Green Terrace Teas

Oh, I like this one. Smelling it, it smelled like the Honey Black… Maybe even more honey than the Honey Black. It tastes great, like a honey roll. Definitely getting a strong baked bread kind of flavor. Thank you Green Terrace Teas for the sample! Out of the 3, this one is my favorite.

This is the final sample that this wonderful company sent me. This tea had stronger bread and pastry notes than some of the Taiwanese blacks I’ve had before. It also had a heavier base supported by cocoa, malt and molasses ( in the earlier steeps).

The first steeps were very fruity smelling with citrus notes and a reference to dried sulphured fruit, that translated to a light flavour of plum and citrus notes. This was mixed with spice notes of cinnamon and pepper and the base notes created a reference to Christmas cake in the first steep. Also present were a sweet and soft floral spice note all mixed in with a flaky pastry note.

In later steeps the floral note became stronger and in one steep I detected coconut. The molasses became more honey like and the spice elements became stronger, especially as it cooled. A hint of nutmeg joined the spice elements and the flavour of cream introduced a new element as well.

All together this was a very nice tea. At times it reminded me of Indian Assam’s more than other Taiwanese teas I have and the fruit was heavier and not as bright. It had a very nice blending of all of its flavour elements creating a sweet, spicy, dense feeling brew. Very nice Green Terrace!

I did 9 steeps of 1 TSP in a 150ml gaiwan. (45,35,45,80s, 2,3,4,6,10min).

One of the samples sent to me by Green Terrace Teas!

Method:
2tsp/10oz
Pre-boiling
Steep 1: 2min
Steep 2: 2min 15
Steep 3: 2min 45

Predominantly I’m getting thick, syrupy honey notes. They’re lovely and sweet without being cloying. There is a mild floral flavor in the background, along with some juicy, fruity tones in the foreground. Some people say peach, but to me, it’s apricot. I’m not quite sure how I make the distinction. There is an elusive winey/muscatel note that peeks out every now and then, but refuses to stick around. As soon as I notice it’s gone again! This tea is smooth, smooth, smooth. Like velvet. And creamy, too! Each sip finishes with notes of buttery, lightly toasted bread. Oats. Grain. Mostly fresh bread. Delicious…SO delicious. Butter, bread, and honey are the notes that linger behind after sipping.

The second steep is very similar to the first. Honey and pastry are at the fore, though a slightly floral element remains in the background. The fruit notes have smoothed out some—it seems that they’ve melded with the honey flavor. They’re not immediately evident. I have to look for them, and they’re a bit less tart. No muscatel here either. There is a distinctly caramel-like flavor that appears at the end of each sip. It’s coupled with a thick, creamy, ice-cream like taste. Vanilla custard! That’s it, or similar enough. Mmmm. It’s a little malty and it coats the tongue with sweetness. This cup was strong—much stronger than expected, given that the tea is so light. Well, let me clarify: the flavors found in the tea are light, but the texture and weight of the tea are not. It has me stymied but I LIKE it! I’m not usually a fan of “light” black teas, and the texture makes up for the “lightness” of flavor. These are flavors I find frequently in less oxidized teas.

In the third steep, the flavors mellowed and evened out a bit more. I still have intense honeymouth. It’s good, but not as layered or complex as previous infusions. (That or I’m just too tired to tell.) The leaves could probably be used at least once more. I wish I could continue, but it’s past my bedtime. (:

Marvelous, marvelous tea. I’m so glad I could try it!
I’m ordering this as soon as I get the chance.

Also: 100th TASTING NOTE!

Thought I posted a review for this, since I drank it first out of my samples, but I guess I forgot. So here’s my second time around.

Dry, it smells like drop fruit, as well as something like malt chocolate; can’t say 100%, just notes that remind me of an assam varietal.

First steep (after a rinse): 15 seconds. Dry spices. Like bark, maybe cinnamon. Actually more spices than I remember the first time around I drank this (I remember there being a lot more ‘fruit’); still, there’s a deep honeyness that makes me think of drop fruits—the darker fruits like plums, rather than bright, like peaches.

Second steep: 15 seconds. Spices and sweetness; the syrupy fruityness is coming through more. It’s reminding me less of an assam, which usually has more malt than spice in my experience. This isn’t astringent. In fact, it’s very smooth thus far. Spiced sugar plum almost? Maybe?

