Featured & New Tasting Notes
Sweet baby Jesus…this might be the best Da Hong Pao I have ever had.
This lovely tea came as a gift from the wonderful boychik.
Looking at the beautifully crafted leaves, I had a feeling I was in for a treat.
So I packed my little 70ml DHP yixing pot with a shitload of tea, cause that’s the way I like it :-)Very short steeps are required for rock oolong, a few seconds is sufficient.
My first steep was whoa!! A burst a flavor!!
In a nutshell: juicy, toasty, nutty, sharp, mineral, sweet, with big notes of stone fruits and cocoa…yes, this tea has it all!!
It’s complex, it keeps changing, adding different layers and subtleties to each steep.
It’s simply stunning, in every possible ways.
It was such a privilege to get the chance to try it, and thanks to boychik’s generosity, I have plenty left for a few more sessions. Thank you :-)
On a side note, I want to mention that after sampling a few of their teas, I was impressed enough to place my first order with Joseph Wesley. Well I was even more impressed with the service that I received! I want to thank you Joseph for your impeccable customer service, you made all the difference… I already know I will be a returning customer.
Pics:
http://instagram.com/p/y1GEv-Qh9W/
Breaking this one out from a a swap with a tea-friend.
I got 10 grams of this in the Gaiwan and went to town with it.
The wet leaf gave an almost cinnamon aroma to it. Quite an alluring aroma for a puerh.
I started the steeps at about 3 seconds ,3 times for my big “western” cup.
This tea has a light orange color to it. Since it was stored in Kunming it hasn’t aged as much as a wetter stored one. This is very interesting, smoke is definitely present in this brew. It is a bit strong in the early steeps. I read some reviews on Yunnan Sourcings site and only 1 other person noted this. This tea has nice notes of cinnamon , nutmeg and camphor in its notes. It is a very engaging and active tea in the mouth. It lingers on a while after you finish the cup. The resteeps seem to be going well and the flavor profile has not diminished much at all. I will continue on with this tonight. This is campfire, nutmeg ,cinnamon and camphor fighting for their taste note.
Note to smoky notes, if you don’t like them I would not tell you to try this. If you don’t mind this may be an older sheng to relish as it progresses.
Flavors: Camphor, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Smoke
Preparation
I cannot drink sheng late in the day. it gets me so wired!
Hello Mr Mopar,
Very nicely described. I felt like I just drank the tea myself from reading your notes.
Teas that have been processed using dried wood as fuel will retain that smoky fragrance for a long, long time (decades long). Luckily I don’t mind the smoke and it helps me reflect on how things were done in the past.
Best, VP
Yum, that sounds so good. I’ll definitely be putting a cake in my next YS order.
Any bitterness or sweetness mrmopar?
tea123 more bitterness is what I noticed. It is a bit punchy at the early stages of brewing.
tea123 I pushed this a bit more and the camphor notes amp up and it does have some sweetness in there. Camphor is way more pronounced.
the one on the us site is a smaller cake than the one on the .com site, 100g vs 200g. I nearly bought one of these last year, really wish i had now, before the price went up, when i first saw them they were like half the current price.
Sansnipple you are correcy!! I didn’t pay attention to that .Thanks for seeing my error. I did go get one from the US site and now I am off tot the other site.
Update May 2022: Both sites are now offering the 200 g cake only ($48 on .com and $51.50 on .us). I am sipping on it right now from my 100 g cake. The smoke has really dissipated somewhat even in the first steeping. The dissipation may have been aided by the fact that I stored it in a very breathable jar..
I will happily take this off anyone who doesn’t love theirs. For me, this is the right blend of a strong base, mixed with just the right amount of mint and cheesecake flavouring. This is NOT a travel mug tea. This is a sit at home and enjoy the aroma and the deliciousness of this tea while the outside world goes by. A little bit of sugar added to this, just makes everything pop while still allowing me to enjoy the deliciousness of the suncha base.
I am drinking it right now too :D I will try it sweetened next time!
