16936 Tasting Notes
Ok, time to try this one again.
I’m still finding this pretty bitter, but I think I’m able to identify the taste a bit better. There are slight floral notes, and I want to say something verging on apricot or peach but just not quite getting there. It reminds me a lot of Ontario Ice Wine, but without the berry notes and with much more astringency.
The aftertaste isn’t sitting well with me at all, and I don’t think I can blame it on user error this time. I guess this is sort of a sip down then: I’ll be giving the last bit of this sample to Robyn.
Preparation
Kind of “meh” second steeping. Mostly just tastes like cinnamon water, with maybe a bit of peppercorn taste.
It’s getting harder to not eat any food for my “tea cleanse weekend”. Tre ordered Chinese food, and bought me some vegetable fried rice (which was very nice of him) that just smells delicious, but I’m trying so hard not to cave and eat it.
I’ve had internet for a whole ten minutes! I think that’s the most I’ve had all day…
It’s really cold in the basement right now, so I decided I needed something to warm me up, and I was sort of feeling like berries would be the way to go.
Picked this tea, but remember to add a teaspoon of sugar. The sugar really brings out the berry notes in the tea, and does a decent job of eliminating the bitterness of it. I’ve experimented with different steep times, and I just can’t find a balance where I don’t get at least a little bitterness. There’s also some astringency and the sugar doesn’t really do anything for getting rid of that.
Had a second steep that was about the same. I could have gotten a third steep out of the leaves, but I wasn’t really feeling a third cup. Overall, tasted better than I remembered but I still hate that this one needs sugar to taste good.
Preparation
Internet still seems to be cutting in and out… I wish I could figure out why, but sadly neither Tre nor I are exactly “tech smart”. It’s so frustrating though because it’s got to be something to do with my laptop since his is working fine (and my laptop cost twice as much!) I get internet connection for two or three minute blips at a time, and then I get a message saying “trouble connecting to broadband network” or something like that – but it can’t be the broadband network or modem because Tre’s connected to it just fine! Blah.
Regardless, I had two really good steepings of this one. Perfectly watermelon and so smooth and delicate. I almost pushed trying a third steeping, but opted against it because the second one was watered down tasting enough. This was awfully close to a sip down – I only have enough leaf left for one more cup. I’m gonna really have to be stingy about it too since I probably wont be ordering anytime soon (drastically losing hope on the job hunting frontier), especially if I end up having to shell out more money to fix whatever problem my computer is having.
Anyone on steepster super tech smart? I could really use some help fixing my connection; my laptop has been working totally fine otherwise.
Wish I could help. :( Any chance it’s a physical defect? My bf’s mac book just started to drop the internet connection. He’d get a few minutes band lose it, then reboot like crazy to get it back. It was definitely a hardware issue, but I was right after the 1 year warranty had expired so we never fixed it.
Sorry for the typos! It’s hard to see on my phone!
It might be. I’ve had my laptop for just over a year now, so it wouldn’t be covered by warranty if it is (and I really can’t afford any repairs). It’s odd – it’s only been doing this for the last two days (a huge part of me is hoping that if I’m patient it’ll just go away) and there was no transition to it. I went to sleep after basically being on the computer for like 6 hours straight and when I woke up I couldn’t hold a connection.
And last night I was able to use the internet just fine from about 4 AM to 8 AM… I went to bed at 8 AM hoping that whatever it was had run its course, woke up at about 3 PM and was dealing with the same bloody issues as yesterday.
:( That sounds incredibly frustrating. I’d try the support forum for whoever made it to see if anyone has any ideas. I wish o knew enough to be able to actually help.
Stupid waking up early! Now I’m super tired and probably pretty close to falling asleep for the night. That’s what I get for getting up around 4 hours earlier than I’m used to… Wow. This might be the first night since moving here that I actually go to bed before midnight.
Anyway, enjoying a cup of this as I get ready to go to bed.
Actually though, come to think of it, it might be the chamomile in this tea that’s making me so sleepy. I picked this out because of the licorice, but yeah that chamomile seems pretty dang strong tonight.
