thepuriTea

It’s alright. It smells amaaaazing in the package. The creaminess/milkiness is not very strong as compared to other milk oolongs I’ve tried. It’s also almost completely gone by 2nd/3rd steep (gongfu style even). Then again, also way cheaper than the good stuff :P

edit: I find this pretty good for making butter tea with, instead of gongfu (which goes generic vegetal real fast)

I don’t get fruit or spices at all—what I did get this round is way more earthy nuttiness and wildflower honey. The toastiness brought on a lot of childhood nostalgia of guo ba (the rice that gets stuck and toasted on the sides of the pan), and smells of it too. It took awhile for me to remember exactly what it reminded me of, I’m so happy now.

It sets itself apart from other roasted teas or genmaicha I’ve tried (lots of them make me nauseous after awhile with their HEY I’M ROASTED taste in my face). Love the undertones of filbert hazelnuts too. Delicious :D

I didn’t get cashews/nuts at all—it was all strongly roasted barley for me, and more so with further infusions. I much prefer the non-roasted dong ding for its sweeter, subtle taste. Maybe I’d like it sweetened…

Tea of the morning here. I forgot I had this until I was poking around in my cupboards yesterday, sometimes having too much tea is perilous because you forget about stuff you have and really enjoy!

I’m still not feeling great, my cold is still lingering and my tastebuds are still off, but I am still getting a nice jasmine-y note from this one as well as chocolate. I’m not always such a big fan of jasmine (especially the artificial kind) but when jasmine teas are done right they can be very good if I am in the mood for them. Too bad thePuritea is out of business, I liked several of their offerings.

Happy Tuesday!

It’s sad when you discover a tea you really like and then the company discontinues it, or in this case the company goes out of business!

I haven’t had this in a while because I’ve been hoarding it a bit. The sweetness of the golden yunnan mixes so well with the natural jasmine. I really don’t like jasmine teas that are overly perfume-y and drying. This hits the sweet spot for me. A nice, gentle way to wake up!

This came in the black tea sampler I ordered from the PuriTea, I was dreading this a bit because I’m not really a fan of jasmine in most things. It isn’t something I would have chosen for myself.

This is all gentle chocolate flavor with a bit of caramel. I’m sipping on it this morning plain. This is my second cup, the first cup I tried with almond milk and that ruined the delicate flavor of the tea. (In any case I should stop putting almond milk in my tea because I don’t really like it).

This is a great tea to just sip on plain and I don’t drink too many black teas that way. It has a nice, natural sweetness that is really lovely. I am definitely going to want to pick up a larger size when the mini tin runs out. I can definitely see this being good as an afternoon tea with some coconut macaroons or almond cookies. I’m amazed I have rated a jasmine tea so high… I decided to order the 4 oz. size since they have free shipping for the rest of the year.

it was ok, nothing really stood out; a basic oolong that can be a bit astringent.

wow, very strong lychee fruit taste with a bit of nuttiness/woodsiness. didn’t expect to like it (i usually don’t like fruity teas), but surprised myself.

I believe this is the last sample I got from the puriTea that I have yet to try. I love the fact that the samples come in mini tins instead of plastic bags because I will reuse the tins or they can at least be recycled.

Red robes are one of my favorite teas for the winter time. This is a nice example of a wuyi roasted oolong. I am getting flavors of charcoal, cocoa, raisins and toasted barley. It’s comforting and somehow warming. Not the best RR I have ever had but still really enjoyable with a stone fruit after taste. This would be a great tea to cozy up with on a rainy day with a good book.

I picked up this tea sample tin from the puriTea, I don’t have a lot of Chinese greens at the moment and I’ve been craving them somewhat.

The aroma of this tea is floral and nutty, and reminds me of a green oolong. The tea liquor brews up to be a nice golden yellow.

I’m enjoying this as an after lunch tea and it’s yummy! Nuttiness is my initial impression going in but as the tea lingers on your palate a bit it becomes very vegetal, assertive and a bit bitter. Steeping suggestions call for 1 -3 minutes and mine was closer to 3. I think I will try 1 minute next time, it’s a bit too strong for me right now and I’m finding the after taste a bit harsh. Rating may be subject to change. :)

This is one of the sample mini tins I got with my puriTea black reserve sampler.

I don’t drink a lot of black teas without additions but the ones I do drink plain usually come from China. This is a lovely cuppa. I am getting the honey aroma and flavor that other people have mentioned. The tea is extremely smooth and devoid of astringency. The peppery notes are certainly present with a slight note of tobacco in the finish. I also tried adding soymilk to it, and that transformed it into a golden caramel-y type of drink. Definitely versatile and good both ways. I would get some more of this!

Tea of the late morning here and part of thepuriTea’s fancy black tea sampler. I like darjeelings since they are one black tea I prefer to drink plain. To me they really seem more like oolongs than black teas. The puriTEa has some odd steeping recommendations: 5-7 minutes for a darjeeling? that really seems like overkill.

Anyway this is the 2nd flush tea from Sungma. I’ve had one of these before from Harney and Sons. Compared to the HS version this seems slightly less flavorful but very smooth. I am not getting a big floral element but more of a fruity and mineral one. I like the fact that this cuppa doesn’t have much astringency to it.

Not the best 2nd flush darjeeling I’ve had but certainly tasty. It’s raining today and I think I’ll have some more of this later this afternoon. Great day to drink tea and think of a warmer climate. :)

Thanks to terri for sending some of this my way, I also got some in thepuriTea reserve black tea sampler I just got. Couldn’t resist the free shipping deal they have going on.

