Various Artists

GCTTB

I couldn’t find Yinzhu silver needle green in the database, so I decided to review it here.

This poor tea. I wonder if it was in the box too long, or was contaminated by the other tea’s, but it sadly did not taste very good. I found in my first couple of sips a vegetal flavour, but it was too faint. Unfortunately, the tea tasted a little stale and perhaps somewhat contaminated. I think if this were fresher, it would have tasted a lot better.

GCTTB

I was working in the garden yesterday, cleaning it up, and planted a couple of things even though it’s a bit too early to do that. It was really hot yesterday, so I’m really glad that I had a cold brew going on.

In the box was hibiscus from Sadaf (I couldn’t find this in the database and didn’t feel like putting it in). I’m not generally a fan of overly tart food and beverage items, so I surprised myself by cold brewing this up. With lots of rock sugar. And you know what? It was very tasty and refreshing after all that gardening. Another surprise tea that I will probably pick up.

Drinking one of my oldest herbals tonight, Honeybush and Rooibos that I picked up on my Swaziland trip. I cannot believe that was 8 months ago already. Regardless, this one is perfect for when I want something simple. I still like it best with some honey added :)

Since it is unlikely that my tea of choice tonight will be purchased again any time soon and I am unsure that anyone on Steepster would also have it in their stash. I am including this under this “Random Steepings” entry.

Tonight I am drinking “Honeybush & Rooibos” by the South African Collection. This was picked up on my way out of Swaziland, via the stop Johannesburg airport. Not much to say about it. I like to add honey to this one to sweeten it up a bit. I haven’t had this in quite some time. It is a nice reminder that simple can be just as enjoyable.

https://instagram.com/p/2kUlCoJniI/?taken-by=kkpeltzer

Thought I would use this entry as I do not know how to put the Mystery Tea #2 from Butiki in my cupboard. Yes, I am just now getting to this!!! I have been away since it came in the mail :(. It was a difficult time being away from my tea stash. But we are now reunited and it is time to get back in my routine, which includes LOTS of tea :D

I’ve never seen a tea like this! It looks almost bead-like and it’s tiny. My assumption is that it’s black tea. The smell is amazing, raspberry is the only scent I can place. There is another scent that is complementing it beautifully. Brewed, this isn’t as appealing although still berry-ish. My suspicions of this being a black tea were confirmed as I needed to add sugar to it, and then a little more sugar. There is still a little bit of bite in the back of the throat that I don’t really care for. Overall, I think this could be a decent morning tea for me, as it is mostly pleasant.

Today was such a completely awful day. I knew I needed something extra special to comfort me. So, I decided to mix a portion of my Premium Taiwanese Assam with Whispering Pine’s Imperial Gold Bud Dian Hong and add some pure ground vanilla. This hit the spot perfectly. It was sweet, creamy, malty, chocolatey, caramely and vanillay goodness. This cup did not make it long since I couldn’t stop drinking it. I’m crossing my fingers that the rest of the day is just a bit better.

This note is for the Early 2k Shu from the white2tea moving sale. I get a lot of the “wet composting leaf” taste that I don’t really like. I tend to get that in mid-aged shou, but not all the time. Definitely not a tea for me, so I’ll probably share it with other steepsters.

55/100

This note is for my custom, Florida-grown tea by Single Origin Teas

First of all, I ordered a green tea, using the bud and the first leaf and with a soft rolling.

Forget Florida for a minute. Transport your mind to China, to Zhejiang Province, to the village of Longjing. Taste the longjing tea, the buttery, hazelnut-y liquor, perfect in every way.

Now, open your eyes. What’s that? It’s a tea from Florida and not longjing? I couldn’t tell the difference. Seriously. That’s how good this is. I felt like I was drinking some really good dragonwell tea, not something that was handmade for me.

Thank you, James for this experience.. If I could order an ounce or two, please let me know.

91/100

This note is for Yuzu Sencha Powder from the Matcha and Green TTB.

Overall, very sweet. Too sweet.. Luckily, I had a friend over who loves sweet drinks, so they had it instead. Definitely has a nice yuzu flavor, but it wasn’t enough to save the drink.
60/100

Instead of trying to review every tea from the last weekend (I can’t really remember details), I’ll put them here.