Landlord is out at his cabin this weekend, so when he gets back on Monday we’ll see what the utilities come to this month, and then pay rent for October. This is the first month we’ve had to pay utilities. Well, not all of them – we only pay for half of the grand total of the electrical bill, and then half of the cost of the internet plan. From there, Tre and I will be splitting the amount in half again, so really I’m paying a quarter of the electrical and a quarter of the internet. It shouldn’t be too bad, but you never know… I’m just hoping it’s not a lot because, well, I don’t have any income at the moment.
Also, I think this weekend I’m gonna do a “cleanse” of sorts. Basically, I’m just going to drink different teas over the next two days to basically just detox from some of the crappy, low cost foods we’ve been eating.
After how frustrating today was, I definitely needed this tea.
The apartment is freezing now: probably in part because of the awful weather we’ve had all week. It seems (knock on wood and fingers crossed) that the internet is working now, so I’m casually job hunting while all curled up in bed. I’ve got a nice big bowl of Cream of Celery soup with noodles in it, and that’s keeping me warm and helping me feel cozy.
I really wanted a black tea with lots of rich coconut in it, however I’m also craving chocolate. So, I made myself a week cup of hot chocolate, and then steeped my tea in it. Finally, I topped it off with some milk. As it was steeping, it smelled quite strongly of cocoa and coconut. Holy butts does it ever taste divine!
The drink is so smooth and creamy, and leaves the most heavenl taste in your mouth. All the best parts of Buttered Rum are there: the strong coconut taste, the creaminess, light notes of the black tea base, mild notes of butterscotch, and of course the taste of rum. However, the hot chocolate part of the is equally rich and brings out completely different notes such as English toffee and a much more rich vanilla taste. Actually, that’s it! This tastes just like you’re drinking English Toffee flavoured hot chocolate.
If you have the supplies to make hot chocolate, I HIGHLY suggest that you make yourself a very weak cup of it, steep this tea, and then add a touch of milk or cream. I’m confidant that you wont be dissappointed.
Preparation
Today has sucked so much.
For whatever reason, I got out of bed way too early this morning… And for once I actually do mean morning. While I’m usually up at around 2 or 3 PM – I woke up at 10:30 AM this morning. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!? So, I decided that since I had so much time I’d do an extra amount of job hunting online. Well, that didn’t work out so well. I’ve ben internetless ALL FREAKING DAY.
Seriously, I’ve had internet for a grand total of 20 min. now… I can’t do anything without internet. ANYTHING. I’ve tried everything I can think of, but I just can’t figure out why I don’t have access. My roommate, Tre, is able to use his laptop with NO PROBLEM – but I can’t use mine. I keep disconnecting and reconnecting to the internet, and I’ll get access for like 3 minutes but then it cuts out again.
I managed to squeeze in one application during one of those three minute gaps, but I think it was rather sloppy considering how rushed I was, so I’m not expecting much to come of it.
And, on top of all that, Tre was supposed to print me out a whole bunch of copies of my resume from Siast today but of course he forgot (for the third day in a row), so now I have to wait until Monday even though the plan was supposed to be to send out paper copies of resumes over the weekend so that I don’t have to rely solely on online applications. Urgh.
Does he realize that if I don’t find a job I wont be able to make rent payments on time? You’d think that’s something he might be a little concerned about…
But regardless, I have managed to enjoy one somewhat decent cup of tea today. I was really hoping to be able to sip down a relaxing cup of this citrusy Earl Grey in between fighting with my computer, and I sort of accomplished that. Unfortunately, the computer ended up distracting me whilst I was brewing my cup and I oversteeped it.
This led to a really bitter cup of bergamotty tea. I had to add a lot of honey to the cup to make it palatable. Blah. Basically I drank a cup of bitter honey with bergamot flavour. Not exactly what I was wanting.
Anyway, sorry for the angry rant… But, well, today just isn’t going my way and I had to vent somehow.
I guess this is an evening for green teas? Well, flavoured green teas. Odd.
