Featured & Popular Tasting Notes
I usually don’t cold steep spent leaves unless I drink oolong or pu’erh, they have so much to give, I often stop my sessions and just cold brew the rest.
Yesterday, this one was weak for me at the third cup. I would normally just dispose of it. But I thought that maybe the vanilla bean in it could still gift me with some goodness, so I tried.
It filled a 24oz jar for 20 hours in the fridge. I thought this is way too much water for such a little bit of tea, it will probably taste like noting…WRONG!
OMG!!! It’s hot here today and this is soooo refreshing!
It tastes like vanilla sugar, so deliciously yummy.
I conclude that this tea might be expensive but out of 1/2 tablespoon, I got three hot 8oz cups and a 24oz jar of iced tea!
I’d say not a bad yielding ratio :-)
Oooh! Good to know. Now I just need to buy some.
I love coldbrewing this one! I don’t think I’ve ever actually tried to make something with old Port leaves and been disappointed by flavor – it really seems to just keep giving!
Sounds like a bargain to me!
Cheri, can’t wait to hear what you think about it!
Inranger, it is when you look at it this way instead of just price tag…
Brenden, I like this one wayyy too much! Now I feel like having it cold steeped all summer long…will try the same with Golden Orchid when it gets here.
Well, I’ve already got an imaginary order with WPTC going…hopefully next month I can come off tea buying hiatus and actually place it. (It’s looking good. I need to double check the credit card statement when it comes and make sure I get through the rest of the month accident free.)
Well I hope your imaginary order becomes reality ;-)
Just waiting on the Ailaoshan Black for my first order. According to my calculations that means in about 2 weeks I can enjoy me some WP goodness. Anticipation is a wonderful thing. :)
Oh, inranger, don’t I know, anticipation IS wonderful…as long as it doesn’t last too long :-) But Ailaoshan is totally worth the wait! Have you decided on the other teas you are getting from WP?
Yes, a savant fairy gave me a suggestion list which is now saved on my WP wishlist, then Brendan suggested on more that I’ve added. My list must be up around 8 or so teas by now. :)
Haha! never been called a “savant fairy” before, but I do know great tea when I see it ;-)
What ever you choose, I’m sure you’ll be happy with it!
Very interesting. I’ve seen posts about cold steeping “used” leaves before. I am going to need to try that, starting with my Port!
I frequently take all of the leaves from each tea i’ve steeped over the day and make a pot of it all together coldbrewed. I have not once had a pot that didnt taste delicious :)
It’s also fun too, because each pot of tea is totally unique and not something that can really be re-created easily :)
Awesome idea :-)
I’ll be interested to find out what you think Sarsonator.
Let’s talk about how awesome Stacy is. I allowed myself ONE small order for my birthday because mostly people forgot and it was from stacy because of the red Queen Cupcake and the limited Edition Boracay Breeze. included in the package that i picked up from my tea mule were a couple samples of some of the teas that stacy’s working on. So of course….i came home and have started in on them :) This is the first one i tried – let me tell you, this smells SOOOOOOOOO delicious. The Caramel is really present while the apple is hanging out in the background. I made my other half stick his nose in the cup and his response was…caramel…fruit? smells like a baked good. soooo he couldn’t place the apple but it was close.
Brewing this up – no steeping paramters really so i opted for “oolong” setting on my kettle and let it steep for about 3mins. Initial sips i get caramel! OOLONG! and then apple. it’s roasty oolong, so that’s ok with me. The apple is mostly present in the after taste and currently, the oolong is the dominant flavour. But there is for sure, both apple and caramel here.
not sure how far along stacy is in the process, but i WILL be buying some of this when it comes out because, while i am not a fan of oolongs, i can see how delicious this one is going to be. Thank you Stacy! soo good!
Sounds so good! I love caramel apple. :D
That sample is close-ish to the final product. That will be one of the new teas we are releasing on Friday! :)
oh god.. you’re killing me Stacy. Want Moar!
Hooray! I will definitely be ordering some then! :D Are you going to be releasing the Mimosa one too?
Sil-Hahaha :)
Cameron B-Nope, sorry the Mimosa one just isn’t going to make it in time. Not sure if that one will work out. I can’t get it to stop tasting like bubblgum but it still tastes good.
And… I’m away this weekend. Leaving Friday morning. Hope you start the sale bright and early, Stacy! :)
Hah! Well I’m glad you’re not going to release it tasting like bubblegum, ew! So excited for the sale. :)
nomnom. I have never really found a good apple tea. If anyone can do it, it’d be Stacy!!
Also, happy belated birthday!
OMGsrsly-We will be previewing the sale on our blog on Thursday and everything will be available by midnight on Thursday for purchase. :)
Cameron B-I was actually thinking about just calling it orange bubblegum. It’s a really interesting flavor but I also may just scrap the mimosa idea for the puerh at least.
Indigobloom-I think the apple works so well with the Gui Fei. Delicious!
So excited for caramel apple! (I still think you should do Caramel/Pear, though; Butiki needs a killer pear tea!)
Roswell Strange-I was desperately trying to make poached pear with caramel sauce and the pear and caramel flavoring just clashed horribly. I wish that one turned out. Maybe Pear Bellini?
That could be good too; I don’t know if I’ve ever had Peach & Pear together…
Rosewell Strange-I wouldn’t add peach to that one. I’ve seen “bellini” used for things other than peaches though that is a traditional bellini. I went to this fantastic bar in NYC that had so many types of bellinis that were amazing. I think I would try doing a pear and champagne flavor but maybe add a little brandy flavor and possibly some dried rosemary.
I’m still sad about the poached pear one :(
I’m tired of eat each, so I’d much rather see something like apricot heh
I’m ordering it today Stacy, I can’t wait!! :D
I had to get some of this one, even though my BFF hates caramel and the order was (mostly) for her birthday. I’m really hoping I like it, or I’ll end up sneakily sending it to someone. :)
After a 14 hour work day and far too little sleep, I’m propped up in my comfy comfy bed with my dogs and my laptop and a big fat cup of this. By the time I finish it and snuggle my dogs for a while I think I might be almost human: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYUR3ec9Pqs
I am so glad you made it through the day, dearest. You are amazing!
I’m a tough little broad – but it seemed like that day was never gonna end. My boss kept texting me “go home” and I’m all, “um remember we promised to get this out TODAY?” I went and got sandwiches for my staff (because WTF one of them doesn’t eat PIZZA!!) and LOL I made everyone tea. They had big ole cups of Full-Steam (we were taming tigers dammit!) and I shenged with my little work sheng set up. I had a nice YS sheng which I need to write about on the pu page. I am so behind with all of that. How are you this morning sweetest?
Oh, I just finished boiling two of my yixings – my two favorite yixings SO FAR (I have a feeling that carved leafy one may rise quickly to the top once it gets here): my adorable purple YS one and the so cute Tranquil Heart Mandala one. Then I have to make decisions about what to seasons them with and I keep changing my mind.
Perfect song! Perfect tea…
Who doesn’t eat pizza in this world???
Missy, I’m so happy you love your pots, I love mind too, they’re lime little babies, are they not?
(I have to stop with those typos, and look at what I’m typing…)
Hahahaa!!!! I am the asshole employee who doesn’t eat pizza!!!! No cheese for me LOL
But there ARE pizza with no cheese!!! You just gotta ask :-)
TTF – I love you, but for realz? You can’t get good pizza around HERE without cheese. At home, I make a bangin’ vegan pizza, but at the pizza shop… well… let’s just say that veggies and sauce just doesn’t cut it :p
Kidding, love you even pizzaless ;-)
I like to use a tofu peanut sauce for an asian veggie pizza or sometimes I use vegan cheese, but ONLY in case of emergency. Vegan cheese isn’t so good LOL
I want a lime baby…..
Now are you making fun of me mrmopar??? Cause if you are, you’re totally right ;-)
I don’t eat pizza’s either. lol Can’t eat the crust or the cheese. Leaves only sauce, meat & veggies. Believe me, there are loads of people out there that have food allergies or sensitivities. So nice you got sandwiches instead for them.