Third steep: More spice again. Sweet—the description suggests baked bread, but it’s less yeasty, and not toasty.

Fourth steep: 20 seconds. Wow, feels a bit thicker, like chocolate. Spice and honey. Actually, very cinnamon-and-honey. Reminds me of honeycarrots with cinnamon, growing up.

Started playing TF2 around this point, and wasn’t paying as much attention. It’s actually a very nice, naturally sweet tea.

Edit: Fourth or fifth steep? Starting to get a more ‘baked bread’ taste out of it.

This was sent to me by Green Terrace Teas for review. Thank you very much!

1.5tsp/10oz
pre-boiling

First steep: 2min
This tea is wonderfully smooth! It’s light but it has a velvety texture and a nice weight on the tongue. There are light, flowery notes that mingle with a dominant fruitiness. Stone fruits, certainly. Peach specifically. I’m getting very strong notes of honey as well! As it cools grain-y, bread-like flavors begin to emerge. I love finding those in a black tea.

Second steep: 2min 30
I’m getting many of the same notes as before, but it seems that there’s an element of cinnamon/spice that came out in the second steep. That was unexpected! Honey is still going strong. There’s just a wee touch of woodsy flavor. Mouthfeel is smooth and almost creamy. Naturally sweet, with honeysuckle and peach in the aftertaste. Lightly toasted bread, drizzled with honey. Mhmm. I MUCH prefer this steep to the first one.

This is mouth-watering delicious. I suspect it would do very well as an iced tea. Maybe cold-brewed overnight? I don’t know if I’ll keep it in my cupboard because I prefer black teas with “heavier” flavors: nuts, chocolate, malt, etcetera. I know that I’ll enjoy the rest of my sample and, who knows. Maybe I’ll keep some around for a blue moon.

My second sample from Green Terrace Teas and it’s very good. It’s tasty all by itself. A little fruit/raisin, some dark honey sweetness. The leaves in this, btw, HUGE and holds up to resteeps pretty well too.

Sample from Green Terrace Teas – Jin Xuan Milk Oolong: 
This is my first sample from Green Terrace Teas, free for reviewing. :D I believe this is my second milk oolong I’ve ever tried. My first was Mandala Tea’s Milk Oolong which tasted very different to me than this one, most noticeably – the Mandala Tea one had strong creamy, coconut smell and taste. The Green Terrace Teas’ Milk Oolong simply smelled like oolong upon opening the sealed packet. I appreciate the well packaged sample, btw. The taste was good – not too floral (I don’t like strong floral taste) and it was smooth, not astringent at all, a little creamy but not much so. Thank you Green Terrace Teas!

Now, I know tasting notes are shared personal experiences. I also know each of us interprets the flavors differently. I know this, but my experience does not seem to parallel anyone else on this tea. Where everyone else got flowers and fruit, I got corn with a creamy feel. I did notice some bite early on that faded as it cooled. Also a bit of dryness as the floral notes finally show up in the aftertaste. As the cup cooled I did have a brief Pina Colada moment. With cup two I swear I got potato with a spicy note similar to cinnamon. Where are these coming from? I washed everything before I started. Just weird. Good, but weird. The floral notes once again hold off until the aftertaste and come out to play a bit more when the cup cools. It isn’t until cup three and four that this started out floral in the nose and stayed that way. Of course odd ball me also had earthy or gentle cave notes on cup three and the spicy note returned on four. I very much enjoyed this tea but my experience is so different from what I expected and what others had that I am left puzzled. Cups 1 and 2 were sipped yesterday with 3 and 4 brewed today. I used one tsp of leaf and a 5 oz cup. The water was at 190 F. Steeps were 1.5 m, 1 m, 1 m, and 2 minutes.

I haven’t been leaving too many tea reviews lately. My asthma has built up so bad over the last few months (little by little). I have started a special diet to help with that so that’s one of the reasons too I’m not drinking much tea. I’m not supposed to have any tea at all in the first part of the diet but this morning I’m so groggy and congested I need just a little to get going. Thought I would try this tea.

