Featured & New Tasting Notes

Also known as “Grapefruit Earl Grey”, this Award Winning blend certainly packs a citrus scented punch. Whilst raw it has a wonderful grapefruit, rose and floral scent that is very refreshing but super citrusy at the same time.

In flavour this is lightly sweet with moderate grapefruit and rose petal tones which offers a refreshing taste compared to it’s dark black tea base. Somewhat perfumed but in a wonderful way! Every time I drink rose petals in tea it makes me feel beautiful, and this tea holds no exception. Behind the floral and citrus notes is a dark, malt base which holds the lighter flavours together.

Throughout the flavours remain consistent, even as it cools, and I would say that the balance of flavours was delightful! An inventive twist on the classic Earl Grey but a blend that keeps itself ‘close to home’.

Overall I would say this makes a pleasant change from your classic Earl Grey but keeping the elegance and debonair vibe it has accustomed over the years. While it may not take the place of some of my beloved Earl Grey blends on my shelf, I admit the grapefruit is a wonderful extra in the early afternoon!

So, grapefruit in an Earl Grey? Yes please!

For more information please read my SororiTea Sisters post.
http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/04/04/blue-sky-blend-black-tea-j-atkinson-co/

In my timolino!

I did a complete cupboard shuffle while drinking this one; I’ve got an entire closet dedicated to tea tins and now teaware, and it was definitely time for a new system because things were starting to look awfully cluttered, and the tea type groupings weren’t very easy to see anymore. Very happy with how it looks now though!

This tasted absolutely delicious; such creamy, silky pear notes with faint cranberry tartness underneath. I picked up a few coconut notes as well; but that’s definitely from the lat thing I made in the timolino – cold shaken coconut matcha. I guess I didn’t do the most fantastic job washing this one out. Welp. But it all went together anyway.

Sadly, it felt like I was drinking it so out of season! I’ve never thought about myself as someone who has ‘seasonal interests’, when it comes to tea or anything else. But this spring is proving to be completely opposite of that.

Gonna have to see if I can come up with a way to make this seem like more of a Spring tea; if not, it may be a few months before I get back to drinking this one regularly again.

Golden Earl Reblend is up next (#26)! Super delicious. It kind of irritates me that this blend (and Gardens of Anxi, which is after this one) is archived, thus never coming back, and instead we just get tons of blends with too many ingredients (e.g., the Intelligent Nutrients blends, and tons of herbals). I see they do have an Earl Grey in their blends now, which is new I guess, but it has Wuyi Rock Oolong in the blend. Oh well, guess I will just continue to hoard this forever.

Backlog

I’ve been drinking this a whole lot more lately. I don’t know why, but I’ve totally been craving that creamy lemon flavor this tea has! It’s just soo good!
Kinda nervous about the whole DTT “closing”, they just kinda seem sketchy about the whole deal. :S But they were selling off some of their stock the other day and I got to buy 4oz of this tea, for like 14 bucks! :O
I don’t know why on earth I didn’t stock up on this one during the BF/CM sales! I stocked up on literally everything else, EXCEPT this tea. I’m an idiot…
But Super stoked I had the opportunity to get more!

Continuing with my Butiki marathon, I just enjoyed a cup of this and it was roasties than what I remembered. According to my previous note, my original sample was cocoa-dusted apricot, so I hope I can get that again! Maybe this is what I get for hoarding this, as this must be nearly a year old by now. Never learn! Nevertheless, I have a few cups worth left to experiment with and attempt to achieve that apricot wonderfulness again.

I am disgracefully behind in writing tasting notes. I have many, many wonderful samples from my tea friends, that I really need to get sipping.

This one came my way from dex, don’t even ask how long ago. I don’t remember.

This style of tea I really need to be in the mood for. When I drank it a couple of days ago, it was windy and chilly. The perfect day for a warm comforting tea. Sometimes in this type of tea, the smoke it too much for me, and in those cases I usually use it for my home-made pea soup for a smoky flavour in lieu of bacon. This tea, however, was nicely smoky. I added a splash of maple syrup, recommended by another steepster member, and it made for a delicious sweet smoky cup.

