Tao of Tea

well, this tea is certainly very interesting. It has a very beautiful long and slender leaf shape.

Upon opening it I got a smoky smell like a lapsang souchong which was really surprising!

I stepped this for about 90 seconds in cooler water (not sure of the exact temperature)

To me this tastes of pine, wood and ocean. I’m not sure I love it but it is very intriguing and complex… the website says it carries the taste and smells of the misty northern Fujian countryside where it is grown. I am definitely picking that up here, very cool.

Received this one from Batrachoid. I’m really trying to like green Pu-Erh. Honestly I am but I’m thinking it is not for me. The tuocha smells like hay and brews up a goldish liquor. The taste well I would have to agree with Teaequalsbliss mushroom like muskiness. I just find it to be too bitter for me. Very similar to Darjeeling that I have sampled. Still I am appreciative of the chance to try it(sigh).

A very tasty tea. Buttery, honeyed, and a bit floral, the dreamy creamy tea pleases all the way down. It’s one of my favorites right now. The aroma is great right when you tilt the gaiwan lid. It just punches you in the face with awesome. Good for many many steeps depending on how you brew. I’ll be keeping this stocked in my cupboard.

Full Review: http://www.tea-tank.com/?p=10

I’m starting to get tired of berry cider teas! Sure, they’re great but how are they not all the same??? Slight variations don’t make or break it for me…
My tess tea is perfect, tart and rich and sweet all at once. Sure there is probably hibiscus in there but it seems to work.
This one, well it was certainly sweet, and berry like. I’m not sure about it, but not really curious enough to give it a second chance.
meh.

Infusion 3 – 2 minutes
color – that of a darker oolong (lighter brown)
aroma – rice-like
taste – Mossy, heavier floral, Grass
Aftertaste – bitter floral/grass

rating specifically for this infusion: 75

2nd infusion – a little less than 2 minutes
color – same as first
Aroma – Mossy Mushrooms
Taste HOT – Grassy-Grass
Taste as it cools for a few minutes – I prefer over the HOT, actually…it’s grassy but a hint of sweet.
Aftertaste – Sweet-Grass-floral
Rating on this specific infusion: 79 HOT and 80-81 Cooler

Batrachoid – thanks for this! I will be doing an infusion test with this this afternoon!!!

Infusion 1- 1 minute
Smells like hay and lemon with a mushroom-like muskiness to it.
Color is a light green tea color you might expect.
Taste…green tea with lemon and hay flavor
Aftertaste is that of raw mushrooms and maybe a little like a mossier green tea.

This is really different. I think I like it tho. It’s alright!
Rating for this infusion specifically: 79-80

I really love that little store; they are an amazing source of health and tea relief in this wasteland Ohio. I’m not a big fan of chrysanthemum, but Tao has enchanted me into loving very impossible things before. So I picked up a couple ounces and scurried home. And surprise! Tao doesn’this tuocha doesn’t even sell on their site! O= Bless their magic restocked.

Twenty second boiling rinse.
First steep: Brewing it like the rose first, two minutes and 5oz 212 F water. Light aroma, some oceanic pu-erh scent with chrysanthemum underneath. Tastes very earthy with chrysanthemum loudly taking over but wakame and sunflower make it interesting. It gets much thicker as it cools, almost gel like. You really don’t like being treated like your rosy sibling, eh? Noted.

Second steep: 3 minutes, 200 F
Still too light. The chrysanthemum has settled down and let everything start to harmonize. Thick but light, tastes land feels just like coconut milk, straw pu-erh, and air from a nearby beach. I don’t like chrysanthemum much but this is delicious. Once again the second cup is the best, under steeped or not! And I know exactly what this tea is for!

Third: 4 min 30 seconds, 200 F
Oops. Got a tad distracted and it’s definitely a smidge over-steeped.
Fourth steeping: Chrysanthemum’s all gone, just like in the rose tuocha. It’s a little darker and made of pure pu-erh tastes, like a lakebed. Much thinner as well. Very relaxing and the perfect end to a good transformation of tuocha but…

Fifth steeping: 5 minutes 212 F water
Yeah, it’s done at four. Even if I had extra chrysanthemum to pop in like I did the rose, the pu-erh has lost too much. No lakebed, no beach, just lake water.
Every tea has its purpose and each of Tao‘s tuocha have made theirs very clear to me; this one is definitely for chilly spring days , steeped throughout the morning to remain refreshed and focused on a good start to a project. Given how soon I start art school, this tea is another perfectly timed find for which I am very grateful.
Glancing out at the literal blizzard that just began, inexplicably grateful. Shudder I might go through another of these today.
Long post short: I love Steepster, I love tuocha, I love my magic health food store that thinks it’s a Tao of Tea store. This tea has simple, cleaner tastes than Tao’s other tuocha that could win over some on the ‘”weird” taste of chrysanthemum, but I can’t see myself drinking this past lunch. Very good for getting going early and all the way to lunch.

Edit: XD Oh wow this all fits so perfectly! So glad I checked the dashboard before I got back to things.
In response to TeaEqualsBliss’s song-and tea matching challenge: This song from my favorite video game is appropriate to both my situation and it sounds like the scene I imagine while drinking this tea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3H56O1iP9Q

Backlogging from Friday afternoon. Another thank you to the generous AmazonV for giving me this tea.

Every year mandarin and blood oranges come into season I’ve diligently saves every scrape of peel to dry for tea blending, along with other citrus. I suppose it occupies the time I’d spend mowing the lawn. And having iced blood orange tea in June is worth it.
Since I’ve been ordered at least two weeks of rest at home, I’ve had ample time to observe this squirrel-like hoarding. But twenty minutes of releasing the smell of blood oranges into the air with none left to eat morphs from distraction to torture quickly. Then the mailman came, leaving this on my door step.
Bless AmazonV.

