105 Tasting Notes
I didn’t want something strong on caffeine this morning (trying to get rid of my daily headaches, so I am cutting back on caffeine hoping that will help), so I went foraging through my green tea collection. When I’m in the mood for green tea, Lung Ching is my go-to. This tea from Harney is a great reason why: light in vegetal flavor that seems to be so strong in other green teas, with a slight toasted and nutty accompaniment.
Flavors: Nutty, Toasted, Vegetal
Preparation
A strong, black tea—a blend of Assam and Yunnan. There is an earthy, malty, and spicy flavor to it, most likely malt from the Assam and earthy and spicy from the Yunnan leaves. But the two varieties of tea blend well together and each add their own flavors to the mix. It’s interesting that I can taste both the Assam and the Yunnan as separate flavors within the tea as I concentrate of its flavor. Overall a very enjoyable, strong tea that I am glad I purchased!
Flavors: Earth, Malt, Spicy
Preparation
Been quite a wile, but I remember liking this one!
gmathis: Just read your tasting note on this tea — glad you found it appealing as well!
Good grief…I just looked back, too. Ten years? (Confound it, I’m getting old!)
Ha! I just appreciate all the years of advice and recommendations you’ve posted on here, gmathis! :)
I only once mixed gotu kola with mengsong black. Looking forward to guangdong black from oolong variety by curioustea selection. A drop of vinegar can make all the difference to the visvosity
A sample I received with a recent order from Upton. I’ve never had Colombian tea before, so I was interested in trying it.
I can’t remember having a tea blend that is as smooth and creamy as this one! I can taste hints of cocoa and honey in the liquor, but they are just slight enough to be there. Otherwise, it is a truly remarkable, smooth black tea with almost no astringency. I’ll definitely purchase more of this in a future order!
Flavors: Cocoa, Creamy, Honey, Smooth
Preparation
Sample that I received from a recent order from Teabox. The flavor is very typical for a Darjeeling: strong muscatel flavor with a slight hint of cherries. Astringent.
It’s a very pleasant tea but nothing spectacular. I’d certainly drink it again, but I don’t know if I’d order a large quantity to keep on hand.
Date of picking: November 26, 2020
Flavors: Astringent, Cherry, Muscatel
Preparation
Brewed 9 grams of dried tea leaves in 20 ounces of near-boiling natural spring water for 4 minutes.
Dried tea leaves were broken with very little stems. Very light and tippy. More green in tone than I expected.
Resulting liquor is light and golden—much lighter than I expected.
The flavor has strong floral and fruity notes with tropical fruits, cherries, and a slight hint of grapes and raisins most identifiable. Astringent.
This tea is absolutely wonderful! Light, but with a wonderfully full mouthfeel. I am enjoying this on a slow morning, but it would be better as an afternoon or evening tea, I think. I will gladly order more of this in the future.
Flavors: Astringent, Cherry, Floral, Fruity, Grapes, Raisins, Tropical
Preparation
Brewed 9 grams of dried tea leaves in 20 ounces of near-boiling natural spring water for 4 minutes.
Dried tea leaves were broken and had some stems.
Resulting liquor is a smooth reddish-brown, like copper.
Flavor has a slight astringency, with hints of molasses and raisin. Enjoyable and refreshing, but definitely not a favorite for me.
Flavors: Astringent, Molasses, Raisins
Preparation
This is the one I wanted to get but caught with another vendor dealing with brexit muse, just wanted to tick off high from Malawi thylo dark
Oh my gosh, that sounds like a caffeine overdose for me. Do you enjoy African black teas, teepland?
derk: honestly, this was the first single-estate African tea that I’ve had. I’m definitely interested in trying more!
Dried leaves are broken and slightly tippy.
Brewed with spring water—4 minutes at near boiling.
The liquor is a bright reddish-brown. I picked up strong flavors of dates and malt with a woody and clover honey undertone, but very little astringency and no bread/toast, which surprised me for an Assam tea. This isn’t as heavy as other Assams, either, so this can be enjoyed throughout the day—not just a breakfast tea.
This is certainly an enjoyable tea that is a welcome addition to my cupboard.
Date of “Packing” (unsure about picking): May, 2021
Flavors: Dates, Honey, Malt, Wood
Preparation
What a treat! I’ve rarely had the opportunity to enjoy a bunch of leaves that fresh.
gmathis: I made a mistake when I wrote the original post (I’ve edited it now). I read the bag incorrectly and thought it listed “date of picking” as May, 2021 — it actually merely said “date of packing” was in May. So, I actually have no idea when this was picked! :/ I checked the other Teabox tea that I reviewed last week and it noted the same thing: date of “packing” instead of “picking”. Since packing is quite a different step than picking, I made sure to edit the posts to list this appropriately.
Considering that most of my current pantry stash is older than a couple of my cats, I’ll bet you’ve still got me trumped on freshness ;)
I’m a big fan of Margaret’s Hope second flushes, and this one did not disappoint.
We recently installed a new water softener at our house. Since installing the water softener, I’ve noticed a diminished quality to my teas, so I wanted to experiment with this tea that I am familiar with.
I brewed this on two separate occasions. The first time, I brewed using filtered tap water that had been run through the softener (which uses salt to soften the water) and allowed the water to come to a boil. The second time, I brewed using spring water and stopped the heating process just before reaching boiling.
Both occasions revealed the usual astringency and muscatel flavor of the tea, but the flavors were much more pronounced with the spring water. I also had the flavors of apricots and wet rocks with the spring water — flavors I was expecting and hoping for. Neither of these flavors came out with the filtered, softened tap water, but there was a very strong taste of raisins with the softened water.
I am glad I ran the experiment with the water, as it helped me to realize what I am missing when I use the softened, filtered tap water. I think the naturally-occurring minerals in unsoftened water add so much to the tea. I am going to avoid using softened water going forward and try out various waters to find the ones that add the most to my tea experience.
Anyway, this tea is as excellent as it has been in previous years and am looking forward to enjoying it again all summer long.
Date of “Packing” (unsure about picking): May, 2021
Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Muscatel, Raisins, Wet Rocks
Preparation
When I first started drinking tea regularly, it was Assam teas that brought me in. This is a perfect example of why they hooked me!
This tea is still one of my favorites. I purchased a large quantity of it back in 2018 and it is holding up well, even four years after picking.
This is a malty, full-bodied Assam tea, with hints of oats and caramel in the flavor. An excellent breakfast tea and a delight for any Assam fans.
Date of Picking: June, 2017
Flavors: Astringent, Bread, Caramel, Malt, Oats, Toast
Preparation
Just received this from Vahdam over the weekend and was excited to try it. Brewed western style for just over four minutes.
The flavor was okay — nothing special. There’s a slight muscatel flavor to it — nothing further. I expected more, based on the price they are asking for it.
I haven’t been impressed with teas from Vahdam lately and this is an example of why. They started off delivering wonderful teas about 4-5 years ago, but recent shipments just haven’t had the same quality, IMO.
I’ll finish this off but won’t order it again. I’ll try blending this with another Darjeeling to see if I can enhance the flavor a bit.
Date of Picking: July, 2020
Flavors: Muscatel
