Featured & New Tasting Notes

I’m a little disappointed with Adagio’s Blackberry Tea.

For starters, the blackberry flavor is really light. I could hardly taste it when the tea was hot; as it cooled the flavor became more noticeable but it never became the focal point of the beverage. It remained a subtle hint of blackberry in the background of a standard black tea. On the plus side, it was definitely blackberry – not raspberry or strawberry.

The tea was also pretty sensitive. I over-steeped it by a minute, a minute and a half max but that was too long. It was quite bitter.

I am glad I bought the tea, because I think it’ll be good for experimenting. It may yet make a decent iced tea, since the flavor seems to come out more at a cooler temperature.

So I bought some gyokuro from englishteastore.com for an almost too good to be true price. So I was skeptical about its quality considering that most places charge 3 times the amount. So far I’m not that impressed. Maybe its a lower end gyokuro or something. I’ve experimented with a range of temps and steep times….100-160 and 1 second to 2 minutes. The later steeps are shortest. I looked online about ways to prepare it and the customary japanese method is very complicated but super cool! And they eat the leaves afterwards. He used vinegar and sesame oil so I tryed the same and it was delicious! It tasted like a seaweed salad from a sushi restaurant. Its nice to know how healthy it is too.
So most of my steeps are a little bitter despite using very low steep times and low temps. And I don’t use the last few drops becasue thats typically the most bitter. I heard that the more rolled up the leave the higher end it is. And these are maybe a little tighter rolled than my stock sencha. I ‘ll just keep experimenting. I’ve have had a couple lucky steeps that taste way better than the regular sencha so there is hope!

Oh man did I ever over-brew this the first time. This is my second Darjeeling experience—the first was a blend of Darjeeling and raspberries and I never took the leaves out! That must have been an incredibly light version, because within 4 minutes this tea was so bitter as to be undrinkable! I literally did the second steep in seconds, for fear of wasting more. The dry leaves themselves have a very fresh, grassy smell, but it’s like the tea itself is completely different. The smell I’m not even sure about… I want to say buttery? The liquor is deliciously smooth and silky. I’m not sure what to call the flavour, but it’s full, interesting, and probably nutty. Darjeeling, they weren’t lying about you!

SoccerMom was so kind to send me three heaping teaspoons of this along with her giveaway. Mariage Freres is rather expensive and a bit difficult to get in the US, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to invest in a whole tin before I got to try any. So here it is, the famous Marco Polo.

It smelled wonderful, so sweet like strawberry candy, but it was the very same reason why I wasn’t sure if I would like this tea. You see, it turns out that I can be quite conservative when it comes to flavored teas, and when the tea screams out dessert, I get intimidated. But that extreme sweet scent was slightly mellowed out as I steeped it, and I have to say I see the appeal, though it may not be my absolute favorite. Mostly fruit to me, with faint floral notes, perhaps. I certainly enjoyed it, though I don’t know it will be my regular cup. I will have to try it with milk, because people seem to rave about it!

Trying this the normal way this time. Wow, this brews up dark and thick and I might not be awake for something this strong without a little milk or something but we’ll see how it goes. The smell is very thick and rich. Smoky but sweet. And the more I smell it, the more I think I can handle it without milk to soften it.

The first sip is a lot milder than I anticipated. Very smooth and the taste just sort of slowly built as I swallowed and afterward. Sweet and smoky seem to seesaw back and forth. I can’t decide which one is more obvious but as it cools the fruity sweet seems to take the front taste position.

The initial taste is very smooth with a hint of sweet some sweet smoky. Not quite campfire smoky but not cigar smoky either. It’s more like a menthol tingle smoky. Finding some Icy Hot after a house fire? I have no clue and I’m going to stop trying now. Anyway, after I swallow, I feel myself exhaling smoky flavor and it fills my mouth. But it doesn’t have a real acrid edge to it or anything. The fruity sweetness takes care of that, I think.

After trying this the traditional way, drinking it now makes me really want to have toast with strawberry jam with it. This is definitely hearty enough to stand up to having with food. I imagine it would do well with milk and sugar too but there is enough sweetness that it doesn’t actually need sugar and milk might be overkill with how silky this feels anyway – or it might be decadent and yummy so I’ll probably still give it a shot!

This is a great morning tea but due to the smoothness of it, I could see it making me happy at any time of day. It’s stout and strong but not mean about it. It’s rather heavy so I think for me it is a great winter tea.

Really want my toast with jam now.