I feel like lately I’ve been favouring certain teas over others. Well, I know I have. Usually that doesn’t bug me, but since my collection of teas has expanded to be quite large (in comparison to the size I’m used to it being) and will likely be growing larger I’d like to drink some of the teas that have been a bit more forgotten what with my trying to drink samples and making an effort to drink white teas. Basically, I want to drink my teas a bit more evenly.
Anyway, this is pretty good. I’m feeling this one tonight – glad I decided this was a good one to drink tonight. Both my DT’s flavoured greens looked like they could use some love, and I have a TON of this left. It’s a nice warming cuppa, perfect for the lousy weather we’ve been having.
I’ve literally spent the whole day doing nothing. Well, maybe not literally – but I certainly haven’t done anything of importance. Basically, I painted my nails (this really pretty colour that reminds me of red wine) and applied a few more places online (although, I admittedly don’t have high hopes). Also, I watched four episodes of Supernatural.
So, I figured why not reward my laziness with a nice hot cup of this tea, and a bowl of frozen yogurt with sprinkles. As far as the frozen yogurt goes, I’m regretting the sprinkles. For whatever reason they taste really soapy, even though they usually taste fine. Tea wise, it’s a bittersweet cup.
I’m finding drinking this one painfully nostalgic – it’s reminding me of working at the theatre, and the time I snuck a mug of this into the movies with me. Basically, it’s reminding me how much I miss all my friends and former co-workers. It is a really good cup though; very smooth and buttery.
Personally, I find that with this tea you can trick yourself into forgetting about the apple if you focus more so on the butteriness of the tea, but as soon as you consciously start thinking about the apples in the blend all you taste is apples. It’s like the gif with the dancing ballerina: depending on how you look at it she’s either spinning left or right and with enough concentration you can actively switch your perception of how she’s spinning.
Still, I think after this cup it might be time to set this one aside for a while. Sometimes being really nostalgic can be a negative thing.
I’m sorry for this tea you tasted bitter. Would you please tell me the details about brewing? Such as the water temperature, how many tea leaves and water? Did you brewed this tea a little long?
I used 2 tsp. of tea for 6 oz. of water steeped in 88 degree celsius water for 1 minute. It did taste better than the first time I tried brewing it, but not by a lot.
Thanks for your information. We have brewed this tea again with 3 tsp (about 2g), 175ML water steeped in 88 degree for 1m30s. But we didn’t taste bitter. So i wonder if this tea you have brewed was Organic White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) Tea? It will be appreciate you can send me the picture about this tea. By the way, have you eaten something before you drink this tea ( sometimes it will affect the taste)? And how to save this tea?
Look forward to your reply.
The tea is being kept in an airtight container, in a drawer so that it doesn’t have any light exposure. I’m unable to upload a picture because of the internet connectivity issues I’ve been having for the last few days, but the leaf I recieved in my sample packet looks practically identical to the leaf depicted on the Steepster page for this tea, so I’m pretty sure I am drinking the Organic white Peony. It’s possible that this tea just simply isn’t to my taste – I did compare it to another white tea (albeit a flavoured one) I own which I am also not too fond of (a tea called Ontario Ice Wine). The tea I compared it to uses Bai Mu Dan as the base tea. But I greatly appreciate the length you seem to have gone to in order to help me enjoy this tea as much as possible. I think, however, that I’m going to give the remainder of my sample to a friend who enjoys straight white teas more than I do; that way it will be better appreciated.
Thanks for your information. I’m sorry our Organic White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) Tea is not your favorite tea. However, i also want to send you our fresh Organic White Peony (Bai MuDan) Tea as well as Organic Nonpareil Silver Needle White Tea (Bai Hao Yin Zhen). So you can try them and compare with the first Organic White Peony (Bai MuDan) Tea. Meanwhile, if you are interested in any kinds of tea sample, please don’t hesitate to tell me. I’m glad to provide for you.
If you want to try any kinds of tea sample, please don’t hesitate to send me your shipping address to: [email protected]