I didn’t order any of this, and now you’re making me wish I did. lol
Steph – i loved it plain but just a teeeeny bit of sugar made it pop a little more
DF – nope you don’t want this… hahaha
I missed out on it.
Sweet! That makes me want to pick up my damn teas just a little bit more!
I TOLD YOU! COME GET THEM!
..or wait until the next box shows up…. do you have things in that box…no maybe you don’t…i dunno..
I don’t think I do? I think I’m waiting to see what A&D does for the year of the sheep/goat bc we might want to get something together.
gawd i want them to go up already..
Looks like it was Feb 11 last year! So we must be getting close.
(Backlog from 2 days ago)
If you are Canadian like me, you know it’s no fun to shop for tea from our dear American neighbors at the moment. Our dollar is sinking and the exchange is terrible.
I have turned to Tao Tea Leaf recently, they are based in Ontario. My love has grown so much for this company. They offer exceptional quality and you can find many different superior oolongs.
This one is no exception. It’s exquisite and sophisticated.
Baozhong is very lightly oxidized. It tastes like a breathe of fresh air.
Very floral, think lilac.
It’s also as buttery and creamy as can be, with a sweet aftertaste.
I could drink this every day that’s how much I like it. And I might just do that :-)
Pics of the session:
Breathtaking pictures!!
The tea sounds really fantastic, too. Buttery lilac… mmm!
So beautiful :)
I hear you on the exchange rates! I’ll have to check this company out. :)
Thank you DeliriumFrogs, the tea is fantastic indeed!!
Scribbles, thank you :-)
Fjellrev….sigh yes, damn exchange! You can’t go wrong with Toa. Been ordering also from the wonderful Camellia Sinensis in Montreal.
I had some work booked for early this morning, so I made up a cup of tea that I knew would be delicious and reliable, and it was.
Then just after 9am, they started testing the fire alarm. Which has been going off every five minutes for the last two hours. So I’m a bit grumpy and I had to reschedule some of my day.
I’m feeling kind of thrown off, but with moving in a week, I’ve got a whole lot of stuff to do, and I can’t just write off a whole day because of a fire alarm.
Flavors: Malt, Sweet Potatoes
This is one of those messed up (yet always wonderful) purchases that I made in a Brussels-based Asian grocery store called Tinie’s (tiny’s). I wanted an instant ginger tea/drink but without all the extra crud, and found this. Only ingredient? Ginger. Yes! Tricky to discover though, I had to really scour the packaging (it’s all in Thai) and then the ONLY native part of the packaging in English, other htan “Ginger Extract 100%” and a blurb I’ll share on the tea page, was the URL gingen.com. Excellent!
Anyway, to the tea/drink. It’s spicy, it comes in those cute little individual packages, it’s solid, it’s dependable. Is it amazing? No… but it’s instant ginger granules, and I always want some of those on hand in cold weather.
Flavors: Ginger, Spicy
Preparation
I am definitely a fan of ginger. I love the taste (although I usually go for Ginger Lemon tea), and it usually really helps if I’m I’m feeling sick to my stomach. I don’t think I’ve seen instant ginger tea, though. Sounds kind of strange.
In my experience, instant ginger tea is only (usually) found in Asian grocery stores. It’s basically powdered ginger with some added something or other so that it doesn’t clump into a gooey mess. There’s a ginger lemon version of this (with extra sugar added) and a ginger matcha latte version (which I tried the other day, amazing)… usually really cheap and great to add to things where you want some extra ginger kick, even in your cooking.
Interesting. I use a lot of Ginger in cooking (I love Gingerbread and Stir Fry with Ginger), and drink a fair amount of Ginger tea (Jammin’ Lemon Ginger is my current fave), so I’ll have to keep an eye out for this.
I was buying ginger and lemongrass at the grocery store when the cashier told me someone had told to make a tea out of the two. She said it helped her get over her cold really quick. I did try it and it wasn’t bad but I only did an infusion like regular tea. I think it’s meant to be boiled and simmered for an hour on the stove. If you google it there’s many different ideas on how to prepare it.