OK perhaps I should mention that I live in Austin where you can literally get ANYTHING, including pizza: vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and any other -free you can imagine
I’m with Ubacat, I can’t have the crust or the cheese, so I usually layer veggies & meat sauce in a bowl, which is the same thing I have when others are having pasta. Once in awhile I feel left out, so I make Meatsa, yeah, you heard me: mash out seasoned ground meat in the shape of a small crust, bake it until it firms up & starts to brown, top it with sauce & veggies, & bake it a little longer. Slice & enjoy :)
There’s also a crust you can make in the dehydrator from thinly sliced onions & ground flax seed. It tastes like onion rings
I want a lime baby, too! ;)
Cauliflower pizza crust:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cauliflower-pizza-crust/
you’re welcome
I don’t know how I’ve never done a cauliflower pizza crust. I’m generally satisfied with just pepperoni and cheese in the microwave for low carb pizza alternatives.
Another easy crust is low-carb tortillas, though those use a small amount of gluten in them, which I don’t personally mind but others will.
Hmmmm… interesting
LOL! Y’all are too much!
I want a lime, baby! Then I can make my pure margarita when I get home from the tea shop.
Hahah! Ok, that was a cute one, guess I’ll try to embrace my typos from now on ;-) and yo, margarita = awesome!!
I have a lime baby, LOL, it’s my dwarf key lime tree. I can pick a lime anytime I want.
First, yay, for this new official Whispering Pines Great Lakes Label Shu Pu-erh, what a creative idea!!! It fits so well with WP brand name, great job Brenden :-)
I received this generous sample in my last order, thank you Brenden.
Does pu’erh still scare some of you? Like, it’s been on your mind, but you are still hesitant about it?
The descriptors “fishy, barn, leather, pond water, seaweed” revolt you?
Then give this a try. This is as smooth as can be.
The pu’erh for the non believers.
Cause it is silky and creamy beyond belief.
The dry leaf is quite unusual, all golden, just stunning .
It produces a dark warm copper brew.
First sip and I think, wow…this is so what I need right now.
Silky and velvety, coats my entire mouth with mellow and sweet.
Everything is subtle but far from being boring. I get notes of cereals, like toasted bran.
It’s also a bit fruity, dried fruits, like raisins with a soft cocoa feel.
Yum, chocolate covered raisins. It’s a little earthy and woodsy, but nothing like most shou pu’erh.
The later steeps bring a nice minty finish, that fresh mouthfeel I like so much.
This tea brings me to a tranquil and beautiful place. It warms my heart and fills my head with happy.
And yes…I will need more of this.
Thanks again Brenden for this wonderful offering…And congratulations for the launch of the Great Lakes collection!
Pics of the session:
Sounds yummy. But I am suspicious. LOL Maybe I will start busting out my shous and give them another try!
I should say that I need to get over my general fear of shous.
Well this one is taylor made for you then!
I just saw the announcement on FB. Such a great idea! Now if only September would get here so I can place my order…. :)
Hmmm… maybe. I’m certainly willing to try!
You can do it Sars. A couple of months ago you were hesitant about sheng and now you play with the shengaling on an almost daily basis. ;p
Okay, you talked me into it, I want some now.
Well when you put it THAT way, mrmopar. I did try a wet stored sheng tonight. Not a fan. I am also drinking a White2 shou right now. I don’t HATE it, but…
Sarsonator, is it the earth that gets you?
Lariel, how do you feel about shou pu’erh in general?
I like shou… it is the puer I’ve had most.
Quick recount of the last two weeks…
1) New puppy
2) Toddler gets sick
3) Preschooler gets sick
4) I get walking pneumonia over spring break (luckily at home, but no school for kids and a mom with pneumonia is a bad combo for all participants…)
Things are finally calming down a bit. I’m over the bulk of the crud, but the cough is driving me nuts. Throughout the the last two weeks I’ve lived off mostly Laoshan Black, Wild Mountain Black, and Tawainese assams.
It was time to change it up a bit today, but not by much. This is still my favorite English Breakfast tea, and Verdants Imperial Breakfast Blend is my other favorite breakfast blend. Probably because they each have a base of my two favorite teas. Laoshan Black and the Taiwanese Assam.
I have a million teas, I’m too afraid to count the actual number, but over the past few months since life has gotten so busy, I really only drink about 10 of them. Not sure what to do about that, but it is what it is. I don’t want to get rid of any that I like, but I don’t drink them very often. What to do?
I believe this is what they call a first world problem…. :-)
Glad that you are doing better. That sounds like a crazy couple of weeks.
send them all to terri and meeeee hahahaha
Sorry to hear you’ve been sick! Luckily, at least you had excellent teas to drink, right?
Regarding the ‘problem’, I totally understand! :D
That’s why I print out a list every month, & check the teas off as I drink them (with cute little symbols, this week it’s a little flower). Theoretically, I only drink each tea once a month, but I’m allowed to cheat occasionally (whenever I want), & there are many teas that I never get around to drinking. I’m trying to remedy that, but I have way too many teas to drink in a month, & many of them require gongfu sessions to really be appreciated…sigh…the problems of being a tea lover…
Yikes, that’s awful!
And Terri – I love that you print off your list and add stickers. :D Sounds like fun!
I have the same first world problem! Never thought to make a chart though. Something to consider!!
Hope you are feeling better!
Not really stickers, cavo, just me drawing little tiny symbols with a colored pen :)
I hope your household is feeling much better!
I think most of us on this board have the same “first world prob” lol
Everything always seems to happen at once. Glad to hear that things are getting better.
Life is too short to drink tea that is meh. At home I end up making tea I don’t want for my husband since he is pretty much a tea garbage disposal that will drink anything or I end up tossing it. At work, there is a much bigger problem. We have boxes and boxes full of samples. Every now and then I try to make it through the samples but usually they end up in the garbage. I’m hoping to find a place I can donate samples to but since they are already open, probably not.
stacy… cough i like opened samples LOL
Hahaha. Maybe I should do an educational traveling box or something. Like putting a bunch of Darjeelings together or Assams together or something.
OH.MY.GOD.YES! Seriously… that would be awesome
Only issue is, we wouldn’t have them labeled. So, it would be like Assam 1 through 15 or something but it would give a good idea of what makes an Assam an Assam.
Stacy, I do that to Husband too! Or rather, I used to do it. He’s beginning to learn to tell me if I’ve given him one he doesn’t like and he’s lost interest in most flavoured things. Otherwise though he’s after effect rather than taste when drinking tea. If you give him a cup he’s never had before and ask him what he thought immediately after he finished it, more often than not he doesn’t know. He’s learning to pay attention without being told though. I think he’s realised that it’s in his own interest to do so.
Angrboda-I get the I don’t know from my husband too. Hahaha. Or I get ‘tastes like every other green tea I’ve ever had’. Um, ok hun but that’s a white tea. Flavored teas are ones he enjoys more. I bring all of the samples of teas I’m working on for him. I worked on an espresso cupcake with strawberry cream flavor for my friend and brought the 8 different attempts home for him. He liked them all, even the gross ones.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes! Seems like we’re all on the mend and the puppy has kept us quite entertained and busy :-)
Stacy & Angriboda -Ha ha! I do the same thing my husband too, and my mom! They enjoy tea and my worst tea is better than anything they’ve ever had so everyone wins!
Terri- I like your system but I don’t think I’m disciplined enough to only let myself drink my favorites only a few times a month. I should create a favorites list that I can pick from every day and then make a list of the others and start working through them. If I find a meh one, then I’ll throw it my donate box.
Sil — I’d send you all my spares, but i’m pretty sure you’ve had ALL OF THEM! I don’t think I have many teas that you haven’t tried at this point.
And Stacy — I’d be sooooooooo into a traveling open samples box! Not that I need any more tea in my life right now. I was actually happy that hello sweetie was sold out so it would keep me from ordering. It just sounds so good (minus the banana, but I think I can get over that)
stacy – that would still be awesome.