Thanks for the sample, dex!

I pulled this one out today because it will bring me down to 100 teas lol thus meeting my goal for the month. I’ve got no clue how i’ll manage April’s goal but we can pretend that it’ll happen. HA! This is a very “green” tea with oolongy notes. there’s sweetness to it though, that i DO like even if the tea as a whole isn’t my favourite. It’s not a bad little tea, i just wouldn’t want it all the time given MY preferences :) For those who enjoy a good dancong, i’d give this one a try :)

Sipdown, for me…
I’ve had this tea for a while, possibly too long as I think it’s been 3 years since I got it from my brother for Christmas. This isn’t one I drink too often because of the hibiscus and it is tart, but thankfully the hibby is not that strong in this blend. I still wish I could taste a little more of the oolong underneath which seems to be more of the Eastern beauty variety.

kind of glad this is gone and don’t think I’ll be repurchasing.

Yeahhhhhhhh… had this a few more times, and I think I might even like it more than my other TTC love – Yuchi Wild Mountain Black.

It smells SO amazing, like raisins and honey and malt. And the taste is equally as potent! It never ceases to blow my mind how something this flavourful and delicious just came out of the ground at some point.

When I think about which tea I want at night, TTC is winning, lately. I am trying to force myself to drink other teas to knock my cupboard down some in order to justify the giant TTC order I’d love to place one day.

Dreams do come true!

Watch me… I’m about to rate this………… 100.

THE PERFECT TEA. (for me)

Was at my BFs house earlier but I’m kind of glad to be back at home with my tea collection. All weekend I’ve been in a shitty mood because it looks like I’m going to take a part time temp. job that I don’t really want in order to pay the bills. It isn’t nearly enough money. Anyway sometimes we just have to do the things we need to do in order to survive.

I am pretty happy with this tea this afternoon. It really has a relaxing feel about it, thought the jasmine is not very strong. I’ve been using a gaiwan and the gong fu method to prepare it. It has a light, vegetal and buttery quality with a pretty sweet finish. I do detect some jasmine in the aroma, but it’s so very light when you only steep it for 15-30 seconds. That is fine with me, because I don’t like strong, perfumey jasmine tea. Super relaxing, I almost feel like a nap is in order!!!

This is a really nice lapsang! It’s smoky, but not too smoky… and it tastes SUPER GREAT with maple whipped cream.

:)

https://instagram.com/p/00gBKwR5Dt/ (In Dexter’s handmade cup! Thanks so much! :D )

1.5 tsp in 10 oz, 2:45, 195F)

Now that I finally like lapsang, I thought I’d try Teavivre’s version and so I ordered a sample in my last order. I’ve only had lapsang brewed western before, but I love gong fu, so I went for it. This one is much more mild than the other 100% lapsang tea I had. The smoke is smooth and mild and sweet. Very good quality, but I wanted more depth and complexity. I think I’ll have to try this one brewed western to see if a long steep brings out the depth I was seeking. Overall it’s nice, but I wanted something more punchy!

Well, it seems Leicester is having some super strong winds at the moment. I was sorting out my wardrobe after losing weight and going down a few clothes sizes (half way towards my goal) when tea time beckoned. Downstairs I trot to put the kettle on and as I looked out of the window I found one of my garden fence panels on the floor. I’ve spent the last half hour trying to fix it but the wind is raging and the rain is falling, my husband has yet to give up though I think another 5 minutes and he will come in. I don’t think it’s going to survive, but never mind, now we need to save up for a new fence.

Before all of this happened I made this tea and left it to cool somewhat. The bags are pyramid and see through, the ingredients appear fresh and full size which is pleasing. Scent is very herbal with some citrus in the background, like lemongrass.

Steeped it smells slightly toasted, herbal and refreshingly citrus. Taste is rather thick and herbal with chamomile being distinctive, not too strong either. The chamomile develops into a sweet lemongrass flavour that lightens to bring a slight bitterness from the green tea base. Though the mouth is left with a refreshing after taste, though a little dry at the same time.

