Bird Pick Tea & Herb

This was the final tea of tea party today. Because it was sold as a green, I made it like a green tea even though I knew it MUST be oolong. Those parameters have served me well so I still use them. Three minutes in 180F water and you get a pot of buttery popcorn flavor. Treat it like oolong and you still get great flavor, just nuttier and less butter-y. The memory of this tea is tantalizing me even now.

I needed a healing tea this morning, soul and body. I only slept about 5 hours Sunday night because I was trying to get the painting done, and I only slept two hours Monday night because I was too wired about the election. It is a hard day, physically and emotionally. I woke up so sore I looked for the truck that ran me over.

I used one teaspoon of leaves in my little pot and quickly made three steeps in a row and poured them together. The water must have been hotter than usual. It tasted less buttery and more nutty, still smooth with no bitterness, though. What a bargain!

This was the final tea served at tea party today, and I think it was a big surprise for my guest. She used to be a coffee person, then started liking black tea, and seems to enjoy adventuring into other teas now as well.

As soon as she lifted the cup she said, “This smells like butter! Buttered popcorn!” And that hits the nail on the head.

It is still hotly debated whether this is really a green tea as the company has it classified, or whether it is a green oolong, which is what it looks like, tastes like, and acts like. When I called the company, the person who answered the phone said it wasn’t a oolong because they taste roasted. When I told her there are both green and roasted or dark oolongs she said she didn’t know that and would have to look into it.

Whatever it is, it sure is amazing. My guest loved it, as have most of the people who have tried it.

ETA: It looks like Jason Walker reviewed this on his tea blog and called it a wulong.

Ah! This is a great tea for a really good day! Hubby got off work early and we drove to Pinehurst – the golf capital of the world where the Rockefellers used to hang out – to go to an estate sale. It was a hot day, but we drove through the empty woods and fields of the military base, where the GPS doesn’t take you because it doesnt work there. We saw few cars, and the road was lined with hillocks of grass and almost completely bordered with pretty little yellow flowers blooming all along the way. We stopped to look at a little church that was built in 1854 and has a graveyard behind it, and now it is all fenced in because the government bought the property in 1922. There it sits, well kept and in perfect condition, quiet and peaceful, surrounded by tall pine woods. No houses for miles and miles! They all went away when it became federal property.

At the estate sale, I found four table toppers, or shawls if you want them to be, for my tea table. They were bought in Iran, and a lady who was in the house told me that she, too, lived in Iran and watched the watched the girls making these tablecloths and beautiful dishcloths by hand, stamping them with natural dyes one color at a time. I bought all four! And they were only $10 each. I LOVE estate sales! There was a collection of actress glass there from the 1870’s! And beautiful blue Chinese tea cups and saucers with the rice pattern to let the light shine through. I would have bought them, but I was concerned about lead.

Then home for our Friday night Chinese takeout. I called youngest and asked if she would make us a pot of tea to go with it, and this is what she made. Magnificent! This is one of the teas that would make the cut if I had to live with only five teas. (Shudder!)

This is so perfectly smooth, buttery, and sweet. Tonight I feel like I am picking up a gardenia note as well. Happy, happy sigh. Happy weekend to all!

This was the first tea I served to my friend today. She told me about a week ago that she does not like or drink green tea, then promptly fell in love with Teavivre’s Jasmine Dragon Pearls. She looked a bit dubious when I told her we were starting with a green tea today. I suppose she didn’t think the chances were good that there would be TWO greens she liked!

She sipped, then almost chugged her cup, refilling it twice in just a short time. It was a hit! She said that this was something she could drink every day. Buttery and floral, and unbelievably smooth.

I called the Pasadena shop today and asked them to confirm that this is a green and not an oolong. It looks, tastes, and acts like a fine green oolong. The young lady who answered the phone took her time to explain the difference in green and oolong tea, but referred to oolongs as being more roasty. At first she insisted that this is definitely a green. When I pointed out that there are green oolongs, or light and dark as some classify them, she said that she could be wrong about the tea and would research it. She was very sweet and helpful even though I was just calling with a question and not with an order! She said she thought I should continue to steep it as if making a green tea, just as I have been doing.

Me: Do you want to do yoga?
Hubby: Do yoga or have tea?
Me: Well, both are good for us. Do you want to do yoga or have tea?
Hubby: I’ll have tea.
Me: Okay. What kind?
Hubby: Ummm, platypus picked!
Me: You are not going to believe this, but I don’t have any platypus picked. So you know what that means.
Hubby: You need to buy more tea!