TastyBrew-Glad your mom & hubby can help with that. On the plus side with an educational box, you could sit and taste the teas you want in a sitting and send the rest on without adding any to your collection. Sorry for hijacking your note.
Sil-I think I will do it. I’ll put something together and see if I can solicit a curator who can take care of all the logistics.
Stacy, I’m totally open for the samples as well. Why don’t you divide them up, & sell a Spring Sampler Box. When those are all gone, or when you have enough for another round, do a Summer Sampler Box, etc. Supplies will be limited, so they will sellout fast, you could price them to include the postage plus a few bucks for your efforts, & it would be lots of fun! Put me down for one, please. I don’t want to miss out. :)
Terri-I initially thought about doing something like that but then thought the amount of work involved wouldn’t be worth it plus I don’t know how old all of these teas are so I would feel bad if someone got a lot that isn’t great. I did start the box though (sort of): http://steepster.com/discuss/7310-traveling-butiki-educational-box
Put me on the list, please!!
And this is a sipdown of a tea I WILL sorely miss. But it was perfect today as I wanted to be alert for my first day at my new job! :D
I’m sorta an office manager/personal assistant at a company that does special effects for TV shows and movies. It’s amazing! And not only does it pay well, it’s everything else I want: casual, in my own boss, set my own hours, have my own personal space, am part of a small team… I get to wear turn jeans and geeky tees too! And I can possibly help with creating the effects (mostly dead bodies).
My boss told me to make my space my own so I’m bringing my kettle tomorrow, and a 10 pack of mini tins!
(and I work off my own computer so no one is checking if I pop on Steepster so, I’ll be more up to date on my logs!)
Sweet job.
Awesome, sounds like a fun place to work! Congrats!
Thanks! It seems pretty perfect so far.
And we managed to arrange last minute daycare for our 19mo. 2014 is off to a great start!
Sounds like a great job!!!
This job sounds ideal!
This is so great.
Wow, that’s lucky in the GTA.
Totally! So, I guess we won’t be moving back to BC any time soon! :O
Yay! That’s awesome, Cavo! Congrats!
YAAAAY!!!!!
That sounds amazing! can you get me in on it?
Woooo!!!!! :D
That sounds like a fantastic job – congratulations!!
Thanks everyone. :D
hello sweetie…
Why there you are, you delicious dark chocolate indulgence in a cup. Where HAVE you been? Oh that’s right, i’ve been saving you, to savour every last drop of you. well today, i just wanted a taste. Just a reminder of the sweetness between us. The way your rich, dark, chocolate goodness surrounded me. You make any day incredible.
……oh yes.
I was so tempted to place an order after reading about this collection. Then I started adding other things to the order. Then I saw the total, got scared, and closed the window. Haha.
One day, one day I will place that order. Or better yet, one day I will travel to France and forgo the shipping all together :P
My thoughts exactly, VariaTEA! While I’d still like to place an order (maybe by the end of the calendar year), maybe it’ll give me an excuse to just physically go there so I can sniff ALL THE TEAS.
this one is really expensive…I’m not sure if i’d buy it again – i love it but this last tin i received, my parents picked up for me. I wish you could buy it in bags – then it would be a permanent restock
It’s more than the $25 tins? That is… ridiculous.
it’s 25euros…i think it was…
bags though are decently priced at 5-9 euros…but this is one of their exclusives
Dayum. Biting my tongue, but… really.
This is my lazy breakfast beverage because it’s easier to reach into the fridge and grab a jug of cold brew awesomeness than stand around wondering what to make hot. Oddly enough, this is common practice for me. I tend to work on a jug of cold brew throughout the day, especially when I’m at home for most of it, then switch over to caffeinated, hot stuff later. I’m strange, I know.
As raved about before, this is all full of berries and hibiscus. The hibiscus here is nice though. Really blends in with the melange of tart berries.
I’m off to visit Heather soon to pick up the presumably scary amount of tea that Sil and OMGsrsly sent to me. I already know that I owe them big time. Also, thanks to ShayneBear for distributing the drugs tea.
oh honey… you ain’t seen nothing yet. I have a box started for you for after christmas :P remember?
DON’T TELL ME THAT!
Hahaha. You’re the one who asked me to wait….now there’s a box.
i told you sil has to win sometimes…. don’t you remember that conversation? i can grab the link if it would help. she was following you everywhere… commenting under ech of your reviews that you should give her your address…. familiar at all?
let me know if you want that link.
sil isn’t a small winner. she’s a take-no-prisoners-queen-of-the-castle-nannie-nannie-boo-boo winner.
LMAO….. so true. hahaha
Baha, true that, James. What was I thinking?
Btw, Sil, I got the goods, but I’m not sure which teas are from you or OMG. They are all packaged the same?
oh not you too… see our comments to heather. just pretend they’re all from omg haha
Just found it. That’s hilarious! Either way, thanks to you both for all of it. :)
Lol
Oh man, this conversation made me laugh so hard I’ve given myself hiccups! haha, you guys are awesome :P
Also, my mum definitely accused me of being a drug dealer when she saw the labeled bags (with individually labeled baggies) of tea ready for drop-off. Apparently tea looks like some weird strain of weed? (also, I still have the hiccups, so thanks for that :P )
Sorry! I’ll do better next time. :) They’re mostly from me I think, but I don’t remember.
That’s what my co-worker was saying when F picked hers up from me today and gave me a few…and she said something like she had so many grams….it was funny, though not as funny as me handing a mug to Shayne, saying smell this…it is a blend of 4 Indian teas, yada yada, only completely oblivious to the fact I had had water in there in between the tea. So yeah, I told him to smell water, thinking it was tea.
srsly, it’s all good. My mum is the kind of person who thinks i’m uhh, having relations with EVERY female friend I have. She’s, er, special? lol
I also still have the hiccups…..
Oh yeah, I sure added to the experience when I semi-discretely announced in front of Amariel’s coworker that there’s 8g of each in there. Special holiday strains blends.
This is another reason why I changed my name. Can’t leave a trail. :p
OMG, don’t worry! I’m going to make educated guesses as to where the goods originate.
Shayne, your mom is onto something, you know. I mean, purple bud pu-erh?
cackles You all are hilarious. :D
you guys HAVE seen the picture of IB and Kittenna, dolling out teas from the back of her hatchback right?
side street in a nicer neighbourhood in toronto…popped open the back and started putting things into baggies as ppl walked by… that was MY introduction to tea swapping..
Oh geez….I would love to see the pic. HA HA!
Shared on FB ;)
Well the first Victoria meet we did, there was tea wrapped in tinfoil and THEN individually bagged, in the middle of Downtown! I’m surprised we didn’t have a security guy come harass us, it looked pretty dang suspicious :P
That’s right…we were just across from Silk Road, on the fringes of Chinatown.
Drinking a small pot of this today. Smooth, mellow with earthy sweet potatoes and a bit of caramel.
The last time I drank this I got some citrus notes which I don’t get now; this is more lightly earthy… still really good and easy to drink, and I like it.
Steeped at 190F for 2 1/2 minutes.
Preparation
So maybe it is me and my lack of patience right now but it is next to impossible to post tasting notes since the update, when using my tablet. Posting this one was really!hard to do!!
I used to do quick updates from my phone, but it’s become pretty much impossible after the update, so I totally get this.
Thanks. I don’t think I’ll try again on the tablet – it was a test of patience that’s for sure, and even then, couldn’t add in the steep times etc.
I do a lot of zooming, and making notes in the tasting note itself. I did that before the update as well, but I’m finding it harder to do. :/
I did that before as well, but for some reason am unable to scroll to the bottom of the note or do any kind of controlled zooming now. It must be my tablet not cooperating with the new format. Also, when I posted the note it went to the black ‘put the kettle on’ page, but fortunately the note had posted when I went back to my dashboard. Hopefully the kinks will get worked out eventually though!
