Various Artists

Basics set cake 4 – old reliable. By white2tea.

Review:

Dry leaf: musty, sweet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMXANh8AYxX/

Wet leaf: musty, earthy, fermentation, old books, autumn leaf pile.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMXASdZg6iC/

1x short rinse.

Light steep; I taste/smell: slight
—> camphor, cream. light -→ earth, fermentation, autumn leaf pile.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMXAP4OAoYg/

Medium steep; I taste/smell: slight
—> mushrooms?, cream. medium -→ earth, fermentation, autumn leaf pile, camphor.

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: slight
—→ earth, fermentation, cream. (A tad plain).

All in all a decent tea, a tad plain but still yummy! Decent cha qi. I rate a 75.

bonus photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BMXALbXg8Cn/

5 year aged hard compressed da hong pao oolong tea AKA: Wuyi Rock Tea Compressed Da Hong Pao Wu Long Big Red Robe Oolong Tea Cake T048

Review:

Ru Yao dragon teapot gongfucha.

Dry leaf: roasted, chocolate.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLyj_SCDwyl/

Wet leaf: chocolate, peanuts, roasted.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLykGL4DIK9/

1x long rinse.

Light steep; I taste/smell: light —→ chocolate, roasted peanuts, spices.

Medium steep: Exactly the same as above but a teeny bit stronger
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMKJf6tgFKg/

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: light sourness (pleasant)
medium —→ spices, roasted peanuts. Strong chocolate

All in all an amazing tea! The best da hong pao I’ve ever had! Awesome aromas and tastes! Lovely cha qi too! Thus, I rate a 100!

Bai shu (or sha?) xi imperial grade tian Jian review:

Ru Yao dragon teapot gongfu cha.

Dry leaf: musty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJYEXBMDvz3/

Wet leaf: musty and smells like a black tea.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJYGokBDvPo/

1x light rinse

Light steep: I taste/smell; light
—→musty, honey, spices, earth. I’m not sure if this is a sheng or a black tea. It has a funky name like a puerh would so, I’m thinking this is a sheng. Correct me if I’m wrong.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJYGlC2jbiw/

Medium steep: I taste/smell; medium funky —→ earth, musty, honey, spices. I’m Totally confused now.

Heav steep: I taste/smell; medium
—→ earth, honey, musty, spices.

Can someone please tell me what tea this is? It is lovely with a strong somewhat unpleasant cha qi. So I rate an 80

Ginseng oolong from Oleg at Aliexpress review

Ru Yao dragon teapot gongfucha.

Dry leaf: green, floral fruit, berries.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHXmYaehThm/

Wet leaf: same (but intensified)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHXo3SnB4NL/

Light steep: I taste/smell; slight cream. Light —→ fruit (peaches), floral, veggies.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHXmt-1BtNR/

Medium steep: I taste/smell; light cream. Medium —→ fruit (peaches), floral, veggies.

Heavy steep: I taste/smell; light cream. Medium—→ fruit (peach), veggies, floral.

All in all a lovely tea. I’ve never been dissapointed by all the different ginseng oolongs I’ve tried. I rate a 100. Recommended. Thanks Oleg.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/The-second-level-of-hainan-authentic-noble-tea-Ginseng-oolong-tea-500-grams/1735412_32313920770.html

had a random puerh from oleg at aliexpress.

was very yummy. forgot to do a review lol

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHH7bRABGKE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHH7g8iB-jY/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHH8Oo-hmM6/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHH8R7RB2sB/

Drinking the same shou as yesterday. This time I’m doing 6-12 steeps at increments of 10 sec per steep.
10, 20, 30 and so on. This is a fun and more enjoyable way to drink puerh. Better flavours, flavour strenght = better experience

Review of Chinese Yunnan Pu er tea Famous brand Mengku puer Tea factory 2009 mengku shu ripe puer tea Long alcohol Recall Fragrant 400g from Aliexpress.

Ru Yao dragon teapot gongfucha.

Dry leaf: musty
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHCxg5UBdbC/

Wet leaf: earthy, slight fermentation, wine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHCzee3hYRl/

Light steep: I taste/smell ; light
—→ earth/ fermentation, forest floor, mud, wine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHCxnpGB-Ei/

Medium steep: I taste/smell; light fermentation, medium —→ earth, forest floor, mud, wine.

