thepuriTea

If Sil (or any other black tea lover) were sitting here with me, we’d be giddy with joy! I received a ridiculous amount of tea today, the results of one crazy evening of falling off the wagon & ordering from several venders. I got boxes from Mandala, Smith, thepuritea, & to top it all off, I got my swap from Nofar (Tel Aviv, Israel). There’s 35 samples from a bunch of companies I’ve never even heard of, & they are all unflavored, mostly black teas. I’ve been smiling all afternoon.

So I’ve decided that the next 100 or so posts should be all new teas that I’ve never tried, since I have SO MANY to sample now. Here’s the first one.

I’ve shared recently that I do have a think for Black tea pearls. I don’t know what it is about them, I guess in part it’s the novelty, but also the first ones I ever had were SO delicious. So part of my ordering frenzy included Dragon Pearls from 3 places: Adagio, Mandala, & thepuritea. I’d like to also get a few more, just because it would be fun to compare them to one another.

These are quite tasty! The aroma is fruity, but like roasted stone fruits, the flavor is a mix of Malt, chocolate, & molasses, & there is also an unexpected smokiness. Going back for the resteep now. :D

I have a funny story about these!

My husband told me the other day that he didn’t have any Red Dragon Pearls left in his work stash, and that he could use some. So, yesterday I put a little container of them in his lunch bag, marked “Red Dragon Pearl Tea” clearly on a label on the lid of the container.

He said that he opened the container in the middle of eating his lunch whilst working and not really paying attention, and thought they were chocolates (!) and popped five in his mouth!

(scream)

Let’s just say he quickly realized they were not actually chocolate.

He spit them out — I asked if he then brewed them but he threw them away! What a waste of Red Dragon Pearls :(

This continues to be one of my faves — not a week goes by where I don’t have it at least once. Chocolate notes, yeah, but NOT CHOCOLATE!

Just a little note to say “OMG! Currently my favorite tea in the whole wide world!” Chocolately and bittersweet and dried fruity (apricot?) and ooooooh I love it! It resteeps so beautifully too. <3

I have a sixth sense about teas that I know I will absolutely love. Without a moment’s hesitation, I plunked down the dough to get 16 oz of these pearls without ever tasting a one!

They arrived on Saturday (fantastic service, thepuriTea!) with 3 nice samples (thank you!)!

I am trying them for the first time today (4 pearls, about 9 oz water, 3 min) and wow – they taste exactly as I hoped. Molasses-y on the first steep, and oh my god the second steep is so dark chocolatey that I had to pause and blink! (blink, blink! Oh this is good!).

I’m sorry but I have to end this note. This second steep is so good that I don’t want to do anything but drink it!

Thank you moraiwe for the hot tip!

Time for more tea and this shall be yet another sample that I can remove from my cupboards. I have been busy trying to find some cool designs to make with my laces on my new shoes but there are so many designs out there I’m just not sure what to pick. I also made an orange sponge cake this morning to surprise my husband with when he gets home.

Anyway let me get to the review. I have 5 pearls/balls and shall be using my new teapot again to brew them. Unfortunately they have very little scent whilst raw so at this point I can only imagine what they will taste like other than the musky malt scent I could detect.

Once steeped the tea is dark brown/red (mahogany) in colour with a rich malt aroma with a musky sweetness.

So far this tea is very similar to other black tea based pearls/balls but this one seems to be a little muskier and not as sweet. The malt is rich with a cocoa like sweet/sourness to it and dark musky tones. It’s smooth in body with those sour tones coming through just before the after taste of thick malt.

It’s so similar though to other pearls that I am wondering if they all come from the same manufacturer? I mean they are from the same place being Yunnan, China.

Backlogging from last night. I’m not going to rate just in case it was MY fault this didn’t work out but it didn’t taste like Ali Shan at all to me. And I LOVE Alishan! I’m thinking it was MY error – maybe the water wasn’t right – I don’t know – but I have enough to give it another shot and I will in a couple of days!

Okay this is the only tea from The Traveling Tea Box I am using all the leaves up on. It really was only enough for one serving, but ironically it is the one I would be the most likely to keep if there was more. I love Big Red Robe, namely Verdant’s but this measures up pretty well and it is much better than Adagio’s. It’s got the nice mineral sweetness, roastyness and woodsyness with a hint of cassia, caramel and cocoa. I have steeped this around 5 times today, but I really need to move on to another tea so I can get the box on its way tomorrow. Yum!