I did a quick rinse on the leaves. It has a wonderful floral aroma ( I wonder how much better that would be if I could breathe right?) of orchids. There is light butter/honey notes. Only did 2 infusions. I read some of the other reviews and see this tea changes from more infusions but I have to watch my caffeine intake. Will maybe leave the leaves for another time.

Sipdown #2!

Continuing to expand my concept of Bi Luo Chun, I decided to take up a completely different version this one from Taiwan, courtesy of Green Terrace Teas.

What a surprise. First off, the dried leaves look exactly like a number of Mao Fengs: dark matte green, crispy, spindly, and relatively long. This is Bi Luo Chun? Who knew?

The brew, too, reminds me of Mao Feng! Maybe I should not be that surprised, since all tea is, at bottom, camellia sinensis. I have already experienced two completely opposite forms of Bi Luo Chun: one is a compact, tightly rolled up little snail shell which unfurls upon infusion; the second is fluffy, almost weightless, very voluminous and has light colored, almost ashen tips.

This is a third version altogether. I noticed that the infused leaves are quite a bit darker than typical infused Mao Feng leaves, so this is definitely identical with that tea, but the similarities are patent. The flavor is definitely more robust and vegetal than the other Bi Luo Chuns I’ve tried, but I happen to like Mao Feng, so I am happy with this tea!

It’s been a while since I’ve had this tea, so it was nice to have it back in my cup. I’m not tasting the light peachy note I got from this tea the last time I had it. Today this is has a smooth, buttery, snap bean flavor. It’s light a fresh with a really clean finish. Very nice.

Thank you Green Terrace Teas for providing me with this sample!

This is an interesting Bi Luo Chun. There is a peachy flavor and a buttery note that reminds my of Oolong, but there is also the vegetal note that reminds me of snap beans. It seems like these flavors shouldn’t work together, but they do. Not only do they work, but they blend to create a very enjoyable tea. I’ve had multiple infusions of this now, and each cup has been consistently delicious.

Thank you again Green Terrace Teas!

This was a very interesting, tasty cup. It was malty and sweet, and once I read other reviews that described a raisin-y flavor, that made total sense. I steeped it a few times and it was great each time.

Sipdown!

I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by milk oolongs so far, I find they don’t have the level of creaminess that I expect. I do enjoy the peach notes, but green oolongs in general tend to be quite floral, which can be okay but it’s not something I’d choose. Sarsonator put forth the suggestion that I try them western style but with a lower temperature and longer steep, so I figured I’d try that with this one.

The taste is nice but it just doesn’t say “milk” to me. I don’t have much experience with green oolongs so maybe I’m just not seeing the difference here. It does have good peach notes and the floral is at a minimum with this preparation, so that’s nice. It’s mildly vegetal and it reminds me of squash. The aftertaste is all peach and apricot. This tea is quite nice but I think the genre in general is just not for me.

I decided to do my first-ever gong fu session with this tea. I was having a rather bad day – my car was towed because of the registration being expired, so now I have to sort all of that out and go get it this week. So I had hoped that this would cheer me up. I based my parameters mostly off of Sarsonator’s recent tasting note (I believe it was a milk oolong from TeaVivre), but I used less tea per water as was suggested in the comments. And I also used 200 degree water because I seem to be uncomfortable going for boiling on any teas besides herbal and rooibos. :P So sue me!

The parameters: 5g tea per 4 ounces of water, 10s rinse/25s/35s/45s/55s

Used two of my noble cups from David’s. They’re about 10 ounces total and came with lids, so I figured they were perfect! Hard to pour, but I got the hang of it…
(http://imgur.com/du542o8)

Rinse (10s): extremely light vegetal flavor with floral notes, light peach aftertaste

Steep 1 (25s): creamy and peachy, light vegetal background with floral aftertaste

Steep 2 (35s): creamy, buttery, quite floral with slightly bitter vegetal taste, peach aftertaste

Steep 3 (45s): quite floral and vegetal, apricot aftertaste

Steep 4 (55s): extremely floral with some vegetal notes, light apricot/peach aftertaste

I could have gone for more steeps, but I found myself liking this less and less as it steadily became more floral. I want more of that lovely creamy peach steep! I have enough left for a smaller session, so I might try this one again with shorter steeps. If anyone has suggestions, I would love them! I did enjoy this tea, but I was looking for more of that milk creaminess that I got in the first couple of steeps. I’m finding that green oolongs tend to be too floral for me.

