The Tao of Tea

Sipdown This was a really lovely tea. With the ridiculous amount of Assams I currently have in my cupboard, I don’t think I’m going to pick up a full-size tin of this one any time soon. But I will certainly take an oz or two with my next Tao of Tea order. I did have to lower the rating just a bit, because it seems super dependent on temperature. Even 5 degrees off and it looses a bit of its magic. But no matter how I brew it it’s still quite lovely.

Oh, wow, this is nice. Pure malt with a lovely deep sweetness. Hands down my favorite Assam of all time. Wish I’d have picked up more than an ounce!

I messed up the steeping on this one, but I’m pretty glad I did because it came out lovely. Instructions say to steep a tsp in 12 oz at 180º but I did my usual rounded tsp in 8oz at around 200º. Despite being named ‘strong’ black it is really very light. I imagine steeping as instructed would result in something far too weak for my tastes. There’s no astringency to note so I think I’ll steep an extra 30 seconds next time and see how that goes.
Though it’s not very strong it is very yummy. It’s light and sweet and citrusy. A little malty with a bit of stone fruit hiding in there and overall incredibly smooth. As the cup cooled a bit of cinnamon like spice became noticeable as well. Very nice.

I really like this one. It’s incredibly flavorful with tons of interesting notes hiding throughout the sip. Orange zest, sugarcane, potato and sweet potato a bit of undistinguishable spice… maybe pepper? And it’s a bit astringent. Not especially bitter but drying on my tongue. It’s not at all an unpleasant astringency.
If I hadn’t read the description I wouldn’t have guessed this was a Yunnan. It seems to have the mouthfeel of an Assam with a taste somewhere in between that and a Yunnan. Really unique and delightful. So far I’ve been extremely pleased with Tao of Tea’s products. I wonder why they aren’t more popular around these parts?

Pass the Stash TTB 2
I took a sample of this and never got around to trying it. It’s hard to taste the bergamot past the strong smokey flavor. I love a good earl grey but this isn’t it for me.

I only recommend this tea as a easy to acquire or ‘starter’ puer. I drink it because it’s cheap and labelled organic and fair trade (although I’ve heard that’s questionable and will eventually submit samples to testing labs myself and report results on here.) It’s also become readily available in natural food stores. I like my Puer really dark and thick with chocolate flavors and this one does have that. I do my steeps on this for 3 minutes for the first and second, any longer and it gets a little funky which shows it’s quality, and up to 5 minutes for the 3rd to get it to come out dark. The 4th steep isn’t worth it but I’ll drink it sometimes rather than putting on a whole new pot. All around a decent meal time or work day tea, but not something I’d pick when I want to sit and really enjoy some good tea.

This is my second order of jasmine pearls, the first of which came from Mighty Leaf. The two teas smell about the same, though when you open the Tao of Tea Jasmine Pearls, you can tell that the jasmine is more subdued, without that saccharine smell that the Mighty Leaf Jasmine Downy Pearls have. The smell of this tea is a little less overwhelming. Both teas steep well, but this one also has a less pronounced Jasmine taste. There is something different about the taste as well if you leave the teabag in to steep, but I haven’t quite figured out what it is. Perhaps it’s just slightly more bitter.

I would assume that most jasmine pearls would have a similar flavor. The green tea in this version is light, so it doesn’t overpower the jasmine. It’s a good tea, and less pricey than some of the other options. This also comes in a tin, which is nice in my opinion, and 4 oz should last a long time.

Had this one stored away for years as well – probably not fair to rate, but I still quite enjoyed it:

While heating water I admire the tippy, delicate, uniformly rolled, black silver-tinged needles. I have to look up FBOPF, and emerge from the rabbit hole of tea grades and lowland Ceylon history only as my timer tells me it’s time to remove the unglazed infuser from my cup.

Very low earthy aroma, but any notes of raw sugar, black currant, or citrus have disappeared probably due to the age of the tea. There is little of olfactory note remaining.

The flavor on the other hand is “deep” indeed, emerging slowly from an abyss to overtake the palate – a woodsy, astringent, distinctive profile that is quite brisk (almost biting) with an extended drying finish (albeit with a vague lingering bittersweet note for balance in the aftertaste). Impressed with the continued pungency of this tea (without excessive bitterness) despite its age – though I believe Paharatha (low grown) ceylon is known for this quality rather than subtlety or complexity?

Nicely revitalizing on a work day when what I really need is a nap.

From Pass the Stash TTB 2.0

This tea has received very little love from other Steepsters, but I am adoring it. There is the classic Earl Grey flavor with a good amount of bergamot. The bergamot is all citrus and very little floral. The smokey flavor follows right behind, and while it is smokey it’s not harsh. It also doesn’t overwhelm the bergamot at any point. This would be an excellent EG to have in my cupboard come winter.

Finishing off a tin that I’ve stored for a long time – the flavors and aromas are muted compared to what they once were, but the smooth, autumnal character hasn’t changed.

Brewed in my black tea-filter-cup, I can’t fairly remark on the appearance of the liquor.

Distinctive almost vegetal aroma (mushrooms, dry wild grass, autumn leaves, etc.) leads into a malty palate entry with smooth almost nutty flavors joining in as we reach the creamy slightly sweet finish suggesting Japanese sweet potatoes with hints of mild honey. A bit more complexity is revealed as the tea cools, and a second steep yields nearly identical flavors as the first, but things quickly fade by the third infusion.

I’m curious about the origin of this tea – since it is from Guangxi I don’t think it is related to Biluochun (the famous Green Snail Spring tea sometimes called Green Spiral); I see Hojo sells a “Golden Bud” tea made from Ling-Yun Bai-hao, also from Guangxi, but that appears to be processed more like what Tao of Tea sells as “Emperor’s Gold” (from Yunnan). Sometimes more research just leads to greater confusion, so I’ll stop here.

Today I am having this with a lighter steep and some milk, and its much more drinkable this way. Hooray, a way to drink a tea!
Its gonna be a busy day. Its my first day of pet sitting for a friend. I did this last year, taking care of the canaries, the ducks, the parakeet and the cat.
Busy!

I’ve owned this for quite a while. I think my sister gave it to me.
I’m trying to be organized and drink down teas that have been neglected. This one might be a problem. For starts, I have a ton of it. For seconds, I’m not very impressed by it at all.
For starts, its not leaf, but these little weird granules, but hey.
And its a bit bitter. There are undertones of maltyness, but its really dark, bitter and heavy.
I normally drink my tea without additives, but today I filled up my little creamer with milk, and am going to try a cup with an additive, and see how I think of it.
With milk its a bit easier to drink. It cuts the bitter down, but unfortunatly I’m not much more enamored of the taste of the tea.
Oh well. I’ll think of something to do with this.

Thank you to whoever sent me this sample! This is a pleasant oolong. It has a nice earthy base with floral notes. There is something fruity going on with this cup too. It almost reminds me of a dried cherry. It’s sweet but still has that tart bite to it.

Nice black base. The calendula petals make the mix look lovely. Mango flavor is pleasant, not pushy. This tea is similar to other fruit flavored black teas that I’ve had. I wonder if the flavors will pop mire if cold brewed. Luckily, the lovely and generous Sarsonator gave me enough to brew some up. I’ll report back with a cold brew update.

The leaves are visible and not crushed, a bit dry but not bad, a bit less earthy and more honey-like on the second brewing