thepuriTea

Well, it’s not bad, but it’s not ‘fresh strawberry’. And why is that? Because they used dried bits of strawberry, instead.

Anybody who has ever eaten a dried strawberry will immediately understand the difference — I’m talking really dried, not just slightly dehydrated and chewy. The flavor of the fruit changes pretty drastically when that process happens, so…you know, the flavor that you get is much different.

Not my must-have cup — I think the dried-strawberry-strawberry-candy-or-possibly-preserves taste could get old in a hurry if sipped often — but it’s going to make for a pretty awesomely tasty pitcher of iced tea, I can tell. It’s nice and naturally sweet, so sweetener won’t be necessary at all.

Yet again another tasty tea from ThePuriTea it is as promised. It has a peppery kick on the finish that lasts well after the sip which to me is AWESOME! It is rich and has a honey feel. I am starting to understand why they call themselves… The Puri Tea (Pure)

Steep Information:
Amount: ~6.4g
Water: 750ml at 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: strong passion fruit scent, candy like
Steeped Tea Smell: lightly fruity, sweet
Flavor: smooth black tea with hints of sweet fruit
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: hint of fruit, a little astringency
Liquor: dark brown

Added a little sugar and it brought out the fruit flavor, I highly recommend adding a pinch of sugar.

Delicious back tea, but not delicious enough to replace my love for thepuriTea mango black.

Images: Steep Information:
Amount: ~6.4g
Water: 750ml at 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: strong passion fruit scent, candy like
Steeped Tea Smell: lightly fruity, sweet
Flavor: smooth black tea with hints of sweet fruit
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: hint of fruit, a little astringency
Liquor: dark brown

Added a little sugar and it brought out the fruit flavor, I highly recommend adding a pinch of sugar.

Delicious back tea, but not delicious enough to replace my love for thepuriTea mango black.

Well, it’s 85F outside, but I’m still drinking hot tea. Probably not the best decision, but iced tea has never been my thing.

The first time I steeped this tea, I used too much leaf and it came out waaaaay too bitter and astringent. I forced myself to drink it, but I didn’t enjoy it and shied away from it for a couple weeks. This time was much better.

The first steep has a caramel/cocoa taste to it, although it’s not sweet by any means. I kinda think of it as a stronger version of thepuriTea’s Golden Yuunan. I think this would be a really good tea to drink first thing in the morning when it’s a little cooler outside.

The second steep is lighter than the first, more cocoa than caramel. I’m not sure how to describe the aftertaste, but it makes me want to go eat meat. Savory, I guess?

I have been waiting a very long time to try a milk oolong.

I blame this delay on the Steepster Select feature. Just at the point at which I’m considering buying more tea, something awesome gets featured and I find myself set back. Fortunately, this last select had me browsing around thePuriTea’s site, and I gleefully added milk oolong to my order.

I’m into savory teas. Creamy stuff is a weakness, but I don’t often add additives to my tea at all.

Was it worth the wait?

I think so. :)

Opening the bag, it smelled like the candy I enjoyed eating most when I was in Japan — Milky. Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s quite possible to get completely sick of milk candy in a very short period of time, but for that brief time, it is a glorious treat.

Similarly, there is a Brazilian candy that I can’t remember the name of, and it essentially consists of caramel (their caramel is rather different from ours, a bit grainy, a bit milky, and not nearly as sweet) pressed between two very thin wafers of some kind — I mean thin like a communion wafer or something, not like a wafer cookie. Those are also very delicious, and that is also what the aroma of the tea reminds me of — oolong, overlaid with that faint milky sweetness characteristic of both types of candy.

I’m not sure why I don’t connect those types of candy to milk. I never thought Milky tasted like milk, but I could tell you for certain that it was milk candy. Does that make sense? I’m sure it doesn’t, but it’s true.

Yeah. Cup is disappearing with a ferocious swiftness. Milk candy atop oolong floral notes (always gardenia to me, for whatever reason)…slightly caramel-y, but the almost-salty-very-creamy caramel of other countries, not the heavily-sugar-syrup caramel of ours.

This is…delectable. Oh, yes.

I have read — somewhere, I forget where — that some exporting tea companies flavor their milk oolongs (and other teas, like Lapsangs, for instance). I don’t know how one would determine whether or not that has been done to a tea, but I fervently hope that this tea experience is not manufactured. The thought of a plant producing something as sinfully good as what I’m sipping right now is just too lovely, and it would make me sad if it had been mucked-about-with.

sipping this on a relaxing friday night- very good tea. Tasty, fruity, rich and delicious.

I was surprised by this tea. There was an initial astringency, but it faded quickly as the tea cooled. It was then smooth and sweet. I only had a sample, but i’d like to get more.