Heavy steep: I taste/ smell; medium fermentation. Strong —→ earth, forest floor, mud, wine.

All in all, a yummy tea. I’m not sure if this is exactly 400g but I’m still pleased. I rate a 100

Many thanks to Oleg, for this yummy tea.

bonus photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHCxkQvhREf/

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Chinese-Yunnan-Pu-er-tea-Famous-brand-Mengku-puer-Tea-factory-2009-mengku-shu-ripe-puer/1735412_32466793146.html

so i used half portion of my 2013 Yunnan Sourcing “autumn ye sheng” raw puerh tea and quarter portion of my Kunlun mountain snow chrysanthemum tea.

two words:Just lovely.

i can taste the right balance of the smokiness of the sheng and the earthiness of the flowers

roughly 20g ttl

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFKMcxyp44R/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFKMYvOp44F/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFKMhoUp44f/

So I had some 2002 Nan Jian Phoenix tuo from Aliexpress mixed with kunlun mountain snow chrysanthemum flowers. It tasted awesome. Just a pinch of flowers mixed with a good amount of the puerh… Just lovely!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEPK-cGJ48q/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEPK45Vp48g/

so i added chen pi (tangerine peel) from an aliexpress store to some fengquing dragon pearls black tea from teavivre, and it was amazing. it tastes a lot like chen pi puerh! :D

i rate this tea blend a 100 because its so yummy

i tried steeping the following

http://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/49544-2013-yunnan-sourcing-autumn-ye-sheng-raw-puerh-tea

and

http://steepster.com/teas/upton-tea-imports/11567-roasted-oolong-zo20

least i can say i was not impressed..

i could barely taste the sheng even when i did a ration of ttl 5g 50/50 2.5g each

i guess one must mix like/like teas then.

Recently I was contacted by Ghograjan Tea Estate to review some of their teas on my blog, and I thought to myself, who do I know that is all about Assam blacks, Earl Greys, and Masala Chai? Duh, Ben, so I pulled him in to do a guest post with me covering these three teas (he shall be voiced by italics for the duration.) What makes Ghograjan Tea Estate fancy is their Farm2Cup model, having just opened a retail branch in the US, they are trying to bypass the middleman and have consumers buy straight from the estate. This is actually pretty darn cool, even us fancy tea bloggers usually have to go through a source most the time. Without further ado, here is Ben’s intro: It is late winter. The air grows warmer, new life stirs within th- okay, no. What Amanda calls “warm and clement weather,” I call a lack of compelling imagery. (It is not my fault I wrote about the weather just yesterday and soiled your flowery prose!) But still! I, the Tea Barbarian, have come forth to review an Earl Grey, in accordance with tradition. You can tell it’s a tradition, because it has now happened twice. VERY traditional. The first thing I noticed about this Earl Grey is that it’s actually three teas, only one of which is an Earl Grey at all. Amanda is sneaky like that, always twisting these sacred traditions which I in no way am making up as I go along. The other two teas are a straight-up Assam and a Masala Chai, so we’ll talk about them first.

Or try to. Sadly, I only have so much to say. We brewed these teas according to their instructions:1.5-2 minutes. The result was very mild for a black tea, and I tried again with a longer steep. That worked better, but for both brews of all three teas, it was less robust than I tend to expect. That wasn’t much of a problem for the Chai (which does have a very nice mix of spices, with a lot of cardamon), but the straight Assam suffered for it. Assams in general have a mix of woody flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste, and for this one I got a lot less “primary” flavor than aftertaste.

I have to say, trying the Assam Golden Tips I do not disagree with him, it has a pleasant aroma and taste, but nothing really to make me go ‘whoa’ about. Notes of oak and malt blended with a touch of a zingy citrus note are the main flavor notes here, but I found myself wanting more depth, it is one of the things I love in an Assam, briskness without harshness, boldness without bitterness, it can take milk and sugar or stand on its own. But before I sit here and say meh to this tea I want to point out the price, $8 for 3.5oz of tea…wow…that is a lot of tea for a killer good price! So then I thought to myself ‘who is this tea for?’ and I thought possibly for people like my grandmother, casual tea drinkers who have to have black tea every morning and possibly with lunch too, people who want quality tea but who do not necessarily have the same level of obsession as me, so nothing wrong with that!

