Tealux

I am now wondering about my obsession with Tazo Green Tips (full-leaf sachet format—as served at Starbucks), which is a blend of Mao Feng teas, so I am investigating single origin Mao Fengs. First up today is this Superfine High Mountain Mao Feng from Tealux.

Well, it’s good. Not quite as good as the Green Tips, and more golden than green, but the pale color of the liquor suggests that the sachet of Green Tips may contain a lot more tea than I used for today’s brew. I used a full tablespoon, because there is so much space between the wiry leaves of this dried tea, but I wonder whether I should weigh the tea instead?

I’ll surely try again, as I have a full ounce (minus one tablespoon…) to give this tea a full and fair evaluation.

second infusion: pretty good. golden yellow liquor, slightly fainter taste

Brews up a rich dark earthy pu-erh with notes of Earl Grey Bergamot. Very tasty but I couldn’t detect the White Peony tea. It seems to get lost in the richness of the Pu-erh tea. This tea is brewed at a lower temperature than other pu-erh teas but it still might be too hot for the white tea. I might try this again brewing at a lower temp to see if I can detect the white peony tea. Otherwise , it’s still a great robust tea.

I’ve had this tea for awhile and brewed it up a few times. I think because I like hot teas I might have been brewing it at a slightly higher temperature than I should . This time I decided to reduce the temperature and it was a much nicer tea. The lichee comes through first with a nice base green followed by the jasmine notes. Glad I gave it another try.

Enjoying this tea as I settle in to study before my exam tomorrow. The creaminess will never get old. The black base is great, and of course the cream accentuates it wonderfully.

This morning was quite eventful. I have a psychology presentation and paper due the day I return from Jamaica, which meant I had to get my research done beforehand. The abundant time spent on planes will be perfect for preparing the actual paper and presentation. I decided to examine social influence in religion. And what better way to examine than to attend a meeting/service/mass? So that is what I did this morning. I may be a scientist, but that doesn’t stop me from having a curiosity about religion, and overall it was a fascinating experience.

This was my choice again this morning. I also just ordered 100g along with a couple other Tealux samples, because I’m going through the 50g I originally ordered alarmingly fast.

You guys, I’m so over winter. I try to be positive, but it’s feels like -36 here this morning, and I want to hibernate. I want it to be summer, so I can be home. Even better, I want to live somewhere where there’s one season – sweltering hot summer. Sigh. At least I have delicious teas, like this creamy delight to start my day.

This tea is wonderful. It was actually one of the few teas I enjoyed from my Tealux order. It will definitely be a reorder. A nice black tea to wake you up, with a soft creaminess, so it isn’t too harsh.

I’m working on compiling the data I’ve found now, and the annotated bibliography is due for this research project Wednesday. I was stressed about it yesterday, but today I felt I had things back under control. I just checked my calendar and the e-version of my poster is due in less than 2 weeks. Which means this project needs to be done in less than 2 weeks. Along with the 3 midterms I have this week. AGH.

Having this one again this morning. I am really liking this tea! I’ve been a bit disappointed in the other Tealux teas I ordered, but this one is truly delightful. A wonderful tea to start the day.

I’m determined to be über productive today. I need to get caught up on my research, and I’m already settled into a bit of a nest with the marine life database open.

I overslept this morning, but I feel great. I technically don’t have classes until close to lunch today, though I generally always go to school early to be productive. Not today! I’m laying on the couch in my sweats sipping tea and listening to Ben Howard. What an awesome Wednesday morning.

This tea is great! I wanted to have it last night, but I held off to have it for the morning. It’s creamy and Irish-y and perfect. It’s very similar to Butiki’s Irish Cream Cheesecake actually, minus the pretty blue and yellow flowery bits. It’s a lovely strong black tea with the cream flavour to mellow it out. Also, no astringency. This could easily become my morning tea. I’ll be keeping this one around.

Update: This one is so delightful, I just made another cup to have with my oatmeal. Oatmeal with maple syrup and blueberries this morning. This day is great.

Another tea I got from TheTeaFairy thank you!!!

I didn’t like this one. There was something weird at the front of the sip – strange spice or something. The end of the sip was nice chocolate coconut – I never really did get much chai.

Nope not my favorite, weird spice, coconut, chocolate.

This one smells like a sour Jolly Rancher. Fascinating. I have a feeling I should’ve cold brewed this one, but we’ll see what it brings hot. I would say the scent is much more potent that the actual taste here. I’m not getting much in the way of flavour at all. A bit of sour-y sweetness.

yesterday i drank Chhhherryyy FAAntAAsEE….
when i think it in my head i can’t help but think the name dramatically and with a flourish.
moraiwe sent me this months ago and i’ve been totally hoarding it this whole time.

but yesterday was a Monday back to work after a long and sunny vacation week so i pulled out the big guns.
i listened to Deee-Lite at work and read a fic about Corgi!Clint (that was heart meltingly cute!) and i drank Chhhherryyy FAAntAAsEE!!!
take that Monday!

moraiwe and i agree that fig teas are delicious and to be savored. and she sent me this specifically for the figgy notes if i remember correctly.
it was a whimsical and darkly fruity cup. sure i wish i had more but what else is new haha. i delighted in every sip. thank you moraiwe!!!

C’est fini! C’était bien! En fait, je l’aimait mieux aujourd’hui qu’avant!
(Cela se passe de temps en temps, n’est-ce pas?)