Just went to my laptop to see if I could add in the steeping parameters, and yes, much easier!
Interesting. I have an ipad/iphone, and can still zoom and scroll.
Mine is android so maybe that’s different? Or maybe my fingers just didn’t have the right touch today. ;-)
Probably the difference between android and ithing :)
haha – I think so! : )
Yay! I’m home, and drinking tea, and watching Supernatural! I’m halfway through season 5. OMG. It’s so intense. And I have so many episodes ahead of me. I love those Winchester boys, but I gotta say I feel pretty bad for Cas. (No spoilers there.)
My friend found this on tumblr and was awesome enough to pass it on: http://yelloweyedcrowley.tumblr.com/post/75890779259 (YES. Destial support. :P)
This is a pretty decent cuppa. It makes me want to try Mint to Be as the non-green scum caffeinated version of this!
Also it’s going to be 3:00AM by the time I’m done this episode of SPN, but I still feel it’s worth it. I went out to a party and we brought the toddler, which meant I was on high alert all night from making sure she didn’t get into something she shouldn’t, and then I had to talk to strangers and be nice…. Eeek. So, I feel this is a just reward. She just went to sleep at 2, so she’ll probably let me sleep until noon. #fingerscrossed
Oh and I’m at 126 teas after doing a bunch of sipdowns and packaging swaps and just being awesome! :D I… I do have 48 teas coming in though so I still need 24ish more sipdowns for the month. Could happen! A lot of the incoming ones are small! :D
Preparation
Look at you with your small (relatively) cupboard. My goal is to be under 150 by the time I go to Florida. I don’t think that is unreasonable as I am at 157 now and I leave the end of the month.
Aww, I can’t imagine what it would be like to watch after a little one, especially at a party.
Mint to Be is definitely worth checking out if you like this one. :)
Dude! 126 is amazing. :D
Also, at the bottom of that post… “I just watched this, and Castiel literally continues to shuffle closer to Dean as they talk.” Probably Misha trying something, and they kept it. :D
Man, I thought I had a lot of tea until I joined this website.
And I don’t watch Supernatural, but even I can see that Dean and Cas are totally in love with each other.
Hehe, am I allowed to be proud of myself for having done 3 sipdowns yesterday and be down at 305???
TheTeaFairy… You need a new hobby :)
This just made my day, I LOVE Supernatural and I’m around the same point in Season 5! tea and good TV=awesome day.
Lol, Nextdoor, I have a zillion other interests, I just don’t clutter them! (Well except for teaware. Oh, and shoes, that’s an out of control situation!!)
OMG, 25 one shot??? Ok, you are my hero VariaTEA, someone to look up to, I am now your humble follower, lol! Boy do I need more closet room, I have shelves racks in the basement all devoted to shoes, it’s like tea, I will never get enough it seems…
Unfortunately a few of those shoes actually got thrown in the garbage by my roommate. Never, EVER, toss your shoes into a garbage bag when travelling between home and school. No matter how much space it might save in the car.
@VariaTEA that one thing we don’t have in common. I’ve never owned more than three pairs of shoes at once. For the time being, that’s a pair of dress/work shoes, and two pairs of runners. One of those pairs I’ve had since 10th grade.
Haha. Well if we had everything in common, that would be no fun. We need to have some variation between us.
Also, at any given time I have at least 5-10 pairs of converse alone
Yowsers. I nearly forgot to reply here!
I did grab Mint to Be! I can’t wait to try it.
And 126 is great, but I have a lot incoming. It’ll be tough to hit 150 for March 1st! But… that’s not a bad thing. :D
Thank you Sami! :P #highfives I love that post. And I love the cast for being so ridiculous about things in real life.
Oh, and I’m wish Roswell Strange. I’ve probably only got 3 pairs of shoes too.
I’m not feeling particularly verbose today, but I just wanted to give this tea the shout out it deserves. It didn’t taste nearly as “zippy” to me this morning, although this is one of those teas that doesn’t need to taste identical to itself in order for me to enjoy it.
I have many things to be grateful for. I had a lovely weekend, it’s a short work week because of family day yesterday, today is my birthday and the past year has been pretty good, but instead I just feel tired and grumpy and listless. I just want to go home and crawl into bed (although I tend to feel like that pretty much anytime I’m stationary at a desk for an extended period of time, which I assume would provoke any person to feel this way ha). But yes, this tea is a perfect, sharp cinnamon heart, does well with very little in the way of additions, and is very warming as it goes down. it’s a no frills added cinnamon tea (with like no detectable base at all) but that fit the bill just right today.
Happy Birthday! Hope it perks up for you.
Thanks! I imagine it will once I’m home this evening :)
Happy birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day :) good tea always makes it better!
oh wow YAY happy birthday! i hope you get to do all of your favorite things! like burn down your desk ;)
Happy birthday!!
Haha yes burn down my desk! and then the office would be closed for a few days…though it might be my fault LOL. Thanks guys!
Happy birthday! Hope it gets better as the day continues :)
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday! Enjoy some favourite teas, hopefully the day will get better :)
Thanks! I just need to wake up haha. Soooo sleepy.
Happy Birthday!
Happy You Day! Hope it starts a year full of abundance in every sense of the word.
Happy Birthday! Hope your day perks up and becomes wonderful :)
Happy birthday. :)
Hope you have an amazing evening to kick off another year of being awesome! Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday!! I hope your workday goes by quickly so you can go home and enjoy the rest of your special day… hopefully with a cup of delicious tea. :)
Thanks so much, all of you! I’m feeling a lot more awake and happy now! haha.
Happy birthday, keychange! I hope you have a great evening.
Aw, happy birthday! I hope you had a beautiful day.
This white should be lo-caf enough for the evening. Lupicia are just too good – whenever I open this bag, I have an instant, irrational, want-to-turn-around-and-check, ‘But where is the melon hiding?’ type reaction. It’s just that melony. I honestly can’t think of anything that could make this better or more melon-esque.
And to continue my general praise of Lupicia, I think I could probably pour 300C water on their most delicate teas and let them steep for five minutes and they would still taste good. I mean – every single tea I love of theirs have boiling/1.5-minute steeping instructions. And they taste fresh, natural and amazing.
I swear they’re not paying me to say this. It’s more like I’m paying them, and I still say this.
(Lupicia, I love you.)
Preparation
Excellent! I just placed my first order and now I’m even more excited!
Oh, was that the one where a bunch of you ordered together and they were out of Cookie?
How do you feel this compares to the melon oolong?
Here here. This one is excellent.
Or hear hear, even. Geesh.
Oh, just be honest, Morgana – you were trying to lure my melon tea over there.
Well, you definitely caught me on that one…
Pfff!
Yeah it was! But we ended up with a bunch of other exciting ones so I’m not too upset about it. :P
also…. Katiek was awesome…and she sent me a WHOLE BAG of cookie teabags… so cavo will get to try cookie after all with me :)
No, don’t be – I think it’s always best to have a good excuse to order again and again and again.
Was this one in the order, or was it the melon oolong?
kitenna and cavocorax split melon oolong.
Aww, that’s awesome! I am so, so curious about what else you got now. Totally living vicariously through other people’s Lupicia orders here, haha.
Aaahhhhhh!!
The damage:
-one spring tea sampler set
-one matte white Nordic mug with shellfish and pale green interior.
-I can’t believe that was all. I just can’t. I saw and fell in love with the lime green timolino, and think it will be mine very very soon, just not yet.
I also saw their new travel mug, which is said to be leak-proof. It seemed nice, although for some reason I wasn’t crazy about its esthetics, or maybe it was just the way it felt in my hand. It’s a rubberized textured type of metal, and it just feels wide and clunky, and I’m not sure how I feel about the handle on the lid yet.
But yeah, this tea, sorry!
I got it to go as a soy latte with agave. This tastes pretty comparable to what a peaches and cream flavoured oatmeal tastes like, minus the grainy taste of oats. The peach is a soft, rounded peach as opposed to the fresh juicy variety, and is not even remotely tart or tangy, although this could be due to the vanilla, which gives more of a cream note than a distinctly vanilla one. I also didn’t get any apple at all, which whatever, fine by me.