I wasn’t sure how many pearls to use exactly so I ended up with 5 in a mug of tea. This may have been not enough leaf because the tea seems a bit watered down to me. I am getting the lovely malty aroma and flavor and yes, there is a bit of apple like fruitiness present, which is really cool. So far I like it but I need more tea vs. less water I think. Not going to do a rating for now. Has anyone tried to gong fu this? I might need to!

Yummy good green Ti Kuan Yin

Pleasantly pleased with this one

I never would have thought to combine jasmine with a Yunnan tea. I do like the idea, but this one’s a first for me. I received this in a swap and as my message box and my own memory are failing me at the moment, I cannot remember who sent this to me. I apologize, but thank you nonetheless!

Sipping… this one is very interesting. The first thing that I taste is the jasmine. It’s definitely nice and sweet — I like that it’s not stinky as it sometimes can be. It’s awfully strong, though. It stays present throughout the entire sip, but lets the Yunnan peek through every once and a while.. but just barely. The Yunnan is rather weak and tries to tone down the floral notes, but only manages to be present on the tongue for a matter of seconds. The jasmine takes over in the end and contributes a honey-like sweetness for a memorable finish.

This is a nice and unique combination of jasmine and Yunnan. I wish that the jasmine could be toned down a bit so that the Yunnan could shine through. Yunnan is such a nice tea on its own that it’s hard to see why you’d want to add anything else that could potentially mask its natural flavors. This would be a nice choice for anyone who loves jasmine, but might want a different take on the tea base.

One of the problems with being self-employed is that it’s easy to just goof off an entire morning, with little to nothing accomplished, & I’m sorry to say that is the case today. I’ve spent the entire morning mainly sitting here (and by ‘here’ I mean the dining room table, where my laptop usually lives), just drinking tea, reading posts of FB & steepster, reading emails, & eating breakfast. I’ve also been doing laundry in the background, almost done with that.

A part of me wants to feel guilty (that would be Ms Theresa). In her opinion, I should have been practicing for one of my upcoming performances, or paying bills, or working on my novel. She’s probably right, but I’ve been exhausted for the last few days, & little terri & I agree that we needed this goof off morning. We had a good breakfast, some tasty teas, accomplished a few sipdowns, & all of my laundry will be clean. So there, Ms Theresa!
AND this is another sipdown! 197!

As far as Darjeelings go, this is a pleasant cup. Not bold or deep, but lightly malty & sweet in a fruity kind of way.

I served this one to my student, D.
It’s a decent afternoon tea, but I wish I’d made something strong & smokey.

On this All Hallows Eve I wanted something buttery, vegetal and creamy and this did not disappoint

I steeped this twice, once yesterday and once this morning. :) I didn’t have much time to enjoy it yesterday, and I committed the horrific taboo of sweetening it on the first steep before I realized what I was doing… X-P I kicked myself pretty hard, because I let auto-pilot take over.

First steep: 1 minute 45 seconds; Color: a yellowish amber; Aroma: sweet, creamy, slightly vegetal
I shouldn’t have sweetened it. The sugar is throwing off the… well, everything. The mouthfeel, the flavor, the aroma, everything. :(

Second steep: 2 minutes; Color: a darker amber, more orange; Aroma: very grassy, vegetal, with a hint of cream
Let me just say that this is a VERY green oolong. The picture on this page does not quite look like my leaves did. Of course, now they’re all unfurled, and they have more than quadrupled in volume… which has only further revealed how very very green they are. The vegetal taste is pretty overpowering this time. I don’t really detect any cream.

Not gonna rate this one, because I messed up the tasting.

Additional notes: Having this one again while using the same parameters as other dragon pearls: five pearls, boiling, rinse, 2 min steep, 4 min steep. These particular pearls from the sale from Puritea’s closing sale seem less red than before and certainly less red than the picture. The color of the cup is certainly red, even if the pearls themselves aren’t. This is a lighter pearl, but the flavor is so unique and fantastic! I mentioned honey with hints of chocolate before, but the fragrance from the cup before taking a sip is pure maple syrup, just that particular flavor! I didn’t notice that before! I happen to love maple syrup so that is fine with me. These go higher on the list because of how unique they are. The second steep has a deeper flavor while still maintaining those maple syrup qualities.

Another one Terri Harplady included in the teabox for me in my special baggie of teas. thank you! :D Dragon pearls again so soon? Why yes. I’m not sure why these are called red pearls… maybe only because in China black tea is called red tea? I used four pearls for these steeps.

First steep // 3 min // 20 min after boiling (deciding which tea)
This one is SPECIAL. It doesn’t even seem like a black tea because there is just a honey honey honey flavor! The texture is even like honey! I’ve never had a tea like this before. I couldn’t guess it was a black tea, honestly. Maybe it is just because of the lower temperature? Definitely no astringency.

Second steep // 4 min // right after boiling
The amazing honey is still here, but now there is a deeper flavor — a bit like chocolate with honey notes, a bit more astringency that is just noticeable (but the first cup was just SWEET.) Still not quite like a distinct black tea. So so good. I’m very amazed that even black (or red) dragon pearls seem to be so unique!

Third steep // 3 min // right after boiling
This cup was much like the second but there was a hint of oakiness that detracted from the honey chocolate! So the light honey flavor from the first cup definitely wasn’t just from the lower temperature, as the other two cups would have had a stronger flavor right after boiling. This has to be the sweetest black tea I’ve tried.

I love these. I have eight more pearls – so two more steeping sessions to savor later!