2462 Tasting Notes

I don’t enjoy hibiscus in my tea blends and herbal blends that I intend to drink unsweetened. I do enjoy it as a sweet drink. White Antlers recommended this one, so I bought it for myself and also bought some for my eldest daughter, Superanna, who loves it even plain. She had quite a bit of it in Mexico and really enjoyed “jamaica” as it is called there, and I wanted her to be aboe to make the real deal here. She drank cranberry and cranapple juices even when she was really little, whereas I just tolerated the tartness of those.

As a sweet beverage, made as I make my iced tea, I really enjoy it. The first time I made it I kept the first steep and second steep separate. I preferred the second steep. It was a little less tart but is a beautiful, juicy red color and very satisfying level of flavor. The first steep was good but it was tart, as expected.

Today I am making a gallon by steeping four teaspoons of dried petals three times and adding to sugar and water. I will update on how it turns out!

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White Antlers 5 years ago

So glad you were brave and got this one, ashmanra. Let me thank you for reviewing Dragon Eye Oolong. Based on your review, I ordered a box and it’s extremely enjoyable. Fortunately we are having cooler weather (60 degree mornings and mid 80s days) but I made this as a cold brew and found it delicious and refreshing. Cheers!

ashmanra 5 years ago

White Antlers: We are having a little cool down, too! I am glad you enjoyed Dragon Eye Oolong. I am waiting eagerly to hear how my daughter likes her hibiscus, but she did drink a little of the sweetened resteep here yesterday and seemed to like it!

Mastress Alita 5 years ago

Oh, I loved cranberry juice when I was little too, I wonder if that’s why I like tart/tangy flavors now? (I too love unsweetened, plain hibiscus, and I never find that it makes tea blends “sour”, I tend to find any tartness “pleasant”, heh! On the flip side, I’m the biggest Spice Wuss in Spicy Town…)

ashmanra 5 years ago

Mastress Alita: Superanna loves unsweetened jamaica AND really hot spicy food! Restaurants have literally called the cook from the kitchen to see her because she is a tiny blonde who looks at least ten years younger than she is, and they are stunned with the things she orders. I have seen grown men cry while eating with her. I would dilute mild salsa if I could…

tea-sipper 5 years ago

Was WE ARE CLOSED originally a response from White Antlers? What happened?

ashmanra 5 years ago

Teasipper: yes, it was! But I don’t know why it changed.

Martin Bednář 5 years ago

That’s weird. WE ARE CLOSED was White Antlers indeed. But she lost who she was following. Weird. Weird…

tea-sipper 5 years ago

Yeah, my first thought is that it seems like White Antlers account was hacked into or something?

Martin Bednář 5 years ago

exactly tea-sipper; looks strange. I will write her an email later today :)

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It is hot. HOT. Heat index has been over 100F. No fall temps showing up here. High tomorrow 96F so heat index will be way up again. I am making iced tea almost day and we are downing it just as fast as we can.

We are pretty excited because the low Saturday night is supposed to in the 60’s. We plan to sit outside until we shiver (yes, we are wimps and shiver at 65F when we have been enduring 104F) because we want to get chilly enough to cuddle that teacup!

This one is nice and peachy/fruity. I like hot or cold. I am using three teabags and resteeping, pouring the hot tea over sugar and chilling. It is really refreshing and I am getting a gallon out of each three bags. Yes, it could be stronger but I want to be economical and there is enough flavor to satisfy.

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White Antlers 5 years ago

LOL! I am waiting to shiver at 65F, too. We’ve had a lot of rain but it’s made everything more humid rather than lowering the temps. The tea sounds fantastic.

Stay hydrated and cool!

gmathis 5 years ago

Come see us…it’s a few days out, but Wednesday’s high is scheduled to be a lovely 65!

gmathis 5 years ago

(We call Revolution Tea “Truck Stop Tea” because it’s the brand at the coffee station at our local Flying J.)

ashmanra 5 years ago

White Antlers: Ugh, yes! The humidity is what is tearing us up! We have had a rare lower humidity evening here and there and it feels blissful!

Gmathis: Sounds like a fancy truck stop!

