Featured & New Tasting Notes

The Tea Set sent me a FREE SAMPLE for my birthday. When they first emailed me about it they told me they were sending me one of their Organic Sexy Samples. When I got it in the mail yesterday there was a small designer tin in the shade of a light mustard yellow…very cute! There was no name/flavor on it but on their website the teas are in color coded tins…so my Yellow Tin MEANS Herbal. I then matched up the loose leaf in the tin with the blends on the site and the Secret Elixir For Wellness Tea was the closest match. So…here goes!

I’m totally jazzed about the FREE BIRTHDAY SAMPLE, btw…awesome idea for a tea company!!! Kudos to TTS!

The dry blend smells mostly herbal with slight fruit undertones. The coloring after infused is a purplish-pinkish-red. The liquid after infusion smells fruity.

Based on the color and scent after infusion I was afraid…Hibiscus??? Oye! I think that’s Hibiscus! Eeeek! But it’s actually not bad…yes, it’s a fruity herbally tarty type but it’s not too much to handle. I’m drinking it HOT right now but I think it would be brilliant ICED.

As for the after taste I’m getting an apple likeness…actually, it reminds me of cutting up apples and putting lemon juice on the slices so the “apple-meat” doesn’t darken…

This is pretty good…and this is coming from someone who usually doesn’t like fruity/tarty/herbals…I think it’s because it’s not over the top! Thank The Tea Gods!!!!!

Weird… I just uploaded this to my website today!! Synchronistic thought processes scare me!

This is so nice and smooth! I usually turn away from drinking many black teas because I usually find the flavor combination of floral and spicy to be a bit too much for my palate.

The cool thing about this tea, which might give me the desire to try other blacks, is that it has another flavor profile that helps to smooth out the over all taste. I really starting to notice this great nutty flavor coming from the tea as it began to cool down.The nuttiness brings both the floral and the spicy completely into check rounds out all of the pointer edges of this tea. I think i like this one best iced.

While it remains hot this is still pleasant and I can drink it comfortably with no milk or sugar. The spice and floral flavors do play nice together even if they can be strong. They are never “put down that cup” strong, but as a fan of oolongs and greens some times I feel black tea flavors are just a bit strong in general. So the fact I didn’t feel the need to put anything in this tea says something.

How about a backlog? The good thing about backlog notes is I can make a post even when I’m not actually having any tea. (No specific reason, just drinking something else at the moment) The bad thing is I don’t really want to write up the ones that I didn’t like, so there’s a certain lack of balance in that document…

My Golden Moon debut and the second one of Auggy’s gift teas I’ve tried! When Auggy told me about what she would like to gift me with, she mentioned that this Lapsang Souchong has a surprisingly sweet flavour for an LS. It reminded me a bit of that sweet phantom note in A. C. Perch’s Lapsang that try as I might, I can’t find again.

The leaves smell very smoky, and the actual tea is smoky too. Quite smoky, in fact I’d say. Smoke is just not the first note I’m finding.

At first there is something way more substantial. Something solid. It’s (work with me here, Steepsterites) a bit like pu-erh, only without the earthyness. Without the cowstableness. I mean, it doesn’t taste like pu-erhs at all, it just sort of creates the same flavour intensity sensations.

Then, after that, YES!!! There it is! Sweetness. That same sort of sweet note that has disappeared from my ACP Lapsang. Smoky smoke is smoky, but underneath it the sweetness lies. I can only describe it as kind of thick. It’s not a specific flavour other than ‘something sweet’, but it tastes like something that would come in globs, not in puffs or powders.

There is also a small note of some kind of leaf-y something. It’s not grassy or fruity or any other word that suggests right-off-plant-ness, nor is it an earthy stored note like pu-erh. It’s in between. Like dried flowers (except it’s not a flowery flavour either) or leaves pressed between the pages of a heavy book

I seem to be using a lot of energy describing what this tea isn’t and very little energy on what it actually is. What it is is very nice indeed. I just wish I could recreate this same sweetness in my ACP lapsang.

All in all, I’m totally getting the whole camel driver vibe here.

As far as black flavored teas go, this one is pretty good. The black tea doesn’t overwhelm the strawberry. The strawberry flavor is strong in the aftertaste. But, even though I only brewed it for 2 1/2 minutes, it seems pretty bitter. I definitely had to add some soy creamer to this to combat the bitterness (but I can still taste it). This was a sample. I don’t think I’ll order more of this. I think that I don’t like it as much because I am comparing it to their Strawberry Cream Fruit Melange which was awesome.