I have a sweet ginger granule from my local Asian place – makes a wicked good hot drink for colds, especially with lemon juice.
I like the ginger-and-honey ones. :) Perfect for camping and hiking.
I LOVED this tea.
I hoarded this tea.
I drank the last of it at work today.
It had to be done, can’t keep it forever.
I will miss this, but am happy to have fond memories of it.
i hoarded this as well….finished mine so long agooooo..miss them :(
I keep buying pearls from other sources but I haven’t found any that are as good as these… :((
i think? it was teavivre that was my second choice….but still no comparison to mandala’s if that makes sense
I hope he will be able to get a hold of them again?
Teavivre is my second choice too – but was looking at the ones at What-cha – has anyone tried them?
yes. the what-cha ones are tasty…but again very different from mandala or teavivre
mmmmmm delicious! working from home today so i’m trying at least a couple of the samples dexter sent my way since i have time to enjoy them…sort of haha
there are malt notes in this tea and some underlying chocolate notes that are very faint i had a couple steeps of this one and it was thoroughly enjoyable. This would be one that i would consider picking up if i place an order through streetshop88 :)
I just checked out their ebay store after reading this note. I’ll have to add them to my ‘favourite sellers’ list. All the tea looks so good!
yeah allank? i think and dexter have ordered from them…i have not, but these samples are tasting delicious!
DeliriumsFrogs – I’ve just ordered once – two teas and a teapot – fastest shipping ever from China. Ummmm – I would like to put a little care package together for you. I can include some of this in that. Will talk later…
Sil – I found this one changed drastically with different steep parameters – water temp really brought out different flavors. I think boychik has also ordered from Streetshop88 – allank for sure :)
“mmmmmm delicious! … thoroughly enjoyable. This would be one that i would consider picking up if i place an order through streetshop88 :)”
Sounds great! So why only an 85?
honestly? as with all my ratings…because that’s how i felt lol my ratings are a spectrum of the teas i’ve had and i try to drop them in against other teas.
Just curious as your description sounded so good. No offense intended.
Personally, I’m always careful about rating something that I’ve only had once, and only have enough to try once – I wouldn’t want to rate it too high because I’m in a great mood, and then find that the tea itself doesn’t meet my expectations later on if I get more. An 85 still sounds like a should buy though. :P
yeah no worries loosetman. sometimes i just want to remove my ratings…but then they help me figure out rebuys so i don’t
Thanks, whatever works for you.
Since there’s nearly an infinite selection of teas in the world:
When tea reviews include a rating, I tend to focus on those rated 90 and above, like an interviewer faced with hundreds of resumes to consider and a limited amount of time to devote to the task. However, many times the language and tone of the review appears to be more positive than the numerical rating. Thus, sometimes asking clarifying question leads to an enlightening and enjoyable dialog.
totally get that loosetman! :) sooo many teas…so little time! on that note…highly recommend the puerh i had today. heh
Thanks!
oh, wow, Dexter! What can I do for you??!!
delirium…don’t send her tea LOL
LOL Sil is correct – the best thing would be nothing at all. :))
this + cacao = best snow day tea ever. Although i DID go in to work, i was the only one who did. But i got a ton of work done and it was nice and relaxing as far as tea drinking and working went…so there!
I thought of you the other day while I was eating this really dark chocolate, fudgy brownie, while drinking LB… it was probably the most delicious combo I’ve ever had (I liked it even better than red wine and chocolate! Who knew!?)…. You, dear Lady, are genius. :)
Better than wine and chocolate, what?! (More wine for me… :D )
It really was…. It was crazy! lol
Cheers to another sip down! I know my Butiki notes must be sounding on the negative side lately, but mostly because I purposely took some of my lesser favourites with me to polish off, leaving all my favourites behind. Those precious favourites.