This is a solid tea, and makes a fine latte. I’m pretty excited to play around with the sample I have!
Wizard. I love peachy oatmeal tea!
Yay for new tea and teaware!!! althought I must admit I’m a little disappointed you behaved so well, lol, would have loved to hear more!
I, too, am disappointed with the show of restraint. I expected actual damage, darn it!
I haven’t opened my computer in hours, and scrolling through my feed now, I see lots of David’s purchases haha. Nice choice!
Yay new tea stuff! :)
Haha guys I still spent like sixty dollars!! It really is a wild wild world out there. And, um, I think I’m going back tomorrow. Because whales. Whales!
WHALES! :D I’ll probably get whales on Friday.
waaa waa waaa me too!
Ahh thanks for the review on the new mug I saw it online, Im sure ill purchase that lime timolino…omg did u see that lime steeper?! And might push it for the mason jar…lol
Oh, I nearly lost it over the timolino-glad you want it too! and I own and love love love the mason jar. Amazing and wonderful and perfect. And omg yes the steeper! but it’s massive.
I hope they come out with more colours in the smaller steeper. :) That would be PERFECT.
I too showed restraint lol only 2 mugs, the glass octopus and color changing lobster, and both with my bf in mind!! The octopus one is Def for him and I might test the lobster one, I think I will be returning for the shell bubble cups and teapot though haha :D and I also got 8 teas lol so still a fair amount
Sounds like you had fun shopping today. I love reading about all the excitement about the new teas and tea ware.
Whales!!! I’m getting the color-change mug next week. I tried really hard for this week but only got cleared for $20 because, ya know, responsibilities and bills. Blegh! Doesn’t my mortgage company know the Spring Collection is out? How dare they?
Sounds like a good shopping experience! :)
It was awesome!
HELLO Steepsters! It’s been MONTHS and MONTHS and I’m back! I’ve missed you! I just have to get used to the changes around here! LOL
Anyhow…LOVING this tea!
I enjoy sharing tea with friends and family…however…Assam Black Tea #8 from Zi Chun Tea Company is one that is quite hard to part with!
Read my full review:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/11/assam-black-8-zi-chun/
Flavors: Apricot, Baked Bread, Malt
Preparation
Of course it’s the case that this tea is no longer available and I made the creamiest, most delicious cup of it I’ve pretty much ever had. It was a most delightful cup of creamed white chocolate and peppermint milk. I still have the rest of the tin to get through, and it’s not a tea I reach for as often as I should given how much I like it when I do have it, but still: there’s something about approaching an eventual sip down knowing that you perhaps won’t be able to restock this tea again. ever.
In other news, Mr. Keychange and I, along with a few family members, went and looked at wedding venues today! I intended on drinking much more tea than I did, but that’s also because I woke up like twenty minutes before our wedding planner arrived to whisk us off. But we’ve chosen our venue, and have reserved a date! so so excited!
Oh, and i’m a complete tool and sent sil the timolino without the steeping basket in it! the poor girl was ridiculously polite and didn’t even say anything about it, when all at once it struck me last night while I was in bed. Definitely an ‘oh shit’ moment. Anyway, rectifying that one, obviously. LOL
Yay! That’s awesome!
Thanks! I’m getting so excited.
Ooh, would you recommend milk with this? How do you steep yours?
Yeah! Congrats on finding a venue! Sounds like a great tea on a great day :)
Congratulations on the venue! So exciting!
So excited for you having secured a venue. We’re still trying to decide if we even want to do much of anything. I’m sort of a let’s go to city hall and then make everyone come bowling with us for the afternoon sort of thing lol
Thanks guys!
Memily, this is fantastic with milk! I steep for about ive minutes (anything longer and a bitter note creeps in) with a generous helping of milk and sugar. So much nom in one cup!
Yeah sil, it can be hard to decide on what to do. weddings are so insanely expensive and can easily ge tout of control. Bowling and city hall sound much less high-maintenance though, and you seem like a fairly low-maintenance kind of person.
keychange, yay! finding a venue and setting a date makes things so much more real.
Sil, city hall and bowling sounds like a great way to go.
Both of those said, this tea sound delicious.
This tea is wonderful! and yes, weddings in general are so so exciting! It really does feel so much more real now.
It’s been almost 12 years since mine, and I still dream about it. <3
sometimes i wonder if we’ll regret going with a more low key thing, especially given that our friends are all sort of doing the bigger thing…but hey..i figure if we do…then we have a 10 year vow renewal with our dog?kid(s)? money from careers that are doing well….lol something like that…
This tea sounds delicious!
And congratulations! That’s one thing that is a big relief to get checked off the list!
My husband loved the whole big wedding planning and organizing, I did not! We compromised though. We had about fifty people and reserved a room for private dining.
It was perfect for us and I think that’s the most important thing. Finding something that matches you guys as a couple.
Sil, everyone I’ve talked to who did the huge wedding has said they wish they did something more intimate. Again, it comes down to the couple. Like you said though, there’s always a vow renewal option!
Cheri, that’s lovely that you still dream about your wedding. And sil, it’s hard to say what we’ll regret later, but like you said, there are so many opportunities to celebrate your relationship. Or maybe you guys could do something a bit more formal but not overly grand?
Ian wants to make everyone go to chicago to have our reception in the museum so we can sleep with the dinosaurs lol
Sounds fine to me. Plus then you can go to adagio and other assorted tea stores!
We did relatively low key for ours. We had the city hall (Husband blankly refused a church ceremony and I was fine with that as none of us are religious people) at about 11 o’clock, then photos, and then a lunch buffet at a restaurant. No dancing, as again, none of us are really dance-y people much, so we skipped that. We had nearest English family come over and then a second do (a good meal, but again, no dancing) in England with the rest of English family a couple of weeks later. It sounds bigger than it was. I know it wasn’t the most expensive part by far, but I still feel like the biggest splurge was the hotel suite in town for the wedding night. I don’t know what that cost, but I know it was a lot, because Husband told me not to stand too near while he paid, because he thought I probably didn’t want to know. :p
For something relatively formal but not HUGE, I can recommend the lunch buffet approach at a good restaurant. Everybody had far more than they could eat, there was a lovely cake and once we had organised it with the restaurant we chose, we didn’t have to do anything other than show up, since we decided against table plans and that sort of thing. Some of the guests found that odd, but I quite enjoyed that people could pick their own seat at both dos. At the second we encouraged people to find a new seat for the dessert so they could sit with some other people, but that wasn’t mandatory.
Sil, that sounds awesome! :)
Sorry Steepster, I’ve been in such a blah mood lately, I kind of deserted everything around me, even my dear Steepster friends, so sorry :-(
Today was a YAY day as I received my Verdant order. I was impatiently waiting for the new Laoshan Black. For sure, it was going to be the first one I try. But I had to open the box first.
I don’t know what type of “tea box un-wrapper” you are:
Type A) you carefully open the box with a sharp knife, and take out the pouches one by one, checking and matching everything with the packing slip, then, happy with yourself, put everything away in a very tidy manner. You WILL NOT open the pouches until you decide to drink your new tea, which might be in a couple of weeks or even months from now.
Type B) you literally rip the box open, I mean with your bare hands. You fetch everything out in a very frantic manner. You don’t care if it matches the packing slip or not, it’s new tea and it’s all you care about. You gather all the pouches in one big pile and you circle them with your arms, eyeballs out of their sockets, you whisper to them “all mine, all mine, my precious!!”
You will not wait any longer to open all the pouches, no method whatsoever to your madness, you just go from one to the other, trying to figure out which one smells best and which one should land in your cup as of RIGHT NOW! By the end of the evening, you’ll be tea drunk and will have tried them all.
Well, maybe you guessed already…I’m type B. This is how I roll and I won’t apologize for it.
