Featured & Popular Tasting Notes
It’s been so long since I’ve had any tea!!!!!! After holiday travels to distant lands, battles with various viruses/viri, and a good heaping of “damn those people on Steepster really love their tea and while their love of tea makes Steepster possible it also makes me quite busy,” I just haven’t found myself with a nice warm cuppa in hand in quite some time.
Luckily, my gf saw our feature of 52Teas’ Coconut Cream Pie and knowing how much I love that sh** (even though we just had Strawberry Rhubarb pie) she sneakily got a pouch for us to enjoy. Now on to the tea!
I opened the pouch and was pleased to see plenty of large coconut shavings mixed throughout. The black tea seemed like a pretty good quality, albeit a little on the smaller side (I’m assuming because of the plastic pouch it travels in). What surprised me the most is the very noticeable mint smell coming out of the bag. I read the other reviews of this and nowhere do I see mention of mint, but I get a ton of that…I think it’s a natural part of the coconut (or maybe I’m just coco-nuts) – sorry.
The brew has a nice darkish browny amber-likey color a you definitely get that punch of coconut and that mint thing I mentioned. Sip time :)
Ok, I feel this is more of a coconut tea than a coconut cream pie tea. There are some more subtle cream/dairy undertones that compliment the natural flavor of the black tea, but I’m still feeling like it’s not quite a slice of coconut cream pie. Great coconut flavor though (if you’re into that, def give this a try)! I’m still getting that after-dinner mint-iness a little, which surprises me but isn’t unpleasant.
Overall, a great experience, good flavor, nice to sip. Not quite a coconut cream pie flavor explosion in your mouth, but I see the potential. I’ll definitely be trying this again soon and I will most certainly be attempting their tea latte recipe with this -it’s supposed to deliver the greatest pie flavor you can get. (speaking of that…if a certain someone happens to be reading this and they are planning to stop at the store on the way home, it would be pretty cool of them to pick up 3 (14oz) cans of fat free sweetened condensed milk :)
Preparation
Too funny! When I read the last paragraph I actually said “Ha ha! I love it!” out loud- and the only other “person” home is my dog. Sounds like you need something w/ no or a very quick steeping time. Matcha or Mecha (from Den’s Tea) comes to mind;)
FYI, you only need one can of sweetened condensed milk. Empty it and add three cans full of milk. Otherwise, you are going to be making an awful lot of latte mix.
@Cofftea: I’ve yet to try matcha! I really should jump on it (…kemosabe)
@52Teas: Thanks for the rec. But do you really want to discourage people from drinking vast quantities of your tea? ;)
@Jason: nice attention to detail.
@52Teas: thanks for catching that. :)
haha! i like the shout out to the gf. nice!
@Jason, please do drink vast quantities of our tea, but the recipe we use for the latte mix makes about a half gallon of latte mix. If you made a gallon and a half, it might go bad before you could drink it all. I would hate for you to not enjoy our teas because of spoiled latte mix. :)
Where do I find the recipe for the latte mix???? Someone, please share!
@Laura: does that mean you’re gonna pick some up?
@52Teas: A gallon and a half might be pushing it, so maybe you have a point.
@fcmonroe: Here’s the recipe from their site:
“How to make a fat-free tea latte: Combine 1 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk with 3 cans of skim milk in a saucepan, heat and stir until uniform. Combine resulting mixture with hot tea in equal parts tea and latte. Thank me out loud for sharing our latte recipe.
Leftover latte will keep in the fridge for a few days, allowing you to either reheat, or use to make iced tea lattes, of which, the coconut cream pie flavored black tea iced tea latte is the KING." – note: apparently the recipe makes 1/2 gallon of latte mix FYI
Thank you so much!!! That would give me a good way to use up partial cans of condensed milk.
Firstly, your girlfriend totally gets a +15 for ninja-ing y’all some tea. Secondly, I was totally going to -10 you for the coco-nuts [COME ON] but then I saw the Apache reference and you got a +10 for that…
So I guess you win today, Shredder. [By the way, did you know that Shredder was voiced by Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince? I learned this a couple of days ago and was very much “WHAT?!”]
@Takgoti: several things…
- My gf gets way more than +15 points because not only did she order the tea ninja style (or the korean version of that) and then stop to get the condensed milk, she also waited around while I worked on the new Steepster updates (which i hope you enjoy) and we didn’t even get a chance to make tea lattes!
- I apologized for “coco-nuts” in advance
- However, I still defend my tame pun with the fact that I also included a “sh**”. I have a diverse fan base – gotta get a little something for everyone in there.
- Yes, I did win today. Like all other days. You may call me, The Shredder.
- I actually did know that Uncle Phil voiced the Shredder and it’s sometimes hard to watch the cartoons again with that in mind. But I remain a true fan until the end.
Out
⚀ As a Korean, I think that officially the Korean version of ninja is AWESOME. It’s either that, or Korean popstar Rain, so I’m gonna go with AWESOME. I will have to revisit my little book of points and adjust accordingly.
⚁ I would make another comment about your pun foul, but I’ve made enough bad ones that I can’t really ethically continue at this point.
⚂ Touché, salesman.
⚃ I’m gonna find people to replace their avatars with appropriate TMNT characters, and then we will take you down.
⚄ I still can’t wrap my head completely around it. This has been doing a pretty good job of weirding me out, though. http://uncleshredder.ytmnd.com/
In.
@Takgoti:
1) Yes, we korean-ninjas rock. :p
2) Uncle Phil/Shredder weirded me out too. I can’t take Fresh Prince seriously anymore. …Not that I ever did…?
3) I just read a previous line of postage about you never wanting to be April. I feel your pain (or rather, I did at that age, too). I wanted to be Raph or Leo. Plus, kudos to you for beating the arcade game. :)
@Jason: Nice SHG reference. I love how the songs you get stuck in your head always make them into your steepster posts.
EPIC.
@Laura HOLLA. Also, re: April – I would get so MAD. I so feel for little…us? And beating that game and the Simpsons one are like, major, major triumphs of my childhood. We had a sack of quarters we had found at the bottom of the pool during the summer and a crowd gathered and my friend jumped up onto a table after we bested the Simpsons. It was rather epic, though at the time it just resulted in us nearly getting kicked out of Fuddruckers. WHOO! That was like a nostalgia adrenaline rush.
AND just to bring it full circle, the Apache dance might be my favorite Fresh Prince moment.
I was thrilled to receive a tea swap package from the lovely teaplz recently and this was in it.
Oh, Steepsterites.
Pear tea is not something I’ve had a lot of good luck with. It’s my favorite fruit [thinking about the validity of that statement and deciding it’s definitely true], and therefore it’s not something that I’m going to be satisfied with if I have to reach for in a tea. [Kind of like the elusive pumpkin, I suppose.] I don’t want it to be light and floaty, though light and floaty pear done well is better than artificial or this ain’t pear. I want it to be in my face and smack me around a bit.
Oh, Steepsterites.
The fact that this combines with my favorite dessert flavor [thinking about the validity of that statement and deciding it’s definitely true] means that this tea could easily be my Icarus. It could soar up high on the warm air currents and then tumble silently before crashing fatally into the sea.
Fortunately, this tea is like Icarus’ happy ending. It’s the Icarus Remix. Pears have a relatively short season where they’re really good [or at least it seems that way because I can’t get enough of them when they’re around] and this tea is going to become like crack for me, especially when pears aren’t in season. I’m already calling it, everyone. When I get really effing weird on Steepster [weirder – that is] and start spitting nonsense, it’s going to be because I’m either out of Ryokucha or this tea. Look forward to it.
Take a second to travel to Imaginationland for a second with me here. Think about a nice, ripe, juicy pear. You know, where they’re in that state of limbo between firm and mushy and when you bite into it you have to have a towel on hand [if you care about that kind of thing] because you inevitably end up making a mess. Now, cut that pear up into little half inch cubes and stick them in a bowl. You still with me? Okay, now there’s a saucepan on the stove to your left. It’s got some caramel sauce bubbling in it – deep orange-brown, bubbling, thick, and satiny. Give it a good stir, cut off the heat, and let it cool for a minute. Excellent. Take the caramel, and pour that all over the pear bits. The whole thing. Don’t hold back. Stir everything around gently, do not smush the pear.
Now, take out a spoon. Put the spoon in your mouth. Remove your belt and wrap it around your head. Take off your shoes and go outside. There will be a bag of trash in your trashcan. Take that out, and…
I’m kidding, I’m kidding.
Okay, take the spoon. Dip into the mixture and…I think you can take it from there.
That is what this tea tasted like to me. It was rich, and the caramel and the pear were both just so very much present. Between the mouthfeel and the taste and just the absolute giddiness I got from the fact that they nailed the pear so hard it won’t see straight until the weekend. Just…AH.