This last cup, as usual, has the most flavour, almost akin to the apple cider flavouring I detected in the guayusa a couple years ago, but it’s still obscenely faint. Hmm, as I’m sitting here typing whilst my mug sits right in front of me, I can smell for the first time ever a faint butterscotch note, very similar to butterscotch Lifesavers.
But alas, I can’t taste that. Only the apple. Damn, if only it tasted like that. Butterscotch oolong. Sounds wonderful.
My favorite so far out of the samples I tried from Tea Ave. The oolong looks great with nice delicately large leaf. The flavor is rich, roasty nutty with a strong peach apricot aftertaste. Later infusions got kinda dry, but the after taste was still going.
I really want to get my hands on more of this tea to get a full gong fu experience – it was originally bagged (and whole leaf!) and I gong fu steeped it with the 3 grams I had.
Full review and preview of Tea Ave teas on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/tea-ave-oolong-preview/
Preparation
Wow. Why would they bag up such lovely oolong?
They will be selling loose leaf, they just made some bagged teas for those bagged tea drinkers. At the time I got my samples they only had bagged teas available for me to try.
I have a 30 year old oolong tea bag from Origin Tea perfectly preserved in cellophane. Hang onto those bags long enough…
Mmm fudgey, chocolate, vanilla and malt. A very tasty, smooth way to start my morning.
Thank you so much for sharing, Lindsay! I can see buying some of this someday, when the Canadian dollar is stronger, but I can definitely live without it for now, especially since I have Tippy’s Not So Vanilla.
Flavors: Chocolate, Malt, Vanilla
Preparation
Based on the aroma of the dry and brewed tea, I really wasn’t expecting to like this one much. It just doesn’t have a lot of aroma – kind of like artificial flavouring, and tea. Not really chocolate, not really spice (though perhaps I wouldn’t want to be smelling that anyhow). However, completely different story for the flavour. The first flavour is a distinct honey-sweetness (argh! I bet that’s from the base tea, and now I’m sorely regretting not tasting this sooner and nabbing more of either it or the plain base), followed by a wave of dark chocolate, finishing off with a growing chili heat that prevents me from having more than a couple sips at a time because WOW it’s potent.
So anyways, this is pretty good. Definitely the best chocolate/chili tea I’ve had, because 1) there is actually a good dose of heat, and 2) the base here was a perfect choice. The chocolate here is nothing overly special, but everything works very well together – it was a genius move to use whatever this base is (a leafhopper-bitten tea of some sort, I imagine), because the natural sweetness really melds the flavours. Kind of sad I didn’t get more, but it’s ok, because to be honest, I probably wouldn’t pick out a spicy tea all that often, since spicy kind of screams heartburn to me (hopefully that’s not the end result, but my brain associates the two).
Happy I got a half ounce of this, and looking forward to an embarrassingly large amount of Butiki headed my way… (1 box almost here, 1 box just mailed, 1 box probably being mailed today, a few teas being mailed to Sil, and a few more teas in VariaTea’s possession. Yikes.)
ETA: This tea is so freaking amazingly delicious. So much honey goodness. I’m glad I have some Sansia Black headed my way if it tastes anything like this tea.
Preparation
Went on a bit of a tea/teaware shopping spree last night. Ohhhhh Mandala – I love Mandala Tea, and was spending the evening trying to put together an order – it’s tough when there are so many awesome choices.
Anyway I was drinking the amazing Noble Mark while I was shopping. I love this tea. I don’t drink it often enough and I don’t write enough tasting notes about it. I was using my little yixing shou pot and stopped counting at 9 steeps – but I’m quite sure I got to at least 15. It just keeps getting smoother and more mellow as you go. It starts really nice and doesn’t go through any icky stages. Maybe not as “complex” as some like – but you know what your going to get with this one. It’s always good – it can handle some “oops I let that steep too long”. One of my all time favorite teas.
http://instagram.com/p/yf7D7wuE7V/?modal=true
I <3 Noble Mark
That does sound good. Complex is sort of wasted on me since I don’t taste much. Give me a decent smooth tea and I’m happy.