It is 99F right now for heat index. Next Wednesday our high is 85 and low is 73. Every day for the next two weeks is sticking in the 80s, mostly mid to high 80s. I’ll trade ya! But Sunday night we should have a low of 63! Happy dance!!!

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drank Sakura Vert by Lupicia
2462 tasting notes

The first time I tried this, I had it the way I am sure it was intended – hot.

But years ago when I placed my first Cuppageek Teas order, it came with a yerba mate straw with the strainer. I was thrilled. It was going to be such fun to put water and tea in a mason jar and drink it cold with my lunch next day! Except after all my excitement, I never did. I never planned ahead for my tea, or I would just make whole gallons because we go through iced tea so fast in summer.

I finally decided to try my straw on a cold steeped tea but I was skeptical about whether cold water would TRULY extract enough flavor. I figured I should use one of my strongest teas to insure that there would be something to taste.

Wow. Left it overnight and seriously this is every bit as strong as when I made it hot. And it is definitely a hoot to get out a mason jar with leaves in it and slurp away, so I am going to be doing this more.

My impressions of the tea remain the same as last note. My fantasties about how cool and Pinterest-y using the straw would be…oh ya. I want to do some fruit and herb blends next!

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I am 99.9% sure that this sample came from White Antlers but it was on the center dividing line of my loose leaf sample box, so I could be wrong.

I really wanted to have a nice gong fu session last night. To be perfectly honest, it is because I told my daughter I would watch Avatar: The Last Airbender (animated) since she loved it and when I hear the music it makes me want tea.

My husband loves white tea and says it feels more thirst quenching than water to him, so I thought he would enjoy this.

I gave a really quick rinse and then a short first steep. As I would expect, my first impression is of sun-warmed hay.

The second through fifth steeps were our favorites, even though I oversteeped one and it was actually a little brisk. Otherwise, they were fruitier than I expected with a hint of floral and some minerality.

Steep six lost the the fruity notes we loved and went back to hay and mineral, so we stopped at steep seven.

Served with cinnamon toast! A most satisfying gong fu session.

Thank you, White Antlers, if this was from you! (I am pretty sure it was!)

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White Antlers 5 years ago

ashmanra, I don’t remember if I sent that one, but I enjoyed reading about your session; especially the cinnamon toast. : )

ashmanra 5 years ago

White Antlers – I discovered that a friend of mine makes cinnamon toast with white sugar and cinnamon! I always wondered why the grocery store had those bottles of cinnamon sugar because you could NOT make my mama’s cinnamon toast with that! Her cinnamon toast was bread with a healthy smear of butter, LOTS of brown sugar, a sprinkle of white sugar and cinnamon.I used Penzey’s Blend or Penzey’s Vietnamese Cinnamon! We love our cinnamon toast. Sometimes the brown sugar is so thick it cracks like a hard candy crust when you eat it. I have attempted to make it healthier with less sugar. Mama would give me side eye if she knew…

White Antlers 5 years ago

Wow, ashmanra! What a mind blower. I never thought to make cinnamon toast with brown sugar! My Nana always made it the ‘standard’ way-butter, white sugar, cinnamon. Dull but comforting to a kid. You’ve opened up a new culinary door for me. : )

Nana did use brown sugar on grapefruit halves but only as a treat since growing up, citrus was mostly something you got during the winter. Like tangerines in the toe of our Christmas stockings and gift crates or ruby grapefruit from Florida. I still try to eat seasonally ’cuz it tastes best but sometimes I am still amazed and chuffed that I can buy pineapple, mangoes, strawberries and grapefruit (among other things) all year round.

gmathis 5 years ago

I still watch Avatar once in a while, especially the Uncle Iroh episodes.

ashmanra 5 years ago

Uncle Iroh is 99.9% of the reason my daughter wanted me to watch it!

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drank Parker's Blend by Cuppa Geek
2462 tasting notes

I can’t write a really proper review for this yet, as I reviewed it for Sororitea Sisters and I have to wait until that one publishes. What I CAN do is tell you just a little about this tea.

This special blend, along with Parker’s Evening Blend, benefits St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, where Cuppageek’s son is being treated. These are some of his favorite tea blends!
And it is easy to see why.

Look at the ingredients. Think extra nice Lady Grey. For now I will say no more!