I wasn’t sure how to steep this. It’s my first green-black blend (and you can most certainly SMELL it—the green and the black tea, I mean). So I went 180 degrees, at around three (ish?) minutes, just to be safe. The colour came out quite light for a black tea (as expected, I guess).

Here goes! I was kind of nervous about this one. I’ve never purchased a tea I had ABSOLUTELY no idea about. But I am a risk taker! And where better to try a tea I’d been meaning to try, than with a company I had ALSO been meaning to try!

It tastes like black tea and green tea, but I can’t really taste any of the fruity spiceness that was also mixed in there. Although I can smell it in the dry leaves, wet leaves and (to a lesser extent) in the tea. Oh, wait—I can taste the jasmine, mildly I believe. It was a good idea that I tried jasmine green tea before hand, so I can actually pick that taste out. I would steep this for longer to see what I get, but the green is JUST strong enough for me.

I get a sweetness when I sip and then breathe out. No marshmallows, but it sort of REMINDS me of marshmallows. In a weird way. I’m sure it’s just my underdeveloped palette that’s keeping me from tasting things, but somehow… this is very nice. Maybe it’s the rose that I’m tasting a bit when I breathe out. That sweetness. Ah yes, it’s a bit stronger now. Definitely there. Mm, it’s quite nice. I’m starting to become rather fond of this tea. I think I’ll try a second steep and bring that to work with me.

I think I like this one! I’ll probably keep drinking it to see what I can get out of it. It smells so pleasant and sweet, and the taste is there, I’m just not the best person to give a very accurate description of it.

This is one seriously strong cup of tea.

The color to which it brews is a brazen reddish-bronze. Sitting on my desk in a clear glass mug, looking down into the bottom from the top, I can almost not even see through the tea…and my cup is sitting on a white napkin on top of a blonde desk.

Trying to describe this one is going to be difficult. It’s a very savory tea, but slightly bitter. I’m not talking about the sort of bitterness that comes from oversteeped black, though I’ll readily admit that after my first sip I wondered if I hadn’t overdone the amount of tea steeped or the steep time (given this one says it can go up to 5 minutes, that seemed unlikely). It’s more like the bitterness you get when you try bittersweet chocolate or high-percentage cacao dark. That bitterness connects to a very notable taste of earth and soil and, in a development that reassures me that my impending confrontation with my fear of pu-erh may not be a total disaster, I like that earthiness. It isn’t a dry earth, it’s a moist and humid and black rich earth…and fortunately, it seems to want to do little more than play foundation for the raisiny sweetness responsible for the tea’s umami deliciousness. Rolling the tea over my tongue, I’m able to get different sensations toward the back and the sides of my tongue, flashes of sweetness or bake-y malt.

There is a slight pinch at the back of the throat that hasn’t decreased as the cup has cooled, and I’m again not sure if that’s my steeping or just the briskness of the cup itself, as this is my first time sitting down with this tea, but it doesn’t seem to want to go away. Not scratchy, not completely scratchy, but pinchy. Just a bit. It’s a very strange finish to have when the flavor profile of the cup is so completely dark and smooth.

I don’t think I would have this every day, but there are certainly mornings where I want a cup of tea that seems like it could dissolve a spoon. This one qualifies. In fact, the longer I sip it, the more I feel as though…

…you know, if tea were chocolate and not tea, then this tea would be the dark chocolate to the milk chocolate of the Golden Spring that I’ve made my staple go-to black tea. They both share the raisin-sugar mouth-watering umami deliciousness, but this tea is darker, bittersweet, earthy, full-bodied, stiff and smooth and the Golden Spring is lighter, brothy, full-bodied and made for downing in mass quantities.

Not sorry that I bought this at all. Looking forward to trying it with milk and sugar for sure…something I think the Golden Spring doesn’t quite hold up to as well as this could.

To me, this is an incredibly relaxing tea. I was first introduced to it – as were most of its fans, I think – at one of Aveda’s retail stores. You walk in, and the first thing the sales associate does is offer you a cup of this tisane. At the time, I was very unfamiliar with herbal teas, so the sweetness of this really surprised me. I mean, I could recognize the peppermint “tingle” but the other herbs were completely new to me at the time.

This is a great blend for relaxing. The licorice stands out as the dominant flavor, but it is pretty well blended into a sweet, refreshing brew. Not sweet like sugar, but a more natural form of sweetness. Very smooth, very nice.