Which brings us to the Earl. I was concerned about this tea from the moment I smelled it. A good Earl Grey always seems to be too strong at the outset; there’s a reason I always joke that you can tell quality if people couch after a sniff. This was very light, with a promising mix of tea and citrus scents almost wasted by its faintness. The tea itself wasn’t nearly as faint as I’d feared, but it didn’t quite gel, either. The richness of the Assam was hidden by the bergamot, which itself had to contend with the black tea’s underlying bitterness. It’s sad to say this in my second-ever feature on this blog (that is going to change, you are getting more features), but I can’t recommend this tea the way I did the last one.

Oh Earl Grey, one of my first loves, named Vintage Earl Grey for using legit Bergamot oil instead of lemon (which is a crime, using lemon makes it a Knight at the most, no Earl to be seen) and I should point out, Ben and I like very different things in our Earls. I like mine mellow on the Bergamot and heavy on the richness, unlike Ben who wants to be pelted in the face with citrus. This tea was pretty mild on both accounts, except it had this strange soapiness that I could not shake in the aftertaste, this happens sometimes with teas blended with oils, and I will be honest it seems totally random when it decides to bug me. Sometimes I can have an oil blended tea and I get no soapy taste, but I can have the same tea a few days later and it is soapy, just proof on how tastes can change day to day. I will say this Earl had a great midtaste. malty and sweet with a hint of citrus zinginess, it came off as bright and invigorating.

Ben wandered off with my bag of Royal Masala Chai, wandered off and forgot to write the feature for me, though I did get out of him that he liked it…so much that he whipped up a thing of curry and a pot of the stuff to accompany it…ladies and gentlemen, the only person who can beat me in a Chai drinking contest!

No surprise this one was both our favorites, it had the right balance of spices and richness and won serious points in my book for being heavy on the cardamon and not overpowering on cinnamon. A frustrating thing here in the States, our Masala Chais tend to be loaded with cinnamon and all sorts of other spices making it taste more like pie then the wonderful Masala blend I prefer, so when I get one that focuses on cardamon and ginger it makes me happy.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/03/ghograjan-tea-estate-assam-golden-tips.html

Not really sure where to put this, so random steepings it is!

It is probably a well known (since I never seem to shut up about it) fact about me at this point, I absolutely LOVE fancy bath products, but with an allergy to Aloe my ability to enjoy what seems like 90% of bath products is severely limited. Seriously, so many things have aloe in them, don’t even get me started on razors and wipes! So when I found a pair of tea themed bath products from Sanne Tea, you can bet I was filled with tiny squishy joy! The problem is, reviewing soap takes time…I like to evaluate it after many washes, and when the Tea For Tub arrived it was the middle of summer, not so much soaking season, but it is winter (kinda, still feels like fall) and that means the season of soaks.

Hilariously I used Tea For Tub back in October, but the other day a dear tea friend of mine sent me a box of goodies including a fresh box of Tea For Tub and I thought ‘crap, I totally forgot to write about that!’ and then frolicked off to the bathtub to steep myself. This is actually a very clever use for teas that are maybe not quite up to being steeped, instead of passing them off as drinkable or tossing them, the black tea is stuffed in a large bag and you toss it in a hot bath. Other than the fantastical decadence of bathing in tea just for the fun of it, it does have a purpose, turns out tea is great for skin inflammation.

Got a sunburn, slap a teabag on it, got puffy eyes, slap a teabag on it, want to soothe dry skin…soak in a tub full of tea! This is not the first time I have done that, I have been known to buy boxes of cheap black tea bags and just soaking in them, but unlike those, these bags of tea smell really good. It smells like quality black tea, meaning it is sensory pleasing as well as soothing on the skin. If you are feeling adventurous, you can reuse these bags at least once, just make sure to squeeze them gently or you will pop the bag and make a mess.