Update – lowering my rating as I threw the rest away when I finished this cup.

I picked this up on the recommendation of the guy behind the counter at the David’s Tea on Mont Royal in Montreal – didn’t catch his name. He definitely didn’t steer me wrong, though. The dry leaves don’t have much smell, but as soon as you add hot water, it’s stunning. It smells like spring to me – lillacs just starting to bloom.

The flavour isn’t as strong, which is probably a good thing. It’s a somewhat delicate oolong with a very slight flowery taste to it…

I think I may have found my new favorite oolang tea!

So I kept track of the temperature of my water throughout steeping today, and discovered that I haven’t been steeping my teas in boiling water, ever. Even warming the pot with boiling water only got the starting temperature up to 205°F (though admittedly, I’m only filling my little Bee House teapot halfway – I know that’s a nono). Without warming it’s more like 195.

Anyway, the slightly higher temp today made for a notable darker tea, but I’m not sure I like the change – there’s less chocolate and spice, more of just a “black tea” flavor, but the aftertaste is a lot more fragrant and lingering. Will keep playing with this a bit.

In trying to listen to fellow Steepsters, I prepared this today using a smaller pot, more leaf, rinsed the leaves for about 10 seconds, and then only steeped for one minute instead of my usual 15-30.

Certainly nothing wrong with the results, but nothing came out here that blew me away or made me feel like I’ve been misguided all along. I think these elaborate preparations may have value with real, true, aged, single garden type pu-erh, but I doubt very many of us are drinking such things very often.

This one is rather tough to describe – I feel like there’s a lot going on, but it’s simultaneously a pretty straightforward Ceylon. On the surface, it tastes exactly like what most people would think black tea tastes like: slight hint of lemon, very smooth, not much bitterness or astrigency. When you dig deeper, some great hints of flavor come out: tobacco, florals, fruitiness. This would make a great everyday black tea.

Just had three (small) cups of this delightful tea. Aaaaah. The dry leaves smell like caramel, vanilla, and maple syrup. And by caramel, I mean the very best soft vanilla caramel you can get, like Godiva’s soft caramel centers. The sediment in the bottom of your last cup? The first time I made this tea I rinsed that out, thinking it was some fine tea dust. No. EAT IT! Stick your finger in there and get it because it is sweet, light, vanilla goodness.

How good is it? The friend who was trying it with me just ordered a whole pound!

Thanks to Auggy, I can have my Samovar debut! This post is actually part backlog and part recent because I’ve got two different sessions and two different preparation methods in it.

Western Style
This is the backlogged bit. I started out making this one western style, primarily because at the time I had forgotten that this was the one to try with jam and milk in it. I didn’t realise that until afterwards.

The dry leaves smell strongly of ashes. Being a smoky tea lover, this is to me a good thing. (Ironically though, I abhor cigarette smoke…). Once brewed up, it still smelled smoky but also with a creamy sweet note to it.

The taste, however, was not as smoky as I had expected. It did have smoke, but it was still quite smooth. There was a sweet note too, which originally I thought of as ‘the absence of honey’. Once I tasted a bit more thoroughly, concentrating on it, I decided that at first it was a reminder of fruit, but then developed in the mouth and turned sort of darker. Samovar’s description mentioned apricots, but I couldn’t really find any properly apricot-y apricots, but I could agree that the initial fruityness of the sweet note could very well be apricots. It added a slight tartness to the smoke sort of.

When it cooled off a bit, I was surprised to find it turning almost flowery. I don’t really understand how you can have flowers and smoke at the same time, but evidently you can. It defies logic, but it works.

I decided that based on this session I would give it about 85-90 points, and the next time I would do it the russian way. Jam and all.

Russian Style
This is actually quite similar to the turkish brewing method that I have posted about before, in that you first brew a concentrate and then dilute and sweeten it to taste. The difference here is just the additives used. In Turkey they use only sugar. In Russia apparently jam and milk is popular.

There wasn’t any description on how exactly to make the concentrate (or ‘zavarka’) so I decided to just use my normal amount of leaves and half the amount of water with a long, about 13 minutes steep. Of course, I’m curious about such things, so I had to taste the zavarka by itself before continuing. It was indeed very smoky, but not really as super-strong and astringent as Samovar’s instructions said it should be. So it probably should have been stronger. That’s just a shame, though, because I was given this sample as a gift and therefore have limited amounts of leaves available. I didn’t want to use them all up for the sake of this one cup.

I diluted it half zavarka/half water, added a splash of milk and a large teaspoon of raspberry marmalade. Samovar said to use strawberry jam, but I didn’t have any and when I asked Auggy, she thought that raspberry marmalade should work just as well.