This tea was excellent, it surpassed my expectations and was a joy to experience. The leaves are a dark green color, rolled into small clumps that pack a powerful aroma and flavor. The aroma is light and refreshing with hints of sweet fruits and floral undertones. It brews a beautiful light green/yellow and tastes heavenly. It starts with a sweet flavor again accompanied by floral undertones. It has a light astringency, bringing attention to the full-bodied character of the oolong. Overall this tea was wonderful and it comes HIGHLY recommended.

This tea was my accompaniment to the world cup today.

I got 15 steeps out of it (35,25,35,45,55,65,90,80,95,125,180s, 5,6,8,10 min) after the rinse. I found it kind of interesting it started savoury with vegetal,wood, and almond meal among the fruit and floral notes and ended savoury, with fruit and floral notes that vied for dominance within the centre. My favourite steeps were the second set of three where apple, magnolia and honey were the more prominent notes. The other thing I noticed with this tea was a bit of a disconnect between the scent and the taste. With the scent promising warm apples with cinnamon and raisins, whereas the taste was not as sweet and often much more floral than expected. Anyways I did very much enjoy this tea. Below see the scent and taste notes I found. Thanks again Green Terrace Teas this was my first Gui Fei and I appreciate the chance to try it!

Scent: cream, soft creamy floral that opens up to Magnolia, apple flower, apple( which dominates most of the steeping)’ plum,raisins, cinnamon, raw almond, woody tone, light vegetal scent.

Taste: cream, soft creamy floral that opens up to Magnolia, apple flower, pluumeria, apple( which dominates most of the steeping)’ plum,raisins, cinnamon, raw almond, woody tone, artichoke, cooked broccoli stem, musk, celery leaf.

This was one of the samples that GTT sent me to make up for the lack of a teapot that I ordered. Okay, they forgot to send me the samples and I complained, so they then sent me samples. I’d already had a sample of this, so I was kinda bummed, but hey, free tea.

It’s got a great mouth feel, but the flavor isn’t as strong as I would like.

Today, I am sick, so the flavor is really lacking. But the mouth feel is there. Bonus. Big mugs of this are providing comfort. Always nice.

This is the last of my three samples from GTT. It was the one I thought I would like the best, so I saved it for last so as not to drag my like of the others down.

I should have had this one first.

It’s good, it’s nice, but it’s not as great as I wanted it to be. It’s got a good mouthfeel, heavier than the other two oolongs I had from GTT, definitely more creamy while those were buttery. But the flavor is lacking. It’s not as good as the flavor on either of those.

Dang.

Thank you again Green Terrace for this sample! I really enjoyd the Li Shan Black, but this one just blows that one away IMO. It’s bright and sweet, and has a honeyed sweetness that lingers on your tongue. Surprisingly, I’m also getting floral notes, like in a lighter oolong. And peach?

Also, as it cools, the honey notes become even more apparent. Mind = blown.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review this! It was my pleasure. :) Would I pay $23.50 for 100g of this? Yes. Yes I would.

This is the second of my free samples from Green Terrace Teas for reviewing.

I needed something nice this morning while relaxing and waiting for my husband to get up. Usually, he sleeps about an hour or so longer than I do, so I really have time to enjoy several cups of tea. Today, he was up not long after me and wanted to go out for breakfast. So I had a couple of infusions before breakfast and a few after we got back.

This is another very nice green oolong. It’s sweet and floral with a really nice mouth feel. It’s more buttery than creamy. I really am enjoying this one.

This is the last of my three free samples from Green Terrace Tea. I’m grateful for the opportunity to taste such fine teas. I prepared this oolong in what I call a modified gong-fu method: 3 grams in 6 oz of water with 60 second steeps. It is a compromise between the simplicity of western style and the effort of true gong-fu.

1st steep (60 s): Light nose is spicy, with cooked veggies underneath. Taste has good mouth-feel but not as interesting as the nose. Good finish. As I sip, the tea seems to keep getting better, probably because the finish is so long that the taste builds upon itself. 2nd steep (70 s): Similar to the first steep but more powerful. Really good. 3rd (2 min): Still very good. I’ll probably try a few more steeps but have other things to do today, so will stop for now.