Lol! Welcome to tasting note number 1,000! If I were commemorating the tasting note by myself, I would drink Queen Catherine symbolically, as she has seen me through much, but since hubby is joining me I will have one that is a favorite of his as well! That is something to celebrate, too, because not so long ago he would not have touched a green tea. This note marks a lot of changes in tastes, likes, and habits. Here’s to the next thousand cups together!

I am drinking a lot of the same things over and again since we are still at the beach and away from my home stash. I made three steeps of this today and probably wouldn’t review it again except that it was a little different. I was using my tea press and for the first time I left the second steep in it instead of pouring it into a pitcher. I had wondered if lowering the screen really stopped it from steeping or if somehow it could get horribly bitter. The good news is that it did not get horribly bitter. It did, however, change. The second steep smelled so fruity, and the taste was buttery and fruity both. The third steep, done the same way, was fruity and the buttery flavor has diminished a bit more. Wow, still a delicious tea, but changing the steeping parameters made a very different experience.

I was AWOL for a day. This is what I assume knocked out Internet so I couldn’t get on steepster. Other than losing Internet, the little island didn’t seem to suffer any harm from this lovely storm. We love thunderstorms at the beach!
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Last night when my daughter was trying her new teas and they were a bust for her, she asked me to make her something green that tastes good. I made this. We both drank it, we both enjoyed it. YAY! And I got eight ounces of it for Mothers’ Day. EVEN BIGGER HOORAY! MMMM, butter, butter, butter….this stuff is sooo good!

Hooray! One of my tea orders arrived today and I don’t have to keep hoarding the last leaves of this! Two friends tried it and wanted some so I ordered four packs, which is one pound, and a half pound of it is all mine. I made an Asian Stir Fry again the cheat-y way (from frozen Sam’s club pack) and hubby drank a whole pot of this. YUUUUM! So good. I will be resteeping this little beauty.

Technically I can’t have my new tea yet because it is my Mothers’ Day gift, but I can still finish off this pouch in anticipation!

My neighbor who is laid up with a broken foot (this is a month now and they had to put in a screw because it wasn’t healing) is very health conscious. I asked him today if he drank tea, and he said he drinks green tea, bagged. rubs hands together gleefully

I took this back over to his house when I finished being dragged by….I mean, TRAINING his doggie. He was astounded. He wanted to know if I had put something in it. I told him, “Nope, that’s just what it tastes like.” Then his sweet doggie licked the cup out thoroughly, so I guess she liked it, too!

As always, this one is impressive, buttery, creamy, and one of the most soothing teas I have tried, right there alongside Jasmine Dragon Pearl. Ooo, I will have to take that one, too.

We had a quick teaching session about dust and fannings, resteeping, and water temps. Tomorrow, he is trying puerh! Hooray!

I don’t want to bore anyone, so I will just say, “Silky Green resteep, butter, butter, mmmmm……”

A friend came over today who used to only drink coffee, then she started drinking black tea and shu puerh with me, and now she wants to start drinking green for her health. I made this to see if she would like it better than the grocery store greens that have turned her off. I guess it is easiest to just say that she has asked me to order some for her when I reorder mine! Resteeps beautifully, so that four ounces for $15 goes a long way.

Back logging from last night: I made an Asian stir fry last night and this to go with it. Hubby used to drink nothing but Tetley or Ceylon, heavy on the milk and sugar. Last night he drank this plain, refilled his cup, then sat back and said, “That is GOOD tea.” I am so pleased that he likes this one so much, partly because I love it, too, and want a good reason to never run out!

You can’t say the word “buttery” too many times when describing this tea. It is amazing, sweet, and creamy. Today I started wondering if it is possible that this is steamed over milk like a milk oolong sometimes is, because it is so hard to conceive that this could naturally be this creamy. Excellent, excellent tea. Again, I have to say thank you to Quiltguppy for getting us hooked in this one!

I don’t usually give a numerical rating, but I just have to do it for this one. It is too good not to do so.

Backlogging: hubby and I had this tea together last night. He has never cared for green tea, but this one has won him over. I am ever grateful to Quiltguppy for introducing me to this one. Hubby wanted to get a special tea for my birthday and my daughter, who keeps meticulous records all year on things people like so she will be ready for gift giving, passed on the recommendation to him and he ordered it. I am so glad he did. It is truly excellent tea, so incredibly buttery, even more so than a DragonWell. It is completely lacking in dryness and astringency. This gets a triple WOW! from me.

We are doing yard work and it is about 80 degrees outside, so I made a couple of pots of this and let it cool to room temperature. I love that it doesn’t take on any astringency when cold. This is very refreshing for a day like this. I am drinking it as is, no sugar added. It still has rich, buttery flavor and beautiful color.