The two tastes didn’t combine often. When they did, it was maybe just a smidge weird, but the majority of the time it tasted like a piece of pear coated in decadent caramel, and Zeus help me, it’s going to take an insane amount of willpower to keep this sample from disappearing before I order it.
As it cooled, the caramel started to melt away a bit and the pear came to the forefront. The only thing that could keep me from being disappointed at this is the fact that I love pear to the point that it raises eyebrows, but the fact that the tea did this for me is something that I think y’all should be aware of. [This was also true of the second steep – more pear than anything else. I let it sit for seven minutes on the second infusion, but I’ll try steeping it a little longer next time. The more mileage I can get out of this the better, I think.] Oh, and the rooibos didn’t come into the picture at all.
Anyhow, win. Just…win. It was such a win that everything else could have lost that day and I wouldn’t have cared much. The ONLY reason that this tea isn’t going to get a flat out 100 from me is unfortunately because of something that also makes it so awesome. It is sweet and rich and a full on dessert tea. I can’t drink this every day, though I wish I could. If I did, I’d get sick of it, which would make my tea self cry, and this is not a tea I want to have to take out of rotation.
Anyhow.
ABSO-EFFING-LUTELY DELICIOUS. Thanks, teaplz!
Preparation
Maybe this will be my first rooibos tea…was it sour? Pencil shavings-ey?
This review is WIN. Absolute win! I’m SO HAPPY you really adored this, because I think it’s really something special too! It’s so ridiculously identifiable as pear, I can’t take it. True, juicy pear flavor, with caramel and deliciousness.
WHEEEE! 2-2 today for my tea and you and Auggy!
See I tend to be a fan of your self-proclaimed “weirder” posts and wonder what that says about me? Also…oh man oh man oh man this tea sounds right up my alley!! s-hop-list’ed as they say.
Nice review and this sounds really good.
When I get really effing weird on Steepster [weirder – that is] and start spitting nonsense, it’s going to be because I’m either out of Ryokucha or this tea.
You say that like it’s a bad thing!
@shanti I highly recommend it if the caramel and pear flavors appeal to you, but I got absolutely zero taste from the rooibos in this tea. So…I’d get it regardless, but if you’re looking to get a baseline for rooibos look elsewhere!
@teaplz Ahhhh so good. I wanted to have it again last night but I held off. This is going to be an ongoing battle, I think.
@Mike HAHAHA, I think it just means that I’m in good company here on Steepster? I’m glad that my weirdness is well received.
@teadipso Apparently there are apple pieces in it? I thought that they might be pear, but upon reading the description, it’s apple. For whatever reason, it works so well.
@silvermage2000 Oh, it is!
@Angrboda HAHAHA! Yeah…well, sometimes I get so in my head that I read what I’ve been putting on the page and have to go, “Really?” at myself. Thanks for supporting my quirks!
Yeah, Shanti, the rooibos here really doesn’t come out at all. I wouldn’t worry about it! Of course, rooibos isn’t really that scary. It has more of a woodsy sweet taste to me, and it looks like pencil shavings, but doesn’t exactly taste like them.
AND I LOVE TAKGOTI’S QUIRKINESS.
Fun log, and exciting flavors. When some of you steepsterites are enthusiastic about a really good tea, it’s incredibly contagious. Just reading this made me want to rush out and place a new order.
ohhh, you make this sound so delicious! this is going to the top of my shopping list! and takgoti, we <3 you & your quirks.
Hon, you made me buy the Andrew and Dunham Series 2 after your Jackie Muntz (? Did I get that right? I’m not looking it up right now) review – and now this has moved to the top of my list. You’re a hoot to read!
Yeah, that didn’t work. Ate my ♥. No more less than signs, it angers the HTML gods, I think. Let’s try this again.
@teaplz THANK YOU. I LOVE YOUR QUIRKINESS. Quirkiness no longer looks like a word.
@sophistre Hehe! What can I say? Good tea gets us all frothed up and ready to infect! I just made it sound like we have rabies, didn’t I? Anyhow, thanks! And secretly, though I am telling myself I am delaying the order because I’m “budgeting,” it’s really because I got a couple of other Art of Tea samples from teaplz and I want to try them first in case I want to add something to the order.
@Laura DO IT! I’m going to have to drink it again tomorrow. It’s just too irresistible and I keep on thinking about it as I’m drinking other tea. And aww, thank you! ♥’s all around!
@wombatgirl Hehe, close! It’s Jackee Muntz [JacKEE MUNtz and ThomAS SAMpson – I saw someone out that on twitter and it blew my mind a little bit], but I won’t tell anyone. I hope you like it! My Series 3 just got here. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the warm fuzzies, everyone! I am cold. Might be time for bed soon.
Ok, I’m sold! I am totally getting this when I get paid. <3
I woke up with a stomach that was out of sorts, felt nauseated, stood outside for a while and inhaled the (temporarily nice) fresh air, and came to work. Now I’m sitting here nauseated again. How annoying. I think I’m just going to try and hang in there as long as possible, but I really hate stumbling into my boss’ office and letting her know I won’t last the day. I just feel I should generally have better discretion than that, and just not go in as opposed to going in to try your best and just look as though you’re trying to prove a point. ugh I’m overthinking things. What else is new.
Anyway, this tea is just lovely. A touch of astringency in the most refreshing way possible, and I never thought that a straight black tea could taste refreshing. But there’s also a fair dose of malt and sweet, and a hint of apple woodiness from what I’m assuming is the Darjeeling. This tea really does taste quite complex, but is so effortlessly beautiful in your mouth. I got 8 oz of it (what? it didn’t come in smaller amounts!), so am happy to share, but also don’t anticipate having any issue at all finishing it. I like it a lot better than Scottish Morn, because I just found that tea to be astringent and strong but not much else. And I don’t know that I really like very strong but otherwise uninteresting teas. This is a lot more complex, while still having enough strength to be a legitimately awesome morning tea. Absolutely recommend!
I hate that feeling of making it to work and then feeling sick and having to leave as well :( I hope you getting feeling better soon!
I know! It’s just so awkward. Like, if you didn’t feel well, why’d you come in? but I just thought I might feel better as the day progressed, you know? Anyway, thanks. I hope this just goes away.
Mmm, that sounds wonderful! Bold AND beautiful!
This tea is absolutely fantastic!!
This sounds super fancy and delicious! Sorry your day is going a bit rubbish, though. Hope you feel better!
It is wonderful! and thanks. I’m trying to see if I can’t find some sort of bland lunch option that won’t turn my stomach.
I hope you feel better!
Thank you! I’m starting to feel hungry, which I’m interpreting as a good sign. :)
Hope your day ended up better than it started :-)
Thanks :D
I enjoyed reading your tealog, but sad you were struggling with being sick. Hope you are feeling better.
Thank you. I was hit hard by crazy weakness today, so ended up sleeping the entire day. Hopefully that helps some. And I’m so glad you njoyed reading my tea log!
having a couple of my “green” teas before i switch to some of the caffeine free options i have tonight. Not because caffeine bothers me but because i feel compelled to also drink those up. I just finished looking at my cupboard list/spreadsheet and it turns out that i’ve tried 1600 teas! (well that i’ve logged anyway). I like even numbers… I’m also having a great night because the snow has been falling all afternoon and it’s fluffy and beautiful outside tonight! And i might just work from home tomorrow…so that’s always a good tea time! I’m seriously itching to place an order but i am TRYING to hold back. It’s hard….i want more cacao…and some verdant staples…and mandala…and damn fine tea and new companies… sigh resistance IS futile…but maybe i can manage to hold out for one more week to get me into late march! Especially since not having samples (though some are inbound in swaps) has me able to focus on my older teas! Only 14 teas left before i’m within 6 months of my oldest tea…i won’t make it for the end of March i don’t think…but it’s always a possibility :)
2-May
2-June
6-July
2-August
2-September
Oh the games i play with myself to encourage me to do this, that or another thing and have fun doing it!
I’m so confused by all the math involved here, but HOLY CRUD 1600 teas. I’m just going to sit here in quiet awe.
admires
It is fun, though! I’ve never actually counted how many teas I have including samples, and I shudder to think of the number! and omg at 1600…that’s insane!!
Oh and LOL at a rating of 85 but “not recommended” hehe.
Sami – no math on that, steepster tells me when i look at my tea ratings haha
keychange – i started a spreadhseet most just so i could keep track of my older teas. And when my teas come in, i toss the month on the bag so i can see it when it’s in my cupboard too
(steepster being weird..it also set this to 100 and not recommended…)
I have 76 teas, unless I’m forgetting some, which I probably am. And I nearly ordered another five today. Whoops.
