The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

Azzrian Thanks, girl!

The Pu-erh is quite pleasant flavored this way! I do like that! The Coconut is a bit sweet, a little smooth, a little tropical – not over powering but decent. I do like that! The cacao…well, not too shabby but not awesome. It’s ok. The more I drink it – the more I think the level of flavor is pretty good…and not meant to be much more powerful than it is so it’s growing on me. Overall I DO like this flavor especially for a flavored pu-erh. I really think the coconut is the highlight for me, personally, tho!

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml of water

Milky floral oolong aroma in the brewed tea scent. Hints of soft vanilla sweetness and orange-y citrus; reminding me of orange creamsicle.

Creamy vanilla pudding flavour. Very mild citrus. Grapefruit astringency close to the end of the sip mixed with floral hints. Mouth-feel is a little thin for the flavour

Second infusion at 4 minutes. Muted creaminess. Citrus-y flavour comes through more. The grapefruit note is toned down but still present near the end of the sip into the aftertaste. Vanilla-like sweetness present but not as strong as in the first infusion.

Many thanks to Sil for sharing this with me!

Having tried many of The Persimmon Tree’s teas – they have a couple that are more centered around the tea, with light flavoring accenting the tea – White Peach is one of them. If you enjoy a good white peony/bai my dan, this is up your alley.

Iced, however, White Peach is a monster of flavor – peachy, lightly floral and sweet. I can see this tea being a staple for me in the summer, very yummy!

full review on my blog, oolong owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/white-peach-from-the-persimmon-tree-tea-review-and-promo-code/

Earl Grey cremes are my favorite type of EG. This was from a sample order that came in a few days ago. I put it in my tumbler as I was going out the door this morning with a bit of honey and milk. Creamy and delish. The bergamot comes through as well as the vanilla but the vanilla presents to me more as general sweetness. I usually keep Teavana’s EG creme because theirs smells so intoxicatingly well, and compared in smell profile this was less odorous (I did also have a smaller quantity).

Loose
Appearance: dark loose curled leaf
Aroma when Dry: honeysuckle, sweet, woody, faint floral
After water is first poured: honeysuckle syrup
At end of first steep: bright, sweet, floral
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: leather brown
Staple?No
Preferred time of day: any, save evening
Taste:
At first?: crisp, smooth leather notes, floral honeysuckle close
As it cools?: honeysuckle notes open, tea starts to get slightly peaty, foresty, tea gets bodied
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Perfumy floral honeysuckle notes

Second Steep (3 min)
At first: lighter texture, same notes

I’m still surprised I am the only one to log this! It’s decent – not overly strong, but fairly tasty. See other notes. I would like to try this as a base for a flavored sun tea or iced tea soon!

Random but fun food…Cabbage Rolls…anyone?
http://blissfulyogajourney.blogspot.com/2013/02/vegan-cabbage-rolls-healthy-vegan.html

Check em out!

I would like to try my next Cabbage Rolls with green tea infused cabbage…just sayin’!

I seriously can’t believe I am the first one to log this!

This is pretty good…a little bit on the light side of English Breakfasts but still pretty good.

It’s clean, it’s a little smooth and has a hint of peppery-goodness. Not too shabby.

The only thing I would change is the strength/boldness…I would increase it…but I like things strong, I guess. Overall – a nice one to have on hand for friends and family!

Loose
Appearance: grey green large pouchang curls
Aroma when Dry: dry, subtly smoky floral notes
After water is first poured: sweet beans, floral notes
At end of first steep: clear
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? no
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first?: buttery sweet lima bean bean and cauliflower notes, vegital
As it cools?: notes get creamier, smoother, open up, tea gets juicy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, creamy, almost milky vegetal notes, bean,corn notes

Second Steep(5min):
At first: buttery, light mineral notes, vegital, brothy
As it cools: notes open up again

Loose
Appearance: Deep black tea, bright vanilla bits
Aroma when Dry: desserty sweet (western), nutty, earthy
After water is first poured: vanilla pound cake
At end of first steep: creamy vanilla
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: light meadow brown
Staple? No, but would drink again
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening
Taste:
At first?: light crisp creamy vanilla notes
As it cools?: Vanilla notes open up greatly, tea gets bodied
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, buttery crisp vanilla, no sweetness in aftertaste

Full Review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 5th of Feb but for now here are the snippits:

Tropical Pineapple from The Persimmon Tree really makes me feel like listening to Jimmy Buffet music, or Calypso music. I tried this hot first, just because I do all my reviews sipping on hot tea, but then I had to toss some ice into the cup because mmmmmm it is SO very extra good iced!

