Popular Tasting Notes

Not sure what it is about this community, everyone here has good writing skills. As an ex-English teacher, this gives me great hope that writing is not a dying art.

oh god i hope not. u no its herd to rite gud. ;)

Sil. I laughed out loud. I am an ESL kid but I’m happy to say I keep up with the best of them!

I love when I find things like that. Seems to happen a lot with phrases that people hear but have never seen written down and especially when they don’t understand what the words themselves mean.

Glad you laughed! I mean no disrespect to folks who do suffer from learning disabilities as I can’t even imagine having to cope with that sort of thing in life. My friend suffers no such thing though, so i’m allowed to make fun of her just a little. Reminds me of those times when someone sings a song out loud and you’re like uh, those aren’t the words…. haha

Nicole – so true! but the word obstacles totally floored me. it seems like one of those words i use every other day haha

Haha! Every form of variation language is a legitimate form of expression. The key is to get others to understand you and your intent. Maybe your was trying to express herself creatively. :)

Speaking of Rum, International Talk Like a Pirate Day is right around the corner!!!!! We need to recruit a bunch of people to be pirates for the day, reviewing teas in character! And come up with an appropriate collection of teas…like anything with “Rum” in the name, Black Dragon Pearl, Hmmmm….what else?

fine, fine…i konseede! see what i did there :P

Terri – that day also happens to be my 4 year anniversary with smelly over here ;) he picked the day haha i told him when we get married…we are NOT doing it on the same day!

I know, you told me! LOL!

that would be an AWESOME wedding. :)

nonononononononononononono…

unless you’re going to bake for it nicole!

..and terri can sing and play pirate themed harp music!

If you get married on Int. Talk Like a Pirate Day, I will come to your wedding. We’ll have to find someone locally that has a Harp to rent to me, & you’d better plan it a year in advance, cuz Sept is one of those months that books up early. But I’ll do it! I’ll dress up like a pirate wench, & play music from all the Pirates of the Caribean movies, & sing “yo ho yo ho, a Pirates life for me!”. I think you should do it, & totally carry out the pirate theme to the max!

Arrrr, me mateys. Does rum in my maple “Hong Kong” style iced tea count?

Lol I love you guys!

OMGsrsly, hell yeah!
This really is the best community ever! :)

Don’t know how I missed this continuing discussion. :) I would soooo come to Canada to bake for a pirate wedding! A treasure chest wedding cake with golden coin cookies or mints, tea based grog… oh, yes, I can see it. :)

gross gross gross

This post has given me an idea… Now I want to make Northern Iced Tea tea-sicles. Sorry you didn’t like this tea, but tea-sicles sound awesome!

Tea-sicles are awesome, you just need to choose the right tea – this wasn’t it. :((

Haha! Somehow, I’m not surprised Dexter!!

Sars, you should look at dexter’s review from yesterday :-)

http://steepster.com/Dexter/posts/254147#comments

Why do I need to do TWO cans of the coconut milk? Is there not enough in one can to make it whip? Or is it just soooooo good that you HAVE TO HAVE MORE? Thinking about hazlenut tea-sicles with this cream…

Thanks TTF!!!!!

(I have special dark in the fridge cold steeping…..hmmmmmm)

EXACTLY! Way too good to make only one can, hehe…let me know what you think…hazelnut would be awesome…I can even see special dark with maple syrup and that cream!!

(Is this the right time to admit that I don’t really do maple syrup – it just seems so un-Canadian of me, but I don’t really like it that much…)

Whaaaat? Next you’re going to tell me you don’t like hockey. Is not liking maple syrup even legal in Canada? :)

I also don’t really do maple syrup…..

No hockey I like (that IS ILLEGAL here) Go Jets – I know, I don’t really HATE it, just not something I seek out, I never buy it….

