TeaSource

Oh wow. I mean…WOW.

This is the first tea I tried from the March Steepster Select shipment and I’m blown away. During the first steeping, the large whole leaves unfurled beautifully and danced in my mug.

The flavor is of a very high quality mountain oolong tea, with notes of vanilla, honey, and flower blossoms.

As promised, I was able to get 4 flavorful steepings out of just one little packet.

I’ll be ordering more of this tea for sure.

Pretty moss green leaves when brewed and the liquor smells like grapes indeed.
The name is deceiving because this really isn’t a dark and roasted type tea. The liquor is a red color. I read that In China, the type of tea that Westerners call ‘black’ tea is known as ‘red’ tea, which follows the Chinese color system of the color of the tea liquor in the cup. So Hei Cha, also known as dark tea, is quite different than the ‘black’ tea well-known to tea drinkers in the West. So, when in China, if you ask for ‘black’ tea you would be given some form of Hei Cha – if you ask for ‘red’ tea, you will be given what most Westerners would recognize as black tea (from Tea Trekker).

Anyway,,,the flavor is delicious and does have lots of grape qualities as the package suggests. It is the flavor of a fresh grape just off the bunch not of grape juice that has been cooked to concentrate sugars. So it isn’t so sweet.
This tea is very good, I like it a lot and it is unique.

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

Second Steeping brought out the dry finish which wasn’t evident to me in the first.

I LOVE white tea so this is right up my alley!! This is so unique! I love the appearance of the dry tea leaves, they look like little dried white cone flowers.
Glad I have my tea temp kettle because this is a low temp and I didn’t want to hurt this delicate tea.
The flavors are subtle and they come together to create a dessert of cooked fruit with hints of nutmeg and honey. I detect mainly apricot or peach fruits.
Thank you Steepster and Tea Source,,,I love Steepster Select because I was unaware of this company and am super stoked about all their white teas!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

6/11/14
Tasting a bit of the bag I bought from Tea Source. So fruity, zingy, and good. There is a sugar note, multi-fruits, Sweet Tarts, touch of licorice. Mike and Ike’s candies. Love the out of this world look and flavor of Ya Bao. I like to age it,,,it is getting sweeter.

I really enjoyed this, and I brewed a full pot so it was a little lighter than it would be in a smaller cup.

The primary flavor is very flowery, slightly earthy.
I don’t get so much of a fruit note as a wholesome woodsy flavor.
Very enjoyable, and was perfect to start my day at work.

Strong black tea flavor, notes of honey and fruit. Very delicious, will likely be buying more for daily drinking. Hard to describe how wonderful this tea is.

Tea #8 from Considering a new TTB
This ended up being much more astringent than I had hoped for, perhaps it would be less so with a lower temperature. I opted for 175 because it is preset on my hot water pot, but the recommended temperature on the package was 160 – 180.

Tea #7 from Considering a new TTB
I had meant to stop by TeaSource while I was in Minnesota last year, but ran out of time, so I’m happy to see a few more of their teas in this box that I can try. This spring oolong is a little more toasty than I prefer, I tend to lean more towards floral oolongs, but other than that I don’t seem to have much of an opinion about this tea. I would drink it again if someone handed me a cup, but I wouldn’t order it for myself.

No so bad but not so delicious either. It does not have a distinct taste, just a clear tea. Looks very light.

What a disappointment. White tea with peach, sounds delicious right?
My problems with this tea started in right off the bat. Yes there are nice large unfurled leaves, however there are even larger (2 inches+) sticks (plural) and other smaller twigs in this sample. I was willing to over look this because the leaves had a peachy, fresh, floral aroma. Once steeped the leaves took on a creamy quality.
The liquor tastes like fuzzy peaches – the candy- sans the sugar coating. That flavor was so dominant that I couldn’t get anything else from this tea. I genuinely don’t understand it. How can a tea that has REAL peach in it taste so artificial?

Steep Information:
Amount: 6 tsp
Water: 750ml at 195°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes

Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet, floral, vegetal
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, floral, nutty
Flavor: silky mouthfeel, sweet, floral
Body: Light
Aftertaste: nutty
Liquor: translucent light yellow green

fabulous!

Co woker with the funny nose: must attic smell

Resteep:
750ml at 195°F for 4 minutes
more roasty and nutty

Resteep:
750ml at 195°F for 5 minutes
still beautiful, floral, honey

Resteep:
750ml at 195°F for 6 minutes
too weak

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2014/02/teasource-loose-leaf-oolong-tea.html

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone (or Lupercalia if you are reading this from Ancient Rome) I hope your day is filled with love and happiness. Since today is all about hearts and romance…and quite frequently flowers, why not look at a thematically appropriate tea? I do love doing thematically appropriate reviews, though I doubt I will come up with a good one for President’s Day.