The organic green base has just the right amount of butteriness to make the tropical fruit flavors really pop! There is also a natural sweetness to the tea base with just a slight amount of astringency which to me only makes it seem more like a mixed drink beverage.

The pineapple notes are excellent, but at the same time its not overdone to where it tastes like your drinking the syrup from a can of pineapple cuts. Its light enough to be refreshing yet sweet and fruity enough to appease the desire for something a little more than just a good green base tea.

I am still trying to figure out pu erhs. This is the first loose leaf type pu erh I’ve ever had. I brewed it as per the instructions from Persimmon Tree – 3 minutes (western style). The liquor is dark – just like black coffee. It smells like burning leaves or cigarette ash – but not in a bad way at all – woodsy and smoky. It is not bitter at all but rather a little smoky. This is the first steep (I did a short rinsing). I do not get any fishy smell at all. This is the first infusion.

backlog from yesterday. Totally forgot to log this. SIPDOWN! as well, though it was a sample size :)

The Persimmon Tree recommends brewing this at 185 so I’m glad that I did a quick check on their website before brewing this. Otherwise it would have been an over brewed cup of tea!

What I have instead is a very pleasant cup of black tea that has a strength to it, without being bitter or astringent. There’s a hint of sweetness in the aroma that isn’t present in the cup, which I’m ok with as I love my blacks to be bold! This is the kind of black tea that you could have both morning and afternoon that doesn’t need sugar or milk to satisfy. I can see wanting to reorder this when I manage to get my cupboard down to a more manageable size!

Vanilla is probably one of the most basic tea flavors, but surprisingly I’ve tried almost no vanilla teas! In fact, my first was Della Terra’s Cafe Vanilla in the 12 days of Christmas swap. I don’t know why I’ve kind of avoided vanilla, maybe because it’s just so basic I always get drawn to fancier and more exotic blends. But sometimes you want a cup of simple comfort!

Dry, this tea smells so scrumptious. Like baking! There are big chunks of vanilla pod in there which is a good sign, along with some almond slivers. Steeped it tastes, unsurprisingly, like vanilla bean ice cream. The vanilla is light though, not overpowering in fact I expected it to be a lot stronger. There’s a nice toasty, nutty flavor from the almonds and it makes me think of sugar cookies for some reason while I sip this. The black base comes through nicely, I think this would be an excellent evening blend! Thanks to The Persimmon Tree for this sample.

(for review of this pu’er, please see my previous notes).

Sip down! This pu’er served me well, a go to for some nice ripe pu’er. OMG, ummm, I managed to cut and irritate the inside of my throat by swallowing my multivitamin this morning. Seriously! I figured I should get some pu’er in me to help out with the irritation, which has helped some it seems.
Taste wise today, not much I can taste and on the light amber side – could be my throat or the fact I underleafed as I only had a little left.

Gah, I got the post vacation sickness! I had the sniffles on the cruise and I made sure to drink lots (of tea) and wash my hands often. Day after the cruise, bam, sinus pain and everything tastes like snot. YES!

Hopefully lots of pu’er will unclog the cold. I find this loose pu’er to be my go to for something rich and earthy.

What, I’m still sick? I was feeling okay over the weekend, as long as I had water or tea with me and I didn’t get dehydrated.
I went to jiujitsu and did fine, and I wake up today in total throat sinus meltdown.
With that said, another pu’er day! My shu pu’er yixing pot is getting lots of use these days!

As always, a fine pu’er with some interesting sweet notes. I’m eating some caramel mousse greek yogurt (so good!) which pairs amazingly with the tea.