Oh yeah, I was slightly confused by the rating/recommendation combo, too ;)
And to be fair, I keep a spreadsheet for all my blends, to keep track of flavour profiles and tasting notes and caffeine levels and tea types and all that good stuff. And it really is fun.
That’s impressive! I have teas that are over 1.5 years old.
You spreadsheeters are so organized!
swedish chef…well when you drink crazy amounts of tea, as everyone seems to think i do…it’s easy to keep rotating through things :)
Oh yeah, totally! I think if I’d be more into swapping, hence breaking up and divvying out the stuff I buy faster, that would aid in rotation too. Instead, I have a tin of H&S SoHo just sitting there sloooowly disappearing since the fall before haha.
swapping can be stupidly addictive! so much fun.
i love swapping… giggling
I love this tea! It’s such a great tea for a really busy but awesome day.
Some of you know I work at a special makeup effects shop. Well they need to make a toddler for a tv show and I volunteered my child as a model to make the mold. So we set up a swimming pool, filled it with toys, and then spread warm goop all over her (arms, legs, whatever we could get a hold of) and then distracted the heck out of her so she wouldn’t move while it set. And it worked! Who know a 23 m.o. could be so still! :D I can’t wait to see how the molds turn out and how the finished toddler looks. :D
(So that’s why I haven’t been logging today. It’s been a long busy day)
Your job sounds super fun :-)
That is so hilarious! Glad she was able to be still. :)
It is! Some days definitely more than others! :D
I just got this picture of the first results: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=488591CF5D9E872AAHSUEl5REszhWP0&v=3&ithint=photo%2c.jpg
Wow, that is awesome! The little hands are so cute! I really wanted to go to special effects school in LA for a while, but I never ended up making it happen. So what worked to distract her so thoroughly? I’m about to fly with my little one and could use any suggestions to distract!
We had a few strategies – new toys, gumky candy, people to talk to her and distract her, and my tablet with Kung Fu Pands. I’m not sure that’d work for your flight, but I wish you the best of luck on your flight!
You work at a special makeup effects shop!? So cool!
Hubby and I are obsessed with watching Face Off, it’s so my dream job!
Just saw the pic, awesome! How did you get into a job like that?
Thanks! And it was mostly luck. I have a lot of history with Admin/Office Manager roles and my sister-in-law works at a shop that needed an Office Manager. So she gave me a recommendation and I was in after a short interview. I don’t do any of the hands-on stuff – I just order supplies, clean-up, make sure we get paid, and I had to create the website (http://www.mindwarpfx.com/)
I think if you’re trying to be a special fx technician you have to go to school for it? There a one-year course in Toronto, but I don’t know the name of the school. Seems like a lot of people do that, then get hired as an intern to get experience, and then it’s’ ALL about reputation and word of mouth to get recommended for other jobs.
It’s really cool what they do, but it’s not at all a lifestyle I’d like. With the Hannibal tv show we had 2 weeks at most to build everything for each episode and that lead to a lot of days where those guys worked 24 hour days, or only had 5 hours sleep total over several days. No thank you! And it’s all contract so you don’t have as much stability as you would elsewhere. But you get to create the best stuff so that is such a huge plus!
You got to see them work on stuff for Hannibal? Awesome!
Yeah I know the reality of it isn’t glamorous but it sure is cool :)
Sounds like you have a good view from your position!
It is always nice to get a reality check on “dream” jobs that never came to fruition, so thanks for that! I don’t think I’d like that schedule or the instability. I have been a body piercer by trade for a long time and the unstable income gets tiring after a while.
It is really cool. :) I even got to go check out the set for Hannibal, although most of it was locked up so I didn’t get any pictures. :| Hopefully we get Season3 and then i will. hahaha.
Yeah, it’s a tricky one. If you’re the type of person that just wants to work until the job is done, then it’s the perfect industry for you. I was very clear that I need to be 9-5 for my role and they were happy with that so it worked out extremely well!
(And I’m so freaking obsessed with Hannibal. Was before I started on the job! haha)
If I move to Toronto can you get me a job as your assistant?
Lol I will make you tea alllll day long ;)
Oh that looks so awesome! I have a friend who’s in specialFX, and it’s a long hard slog for new artists. She’s done a bunch of internships, worked on a few movies, but it’s so hard to find work. Especially if you move cities. It is ALL about networking.
Sipdown (191/196)!
I don’t think people understand that when a store closes at 9PM that doesn’t mean the employees go home at 9PM – it means that’s when we get to start closing; and for a big store like Dollarama it takes quite a while to close. Christ.
So, today at 8:55PM we had a lady come in and start shopping – FIVE MINUTES TO CLOSING. That wouldn’t have been such a big deal if she was just quickly grabbing one or two things – but that wasn’t the case; instead she had to do all her grocery shopping and buy all the stuff for her wedding: a few hundred fake white/yellow flowers, all our champagne flutes (which we have to wrap individually), place settings…
And because we weren’t closed yet we had to let her shop and stay open until she was done. Ughh! We didn’t even get to start closing until 9:40! Because of her me and my closing cashier both missed our buses. At least I’m within feasible walking distance: I felt really bad for Ruby though because this late at night the buses only stop by once an hour so she had to wait an extra long time to get home.
Fuck people.
But anyway; I finished this off in my timolino with milk today. Scratch another Butiki blend off the list, as well as one less black tea in my cupboard meaning more space in the closet for black blends! Hooray!
I’m not to sad to see this go; it’s way to hard to get it right. I don’t want to waste more time on it trying to perfect brewing it – so goodbye Irish Cream Cheesecake. It was an experience, at least…
Oh, that is so frustrating. I hope your co-worker got home OK.
You need to can an ok from higher up to be able to post a sign stating that after 8:45 pm you csn only accept orders of 6 items are less!
That is soooo annoying. :| Aren’t you allowed to tell her at 9 that, “Sorry, the store is closed. Can you please come up to the till so we can check you out?” I’ve had a few customers screw me over like that as well, but they generally don’t stick around more than 5-10 minutes afterwards…
Those people are the WORST. Like you have nothing better to do than wait around and serve them. The kind of person who has no respect for others or their time
Wow, so inconsiderate. Some people only think sbout themselves.
Inconsiderate she is! Sometimes the customer is NOT right…
(channeling Yoda today)
I’m pretty sure those types of people are the ones who’ve never worked a guest service/retail job themselves… :/
At the store I worked at, we started closing the tills at 9 so someone like that would be unable to make their purchase as the register was closed. Also, working in retail, I quickly learned how horrible customers can be. I mean, I once had a lady tell me to “go f*** myself” because I told her we stopped selling the comforter set she wanted two years ago. And when I apologized for the inconvenience and told her next time she should feel free to call us before making the drive to the store and we would be happy to check to save her the trip she told me to “f*** off” and then told her son to drop everything he was carrying on the floor.
Do you not have some sort of ‘we close in five minutes, please make your way to the tills’ call out or something? We do here. In Denmark, that lady would have been told (politely of course) that it was very close to closing time.
We’re not allowed to do a final call; store policy is to close at nine if no one is in the store but if people are still shopping to allow them to do so, uninterrupted, until they’re finished. @VariaTEA – I’ve definitely experienced that, and it really sucks. I’ve had people throw stuff at me because they can’t return/exchange it (Dollarama has a strict no returns or exchanges policy that’s advertised on all entrances and printed on every receipt). The best is when they ask/demand to speak to the person in charge: 9/10 that happens to be me, since I take over command of the store once my manager goes home for the day, which is usually half an hour after I’ve started my shift.
People are the worst. And the final call thing is sort of bullshit since employees shouldn’t have to stay just because people are inconsiderate.
That’s brutal. :| And it’s poor policy for your store. I can see someone being completely oblivious to closing time and would be completely understanding about hurry the F up, (and I can also see others who wouldn’t care.. but why not weed out those that do?)
The best is when they ask/demand to speak to the person in charge: 9/10 that happens to be me,
So, when that happens, do you go away and come back immediately and ask what the problem is? :p
@Angrboda Man that would be hilarious; but I think would often piss them off even more :P
Probably… It’s the sort of thing one wishes one dared to do. :p
Heheheh
airport tea! thank you teafairy for making this delicious blend! have to go! be back soon lol
Another Sipdown!
I tried this twice, and just never cared for it. The lime smelled great but didn’t carry into the flavour enough. And the base was odd – Kept getting that weird salty flavor I’ve found in a few teas now…
Ugh, too bad about the base. Hope I won’t get the same flavour from it.
Probably not? I think I’m the only one who gets it – caused partly by my combo of my water and steeper maybe too?
I was going to say, speaking of the earlier comment about water and location, I wonder if that may be part of the problem. I’ll watch for a salty flavour when I get mine in.
This one sounds really interesting!