The next is a soap, which sadly is not in their shop, meaning when my bar finally piddles out I am going to have a panic. This is made from the good stuff, castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, lye, tea tree oil, tea leaves, and water…no aloe to be seen! This soap is pretty great, works as a good cleaning substance for both my face and the rest of me. The aroma is really light and clean, fresh and tea like, which I love! I really love soaps that use lye, call me old fashioned, but I enjoy how it strips away my scales (I have Seborrhoeic Dermatitis and get scaly like a lizard!) and allows my skin to soak up the nice oils from the soap, so I end up feeling all soft after using it. This soap is made of win!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/sanne-tea-tea-soap-tea-for-tub-tea-life.html

Remember how I recently reviewed Hyson Tea’s Celestial Dimbula? I mentioned in that review that they also sent me a small mountain of teabags, well after much hemming and hawing I am finally getting around to reviewing several of them, specifically their green teas. Before I get into the review I am going to lay it out on the line, I am the wrong person to be writing about these teas, because I really don’t like teabags. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not the person who is going to say teabags are horrible things that have no place in the tea world…if you enjoy drinking them then wonderful! Tea is meant to be enjoyed, and back in the day I used to be fond of the convenience these pre-measured sacks of dust brought me. Now adays though, they are not for me for several reasons: usually they are made with dust and fanning which I do not like the taste of, they quite often have artificial flavoring which I think tastes really fake (this is not a hard rule, but it is a frequent one), they are overpriced for the quality of tea, they taste like paper, they lack ceremony. But, lack of ceremony aside, these other things can be bypassed with a high quality sack of tea, so why not dive in and see if these meet my very high standards.

The first one I decided to look at was the Soursop Green, Soursop is one of my favorite fruits ever, whenever the local grocery store decides to stock them I pretty much buy them all and gorge on them. The aroma of the bag is a blend of pineapple candy, strawberry candy, dusty paper, and a touch of perfume, it is very artificial smelling. The taste of this tea is vaguely of Soursop, though it is strongly artificial. For some reason I found that the blend of strawberry and pineapple candy and the papery note from the bag makes the tea taste like soap, which in turn made my mouth burn rather horribly and caused my asthma to flair up something fierce. It is safe to say I did not finish this cup.

Next I tried the Strawberry Green, strawberry is one of the few artificial flavors I don’t mind, since strawberry candies are some of my favorite. The aroma of the bag is nothing but strawberry candies, no paper or tea, just strong strawberry, reminds me a bit of gummies. The taste is pretty intensely sweet, strong strong strawberry candy, like I am drinking liquid candy. It tastes vaguely soapy and again makes my mouth burn, to prove it is not something wrong with my teaware I washed it and drank water out of the same cup, and nope it tastes just like water.

I waited several days before trying the next one, Lemon Green, just in case the problem was me coming down with a cold or something, you can never be sure with this kind of thing. I really like lemon and green tea, so I had high hopes with this one. The aroma of the bag is just lemon and a bit of dust, it is a bit on the mild side. The taste is like lemon soap and paper, mildly sweet and a touch green. So far this one has been the most tolerable.

Onward to the one I looking forward to the least, Jasmine Green, see most (if not all) Jasmine teabags use jasmine oil instead of scenting it the ‘proper’ way, and I loathe jasmine teas that are flavored and not scented. It smells and tastes exactly like soap rather than flowers. This tea was not an exception like I had hoped, it smells just like the wonderful Bee & Flower brand Jasmine soap, love it as a soap but not as a digestible thing. The taste is a blend of apples (not expecting that) and soap, it is so strong and so overpowering that I could not get past a few sips.

Lastly in this little set was the standard Green Tea and alas, I was hoping for a crisp and clean green tea aroma, but really all I smell are all the different flavors from the other teas. A problem with storing flavored teabags in little paper envelopes, the smell bleeds something fierce and contaminates each other. The taste, well, I can finally taste the base green tea, and it is not terrible, very generic vegetation and of course paper and dust, there is an underlying fruit cocktail from the other flavors leeching onto it. I know, looking at the reviews on the various tea’s links that I am in the minority and the reviews are universally positive, so like I said earlier, I was not the right audience for this. I hate being this negative, but what can I do? I have a LOT more teabags to look at, so expect another group review in the future…with any luck I will actually like some of them!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/hyson-tea-green-tea-teabag-collection.html

So today’s blog is going to be something different, it will not just be me writing this time! Time for an introduction:

First, allow me to simultaneously introduce myself and disabuse you of any notion of my credibility: I am a tea barbarian. As you may have pieced together from Amanda’s fleeting references to me on this blog, my taste runs to strong Blacks in boiling water. I may not be so debased as to use cream or sugar (save with Indian-style teas), but my palate certainly lacks the subtleTEA (I made this pun just to further reduce your estimation of my character) you are accustomed to seeing in this blog.