:( steepster is eating parts of my notes again
Did you tell Jason so they can look into it?
Love this one too, so smooth and warming!
thank you Kittenna! This is one of those tasting notes that makes me sad because I was never able to pick this up myself. And it’s good. i very much appreciate the share from Kittenna today and will be resteeping this until the flavour is dead. This is juicy and delicious and everything in between here and there and everywhere. I am a fan! I don’t get a lot of chocolate notes from this one but that’s ok by me. I can mostly smell them versus tasting them. Seriously. delicious! So sad i missed out on this one.. sniffles
I’m thinking about getting the component teas from other sources and hacking the recipe for some of these breakfast blends.
yeah that might have to be something we do ugh
Sil, I can share mine with you if you like. I haven’t tried it yet but I certainly have enough tea and I don’t grab straight blends often enough that I would miss it that much. I’d rather it go where it would be enjoyed than stay here in a drawer.
I’d love you for that VariaTEA but only if you don’t love it…i wouldn’t want to sneak teas from you that you enjoy :)
I’m happy to share :)
Thank you Angel for this sample.
My hubby has next week off work which he usually does for my birthday (which is also next week). Hopefully that means we will fit in a lot of tea sessions during this time to help me clear some of my stash.
The raw cake contains whole leaves that are a blend of: dark brown, silver, gold and red/brown. Very high gloss/shine is present and lots of furry silver tips.
It has a sweet yet smoky, wood and earth scent.
Steeping: 7g
Water: 100 C
Pot: Yixing 200ml
Rinse 1 – 10 seconds
Rinse 2 – 10 seconds
Steep 1 – 10 seconds
Colour is light yellow and has a gentle, smoky and damp earth scent.
Flavour is subtle with sweet and creamy earth notes with a hint of smoke. The sweet honeysuckle notes linger into the after taste.
Steep 2 – 10 seconds
Colour and flavour are thicker. The smoke has increased though for the most part it is still sweet and creamy. Slightly dry in the after taste now though the honeysuckle still dominates. Also getting some fresh wood tones and an increase in the cream as it cools.
Steep 3 – 15 seconds
Thicker and smokier with some astringency. Also the dryness increases to the point of being perfumed. Very rich and mineral like, sweet grass perhaps or sweetpea.
Steep 4 – 10 seconds
Creamy, sweet, honeysuckle, thick, smoke. All balanced much better in this steep than the previous two. It’s still astringent but toned down. My favourite steep so far.
Steep 5 – 5 seconds
Soft, floral, sweet and slightly smoky. Another well balanced steep. Not as thick and losing strength though the dryness and astringency have also lessened.
I will continue to steep though out the day but will stop my writing for now.
Overall: The Puerh started soft and sweet which increased in strength rather quickly, with it’s later steeps calming down to bring a more balanced tea. The main flavours were honeysuckle, cream, smoke, sweetpea and wood. It’s a very nice raw/sheng that tastes better over time, put simply.
The leaves appeared to be very nice quality both before and after the steeps, as such I will consider buying a cake of this in the future should I get the opportunity.
Flavors: Cream, Drying, Earth, Honeysuckle, Perfume, Smoke, Sweet, Wood
Preparation
My daughters have landed in Toronto and will be attending the Tea Festival on Saturday. Youngest and I were drinking this before they left and I am still drinking it tonight, and it seems so strange to me that they are so quickly so far away!
This is the last of my sample, and it has been a real trial knowing that my tea is in town but didn’t get here in time for today’s mail truck, so I will be out of this tea for twelve hours. TWELVE HOURS. First world problems, lol!
This has an amazingly sweet edge that woos everyone who tries it. I teach voice to four quadruplet siblings, two at a time. They just started this week. Two of them tried this tea today and they have never had any “exotic” teas before. They liked it, and are eager to try more teas.
I will be glad to see the postman tomorrow!
So jealous of your daughters! I hope they have a great time!
