Featured & New Tasting Notes

Today I went through my “cupboard” to see what I had at work that I hadn’t logged yet, and settled on this one.

(taken with Splenda)

This tea is a dark gorgeous ruby red. The taste is mostly of the tart hibiscus, so I do have to be in the right mood for this tea. It’s dark and mysterious and hard to describe the back notes… I’m not sure what rose hips and cassius taste like, so that may be why I’m struggling to seperate the flavors out.

But, overall, when I’m in the right mood for it, it’s a fantastic tea.

The husband left absurdly early today, necessitating separate tea brewing for the two of us. Usually I made a big pot of one tea and split it but today I went ahead and made two different types of tea so that I could experiment a little without the potential of torturing the husband (and so that my tea wouldn’t be room temperature by the time I left the house).

The experiment that I wanted to try was using one of my ‘teacup teas’ and see how they did as ‘travel tumbler’ teas. To me, teas that I enjoy in a teacup – which allows me to smell the tea as I drink it – tend to fall a little short when put in a travel tumbler with a lid. Keemuns are especially unhappy for me in something that prevents smelling the tea while I sip – changes the entire taste. So most of the time for my tumbler, I have to go for flavored teas (which, frankly, I am getting a little tired of) or a breakfast blend, English-style. English-style because the addition of milk and sugar makes the experience more forgiving if the tea gets too bitter sitting in my tumbler for my 40+ minute drive to work.

So today I wanted to try a smoother black tea ‘teacup tea’ that would hopefully not require sugar or milk and still be a pleasant drinking experience. So I grabbed this and crossed my fingers.

It still had that Assam-turning-into-Yunnan-as-it-cools front flavor and it still had a nice, bright Darjeeling end taste. So that’s good. There was no bitterness, even at the end of my 12oz, though the closer I got to the bottom of the tumbler, the more it moved from a Darjeeling ‘bright’ to a Darjeeling ‘tart’. The tea and I never entered Tartness-Land, but we got close enough to see the border guards in the distance. If I had done a 5 minute brew, I imagine we would have gotten our passport stamped if not seen some of the local sites.

So overall, the basics of what made this tea interesting were still there. Starchy front taste when hot, smoothing out as it cooled just a bit and turning earthy. And then, if I took a big swallow, the earthy would throw out some strong cocoa notes. And always finishing with the bright, citrus-or-muscadine end that always screams ‘DARJEELING!’ to me. But even though all the pieces were there, it just wasn’t as… happy as it was out of a cup where I could smell the lovely scents as I drank. Not a huge difference but if this was the first time I had had this tea, I would have given it a lower rating (probably somewhere in the low or mid 70s). But as it is, I’ll leave the rating where it is and just consider this tea a teacup tea that can be put in a tumbler if needed.

I’m drinking a lot of of this lately, so I’m not sure what new I can add to this tasting note.

So, instead, I’ll tell you what I’m paring this with today. :) Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal. That’s right, I run downstairs to our Starbucks, get oatmeal, then come back to my office to make a good cup of tea. I always thought the oatmeal was misnamed. I mean, yeah, it was Starbucks, and yeah, it’s oatmeal… but perfect? Not so much. That was before I learned that you can get all three toppings (brown sugar, dried fruits, and nuts) for the same price. Now, it really is perfect, and I totally get the name.

The nuts/cranberries/brown sugar feels very much like the holidays, to me, too. Which makes it pair exceptionally well with the Holiday Tea. :)

This tea is extraordinarily peachy! Makes a delicious iced tea, and steeps quickly and darkly. You can use a teabag three times, or ice one cup without watering it down. Add a dash to a cup of black tea for a great flavored black. Very sweet and fruity- overwhelmingly peachy, so use with caution!

Didn’t get to have this at work so I’m having it now that I am home.

Holy crap does the dry leaf smell like pears! Big, juicy, mess-making pears. Wow! That’s a slight, possible floral smell added to it that is maybe the honey? No idea. 98% of this is full on pear smell.

So my timer went off and I went into the kitchen to pour my cup? HOLY HONEY MONKEYS, BATMAN! I was still a few feet from the counter when I got slammed with succulent fruit juiciness and honey. The honey smell is very obvious now and makes it smell like pears, soaked in honey. Quite why they are soaked in honey, no one knows, because it stops them tasting like pears and makes them taste like honey… and if you wanted honey, you could just… buy honey. Instead of pears.

ahem But I digress.