This is not quite a steep-off, but I was interested in, first, drinking more caffeinated sencha (I reserve my first infusion spent leaves for after dinner…) and, second, verifying that I really prefer Fukamushi to Miyazaki. In today’s brews, I have confirmed that this is true.

Miyazaki is a good sencha, to be sure, but it is much lighter and quite a bit saltier than Fukamushi (also by Tealux). One added bonus for the Miyazaki is that it is organic, so that’s nice to know. But probably when I reorder from Tealux I’ll opt for the Fukamushi over the paler, gentler, slightly yellower Miyazaki.

This Miyazaki sencha blend from Tealux brews up bright green but has a light taste. Fresh and clean with only a slightly vegetal flavor. The leaves are broken up and also smell less strong than other sencha varieties from this emporium. I like it. I agree that it could be a good “everyday” sencha.

It’s nice to know that it’s organic!

I’m sorry – I hate this……. Ewwwwwww
Medicinal, fake raspberry, drowned out by fake acidic citus something pretending to be litchi.
I really enjoy Tealux straight teas – their flavors are hit or miss for me, and this one is a huge miss.
Thank you TheTeaFairy for sending some of this my way – even misses are learning experiences… :))

Upon having a second and third cup of this today, I think my brain has cataloged this as an extra juicy Da Hong Pao. It’s very much a slightly stone fruited, nutty base with just a little earthy cocoa. When I process it like that, that mango and rose just meld into the base and make that fruity and delicately floral. There’s a clean aftertaste as well.

So yep. That’s how to enjoy this one.

Mango and rose are at the front of the sip, with more muted notes of passion fruit, and all twine their way more subtly through the rest of the sip. The fruits are juicy and slightly perfumed tasting; very summery and refreshing.

The base is a strong counterpoint to the fresh fruitiness, though. It’s a little roasty and earthy with a slightly cooling wet stone mouthfeel. On one hand I think the fruit would be better with a greener oolong base, but on the other I really enjoy the contrast and think it makes it a better year round cup. Either way, I think this would be stunning iced.

This one is another from Dexter3657! Thanks again for that lovely tea package that I will be trying teas from for a while. :D I’ve loved the majority of teas I’ve tried from Tealux, so I was happy to see three new (to me) Tealux blends in the tea package! I’m surprised I don’t see Tealux around Steepster more often as they have a billion blends and nice prices. The dry blend here is mostly rooibos with a few cherry pieces. There is a sweetness and decent amount of cherry flavor. I’m not sure what the heather blossoms add (didn’t see those anyway in the blend) but it seems like cherry just goes well with rooibos. I like it! I’m not sure if it’s my teabag that I fill with rooibos or the tea itself, but this blend is actually very smooth. Also, I must say that whether you are a rooibos fan or not, these teabags for rooibos are a MUST, to keep in the cupboard just for rooibos… no other infuser will work for rooibos. They just keep the tiny woodchips out of your cup. I use the ‘T-Sac Tea Filters’ and I’ve seen them for sale at a few sites.

Welcome to day 6 of little terri’s Sipdown Extravaganza!
Last night I stayed up late & totally re-organized my tea collection, updated my tea database, & I must admit, it was pretty out of control, but it’s looking good now! I have all my black teas organized into boxes, based on the location where they were grown :)
Yes, Ms Theresa spearheaded the whole project, & when she’s on, she gets some stuff done.
My true tea total is 356 teas…whew! Now on with the Extravaganza!

My first sipdown of the day, #35 (355 now!) is from my most recent box from my tea sister Sil. BTW, I compiled all the leftovers from the several boxes she has sent into one box, with little separators, so that I can easily find black, puer, or whatever!

This is a typical Mi Xian, with the honey & coriander taste.
Thanks Sil!

For the next little bit it’s going to look like I am cheap and never buy tea, only drink samples others have sent. It just so happens that both dexter3657 and TheTeaFairy have sent me tea recently and I am in a ziploc be gone mood.

My partner is away on business for the week so I spread all the ziplock bags on the kitchen table (I eat my meals at work now that nobody’s home) and I have a week to motor through.

TheTeaFairy sent me a 2-cup sample of this. Thank you! I took it with me to work because it’s black and it’s a fruit tea which I can handle with just a bit of sugar. I enjoyed it this morning just fine, gave myself a pat on the back for choosing it. Made one cup and brought the pack back home. I am now having the second cup and as I sit here sipping it after it cooled down a little it strikes me that this tea reminds me very much of Harney’s Fruits D’Alsace. Of course probably none of you thought this and I am not going to make you all drink them side by side, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Or maybe you won’t since the last time I sent out a comparison plea (between Bai hao yin zhen and silver buds pu’erh) I was not all that right.

This tea? Fruity. Black. Honey. Not sure about litchi. Good but not my thing. As for recommending it, I can’t say yes but I definitely can’t say no.

This was my tea of choice at work today.
Wow it’s golden – not just hints and tips – these whole leaves and buds are GOLD – so beautiful.
I’m a fan of Yunnan, and have tried several golden ones lately. I like them in general, and I think this is a good example of that style. I don’t think this is in my top 5 teas, but I enjoyed it at work today, and could easily be an everyday at work type of tea.
It was just medium bold, not astringent, some sweet – but I didn’t get any floral (that fine with me – floral would have turned me off).
Thank you TheTeaFairy for sending me a sample of this beautiful tea.