Niiiice! I hope they enjoy it.
Kittenna; Cavocorax and myself will be there first thing in the morning. I also think Indigobloom will be working the festival and we’re trying to convince Variatea to come too!
I hope you all run into each other! Anna (Superanna on here) is about 5’2", skinny, with long blonde hair, and looks about 15. Her little sister is 5’7", long brown hair, and sooooper skinny. I will tell them to look for a crowd of tea fanatics who look like they might be looking for them! LOL They have instructions to look for interesting little cups, good Da Hong Pao, and good puerh! :)
I’ll be there on Saturday afternoon with some friends. Just wish I had a funny hat or scarf or something to wear so that some on here could recognize me!
Scribbles may also be at the TTF.
i am more than happy to walk around with a giant sign over my head that says “if this sign makes sense then it is i you are looking for…” or maybe just carry around a rubber chicken… or… man the possibilities are endless because I am happy to make a fool of myself!
Youngest would totally love the chicken or the sign.mmshe enjoys being…unpredictable…in public. LOL! They will be wearing matching Abercrombie coats, one gray and one black coat, and they will keep an eye out for you. They will be there Saturday!
By the way, the one who looks 15 is 26, youngest is 17 but they will look about the same age. Youngest may look older of the two to you! And eldest has a wee high voice. What were the bulk bin cookies you guys were talking about not long ago? I thought someone said Van Doorts or something but I can’t find any info on them.
bulk bin cookies? lol wasnt me!
This sample came from miss cookies. Between looking at the description and the tea itself, I was a bit confused as to whether this is technically a white tea or a sheng. So I ended up just steeping it like I would a regular silver needle. The leaves are similar to other silver needles – they’re long and covered with silver hairs. However, I can definitely tell that they’re been compressed into a cake. They look somewhat flatter than usual and they have an interesting crimpy texture. Dry scent is subtly sweet with hints of stonefruit.
The steeped tea does smell like a combination of white and sheng teas – it has the soft hay notes but there’s also a touch of menthol. Yum, I was afraid this would come out bitter, but it’s not even close. It’s actually very sweet and there’s the most lovely and super creamy grain flavor that reminds me of oatmeal with cream. There’s a bit of apricot that especially comes out near the end, and I also get a tiny hint of sheng-y menthol and a slight cooling sensation on my tongue. I really like this one, and I imagine it would only get more delicious as it ages.
Flavors: Apricot, Cream, Hay, Menthol, Oats, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
These teas sound so intriguing – I think I’ll have to move some of these white tea cakes up my wishlist…!
that does sound very interesting.
I’m not sure what classification it falls under either. I think just an aged white?
I bought a cake but was disappointed. I’ve had older silver needle sheng that was just marvelous. I think this one needs some aging to become more complex. At the moment it just seemed like a silver needle tea.
wow, I haven’t had this tea in a while. I couldn’t get it out of the bamboo tube and ended up pounding it on the counter, which was actually quite therapeutic.
I have decided I hate my local post office. I made an inquiry with the USPS 1-800 number about my lost package from Yunnan Sourcing. The post office claimed they called me and they closed the case but I never got a call! Even worse they don’t answer the phone. I can see I will need to find some kind of a mail service if I want to have any tea packages delivered in the future. It’s just so stressful and annoying to have to deal with this.
Anyway about the tea… my first notes on this were that I thought it was mellow and earthy but today it seems more assertive, smoky and bitter than I remember. It should be mellowing out more over time, I would think? Of course it could be I have just used more tea in my pot than the last time I tried it. I did break off a pretty big hunk and am keeping my steeps very short.
I must say this is a very energizing sheng, it’s uplifting and perking me right up!
Preparation
Yikes, I’m so sorry about your package. :( So does that mean that you have to just suck it up and accept the loss because they won’t go about trying to track it down anymore? Will Yunnan Sourcing send a replacement package?
I may go down there in person to see if I can get an answer from the post office but it appears they are not going to do anything. I am getting a replacement package, hopefully I get it SOMEDAY!