Now back to the order and my tea choice. After a spectacular type B grand opening, I throw myself on Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha cause the smell, oh my, the smell…freakin unreal!!!
It’s so chocolate, so Laoshan Black, so nutty and crispy toasted rice, it’s the bomb people!
It,s like having Laoshan Black with Rice Krispies squares, just in a more fancy and sophisticated way, so yummy!
Enough said, just try it for yourself :-)
P.S. Thanks again Verdant for such a pleasant shopping experience as always, you guys are wonderful!
Ok, to answer your survey I’m type b;)
Lol, Go team B :-)
Type B – especially with Mandala and Verdant boxes
I’m type C. I do a little of A and a little of B. :-)
I loved this note and am glad you’re back!
MzPriss, Agreed!
Haha, Morgana, didn’t think of a type C, you are so balanced :-)
Thank you my dear Keychange, missed ya ;-)
I’m going to have to get a fresh batch, clearly!
I haven’t tried this yet – but since I’m almost sobbing over the fact that regular Laoshan Black is currently out of stock, maybe I should try some of this because yeah I NEED another tea to obsess over
Yep include me in the B section also.
MzPriss you should definitely give it a shot, new tea obsession is always a good thing!!
Hope you have more luck with a new batch whatshesaid :-)
Mrmopar, though I do enjoy being a type B, I so admire type A for their restraint and self control!!
Hmmmmmm – am I the only A around here?
(I love this tea – Laoshan black with Rice Krispy squares is a really good comparison)
Hi! I’m also B. :)
Haha, I’m like Morgana – a bit of both, type C
B, B!! :D I do go back and match teas up to my packing slip/order, but only after I roll around in them.
Dexter, don’t feel bad, you’re in a league of your own and we all want to be like you when we finally grow up :-)
Haha! Omgsrsly, I forgot about the “roll around in them” part!
I’ll have to say I’m a bit of both as well… so call me type C. :)
What a fun conversation this turned into!
I have enough to build a small house around me!
Suziqzer, yes it quite funny :-)
Mrmopar, more realistically, I’d go for a decent size cottage…but that’s just me.
Yep Type B over here! haha
Now I also want to try this tea! I haven’t ordered from this company before so I should give them a try.
I need Sheng! This and Wild Monk are my default shengs and there is a reason for that. Hot damn this is wonderful!
I put 7 grams in my awesome red gaiwan, 212 water, rinse followed by two infusions of 30 seconds, then five 1 minute infusions
1st steep green and shengy with that little bit of pucker and the tinest hint of grape
2nd getting the green floral with a slight bitterness and a touch of camphor
3rd Oh hello darling – Ive missed you! Opening up into that sublime deliciousness
4th There’s the grapey lovliness I adore so much with this tea
5th – 7th Still the grapes with a stronger camphor note and the most pleasant bitterness ever. I’ve got the tongue tingle, the chi buzz, the warm feeling all through my body and THIS
is the way to start a Sunday morning y’all. I will likely sip on this alllllll day!
Garret – I appreciate you for many reasons – this sheng is most definitely one of them :)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125488674@N02/14663283253/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125488674@N02/14620394036/
OMG I forgot a song! How about the Zydeco Boogaloo? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZHnu_mgQBs
Flavors: Floral, Grapes
So cute! Happy Mandala sheng day :-) I had mine yesterday pretty much all day too!!!
More grapey flavors in a pu’erh! I will note this one to try next!!! Wishlist! Wooo!
@Sars – this was first sheng and still one of my very favorite. I LOVE this one
LTF – you did the Autumn Song right? I may have to have some that later
Well I have to order from Mandala again soon b/c I have decided that I simply cannot live without the Heart of the Old Tree. I am really taking a liking to pu’erhs because I feel like I can buy them, and not drink them all right away, and that’s totally ok because of the aging!!!!
I need some of that Heart of the Old Trees. I can’t believe I don’t have any. Right now I have buzzy sheng head and seriously – better than a lot of drugs I may or may not have tried.
This sounds superb. I need to add this to my want list.
The Wild Mountain Roughage? If so, YES you need this. It’s delightful. I’m ordering the Old Trees as well :)
Love this: “better than a lot of drugs I may or may not have tried”
Yeah, I am going to order more Mandala soon. Before I do, are there any other pu’erhs that you think I simply can’t live without, HoneyBelle? I want the Wild Mtn and more Heart of the Old Tree.
How about you, TTF? Let me know!
What I love: Special Dark of course, Imperial Bulang, Noble Mark(!), the Lincang. I have more but haven’t spent time with them – just got the Old nuggets. Shengs I love: THIS ONE!, Wild Monk(!), I’ve only done one roung with the Silver Needle – but I liked it, and I’m looking forward to the Autumn Song
Thanks so much! I did get special dark. Loved it. I also just received the wild monk, but I did not try it yet. I need to get over my desire to keep it in it’s beautiful wrapper. LOL.
I will check out the other suggestions!!! <3 <3 <3
Sarsonator, I loved all the ones MzPriss just mentioned…but I also loved Imperial Dark and Temple Stairs shou pu’erh which I only got to try lately. Yesterday’s session with autumn song was also unbelievable!
Sars – you wrap it back up in that beautiful wrapper so you get to keep looking at it :)
OK… I got temple stairs, but I’ll add some imperial dark, too. Thank you both!
And MzP… I know. I just think it’s so pretty that I don’t want to mess it up! I’ll work carefully. :)
Yes you have to be sweet with it, but you can do it!
Oh! I forgot about Lincang and phatty cake!! They are a little bolder though, having lincang right now…whoa!!!
OMG – Phatty Cake! How could I forget phatty caek? Probably because my cakes are in a box and I didn’t see them…
I need to quit typing because I am not good at it.
Typing is overrated. You’re good at tea. :p
I <3 you Sars
I will review lincang again shortly….YOU HAVE TO ADD THAT ONE Sars!
I’m about tmake my Dark Beauty cocktail. I told someone I would make a listing on here with instructions. I should do that today too.
Steepster ate my comment!!!
I heart you, HoneyBelle!
Lincang was added! Can’t wait!!!!
What is Dark Beauty??? Sounds deeeeelish!!!
OH well now. Don’t know about my Dark Beauty cocktail? I will (very carefully this time) tell you:
16 oz boiling water
1 TBSP Special Dark
Big ass pinch of Black Beauty (Mandala)
Steep that bad boy for a while 5-7 minutes
Hellllllllo happiness. I have it every, single. morning. Makes the world turn right.
I would like to the clarify the above statement. It makes the world turn correctly not right.
What a lovely picture of a perfect Sunday morning! I’m saving this for future use as a background on my computer. For the next couple of weeks, that place of honor goes to images of the Tour de France.
AWWWWWWW thanks Hillel – it was for Science!
I’m shenging again! Woo!
Method: 3.3 g, 3 oz, 205 degrees, rinse & 15-20-25 seconds, filigree gaiwan and Dr. Who mug
Aroma: Wow. The dry tea smells just amazing. Grapes and some other delicious thing that I can’t quite place. I bought a sample b/c the cake is pretty pricey. I kept sticking my nose in the bag!
Flavor: Smooth and sweet. This is a little fruity, but not with the apricot flavors I normally find in the shengs I have tried. This is harder for me to determine, but I really like it. It’s so pretty and comforting. It leaves my tongue tingling a bit, also. There weren’t any reviews for this one, so I think I just picked it on a whim. Go me!
Edit: And I lied! I did another set of steeps at 20-25-30 and the apricot IS there! These steeps are more brothy as well. I’m watching Sharknado 2 with this really excellent tea. Sheng happy!!!!!
Preparation
Nice!! Also sheng high fives :)
High fives, eh? I thought that if I drank enough sheng, ya’ll might show me the secret handshake :p
(That’s because it’s a teacret handshake…)
Glad you’re enjoying your first YS sheng :-)
Ha! I am going to keep shenging on until someone shows me the teacret handshake! I will not be deterred!