Yay – happy to have a friend here mj – lol will move down there if I get kicked out for this admission. ;))

Oh thank goodness. I was starting to think you might not even be Canadian. :p

If the US kicks me out, I’d go to Canada. I love hockey AND maple syrup, so I think I’d fit in. :)

LOL, if you get kicked out, come on down and we’ll hang out at Verdant :)

LOL Sars if that ever happened come on up – you’d fit right in!!!

Just for the record…it is illegal to not like maple syrup here….the only reason why Dexter gets away with it is because of her awesomeness.

Sars, you’d totally fit in…and so would you mj, I forgive your maple dislike…cause we are tea pot twins :-)

I was just talking about the possibility of a trip to Minneapolis and area today – would really like to do a week and hit both Verdant, and Mandala – maybe a baseball game, shopping at Albertville, German food at that restaurant I love but can’t think of the name of right now….

Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit – yes I had to look it up – but it’s tons of fun, really like it there…

Yes, it’s super fun!! Love that place :-). I have lots more Minneapolis tips if you decide to make the trip!

Like you definitely need to add Glam Doll Donuts to that list

Thanks – it’s just interesting that we were talking about it earlier, and now again tonight – weird how that works. I LOVE Minneapolis, I’ve been quite a few time, but not since my TEA ADDICTION happened, so haven’t done the Verdant thing. That’s almost enough to make the trip worthwhile, not to mention all the other fun things to do…

Glam Doll Donuts – OMG I would LOVE that – I also got excited when I saw the Nicollet address, but it’s not really in the mall, downtown area, but close enough to find!!!!

Minneapolis is pretty fun when it’s not winter lol. Nope, Glam Doll is not downtown but it’d be easy to bus there and trust me, it’d definitely be worth it!

Yummmy! Maybe I will use this for the Goldie test later!!!!

Oh! Great idea!!

Goldie test?

I think I will break in my new teapot with this next week when it comes. Bought an incredible pot from purepuer.com.

looseTman – We are experimenting with my gold-lined cup to see if tea tastes different than with a regular teacup. So far, it does

A gold-lined cup, wow! Pic?

Different in a good way?

LTM – http://instagram.com/p/sV50CHPkeR/

Nice! I want to come to your house… :)

awesome! sounds delicious!

It was fantastic! I will have to make more tonight and take pics and come up with a real recipe. :)

What a great idea! I may have to try that sometime. Will you post the “finalized” recipe?

mj-absolutely! :)

Sounds awesome! (Other than the coconut…)

That’s my kind of tea-party!!!

I think this sounds soooo goood. I bet it’d be good with rum or bourbon instead of vodka as well, might pair nicely with the coconut.

So happy for you with your awesome stash and super cute mug :)

Thanks, me tooooo :-)

Congrats on being the Butiki winner of the free mug and tea!

Thank you!!!

I should have mentioned though that the 6oz of PTA is NOT the free tea!!
I got 1994 Aged Bai Hao for that , yum!

Just awesome! Enjoy TTF ! Cute Lizard!

Thanks sweetie.

LOL did you just say 6oz of PTA?? You did stock up!

Lol, I do drink a lot of tea ;-)

You are so lucky – The mug looks super cool!

Thanks CK, i was very lucky :-)

I like your note.
I like your rock.
I like you.

You are way too kind, dear sarsy <3

<3

Beautiful

Concisely described with poetic clarity! With exceptional tea inspiration “is included at no extra charge.”

Thanks stephanie!

LooseTman, Free inspiration is a blessing :-)

And so are you!

sheng is ripe i think.
or was it raw?

oh! its raw. i have a bunch of raw and ripe Pu-ehr coming in the mail

Kirkoneill1988 you should check out our puerh thread on the discussions page. Lots of good stuff about puerh.

can you send me a steepster message with the link?

Here ya go, kirk
http://steepster.com/discuss/5496-pu-erh-of-the-day-sheng-or-shou

Kirkoneill1988 just followed you. We can message and get each others updates if you do the same.

