Thanks again for the samples, Teavivre! I think I’ll have tried most of Teavivre’s teas now and it’s unbelievable that most of them are delicious. Teavivre loves what they do, you can tell in the tea they find. This is one of those white teas that look like there are all different leaves pressed into a cake. Like raking leaves in the yard and making tea out of them. The flavor is all sweetness and light. Teavivre mentions white tea has three types of sugar, so I can see where the sweet flavor is from! I’m not really sure how aging this tea is supposed to make it taste differently but this tastes similar (as much as I can remember) to the Shou Mei cake I tried previously. The steeps stay very consistent and you can’t really oversteep it. I wanted to see what would happen on an extreme third steep: The third steep was like a light black tea in brew color, with the flavor of a smooth golden yunnan but with slight notes of autumn leaves. Interesting! The description says that loose Shou Mei and cakes of same quality can have the same flavor, and I can see that. The cakes save space with these big leaves and cakes are better for aging teas. I think the tea tastes sweeter as it ages. White tea cakes are a treasure after seven years, so this one just has one more year to go!
Steep #1 // half sample for a full mug// 20 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 17 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 6 minute steep
This is You :-D
Profile
Bio
Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.
Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
shop.Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea.com
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandalatea.com
verdanttea.com
Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas
My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.
Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!
I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.
My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors
My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again
I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)
Happy sipping!
Location
USA
