Featured & New Tasting Notes

Oh my word, has it really been two months since I last wrote? :o Many apologies! During that time I was studying for a Driving Theory Test which I have now passed and in honesty I went to a bit of a dark place and had to lift myself back up. I drank tea but did not feel like doing much of anything, I’m sure some of you will understand. It’s behind me now and I’ve had my time to recover.

Today I have had approx four mugs of this which includes a re-steep. It’s been helping me get through my day very nicely, a random pick this morning after breakfast. The leaves are beautiful, brown that turns green in the water and smells lightly of brown sugar and dry wood.

Flavour has been incredible all day, remaining consistently sweet, earthy, wooden and with a slight sour hint in the after taste. Not enough to be malty but almost, more sour wood but fairly thick.

I think this is one of the nicest Bai Mu Dan that I have tried, even with the re-steep it’s delicious!

Will work on a new KittyLovesTea blog entry featuring an award winning Canton Tea Black so stay tuned for that. Also keep an eye open for more SororiTea Sisters posts :D Will be working on one in a day or two.

Oh and ps – I’m listening to Spotify as I just joined and must say I’m loving this song at the moment, if you like rock/metal then check it out.

Red Is The New Black – Funeral For A Friend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHNgtdadQAM

This blend is different. A smokey tea with fruity notes and coconut thrown in. It actually worked. But I do like a smokey blended tea. I had to get this one. I am Game of Thrones obsessed and Kat@Solstice has several more I need to try. She also has a mirage of fantasy based blends. Even some based on her own novels.

Anybody watch last night’s episode? I was freaked out by the White Walkers!

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/06/01/tea-of-the-day-white-walker-wakeup-from-solstice-brews/

I polished off a half gallon of this tea yesterday. The mandarin orange is strong and tastes authentic. The black tea sits off in the background, maybe a little hidden because of the stronger mandarin orange flavor, but I still taste the black tea. The mandarin is definitely the star of this show though. Sweet, juicy, vibrant.

I love it how people change the name of a tea to “duplicate”, so that NO ONE CAN FIND IT. And, they don’t realize that it’s actually a different tea – different ingredients, different production, everything – but because it has the same name from the same company, they assume it’s up to them to change a tea’s name to DUPLICATE. Because that’s so helpful, especially to the folks who maintain the database. Don’t you realize, it actually CHANGES the name in the database, and the URL? Sigh.

Instead, I strongly suggest to anyone who thinks there’s a duplicate (this one is NOT – it’s a Special Edition Loose Leaf that’s only available loose in a tin, it is NOT the same as the bagged tea in the brown box), is to get both URLs and email steepster. Let them know. Don’t go changing names of teas so that we have thousands of teas called Duplicate.

/rant over

From my mystery grab bag. Really nice orange flavoring, both in the aroma and the infusion. It’s very delicious, doesn’t seem artificial at all. However, the chocolate is kind of weak aromatically, and I can’t taste it at all. I’m pleased with the orange, but the rating is lower because of the lack of promised chocolate.

Simultaneous taste test along with 2 other teas from the GCTTB4

I steeped 1 tsp of this at 80C for 3 minutes and got a very deep yellow liquor. And when I sipped it… it tasted nutty and vegetal, but also like honey!

I kept on getting this wash of honey over the back of my mouth! This is delicious. Thank you so much to Ubacat for providing a sample of this in the GCTTB. I don’t order from YS, but this tea is seriously making me rethink that. Mmmm.

Damn, I forgot to bring tea to Tony’s house!
All he drinks is earl grey & jubilee, but digging around I found a single (old) bag of tazo Awake & another bag of Tazo Chai, so I brewed them together in a teapot. I’m not sure that this is better than nothing, but it’s what I got. In consolation to myself, I get to count it as a double sipdown :)

I only had a sample of this that I ordered with my last restock of Florence, Paris, and Scottish Morn, so this is already a sipdown. A pleasant one for sure though- at least for people who like strong black teas. This blend is more in line with Scottish Afternoon if I had to pick another Harney tea to compare it to, but I still prefer my beloved Scottish Morn to either. I think it is the Darjeeling- I just tend to gravitate away from it towards Yunnan, Ceylon, etc. If you love Darjeeling though, then this might be perfect with the soft hints of it around the edges. East Frisian is traditionally enjoyed with cream and rock sugar from what I understand, but I only added milk and it was quite tasty. A touch of citrus and strooooong malt to welcome the new day. Yum!