1: Bigelow Ceylon Teabag – First of all, yuck. Second of all, why does an airplane only have one kind of tea? I asked the flight attendant for hot tea and asked what kinds they had and she was all “I don’t know. It’s in a bag or something.” _

2: 2006 Jinggu Ripe Dragon Egg Pu-erh – This is a very smooth and lovely shou. Light caramel color, so not as dark as a lot of shous that I’ve had. Overall, a really good tea from the Here’s hoping TTB

3: Blood Orange Pu-erh – I’m not sure which company this was from since I don’t have the bag in front of me.. But this was really good. A nice subtle tang from the blood orange without having that pith taste that a lot of citrus teas have.. Really well balanced. From the Here’s Hoping TTB

4. Lemon Rose Bud (Fusion Teas) – Another from the Here’s Hoping TTB. Really light and flavorful. I’m enjoying the lemon taste even though most lemon teas don’t do it for me. I really like lemon to be in your face. This isn’t tart, but it’s nice and soothing.

More from the Butiki Educational TTB

Gui Fei – This is kinda roasty and sweet.. I know it’s called “honey tea” but I really didn’t taste much of a honey flavor
Long Feng Xia – This is super smooth and buttery/creamy. I loved this!

Here’s the magic part! Since I brewed both teas at the same time (different pots) I poured half of each flavor into the same cup! Wow is that good XD I’d recommend that if anyone else gets the chance to mix these, that they do it!

Bonus: I tried the Puerh #6 as well.. mmm.. barbeque mushroom shou.. :P Not my thing, but it was okay nonetheless.

Tasting note #100!
The following teas were from the Butiki Educational TTB – I haven’t had a chance to write notes, so here’s a brief synopsis..
Wen Shan Bao Zhong #2 – A little sweetness and roasted flavor. Not something that I would go buy more of.
Hong Shui #1 – Again, a nice roasted oolong with a little spice on the back end.
Ali Shan #4 – A nice green oolong base with a sweet vegetal note.
Jin Xuan – Not what I was expecting.. Didn’t really get any creaminess from this tea. It really just tasted like the Ali Shan that I had before it.

From the Butiki Educational TTB
Today’s tea is the Vietnamese Green :)

I brewed this like a normal green with 175 degree water for a minute (it was a little longer than this since I got distracted). I’m not really finding any typical green tea flavors in this! I’m getting the taste of a lightly roasted oolong, which is good, but not what I was expecting. Also, it’s very one-note, so it’s kinda boring and gets hard to drink after the first half of the cup.
67/100

Continuing in the Butiki Educational TeaTeaBee
I tried the Kenya Green #1 at work, but I don’t remember everything about it because I was drinking it during a meeting! Medium vegetal body with some smoky/nutty flavors. Definitely a nice tea :)
71/100

Channeling my inner Lou Bega…
Ladies and gentlemen.. this is Puerh #5.
From the Butiki Educational TTB :)

I wish I knew what I was drinking.. So, this is obviously a sheng.. Well, it’s in a bag marked puerh and it looks like a sheng? So, I heat up some water to about 195 degrees and put 5g in my gaiwan. After a short rinse, I taste the first five second brew..

Are we sure this is a sheng? It’s not very sheng-y. Granted, I still know nothing about puerh, but this definitely tastes and smells like most of the Indian teas that I enjoy. I didn’t know such complex flavor could come from a pu! The first steep is a barrage of flavors and I tried to capture them all. I felt that there were hints of raisin and dried fruits, but with a slight (very slight) vegetal finish. This first steep is super smooth and has a very full feeling in the mouth.

The second steep.. Okay! Now we have some pepper kicking through! Still a great finish and smooth feeling. I didn’t think that I would like pepper raisin tea :P

Third.. The flavor of the pepper raisin tea is still there, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I’m drinking water. The flavor kinda dissipated with the first two steeps :/ The aftertaste on the third steep is a strong pepper kick.