But nip on over to Cuppageek Teas if you can and treat yourself and some friends to some delicious tea, and help support a great hospital at the same time!

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derk 5 years ago

Today my niece received this and Parker’s Evening Blend, plus several others. She’s so excited!

ashmanra 5 years ago

Derk: I hope she likes it! I did! I can’t sleep so I think I will try Parker’s Evening Blend right now!

derk 5 years ago

You a night owl? You’re always up late! I haven’t tried Parker’s Blend yet. CuppaGeek inlcuded a sample of Mornin’ Waffles in my box. It served as a decent substitute for breakfast one day last week. Frosted Cranberry was awesome.

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Well, now I’m sad. Another one bites the dust. Apparently this company has gone out of business.

Years ago, someone sent me a gift from this company. It was a sampler of five of their teas with a cute little measuring spoon and some filter bags in a nice box with a heart showing through the cut out that says “You are loved!” It was so nicely done that I sent a few as gifts myself.

I put off drinking this tea because it is a rooibos base and I just don’t like rooibos. I decided it was time to be rid of it, steeped it and added sugar because you can drink almost anything as a sweet iced tea in summer, and resteeped to top off the pitcher.

There was a tiny bit of the resteep left that wouldn’t fit so I drank it. And it was DELICIOUS. It reminded me of my lemongrass tea that I make in summer from the lemongrass I grow in the harden, but heartier and more flavorful. It was so good that I was sad there had only been about five ounces, so I got the still hot sweet tea out of the fridge and poured myself another cup. Since the first steep is in there, it was actually not quite as good to me because I don’t drink my hot tea sweet, and the rooibos was a little stronger. But it was still good!

Now I know that I can really look forward to drinking this tomorrow when it is nice and cold instead of suffering through to not be wasteful. Also, I may add a little extra water (or maybe ice will dilute it enough) because thus tasted SUPER sweet and strong even though I added the usual amount of sugar I put in that carafe.

What a pleasant surprise!

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drank Special Dark by Mandala Tea
2462 tasting notes

My second sipdown of the week. Haven’t logged the first yet.

My daughter made chocolate pie and I was craving salty and sweet so I made popcorn and this tea to go with it.

I had very little Special Dark left sadly, and needed a really big pot because my husband was joining me. I steeped what I had twice and put the rest of the leaf in a bit of water in the fridge for tomorrow.

This is a really reliable, smooth, tasty shu. It goes so well with desserts but is also delicious to just drink and enjoy. You can do so much with it. Because it is smooth, you can steep it for a long time, but it is really good even if you like your shu on the light side.

Now let’s see if this posts!

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Martin Bednář 5 years ago

It’s there!

White Antlers 5 years ago

Special Dark is one of my favorites from Mandala.

Sil 5 years ago

sad sad sipdown

ashmanra 5 years ago

Sil: indeed a sad one. I took the tiny bit of leaves and cold steeped overnight for a very weak but still tasty cold tea to go with supper. I couldn’t waste it!

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drank Huang Jin Gui by Tin Roof Teas
2462 tasting notes

I bought this at a shop just two hours away. Once upon a time, all of their were sourced from Teageschwendner, but around the time I started going they began to get a few from other places. They do their own Moroccan Mint blend and it is THE BEST. But I digress.

The first time I drank this I was disappointed. I was expecting it to taste like a similar tea I had tried around that time and it I didn’t drink it again for a while.

Now I have had it several times more and I wonder what was wrong with me? This is really good!

This is a green oolong, not roasty toasty like Dong Ding (they sell a very good one of those) or Da Hong Pao. It has a nice floral high that rises at the outset, nice in the aroma, and there is a bit of minerality, too.

Even though it is a green floral oolong, I served it with our late breakfast of cinnamon raisin bagels in the rockers out back. It went well and had enough flavor not to drown under the cinnamon and schmeer. We kept sipping until the ants found us. It was getting too hot out there anyway.

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drank St. Petersburg by Kusmi Tea
2462 tasting notes

Ashmanra is now a GRANDMA! Last night, my son and his wife became the parents of twin boys! They are, of course, adorable. You had no doubt, right?

I can not believe this tea is not in my cupboard, but I didn’t bother to add it because I am only have one teaspoon left! It would be satisfying to check it off as a sipdown, though!