This is alright actually, not brilliant but a nice enough herbal blend with the added bonus of green tea. Plus I love the fact that this was sent as a gift all the way from Taiwan! This is what they drink there apparently, herbal teas are very popular, just as much as Oolong is.

A hot sample in store. I was expecting coconut and orchid oolong flavours, but I couldn’t taste the oolong at all actually. The dominant note was ginger, with a hint of creamy coconut under it. Very odd.

This is a sample , part of generous package sent to me for review.
Non Smoky Lapsang Sauchong.
i used my usual parameters. Entire sample of 6g
6g 100ml porcelain gaiwan 200F
rinse/pause/ 5/3/5/7/10sec etc
This tea is rich and sweet like dark chocolate. No astringency or bitterness. Sweet and smooth and pleasure to drink. Some may add drop or two of maple syrup (I have to always mention Sil and Terri since its not my idea). it rounds up all the flavors.

Thank you so much NanNuoShan tea for your wonderful samples

http://instagram.com/p/0F9yOFhwn1/

http://instagram.com/p/0F_AbkhwqS/

http://instagram.com/p/0GAxtShwtX/

http://instagram.com/p/0F_f35hwrI/

When TeaVivre posted this on Instagram, I knew I had to have it. It’s just so unique! And at the time, I don’t think I even had 1 traditional gaiwan. I have one now, along with a couple of what I’d consider “easy” gaiwans. I really love brewing things gong fu style now! This is really like an in-cup infuser/gaiwan/serving pitcher. I really like the serving pitcher part, as I still don’t own one…I’ve been using a small Pyrex measuring cup for that (lame, huh?).

Anyway, this came in the mail today, so I tried it out with the Da Hong Pao sample I ordered.

The overall quality is pretty good. One thing that bothers me about one of my easy gaiwans is that the holes look unfinished and have sharp points on the inside. This one has an infuser with both holes and a fine mesh metal strainer inserted inside and the holes look nice and finished. The fine mesh strainer will be nice to catch sediment or little pieces of leaf. I found three scratches on the glass pitcher portion, which worry me a bit regarding its integrity…hopefully they won’t be a problem. The pitcher and infuser portions don’t sit as securely in the base as I expected, but it’s not terrible. I found the lid can double as place to measure out your leaf. ;)

Since you can sit the infuser in the base while you pour from the pitcher into your cup, people used to traditional gaiwans may find themselves almost pouring the water for the next steep into the infuser without putting the infuser back in the pitcher….I almost did this! That would not be wise!

Also, it’s important to watch the water level in the pitcher when pouring into the gaiwan, rather than the water level inside the infuser, as you may overfill and cause a spill. Not a problem if you’re using a gong fu tea tray, but otherwise it would be. Also, overfilling will make the top of the pitcher hotter, making it more difficult to handle/pour.

I know some folks like to agitate the leaves with the lid while brewing, but you can’t really do that with this one, as the water level in the infuser is lower than in a traditional gaiwan, and the infuser is not as wide.

I like the portability of this, as you don’t need a separate pitcher. I also really enjoy watching the color of the liquor change as it steeps, which could also be a very useful indicator of how long to brew it. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it and expect to use it often!

I haven’t had a proper latte in ever so I decided to partake in one yesterday, grabbing this to keep me company while I started to clean this kitchen for the very last time. I was really excited about it because I loved making this with just plain milk at home, so I figured that DAVIDs fancy preparation will elevate this tea to another level.

Did it? Sadly, not really. I got it with a bit of sweetener and 2% milk, which is the milk I was using when I’d make them at home. Yet, for some reason, this was rather lacklustre. The tea flavour itself seemed a lot weaker, but that is probably to do with how the tea guide prepared it. Plus, the extra sweetener was a little too much. It only covered up the oh so subtle chocolate and coconut notes more rather than enhance them. Once I finish with this damn move, I’m just going to pick up more of the actual tea to enjoy at home. Man, to think how many cups I could have made at home with that $4.50!