What a friend he must have been. So sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss

Sorry to hear of this person passing, but he sounds like someone special, to be worthy of this dedication.

A truly poetic tasting note that honors a dear friend with an analogy that compares his character to that of an exceptional sold out pu’erh. Quite a tribute especially coming from “mrpu’erh”. I too am very sorry for your loss mrmopar.

What a beautiful tribute, I’m sorry for your loss.

This is a lovely tribute mrmopar.

Thanks, services are this weekend so may be off a day or so.

Lovely sentiment expressed my friend – classy way to pay tribute to a special loss. We’ll miss your active presence and stand ready to welcome you back.

I’m so sorry for your loss. Your tribute to him is beautiful and touching. May the bitterness of the loss mellow out over time to memories of good times shared, just as pu’erh does.

Just drank this yesterday, during my week of hospice care for my father in law. My best to you.

I’m so sorry for your loss, mrmopar

Thanks you all this means a lot. You are a great bunch of people I am fortunate to know.

I too am sorry to hear about your friend.

I’m sorry for your loss. may you remember him every time you drink this tea and others like it.

Thanks fyrefly1981 and AllaK much appreciated. I will miss him and hope his wife will know she will se him again.

it is a beautiful tea to remember his life with. hugs from across the Pacific

The Lupicia sales guy was trying to sell me on their “Yame” which is more expensive than this one I believe. I loved the gyokuro I had from Arbor tea. definitely worth the extra $ imo

Another New Year resolution is for me to drink more Japanese greens. I love a good sencha….Jim it sounds like you prefer a fuller green.

Amy….how much was the Yame, do you remember?

Mostly what I prefer is being able to taste what I pay for, and this particular tea, at least at Tokyo prices, goes beyond that point.

I’m not suggesting that just any shaded Japanese green will taste like this one does. There are certainly low end, cheap teas out there. And yes, it is worth spending more to avoid those.

But this one in particular was so much more expensive that it goes beyond the point of simply avoiding bad tea and gets into a price range where I expect something exceptional, and, at least so far, this isn’t exceptional. It is very good. Just not exceptional.

Scott – I don’t remember exactly but it’s on Lupicia’s website
Jim- I see your point. Perhaps this isn’t such a good gyokuro?

I’ve had others as well, from TeaG and other places and it seems, to me at least, that there is this tipping point where the rate at which the price is going up from grade of tea to grade of tea becomes very steep while the difference in what ends up in the cup from grade to grade becomes very shallow.

Maybe in this particular case, it was a matter of expectations. I’ve had many people insist that you can only get truly good tea in Japan. That the teas which are exported from Japan to other places, even the very expensive ones, just aren’t that good compared to even the most humble cup in a noodle shop in Osaka. Well, Liz went over there and brought two or three teas back, including this one, and they simply didn’t live up to those kinds of claims. Maybe I just need to get past that set of expectations and then come back to this tea with a clear mind.

where did you read that from, the Japanese tourism board? ;-)

I think it may be both. Possibly some of the best (or even most of) are kept for the Japanese market. I think it has to do with freshness too. Even the best grades, even vacuum packed, that are exported quite possibly can’t be as fresh as teas harvested & cupped in Japan.

Not read. People, face to face, have made the argument and insisted on it. Not all of them were even Japanese people, oddly enough.

sorry to be a skeptic, I work in the field of marketing… :) I’ve never been to Japan so I would not know.

I was always skeptical of the claim. But there’s always a part of you that wants to believe that if you go there, and spend enough, some magical doorway into “real tea” will open. It is disappointing to learn that’s probably not the case. I have to say probably because we may simply, even at this price point, have not spent enough money to open the door. Although I doubt it.

My friend went to China & had a really good Oolong tea, & brought some home. We sampled it and it was really good, but she said it wasn’t quite as good as the tea she had while in China (the same tea). Preparation has alot to do with it too.

