TeaSource

I got this one in my swap with Inkling. Weirdly, it tastes a lot like DF’s Pecan Pie, which is one of the teas I sent her. Like that tea, it bears very little resemblance to its namesake but tastes quite strongly of marzipan. It’s fine, but, like with Pecan Pie, I was hoping it’d do what it says on the tin, and it really doesn’t. There’s a hint of pistachio at the end, and a certain richness and sweetness that I suppose could evoke shortbread. Decent, but not a standout.

This was an enjoyable oolong that fit the description quite well. Sweet, toasty and fruity.

So much cinnamon!!! I’m not really picking up on any of the other flavors that are supposed to be in this one, just lots of sweet and spicy cinnamon…kind of like I melted Red Hots into my cup. The super-strong flavor makes it a good sick day tea, but it’s not really what I was hoping for from the description. Will finish what I have, but probably won’t be re-ordering.

Thank you to Inkling for this sample! I brewed a cup of this last night before I went to bed, and then a pot this morning.

-Very rooibosy, woody, minerals
-Distinct marzipan/almond flavour. It reminds be a lot of African Celebration (Jeoffery’s Tea and Coffee)
-Slightly sweet and nutty
-A bit plain, but not a bad blend

Thank you to Inkling for the sample!

mmmm tastes like a creamy, frothy rootbeer! Of course, they added stevia, which was completely unnecessary. Some

Sweet sarsaparilla/rootbeer with lots of vanilla and cream. I like the chamomile and wintermint combination. This is a really tasty herbal, but I hate stevia and wish they had left that out.

TeaSource Spice was good, but it wasn’t spicy enough for me. Rather bland. So I crunched up some cinnamon sticks into it, and now it’s much more interesting and spicy.

This one is from Sil, who got it from Stephanie, who apparently got it from TeaNecromancer.

What a journey.

I rinsed, and am steeping one heart for a while in my usual mug. It kinda smells like just a floral black tea. Tastes kinda like a floral black tea. Has the puerh been sitting too long? IDK. There’s no funk. Just a little astringency.

Not bad, but not really my ahem cup of tea.

ALSO, I forgot to mention this. I made a gluten free bread dough that’s actually OK. I have calzones in the oven. CALZONES. SO EXCITE.

Note: I am very new to pu’er and am mostly writing a review for my own records. My opinion is not that of a seasoned veteran.

The brick is very dark and very dense, difficult to break up. I used an oyster knife and had to put a lot of weight behind it to get anywhere. In the little chunk I broke off, I found a bit of red string and a human hair. Not a great first impression.

The gaiwan lid smell after the rinse is pretty fishy and a little burnt. Rinse soup was pretty light and thin. The first steep (~6s) gave a much deeper colored soup and the smell of the lid lost a lot of its pungency, it sort of smelled like nothing other than a faint hay smell. Pretty weak flavor, it reminds me of the tea you get served free at a Chinese restaurant but with a little hint of fishiness. Second steep (~10s) brought some of the smokey smell back. I can barely see light through the soup in my 200ml glass cha hai. Flavor is coming through a little. I taste chalk and wet earth. There is a bit more aftertaste happening as well but it’s shallow in the throat and not very strong. Third steep (~15s) got rid of the smokiness but I got back a little fishiness and new tennis ball can on the lid aroma. Smelled like waking up in a tent after the sun has been beating down on it. Similar color in the soup. Flavor is going a little more vegetal, like boiled tubers you didn’t wash the dirt off of. Aftertaste is even weaker than the second steep, I don’t think I’ll get it back. Fourth steep (~20s) and the smokey aroma is back. It smells like burnt firewood that you left in the pit and it got rained on. Soup is lightening up a little bit. Flavor is very light again and the body has almost disappeared. No aftertaste, no throat feeling, just boring tea. We’re back to the flavorless Chinese restaurant oolong. Slight mushroom creaminess to the flavor.

I’m going to keep drinking this I guess but I’ll stop writing it down, it’s just boring at this point. At $0.09/g, I would not buy again. It was an impulse buy while I waited for an order from China since I live down the street from a TeaSource.

Has a strong umami character with green veg, grass, and corn notes. There is also a scent of burnt rubber in the gaiwan. Has a very light sweetness that decreases with each steeping. Brewing Gong Fu style, it’s good for 4-6 infusions, starting with 15 sec and increasing the time from there. Not sure about the quality of this tea compared to any other Bi Luo Chun. Dry leaves are almost brown and turn a very pale green after brewing. It’s a nice tea that can be brewed many different ways but one that I have to be in just the right mood for.