Sipping on the tea though and the BAM ness of the honey pear is in the scent and the actual taste is much more normal and sane. There is honey, then tea, then pear, then honey again. It is like a lightly flavored pear tea was sweetened with honey. Or maybe a gentle tea was sweetened with honey and then had a splash of pear juice added.

This is smooth with a little dryness showing up right after I swallow but quickly fading. It’s sweet but in a wild, honey/musky fruit way. And the body is pretty light. No desire or need to chew the tea here (which I might actually enjoy…) I really want to see how this will turn out when cooler, but I may be too impatient (and it may be too yummy) for me to see. I think a bit more pear is coming out, but again, I’m impatient.

So this all sounds great, right? So why is my rating just at the lime green happy face and not higher? This seems like it has all the elements of wonderfulness: strong and recognizable smell, no chemical taste, the flavoring doesn’t overpower the tea, no additives needed to make it yummy….

I dislike honey.

Yeah, I know. I’m weird. Just not a big fan of honey. Sure, I’ll mix it with mustard and dip chicken into it. I have occasionally put it on a biscuit. But generally, I’m pretty particular about my honey. I go for the lighter, sweeter honeys – orange blossom over plum (which strikes me as a very dark-tasting, wild honey), the local wildflower honey over sourwood honey. I don’t even really like the taste of the ‘typical’ clover honey. And this honey strikes me as a slightly-darker-tasting-than-clover honey. So while I recognize that this is a good tea, this is just something that’s not up my alley.

However, those that like pears and honey both? Will probably love this one. Now I vote that GM makes a pear tea (I don’t think there is one in my sample box, right?) because this tea minus the honey, I think I’d LOVE.

The husband and I started this morning off with a cup of Napal each. A&D DFT Napal comes in a bold orangey-red and brown tin. The tea leaves range in colors from greeny-white-brown to light-yellowy-brown to medium reddish brown to a predominating deep brown. They smell musty strongly tea. The tea is a light-medium yellowy-amber. It smells warm and tea-y. The wet leaves smell a bit of smoke, sweet, and slightly spiced. This tea tastes more strongly than the Ceylon and has more depth of taste as well. I like it a bit more too. DFT is three for three for me. I plan on ordering Series 2 before it sells out. The husband quite like this tea too, saying it was damn fine and he could get used to drinking more tea (in his robe on a rainy morning). The second steeping was weaker but still flavorfully drinkable. I do not think it would take a third steeping.

2nd steeping: 8 min.

Wow! I’m a fan of green tea and coconut, but never thought they’d be good together. This is a great tea! A nice blend, the coconut follows the green in a pronounced way. Not the sweet kind of coconut, a real coconut-milk flavor without the heaviness. I really enjoyed it! A nice treat if you want something iced and light but not sugary or rich.

Beware of the steep time. Teavana’s sticker said 2 minutes when it’s really 30-45 seconds. They didn’t tell me that when I purchased it. However, I’d go with a steep time of around 1 minute and a temperature closer to 180 degrees.

I was asked once, “what does cactus taste like?” and I floundered wildly to come up with an answer. I still don’t know how to describe. I could recognise it instantly; it’s even one of those flavours that it’s easy to imagine when you don’t have it, but I don’t really know how to describe it.

It’s sort of sweet and sort of fruity but not like your ordinary sweet and fruity. It has that cool sensation that you also find in mint and it has a certain freshness to it so it doesn’t get cloying. And a touch of fennel(*) too.

My leaves of this are fairly old and have been standing forgotten in the cupboard for a long time, so I can’t really remember how much flavour it had to begin with but I think it must have faded some. There isn’t all that much of the added flavour left in it, except in the aroma, but the green tea it’s based on is coming out loud and clear. It doesn’t say what the base is, but I’m guessing it’s probably Sencha, since the vast majority of the green flavoured teas in that particular shop are based on Sencha. Or at least they were at the time I bought it.

It’s been ages and ages since I’ve had a pure Sencha (that I knew for sure was Sencha) so I can’t really judge it on flavour. Only an educated guess. Due to the nature of the cup, i can’t tell you about the colouring of the liquid and looking at it as it’s poured doesn’t really give a very accurate picture. It did look a tiny bit neon-green though. Just the slightest hint.

