Teas Etc

Looks more like Assam Gold Rain (very tippy and pretty) than Thomas Sampson does, but smells more like Thomas in the dry leaf. Rabs mentioned potting soil, and I get that as well, though it’s drier and leafier than potting soil (which right out of the bag tends to be pretty moist). That was a good sign, as the yeasty smell of the ASR dry leaf was replicated in its taste and was a flavor I didn’t love.

The tea’s aroma is even more promising. It doesn’t have the yeasty (bakey?) flat note that the ASR had. I’m starting to wonder if I just got a bad batch of ASR. Maybe. In any case, the Assam Reserve has more depth to the aroma, and it has a sweetness. I’m not getting malt as I think of it, but there is a natural planty sugar to it. The liquor was lighter than I expected, a medium amber.

The taste is much smoother than the ASR, which had a sharpness to it that I didn’t find pleasing. It’s somewhat astringent, and it has that sweetness that I found in the aroma. It’s not sweet enough to be malty or biscuity as I think of those terms, but it does have that sort of sweetness you get when you’ve eaten a non-sweet baked product (like pretzel, cracker or plain bread) and let it sit on your tongue for a while so that it starts to break down into sugar in your mouth.

I’d like to try this next to Thomas Sampson. I know I like it better than the ASR by a lot, but I don’t have a gustatory memory of Thomas to compare it to.

Yeah, this one just tastes like rooibos to me. I swear, I steeped it enough- but no ridiculousness involved. It’s just bland and weirdly flavorless. I’m sure I tried the right sample that K sent, as the packet smells strongly like raspberry- but sheez, nothing going on in my cup.

There’s been a lot of coconut in my tea- life lately. Well, I ruined the low-calorie element of this by having it with a giant peanut butter choco-chip cookie, but it was worth it. The dogs had a different kind of cookie so nobody felt left out.

Anyway, this really does remind me of coconut custard, a dessert I do enjoy :)
It’s sweet and slightly milky. I do think this one would benefit from a bit of oversteeping, because at 5 minutes it tastes a little pale and watery. I can also see trying this in a vanilla-syrup added soy latte (one of my favorite things to do to tea lately- I don’t know why either, but it could be my missing Adagio Teas in Chicago).

A great after-dinner tea. I may mix this with 52 Teas’ Coconut Cheesecake honeybush just to see what happens.

p.s. Thanks to QueenOfTarts for sampling me some of this!

Oohhh thank you so much to Kristin for facilitating my tasting of this one while I’m trying to pare down my teas in anticipation of living in a DORM this summer. It’s delicious smelling, definitely reminiscent of a coconut dessert. When I put this one on to steep I had a massive headache that wouldn’t die, and I needed something to make me feel better. It actually took my headache away, no lie. Placebo effect, I’m sure.

When brewed, I find it hard to believe that this is a tea! It reminds me of the taste of the coconut milk powder that I ordered a long time ago, and stirred into a few teas before the powder somehow got “weird” in my humid kitchen. Also, I imagine this could be heavenly sweetened.

I’m not enraptured by this tea, per se, but I really do like it enough to buy it, particularly because all of the other coconut teas that I’ve tried that have tasted this strongly have ended up really greasy when brewed. I’m glad that the tea doesn’t look like an oil spill.

I feel thoroughly appreciative of all things modern right now as I sit and drink this indoors in the AC while it’s 91 degrees outside and humid. Having had the AC broken last week, I am willing to offer it whatever sacrifice it demands to keep it up and running. Sorry environment- my otherwise aggressive eco-hippiedom breaks down here.

Very nice example of this type. A bit lighter than some Shui Xians that I have tried, it’s more refined character makes it a good oolong to pair with food. I wouldn’t be afraid to drink this in the spring or summer, either.

Damn, this stuff is good. Intensely minty and chocolately, slightly sweet. Probably excellent with a bit of cream and sweetener, but I am too lazy to run down stairs to fetch some. Never mind, though, because it really doesn’t need it.

2nd try at this tea and I still like it alot. A good sipping tea that doesn’t demand my attention.

The orange taste is just a hint, sort of in the back of the mouth, but its definetly there. It brewed to a burnt orange/ochre color…much lighter and not nearly as “red” as normal black teas, and not the pale yellow straw/green I associate with green and white teas. Complex flavor, but not in the class of some of the Darjeeling’s I’ve been sampling lately. Slightly tannic, especially as it cools, and/but not heavily astringent. Mildly grassy smell when steeping. Used 1 heaping teaspoon, as suggested on the sample

Purr…purr…purr. Oh my, this stuff is good. The trick is to not use too much leaf (it’s pretty intense), and to only infuse for 30 seconds. The result is fresh, lightly vegetal, but also lively and with an intriguing sweet backnote. Wonderful.

Good tea, nice astringentness at the end, good flavor.

Nutty nutty nutty. The smell and taste are both very nutty to me, though perhaps that is how I read the malt – either nutty or bake-y? There’s a little astringency on the back end that is close to too much but it is doable, just reminding me a tad of those funny tasting nuts that sometimes pop up when eating a bag of pecans. I added a little sugar and half & half a bit into my cup to see how it goes – it definitely stands up well to the additives and that nutty bitterness is smoothed out which is nice. This is a nice cup, though it doesn’t advance much over ‘typical Assam’ for me.