This never worked for me either, Cavo. I tried the whole sample and was disappointed each time :(
Hmmm. I’m happy it’s not just me because I ordered some other teas from Herbal Infusions and I don’t want them all to be the same. I wonder if they use the same base for all their black teas? It’d make it easier for me to figure out what it is about certain teas that makes it “salty” and others not. I’ll have to add notes to my tea spreadsheet and track this: FOR SCIENCE.
haha FOR SCIENCE! Also, I think their base is the same for most of the ones I tried. I know I picked up on the same base flavor in Moose Tracks, Key Lime Coconut, and Santa’s Milk & Cookies. I haven’t tried many of their teas though so I might not be the expert on that topic.
(am I the only one that doesn’t have a tea spread sheet… ? )
dexter….possibly haha
dexter, no tea spread sheet here either!
I think they use the same base for pretty much all their black teas, and sadly I don’t like the base at all.
OMGsrsly – I was afraid of that, but I did like Moose Tracks, so I grabbed 50g of that and the Snowflake EG. There’s a few samplers so I’ll see how those go.
(Haha, Dexter, I don’t have one but sounds like a great idea!)
I haven’t even tried all my samples yet. I have this one, but I’m a little scared.
Yes! Spreadsheets are an excellent way to summarize all your tea thoughts, as well as notes on if you should repurchase it, how you prefer to drink it etc. I love excel bc it’s so easy to search for one specific tea out of hundreds.
This is my first experience with puerh of any sort.
After rinsing, the aroma is reminiscent of seaweed, which unfortunately is not pleasant to me in a culinary sense, and the brewed color is surprisingly dark. Tastes also of seaweed or perhaps more of moss, with a somewhat lingering clean juiciness. Tried a second cup after more rinses (amazing how dark this is), and could not get past the earthiness of this even when not breathing in the aroma.
Interesting, and glad to have tried it, but don’t think it is for me.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like it :( But every tea is a learning experience all the same :)
How short your steeps were? I’m quite successful with shortest steeps possible like 5 sec.
This particular shu I found too clean and too mild for my taste. Don’t dismiss it. Try some other time;)
Yes, it was a learning experience and I enjoyed trying it for sure!
boychik, I played around a bit with steeping times…probably a bit longer than 5 seconds, and as well tried longer times – still pretty earthy.
I would try it again some other time.
If any one told me 4 months ago that I would be so into puerh I wouldn’t believe. I started with shu( had a free sample) that was very bad quality, completely black fishy. But I had a feeling that it was a bad sample. It didn’t stop me;). I’m addicted.
Do you drink coffee? I find shu is similar to black coffee. I do drink 1 cup everyday no milk or sugar. If you like green tea then maybe sheng is the answer.
Yeah I think puerh takes a little time to get aquanted with you. My first was a disaster.
haha, yes I will have to try again another time. I really don’t know much about puerh at all.
And I do drink coffee but didn’t find this similar, except in color perhaps. ;-)
If you have only had this a short period of time let it “air” out. I usually put any new puerh in the pumidor for at least 2 weeks before I get into them. Just let it get some air and moisture and it will probably wake up a little. I get things from China that have been vacuumed sealed with no airflow or moisture and they are usually in transit a month or so sometimes. I just pull them out and hope they come “alive” again. I think this will change given a month or so.
Thank you, mrmopar. It was in a sealed bag – I will the rest of it get some air for awhile and try again. And, I never knew there were pumidors!
That should read, “I will let the rest of it get some air..”
Mopar, how big is your pumidor anyway? :)
Backlog from last night.
I’ve been waiting to dig into my sample of this since getting it, but I didn’t want to have all my matchas samples open because I thought that would probably A) be bad for the matcha and B) be a little overwhelming. However, I’m done to about 2 cups worth of Pineapple Matcha and maybe 3 worth of Eggnog Matcha now, plus I was having an awful day yesterday so I decided it was finally time to try this one out. I love caramel and that is definitely what I was in the mood for – plus, Tre had made brownies to make me feel better and I thought cold, caramel milk would be something that would go fantastically with that.
I guess that you’re supposed to use 1 tbsp. of MATCHAccino for a cup as opposed to the about 1/2 tsp. one would normally use with regular matcha. To me, that seemed like a lot so I just went with 2 tsp. to kind of compromise.
Sweet baby Jesus, it was yummy! It was very, very smooth and like drinking liquid gold! I never want to be without this ever again! For a caramel lover, I was just in absolute heaven. That said – despite being super delicious it was a little weak, but that’s probably completely from my being stubborn and under leafing – so next time I’ll go with the proper instructions and measurements.
Just… Mmm!
I have always wondered how the MATCHAccino differs from just plain matcha. I thought about picking some up to try but then saw it was like 50something calories and decided not to.
Yeah, it has some sugar in it. Not a lot (especially compared to a Starbucks unsweetened green tea latte), but some.
When I have an income and finally break hiatus (maybe sooner than later – my birthday is March so hopefully there’ll be birthday money), my first order is likely gonna be Red Leaf for some flavoured matcha. I think I’d likely get Caramel Matcha over MATCHAccino because that’s quite tasty too – I just know I need at least one of them in my life at all times, hah…
OMG ROSWELL STRANGE MY BIRTHDAY IS MARCH TOO!!! WE TRULY ARE KINDRED SPIRITS!! Okay I will stop with the super-over-excited-caps. But I saw “my birthday is March” and sort of stopped reading to come write my excitement.
Now I have finished reading and I definitely understand needing matcha in your life. Honestly though, I think I could forgo the caramel matcha in favor of the caramel popcorn because it is amazing!
Also, I only ended up placing an order with Red Leaf Tea because a friend of mine was going to order on her own regardless so I suggested if we ordered together we could get more flavors and split them so we went in on an order together. It is nice because now we are getting about 9 different matchas between the two of us that I can review and get discounts for. Then we can place more orders in the future. Without her I probably would have struggled with placing an order for such a long time given their prices.
I wonder what the odds are that your Birthday is the same day as mine? I guess 1/31…
My first matcha experiences were SO bad (sorry Lala), that had I not received some samples from Red Leaf free, and then the samples from you I probably would have written matcha off all together. Now I think I have eight different kinds on my “HAVE TO TRY THIS” list (though, I’ve had three of those eight already).
I have been lucky to have only good experiences with matcha and thanks to numerous people on steepster I have been able to try a bunch of different flavors and figure out what I like best. I think that is why I was not too anxious when I finally committed to placing an order.
Also I am born March 15. The ides of March and also fertility day in Japan (on which they carry around GIANT wooden penises).
Ah, so close! March 13th for me… And that is certainly some very fun trivia about your birthday! I don’t know if there’s anything significant surrounding the 13th.
So close indeed! My mom is the one who told me about fertility day. I would feel special that there is significance to the day if it not for the fact that my mom is born New Year’s Day and my brother is born Christmas day. Ides of March/Fertility day just can’t compete. On the plus side, I can go out on my birthday because stores/restuarants/etc. are actually open :P
My mom and Aunt (not twins, 11 year age difference) are both born Christmas Eve :P
Every day is a holiday, even if some are obscure ans weird. As a Pastafarian, I am pleased to be born on International Talk Like A Pirate Day.
All praise be to the FSM, for his noodly appendages have touched us all! R’Amen.
R’Amen.
Sipdown!!
Don’t you hate when you are about to click on a tea and the drop down list just changes? It took me like three tries to finally get to this page but I did it so yay!
Anyways, this is a tasty, tasty white. Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing. It really comes off as though I am feasting on some delicious berries. It is sweet, but with just the right amount of berry tartness. The white base is the perfect match to highlight the mulberries and the flowers add almost a butterscotch note to the whole cup. I am sad all the leaf was gone with just one (very large) cup. You shall be missed Mulberry White, until we meet again.
Preparation
Mmm… Now I wanna make this. I’m already prepping some Boatsman, though :(
I was going to make boatsman but by the time I got to prepping the water had cooled so I took advantage and went for the white tea instead.
waaaaaaaant my teas!
Haha – I have the advantage! Though, I want mine too :( I need more Pret a Portea for at night. I’ve also figured out that one travels well, too… I think I’ve asked you this before, but which did you get Sil?
uh….assam beast of the east, tropical dream and orange path + samples of a couple others :)
I love the name of Assam Beast of the East. Not sure why, but it’s fun to say – just like “Boatsman”.
no tea tonight sigh maybe tomorrow..which will end up being Wednesday since it’ll likely get stuck in mail jail…. bah!
This was the one I had to try first! I’m so happy I heard about it before I finalized my cart, or I would have had to create a second follow quickly after.
I still might need to. I’m so impressed so far.
And I’m trying Beast of the East tomorrow – I liked the name as well.
Awww. Poor Sil.
And everyone else still waiting.