(Been shenging for a while and still don’t hold the teacret hanshake. Some say it’s mystic, that you must reach the level of Sheng-Jedi to obtain it…)
OK, I shall forge ahead!
Have you gotten the sheng “Sweat” yet. I know it sounds crazy but the good ones will cause it.
Noooo! What phenomenon is this????
Tell us Mr Mo!
You will just kind of break into a little sweating with a powerful sheng. It usually happens in the later steepings as I think the leaf gets really hydrated and puts forth some of it’s essence.
I usaully sweat on the forehead and under the chin/neck area.
Interesting!
LOL! I freaked out the first time this happened to me. I think I was having a Lao Man E blend. It was winter, my apt(DC) has really big windows so the apartment was cold, at the end of the 4th steep I feel light headed. I was similar to getting of from the bed really fast in the morning, but lighter. Then I realized I was sweating and shaking my hands a bit and I felt hot in a cold apt. :P
Lao Man E , Bulang and LBZ seem to hit the hardest.
I’ve definitely felt some physical effects, but I don’t recall any sweating. The lightheadedness has definitely happened.
I’ve gotten a little light headed before, but not noticed sweating. Neat!
What is it in sheng that does this to us, exactly?
I don’t know what causes it but do a 10 gram steep with 10 oz. water for about 30 seconds sometime.
will do!!!!!
I’ve learned about so many scary things about pu’erh these past couple days, it’s ridiculous.
Are you talking about the “what’s in your pu?” Thread?
That too. Pu’erh is such a beast.
I just tried my first sheng. It made me feel very caffeinated for about 15 minutes and then I literally could not stay awake. I feel asleep in my chair in the middle of analyzing data at 5 in the afternoon. After 45 min or so, I woke up and felt normal. It was a weird experience.
Ooohhh… interesting mj. I haven’t experienced that before!
(Backlog review from last night)
Having Second Breakfast at midnight. That’s right, I live dangerously.
What…Is there a warning somewhere that stipulates this tea should be drank only in the morning?
There, didn’t think so.
Nice fruity and malty cup, mmmmm! So good!
Crusty bread, salty caramel and cocoa notes. Sweet and mellow, but not lacking in the taste department, au contraire.
I know I’m having it at night, but I will have it in the morning eventually and it will be very kind to me.
Some breakfast teas are like a slap in the face, waking you abruptly like a loud beeping alarm clock, screaming at you «Wake up, sleepyhead!!!»
This will take a more gentle route. It will just rub your shoulder softly and whisper in your ear «wake up sweetie, today will be a lovely day…»
It’s that kind of tea. It knows how to treat you right.
Took out the big mug tonight…just needed the right gear for it:
SB in the tentacle mug is full of win! <3
I think you are the cutest.
No, I think she is the cutest :p
Missy, it is right??
And NO!!!! Y’ALL are the cutest!!!!! <3
<3 review
I felt soothed reading this review!
More tentacle teawares!
Another WP on the wishlist! :)
Boychik, you are sweet <3
Cwyn, you so deserve soothing… :-)
Terri, tentacles make badass teaware!!!
Inranger, it’s nom, you need this!
“Second Breakfast at Midnight”—that would be such a righteous name for a tea!
“Second Breakfast at the Green Dragon”.
I decided that I needed a treat for my birthday so opened the sample of last thoughts I bought during the moving day sale.
The tea is amazing. Far and away the best tea I have ever had. The tea equivalent of Ch. Lafitte Rothschild wine.
Where to start? First steep was sweet, smooth, and grassy. Lots of cha qi. Very rich and powerful. Complex. Flavors drift slowly into a very long, lush finish. I’m flying high. Wouldn’t want to drive right now. 3rd steep: Nice nose: wood, with a hint of straw and smoke. Flavor is light straw and wood seems to move around my mouth as it activates different areas. Long finish and huge cha qi. I’m totally out of it after 5-6 ounces. I would need 3 times as much wine to get the same effect. This is more like whiskey.
At this point I took a break because I was afraid it was unsafe to go up or down stairs if I had any more. 5th, 6th steeps (2 hours later): Smooth and pleasant but not complex as before. Toasty nose. Rich toast/straw flavors, but weaker than before. Less finish. As it cools it devloped more flavor and complexity, displaying a syrupy, viscous texture. Still really powerful qi.
I went back to the tea about 24 hours later. Still gorgeous. Sweet smooth and complex. Silky in the mouth with excellent finish. This may be better than the earlier steeps because it is so well integrated. I’m seriously considering a cake for $439. The biggest problem would be that if I drank this regularly I would have trouble going back to normal teas.
Preparation
Nice review. Unfortunately you confirmed my own fears. Haven’t stepped up to try mine yet for I fear that I will enjoy it too much and then not want to go back to all my other teas. ;-)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. JIM!
I’m already thinking of what I could find in an intermediate price range, but recently tried If you are reading this.. and Colbert and they are very good but not in the same league.
It’s pretty good :).
+1 Excellent review
Happy Birthday Dr Jim.
Hope your birthday was a good one!
Happy Birthday!!!
Harpy Birthday!
Every time I read another awesome review about this tea it makes me really want to try it. That said, I fear I’m not ready for it!
Happy Belated Birthday! This is one of my top teas I’ve ever tasted :)
What a review! I love it. And Happy Birthday
Happy birthday. Excellent review
Note: My first score was a 100, but I had a subsequent tasting that I rated “only” 91 so averaged down.
Happy Mother’s day to all of you Steepster moms :-)
This morning, I’m thinking of my mother who is such a big influence in my life. This past year, she carried me through difficult times, don’t know where I’d be without her love and support.
So I chose a tea that reminds me of her beauty and loving kindness.
Jasmine is delicate, a beautiful flower that seems so fragile, and yet it will embrace you and comfort you every time you brew a cup.
My mom is not a tea drinker, but when she comes over, she always asks that I prepare a pot of “my special Chinese Jasmine tea” as she calls it.
My grandmother used to prepare Jasmine tea for us all the time, that’s how I started drinking tea at the age of seven! God bless her, my grandma is 88 and still very healthy and alert. That’s why Jasmine has such a special place in my heart to this day. She was using that loose leaf Jasmine black tea in the squared yellow tin with oriental designs on it. As a child, it looked like a magic box to me, it made me think of Aladdin!
I won’t be able to be with my mom and my grandma physically today, but drinking this beautiful tea this morning is like having both of them here with me.
See how tea brings people together?
This is my favourite Jasmine tea, it has everything I can wish for, and that’s why it’s the perfect tea to drink to honor the most important women in my life!
(See previous notes)
An excellent Steepster tribute to your mom and grandma! Well done!
:-)
Such a sweet way to honor your mom and grandma. If have to drink pots of coffee to do the same for mine. ;)
Haha! Veronica, you can find another way to honor them I’m hoping :-)
Nice!
I’ll have to wait until the 25 for mother day here but this is a very lovely tribute to your mom and grandma.
Thanks Ysaurella! It never occurred to me that mother’s day wasn’t the same everywhere, nice to know :-)
always the last Sunday of May here and Father day is always the third Sunday of June.
And they already had Mother’s Day in Ireland! I think it was a few weeks ago!
What a great way to celebrate your mom and grandma!
Beautiful story!
I posted a comment to this from my phone – does it not work from your phone??? Anyway, what I said was something like: This is beautifully expressed and I bet sending a copy of it or a link to it would be an awesome Mom’s Day present.
Sometimes comments don’t post from my phone either… :(
Thank you guys :-)
MzPriss, that’s an awesome idea, though my grandma speaks only French. But when I tell her what it’s about, she’ll be so excited that I wrote something about her, she’ll probably post it on Facebook (yes, at 88, she can teach ME about facebook, lol!)
I don’t do FB – but I bet they would LOVE to see this. It’s very sweet!
Port in the afternoon? Hey, why not!
I’m an advocate of drinking my best teas at very ordinary times. Why wait for a special occasions? Just make the ordinary extraordinary!
This is fine tea, I mean REALLY fine.
