wombatgirl Send Message

Well, I just dumped my first cup without giving it a full cup to judge.

I love artichokes. I like green tea. But for me? This tea is utter and total fail. FAIL!!!* The smell of the dry leaf was very artifical and the brew smelled and tasted like someone dumped old perfume in it. I tried to not dump it, I really did. Nope. I sat here and stared at it for a full 15 minutes, wanting to not dump it, but NOT wanting to drink.

Dumped.

*(originally read “FAIL!! FAILITY-FAIL-FAIL with a side of FAILsauce and pureed fail with fail butter.” But I decided that I should probably cut back on the hyperbole.)

I smelled this tea, and went straight from scent to purchase. It smells amazing. Like a sweet apple cider, with just the promise of a little something darker.

Unfortunately, I didn’t taste it prior to purchase. The taste does not live up to the scent. It’s a mild green tea flavor with a hint of apple and a smaller hint of spice after you swallow. Half a cup in, I taste the spice only when I don’t have tea in my mouth. (Which is just kinda odd to me, thankyouverymuch.)

I think that if it didn’t smell so good, I wouldn’t mind so much. Because it smells AMAZING, and it smells powerful. Then tastes like the tiniest mew of a kitten. Sigh.

I am going to keep working on this tea – maybe different steeping times or temps will help. But this is the second time I’ve tried it (I try not to write a negative review the first time I drink something, just in case I’ve messed something up) and I’m not holding out much hope.

Thank goodness for caffiene today. And thank goodness for oolong teas on days where nothing else goes right.

I like mint. I like a lot of mint. I think I like mint that may blow other people’s taste buds out.

I like this tea, but I was hoping for more mint, less rooibos. It’s got an earthy backnote to it, and the light, clean note of the peppermint. However, I am enjoying this cuppa, and will be quite happy to polish off this sample from Lena.

From two swaps, I managed to request samples of this tea.

Ooops. (Anyone want some? PM me to arrange a swap)

Well. Hrm. I don’t think the scent of the dry leaves are disgusting as others have commented. Odd, but not disgusting.

Initally my brewed leaves smelled exactly like cinnamon. An the liquor smells like it.

The taste… is confusing. I think it tastes a little like soap. But strangely, pleasantly so. I think the cucumber flavor, which is definitely there, reminds me very much of all the various cucumber scented lotions and soaps, while still tasting nice. Except.. well.. it still tastes like soap. Pleasant soap, but soap. Don’t get any cinnamon flavor. Although I’m getting a little soap flavor burn afterwards, which others might taste as cinnamon.

I don’t think I’m fond of this. I was hoping to be, as I like cucumbers a lot. Sigh. MEH! Low end of the meh scale. How sad.

So, I need to learn to NOT drink anything with caffiene after about 5pm. I thought about that last night as I watched the hours roll by. Sigh.

But I couldn’t stop drinking the oolong I had yesterday. (http://steepster.com/teas/red-blossom-tea-company/3148-silk-oolong-formosa) The sleeplessness was almost worth it. :) And then today, I decided to try another oolong.

I got this one while in Nashville. (One of the ones on sale for being in the wrong color bag. ) I’m liking it a lot. The leaf before steeping smells green – not necessarily like green tea, but like the color green. (Wierd, I know). As you steep it, the leaves are smelling progressively spicier. The tea brewed smells warm, and the flavor is just nice. No random tones, except a hint of floral. But overall, it’s just nice. :) I appear to be turning into an oolong fan. :)

Sigh.

Why does my pumpkin taste vaguely like banana?

Wow. I’m loving this tea.

I’m currently on my third infusion, and will likely get 1 or 2 more.

On first sniff of the dry leaf, you get cream and fruit tones. These continue throughout the steeping process. Each successive steep gets a little less fruity and a little more “green” but oh! is this a nice yummy tea. Definitely has a high tannic content, as it does leave a little of the dry mouth, but does it without any bitterness.

So far, my favorite oolong.

I am a sucker for good Japanese food. Or good Chinese food. And one of my favorite elements about it is the sesame – either as an oil, paste or seed. Needless to say, I was excited about this tea as soon as I read about it.

The fabulous Lena provided it to me in a swap (thank you!!), and I am really glad I’m getting to try it!

I see what others have mentioned with the leaves being “oily”. They look and smell for all the world like they’ve been coated in sesame oil. Yum. Sesame oil…. :)

Brewing up, it smells like I’m at my local sushi joint rather than lounging around the house in natty sweats. The brewed aroma is a meld of the sesame and the tea – I’d expected the sesame to be a little stronger than it was, but the two were evenly matched.

The taste is nice. I first taste tea, and then taste tahini as almost an afterthought. It also tastes warm, not as in temperature or spice, but like the feeling you get when you’re warming up after a day outside in the cold. Comfortable.

I would definitely agree with shortening the steeping time – I cut it down by about 30 seconds, and next time I’ll cut it down further. There’s a hint of bitter I think can be cut out.

Finally getting to sample some of the teas I got from Bethany (thank you!!).

First up is Monk’s Blend. My packet wasn’t as fragrant as I was expecting, based on past comments, but I could get the floral overtones. They got stronger as I brewed it up.

I can taste the grenadine, but it almost tastes a little mediciney to me. (And I typically like grenadine). I can taste the vanilla and the cup has a lovely smooth mouthfeel because of it.

Overall, this one really isn’t my thing, but I’m glad I got to try it. Thanks Bethany!