Pup update: here is what Mr Sam is up to while we work:

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IN MY CUPBOARD! :)

A long time ago, I received a generous sample of this tea from QUILTGUPPY. It was amazing! I vowed that someday I would place an order with this company, but hadn’t gotten around to it.

For my birthday, hubby surprised me with a handmade gaiwan like the easy gaiwan and this tea, which came with several samples that I will be tasting soon. We decided to share it before tea time, which has been delayed to Friday this week.

He is new to greens and oolongs, but he liked how aromatic this tea is. He said it had an unusual flavor. I asked him if he might be tasting hot buttered corn on the cob and he said, “That’s it! It is butter!”

We went for four steeps on this. It was wonderful! So thankful for a thoughtful hubby!

Many thanks on this Thanksgiving Day to Quiltguppy! Now that my oldest daughter has started drinking green tea, I have managed to talk her into trying oolong and white as well. After our lunch, we began with this lovely green that is so very oolong in many ways. Sweet, buttery vegetable taste! She is enjoying it, oh joy, joy! One more tea drinker in the family!

This tea is courtesy of QUILTGUPPY! It is amazing. I wonder if the name means it is a green oolong as opposed to a roasted oolong, because it looks like oolong tea, smells like oolong tea, and has a flavor profile I would eхpect from oolong tea. This smells like butter, butter, butter…indeed, Bliss said like buttered popcorn including the salt and I can get that. The first infusion is very buttery, but there is a floral flavor in there as well. This is creamy and smooth, and if this is truly green, there is absolutely not a trace of the bitter edge green teas usually have. On the second infusion, the buttery note has taken a step back, and the flower has come forward. I will be drinking this all day. What a wonderful treat! Thank you, Quiltguppy!

As mentioned in the description, the first steeping or two has some astringency/drying feeling at the end of the sip.
But, by the 3rd/4th, the taste is a slightly-fruity sweetness (just subtle, not intense).

The aroma of the steeped leaves, which I remember also coming from other organic senchas (O-cha’s Warashina Supreme comes to mind), is a bit fruity and is probably my favorite part about the tea. Otherwise, this is a fairly standard, mass-produced, average sencha.

This is the perfect green tea. It has a light buttery aftertaste.

On the first brew, such a creamy flavor without being rich, heavy, or even unlike a green tea. Don’t burn it — it’s exquisite! Holds up well to two additional brews, although neither has the creaminess.

Oh this is good. Beautifully good. I must agree with the other tasting notes in that this tastes like a milk Oolong… or at least a very buttery green Oolong. It is sweet and creamy and buttery delicious.

Off to write a review of it for the SororiTea Sisters blog!

This is a great tea to have in the summer. I make it almost every other day. It quenches your thirst more than water and becomes very cold in the fridge.
No need to add any sweetener, this tea is very mild and my kids love it.
We also drink it hot at meals or whenever.
I usually boil water in a big pot and add barley to fill the surface, turn off the heat, then cover. I drain barley once it cools down.

I GOT QUILTGUPPYS PACKAGE IN THE MAIL!!!!
So excited, can ya tell? :P
QG is so generous… so many different teas and ones that I’m giddy just thinking about trying. I cannot say enough thankyous, and I hope I can return the favour one day! (at this point I can try but would likely fall short by a mile!)
Anyhow, I was quite excited to see this one in the stash so of course I reached for it first!
A milky(silky) GREEN tea?! I’d never heard of such a thing!
Now that it’s brewed and I’m sipping away, I can definitely taste the lactose. It’s buttery sweetness makes me swoon *sighs
However, the milk part stops abruptly upon the swallow, which makes me crave more, so I take another sip and then crave more and… well you get the idea.
The first steep was odd, a little too vegetally green for my liking, but now that I am on the second steep, it tastes more oolongy. At first, it really did taste like a “green” tea, and I couldn’t see what anyone meant about this being more oolongish.
It’s definitely more on the green side, but then oolongs can lean towards black or green so that makes sense I suppose.
Overall, I prefer the darker oolongs, so I doubt there is any surprise that I prefer the true “milk oolong” but there are days where I crave a good green so you can be sure that I’ll be reaching for this until my sample runs out! I don’t make many pots of tea, it’s usually just one cup at a time in my tea master, so it’s sure to last me awhile :)
Well, I’m off to brew my third cup! anyone care to take bets on how far I’ll make it this time?
P.S. Overall I would rate this an 86, given my dislike for green in general, contrasted with the excellent quality and flavour and the fact that within the “green” world it ranks pretty high, (I’d say a 96) so I’ll leave it in the middle at 91. That’s fair I think!