Save a bit for meeeeeeee cavo!
Did you like it!? I think it’s fabulous! Right now, I’m most impatient about Sweet Helen, I think… And getting more Tea of Kings/Pret a Portea, but I still have a few cups left of each.
I have resisted an order so that I could try the teas that I was sent. Both were really tasty so it is oh so tempting but I am trying very hard to be good and not order more. Perhaps I should set a number and if I reach it, I can order more tea.
VariaTEA…don’t tell anyone that number or they’ll send you teas when you’re ALLLMOST there just to drive you bonkers with love :)
By the next time we swap, I should have received my RiverTea order, so maybe I can throw somethings in for you if they sound interesting. I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Tea of Kings.
Haha. Is that what they do to you, Sil? :P
And Roswell Strange, you know me so well…that was one I was looking at buying when I built my cart. I just realized I have built a lot of carts lately. haha. I guess I do have some self-control.
(May or may not be building another cart right now) I really like it. Best lychee black I’ve ever had, personally. I’d have sent you some in the last swap, but I’m down to about 2 cups – and I was being greedy.
VariaTEA – I always threaten to do it to Sil. It’s fun to make her squirm.
And Sil – done! (Well, noted at least. Lemme know if you want others, although I probably won’t see you at the tea fest)
This is so delicious this afternoon!! Smooth and mellow, yet so rich, sweet and full of flavor. Notes of cocoa and light grains with honey and roses. With cream added, it tastes of buttery pastry – so good!
Preparation
Oh wow – sounds positively amazing!
Agreed! Have you also tasted TeaVivre’s Premium Keemun Hao Ya?
Yes, it was really nice. I have had it before but forgot how good it was – I’ll have to order more!
No, I haven’t tried that one, looseTman. I think I have a sample though!
Just checked – I do have a sample pack of that. Do you prefer it?
So far I’ve enjoyed 1,500g of their Premium Keemun. However, I haven’t yet tasted the Superfine Keemun. I be curious to hear how you think they compare.
lol, I haven’t tried the premium one yet. I’ll have to compare them though!
I’ll keep eye out for your comparison. Thanks!
OK! : )
I had the premium one today, but still have to do a comparison against this one as well! I will be watching for your comparison though
They both seem popular. You’ll have to compare them as well! ;-)
A friend of mine fell in love with Red Leaf Matcha and so we decided to split an order. We went with the buy 5, get two free package and went with the following options:
Size: Small (30g)
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular
Flavor Level: Delicate
When my package finally arrived, I opened it up to find this matcha was slightly open. Consequently, I decided to try this first. I used half a teaspoon of matcha mixed with 8 oz. of milk. Even at the delicate flavor level, it is pretty accurate to the real thing. Immediately I noticed a vanilla creaminess that was delicious but not exactly reminiscent of a cookie. However, as I continue the sip, the baked goods flavor creeps in and I am left with the aftertaste that is 100 percent cookie. Moreover, the more I drink, the more I notice that it is not simply a vanilla creaminess but rather the sip starts off tasting of butter. This is definitely a matcha I would consider getting again because what I first wrote off as just another creamy vanilla matcha turned out to be a flavorful cup of liquefied French Butter Cookies. It takes me back to the time when I was younger and reminds me of the excitement I felt when I opened the tin of butter cookies to actually find cookies inside and not the sewing equipment my grandmother liked to store in them.
This delicious treat can be found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-butter-cookie-matcha.html
Flavors: Butter, Vanilla
Nice! I was wondering if this would be too similar to one of the vanilla flavours.
It does taste very strongly of vanilla but there are other components as well.
That really good to know since I’ve been going back on forth on what to get next time I order, but was worried that most of the bakery stuff would taste the same (since Caramel and English Toffee were too similar for me).
I have some English Toffee as well. Hopefully it tastes different from the Caramel for me. I also have Creme Brulee which I hope is not the same as those two. So far my favorite by far is the Caramel Popcorn.
Caramel Popcorn is one I should definitely try out next time since I like the Caramel and English Toffee anyway. Actually, I’m sure if you tasted Caramel and ET side by side, there would be a noticeable difference, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t start one until I finished another, and they were ultimately too similar to have both around. Creme Brulee sounds like another one that may be too similar.
Once you inevitably drink up your matcha, we should split an order – it seems like a lot of the matcha on your wishlist is the same as what’s on mine.
taaaakkkkeee miiiinnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Noooo… I don’t want to receive stuff from people when I’m not in a position right now where I can share back as freely D: I feel guilty getting so much free stuff.
Haha Sil. And Roswell Strange, I already split my order with a friend but I am sure we can figure something out. Like something tells me I will go through it faster than she will and I will have to get more sooner.
Plus she is neither a cherry or banana fan so I need to find someone who is willing to try either or both of those flavors.
i think i have banana and cream in my cupboard. i’ll look..there’s ONE package i have that’s not in my cupboard lol
Well obviously not this order – this one is all yours. But once you’re ready to place another order. Banana sounds great. I’ve had Black Cherry and really disliked it…
NOOO!!! I had such high hopes for Black Cherry. And Sil, is bananas and cream good? That is one I wanted to try. It will probably be ordered eventually.
i liked black cherry..but i think i used to cut it with cheesecake.. as for banana..no idea, it’s one of my unopened..i’ll try it this weekend haha
Oh, Sil have you tried Ten or Captain Jack yet from your Doctor Who sampler? I don’t remember seeing reviews for them – but I’m definitely curious :)
neither yet..but they’re on my list of teas to try and get through this week/weekend. I really wanted to try a few more tonight but i can barely manage to drink much of anything tonight other than the rye and coke. almost done work stuff and it’s nearly bed time. so annoying.
This is pretty darn tasty for a herbal. How do I know? My 6-year-old asked if he could have a sip, and then another, and then, “How many more sips can I have?” I told him to have as many as he wanted. He asked if it was special juice, and I said no. He replied, “Well then Mommy, it’s a special golden tea, and if you drink it as much as I do, your eyes will see better!”
Yep, that’s some pretty special tea alright.
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Too cute:)
Awww, that’s so cute.
aww…does he like other stuff like oolong or puer?
He’s a huge fan of Tea Desire’s Caramel Pu-erh, of course. :) We have zero oolong in the house though, just because I seem to get really nauseous almost instantly from it.
kids can be so cute!
Well it is official, aside from Brioche, I am not an American Tea Room fan. I find their coconut a touch like sunscreen. It is not as bad as it sounds but not anything I want to have again. Oh well, can’t like them all!
Flavors: Coconut
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’aint that the truth.
Also, and completely off topic, but where in this fine gigantic country did you find those tiny very adoreable ziplock bags? Anna sent me her tea in them also, and I think they’re very cute and it made me love you guys even more. So much better than those massive clunky and bulky ziplocks I use. So yeah, where where where can I find them?
I got mine on Amazon US. Among vendors I’ve used in the past are Epacknship and Collecting Warehouse, both have been great, but quality varies substantially. Then again, they’re super cheap and only used for tea samples!
Also, I don’t think anyone has ever loved me for my ziploc bags before. It feels pretty special. This is so romantic. <3
Omg, you had to buy them online? that’s so odd. Like buying cue-tips or floss online or something…except that when I think about it, most mainstream stores probably don’t have these. But variaTea, did you find yours online also? because after seeing how you and anna package tea, I need to step up my packaging game and join the craze. Do you just type “baby miniature adoreable ziplocks” in amazon’s search field? <333!
Hehehe, ‘had to.’ To be honest, I generally buy everything that isn’t viscerally pleasurable to shop for online. Also cheap ziploc bags in Sweden? Forget it.
Haha. I bought mine at Dollarama. And it does feel quite nice to be loved for my ziploc bags :P
Ok, I was just on amazon, and there are like five thousand different possible measurements for little zip lock bags. A few other google searches yield online forums where people are talking about ideal packaging for weed….? did you look for a specific measurement?
PS: I love how we just hijacked variaTea’s tasting note…but she also has these little bags so I feel it’s ultimately all relevant.
Yes, the dollar store keychange.
really? I never would have figured!
I know, being able to pick EXACTLY the measurements I wanted made my OCD hug itself, hum gently, and rock from side to side.
Calculating exactly how big the small bags should be to fit exactly one 1.5-2 teaspoon cup sample, and how big the bigger bag should be to fit exactly two filled small bags… that was serious quality time for me. I might have drooled slightly.
You guys are so funny! And thanks for this discussion, for the past few days I’ve been wondering where to get decent non-sandwich-sized baggies for tea-swapping. It seems like the Collecting Warehouse Anna mentioned has a great variety on Amazon.
Anna, that’s great! :D I love the idea for packaging as well… I might have to copy you.