The taste is definitely different from my chinese and taiwanese greens too. It doesn’t taste as green, kind of. As in, it doesn’t taste like it’s not a green tea, it just doesn’t invoke the same images of things that are green while drinking it. Or something. Gosh, that sounds ridiculous, but I can’t figure out how else to explain it. It reminds me very strongly of Genmaicha, to the point where I have to remind myself that it isn’t actually Genmaicha. Does any of this sound Sencha-ish to those of you who have more experience with Sencha?

.(*) Fennel, btw, might be an interesting flavour in a green or white tea, come to think of it…

As a Bay Area resident, I am happy to present and review this local company, finally making tea fairly traded to connoisseurs after hundreds of years of British economic colonialism. Zawadi Karibu Spiced Chai is a mild tea that gets the job done. The flavor is earthy and spicy without being overwhelming. I have been drinking it with sugar and soy milk, and it has been a joy to keep refilling the cup. Additionally, as the box mentions, I don’t seem to get the jitters that black tea and caffeine can sometimes give me. This unique tea is complemented by its easy pre-packaging, which is both convenient for the user and accessible for anyone to try. It is perfect for the season, and I’ve been keeping my snowman mug full.

Don’t miss the website for this company where sippers can read about the impact of colonialism on access in the tea trade of England, India, and the rest of Europe and the Middle and Near East, fair-trade in Kenya, and the Kenya AIDS Intervention/Prevention project.

Fantastic rooibos! While easy to over steep, this tea has a near perfect balance of hibiscus that leaves a delightful aftertaste. While not a subtle tea, I recommend experiementing with creamer if you’re up for a bolder taste.

I love going to Pike Place Market and picking up more Market Spice tea. It’s heavily cinnamon, which I love, and not too heavy on the orange part. I have found you need to keep this in a tin or airtight bag, however, as the oils will end up soaking through paper or a ziploc baggie. But at least the whole drawer ends up smelling yummy!

Wow! This stuff is strong, just like chai should be. I definitely enjoy the spice on this tea and its full body, however, I think next time I’ll add creamer. I also like that it isn’t too drying on the palette.

I have found a new favorite holiday black. This and the Candy Cane Lane tea will be my two primary holiday teas next year. Great stuff!

Silky Green is my absolute favorite tea from Bird Pick! It has a wonderful milky aroma and the leaves are furled similarly to oolong tea. The first brew, which isn’t my favorite has a light buttery note, and with consecutive brews, becomes more flavorful. The tea develops a creamy and almost perfect buttered-toast like flavor. It’s also very smooth on the tongue and doesn’t leave your mouth dry. Be sparing with the leaves, they unfurl quite large.

I’m getting down to the bottom of my sample packet sad face so it’s mostly the little crumbly, broken bits now. I’m really hoping a get a strainer with a finer mesh for X-mas, I’m sick of picking leaves out of my teeth!

Because of all the broken bits I reduced the steeping time a bit too, but the tea seems to have taken it pretty well – it still goes down smooth as silk. Interestingly I’m noticing a very faint hint of smoke scent/flavour right as I first sip. It’s nothing near Lapsang or even Russian Caravan strength, although I’ve heard that all chinese black teas are bit smokey so it could be one of ‘the eight’. ;)

Okay, so can I say this was an absolutely DELICIOUS tea experience. Seriously. Auggy, you just brightened my day by twofold just by allowing me to taste the amazingness that is this cup of tea.

First off, the try tea is gorgeous. All sorts of browns and russets, mixed in with the eye-catching orange-red safflower blossoms. Nice slivers of almonds and a smell to die for. Seriously. I’ve actually been saving this tea since Auggy sent it to me, because I had a feeling that I would fall in love with it. And I’m one of those save-the-best-for-last kind of girls.

The leaves did a little dance (but not by much, really, since they’re kinda tiny), and I had a cup of absolutely amazing smelling tea in front of me. Seriously. This smells buttery and bake-y and almond-y and cookie-like. There’s the cinnamon mingling with a tea smell and the entire thing really does smell like an ALMOND COOKIE. Well, that would explain the name, then, right?