That’s scary how they give up like that, but I’m glad to hear you’re getting a replacement package. Fingers crossed it will actually grace you with its presence!
Hope you get the second in. I would raise a little h—l at the Post Office after all no disrespect to any of them we do pay their salaries and should be able to get a valid answer about any issues.
In order to get the tea out of the bamboo tube take a heavy duty chefs knife to the top of the bamboo tube, about 1/6 of the way in. Once you do this put enough pressure on the tube to finish breaking it and it will open right up. I think puerhshop has this technique on their page somewhere, don’t know where though.
mrmopar – I will go down and talk to them soon. By the way that post office gets bad reviews on Yelp! Other people have also complained that they never answer the phone and lose packages. It seems like an epidemic problem!
I ordered boots for my daughter before Christmas. I truly believe they delivered to a diff place. I couldn’t find any answers at my local PO . I was nice and then I was mad. Nothing helped. I called the company and they sent replacement overnight by UPS. UPS did it right as usual. I feel bad for the company to replace it though. It’s not their fault
I’m pretty sure I have a straight Earl Grey in mu cupboard, but I couldn’t find it, so I grabbed this to make a latte, and it’s delicious.
2tsp steeped in 8oz of water for 4 minutes, added to maybe 4oz of hot milk, 1.5 tsp of sugar and 1tsp of matcha powder. The flavours of this come through really nicely and are complimented well by the matcha. Nice and decadent.
Flavors: Bergamot, Vanilla
Oh, does that sound SO incredibly delicious!!!
My bag of kitchen grade matcha is very close to its best before date, so I’m looking for stuff I can add it to, to use it up :) I think I’m going to make matcha & white chocolate scones soon. There was a recipe on Yunomi that I will adapt.
EGC + matcha sounds lovely.
Those scones sound wonderful!
http://yunomi.us/24858/tea-recipe-matcha-scone-pancake-mix/
I’m going to do them from scratch rather than with a pancake mix, but scones are super easy. I love the idea of matcha and white chocolate.
I’m planning on these! http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/green-tea-white-chocolate-cookies/
You inspired me to make matcha scones tomorrow. I’ve never made them before!!
Marzipan sent me this tea. it was a total surprise along with our joint Tao Tea Leaf order.
I love smoky teas. And i love this tea. smells pretty strong but doesnt taste too smoky/ashy to me. in fact, its quite sweet. i didnt need any maple syrup which i usually add to LS.
I really enjoy this tea during our Juno Blizzard all morning. thank you so much Marzi for sending this tea to me. im sure this 50g wont last a long time ;)
Preparation
I saw Sil say something about putting maple syrup in LS the other day, and I had never heard of that before! I have some LS from zen tea that I can’t decide if I like or not, and I think that trying it with maple syrup would be delicious. Adding maple syrup to my grocery list….
Also, STAY WARM!! Thinking of you in that blizzard!
Hope you are nice and cozy in the blizzard, boychik!
Thank you Steph, im drinking tea non stop. very warm. cant wait till tomorrow when my family will go back to work and school, haha
Maybe I just don’t like LS, then, if I’m wanting to drown the zen tea LS in maple syrup. haha
Your pictures are lovely, by the way. :)
I find that most smokey LS need just a little bit of maple syrup (the real stuff) but there are some that I think need more than others. I have yet to find one that I wouldn’t add MS to.
i was going to order some but i decided on replacing it with fancy grade dragonwell. (i adore dragonwell). i hope my parcel arrives soon. i spent almost 200$ on it :(
I drank this tea this morning, but even while I was drinking it, I was having a hard time describing it. It’s definitely a Darjeeling, spicy, fruity, tangy? But also unique. Quite light in colour and body. Between sips I kept forgetting what it tasted like, aside from “good”.
I really enjoyed this. The only downside is I was getting a touch of bitterness in the back of my mouth, sometimes noticeable and sometimes barely there. It wasn’t like tea bitterness, but reminded me of when I’ve taken mediation that messes up my tastebuds (except I haven’t recently.)