There is more caramel in the aroma than in the taste to me, but this is a very good blend and I enjoy it for breakfast sans additions. The taste and briskness do linger a bit after the meal (waffles and maple syrup) but it is a pleasant briskness.

I am also getting low on Anastasia, so a Kusmi order might be in my future but there is no rush. The shop that carried this in Raleigh has closed and it will have to be an online order. I would like to have Troika again, too!

Good stuff, and this was a gift from Superanna. :)

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Leafhopper 5 years ago

Congratulations!

White Antlers 5 years ago

How wonderful! Much happiness and good health to all!

gmathis 5 years ago

Joy x 2!

Angrboda 5 years ago

Congratulations and socially distanced hug gestures! Is it your first time getting grandchildren?

ashmanra 5 years ago

Thank you, everyone! Angrboda – these are indeed our first grandchildren!

Sil 5 years ago

Amazing! Congratulations

Roswell Strange 5 years ago

Congrats!!!

Veronica 5 years ago

Congratulations!!! Hope everyone is well!

ashmanra 5 years ago

Thank you! Mom and babies are doing great! It is our own ChelseaR here on Steepster. I think she has only done a few tasting notes, but we turned her on to tea hard from the first time my son brought her home to meet us!

Teatotaler 5 years ago

Congratulations, ashmanra!! :) :)

CrowKettle 5 years ago

Congratulations to you and your family!!! :)

mrmopar 5 years ago

Too young to be a grandmaw cousin! Congrats I had both mine here yesterday. Going to have to put a rock on the grandson’s head.

tea-sipper 5 years ago

Congrats for the first grandbabies, ashmanra. :D

LuckyMe 5 years ago

Congrats!

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drank Magnolia Oolong by Tea Ave
2462 tasting notes

I had this tea a while back and loved it. Now I have it again, thanks to White Antlers!

This is the last of it I shall have, too, as the company is now officially closed. It seemed to go back and forth last year, with the website up but not working. I hope the owners are okay and can make their dream of a tea company work out with another try someday!

It was over 100F here today with a heat index of 110F. That’s about 43C. Add in wretched humidity. But after supper the sky grew dark and we heard rumbles and went out to the rockers and watched the storm as the temperature dropped to just 77F! By the time we came in to the air conditioning, I was ready for a cold dessert and some hot tea! Ha ha!

I made a cheesecake a couple of days ago but my husband had already eaten two slices of chocolate cake that my daughter had made (his mom’s recipe so dear to his heart), so it was dessert for me and tea only for him as he was too full.

The tea was fabulous, but it was not a good pairing with the cheesecake. I should have paired a black tea, as a Lapsang, Keemun, or Russian Caravan would have set the cheesecake off nicely. The cheesecake really hid the taste of the tea too much, so I was very glad that I had made a big pot to keep sipping after the cheesecake was gone so I could truly enjoy all the flavor. We made a resteep, too.

This is floral but not overpowering perfumey floral, and is certainly milder than a jasmine scented tea. Magnolia has much more subdued tones to me than jasmine while still being distinctly a lovely fresh flower taste.

The oolong base has a cake-like quality of its own to me, with sweetness and a light pastry flavor. Sweet like a European pastry, not American sugar heavy pastry. It is green but not grassy green.

I look forward to more of this, and some gong fu sessions with it as all!

Thank you, again, White Antlers!

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White Antlers 5 years ago

Your desserts sound wonderful. Glad the tea hit the spot. : )

Roswell Strange 5 years ago

I miss Tea Ave – their Ginger Lily and Rose Oolong were exceptional & I never got a chance to restock before their close :(

LuckyMe 5 years ago

I love this one, especially as a cold brew in the summer. Was bummed when my stash ran out, but was thrilled to discover it at Murchie’s tea room when I visited Victoria, BC. It tastes exactly like the Tea Ave version! You can order it from their website.

ashmanra 5 years ago

Good to know, LuckyMe! I hope Ros sees!

tea-sipper 5 years ago

I will remember Tea Ave fondly for their lovely giveaway they had when they started out.

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Profile

Bio

I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about ten years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs.

We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey.

I am also reviewing for Sororitea Sisters now!

My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

Location

North Carolina

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