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This is another tea that my cats “chose” for me. This is quite different than what I’ve been drinking lately. Someone said that they could taste cooked strawberries, and I wouldn’t have come up with that on my own, but the flavor is just like that after the first steeping only without any sweetness. The back palate has a strong sour note and the finish is quite bitter. There’s also quite a lot of minerality and also a metallic flavor. The texture turns quite creamy in the second steep. The strongest flavors are probably citrus, camphor, and fresh florals. On the third steeping I am getting some sweeter notes and there is a peppery aftertaste. I can smell bacon fat at the end of the cup. This one makes for a very interesting gong fu session!

I can’t believe this is a sipdown already. Sadness. I’ll be ordering more soon.

I got this green tea in a swap with Meeka almost a year ago. It was labeled “Virgin Green Tea”. I tried to find the swap thread where she’d listed them, but couldn’t. I believe she said she’d picked it up on a trip to the Nilgiri region. Anyhow, I have waited too long to drink this tea, but it’s still quite good. I’m going to have to drink the other teas she sent. Thank you, Meeka!

This was a fun tea to try. It was very sweet, fruity, with some vanilla and oak flavors. The tea was very smooth, and left my mouth with a cool spearmint-like sensation. I wasn’t that fond of this tea at first, but by the second cup, I was really enjoying it. This is the one puerh that I am tempted to add sweetener to.

I’m not into this at all. I should have read the tasting notes for this first, because I brewed this being relatively certain that I would like it. I don’t like smokey and I don’t like sour in my black teas, and those are the strongest flavors in this. Second cup I am dumping in a row. :-( If someone wants my other sample of this, message me!

This was a sample with the RoT catalog. I maybe overstepped it, but that really can’t explain away how bad this tasted. Hibiscus and rosehip are both kind of sour/tangy and did not go well together in my opinion. The raspberry flavoring was very strong, but the rose was almost undetectable. I only took two sips, however, before pouring it down the drain. Maybe it was the stevia in this that really turned me off, because I really didn’t like that this was both strongly sweet and strongly sour.

Today I’m going to sipdown the samples that my cats chose for me AKA the sample bags they chewed on. Like all cats, my cats are terrible creatures…

I received a sample of this tea with my “The Meaning of Tea” DVD. The smell of the dry leaf really excited me. It was a nice balance of sweet and spicy smells. Smell is so connected to memory, and the smell of the brewed tea reminded me of being at my grandmother’s apartment and watching the movie Rebecca. Don’t ask me why!

This is a pretty yummy blend. It’s quite peppery, somewhat earthy, and would suit someone who doesn’t like too much sweet or cinnamon in their masala chai. This is making me want to try a masala chai puerh.

So, after finishing this tea, I examined the leaves and what I saw at the bottom of my cup was probably the most inner part of a tea bud and not a leafhopper. I don’t own a microscope, so it was pretty difficult to see. I also was unfazed, so I just cleared out the debris with my finger and let it fall on the grass. I’d like to think that leafhoppers do exist, though!

Anyhow, this tea blew me away. The rinse was a lot like flan to me. It had the same super-silky texture and caramelized sugar aroma. The second steeping smelled more like dark chocolate and honey. This tea is truly unlike anything I’ve had before. There is a little bit of malt and hay in the cup and fruit that tastes like apricot preserves. Something about the aroma also reminds me of being near the coast and breathing in the humid, salty air. The third steeping has a very strong caramelized sugar aroma.

I don’t taste any smoke in this tea. It isn’t a very complex cup, but it is good. It has a milk chocolate-like aroma and a bit of malt. That’s it! It was a very pleasant after dinner tea.

I tried this using the standard brewing instructions this afternoon. It’s very good, but I actually may have preferred this using the alternative brewing instructions.