Sadly upon steeping the compressed tea it no longer looks like a cute little heart, but this is expected. The aroma has become quite rosy and malty with only a touch of loam and oak wood. It is beginning to smell more like a moist forest floor in summer than a dry one. The liquid without the leaves steeping in them have a bright quality with strong notes of rose and sweet malt. It smells heavy and rich, not at all light and buoyant.

The first steeping of the little heart shaped nugget of tea happiness is quite rich and filling. Drinking it makes my mouth feel smooth and full, it is a slightly odd sensation because it also has a sense of weight to it. The taste is at first rosy and sweet, but this fades to oak wood and a mild astringency. The taste reminds me more of a strong black tea than the dark teas I am used to.

Giving the crumbled heart another dunking causes the mild astringency to vanish and makes the already smooth tea even more so, almost making it feel velvety. It does lose the weighty feel and now is just a bright tea. There is only the barest hint of roses and the tea has a finish of copper. I really do think this tea would be great for people who are scared off of Pu Erhs and other dark teas by their earthy quality, but for people who love that aspect it is a bit of a let down.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/tea-source-dark-rose-tea-tea-review.html

Most of the floral appears to be in the aftertaste and isn’t overwhelming. Initial flavor is almost fruity but not quite. Overall enjoyable tea!

I don’t personally enjoy darjeelings. This reminded me of a very high quality bud-only green tea I once had in china, with a slight vegetal astringency but generally not overwhelmingly so. This isn’t the kind of body I’m used to, but it’s not something that takes away from the tea either. As a person who normally turns my nose up at darjeeling, this is an excellent tea. I got this as a sample from some other tea I ordered from TeaSource.

1st Steeping: Sweet, almost like a very very sweet Dragonwell (Longjing) and kinda looks like it but did not get any honey taste out of this brew, slight chestnut taste. Might have to steep it differently as I have gotten a wonderful honey taste out of a different yellow tea. Really clean tasting, brewed in a small 21oz cast iron teapot.

2nd Steeping: Brewed for 2 min instead of 3 @ same temp. I am getting a hint of honey taste out of it. Still really sweet. Very similar notes and taste as the first brew.

Not the most exciting tea for me personally, but none the less quite tasty.

such a luxury! since the leaves are “scented” from being next to jasmine flowers (as opposed to be infused with jasmine oil), the taste is not overwhelmingly floral. but the aroma is incredible! as the leaves unfurl, the aroma comes out and takes you to a japanese garden. the taste is of high quality japanese green tea with floral notes. make it in a french press and watch the leaves unfurl and savor the aroma as it steeps. naturally sweet. superb hot tea, decent iced tea.

i’m skeptical of blends that combine green, black, oolong, white, etc. this one has mate, oolong, and black tea in it, and my first thought is, “sounds like a year-end blend trying to get rid of all the tea that didn’t sell” i wish they had named this almond instead of chestnut. it smells like almond, and it tastes like almond. not as strong of almond as i would like, however. if i drink a flavored tea, i really want the flavor to stand out, and here, it’s really just ho-hum. it’s nothing better than what you could go buy at the grocery store in tea bags, it’s a perfectly okay, but mundane, cup of tea. so there you go.

I didn’t get the aroma of rose at all – not in the dried leaves, brewed leaves, or the tea itself. This just tasted like a straight pu’erh tea. I got a floral note as I swallowed but no more than any other non-flavored tea.
I’m not really a fan of pu’erh. The smokey/horsey quality was less intense than in the other pu’erhs I’ve tried.
It’s just not my thing and it left my mouth very dry

Darby sent me this in the Secret Turkey Swap :] It smells sooo good. The dominate flavor is the rooibos. The gingerbread and orange are there but it’s pretty light. The spice is very mellow but it works. I like this blend but it’s lacking a bit of flavor. Thanks again!

Received this one in round 2 of the Secret Pumpkin swap from Darby.

The smell of the dry tea is very much like apple cider.

The brewed tea initially tastes quite like apple cider. There is a strong apple taste, its sweet and sour at the same time. I am also getting mulling spices. It doesn’t taste much like tea at all. But sadly, as the tea cools, it looses all of the apple taste. It almost seems like the apple flavour was all sitting on top of the cup and I drank it all in the first sips. The rest of the cup tastes mostly like black tea with lots of cinnamon, there is a very slight apple flavour.

I enjoyed the first few sips but not so much after that.

This was actually the best of the teas I tried from TeaSource. Small leaf size surprised me by the complex nature of the brew. Good characters that developed as I drank the tea, undertones of chocolate and malt.

Be careful to not let this tea over-brew.

This is critical of me to say, but this doesn’t taste like any Ruby 18 I’ve had before….which leads me to think that it isn’t a real one. Carries a bitter edge, lacks the complex nature that I’ve enjoyed in the others.

Does have a malty assam side to it…but wouldn’t order this tea again.

It really does taste like blueberries. More of blueberry flavored things.

Really quite bitter. Would only be best with milk and sugar. lots of sugar.