121 Tasting Notes
Water: 12oz
Leaves: tiny curled glossy leaves
Amount:1.5 tsp (light) 2 tsp (strong)
Steep: 3m
Aroma: Classic black tea
Color: golden yellow, copper (light), red copper (strong)
Clarity: Great
Taste: The really cool thing about this tea are the leaves they had a glossy finish to them. I haven’t encountered this with any other teas. I decided to do something different with this tea brewing it using two different methods dealing with light & strong flavors. Reverse method the first cup i went with a strong brew using the information i found on the Steepster blog “Tips for Measuring Dry Tea Leaf” which stated using 1.5tsp or 2tsp for 10/12oz. As stated i went with 12oz the cups was a red copper color, the texture was was very smooth mouth feel. The flavor was light but a bit bitter. On to the light brew the color was brighter it starts off as a golden yellow then deepens as more tea enters the cup. Tast wise it was the same as the previous cup but with no bitterness. It was fun trying out a different method with this tea. which lead to a more in-depth review.
Here is a mini behind the scenes story that took place as i was making the second brew:
I already had added my 1tsp into my french press then i measured out my 1/2tsp. once done i was about to add the leaves into the press when some how my left hand bumped the spoon sending tea all over the kitchen counter. so i had to clean up then re-measure it.
Preparation
Water: 12oz
Leaves: green tightly rolled balls
Steep: rinse, 5m
Aroma: classic oolong
Color: golden yellow
Clarity: great!
Taste:It’s been a long time since i had my last cup of oolong tea so this will be almost like a fresh start. To begin i gave the leaves a 10s rinse as i do with all oolong teas because of what i read online. the aroma was that off the classic oolong scent your used to. Steeped for 5m the flavor was nice with no bitterness. Overall i found this to be a great cup & can see myself drinking again. What makes this cup special is that this marks my 100th tea review! I’ve been writing reviews for 3 years & i plan to continue because this is something i enjoy doing. Thank you everyone for your continued support & answering my questions when i stepped into the world of tea :)
Preparation
Water: 17oz
Leaves: white/black small twisted leaves
Steep: 4m
Aroma: sweet,citrus, orange
Color: Copper
Clarity: Great!
Taste:The aroma of this tea is great upon opening the packet i noticed a huge piece of tangerine peel surrounded by the white tea leaves. Although i can say these looked different from other leaves i seen in the past they were much darker. As with the last tea this time i used the whole packet. Once brewed it was now time for a taste this is where i probably went wrong b/c I found this tea to be bitter & lacking flavor. Maybe i used too many leaves? After a few more sips the bitterness fades & i can’t pinpoint the flavor. There is also a bitter after taste left on the tongue when finish. Over all didn’t like this tea.
Preparation
It’s a pity that this tea can’t meet your taste bud, actually it’s sweet and mild in taste. May I know what method you brew it, and how about the temperature?
I used my french coffee press with 17oz of water. I bought my water to a boil then allowed it to cool for 1 minute before pouring over the tea leaves. I used 1 silver packet of the tea & allowed it to steep for 4minutes.
If it is still to be bitter & lacking flavor, I suggest you can use Gaiwan to brew it next time.
Water: 17oz
Leaves: medium size rose buds w/ purple & beige petals
Steep: 5m
Aroma: floral rose
Color: medium yellow
Clarity: great
Taste:For this tea it’s stated to use 5Tbs/7g but for this batch since i had a sample packet i decided to use the whole pack instead. The rose buds had a pretty color to them a beige base w/ purple tips. Once the tea had been done steeping i noticed much of the color has faded. The rose aroma remained present all during the process. With this tea in terms of flavor it was light & smooth, I didn’t really get a floral taste. Overall i found this to be an okay tea with a heavy rose scent. I might try to mix it with another tea or try some coconut sugar next time. I normally drink my teas without adding anything.
Preparation
Water: 8.8oz
Leaves: 1 medium flower
Steep: 10m
Aroma: floral spice
Color: light yellow/green
Clarity: Great
Taste: I want to start off with saying how pretty the packaging was for this a yellow packet w/ a clear view decorated circle featuring the flower in the middle. when picking this tea apparently i didn’t look at the packaging online since i had no idea it would look like this lol. This was the first time i had brewed just one flower for a cup of tea, although in the past i have tried the larger blooming flowers balls which are huge in comparison. As for taste it was a very light. Overall not a bad intro back into tea after not drinking any for a little while.