First sip gave me a little shiver of happiness. MMMMMM. You get the tang of the tea, followed by the sweetness of the cinnamon, which then mingles into the almonds. And somehow, on the swallow, this produces an amazing likeness to almond cookies. I don’t know if any of you shop at Italian bakeries, but if you do, try the pignoli nut cookies. They’re made with pine nuts (aka pignoli in Italian) and the cookie itself is made with almond paste. They’re soft and chewy and delicious. Sweeter than marzipan and sugary, with the absolutely amazing taste of pine nuts. I grew up eating them. They’re the epitome of an awesome almond cookie, and this tea really just brings all those feelings to the surface.

The flavor dynamics and balance here are absolute perfection. I really couldn’t ask for a better-tasting cup, especially after my very bizarre experience with lapsang souchong this morning. Yay for delicious dessert tea! And yay for Auggy and her wonderful samples!

A friend of mine who lives in Hawaii (lucky girl) sent me a special Hawaii-only Lupicia package of tea, full of flavours they apparently only sell in their Honolulu store. So if you’re wondering why you don’t see these offered elsewhere (or on their website, with a couple of exceptions), now you know. :)

At any rate, upon opening the package, the first whiff is kind of ashy. Not in a bad, “oops, I burnt my house down, my bad!” kind of way. It’s sweeter, like when you toast marshmallows over an open campfire on the end of a slightly green branch. Anticipatory burning, yes.

Upon pouring the recommended boiling water over it, the water instantly turns a nice, rich gold. Within a minute of starting to brew, that gold deepens into a rich, luxurious amber colour. The amber deepens as it steeps, but it never becomes a flat brown. Instead, it’s got slightly warm, reddish undertones, like a really nice single-malt scotch. Or John Simm’s eyes, if you like (and I do). Hee. ;)

The aroma as it steeps smells less like burning and more like something sweet and yet slightly sour…not-quite-ripe mango, maybe? There’s an undertone of the aforementioned pleasant burning smell, but it’s overlaid by sweetness. Not overly-sweet, though. (I’m worried I’m making this more confusing in my attempt to clarify. It’s a bit like dancing about literature. XD)

First sip is smoky oolong all the way, but it’s held in check by something sweeter and slightly floral and perfumy that lingers after the oolong is long gone. As the perfumy smell lingers, the burning aroma comes back, and yes, it’s definitely reminiscent of a volcano. In a good way, I promise. It’s smooth, slightly dark in taste, and quite nice overall. :)

I’ll probably go for a resteep later, so stay tuned. :)

This tea is a wonderful black tea that is smooth with chocolate notes. I use 3 pearls per pot and that does well.

This oolong is mellow with a little floral touch. The peach flavor is subtle. Overall a really tasty tea.

I have steeped the Ceylon leaves again. The wet leaves smell more strongly of dusty cinnamon when I removed them from the tea as well as of dried old paper. The tea smelled of dust, paper, and old under its natural tea-y smell. It still tastes good, but much weaker. I will steep it longer the second time next time. I don’t think it will manage a third steep.

Very dark amber in the cup. With most teas, the bottom of the cup can be seen – not with this, it is very nearly opaque. This tea tastes exactly as most people describe, strong and earthy. This is a tea that one generally has to get used to – it will be an acquired taste for most people.

The “earthy” taste – some people just call it strange – comes from a unique ingredient that appears during the curing: fungus, bacteria, or mold. Anyone who has ever scraped out the deep blue veins from a strong Danish cheese and licked the mold off the knife is going to recognize the source of the “earthy” taste in Pu-erh immediately.

Extremely old (40-50+ years) Pu-erhs are known to have visible strands of blue mold. Even on younger Pu-erhs, the mold is still present, just not visible. It is that fungal growth that gives it the unique taste.

The age of a Pu-erh is important when thinking about the tea, Golden moon does state what year it may be from but they describe the ingredients in the tea as: Aged Chinese Tea from the Last Century. Pretty vague, but given the price, the tea probably a recent vintage from the last 2-3 years.

We brewed this for 2 minutes, 30 seconds using boiling water.

i love any blend with ginger, but for a pure therapeutic ginger soother, i choose traditional medicinals.

It’ll do. I’d rather spend money on a better chai, though, if I’m going this route. More middling than any other Twinings blend I’ve tried so far…and I’ve tried a lot. Kind of disappointing in its mediocrity. At least it doesn’t suck.

P.S. Yes, Andy, it’s chai. XD