Have you ever received/bought a tea that for some reason, be it fear of not liking it or some silly notion that it needs to be saved for a special occasion, and then end up never drinking it until it’s almost stale?
Well… that is this tea for me. The ever so generous QuiltGuppy sent this one my way eons ago and its been sitting in my sample bin ever since! Thankfully it was in a vacuum sealed foil pouch so it seems to be relatively fresh, considering.
And, as feared, the tea falls into an odd category for me. Pleasant. but not my style. Lychee often translates to “flowery” for me, and this is definitely that. Fitting, when I am in the mood for it, but I prefer the “rose” flower flavour over Lychee.
The tea itself is very smooth though, and light. That part, I really enjoy. I know my Mum would love it, so I’ll save some for the rare occasion she is in the mood for a spot of tea with me.
Thank you so much for sharing QuiltGuppy!! what a treat. I know of many Steepsterites that’d fall madly in love with this beaute
General tea rating: 89
My Tea rating: 84

I’ve had this sample for awhile but I have never wanted to try it. Partially because I have no idea why I ordered it, as it doesn’t seem like something I’d care for. Well, time to find out if that’s true or a dumb assumption.

It smells very much like cedar chips. And tastes like them. And a roasted pumpkin. I’m not sure I am a fan of it because it has so much going on. Every sip there’s something new. Now it’s cedar chips, roasted pumpkin, and mineral water. I can’t say I am a fan of that combination of flavors.

It was probably a stretch for me to like an oolong this dark. It’s intriguing, but it’s not for me. But it was worth a try. I’ll probably swap the rest.

Tea of the afternoon…..

I still have a huge pile of samples from thepuriTea……at least 6 or 7. This was one I received for free. As it is my first Sencha, I really don’t know what to expect, and I have a feeling that my Premium Dragon Well has me spoiled. So far, it is fine, but not anything special. A little vegetal, light yellow liquor, only a slightly heavier mouthfeel than water, and a hint of something minty at the end. I would not choose this as a stand alone tea as it is very ‘meh’ compared to dragonwell. It seems very similar to the tea base in the flavored greens I have tasted. I wish I could tell you how it compares to other Senchas, but all I can say is the color of the leaves was a dark green, not dull, but somewhat bright, and the leaves varied in size from short to about half an inch.

Mug method for green….about 180 water, 3 minutes.

Tea of the afternoon…..

And tea 22 of 24. This one was sent by QuiltGuppy. Of course it has taken me way too long to try it.

It is my first darker oolong in a while. I am not sure I got enough leaf in my mug. I did get out the scale for prep and did 1 gram per cup, but I think I could have done iwth double the leaf for a stronger flavor. I did get fruity and nutty notes, but will have to try again to look for more nuances of this tea. It is definitely complex.

Mug method, about 190 water, 2 grams leaf, 3 minutes.

Tea of the morning……

And tea #12 of 24….half-way there! I am not completely certain who sent this one. (It was probably QuiltGuppy, LOL!) One other thing that is interesting about this tea…it looks as if it was a free sample sent out by thepuritea (I am not saying this to infer that I care how the sample was originally obtained….stay with me….) On the label it says it is strawberry black…and under that it says SpecialTeas. It is definitely in a small silver sleeve that says thepuritea. I am now wondering if SpecialTeas was the source of some of the teas at thepuritea. I feel safe mentioning it now, as it is unlikely that this tea will be sourced from SpecialTeas at this point since it is out of stock at thepuritea and SpecialTeas has now been absorbed into Teavana. I just love a tea mystery……

Good basic strawberry tea. The tea base is pleasant enough. And I guess I had better enjoy this as it is not likley that I can get more like it!

Usual mug method….

Sample sip down, but since I never add samples or small sizes to my cupboard it doesn’t help my numbers. Sigh. Plus I really liked this and the company is no longer in business. ah well, it is all helping the decluttering!

I have tried to be good and save some of these new tea samples for Wednesdays when I have tea guests, but today I couldn’t stand it any longer. I am ironing…again…..and that is not something I enjoy, so on went Pandora (if you are around my age try putting in “Send Me An Angel” radio when you need motivation to bebop and clean house) and in went the tea. I made a cup hot and unsweetened and one glass iced and lightly sweetened. This is AWESOME! I think I especially liked it iced,and then I have another sip of the hot and change my mind. Good stuff, and made a less than enjoyable task more bearable. Thank you, thank you, QUILTGUPPY!

