1758 Tasting Notes
This tea is not bad and not incredible, it falls somewhere in between. It is not, however, a traditional Russian Caravan blend, which I didn’t realize when I bought it. It is really a Russian Earl Grey with bergamot added. It has a relatively nice lemony citrus taste to it. I wouldn’t rush out to buy more, I will probably finish it before it goes bad in about two years or so of storage. Fans of Earl Grey might really like this tea.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.
Flavors: Bergamot, Lemon
Preparation
I brewed this tonight to try to relax in a way tea, no matter how relaxing can’t relax me. This tea has worked for me before. This is the second time I have bought this tea. The herbal ingredients have a nice effect even if it does not taste so good. By itself the taste is downright unpleasant, even somewhat sour. I added a nice amount of hibiscus to the tea which dulled the flavor and improved it somewhat. I also added agave nectar to it as well. The resulting taste is spicy, sour, and sweet as well. All in all it does not taste too bad. I recommend this tea for its relaxing properties, but remember I don’t recommend it for the taste.
I steeped this once in a 14 oz mug with 4 tsp leaf and 3 tsp hibiscus and boiling water for 7 min. I am going to rate this tea at an 80% but may change it in the morning to a higher number if it helps me sleep.
I decided to raise my rating for this tea because it had the desired effect. I was out like a light last night. I think that alone in a tea is worth a 90%.
Flavors: Sour
Preparation
This is an excellent ripe puerh. And despite it being a “2014” tea is is aged well. It is actually year 2000 tea that was pressed into a brick in 2014 so it is well aged. It has not developed any odd or off flavors in that time. It is sweet with no taste of camphor. There is virtually no fermentation flavor left at all, just as you would expect. It is not expensive for an aged ancient tree brick at only $50 a brick too. There were some complex notes of chocolate and the like in this tea as well as a few others I couldn’t quite place. It held up well through eight steeps and would have taken more but I am at my caffeine limit for the night. It was not very weak even in the eighth steep and I think it would have taken at least twelve or more total. That being said it was not quite as tasty as the 2008 Song of Chi Tse but it was close, relatively close.
I steeped this eight times in a 130ml Yixing teapot with 6g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 2 min, and 5 min. It held a nice strength even in steep number eight but was of course not real strong. There was only a bare touch of fermentation flavor in steeps two and three.
Flavors: Chocolate
Preparation
This tea is good but is a little too sweet. It is not bitter or astringent. The wild cherry flavor and hibiscus flavors go nicely together. I picked this out to order almost by chance and picked it out to drink in my quest to watch my caffeine. If it weren’t just too sweet it would rate a 90 or so. It did get better as it cooled.
I brewed this once in an 18 oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.
Flavors: Cherry
Preparation
This is an excellent, sweet puerh with a fair amount of fermentation flavor left. It is pretty good. We will see if it lasts long enough to age a bit.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with boiling water and 8.4g leaf for 30 sec.
Flavors: Sweet
Preparation
This tea was good but not great. It had no fermentation flavor left. It was sweet with a mild taste of camphor. It was also a cheap brick. It was nothing special, just aged well. I liked it a lot but probably not enough to buy the whole thing as I only bought 100g of it.
I brewed this 5 times in a 207ml Taiwan Clay Teapot with 8g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 30 sec. Overall it was quite good but not the incredible tea I was hoping for. It had no bamboo flavor which I had tasted in another similarly aged tea.
Flavors: Camphor
Preparation
This tea was good overall. It was sweet and smooth. It had notes of apricots or plums. I added a small amount of sugar, don’t know if this intensified the apricot flavor. There was also a very slight, slight note of sourness that appeared around steep four and persisted. Even with this it was good. I would still rate this quite highly and would try it next time at 175 degrees and see if the sour note goes away.
I brewed this six times in a 150ml gaiwan with 7g leaf and 200 degree water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, and 45 sec. The spent leaves had a distinct burnt aroma to them.
Flavors: Apricot
Preparation
Brewed this one this morning. I won’t change the rating even though it doesn’t taste as good today. My taste buds are off today. I somehow have a cut in my mouth. It hits the spot though.
I brewed this once in an 18 oz teapot with 9g leaf and boiling water for 3 min.
Preparation
This is one of my favorite rooibos teas and perhaps Teavanas best. Despite this I am drinking this tonight because I need to avoid caffeine because my morning starts abysmally early lately. It has the sweet taste of the blueberries as the prominent flavor backed up by the savory character of the rooibos. It is good.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 5 min.
Flavors: Blueberry
Preparation
All da hong pao seems to have a roasted barley flavor to it. This one is no exception to that. This flavor is not too strong in it. There is a sweet flavor behind this that I don’t know how to describe. It is a good tea overall.
I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 190 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.
Flavors: Roasted Barley, Sweet