Why, then, am I contributing my thoughts now? Upon seeing Amanda getting this assortment of exciting candies, I came to two simultaneous resolutions: if they were terrible, I should not allow the woman I love to suffer alone… and if they were good, I needed an excuse to muscle in on some of that candy.

As you will see, both resolutions were soundly fulfilled!

Matcha Caramels-Red Leaf Tea

These were just a little too sweet for my liking, the caramel is very sugary and the white chocolate very sweet, the Matcha taste is pretty mild, I think if it were stronger I would really like these because it would make the sweet not as intense. 2 out of 5

To the best of my knowledge, there is no direct Macha-less equivalent of these fancy little candies. But why would you need one? I’m a sucker for caramels in general, but the hard-ish coating and Matcha flavor take these to a whole new level. I gorged myself on these, clearing a bag in an hour – twice. Five out of five.

Matcha Crunch Bars

Why, how, WHY!?! Seriously, what went wrong? It starts out sweet, like really low quality nasty white chocolate and grassiness from the Matcha and then it gets really weird. Like soap and wax paper blended into a disgusting dance, but you know I have had worse, but that aftertaste just WILL NOT GO AWAY! It lingers forever, like eating Matcha flavored soap laced with sugar. -4 out of 5 (also giving these to a friend as a way of introducing them to Matcha candy aka getting rid of them is a good way to never have them eat anything you give them that is green again, oops)

Crunch bars may be my favorite chocolate bar, so I was most excited for these out of all the options. This was a terrible, terrible mistake. To their credit, unlike Aero, they did not hold back on Matcha flavor – even the crispy sections hold the taste strongly. On first taste, if you like traditional Matcha more than I do, you might think this is a really well done snack. Take my advice: start with small bites. Or, better yet, no bites at all. The flavor you get from these bars will not fade with time, so much as it will actually rot on your tongue, turning more bitter, and harder to ignore, by the second. After eating just one of them, I found myself unable to make it stop or enjoy other flavors for over an hour of constantly chugging water to clean it away. Buy this solely as a practical joke on a tea lover you particularly despise. Death out of five.

Matcha Kit Kat Bars

So ever wondered what white chocolate and a Matcha latte with a side of wafer cookies tasted like? It tastes like a Matcha Kit Kat! I really liked these, they might have been my favorite of the candies I tried, they tasted bright and green with just amount of sweetness to be enjoyable. I feel bad, I only gave Ben one at the end of the tasting because I just tore through the bag, definitely a 5 out of 5 for me!

Sure, I like Kit Kats, but after the Crunch bars, I’ll be honest: I was ready to give up on the whole exercise. Amanda’s prompting and these Kit Kats lured me back. They probably have the most even split on this list between candy sweetness and Matcha flavor (the caramels are sweeter, and all the others are much less so), for a really well-rounded and iconic experience. Four out of five.

Aero Matcha Bars

Oh man, I have not had a legit Aero bar in ages, so nostalgia! I love the texture, and that is really it. The chocolate coating is waxy and lame, just generic chocolate bar, the Matcha center tastes like vaguely Matcha themed chalk, it was not bad, but it was super boring. 3 out of 5

I’ve never had the non-Matcha version of this chocolate – apparently, it’s an English thing. It has a fairly standard exterior, but is all full of little waferey balls which crunch and fizz in your mouth. The good and bad news here is: those balls don’t hold much flavor. The outer chocolate was mild enough that I found Matcha Aeros to be a lot like just air – I don’t know whether this differs from what I’d think of normal Aeros. Two out of five.

Lotte Matcha Caramel

I grabbed these little chewy things on a whim because I love chewy candies and they were super cheap (unlike the others, except the RLT caramels, I still feel somewhat cheated) I loved LOVED the texture and really that was it. Ever have those waxy nickle nips, after the liquid gets slurped out you get the wax bottles and if you were like me you chewed on them for hours trying to extract every bit of sugar out. Same texture, different taste, like the person who developed these has heard of Matcha but never experienced it. It is super odd, a bit grassy, and also spicy with a definite pepper finish. I am still trying to decide if I liked them or not. 3 out of 5

I’ve never heard of these before, so I was curious about them. From the size and texture, I expected something like a Matcha Starburst, but the actual effect is less sweet than that – and also, less Matcha. Sure, you can taste the tea somewhat (moreso than in, say, the Aero), but mostly, it just tasted odd. Like toothpaste and pepper? Or perhaps like Anise and grass? It was in no way unpleasant, but I’m not sure I can think of much to recommend it. Two out of five.