I have had this sample for at least a year, and it made me think of Quiltguppy and how much I miss her here on Steepster. This is a sip down, the end of a generous sample that had gotten pushed to the back of a drawer with some others that I am trying to finish up.

Kashyap mentioned in his review of this that a tea’s profile is likely to change over time. I think that happened with this one.

Opening the packet for the first time in a year, the aroma of the dry leaf is nut. Nut, nut, and more nut. Specifically walnut I think, but it could be pecan. Steeped, however, the nut aroma is way in back and a fruitiness has come to the front. It reminds me of the sharp scent of scuppernong grapes. There is so much in this cup of tea!

This is so fruity, with a hint of astringency, that it is reminding me of a Darjeeling today. The aftertaste is of apricot. I feel as though I have eaten an apricot dumpling, swimming in syrup and topped with chopped walnuts. Delicious!

Our second pot of tea after Thanksgiving dinner, this is also thanks to Quiltguppy! :)

This is my daughter’s first oolong. Our Silky Green was buttery and sweet. This one was a nice contrast, so she won’t get the idea that teas are all alike. The aroma is roasty on top of floral, and there is a slight astringency at the end of the sip. I do detect the mineral quality mentioned in other reviews, something I enjoy in my puerhs. This is good, and honestly it took a full cup efore the astringency was really noticeable.

The second infusion has picked up a vanilla overtone and the astringency has decreased. This is a lovely, woodsy, nutty, and floral all in one tea. Thank you, QG!

I had a bit of the first steep and a whole pot of second to serve to a guest. I had been a little fearful of serving oolongs to someone who always adds milk and sugar to tea, as oolongs need to be drunk pure to me. But they are so beautiful just as they are!

I noticed this particular guest has quit adding milk and sugar until after the tea is tasted, and she loved the oolong last week and this week. In fact, it was her favorite today! Se admitted that the English Breakfast we had would be excellent for waking up in the morning, but she preferred the flavor of the Dan Cong! Hooray! I love it when people start liking new things, although she drinks ALL kinds of tea anyway. She just hadn’t had oolongs before.

I did notice that this Dan Cong becomes more floral as it cools, which I found perfectly lovely!

Thank you, again, QG!

This tea came to me courtesy of Quiltguppy! I have been looking forward to trying these oolongs, but oolongs are a tea that I like to drink when I have a little time to pay attention, stop and smell the aromas, and sit quietly with the cup…even if just for a few minutes. I just can’t rush oolongs!

This oolong does not disappoint. Though one review said it was scented with osmanthus, I don’t get strong floral flavor, so it is not an artificial taste to me. I am not terribly familiar with osmanthus, though. Even though the tea is a medium-light color, it has plenty of taste and heft. There is the slightest dry tingle on my tongue, so astringency is very light. It has warm, nutty tones.

This is a delightful oolong! Thank you, QG!

Many thanks to RachanaC via the Pay it Forward swap for this tea!!!

This tea got some harsh reviews. After reading them over, I decided it would probably be best to mix it in together with some bits and bobs of a few plain teas I had hanging around, and to take it with cream and sugar. I am happy to say that this bit of help produced a cup of tea that I like very, very much! It could be because I (whispers) sometimes indulge in General Foods International Coffee powder! My grandmother used to take me to the hair dresser with her every week when I was little, and the hair dresser served it (to a wee thing as I was!). I would drink it, and wait for my grandmother’s hair to be set with rollers and put under the enormous helmet dryer then teased and sprayed to within an inch of its life every week! I still to this day have some tins of this stuff at work and at home. When I am feeling particularly nostalgic, I will stir some powder into hot water and have A Moment.

So! I am totally having A Moment with this tea!!! I will admit – it is not fine, it is not natural, but BOY do I like it! It tastes like General Foods International Coffee Tea! It is really good in the afternoon instead of a cup of coffee. The little bit of plain tea tempered it into a nicer flavor. Milk and sugar takes care of many faults ;)

I am so glad that this tea found it’s home with me! Thank you again RachanaC!!!!

Received a CONDITIONAL 85 on WTR. This dan cong has been infused with natural osmanthus flower. It is not an osmanthus oolong varietal with inherent osmanthus notes.

The difference between the 2 is like an actual rose and a flower that has been scented with rose oil.

This is not a negative reflection on thePuritea company as a whole. Their updated product description for their dan cong provides clarification.