Preparation
Water: 17oz
Leaves: rose petals, chamomile & more
Steep: 5m
Aroma: Floral
Color: dark yellow
Clarity: Great
Taste: The first thing i noticed about this tea is how pretty the colors are the the magenta colored rose petals with a splash of yellow due to the chrysanthemum & chamomile followed by a background of pale green. The aroma was difficult to distinguish dry leaf maybe a floral w/something extra? The wet leaf made the aroma come out even more. For the steep i went with 17oz for a whole sample tea packet. As for the taste i was surprised as the first sip was followed by a slight sweetness which faintly remained as i continued to drink which went nicely w/ the floral taste. Overall I can say i enjoyed this tea quite different from others in my collection.
As for a music pairing I’m listing to Cherry Pie by Lotus it a favorite track of mine to listen to these days for when i want to unwind. Created by my friend I highly recommend listing to it as you go for your next cup of tea.
This brings me to my last review of 2015! I hope all of you have a wonderful NYE!
Lotus – Cherry Pie
https://soundcloud.com/itslotus/cherry-pie
Preparation
Water: 8oz
Leaves: small green & white leaves w/ jasmine flower petals
Steep: 3m
Aroma: Honeysuckle & Jasmine
Color: Dark Yellow
Clarity: Great
Taste: Upon opening the package the immediate aroma reminded me honeysuckles you see as a kid, sweet & floral. As i measured and put the leave in the pot the jasmine aroma was more present. I also came across a few flower petals which is a nice touch. The first steep had great clarity w/ quite a bit of small leaf particles that escaped my strainer.The jasmine aroma remained through out the brewing process. As for taste i found this tea to be very bitter & couldn’t finish my cup.
Preparation
Water: 16oz
Leaves: mixture of lemon grass & various other items
Steep: 5m
Aroma: Lemon & Mint
Color: Dark yellow
Clarity: Great
Taste: The aroma really shined when hot water was poured over the leaves. Boom came the fragrance of lemons and mint! This tea was quite nice very light w/ a hint of flavor and mint. I’m normally not a fan of lemon grass based tea or pure lemon grass. Overall a plain tea w/ simple flavors different from my usual go to.
Preparation
Water: 17oz (2 cup + 1Tbs)
Leaves:medium rolled dark green leaves
Steep: rinse,6m
Aroma:sweet & vegetable
Color: Dark yellow
Clarity: Great
Taste: The brewing instructions for this tea were a bit different from what i normally follow. I went with the Western method starting off with a rinse of the leaves, the amount of water need was much larger compared to others I’ve made in the past calling for 17oz for 1 tablespoon of leaves. Brewing time was also longer starting at the 6minute mark. I’m excited to see how this will turn out due to the different instructions. The color produced was a dark yellow accompanied by a light floral aroma. Taste was light w/ a very faint bitterness detected. As for a food pairing I had this tea after my lunch of a vegan veggie soup & rice.
Preparation
Water: 10oz (1 1/4 cup)
Leaves:tiny chopped blackish brown leaves
Steep: rinse,15s,25s,40s,60s,90s,120s,180s
Aroma: burnt & smokey
Color: Amber
Clarity: Great
Taste: I was browsing the internet trying to figure out how much tea is 5g worth & stumbled upon the Steepster Main Blog (Tips for Measuring Dry Tea Leaf). This afternoon I wanted to start off with something a bit on the stronger side which is why I went with this tea. Upon opening the packed the aroma packed a powerful punch of smokey & burnt. Soon after I went to the website & read how it’s made from there everything made sense. This time around although not using a Gaiwan I followed the Chinese Gongfu Way which started off with a rinse making the aroma standout even more followed by a very quick steep of 15s. The scent remained as I prepared my cup. Taking the first sip It was very nice and light with no bitterness. Note i tried this with 10oz of water as compared to the usual 8oz. The other cups I plan to mix up the water amount to see how that changes the taste. I may not do all 7 steeps but well see as the day goes on.