I received this from SoccerMom, who found out she wasn’t so fond of earl grey. I am always open to trying different EGs, so I was very happy to receive the package. I loved the smell, which didn’t smell like a typical earl grey because of the addition of vanilla and cream flavors. So far so good. I used 10oz water instead of the standard 8oz and steeped 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which is what I usually do when I drink my earl greys straight.

The result? I have to say, thank you, SoccerMom! I like this. As an earl grey, it is on the lighter side, more floral notes than bergamot. I am not a big fan of vanilla by itself but the sweetness made the floral scent less perfumy for me. I like it. I also like the blue cornflower that makes the blend look quite pretty.

Trying a new tea again :) Got this one on purpose because its totally different then all the other ones I’ve got. Green tea with mint. Very strong minty smell.

I steeped it like 2 and a half minutes and got it right.

Color – rather bright for a green tea. Yellow. Not so clear like the others, probably because the green tea in it is in powder.

Smell – of the dry one is nice. The tea itself has a nice minty smell but also some unpleasant part of it. I dont know what. But that is the part i like least about this tea.

Taste – very refreshing. I can feel it work on my bronchitis affected throat. The freshness spreads. Its good without sugar tho half a spoon of honey makes it little bit better for me. Love it cold too. Ill try another steep later. Think it could be good…

Conclusion – another kind I quite like. The list is growing ;)

I have to start by saying that I’m not a huge coconut fan. I don’t hate it, but I also don’t love it. It’s not something I search for, but I do enjoy it from time to time. I do, however, hate coconut scented things (body lotion, shampoos, etc.), since they just smell fake and nasty to me. :(

But I figured this would be a good tea to go with my Thai leftovers, so I decided to do this one today.

Now, this is an award-winning tea, and I had high hopes for it, even despite my not-loving-coconut-ness. When I opened the packet, a heavenly toasted coconut scent came wafting out, making me really hope that this scent would come across in the tea itself. A bit of the scent, however, did resemble the fakey coconut scent I dislike, but the toasted coconut scent was primary.

Brewed, it smells a bit more like fakey coconut. :( However, the taste is sweet and creamy, with an underlying hint of earthiness that tempers the coconut flavor. I honestly can’t help but like it! It tastes kind of buttery actually.

I’m a bit perplexed on how to rate this. I like it, but I don’t think I love it, and I don’t think it’s something I could have all the time, but it’s still very yummy. Hmm.

It’s Here It’s Here It’s HERE !!!!!
My mailing envelope was punctured but luckily my teas were not!
(puts kettle on before she’s even got the package open. )

dry smell: chocolatey, malty, and a definite undercurrent of fruitness
brewing smell: strong roasty smell upon first pouring the water over

liquor: orangey-brown
scent: chocolate first, then malt with a hint of “roasted” scent
taste: there’s a definite “mate” earthiness, more so than I was hoping for. The chocolate hits you afterwards. The malt is in there somewhere but I’m having a hard time distinguishing between it and the roasted flavor of the yerba mate. (probably just my tastebuds are a bit off today due to a sore throat.) Anyway, I like that it’s brisk upfront and then rounds out into a deeper sweeter chocolaty-er flavor. Sugar and/or cream may mute this effect but I don’t want to add either to this cup.

This is the first yerba mate I’ve really liked, so that’s saying something. I think I’m going to hold off rating until I’ve had a couple more cups or even tried it cold. I’m not as blown away as I hoped to be, (then again I’m not a mate fan) but I am definitely impressed. I think my husband, who drinks mocha and mate, will really like this, which is nice because there are very few teas we both like.

I’ve always taken a “so long as it’s hot and wet, I’ll drink it” approach to tea but, having been introduced to the Make Mine a Builder’s brand, it has become my brew of choice. The only thing I would say is that it isn’t poncey, china cup, finger in the air tea. This is big mug (ideally chipped), cold day, hotter the better tea.

I love the smell of this. Sweet and smoky and spicy, it tingles in my nose like menthol. The citrus makes it clean and refreshing and the pine flavor (from a Keemun, I’m guessing) pokes a bit to do the same – not unpleasantly, just in a clean, walking-through-a-quiet-forest-during-a-brisk-autumn way. The lychee and lapsang (I’m assuming since that’s exactly what it smells and tastes like) combine to make it sweet, the lapsang and the rooibos make it smoky, woody and warm. This tea makes me think of a forest in fall – beautiful in a brown, earthy way, crisp and clean and perfect for a small campfire for ambiance.