I’ll have to give this another spin and see if I can describe it better.
Preparation
Ooh, I’ve been looking for a nice loose leaf Darjeeling. Let me know how the second time around goes!
I literally have all the Darjeelings that Teabox stocks (or that they stocked in October 2014.) I’ll be doing tasting notes on them a bit at a time. If you like muscatel Darjeelings, this one was really good: http://steepster.com/teas/teabox/42861-darjeeling-premium-muscatel-blend-summer-black-tea
Awesome, thanks! I do like them! I’ll check their teas! Add another to the list! :P
If you decide to order, here’s a referral link. If you register through there, I believe we both get a $25 credit in our accounts, which you can use on your first purchase. They’re also having a sale right now, 65% off some teas: http://fbuy.me/bsaIw
Wow, that’s great, thanks! I’ll sign up right now! :)
Sooooooo many Darjeelings to choose from, whoa! I’ll get that Premium Muscatel you mentioned. Would you recommend any other one to try? Thanks again!
I think I’ll start with the Beginners Collection and the Muscatel Collection to try out a bunch of samples, then I"ll order more of the teas I like! I’m excited! :)
I ended up purchasing 200g of the Seeyok Muscatel, since it was on sale, and the Beginner’s Collection!
Still bitter about DT not letting me have my Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait latte (I am not an uneducated tea drinker; when I say I’m willing to risk it I’m not being ignorant, just stubborn) so I made a cup of this with lots of milk. This has hibiscus in it.
And you know what? It was fine. Rich, silky cup of caramel, raspberry, and cream cheese icing. I still don’t know how they capture the cream cheese flavour so well; but for me it’s essential in a good Red Velvet tea or cake. But yeah; even though hibiscus can curdle milk that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to; it’s all about how much of it is in the blend…
I always look at this box when I’m grocery shopping, wondering if I should give it a try (who doesn’t want a drinkable cupcake?), and it’s an herbal! I think I might grab this next time I go shopping…. :)
Sounds good!
I wasn’t a fan of this one. The cream cheese tasted too artificial to me.
Doesn’t Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait have dairy in it anyways? So weird.
Yeah, it has yogurt in it… I don’t know though; I think I’m being a whiny piss baby by not just getting over it – I appreciate their warning, but I don’t like being told I can’t have the tea I want when that’s the only reason. The staff at my usual store and not the one in Regina would have given it to me anyway, although I would have still gotten the warning.
I’ve done eggnog lattes with hibiscus fruit teas, and didn’t even think about curdling. Huh.
I absolutely love Joseph Wesley. They have some of the most awesome teas I’ve ever had.
they are great teas! I just wish ordering to canada was easier heh or not….lol
seems they are not shipping to international :(
ysaurella – you’d have to email joseph and see what he can do.
what did you order? I’ve been pondering, but just didn’t know what I needed a full canister of before I tasted it….
Donkeytiara you can buy samples sizes . I believe Joe offers a Valentines special
TheTeaFairy, I’m so glad you like this tea. It’s beautiful excellent quality. Joe, if you read this please please source some more for us. These DHP and QL are amazing. Even though I think I got some hmm, never enough ;)))
@Sil thank you :)
thank you everyone for your nice comments. It’s touching to read that these teas are speaking to you as much as they speak to me. Our next shipment of limited release teas will be available sometime in May after this year’s harvest. Because the weather will be warmer we were planning sourcing a lightly oxidized Oolong (such as Tieguanyin from Anxi or Dong Ding from an old friend’s tea farm in Taiwan). Would you rather have the more traditional, highly oxidized, and roasted WuYi Oolong for the summer or a lighter oxidized Oolong? We’ll also have a couple of other teas that I will not share with you until they arrive!
i missed your reply Joe. Im always for highly oxidized and roasted oolong. No matter winter or summer. I like them punchy! Thank you ;)