If he was alive today, it’s Helio Gracie’s 100th birthday (one of the founders of brazilian jiujitsu) and grandfather to my instructors at my school. It’s going to be 100 minutes of sparring tonight, and I really want to go, so I need to be in good health. More pu’er!

(review http://oolongowl.com/honeysuckle-by-the-persimmon-tree-tea-review-and-promo-code/ )

Die cold, die!

Pu’er also does amazing things for when i have anything wrong with my throat. I can chain guzzle lemon honey and green tea, but pu’er does the trick in loosening slimey throat items, stopping coughs and clearing my voice.

This was one of my first straight pu’erhs and sadly now I’ve had better ones, but this one is pretty good for its juicy and honey notes.

After this, I’m going to make some firey sujebi soup. I will burn the cold out of me!

I don’t know what is up with pu’erhs, but when I have an icky cough, a few rounds of pu’erh helps out.

This pu’erh is really nice. Oddly, I had a great first steeping which was unexpected. 2nd was too strong, 3rd was tasty! I’m on the 4th now and it this is the best one, next to the first!

I drank this tea all day, using only 2teaspoons! I got 5 good steepings and I got tired and switched to a white tea.

I played with steepings a bit – I did my steepings in this order: 30seconds, 45, 55, 75 and 4 minutes. Lol, the 4 minute steeping was for the roommate who wanted it strong! Pretty good! my favorite steepings were the 2-4 – they were consistently pretty good.

I was sipping away, crocheting a new pattern I’m creating. I had a cough this morning and pu’erh always gets rid of my cough and clears my throat! I really need to buy some teaware – but theres more earrings and tea I want to buy!

Wow, this pu’erh is very nice! I found it the least fishy unflavored pu’erh I’ve had, with some really nice honey and floral notes. This tea also resteeps very well, with 2nd and 3rd infusions that were amazing and I didn’t want to end! Later infusions became juicy with those honey notes! Honeysuckle was not bitter, even with multiple infusions.

I’m keeping this tea stocked for sure!
I did a full tea review here: http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/honeysuckle-by-the-persimmon-tree-tea-review-and-promo-code/
and I also have a Promo Code posted there if you wanna give this tea a shot!

Ahh, Earl Grey Cream, one of my absolute favorite teas. I’ve been thinking about that thread—the “if you could only drink one tea for the rest of your life, what would it be?” one… and EGC might be it for me. That or a nice brisk assam, or bao zhong. Okay so I could never choose one, BUT Earl Grey Cremes are near the very top of the list. I have tried a ton of them, but mysteriously this one slipped through my fingers even though I have tasted a ton from The Persimmon Tree. So how does it stack up against the myriad of other EGCs?

Well, it’s impossible to go wrong here really. Earl Grey + Vanilla? This one, though, is one of the creamiest I’ve had. Well, not creamy, but vanilla-y. Often the flavor comes out as just plain cream, but here it’s distinctly nice vanilla—not boring vanilla extract, but actual whole bean vanilla. It’s very complex and gives the tea an almost pudding-like dimension with milk and sugar (which I used on my first steep). Rich, decadent, very dessert-like. Towards the end of the cup I’m reminded of a vanilla cupcake with lemon zest in the batter, or I guess bergamot zest if that’s a thing you could actually bake with.

While the bergamot isn’t in the forefront in the first steep, it comes out loud and strong in the second one and the vanilla smooths out even more. It’s less prominent, but still distinctly an EGC—just with more bergamot than most, which is good because many go light on the bergamot and super heavy on the cream. Here I think they’re nicely balanced, and I definitely have enough to try my favorite EGC method, cold brewing! Thanks to The Persimmon Tree for this sample, it’s divine!

Another company has this same tea, if I recall correctly? Anyways, the coconut in this very old sample is well on the road to being bad, so we’ll see if I suffer through the ~3 more cups left in the little baggie. I know this was decent when it was fresh, and it has hints of goodness still, but flavoured puerhs ultimately aren’t my thing as I just really don’t care for the base.