This was the first tea I tried from my Hackberry order. I opened the envelope and smelled it and it was all over after that. It smelled so deliciously plummy that I had to try it right away – and my husband did too. We both ended up resteeping the leaves, which is unusual for me – I usually don’t resteep at all. The leaf appeared to be of good quality: long and unbroken. No fannings here! There are some bits of red, those could be hibiscus but I did not really taste the hibiscus in the blend. The overriding flavors are definitely plum and currant. Anything else in the blend just enhances and supports those. It would be easy to say that this is the best plum tea I have ever had.
Photos: https://tealover.net/2015/05/hackberry-tea-red-velvet-a-la-mode-salted-caramel-corn-currant-plum/

Good morning! I probably should be out in the garden by now, there is so much to do, but I’m enjoying a good breakfast & tea first. My tea drinking habits have changed somewhat recently. It started with the sip down extravaganza, drinking up all the teas that were one cup samples (mostly from Sil, LOL). Then I started working on teas that I didn’t have much of, & teas that have been in my cupboard for awhile. In the old days I’d drink several different teas in a day, but lately I’ve been slowing down a bit, choosing one tea & drinking it all day, either steep & resteep or gongfu, or whatever. So I’ve actually been drinking this one all week, LOL. It’s not the only tea I’ve had all week, but it’s been my breakfast tea since Monday, and sometimes my afternoon tea as well. Why? I have no idea. It’s hard to pinpoint. I wanted to write a review about it, but my allergies are affecting my tastebuds & sense of smell, so it’s hard to define those elements right now. What I can say is that although it’s not a fancy tea or whatever, I’m enjoying it this week. Things I like: it has a robust quality to it, a satisfying feeling. I’ve drank it several ways. The suggestion was to use 1 tsp x 3 – 5 min. That was not very satisfying, rather bland actually. I bumped it up to 2 tsp & gave it 5 minutes, & it becomes a cup that I can really get behind in the morning. Not fancy, just solid. A hint of smoke & toasted brown sugar, a full mouth, kind of like a Qimen, but with a hint of shu thrown in, just a little of that earthy compost taste. I think I’ll finish my cup & get to work!

This morning I was looking for something smooth, flavorful, and delicious- this is it. No hint of astringency or bitterness, but the classic Yunnan Dian Hong flavor brings me to life this morning. I drink this straight with nothing added and it is truly a delight. I’d recommend this one to anyone that enjoys Yunnan types. The deep mahogany color only adds to the beauty in my cup this morning. Happy Thursday!

OH MY. This was so good! The rooibos isn’t really obvious. I get a hint of cinnamon, a little clove, and the ginger is like the bow on top, wrapping it all together. My daughter was nearby and asked to taste it, and I didn’t think I would get it back from her. Her advice was to take a drink and then breathe out through my nose, and I tried that. Pure ginger bliss. It wasn’t overpowering, just deliciously fresh. I could see getting this one again.

Full review and photos on: https://tealover.net/2015/05/chi-whole-leaf-floral-herb-and-ginger-chai/

Few weeks ago, a collegue of mine gave me that tea caddy because she is not a tea drinker.

So I do own a new beautiful tea caddy and a new tea to taste. Problem : this is a plain blend from Breakfast type and I am very picky with these types of teas.

I get scared by the leaf ! Broken soooo broken… I’m going to take a ride on the strong side of the tea it seems !

So I decide to steep it only 2 minutes in a water at 90°c to lower the strengh of the Assam

The liquor is from a deep orange.

Tasting it , I was right to be a little afraid : Assam is there and so present with its strong bitterness.

Of course as any Breakfast Tea it is quite malty. It reveals orange notes as well, strangely.

I am trying to add a splash of milk . English Tea is comfortable and cosy. It is against my habits. But let’s get crazy and let’s add some sugar rocks.

Verdict : England won again … yes with some milk and sugar this tea is quite pleasant…this is the reason why English people have their breakfast tea that way, no ?

I am not the public for Strong Breakfast teas nor indian teas but once pimped my cup is nice.

Pics of my session with this tea are visible here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/strong-breakfast-boissier/

So I tried an in store sample of this, but was pretty unimpressed by it – something about the dry smell really interested me though, so I decided to still purchase some to try at home. When I got home and was trying to decide how to prepare this one it hit me that it smelled very juicy and sweet and that those flavours would probably apply well to tea soda. So that’s how I’m trying this one!

And really, wow. The flavour change between my own prepared tea soda and the weak iced sample I had in store is dramatic. Based on the iced sample, I wouldn’t have been inclined to buy this but going purely off the tea soda I’d say I would 100% pick up at least a little more to try and recreate the flavour.

The peach is very strong, fresh, and sticky sweet tasting. I’d describe it as Fuzzy Peaches meet Peach Bellini meets Peach Schnapps, and you all know how much I love my peach schnapps. It does a great job of navigating away from overly artificial or cloying territory though.