I can tell you my measurements (uh, you know what I mean)! Or just send some of my bags, because I sort of got a little too excited and ordered something like 8000 bags. Steepster SwapFest 2078 FTW!
Anna, you must have some serious packaging skills. People really seem to rave about it. You are like an expert tea swapper.
Anna, yes, please, indulge me with your measurements :D
And that is a lot of bags. If you can fit several in the swap, feel free to do so. I can’t wait to learn from the expert tea swapper in practice!
Anna, we are all waiting to learn of your measurements!! please do share, I’m getting excited! and yes guys, anna is a hardcore packager, I tell you, hardcore. even better, do you have links to your measurements?…I mean, of the amazon variety? And I’ll spare you the five million dollr shipping cost to mail me bags when you’ve pretty much mailed me my shopping list, but yeah, bags ftw!!
LOL. You guys seriously crack me up. Right, I got 4K 1.5″ × 2″, 2 Mil bags, and then 2K 2″ × 3″ 4 Mil bags.
The smaller ones are a little flimsier to fit inside the bigger ones more easily.
If you want to package large-leaf teas, such as needle teas or certain oolongs, though, you might want to go bigger.
I use a little specialty scoop (I cook a lot and use them for spices) that is sleek and angled and just fits inside the smaller bags so I never have to touch the tea, but I’m sure a tiny teaspoon or a folded piece of paper would also do the trick.
…and I’m still laughing so hard at this thread.
(‘Mil’ refers to the thickness of the plastic.)
Note to other Canadians (seeing as I didn’t know where else to put this) the Mo%5#$$f&##ckers don’t ship to Canada!! I’m determined, though. It’s on! LOL
Go, keychange, go! :D I’m trusting you to find something and update us. :)
That’s why you go to Dollarama :P
The vendors in question will henceforth be known as Collecting Whorehouse & Epacknshit. (At least until they agree to ship to Canada.)
Ok, so this isn’t actually going to be a tasting note about this tea, because I’ve written about it enough for you to know that it’s a lovely EGC, and that’s about all you need to know.
But last night, I decided to take a timolino full of this to a friend’s place for dinner and hanging out. And instead of using my Keurig to dispense the hot water like I typically do, I used Watson (Watson is the name I’ve given to our Culligan water cooler, that has both a hot and cold water tap—we named him Watson after the computerized jeopardy contestant! /nerd). Anyway, from my understanding, the water dispensed from Watson is around 107 degrees F, while the Keurig website says that the Keurig dispenses water that’s 192 degrees f, so that’s definitely a noticeable difference. The thing is, however, that I never never successfully brewed a cup of satisfactory tea using Watson, and it seems odd to me that a temperature of about 207 (ETA—sorry, I originally wrote 107, which explains the general wtfness in the comments below, but it really was 207) would be too hot for absolutely every tea (especially since I drink mostly blacks, which are reputed to almost always take extremely hot water). As for the water I use, the Keurig takes filtered water through my brida filter, and Watson uses Culligan’s water—both are filtered, but are provided by different companies, so perhaps that has to do with it. But last night’s tea tasted bitter and horrible, just horrible. No vanilla cream notes to speak of—only an amped up bitter bergamot note that was bitter and gross.
But this has me terrified to ever get myself a variable temp kettle, because what if the Keurig is the only acceptable source for hot water for me in this universe? this is actually really upsetting to me! Because i so badly want the Bonavida goose-neck one liter variable temp kettle, but like, if I drop 100 dollars on it but it makes all my tea taste like bile, then…then…then what?!?!?!?!!?
Please comfort me.
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(Have you actually checked Watson’s temperature?)
I haven’t checked it myself, but I have a friend who works as a distributor for Culligan, and she checked the temperature of her hot water dispenser and reported back to me.
Maybe that’s a good first step to rule any temp problems out. But isn’t 107 exceptionally low? Like 42 degrees C?
Uh, sorry, you want comforts, and I just want to crunch numbers. I’m so sorry you’re having Watson issues. I’m sure it will be okay. I see a goosenecked beauty in your future that will make everything better and easier.
If it doesn’t work for you, you can ALWAYS pack it up and return it.
But you should probably check Watson’s temperature, because every water heater will be different. That would be a LOT different, but 107F is not very hot at all. It’s tap water hot at 40C. My tap water is actually way hotter than that (think green tea steeping temps about 65C) depending on how long the boiler has been on for.
I hope you’re right. I was so so so so close to ordering one just now! I literally had to sit on my hands and rock back and forth to stop myself. And yeah, 107 is lowish it’s true, but I swear this water yields the nastiest tea ever. And the Keurig, by contrast, makes a perfect one. Maybe I just like all my tea at an incredibly low temperature? I have no idea. But you can barely tell you’re drinking the same tea—the differences are that noticeable.
Ok, you guys are right. I should just check Watson’s temperature. I just checked my conversation with my friend on FB and she admitted that her thermometer only went up to 200 f, so I imagine she couldn’t get an accurate read, either. But like, do you guys think it’s just that Watson is super hot in real life and that the keurig is cool and that makes all the difference?
But how do you adapt the steep times if you use 107 degree water? Or 192-degree water for blacks, for that matter.
And if 207 f is so low, but Keurig’s website says its water is 192, then isn’t that even more odd still? that I would prefer (even black) tea at such a ridiculously low temperature? but I’m seirous, guys. No one would enjoy the tea from Watson. It wasn’t keychange bitter—I had two other people taste it and they thought it was nasty, too. Maybe I should try boiling our random kettle with the same water I use to fill the Keurig and comparing that against Watson. Because maybe it really just is the water.
I don’t. I always steep for about four minutes (if I’m steeping blacks) when I use the Keurig.
Hm – 207? But you said 107 in the original post. 207 would make more sense, I guess.
And Omgsrsly, it never occurred to me that I could just return the bonavida if I don’t like it. I’m so stupid LOL
This is all just so very odd!
Sorry sorry sorry!! I meant 207! oh my gosh.
Wow. Wow. And you guys kept on being like “107? that’s so low! crazy! so so low!” and I was thinking: isn’t 207 just five degrees shy of 212? how bad is my math? aaaahhhhh."
Ok, so now that we know it’s more 207 than 107, and that the Keurig really is 192…then is it more likely that culligan’s hot water just sucks?
Haha! That was so confusing! The hot water is probably too much for you. :) I steep all my black teas at 195F, so about your Keurig temp. 207 is too much for me.
There, there. (Comfort comfort.) My guess is it is something about the water filter rather than the temp that is causing such a major difference. I steep my blacks at different temperatures (200,205,212) depending on the seller’s recommendations and my own tastes, but I rarely steep them at lower than 200. My parents had a Culligan system and it included water softening. Does yours? I wonder whether if it does, it’s some of the additives in the water that are making the taste sub par. In any case, I wouldn’t rule out the variable temp kettle. I love the convenience of being able to set the different temperatures without having to use a thermometer or just guess.
Morgana, omgsrsly, and anna—you are all heavenly. Just divine! thank you!
We have an answer!
Morgana, I think you were right: because I just did an experiment.
What I did was use our regular kettle that was lying around, and filled it with Brida water (so, Keurig water). Brewed up grandma’s pumpkin pie from dellaterra tea, mostly because I know what that’s supposed to taste like, and have brewed many a consistent cup. And it tasted pretty damn near perfect! soo, I think it’s just that Culligan’s hot water is a no-go for me. Morgana, I imagine that the water in the cooler is treated, so you’re right about it affecting the taste. Omg, now I want a variable temp kettle so badly!
Man, I love science. And all you amazing women, of course.
Isn’t it all just so wonderful? process of elimination FTW!
Yay! :)
Yay for finding an answer! I think you’ll love having a variable temp kettle so I have no problem encouraging you to spend your money. ;-)
Now to get my variable temp kettle!
This smells amazing. It smells just like a body cream I ran out of ages ago, that was my favourite. Something about cucumber melon is awesome. The steeped scent is (mint?) all cucumber melon. The flavours are light here and don’t come through too strongly. But the base also isn’t overwhelming. Overall a light tea. The scent is definitely what makes this tea amazing. Every time I bring it for a sip, the smell is just delicious.
P.S. I’m not supposed to tell you guys, but apparently Coconut Oolong is making a reappearance in April. They said it has lemongrass this time around though.
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Eee!!!!! The whales are SO CUTE!
Is this tea really minty? They say a “hint” of mint, but I don’t see mint in the ingredients.
I thought that upon first smell, but the more I sip away, the more what I thought was mint just becomes cucumber melon to be honest.
Would you say the flavours are weak though? so sad because I bet the smell would lead me on so much!
omg omg must get to dT! three hours to go now!
Yep keychange. The smell is much stronger.