Since I was sent this with the warning of “mint containation” a gave it a sniff. There’s a little mint lingering around the lazily drifting orange smell. It actual smells quite harmonious.

I was skeptical about the six minute steeping time but I don’t really drink darjeeling based teas. So I tested it at four. WAY too weak. Another three minutes did the trick.
The taste is the opposite of my usual sencha as well. The orange is simple, murky and relaxed. This is a nice change of pace.The unimpossing darjeeling is actually detectable; when I think about it any other green would probably fight with the mandarin esssence. A frog friendly darjeeling? Another Tao feat of magic.
I sipped this tea for an hour without tastebud overload nor boredom.The hint of mint that’s there sometimes keeps it interesting.
Yep, the is made to be nursed in a big mug with a bigger non-fiction book. This is exactly what I think I’ll reorder this with my next Tao order (my happy health store doesn’t sell this one. Curses!). And I’ll might “contaminate” my mug with mint on purpose. =) Thanks for the book brew!

Ah, I feel better. I guess tuocha is a good digestive aid for both heavy meals and stress induceded dry heaves.
The 175 worked for this steep. So 170 for the first three with a splash of lemon. Nice to have a tea worked out on the second try.
Summary:
While the rose is a sit down, super attentive session of bliss, this is definately more of a through the day everyday tea. I suppose this kind of morning is exactly what it is for. Gah. Exactly the kind of morning for which it is made. I need to administer tea until my grammar returns.

Okay. I’ve calmed down with half a bar of chocolate yogic breathing. Ahem.
I’m definately going into this with high hopes. Tao’s Rose black tuocha is a lot to live up to a mere week later.

The presteep smell is certainly not diappointing me; I almost tried to crawl into the jar at the store! It has that refreshing dried grass clippings background with a good pile of timothy hay to make it extra nostaglic and invigorating. Some peat moss too and what is definately the “pu-erh” smell. It’s becoming as comforting as timothy hay.

10 Second rinse with 170 F/75 C water. Just to be safe.
First steep: 2 min 45 sec with 5 oz 175 F/79 C water
Light yellow orange liquor. The teapot leaves smell wonderfully like well, green tea leaves. A blend of Chinese sencha and medium quality jasmine pearls. Now drum roll…
Sip
Huh. That’s good. Oh, re~ally good. Goooooood. Mmm. Not swoon or shriek good like, but nod and sigh good.
For starters: timothy hay. Surprise! This pure umami with smoked, grassy edges. Definately mushroom: sauteed portobella and shiitake. Too earthy for chantarelle. Maitake? I haven’t had some in so long. A tinge of lemon or maybe that’s the strong pucker. Odd given how thin this feels.

Steep two: 2 min 55 seconds with the same water
Okay open mind, recognition that this is a different sort of pu-erh, so who are you, Lu Tuocha-san?
Hmm, duller scents in the teapot…Tastes toned down from before with less mushroom and more straw and-hello!
Jasmine?! Wow. Oh wow. A whole soft floral carpet rolled itsef out. It harmonizes after a few sips into one. But it’s very astringant. Adding some lemon juice to the last couple sips fixes this and boost the jasmine an timothy notesMaybe 170 F water? Or are green pu-erhs as astringant as strong Assam? I don’t care, I am HOARDING this tea for this steep alone.

Third steep: 3 min 175 F water
A bit weaker but there’s still some notes of jasmine and hay but it’s not smoky, it’s all sunshine and yeah, astringancy. Definately lower the temp to 170 next time. The umami is going out and it feels thicker.

The fourth steep will have to wat because the gas guy just came! Yes!

It’s official; I live in hell. And see this little bird nest? This is my return ticket to sanity.
Back from my first tea shopping trip in nearly six months lo and behold the gas has been shut off! Apparently thespecial split December payment arangement was poorly coordinated so my and dozens of others all had their bills automatically payed two days late. Happy Holidays from the gremlins at customer service.
Fortunately we have emough space heaters to survive at 63 F in the living room/kitchen-until a fuse blew. I had to stay up to fix and prevent another. I had no problem keeping vigil-my stomach kindly did so by trying to rocket its non-existant contents whenever I breathed in.
So of course I burned the first tuocha with 190 water! Crazy laugh Isn’t that HILARIOUS?!
Only 5-8 more hours until the gasman gets around to us.

I find that I can’t really begin to get the writing engine turned over in the morning until I’ve had a cup of black tea, with all of the brain-jolting caffeine it contains…but I’ve also found that my body is happier if I ease into my day with something gentler than that. Oolongs and whites have become my default, but oolongs particularly: they are rich enough that I often feel I’ve eaten breakfast.

Among the many kinds of oolong in all of their glorious variety, Ali Shan is one of the most rewardingly aromatic. I could sit (and have sat) for full minutes with my nose buried in the cup, inhaling the way they smell.

This one I got as a one ounce sample from Tao of Tea (somewhat expensive compared to their other teas at 7.25 an ounce! Thank goodness for their frequent buyer program). I stick pretty closely to a 1tsp/8oz. setup, and always use my 16oz cup; I got to have plenty of cups of this — it resteeps well even at that quantity of water. Obviously I am lazy — I never once wrote a tasting note.

I don’t think that this shatters the mold in terms of the type of tea that it is, but it is a very good Ali Shan. I prefer this tea to the Four Seasons I have (which is comparable as a green oolong, if not necessarily exactly the same). You have a light honey scent, with a delicious, welcoming depth of flavor (I tend to think of the smell of baked potato, but I’m not sure that’s completely accurate — still, something about it says ‘starch’ to me), and a pleasant floral high end.

I should really spend more time trying more Ali Shan.