Fuzzy_Peachkin Send Message

Although I like this one better than the lapsang souchong I got from Della Terra Teas, I’m starting to think that smoky teas are not my thing. In comparison the DTT Lapsang this one is more subtle about the smokiness and there is a silky sweetness that was missing in the other. There is no bitter burnt aftertaste either.

It probably doesn’t help my opinion of smoky teas that I associate the taste with the last time I had the stomach flu-I threw up a whole bunch of smoky bbq ribs. Well at least I tried another smoky tea and could taste that it was higher quality even if it’s not my favorite.

I brought a whole bunch of the teavivre sample packets I bought to try out at work. More black tea for the mornings! Yes!

When I first taste this tea, I pick up green bean flavor. It deepens as a I sip and there are some slight chocolate tones. Somehow though, I feel like the taste is lacking. It’s almost like eating a salad of wilted lettuce leaves- it doesn’t necessarily taste bad, but it leaves you wanting something crisper and fresher.

I’m drifting away on a sunshine-y pineapple cloud or at least that’s the way this tea makes me feel on this rainy day. Lovely as usual.

Another tea from the box Shelley_Lorraine sent. This is definitely a relaxing tea. I drank it this morning for breakfast and promptly felt so tired I took a two hour nap! So much for the caffeine aspect of this tea! :-)

As I drank it, it tasted almost like a mix of seasonings. I kept wonderinng how it would taste in chicken. Dark, leafy, and slightly cooling- I guess I was expecting even more vanilla. I think I would have to drink this one more time to make up my mind. BUT I think I’ll wait until another day so I don’t have another nap.

It not only looks, but tastes darker that the oolongs I’ve been having lately. It’s darkly fruity with a little bit of green tea flavor in the middle of the taste. I’m not picking up any sweet potato like the description says. I guess I like my oolongs lighter and creamier.

Thanks, Shelley_Lorraine for the sample.

I drank a 2-minute first steep before my four mile run this morning. I really liked it! Full-bodied, malty, and definitely chocolate-y. Also a little earthy and when I first started sipping I thought I tasted mushrooms but that gradually faded.

When I came back I had a second 2 and a half minute steep (got distracted) and it was pretty astringent, but still enjoyable. The chocolate maltiness is still there. It’s not as earthy, but a little more sweet.

EDIT: 3rd steep for 1 and half minutes. Just the slightest astringency. Still chocolate-y. When it cooled to room temperature I got the mushroom taste back.

So tonight I’m doing a comparison of this tea and a 2011 Noble House Riesling. I steeped this tea at 180 degrees this time and it came out even better than before! It brings out the creaminess of the tea and the grapes. The best thing is that it does taste like the riesling! They both are light, sweet, fruity, a tad tart, and a little dry in the aftertaste. They both hit smoothly in the middle of the mouth.

The biggest difference is that the tea is creamy, while the wine of course is not. Also the riesling has that alcohol flavor, which I probably wouldn’t want to try to copy in a tea anyway because it would probably taste artificial.
The grape taste in the tea is made fuller by the berries. If I hold it in my mouth I can differentiate between the grape and berries, but only slightly. The base is amazingly creamy, just the teensiest bit astringent, which frankly works here because it gives it that slight wine-like dryness.

I’m quite enjoying this comparison! Too bad I don’t have any more of this tea!

A nice base, but weak on the black currant. I got something vaguely fruity, but not necessarily currant. The base was malty, sweet, and flavorful.

EDIT: Oh! And thank you Shelley_Lorraine dor this tea! :-)

I got this for the office at lunch because it described itself as “pre-portioned loose leaf” and “connosseur grade, whole leaf Assam”. It sounded promising- at least for a work tea.

I opened one of the packets and there’s a lot of tea in each one. I could probably use half of that portion in a cup, but I used the whole thing just this once as that’s the pre-portioned size. The tea contained a lot of dust for something that describes itself as “whole leaf”. I became skeptical of it at that point, but the tea smelled like a malty assam, so I guessed it couldn’t be too bad, right?

The liquor becomes dark reddish brown almost instantly and I couldn’t imagine steeping it for longer than I did- about 2 minutes.

First thought on sipping: Astringent! Astringent! Astringent! As it cools, it’s getting a little more bearable, but it’s definitely still there.

As I keep sipping, I’m detecting some maltiness and a slight fruity sweetness. I find myself craving some milk to cut through the astringency.

Further cooled it becomes more fruity and I even detect hints of chocolate, but not as sweet or smooth as other assams I’ve had.

I’m going to experiment with this at work, but I’m going to use half of a packet next time and steep it for even less time.

I drank this with lunch and it was pretty mellow for a ginger tea. I guess it was the hickory, which I could barely taste. I’m used to ginger being a little sharper. This was more earthy. Not a bad thing, but very different.