Third.. The flavor of the pepper raisin tea is still there, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I’m drinking water. The flavor kinda dissipated with the first two steeps :/ The aftertaste on the third steep is a strong pepper kick.70/100

Butiki Educational TTB
I didn’t know where to start, so I opened up the oolong bag, since I enjoy a lot of oolongs. I just kinda looked through them for one that looked interesting and came across the Bihar Oolong from India. It smelled great – kind of a muscatel, sweet/fruity smell – so I figured I couldn’t go wrong.

I brewed this for 2.5 minutes at 195. The resulting brew has an interesting smell, but I thought it tasted completely different than the smell. The taste is nice and sweet with a grape/apricot flavor. Very nice tea and I enjoyed multiple steeps!

78/100

I’m baaaaaaack until I get busy again which will probably be three hours from now lol. College has been a bear recently and I haven’t been drinking a lot of tea recently. Coffee is a lot easier to drink. However, I started thinking about tea again when my ENT informed me that for the next week I cannot have any green tea for the next week. I’m getting allergy tested next week and as green tea affects inflammation, I’m temporarily banned. And of course, I now want to pick up some matcha and make a latte.

Update on the ever so absent OMara. After a few more hospital visits with my grandmother and some missed classes, I haven’t had time for tea. GASP. I’ve been running around like a chicken with no head…I’ve been catching up on school and I’m in a drama program for Christmas so I haven’t been drinking much tea. However I’m endeavoring to drink more tea especially as I got a teavana tumbler for my birthday.

So this is actually just a note to the lovely people who follow me on Steepster. I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I have my reasons! School got super crazy stupid busy, then my grandmother was in the hospital (I live with her), then I was on vacation, then I was back at the hospital with my grandmother, and now I am home. I really haven’t been drinking tea, because when I get busy, I forget to make tea. Which stinks. I’m hoping as I settle back into my normal schedule, that my tea intake will come back up. :) I’ve missed reading all of the reviews and forums… So I guess I’m saying- “I’m alive!”

Just some random ramblings and updates. I’m super sorry that I haven’t been on here for a while. Been super busy with school and semester exams. Then on Tuesday, I had a tonsillectomy and a sinus surgery, so I’m sort of not drinking tea right now. I’ll be awol for several more weeks.

So there has been talk circulating around the idea of a smoky vanilla tea. So I tried my hand at making my own this morning using Tippy’s Lumberjack and Townsend Tea’s Mt. Hood Vanilla I think my ratio was 3 parts vanilla tea to 1 part smoky tea. I would have liked to have seen more vanilla flavor and less LS smokiness, but I think the blend was really quite good. It will have to do for now, I am keeping my eyes peeled for the real thing soon.

Don’t let me down, Steepster!

Okay, quick note about the Butiki Sponsored Herbal Mixing Box.

As I was parceling out a couple herbs to try, I was curious about the Honeysuckle Flowers. they looked like the herbal version of Dian Hong. Boy, was I ever wrong.

This is the singular most disgusting thing i have ever had the misfortune of putting in my teapot. I might as well have been sucking on a piece of dusty old leather. the lingering taste of dried shiitake mushrooms and mold on my tongue made me gag. I wasn’t sure if the copper penny note was the tea or blood in my mouth.

It’s supposedly meant to help miraculously with the flu, digestive inflictions, and other viral infections. I’m sorry, but constipation sounds like more fun than drinking a cup of this tea.

I went for an early spring hike today! It felt so good to re-charge and to reconnect with the beauty of nature. I’m sorry (not sorry) to sound cheesy, but I was feeling all crusted and stale from the drain of city life. I need to do some earthing to connect myself to the big blue planet around me. Just hearing the absence of sound for a couple of hours made me feel so much better. Nothing but the wind through the trees. No cars, no airplanes, no people. A rare bird song every now and again, but mostly silence and the sound of my feet. It was still a little snowy here and there, but nothing too bad that the trail became too slushy. I was pretty lucky to make it back to my car before it began snowing. ahh, pure bliss.
So the tea that I brought with me was my homemade version of Celestial Seasoning’s Morning Thunder. I used to love that stuff. It was ideal for my hike today. It was smoky, and robust, and really seriously warming.
I used:
.5g of Tippy’s Lumberjack + 3g Capital Tea LTD’s Meleng Estate Assam + 2g Roasted Yerba Mate. I threw in a couple of cinnamon chips as well. It turned out to be pretty much perfect.