While true, I think what is really going on has much more to do with cultural elitism coupled with the fact that we’re simply far more likely to enjoy a cup of carefully prepared tea while on a once-in-a-lifetime trip than we are with preparing the exact same leaves at home — no matter how expert we are in tea preparation. People from tea cultivating regions want to be able to insist that tea is best had right there at the source and that Americans buying tea out of shops far from that source simply can’t experience tea the way you can right there next to the bushes. Which, on one level is quite true. But on another level gets less and less true all the time. Mechanisms for tea storage, shipment and distribution are improving all the time. I have had tea that was at most mere days older than if I had been drinking a cup prepared by the master gardener himself. But on another level, this idea that the best can only be had right at the source simply isn’t true. Ultra premium products routinely fetch higher prices on the export market than they do domestically. So it is actually more likely that the best of any one given thing is sold abroad rather than at home. Look at the US fishing industry. The best tuna catches never even touch US soil. Those fish go directly from US owned boats to Japanese owned airplanes — despite a huge domestic market for ultra premium grade seafood. The mark-up is simply better selling it on export. So there’s very little reason to believe that, aside from what might be kept as genuinely priceless (for example the original big red robe bushes) and not sold retail anywhere, one cannot buy “the best” anywhere except on a local market level.

But we’re way, way off the point, here. In the world of pu-erh, you can buy very modest product and it is perfectly drinkable. You can spend a bit more, and you notice the equivalent increase in price. And the more you spend, the better the tea gets right along with that price. Yes, the closer you get to “the top” the more and more important matters of storage, shipment and eventual preparation become to truly unlock all the potential of the leaves. But the potential is there to begin with. Similarly, Darjeeling teas occupy an enormous spectrum of quality and price and in most cases the correlation and contrast is obvious.

All I’m suggesting here is that with shaded green teas, that correlation and contrast is far less obvious as one gets closer and closer to “the top”. Down near the bottom of the spectrum, the contrast is obvious. But as one moves up, the subsequent improvements become harder and harder to discern.

A very narrow, modest assertion.

Good points all around. I think the tea experience in a foreign country heightens expectations, and in some way the brain heightens the experience. I mean I’d rather drink a quality Japanese green tea in Japan, experiencing a tea in its’ homeland, but for me it is not likely. That plays a part too. I haven’t had too many shade grown teas, but I see your point. At what point are we willing to pay that extra money, when the payoff isn’t there?!

I think you just need to figure out what kind of tea you really love and are willing to spend more money on. The rest of the time an average product is certainly fine. For me personally, I like pu-erhs but I don’t feel the expensive ones are worth the price. I’ll take the gyokuro. ;-)

I agree about the Darjeelings too. I haven’t paid $40+ 1/4 lb for any Darjeeling, but at $25-$30, there is a significant increase in quality, over a $15 per 1/4 lb of tea.

You mean like Mei Li? :)) Amy, Sencha Fukamushi’s can be a great experience. Much lighter than many Senchas out there.

I think this goes way beyond tea. Our culture has trained us to believe that things are expensive because they are better. A Calvin Klein tee shirt costs five times as much as a tee shirt from Target because it says Calvin Klein on it — but we don’t think that way, we think that designer names somehow equate to actual garment quality (which may have been true in decades and centuries past, but certainly isn’t true anymore). Way “pay for the name” as they say. Oddly, in that case, we pay extra to do free advertising on behalf of the designer.

We go to restaurants and pay $50 a plate for dishes that have 20 ingredients in them most of which are simply the latest “buzz” foods — despite the fact that science tells us all but the highly trained can only taste at most 6 things at a time. We’re paying for the experience of eating buzz foods off a fancy plate when a more modestly prepared version of the dish for less money might actually be “better food”.

The build quality on Mercedes Benz is actually worse than the build quality on a Hyundai right now but we still pay two or three times as much for that fancy German badge on the hood.

My philosophy is always “be willing to pay for what you can appreciate”. If you can tell the difference sufficiently to justify the cost, go for it.