The touch of sweeter but also slightly tart green apples stops this from being totally monotone in flavor, but really that secondary flavour is all this needs – the absence of blackberry doesn’t disappoint me. This is just a simple, fun tisane that’s incredibly hydrating and energetic with the peach candy flavour. I can’t get enough of this one; and just writing about this tisane soda has me craving it again so badly; I’m sure a restock will be in my future – I think the question is just how much I’ll be picking up.

i got a sample recently and decided to try last night.
This tea is really good. it has no storage smell or taste. at all. just aged ripe shou, extremely clean but i wouldnt say its flat . its rich,creamy, fruity( more like red fruits),some malt and super clean. its a pure pleasure to drink 2002 tea without any mustiness or fermentation flavors. if only Chawang shipping wasnt that tricky.

https://instagram.com/p/3IUzqBhwuE/

https://instagram.com/p/3IXUn6hwhg/

i am on here too rarely… from feast a year ago to famine now!

i got a notification from ATR that they had a new website up and running, that if i wanted to sign up all over again there were discounts to be had. i have my favourites with ATR, i made a list and my package arrived today.

sitting on top of my items was THIS sample. i usually try samples first… suspicious nature maybe, or perhaps adventurous spirit? i don’t know know if this classes as a gift or a torment. it’s fantastic— like home run fantastic. like add milk and it’s a grown up creamsicle with way more layers and perfectly balanced flavour… …… ….. but. (of course there’s a but) IT ARRIVED WITH THE ORDER I ALREADY PLACED!!!!!!!!!

pretty funny when you think about it. it’s as though ATR has been taking lessons from stacy lim.

awesome blend on the heels of a great honour at school that will look fantastic on a resume. not a bad day… maybe i’ll behave badly and order more of this blend. maybe. =0D

So I finally got around to picking up the summer teas from DT; definitely later than I had wanted to, but I’ve now tried all five – reviews to follow (hopefully today) for them. I definitely wasn’t impressed by at least one of them, but most I felt were pretty solid.

This one I tried as an in store sample, iced. The other one they were sampling the day I went was Mint To Be; definitely did not have an interest in that one. And actually, I didn’t have much of an interest in this either if I’m being honest. I know it was around last year; but there were a few seasonal peach teas last year and I didn’t bite on any but one. Regardless, I didn’t write about it – but I can’t remember if the one I tried was the Spring peach tea or the summer one. I had a few sips of the hot version on a date; and I don’t remember being overly impressed.

Since the sample was so small of this, I don’t think I got to make as many observations as I normally would. It’s supposed to be peach and blackberry, which is definitely a cool pairing but I only tasted the peach. I also thought it was really weak/watery but I know it’s also likely that’s because it was the watered down/stretched out in store version. Regardless, I picked up some of it along with all the other blends and I tried it out on my own terms at home – but based on this tasting alone it’s not an impressive blend.

Today’s word of the day is… Melodramatic.

Melodramatic means: “exaggerated and emotional or sentimental; sensational; overdramatic”. A good real life example? Tre was being totally melodramatic when I got home today about the amount of dishes in the kitchen sink (it’s his turn to clean them – and they’re only so bad because he left it so long). Domestic squabbles. We’re like an old married couple with the old and without the married couple part.

Randomly grabbed this last night, and boy is it ever amazing. I know I’ve had it before, but it was nowhere near this good! Dunno what I did differently, other than oversteep it way way WAY too much (15 minutes). Loved it, helped me power through writing a murder mystery – right up until the last second when I had to leave to play it with 32 others. Success!

This one is actually pretty tasty, with lots of passion fruit flavour and subtle dessert vibes. The second steep had less passion fruit and more generic cake flavour, but it’s still good.

I cold steeped it in the fridge for +8hrs, instead of using the boiling water and ice cube method- for some reason the taste of ice cube water in tea bugs me. Second cold steep went through a similar process.

I’m pleasantly surprised with how much tea I got out of the tea bag, but I wish I didn’t have to pay $4 for one session with a re-steep (14g of fannings). Iced tea goes so quickly!

Ok seriously….something was working for the plantations that TTC gets their teas from this year. This is another tea that i hadn’t previously tried in another lot and it too is a delicious sweet, fruity tea. Similar to butikit’s PTA, but different. I like this probably the least of the three lots that i picked up (sun moon lake and the yuchi wilkd being the other two), but this is still a great tasty tea. cherry notes are here, as well as that sort of generic stone fruit kinda of taste. there’s a little hint of vnailla like flavours as well..but it lacks the bready sort of feel of the other two. delicious!