This tea really seems to sparkle either in a smaller cup (8oz vs. my previous 12oz) or else done at boiling instead of just under. The woodsy note is the solid base of the tea but the hotter water (or smaller cup) really let the sweeter flavors dance. The citrus and sweet flavors pop just a bit more, making the tea really full flavored and just delightful. This is really just a fantastic tea. Love it so.
3.0g/8oz

I was worried this would be too sweet or overly coconutty, But it was just right. I had it with organic sugar and a splash of organic whole milk. Dessert in a mug. I drank it pretty late in the evening and it kept me awake, might have to think about getting decaf…

This tea was a little hard to measure because of the larger size leaves and this may have affected my brew. That said, I did enjoy this tea and did not find it to be overly vegetal – a trait I’m finding hard to adjust to. It was very smooth with no bitterness and a light pleasant fragrance.

Yummmm. Beautiful jasmine scent, and wonderful jasmine flavor. The color is extremely light, i almost thought I had completely messed my steep up somehow, but then i smelled and tasted it. There is a hint of green tea and a wonderful strong jasmine flavor to it. It’s not an overpowering flavor, it is quite wonderful :)

Another!!! Sample from Harney & Sons! I have no clue how much was given to me, but when I dumped it in my matcha bowl it didn’t like a whole lot so I made it thick- 3oz water.

Oh wow! Hunter green! So dark and lush. I’m surprised this isn’t thick grade. The taste is thick which surprises me even more- not the mouth feel like that of 52teas Mandarin Matcha, but the taste. Strong, vegetal, bitter, astringent, and sweet. I think this is my favorite unflavored matcha so far!

The nose on this is a little spicy, but the actual flavor is not. It’s a nice rounded taste that appeals to me even though I am usually not a huge fan of Chinese black teas. There is a hint of bitterness but no astringency to match, which is a little out of the ordinary for a black tea. There is some cedar in the smell and it is reminding me of Christmas past; the old chest my family kept the Christmas ornaments in was made of cedar.

As the tea cools a bit, I’m even getting a little more bitterness and a bit of spicy heat on the finish. Like… straight cinnamon. There’s a little dissonance going on in the aftertaste now – like a very mild version of drinking OJ after brushing your teeth. It’s not quite as nice as it was when it was hot.

A pretty interesting, yet solid tea. Just drink it before it gets cold.

I actually gasped when I first tasted this tea! It is so completely delicious to me! Thomas is sweet and strong, malty and earthy…and what a body! Some milk and sugar bring out his best qualities. What a fine example of a black tea from India!!

P.S. Excellent customer service from Andrews and Dunham Damn Fine Teas. I ordered series 2 in the middle of all the snow the East Coast was getting, and I got an email from Erik Dunham explaining about the insane amounts of snow and how it was hard to get to the post office. Seeing that my area was hit almost as hard and we missed 2 days of mail delivery ourselves I of course assured him that it was just fine, but how nice is that?!?!

P.P.S The labels are fantastic! The shipping boxes are even fantastic!

P.P.P.S I am about to go to bed and leave him and Jackee Muntz in my tea cupboard. I could have sworn I heard Jackee called Marco Polo “fruity” and I think Thomas tried to pinch Florence!!! Who knows what I will wake up to tomorrow!

P.P.P.P.S I am absolutely sick that series 4 sold out so fast – I think I would have loved that tea!

One of my new favourites, I had to rate it higher! Interestingly the smokey aspect of the tea is largely in the smell of both the leaves and resulting brew. While a tea like Lapsang Souchong is quite confronting/disgusting because it tastes exactly like the smell, the Yunnan does not.
The aroma of this tea is an incredible comforting malted-wood-smoke, while the taste is a smooth malt with just an aftertaste of woody-smoke. I drink this with a gererous splash of milk and it is delicious.
The perfect tea to brew up all day for when its dreary outside and you’re cosied up inside with Frank Sinatra and ‘The Story Of Tea’…

ETA: Can also be reinfused a number of times, I got around 3 decent cups out of one lot of leaves :D

I drink tea twice a day, and then got pregnant and worried about some of the unusual herbs in what I normally drink and wanted to go totally caffeine free. That’s how I discovered Rooibos Red Spice. It’s a versatile tea that I enjoy both for breakfast and at bedtime. I love that the spices are mild and there’s no licorice, which ruins most spice teas for me. It’s a nice deep color that makes me not miss my English Breakfast tea.