I bought this tea a few years ago, and mostly forgot about it. At the time, I had a pretty narrow idea about what tea is “supposed” to taste like, and this didn’t fit.

Now that my perspective has changed, I dug it out again. I’m glad I did.

1 cute little pressed heart in my 120mL gaiwan, with boiling water. 5 sec rinse, then started infusing at 5s.

The result is sweet, floral, and smooth. No discernible bitterness. The rose mostly comes through in the scent and the aftertaste.

I have a fondness for Nilgiri teas…iced. Most are a bit abrasive hot (with the exception of the lovely Conoor Estate Nilgiri I had from Single Origin Teas). But they do have those brisk tannins that stand up to ice in a way “nicer” teas can’t. During a sample day I tried this hot and of course didn’t quite care for it. But it had a lovely raisin flavor I just had to try cold so I brought some home. At around $2/oz I couldn’t really go wrong. I’ve been too lazy to properly ice it, but it has been fantastic cold brewed. Brisk and crisp with a dark raisin maltyness at the end. So good for the first time this summer I am cold brewing absolutely nothing else.

The leaves on this are also very lovely. Long, thin, wiry, and very dark.

“Roasted seaweed” is the best description I can come up with for how this tea tastes. A little bit grassy, a little bit salty, and just a hint of smoke. The leaf is also very finely shredded, escaping through the holes of my infuser and leaving behind a thick layer of residue in the bottom of my cup. This was an interesting tea to sample, but probably not something I would ever re-purchase.

I had this at the tea tasting on Tuesday and it left quite the impression on me. I didnt take any notes on it other than “very good, fresh, *”, but I remember being impressed about how clear and green it tasted without being grassy. Also there really wasn’t a hint of astringentcy in my cup. I keep regretting not picking up 2 oz of it, but I’m currently on a tea buying hiatus until I can sip down some of what I have…and errr…get a job.

This tea has a nice toasty seaweed taste that’s perfect as an afternoon splurge. It steeps a light yellow and has a pretty seaweed smell to it with flat pan roasted leaves. I haven’t tried re-steeping it yet since I’ve only had it twice. I’ll update my review later after I try steeping it for a second time.

I received 2 oz. of this tea for free after ordering several other teas from Tea Source and so far I’m relatively happy with it. While it doesn’t really smell like much in the bag (basically it just smells like generic black tea), it has a nice smooth taste that first time tea drinkers would enjoy. Even as a bit of an old hat with tea I still find drinking this tea enjoyable. I let it steep for about 10 minutes, since I like my black tea nice and strong and then doctored it with a little bit of local honey and lactaid. It stands up to the ‘milk and sugar’ very well and has a smooth robust flavor that sits surprisingly gently on the palate. When left to steep this long it comes out in a beautiful mahogany color that turns into a gorgeous tan when milk is applied. While it wouldn’t be my first choice for my early cuppa, it is perfect for those who don’t want a ‘blended’ tea first thing in the morning. Or for somebody new to tea.

An excellent example of the form, Earl Grey White Tip is by far my favorite EG.

Yesterday I tried it gongfu cha style. The resulting brew had a strong bergamot flavor, more forward than the western style brew. I started at 30 seconds and increased it a bit each time, until about 2 minutes for the final, 5th infusion.

I bought this months ago, but finally remembered to buy a can of sweetened condensed milk so I could try it this weekend! This is an interesting product: basically, just a blend of fresh spices that you are instructed to mix with sweetened condensed milk and then add to black tea. I followed the directions on the bag to the letter, mixing 1 tablespoon of the chai into a can of sweetened condensed milk and letting it sit overnight, then mixing 1 tablespoon of the resulting “goop” into a brewed cup of their Breakfast Assam. This resulted in a sweet, creamy, spicy cup of tea with a fair amount of heat…a bit more ginger than I would personally prefer. While this is definitely an easy way to make a chai latte, the flavor leaves something to be desired for me. I prefer their (sadly discontinued) Reena’s Chai tea over this one.

I’ve been trying to drink down some small samples I have of tea today. So far, I feel I have not had a great cup of tea today but nothing really bad either.

This one was very spicy and fruity when I opened the bag. It’s got notes of nutmeg, clove, and maybe cardamom? There’s also good citrus notes from the orange. The tea base of black tea is very mild (which is okay with me – not being a black tea lover). This is definitely a good tea for a cold autumn day. Instead it is a cool summer day today but I am still enjoying the tea.