For my palate, the distinction in pu-erhs is profound while the distinction in shaded greens is not. But, at that point, we’re discussing taste, not anything objective.

Bottom line for me is this:

I’m willing to pay more for tea than designer clothes, coffee, an expensive wine, etc.; and I have the receipts to prove it! :))

I have never bought into the expensive is better philosophy. But sadly that seems to be the way of the world and the world of tea snobs… nice chatting with you both. :)

Sometimes you get what you pay for. For the most part though, I agree Amy. I refuse to wear shirts with names on them…….unless they’re stained with tea! :))
Catch ya both later………….

Sometimes you get what you pay for; but, for the most part, I agree Amy. I refuse to buy clothes with names on them…….unless they’re stained with tea! :)) Catch ya later…….

WWWHHHAAA…..I think I’m seeing double.

How much does this gyo cost? I get the impression that gyo only gets any good (or really begins to be more remarkable) at the $50/gram price range.

So… just had a conversation with the wife. As it turns out, the problem here all along has been her sense of what “expensive” tea is. She drinks mostly roiboos and flavored teas.

Via the USA distribution, you can get Pine Breeze for $20/50grams. Which is, frankly, very cheap.

I’ve had TeaG’s gyokuro which is $55 for 100grams.

There is no way I would ever pay $50 per gram for a tea. I don’t care if it has gold, sex and God mixed into it, nothing is worth that much money. At that point you’re paying $100-200 per pot of tea!

If one has to go that high to experience “truly great Japanese tea” then they’re welcome to it. I’m more than happy to spend 1/10th that price for aged pu-erh and be more than blown away by what I get.

there’s no way would I ever spend that much money on a flippin’ tea – just sayin’

It is nice to know that my tea snobbery has bounds.

I wasn’t sure if Shinobi cha was serious. WOW! I couldn’t stop laughing at your comments Jim…….it just struck me as hilarious! It’s totally absurd to pay $50 /gram for any tea. Just my opinion of course. :))

$200 for a pot of tea…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oops! I meant $.50/gram, haha! Looks like Pine Beeze and TeaG’s gyos are about that range… and if you just didn’t love them at that asking price… well that’s fine; tea is after all, not a necessity and so drink what you enjoy.

Ah. Yes. That makes a lot more sense.

And yes, that has been the point all along. There is a tipping point where what you are paying for may not actually have increased value to the individual.

uMMM….YEAH…tea IS a necessity!:))

You have to call em as you see em.

I appreciate honestly negative reviews (and discussions of price and value), even though I feel guilty when I write them myself! Constant gushing isn’t really… informative.

I only had it from the sample so far, but I notice they tend to have pretty big samples compared to those of other companies.

I find personal tastes fascinating — you and I both love the Life In Teacup modern oolong and yet we diverge on the Samovar Four Seasons.

One thing I have noticed is that certain companies just seem to strike a chord with my tastes. I’ve liked everything I’ve tried from Life in Teacup and everything I’ve tried from Samovar, and there are some companies whose offerings consistently miss with me, too. But even among these there are outliers to the high and to the low end of the spectrum.

Yeah…I’m kind of kicking myself for not ordering samples instead. But the website said 40 servings with multiple infusions each, and yet my tin is so empty…cry

Morgana, I totally agree with you in that some companies are hit and miss depending on the person/taste buds. I am with you Shanti in that I didn’t find this one remarkable but I think Samovar is a altogether miss for me anyway. :(

Yeah, I don’t know…I guess I’m kind of suspicious of Samovar. It’s easy for a company to jack up the price of a tea and add a bunch of made-up flavors to the description, in order to push tea. (I mean, look at all the reviews for any tea, where they’re like “I didn’t know what this stated like until I read the description, and then I was like duh!” etc….I mean, if the company says you’re supposed to taste mango, then you will probably taste mango even if it’s not truly there. But I digress.