Brenden suggested I use one of those little Chinese Gongfu stainless super fine stainers for his vanilla tea. I’m all out of Golden Orchid (new batch on its way, yay!!!), but I thought I’d give it a try with Port.
I already see a difference by looking at the tea through my doubled walled mug. Last time I had it, I used a regular strainer and the infusion was a little blurry. It’s crystal clear now. The difference is subtle, but I can see how the taste seems different, “cleaner”. Hard to explain and fully grasp cause I drank Port only once before.
There aren’t many of them, but I see little hairs of red saffron in the blend here and there, and they do render a Spanish savoury flair to the cup and a beautiful bright amber copper liquor.
First thing to notice is the delectable and creamy vanilla, its feels organic and a little earthy. Paired with the exquisite and sweet black base, and the “cederness” of the roasted cedar leaves, this tea turns into a sophisticated caramel infusion, with floral and fresh evergreens notes.
Yes, it’s very expensive, but it delivers and I think everyone should experience it at least once. (The problem is I am now hooked and I know I will reorder when I’m out!!)
Just a superb creation.
This tea just sounds soooooo amazing. I love saffron.
:)
I’d never heart of saffron tea before today, and now here it is again! :) www.laperse.co.uk has a line of saffron infused teas that I recently got a sample of….i was going to give it to a friend, but now I just may try one! Port sounds fabulous!
Saffron is so good, can’t be beaten simmered in white wine to create the best shrimp rice ever, mmm, ok now I’m hungry, lol.
That sounds yummy, too! :)
I love saffron. This tea sounds interesting too! :)
Terri, when you told me you didn’t do “flavoured” teas very well because of different intolerances and allergies, I thought it included blends as well, that’s why I sent you only the straight WP, not wanting to take any chances. Otherwise I would have included this one and many more in our swap. MAYBE NEXT TIME :-)
NExt time!!
I do drink blends, I just don’t want anything with artificial flavors especially, but also sometimes have problems with ‘natural’ flavors. Blends that are actually made from real things are usually ok. :)
But that’s ok, I have a ton of tea to sample for now! :D
Oh, had to read the tea description to get the tea – thought it was Port-Port wine tea. had one once which was nice if a bit artificial.
Lucky for you, Terri (and everyone!) I don’t use any natural or artificial flavors. All of my teas are 100% real stuff :)
Cteresa, I love Port wine, I have a Portuguese friend who brings back bottles for me that are out of this world!!
WP: and it shows :-)
So…Steepster people. MzPriss and I have been chosen to preview this new creation before its official debut. Yesterday, I received the precious sample and drank it right away.
Beware, I have a lot to say, sorry for the long review, just couldn’t make it a short one!
I will not pretend I have the English skills to describe this tea the way Brenden did so masterfully in his own beautiful “Tolkien-esque” way…
But after reading it, I can tell you that I get what this brand new concoction is all about.
See, I live in a mountainous forestial environment.
Some days, I feel like Alice in Wonderland.
I get inspired by my forest every day….walking by a tall and majestic oak tree, bouncing on spongy velvety mossy grounds, getting intoxicated by the pungent and resinous scent of evergreens, listening to the chant of dazzling birds, secretly meeting with wonderful critters, having mystic encounters with strange and never seen before mushrooms, floating my way through ponds and wetlands, following the curves of sinuous rivers…
Beautiful nature canvases, begging for respect and attention. To experience it all, it is only required to look, smell and listen.
That will be my approach with this tea…
The look:
Stunning. Dark ebony curls and golden ribbons, they intertwine like enamoured lovers. Tea can be such a beautiful thing…Here’s a pic:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14514171475/lightbox/
The smell:
Enticing. But not as overly vanilla as I expected. It took me a while to figure out what the dry scent reminded me of…I finally did put my finger on it. I have a Vietnamese Lotus scented tea, and I compared it. Lotus blossoms! In tea, they have a natural floral vanilla scent to them. It’sa very distinctive fragrance, a little earthy and mossy.
Once brewed, the aroma took over the kitchen. Pics right here…but sorry, no 3D olfactory effects!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14534509223/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14491254566/lightbox/
The listen:
That’s the tasting part. This tea embodies someone’s love and respect for his surroundings. That “speaks” to me so I tried to be attentive to fully grasp all its subtleties. To tell you the truth, all I felt like doing when I drank it was to close my eyes, relax and enjoy instead of taking notes…and that’s totally what I did, at least for the first steep. (Lazy reviewer!!)
I initially thought this was going to be Golden Orchid on steroids!!! But it’s quite the opposite. It’s more subdued. In fact, it doesn’t even seem like any vanilla was added to the blend. It feels as if the leaves came from a mysterious and unknown vanilla tea tree variety, an old tree that would have been watered with vanilla scented water for centuries. That’s how natural this is, Camellia Sinensis in all its glory!
I am biased and partial. I already love the two base teas creating this little marvel: Ailaoshan Black and Imperial Grade Dian Hong . How could I NOT like this?
The union of the two create some amazing notes. The first steep was like liquid silk in my mouth, all vanilla and smooth salted caramel. I also got that lotus note.
The other steeps brought more complexity. The mix of the two black teas produced some kind of chocolaty dried cherry notes, so yum. I didn’t get Morels per say as in the description (my favourite mushroom BTW) but a damp yeasty earthiness might be my own perception on the “mushroom” notes. I also got woody and piney notes in the later steeps.
This tea is very potent, I was skeptical that it could yield as many brews as Brenden suggested. But I respected the Master’s instructions and it worked. 5 good steeps and not one weak cup! Well actually, that’s not true. It did get a little weak the first time around. But the sample was big enough for me to have it twice. The second time around, I used less water and it worked better for me. So when I get this baby home, I’ll be using 1 tbsp per cup instead of the recommended 1/2 tbsp. having said that, do try it the way it is meant to be, I’m a heavy steeper :-)
In conclusion, believe the hype people, Brenden is the Tea Whiz of the Woods!
Thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity to try this new beloved blend of yours :-)
I have greatly enjoyed sharing this with you my friend – what fun!! And I agree with you, I will use more than the half tablespoon, but I’m a notorious “heaper” This would also make a great middle of the night tea :)
Me too! It was a lot of fun… And yes, don’t we know about our middle of the night tea ;-)
:) This is such a wonderful review :) Love the pictures!
This tea sounds so special. I have to get some.
The tea was inspiring Brenden!
Boychik, yes, it’s another special one worth trying :-)
This sounds lovely. There’s no way I can resist trying it when it’s available. :)
Jelly!
Yes, can’t wait!
Sounds amazing!
I don’t know why you apologize for your english. It’s excellent! This was a beautiful review :-)
Thanks mj…writing in English just doesn’t come as naturally to me, so I have to put much more effort into it, but I like it :-)
Wonderful tasting note. Much more eloquent than any of my ramblings.
Do believe the Hype!!! Brenden Makes Great Teas!
This was a great review!!
mmmmm
This review singlehandedly made me add this tea to my wish list. Lol
What whatshesaid…said. Well that was awkward lol
That’s what sometimes I call her whatsherface giggling
Er…why not what
I’m ready to change my name but fear no one would know who I was, haha
dont change, its fun
im not happy with mine, what the hell i was thinking…
Aww.
as long as you keep the picture the same for a while, name changes are doable. i think
Sil you’ve changed pic several times. When notifications come its by name. And I like her name;).
I think it still keeps people following you. I know I’ve had “new” people show up in my dashboard and had no idea who they were until I figured out that they had changed their name. :) But I like everyone’s names. :)
haha yes, i change pics instead of names :)
boychik, I love your name!
Terri, that’s how my late grandpa called my son. I dunno why I picked it. I just miss him a lot
Lets just keep it the way it is, I think I’ll start freaking out;)
I think boychik is adorable, and that explanation is so worth keeping it :-)
You can always change the display name but keep the url name the same. Like how Sil’s or Nicole’s display names are different from their urls. :)
Never noticed that before!
shhhhhh angrboda!
i agree…boychik cannot change names! :)