What I learned from this experience? Matcha candies are overpriced and I should just stick to making them myself. Currently in my fridge is a pound of Matcha chocolates I made and nibble on whenever I get the craving! I do want to experiment with more random things with Matcha in them I find at the store!

Photos and all that good stuff: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/06/matcha-candy-adventure-with-guest.html

I finished off my oldest two Bird&Blend teas together, the only ones I had left that still had the old Bluebird branding and ‘packed by Teabird Mike’ on the front. One of them, Dark Choc Chilli Chai, I was holding on to because I really liked it. The other, Terry’s Tea, I was holding onto because I strongly disliked it and really didn’t want to finish it. Originally the plan was to brew them together extra strong and turn it into a latte, but when I tipped out the rest of the pouch of Dark Choc Chilli Chai it turned out a lot of what was left was chocolate flakes rather than tea. I didn’t think it would be strong enough to latte, so I’m drinking it black instead.

As you might expect from combining a tea you love and one you hate, the resulting cup is okay to middling. The DCCC adds a rich chocolate note which Terry’s was missing, and the spices sort of overpower the hibiscus, which I think might be the main reason I didn’t like Terry’s Tea to begin with. The oily, artificial orange note I didn’t like in Terry’s is still present enough to make this cup less enjoyable, but essentially what I’m getting is a decent cup of tea with an unpleasant sour orange note which doesn’t linger (unlike the delicious chocolate and chilli heat from the DCCC). Considering I didn’t have enough of the DCCC left to fully enjoy my final cup, I think I made the right decision in using it to make my final cup of Terry’s Tea more palatable. Final rating for the combo: 56.

Dark Choc Chilli Chai has gone back on my wishlist, to be replenished as soon as I allow myself to place a B&B order, while Terry’s Tea languishes in a pit of Never Again.

DOUBLE SIPDOWN!!! bringing me to 240/400.

Mystery tuo cha which either came from KittyLovesTea or the EU TTB some time ago. I did have it saved in my cupboard as something else, but when I went to log it realised that that was a sheng and this is a shou. So, this really could be anything, but at least it’s still technically a cupboard sipdown? The wrapper is blank, totally white, and the only label I have to go off is my own writing which says ‘Xiao Tuo Cha’. Totally helpful. I’ve searched the database and unsurprisingly had no luck. The tea I originally has it saved as was by Wan Ling Tea House, so I guess there’s a change it could be from them.

The first 5 steeps were very mild, vanilla-light steeps with sweet caramel and floral tones. After the fifth steep roasty and woody notes crept in, and after the 8th steep the more typical damp and leathery notes began to appear with a building smokiness. I would say that these middle steeps were my favourites. Up until then I was really surprised by how light, floral and sweet this sheng was. I did short steeps of a few seconds for around 12 steeps, at which point the tuo was fully broken up and each steep began to taste the same. At that point, I did one long steep of around two minutes and filled a mug, rather than steeping it out. I think if I did continue I probably could have gotten a good 20+ steeps from it. I was actually really pleasantly surprised by this unassuming little tuo which has been hanging out patiently in my focus box for pretty much years now. I wonder if I’m finally getting a better appreciation for puerh, or if this was just a really good one? Rating around a 77.

228/400.

Adagio’s Perfect Carlos mixed with DAVIDsTEA’s English Breakfast. Pretty nice! Mostly a malty EB-type tea with a hint of sweetness and nuttiness about it. I’ve been busy with fixing my broken wardrobe for most of today, so this was really the only tea I had before I got going on that. I also drank a cold steep of 52teas’ Graveyard Mist, but sadly that was contaminated by fridge taste and not particularly enjoyable.