This is one of the most interesting and delicious oolongs I’ve ever had.

The dry leaf fragrance is roasty with a hint of cannabis.

Again I steeped 2g in my 50ml gaiwan in 96C water for 1min.

The flavour of the first steep is complex – coconut, roasty, honey, granola, brazil nuts and dates. This is amazing, I love it. The finish is fairly long and carries the sweet notes through.

Second steep, 1min again, is quite smokey, almost like cigarettes except not unpleasant. The second steep lacks the complexity of the first.

Third, the complexity comes back with a layer of orchid.

I got I think five or six steeps out of this, but the first was by far the best and most interesting. I wish more of the granola qualities shone in the latter steeps – if I could get multiple steeps that were the same as the first, I’d be drinking this all the time.

I will need to try steeping western style to see what kind of results I get. Even with the less impressive subsequent steeps, I think I will need to pick up more of this.

tea from last night and i am still in love. the fresh pumpkin chunks are delicious!

Final Count: 110 (which means i’m officially allowed to make purchases again AFTER i come up with a plan to get down to 50 by year end. heh)

Urgh, I had written a note for this and accidentally closed the window before I could finish it. Starting all over!

Yesterday I decided to boil my shu puerh teapot as I thought it picked up a moldy smell after accidentally leaving water in it for a few days. Here’s the pot, looking and smelling a lot better:

https://instagram.com/p/0lb7doILaA

This sample puerh came from the YS dark tea of the month club. I’m quite pleased with it so far. As Allan noted, there is no fermentation flavor or aroma present. I am doing short steeps in the yixing and get a sweet, creamy tea that is very smooth. No bitterness is present. The tea is chocolate-y and also went fabulously with a dark chocolate peanut butter cup from Justin’s. :)

3 steeps so far and the flavor is quite good. I would consider buying a cake of this, a good value at $30, but my tea budget is not very large at the moment.

Another one of my faaaaavorites (#39). Why was this only rated 90? It deserves higher, in my estimation, so I bumped it up. I love the flavor combos here, even if they are a bit hard to pull apart. They work for me. Even though I don’t find any of these flavors (fruits, honey) particularly Christmasy, I do associate this yarn with the holidays since it was at that time that I first had it.

Thank you so much for this sample, Tea Ave!

I have never tried an Osmanthus Oolong before, and honestly, I was a little nervous that this would be a really flowery tea (flowery teas can be hit or miss with me…). However, upon opening the sample packet, I was hit with this sweet honey stone fruit fragrance. Jammy and sweet!
The liquor is a really gorgeous golden yellow. I followed the instructions on the pouch for gaiwan brewing, using 8grams. If I were to do this again, I think I’d use less leaf. This tea is so flavourful that I really think I could personally use less leaf and still get a perfectly lovely session out of it (just a note to myself for next time).
The steeped tea itself is really wonderful… creamy, buttery mouth feel with honey, fruity loveliness. It may only be 16F outside, but I have spring in my cup. :)

The second steep yielded a darker, deeper liquor with a more vegetal base (spinach and kale, like)… this steep was almost roasty.
I truly love the finish of this, too… it’s so sweet and lingers for quite some time.

I love finding out that I like something I would’ve thought I wouldn’t… Osmanthus, you’re pretty great. :)

Wow, I’ve been working on this batch of cold brew for two days now. I added something like four teaspoons of leaf to 2 litres of water and it is actually really strong, to the point that it’s syrupy. It’s extremely tart, as well. I drank like a litre of it yesterday, then filled the jug up again and it barely even changed colour, it’s that concentrated. It’s better this morning. I’m tasting more of the citrus and not just tart hibiscus with a hint of fruitiness. Note to self: maybe only try two teaspoons next time.

I’ve been meaning to try this tea, as I am generally a fan of Lupicia’s rooibos blends, and Ta Da! It was in this month’s newsletter! Score!

It tastes very mildly of peach and vanilla. Very smooth. Overall, I like piccolo and jardin sauvage better, but I wouldn’t turn it down, if offered. :)