Thanks. :)
Ahh I think I am going to my store tonight, I looked at all the teaware and am freaking out, I want ALL of it. Haha I think I’ve narrowed it to 2 for myself, 2 for the bf lol..and I really want to try all the new teas!! This one looks so refreshing!
Alrighty. Still so excited to check it out!
The new whales mug is SOOOO cute. The last thing I need is another mug though, LOL
Yay! We’re almost matching whale mug buddies! I chose the noric style bc I like the grip better, although I envy that yours has a whale in the inside…
Stephanie I didn’t either, whoops!
Cavo I contemplated the Nordic mug, because my Spock mug has a similar shape, but I love the inner lime green and little whale too much.
Ha, I was wondering if this would smell like late 90s cucumber melon lotion.
And I sure hope there isn’t lemongrass in the coconut oolong!
I agree about the coconut oolong Fjellrev.
Don’t call it coconut oolong then, damnit. :)
OOooo I love lemongrass! Maybe I will try that one. I remember Bath and Body Works had a Cucumber Melon scent in the ’90’s…that wouldn’t happen to be the one ya’ll are talking about, would it? That was my favorite for the longest time.
We’ll have to wait and see in April. That’s all word of mouth, so I could be wrong!
Hah! The cucumber melon scent is amazing.
Yeah, I’m curious to see if it’s just rumour or if it’ll be like the original! Oh, that blasted telephone game.
Lots of yixing teapot discussions going on lately. Today I decided that I haven’t been using mine and really should be. I did season it a while ago, but figure with lack of use it could use another bath.
Wild Monk is of course my favorite sheng, and seasoning yixing is an investment in the future so you should use good tea.
My teapot is now happily soaking in it’s bath, and it’s not possible to make Wild Monk and not drink some. I was using the – one pot for the bowl, one pot for my cup method.
This stuff is fantastic, it just makes me happy to be playing with my teapots while drinking such an amazing tea.
Awesome!
So Mandala pot for Mandala tea, totally makes sense. I’m glad you are having a good time;)
LOL I think all my pots will get seasoned with Mandala Tea – I’m a huge fan. My favorite shou is Noble Mark, and my favorite dark oolong is their Big Red Robe – if you are going to invest in yixing might as well season them with the best…
Woohoo! Sheng Gang!! I’m on Hot Cowboy sheng right now!!
(I was also drinking this out of one of my new Noble cups from Davids – it’s officially – enjoy your teaware day in my house)
Yay for good sheng tea!!!
And Dexter, I am so happy to know you are spending good quality time with the monk and your little mandala pot today :-)
Dexter: do you use one pot for all your pu’erh or do you use a separate one for sheng and shou? Does it make a big difference or is it a personal preference? Thanks. :)
I will have a separate pot for shou and one for sheng (once my project seasoning gets fully going). IMHO they are different teas, it would be like drinking black tea from your dark oolong pot. I’m even considering doing yet another pot for Special Dark because of how different it is to other shou.
What YOU chose to do is up to you. I think they are cute, and I like them, I would have more if I could afford it. You just have to find the pieces that work for you, and then adapt them into your tea drinking routine. (I don’t really drink green oolong – therefore I don’t need a pot for them).
I’m not sure that answered your question…
LOL. It did. I ended up buying two yixing gaiwans, and I could see myself buying more because they are so darn adorable. I’ll use one for sheng and one for shou!
My Hot Cowboy isn;t here yet – but it has been mailed because Garret is awesome. Wild Monk is also my favorite sheng Dexter and that’s what I’m gonna season my sheng pot with. Although I really love love love the Wild Mountain Green.
I agree with Dexter that Special Dark needs its own pot because it IS different.
And Sars – I think you really need separate ones for sheng and shou
Dexter I love enjoy the teaware day :)
Thanks, HoneyBelle. I got a plain yixing gaiwan and one in a pretty lotus shape. I’ll keep my sheng and shou separate. :)
I hollered at LTF about the lotus gaiwan. We both have a lotus problem
I have a Mandala pot also.
mrmopar which one do you have?
I have one from a different site that I seasoned with Mandala tea.
Hello everyone, I hope you’re all having good weekends! I decided to do gong fu with this tea today because I felt like I wasn’t getting the full potential when I tasted it western-style. I mostly used TeaVivre’s parameters, but adjusted the amount of water to 4 ounces and then used 4 grams of tea, which turned out to be 4 pearls. I also used 200 degree water instead of boiling.
The method: 4g tea per 4oz water, 200 degrees, 10s rinse/30/50/70/90/120s
Rinse (10s): very light, woody, golden raisins (the pearls puffed up but held their shape)
Steep 1 (30s): strong bitter cocoa with some woodiness, burnt sugar (the pearls fell apart completely!)
Steep 2 (50s): very earthy in a mineral sense (licking a rock comes to mind), bitter cocoa
Steep 3 (70s): mellower earthiness, autumn leaves, dark but not bitter cocoa
Steep 4 (90s): very similar to steep 2, earthy and highly mineral
Steep 5 (120s): similar to steep 3, mellow earth with autumn leaves, buttered toast!
So, I was not a big fan of those highly earthy and mineral steeps… In fact, I didn’t finish either of them. Just blegh. My favorites were the first and last steeps, which suggests to me that maybe I should try this again with shorter steeps? Or maybe I’ll just stick to western-style with this one.
Any suggestions for a gong fu method that won’t bring out so much earthy/mineral flavor would be greatly appreciated! I only have enough of this left for one more cup or session… So I want to get it right! :P
I also noticed that there’s a tad bit of water left in the bottom after I drain the leaves. I’m assuming this is okay, since I don’t see how I would get all of it without dumping into a strainer. Would love to be corrected if I’m wrong!
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Burnt Sugar, Cocoa, Earth, Mineral, Toast, Wood
Preparation
This is a great tea! Hope you are having a good weekend too! I’m at work actually, boo.
Thanks Stephanie! What’s your favorite way to brew this one? And I’m sorry you have to be at work! :(
I like it semi-western! Long and super rich steeps for me :)
I usually only get 2 or 3 steeps that way though. Sorry it’s not tasting like you’d hoped!
How long do you usually let it go for? The website recommends 5-10 minutes, sheesh. :P
4-5 mins usually
It DOES take a while for those pearls to unfurl!
I am dying to try this!!!!
Oh Sars – I have a shitload and I don’t love it so I can send you plenty
MzPriss, I don’t love it either so far. Going to try the Stephanie method last and hopefully that makes it for me!
I can try the Stephanie way – people seem to love it, but I havent so far
Cam sent me some, MzP. I’ll try it and report back. :o)
It sounded like just the kind of thing I would love so I got one of those Teavivre tins of it. I can’t get it to the point where it tastes the way others describe it tasting.
Luckily mine was one of the free samples I chose, so I didn’t pay for it. It’s not bad, but it seems fairly nondescript to me, and I don’t seem to get chocolate like others do. :(
I used 4 pearls in 6 oz. for 5 min. Seemed to work pretty well. I thought it was good! I definitely found a little cocoa.
Interesting that everyone’s experience is so different!
Stephanie it always surprises me how differently people experience tastes and smells in tea
There’s a saying that goes like this:
«In doubt, go for GO» … That’s what I did. And I did good.
Oh, and since Steepster is on an Instagram craze, here’s this morning’s big mug pic of GO
I did the same thing at your suggestion – GOOD idea!
Hehe…it always works, I never go like “oh, maybe I was in the mood for something else” when I go with GO.
Nope – that never happens to me either. I love GO the MOST along with Special Dark
I don’t know what I like best anymore, WP got me all confused!!!
Yeah it does that. But GO in my VD pot makes me hear angels singing…
Port is my guy for tiny VD pot…the smell of it makes me weak in the knees.
I know this about you. I need to bust out some Port. Maybe later today.
I followed you on instagram. I would love to send you so alishan my friend from Taiwan sent me. Right from the farm….
Oh charles, you make this very hard to resist…
Yumz!!!!
I have a big problem with this tea. It just keeps resteeping and giving me more cups. Well actually I guess that’s not a problem. But I’m sort of ready to do something else!
In other news, textbooks are expensive. Crazy expensive.
In other other news, my husband figured out that I love another. I suppose it was obvious, the evidence is all over me. And I keep meeting him in the bedroom for some heavy petting. The way he gazes into my eyes makes me so happy, and I have only known him for two months. Hearing him snoring next to me is the happiest sound ever. All I have to do is make a little tongue clicking sound and he comes running, just like a dog. And if I stop paying attention to him, he headbutts me to remind me that he is there.
http://imgur.com/a/Og5b3#5
Awwhhh adorable! He’s so cute! ^^ I love how so many people on here have dogs and cats. Least I’ve seen from their Instagrams. It’s awesome! People who own pets make me really happy! (:
I was really, really resistant to getting another pet, but I can’t begin to tell you how great this cat is. He has all of his claws, but is super conscious about never using them on us. Even sometimes when he gets frisky and wants to play it’s like he is consciously gentle. Zero hairballs. Zero accidents. He doesn’t even get underfoot and trip us. He comes like a dog when you call him, and even leaves the room when you tell him to (like when we go to bed at night). My heart hurts to think what might have happened if he hadn’t been adopted.