Not at all to do with tea, but I also tried my hand at making an Amaretto Sour for the first time tonight and it came out really well. I was a professional mixologist for a time, but that’s not ever a drink I got to make at my job. It is one I like to get when my partner and I go out for drinks, though, so I was looking forward to trying a homemade version. My mam was a big fan, and drank a lot of it before I could take it back from her, but my dad not so much. I really enjoyed it though and will be making them again. I’m thinking after this quarantine is over and I can finally see my boyfriend again, I might suggest a cocktail-making date night. That would be fun!

59 for the Perfect Carlos + EB blend. 28 for the fridge-y Graveyard Mist.

86 for my Amaretto Sour if anyone wants to know. (:

Added some Phoenix Oolong to the second western steep of the Oriental Beauty I was drinking at lunch time, then topped it up with a little more of the dry OB. I’m surprised by how much the Xingren Xiang changes the flavour profile, considering it probably makes up only 1/4 of the leaf, if that. The Oriental Beauty on its own is sweet and mild with notes of honey and apricot, but with the added Phoenix Oolong the cup is suddenly very robust, mild astringency present, with fairly prominent floral orchid and woody notes. The honeyed malt of the OB lingers on the palate after the sip. Quite happy with this combination. I would give it a 68.

I resteeped my Maple Pecan Oolong leaves a couple of times, and on the last steep added a spoonful of Lupicia’s Cookie. I have no idea why, it just sounded appealing. It worked out pretty well! There wasn’t a lot of flavour left in the MPO by the steep where I added the new leaf, so it’s mostly a cup of cookie with a faint maple background. I wish I’d added maple syrup now. Would rate around a 75, mainly because the oolong was steeped out. They work well together, but I prefer both teas on their own. It was a fun experiment, though!

Quick note to say that I created a Frankenstein’s Tea out of my resteeped Yunnan Gold Tips from Andrews & Dunham, which didn’t have enough flavour on their own, and a couple of tiny samples of Bird & Blend’s Love Potion and Vicky’s Sponge Cake teas. Taken in a travel mug to work yesterday with milk and a pinch of sugar. Sipped several times, poured down a drain and replaced with a cappuccino-to-go from Cafe Nero. It was far too sweet with nowhere near enough of a robust tea base. Ah well, you live and learn.

Drinking a bagged tea I received in a swap with Mina which was labelled ‘green tea with cinnamon and spices’ and no company name. I’m not really bothered that I can’t track it down, because it’s not a tea I would purchase of my own volition. It’s a nice enough basic tea, with fairly prominent cinnamon and I have no idea what the fruitiness is though I can tell there’s some there. As it’s cooling the astringency is coming through more at the end of the sip. If I were on a page specifically for this tea instead of the Random Steepings page I would probably rate it somewhere around a 54.

Sipdown, I guess, though it was never in my cupboard.

A mysterious baggie of teabags labelled ‘Rooibos + Vanilla’ from my swap with Mina. I can’t seem to figure out what exactly I’m drinking, but again I don’t mind. It’s not something I’d buy for myself. I’m ambivalent about red rooibos at the best of the times, and have openly negative feelings about straight vanilla teas (though I seem to be drinking them a lot lately – what’s up with that?) so I can’t say I was too hopeful about this one. I’m mostly drinking it because it’s 5am, I can’t sleep and this was one of the only uncaffeinated teas in my focus box.

It’s exactly what I expected. The rooibos base it pretty weak, slightly woodsy but mostly just thin and underwhelming. The vanilla comes across as a very slight creamy note but it’s almost undetectable. Would probably dump it under normal circumstances but as it is I’m just going to finish it in bed and try to get some sleep. The wind is screaming through the broken seal of my bedroom window and I have the world’s worst cough (it’s literally every time I breathe in) so I’m not too optimistic about that either. The tea’s soothing my throat, though, so at least there’s that.

Would rate around a 34 if I knew what the hell it was.

First time I’ve used this random steepings tag! This was a sipdown of an unidentified teabag sample I received from Mina in the Hapatite tea swap. It was labelled ‘black tea with fruits and spice’ and is in a little round, organic-looking (?) teabag. Other than that I have no info. I can’t say that I mind – I definitely wouldn’t be picking any more up! The scent is very cinnamon-y, and the main note is also overwhelming cinnamon. I think this has stevia in, as it’s very sweet with no additives, and there’s a lingering back note of orange. It is so so cloying and sweet, and almost undrinkable. Blech. Sorry Mina!

I would rate this tea around a 16.