Grabbed this while in Montreal six months ago and promptly mailed it back to myself to enjoy at home – which is now. ;)

Interesting tea, quite a bit more subtle than I was expecting. As the instruction say on their website, this is meant to be enjoyed Moroccan style, which means heavily sweetened. While I can see this reasoning, it’s just not how I like my tea. And so…

Very grassy green tea, with only the breath of mint in there (you know what I mean – where you inhale and can feel the coolness of the mint, but not taste it). There’s something making this creamy as well as very smooth – I think the creaminess is the actual green tea, whereas the smoothness is from the absinthe. Which, just now, I only realized was an herb.

Doubt I’d drink this again, yet can see how a green tea lover might really appreciate it.

I need more of this tea-STAT. I went thru this one really fast. This tastes just like raspberry jam when brewed hot and when I threw the leaves in a pitcher to cold brew, this tasted just like a cake with raspberry filling. So good. Highly recommend this one.

http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/05/20/vickys-sponge-cake-bluebird-tea/

This is from the recent Red Leaf Tea side by side blind taste test. If you were included but haven’t completed your survey yet stop reading now.

I grabbed this culinary grade one today for my morning breakfast glass. I looked at the number on the sample and had it in my head I didn’t like this one hot. Went to my notes and learned I rated it kind of low but not the worst.

It actually smells kind of appealing today. I used a heaping tsp – closer to 2 tsp – of powder, 2 packets of Splenda, and 12oz of 2% milk. I start with 2oz and spoon stir until mixed and foamy. This part was pretty easy. Then I stir in the rest of the milk.

The taste was just kind of meh. It wasn’t bad, just meh. I was left wanting more when the glass was empty. Not more to drink, just more. I thought it was a bit gritty as well. Since I don’t have a proper whisk or frother, it is most likely my fault, however most of the others have mixed fine this way.

Bottom line, you could do worse, but you can do a lot better than meh.

I got the lost of my moonlight teas in the mail today, so I’m starting the quest to find my favorite. Or at least favorite of the ones that I have. I’m starting with two cakes that I got from different Aliexpress dealers.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/GRANDNESS-2012-YR-Chinese-Yunnan-JISHUNHAO-Moonlight-white-Pu-Er-Puer-Pu-Erh-RAW-tea/896777300.html
I’m calling this Grandness for simplicity sake…..

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/White-moonlight-puer-raw-tea-100g-yunnan-pu-er-sheng-cha-organic-chinese-puerh-brick-qizi/1883686482.html
And I’m calling this Teatime….

https://instagram.com/p/26pBIAOE-7/?taken-by=dex3657

The grandness leaves look larger and have a more distinct black/white quality to them. Both though do look like what I would expect from a moonlight cake. The Teatime cake isn’t as compressed and breaks apart easier.

I’m going to try to keep the parameters as similar as possible. For theses ones, I’m using 7g in my glass teapots – 80C water – rinse – 30 second first infusion.

https://instagram.com/p/26pQA5OE_S/?taken-by=dex3657

Interesting – both leaves don’t seem whole once they are steeped – broken mush is how I want to describe them. They looked so good in the cake but not once steeped. I don’t think I mutilated them that bad when I was breaking the cakes.
The teatime is significantly darker than the grandness.

Grandness is a little sharper, almost bitter – but does have the sweetness that I associate with moonlight. I’m not getting any earthy/musty pu’erh at all.
Teatime is smoother, gentler, sweeter and I’m not getting any pu’erh at all from it either.
At this point I’m calling both of these WHITE rather than PU’ERH….

2nd Steep – I upped the water temp to 85C and kept the time at 30 sec.

Same result the teatime one is still darker than the grandness.
Upping the water temp might have been a mistake, I don’t think it improved either of them. Both have some bitterness now and the sweetness isn’t as obvious. Putting it back down for next steep.

3rd steep
80C 45sec

80C is for sure a better water temp
These are both mellower at that temp.
I’m not getting much of a difference between them. Teatime might be just a hint deeper more flavor but not enough to notice unless drinking them side by side like this.

4th Steep
80C 1 minute

Both are getting more grassy, less sweet – disappointed should be getting more honey notes.

I’m quitting on both of these. I’m sure you could get a couple more decent steeps out of them, but they just aren’t changing enough, aren’t interesting enough to continue. Both are ok but neither is special. I’m forcing myself to choose a “winner” and that would be teatime, but it’s not going to win this contest. Interesting experiment, but I have more to try so I’m moving on.
https://instagram.com/p/262hvYOE3N/?taken-by=dex3657