He does this adorable thing with his paws when we pet him. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202338952499958&set=vb.1376432936&type=3&theater
He is a beautiful cat! And yes, textbooks are crazy expensive!! Campus bookstore bad. Half.com good
Oh I’m looking all over. But the Chem ones don’t seem to be available anywhere but the bookstore, unfortunately.
What a cute kitty! :)
Good luck! I hope you can find a deal :)
Did you try ABE for textbooks? It was the only place I could find a couple of mine. Also Amazon rents some textbooks which is absolutely wonderful.
Yeah, I’m actually pretty savvy at the online book thing (I own an online bookstore).
He’s so cute! I feel that way about our male cat. He’s a love bug. :)
Super cute! Textbooks are definitely expensive. I was very happy when one of my physics profs ordered only the section of the book that applied yo the course vs the whole text and saved us about $65.00.
My daughters chemistry materials are gong to be around $500 for one class.
That is insane! What are they making you buy beyond the text and goggles?
That is crazy!
I left it downstairs, it looks like 4 different books.
Wow, I guess I could see it happening if their is a Lab book, the text and maybe an additional workbook. But, I have a Bio degree and have taken Engineering courses and I think the most I have spent on books and materials is $200.00 on a single course. Hope you can find some of the other books used.
School text books are such a rip off! ugh!!! Love your kitteh ;)
Science textbooks are the worst for prices – I remember it very very well. I truly believe they artificially inflate the price just to make the whole college experience even more impossible. And the reality is, no way she will get 500 bucks use out of them, but they are necessary enough that you can’t just do without.
Her bio textbook I found for $65 :)
I think this tea is next on my WP list. It sounds just dreamy.
Good luck on the book buying. Ugh.
and ooh me gorsh KITTEH!!! Such a cutie! I love how happy you are with him, and that he seems just as happy with you. I love the paw thingy. One of ours does that as well and it’s just sooooo cute!!! (Of course, if she’s so happy she’s doing the paw thing, she’s also droooooooooling all over the place.)
What a unique and delicious young sheng!
It reminds me of sencha, oddly enough. It is very sweet and sort of vegetal. It has a pleasant and delicate huigan, and is light on the cha qi scale. This might be good for people who are unsure about puerh but really love green tea!
I’m glad I got to try it :)
Do tell… What exactly is huigan?
It’s that sort of aftertaste that some shengs leave in the back of your throat/tongue http://articles.bannacha.com/index.php?article23/describing-pu-erh-tea
returning sweetness. I get huigan from good Taiwanese Oolongs, especially the slightly more processed ones.
Yeah, I get real nice huigan from Phoenix Dancong sometimes :D
I just get sweetness from start to finish with Dancongs. Where have you gotten Dancongs from in the past?
The one I have right now is from Verdant tea. It is really good. I like a long steep
I like the Dancong from Jing Tea Shop, especially Mi Lan. I also need to try Tea Habitat, that’s essentially all they do, Dancong.
nice
Did you steep the whole packet or part of it? I can’t find instructions on how much to use anywhere. I’m doing the whole thing with a shorter steep, so I hope I have not killed my sample.
Whole 10g packet for how many ounces of water?
12 oz. I was wrong….very wrong. It was too much.
Ugh, bummer. You can sometimes salvage by diluting with water…
Yeah, I did a little. It’s my fault…I don’t know what I was thinking.
A friend of mine just came back from Peru and visited me this afternoon. He’s not really a tea drinker, but he loves when I prepare it for him. He likes the set ups, the teaware, and thinks I’m some king of tea prodigy, haha!
He doesn’t always like the tea though…especially when I try so desperately to make him like pu’erh, telling him it tastes like forest and chocolate. It always ends up tasting like “pu poo” to him. Oops. Sorry friend. I get over enthusiastic sometimes.
Today, I took it easy on him and prepared my favourite high mountain green oolong. To me, this tea is better than any Ali Shan or Tie Guan Yin I’ve had.
It’s beautifully crafted, and the leaves unfurl to perfection, looking like seaweeds.
The taste is ethereal. Floral, but not in a flower bomb mouth kind of way. It has a buttery creaminess to it that creates a sweet and silky mouthfeel. Perfectly balanced.
The minerals are intensified by the clay pot. It’s just such a lovely tea.
It’s spicy and minty at the same time. Nutmeg and spearmint.
He loved it, yay, victory!
Before leaving, he presented a gift to me. Said he was sorry not to have searched for tea to bring back for me. Instead, he brought a very special present that symbolizes friendship. A Peruvian sterling silver ring. It took my breath away. I will wear that ring with so much pride. Friendship is so precious…
Pics of the tea session…(and the ring)
Oooh, that ring is gorgeous! :D
I love it!
Awwww!
Oh that was so sweet of him!
Thank you…I really like it :-)
super ring!
Cool. Love pics as usual;)
That’s awesome. Happy that you had a nice afternoon with your friend.
Thanks guys…I feel very lucky.
You are a tea king prodigy, rather accurate!
Haha! Cwyn, I just noticed my typo! Lol, I make quite a girly king :-)
Well I interpreted it as a double pun on Tea King puerh cakes! :) rather clever!
Haha! Totally unintentional so I won’t take any credit for it :-)
You should also try Harney and Sons Cranberry Autumn if you like cranberries. I’m crazy for them too – and this tea! I’d send you some but I finished mine! It’s that good :)
How could I miss that tea! Added to my shopping list. I might have glanced over it because the orange pieces scared me off.
Second the Cranberry Autumn love.
Ooh, this is making me crave cranberry juice. :) The only cranberry tea I’ve tried is Portsmouth Cranberry fruit tea…it’s pretty good. More like Kool Aid than tea, though :)
And, now I’m going to go make some Cranberry tea, which isn’t in my “drink it up” pile but I’m craving it. :)
Harney, Golden Moon, Samovar…. oh boy I’m going to be broke. Shantea bug might take over. Poor wallet.
Haha, what’s this drink it up pile?!? Mine are all those Adagio tin. Good idea, I should try finishing those.
Heh, I took a page out of Bethany’s book and made a “drink it up” pile of Adagio tins that I NEED to finish.
Alas, I didn’t end up making cranberry fruit tea OR Adagio tea…instead, I opted for some yummy Simple Leaf oolong :)
Drank some Shanti? Wait, that’s not oolong, that’s green.
Nope, Tankha this time :) It’s goooood.
Simple Leaf’s another company I have to try. I’ll get to it eventually, haha. So much tea left to finish off!
Oh, their stuff is amazing…but yeah, no rush, finish off some of what you have first! (I’m telling myself that before I go and buy more stuff, too hehe)
By the way, I spoke too soon re:cranberry tea—I just got my package from 52teas w/ the mandarin matcha and I got a free package of Cran-Cherry Black Tea! Hooray!
I’m in a toss up if I want to take advantage of that Golden Moon free 1/2lb of Rose tea offer. Decisions, decisions…. my 52teas order hasn’t arrived yet =(
Glad you liked it!
I got cran-raspberry black as my 52teas extra. I bet it will be great iced in the summer, and now I have something else to offer my mom when she’s over – she likes fruity black teas. They’re not my fave but I’m going to try it hot soon…
Janefan – I dunno about 52tea’s cran-raspberry, but Teavanna’s cranberry black was AWFUL (IMO) iced (and that’s why I wanted it). It was passable hot, I thought, but I ended up passing it over for things I liked better.
thanks for the warning!
Haha, add me to the list of people who received cran-raspberry black 52teas.
Did you guys get cran-raspberry or cran-cherry? I got cran-cherry.
OH just took a closer look. cran-blackberry.
Cran-blackberry? That sounds good!
Hey it’s like the same thing as teavana =] I might like it we’ll see!
Oh wow! I checked the website, and they have LOTS of cranberry black blends: cran-blueberry, cran-strawberry, cran-blackberry, cran-cherry, cran-apple, cran-raspberry, cran-orange, cran-peach, cran-grape….
Ohhhh, cran-strawberry! I realized no one ever rated a zoom dweebie bar tea before. How strange!
mine’s def cran-raspberry. #094. I keep forgetting that zoomdweebie’s has so many more flavors than what’s on 52teas (or manteas). Not sure how they keep it all straight!
Haha, right? It seems they have about 200 teas! That’s crazy, what a large selection. Now Frank, I’m curious. Why do you only advertise 52teas for the most part?