I don’t detect a significant difference between these two at 45 seconds or at 90 seconds. Honey, malty, sweet and sour at the same time. Neither will replace Butiki’s TWMB – lacking that bready, yeasty component. But both excellent teas. When I run out of BTTC’s and if they haven’t gotten any more, I’ll hope that Sanne Tea will still have this one!