I can taste three things here. Milk, smoke and raspberries. It’s a bit like eating a raspberry cream cake in a smoke-filled room, actually. I can definitely see why they would call this a meal in itself because it almost is. It’s more smoky this way than when brewed western style, I assume because of the zavarka. The raspberries give a funny tart sort of flavour too that reminds me of hibiscus. I understand now why hibiscus is so often used to imitate berries. The difference here is, though, that his actually tastes nice. Whereas hibiscus is quite simply, in a word, undrinkable.

I would be hard pressed indeed to say which of these two styles I preferered. The western style gives a very good cup and it’s more than good enough for everyday use. The russian style seems more luxurious. To be reserved for special occasions, like when you want to be a little extra good to yourself or when you need a little extra comfort.

Or a celebration. It kind of tastes a little bit of birthday.

Having had both the western and the russian style, I’m ending up at a solid 90 points.

Traveling Tea Box Tea!!!!

This is a pyramid bag and the leaves look very broken. Pleasant bergamot scent :) I used 8 oz of water since Ricky’s note said the recommended 3.7 oz produced a bitter brew. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting much.

The minute the water hit this, it instantly became dark!! I was preparing myself for a STRONG BREW and I got out my half and half and sugar. I steeped for 4 minutes and after adding my milk and sugar it looked more like coffee than tea! Yikes!

Once I took a sip I was so very pleasantly surprised! No bitterness, very nice tea flavor and the bergamot is soft (I wouldn’t want it any other way in the morning – I save the super bergamot ones for afternoon). I am really enjoying it! if you want to have some tea bags around for portability and convenience, this one from Lupicia is excellent!! This company is definitely going on my radar for future orders – they have some EXTREMELY unique teas! ORZO CIOCCOLATA anyone!?!? (ancient barley from Italy which tastes like hazelnut and chocolate – gotta try it!) and being the froofy lady I am, I squealed over the sugar charms – how nice to have for company!!

I decided this may be a good one for resteeping, so I gave it a shot (another 8 oz water and 5 minutes steeping time). It is weaker tea wise but a little more fruity – still very tasty and enjoyable.

I love when my preconceptions are completely and totally wrong :)

My 1st Mighty Leaf loose tea! And what a unique tea at that… A friend from Prayer and Share was telling about her and her husband’s cruise to Aruba and their trip to an aloe plantation and that reminded me that I had this!

The only experience I’ve had w/ injesting aloe is aloe juice. And it’s grrrooossss- and the thick texture doesn’t help.

1/2TB of leaf per 6oz of water. Hot and clean.

Another pretty tea to watch! The aloe and rose make the green tea not just a typical green tea. Once steeped, the liquor is a golden color.

The aroma is that of the raw leaf- floral, sweet, vegetal, and something else… the aloe I’m sure.

Yay! The flavor is exactly what I expected based on the aroma of both the raw and steeped leaf. The light floral notes and vegetalness from the green tea blend well (thank God) w/ the aloe which is sweet… but not a fruity or honey like sweetness. The texture is smooth, but the mouth feel is a little different… thicker. Will definitely be buying this!

The liquor

OM NOM NOM.

Definitely wanted to start my day out with my new favorite tea! :D Glad I did! Yummmmmm.

I got this with my republic of tea catalogue an I have a cold so I thought this would be a perfect thing to help me feel better.

I am usually not the biggest fan of honey so I was a little skeptical but this tea was very delicious. It was very smooth and balanced. No one flavor over powered the tea. I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it.

This tea taste better this morning. The tea is smooth, spicy, and slightly sweet. It has a rich earthy smell to it. I’m even getting nice chocolate notes from this tea. Maybe morning is the best time for this tea, but I intend to try it again this afternoon to see what gives. No caramel yet but I intend to keep trying. I’m going to do a little research on Steepster today to check the amount of tea, steeping times, and temp of water on Yunnans to see if I can duplicate it.

This is an interesting tea as I’m getting orange notes from it. A 4 min steep yields a med-dark color liquid. The smell is clean, just a little earthy. This is a mild tea, no bitterness. The tea has a slightly sweet taste and has a dry aftertaste. Very enjoyable.

Odd.

Like… Odd!!!

I’m getting a very strong smoky note in this one tonight. Like, not just strong flavour, but proper smoke. I did use this cup for Lapsang Souchong last night, but I rinsed it out and I never had trouble with flavour bleed like this before, ever. It should not be possible that this is merely contamination.

How very very odd!