4.3g tea
12oz water

Dark honey color. Heavy earthy aroma. Almost like roasted sunflower seeds maybe. This was a very smooth tea, not a hint of bitter or astringency. Maybe some slight notes of caramel.

First impression…WOW! It is full of flavor and sweet at the end of the sip. I felt like it was woody and earthy but not at all in a grassy way. It is way more bolder than that. This is another spectrum of earthy tastes we don’t normally get in teas and I am certainly going to have to pick some of this up. I am truly happy I got to try this.

Nice tea.

My first steep was sweet and silky. Each additionally steeping has been less sweet and less silky, but still yummy.

Good tea!

Alas my yummy friend, you are gone. You are gone, I have too much other tea, and my cupboard is too full. I may replace you, because you are an awesome tea. You remind me of autum leaves and are a great tea for the pre-winter months.

However, it will be a while until I could replace you. So long! Farewell. Be well until we see each other again.

I’ve been drinking a lot of this lately (and not positing, I know, sorry… ) and liking it. I fight with myself to not sweeten my black teas, and this one I have no problems not sweetening. It’s flavorful and lovely and does very well on it’s own.

This is lovely, and I’ve had a chance to play with it more. Cocoa overtones. Lovely dark flavors. It’s a darn good tea!

Got a new shipment of tea last night from the puriTea. Wow – that was a lot for not very much money.

This tea is neat and yummy. I need to play with it a little more to learn more about it, so I’m going to hold off on rating right now, but get dark cocoa from it and wow… very yummy.

Only problem I’ve found so far – the label direction say 5-7 minutes while the on-line say 3-5. That could cause issues.

Backlogging Wednesday

Inspired by reviews read early in the morning, I decided to do my blasphemous cold-brew for this Milk Oolong. The sample pack contains two individual servings like the others, so if it goes awry, I can try again later. The scent of the dried tea is very light, a slight creaminess, a hint of fruit – strawberry maybe, and a toasty oolong aroma.

As I said, blasphemous: full serving of tea, no additives, ¼ cup hot water, rest cold water, infusion time 3 hours before I got to it. The brew is similar in aroma. The taste is creamy and slightly nutty with a fruity and sweet end-note.

This was all in my travel mug, so I actually got the chance to brew up another cup using these leaves. I was surprised that after such a long infusion this morning, I could STILL get flavor out of these leaves. All hot water this time, again, no additives, infusion 5 minutes. This time, I drank the tea hot, it still have the nutty and creamy flavor and the strawberry finishing note, but the sweetness had subsided. So as the tea was cooler and infused longer it got sweeter – NOT more bitter, very nice.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable tea, the next purchase I make from thepuriTea will have to include more of this…

Steep Information:
Amount: entire sample
Water: 1200ml filtered water 180°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: floral, vegetal
Steeped Tea Smell: slightly floral, vegetal
Flavor: silky, floral, vegetal
Body: light
Aftertaste: bitter, sour
Liquor: translucent yellow green

It was great, until the after taste, but I used up my entire sample so can’t play with this to adjust the parameters to decrease the bitterness.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/08/thepuritea-loose-leaf-white-tea-white.html

I just realized that I’ve been on Steepster over a year now (376 days). Happy 1 year to me! I’m celebrating with a cuppa of milk oolong.

Creamy and smooth.

NOM.

NOM!

This is a wonderful milk oolong. Smooth, creamy, lovely mouthfeel, mellow flavor. Beautiful yellow colored liquor, amazing expando-leaf that grows to 3 times it’s size. This may be my favorite milk oolong so far. I think I need more of this!

So loving this. I shouldn’t be having this so late but I just needed something robust to cap off the evening and this hit the spot.

I thought I would steep my red dragon balls in some red hot water and start with a brisk early morning tea and boy did the hit the spot. The only question I have is did I order this with my last order? If not it is on my wish list for next time.

Yet another good, I like this one a lot. It has character, it is not your grandmothers tea and I like it. It is rich, bittersweet as described, robust, and earthy. Not at all boring. Some really good stuff. :-)

This is the third of five teas from thepuriTea I have now tried cold brewed. It was wonderfully simple and hit the spot.

Detailed Review Here: http://t.co/qr2IiLUD

Although, I only sampled this black I could tell that it would hold up to milk and sugar very well just from smelling the dry leaf. I enjoyed this and it wasn’t even a fancy tea. Goes to show it doesn’t need to be fancy to be tasty if you just find the right one. I found this to be smooth, slightly robust, and a bit of a mouthful in the best way possible.

Cold brewed this with some very interesting and pleasing results. Tea can be so much fun and oh so versatile. Love it!

Full Review: http://t.co/pEHnp6DH