I made another cup of this tonight to try to decide how I felt about it. I wasn’t really digging it, so I gave it to my husband to try. I asked him, “does this taste like raspberry?”. He took a sip and said “yep”. 2 seconds later he said “bleah, blarg, like raspberry cough syrup; and not even good cough syrup at that”. I was really trying to make myself like this one because I had ordered too much of it, but he confirmed that I am just trying too hard. Might have to put this one in the giveaway pile. Downgrading my rating by a bunch.

Backlogging. Had this tea a few days ago. It’s ok. I wouldn’t say there is anything ridiculous about the amount of raspberry. I thought it was strong rooibos flavor with a little raspberry flavor. I was really looking forward to this tea too. Just ok.

Backlogging. I had this tea a couple of days ago and it’s pretty weak. I made one cup according to directions and then made another cup using 3x as much tea. Both cups were just watery. I didn’t finish either cup.

Great combination! It doesn’t taste anything like a ginger snap, but the flavor does “snap”. The lemon tang comes from lemongrass and it really makes this tea zing. Something that will be in my cupboard as often as I can fit it in!!

(backlogging)

I contacted Teas Etc via twitter, and I got better instructions for brewing this tea (than what was on the package). Beth told me to brew this with 3 to 3.5 g per 8 oz cup. So, trying this again today. Turns out 3.5 g of tea was about exactly what I had left in my sample. That amount of tea wound up being at least 3 heaping tsp.

This is a completely different tea from the underbrewed batch I did on Monday. This one is a dark yellow and is full of a floral fruity flavor. A lot of people describe the fruitiness of this tea as plum, but I think it is peachy. I’d almost swear that I am drinking a peach oolong tea. There aren’t any flavorings added to this tea though… this is all coming from the leaves. It’s really lovely. I’d almost describe it as dense and fruity at the same time. I’d order more if I could afford it. Maybe it’ll have to go on my xmas wish list for next year.

I can’t wait to see what the second steeping is like. Other reviewers have said that the second steeping is even better.

I am thinking I didn’t use enough tea when brewing this one. The package suggested 1 tsp to 8 oz. I have a 12 oz mug so I used 1.5 tsp. But I am not getting much flavor out of this at all. It is very light. I am not getting fruity as others tasted – maybe there is the plum flavor way way back in the aftertaste. But on a good note, there is no bitterness at all and it’s very mellow. The smell is amazing. Nice mellow oolong smell.

I’m going to reserve judgment on this one for now. I think I have enough of this sample to brew it again with 2 tsp. I’d love to know how much tea others used.

Would it be weird to add another 1/2 tsp to the second brewing?

Prepared in my Bodum Double Wall Glass mug and YoYo Stainless Steel Infuser.

BTW – I think this might be the most expensive tea I’ve ever tried. I would like to thank Teas Etc for generously sending me a sample.

Update – I can definitely taste more flavor as it cools and am realizing how happy this tea is making me while I drink it.

Sweet and creamy – buttery and light! Pleasant and thirst quenching. Pure and Crisp. It has a very clean taste and would probably be one of my favorite UNflavored WHITE teas! Nicely done Teas, Etc!!!

I’m working my way through some samples and swaps, so dumped this into my cup before reading the ingredients. BRILLIANT IDEA! One of the ingredients is valerian root. I have too much to do before bed (like, a whole day worth of stuff!) so hopefully it won’t make me sleepy.

Also, in general I don’t like chamomile or rose petals.

There’s a bunch of little tiny rooibos looking things that got through my filter and into my cup when I brewed it (but there’s no rooibos; I’m not sure what it is, but there are several ingredients here that I’m not familiar with). I use a SUPER FINE filter, so I’m surprised that stuff got through. A ceramic filter would be a disaster with this tea.

The aroma is like chamomile, but when I breathe deep while sipping, I get a bit of wet sock. Ewww.

The first taste to hit my tongue is the dreaded chamomile, but the aftertaste is a sweet, sourish floral. If the entire tea tasted like the aftertaste, I think I’d like it, but the chamomile and wet sock odor is making it difficult to enjoy.

I may not finish this cup. We’ll see.

This tea, while probably tasting exactly like it says it does, isn’t one of my favorites. It’s meh. In the package, the dry leaves smell nutty and have a hint of vanilla, rum, and chocolate. Brewed, I am tasting a nuttiness, but the rooibos flavor is strong in this tea and it is getting that mocha flavor that I don’t particularly like. Someone else may love this tea, but it’s just not my thing.

This was a free sample that Teas Etc kindly included in my order.

2 tsp to 11 oz.

Used a little extra leaf to finish off the sample and that definitely helped this strike a more Keemun note compared to the first time I tried this when it hit quite a few Yunnan notes. There is a tiny hint of sharpness at the end of the sip but I’ve had some Keemuns that were pretty rough so I’m okay with that little bit. Has a nice, earthy, sweet, slightly smoky flavor – not campfire smoky like a lapsang but more someone-in-the-neighborhood-has-a-fire-going smoky. Relatively mild and smooth. Minor bump to the rating.

This is a fairly mild Keemun. It struck me as having a lot of Yunnan characteristics – very earthy with an almost figgy sweetness. The Keemun aspect came in towards the end of the sip when there was a touch of smoke-ish acridity followed by a smooth smoky/roasty note. Certainly not a bad tea but a little mild for me. Perhaps this one would be a good introduction to someone unfamiliar with Keemuns and just wants to test the waters.