Last time I logged this I was all about the fruity and slightly floral notes. Well, fruity is a bit of a stretch in this one and floral is just completely out of the question.

How did this happen?

It’s possible it oversteeped just a bit. Apparently this turns smoky (and somewhat astringent) with a longer steep. Interesting. I’ll even give it a few more points, because while the milder incarnation of it was nice enough, I definitely like this stronger version better.

This is delicious and I will definitely be keeping a stock of it in as much as I can. It’s the second milk oolong I’ve tried and it leaves the other (from oolongteashop.co.uk) in the dust; if that was milk oolong then this is cream oolong. Richer and heavier, more luxurious.

Leaves a little bit of dry mouth, but it’s nice for when I want a savoury, slightly malty tea without going as heavy as black teas.

The husband has given me a cold. I’m dying. No, actually I just wish I was. So with my sinuses going crazy, I need tea. And tissues, but I’m gonna concentrate on the tea here. Not sure if this is the best time to try a new tea but I have enough to try it several times so I’ll live if my first tasting is less than perfect.

The tea smells very tea-like. Go figure. Very Yunnan-like. Again, go figure. But it is a little lighter and sweeter smelling than the typical Yunnan. It’s making me think of buttered raisin bread.

Wow, the taste is very sweet, light and fruity. A lot like the smell actually. Very smooth and with a hint of a prickle of dryness at the end. Obviously a Yunnan and a nice one at that. Not stout enough to be a morning tea but a little too stout to be an evening tea. So we’ll call it an afternoon tea… A very middle of the road Yunnan with Samovar’s Yunnan Golden Bud – light, sweet, airy, almost delicate – at one end and Andrews & Dunham’s S4 Yunnan – stout, a bit rough, sturdy and brisk – at the other. The light sweetness of the taste makes it connected to Samovar’s YGB but the pleasantly prickly end makes it connect to A&D’s Yunnan. So in the middle but with a slight lean towards Samovar (there is more sweetness than prickle). Nice, if a bit undecided.
2.3g/6oz

When I first opened this tin, the first thing I noticed was how oily and black the leaves look. The smell was just like toasted sesame, which I absolutely love! After I steeped it, the leaves looked dark brown and almost had a green sheen to it. Very nice. The smell of sesame was faint to me. The taste is very faint sesame but bitter. I added some sugar after tasting it without sugar. I believe it needed it. I don’t have any milk, but it might help to add some milk too. Overall, good tea. I’m not too into bitter though. My mouth feels a bit dry now.

Pear pear pear. Unlike the Doctor (both the Tenth and the Seventh), I like pear. Love it, actually. Especially canned (although I find that many people dislike canned fruit due to the sugary syrupness); it goes well with vanilla icecream. And I needn’t bother with the skins when they’re canned. Plus, the brine is delicious to drink.

The smell of the dry leaves was faint but pleasant. The wet leaves and the tea itself hold a much stronger pear flavour, although it is slighty sugary (that is to say, more similar to canned pears than fresh pears).

Although if you really stick your nose in close, it smells more ‘fresh pear’.

This is another tea from Jillian (how did she know I loved pears!), and I got two teabags instead of one, so at least I have one more to try after this before I have to remove it from my cupboard.

The colour is darker than I expected it to be (I haven’t much experience with white teas except in Numi’s flowering white teas, which brew quite light), sort of a pale black tea colour. The pear smell is delicious, and I think I get a tea smell in there too, but fainter.

Don’t know what to say in terms of taste. Again, I barely remember my last experience with white tea, but this is light, like a very light black. Not vegetable and green (luckily!). There’s pear in there, and it’s pleasant and not artificial and too sweet. I’ve heard that whites can get quite bitter. The pear taste isn’t confined to an aftertaste, it’s there during the sip, but it’s very pleasantly light.

Daaaamn, I quite like this and I only have one teabag left. I wonder how many times you can resteep a white. Hmmm.

I want to start by saying that I thought Snow Buds were white tea, but these are classified as green, go figure. Anyhow, the leaves are long and pretty, they smell light and faintly sweet. The sweetness is unidentifiable, it is not floral or sugary/caramel, but a natural, honey-like sweet aroma.

The brewed tea does not smell like much of anything, but I don’t mind that too much. The tea tastes very gentle, it is light and very white flavored, I would not have picked this as a green; there is no vegetal or normal green flavors. Oh well. The tea is sweet without anything having been added, it is smooth and light and goes down easy. Good for an easy-going, relaxing day.

Overall, it was very good. Brewed hot, three minutes, no additives.