I guess I’m sick of the way people have to be afraid of offending others now on Steepster when they write a review. I have seen numerous reviews where people are like “Oh, I don’t like this tea, but important Steepsterite said it’s omfg amazing, so I’m not going to put a rating on this/am going to raise my rating.” I don’t think people should feel coerced to either write a positive rating or not leave a rating at all.

Shanti – Did you try letting Samovar know that your tin was only half full?

No, but I’m guessing it’s probably the right amount (by weight…I hope the tared the weight of the copper tin out)…but it’s still not 40 servings worth.

I guess I catch myself at times hesitating to knock a tea really hard because, well, I’m a libra, and teas are such a subjective thing. But, I hope that I never end up basing what I taste/how I feel about a tea (and almost everything else in life) on what others say. However, I do try to be respectful in what I say when I dislike something like tea because I don’t want it to come off like I’m saying that others have bad taste.

Shanti – thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings. :) I know that they really made me think seriously about staying true to myself. Rock on lady!

Thanks for this review, Shanti. I have to say, I agree with you on this tea. I’m an avid oolong lover, but the description on this one seems way off. I haven’t written my tasting note yet, because like you, I’ve been trying to figure this one out. It is very FLORAL and very GREEN tasting to me. I’m not a huge fan of green oolongs, so I probably would not have bought this if I would have known that the bake-y/bready notes were BS.

Also, my tin of Downy Sprout was not very full. Very sad. :(

I know, right…I ordered small tins of Downy Sprout, Royal Garland, and Osmanthus White, and they were filled to varying amounts…but seriously? The Downy Sprout and Osmanthus look very similar in size, weight, yet the amount of tea in the tins varies widely. I wish I had a scale to weight how much I was sent…le sigh. One thing is for sure—Samovar will probably never get my business again.

[And as an example of a good company that does not do this, see The Simple Leaf. Their one ounce “samples” seem the same size or larger than Samovar’s half-empty tins. Sigh.]

Okay, sorry guys, this is my last comment, but here’s a little comparison for you:

Competition Grade Four Seasons (Si Jie Chun), zen8tea – $12 for 150g
there are cheaper versions that are lower grades available as well
Samovar Four Seasons, ambiguous grade – $24 for 56.6g

Now, of course you have to account for the fact that Samovar relies on more middlemen than the other example I cited (I assume), but still: Samovar is charging $0.42 per gram, whereas zen8tea is charging $0.08 per gram of competition grade tea. That’s a little over 5 times the price.

Gotta say, I think Rabs really nailed it. Part of the issue with the steepster system of rating is that we’re all grading our teas subjectively, as each of us wants something different and, of course, there are peripheral concerns aside from taste that matter to us individually as well, such as price and ability to resteep, as aforementioned here.

I tend to disregard the numbers as anything but a rough guideline (so-and-so liked it, or did not) and focus more on what they had to say about it. Some of us rate based on taste alone — subjective enough to begin with, even disregarding things like price — and some of us rate based on the taste as compares to what was promised, which is not always the same (I’ve seen plenty of reviews that say ‘this tea was very enjoyable, but didn’t taste as advertised’ with a low number OR a high number)…

In the end, it’s important to remember that the numbers people assign are meaningful to them based on criteria that may have nothing to do with our own. All we can do is just try stuff, see if we like it for what it is, and rate accordingly, as consistently as we can with the stuff we’ve already rated (and I dunno about you, but that’s hard enough for me already!).

Also…just a side note, but you might want to try the rest of what leaf you have at 175. That’s how I take mine, and I prefer it by a wide margin! I suppose that won’t make up for the disappointment of your experience, but it might produce a cup of tea you like a little bit more, at least. :)

I’ve tried it at 160, 175, 185, 200, and boiling. I didn’t notice any increase in breadiness or milkiness at the lower temps, but it was a little less bitter. I prefer it that way, too :)

Thanks sophistre and MattHBomb for the suggestions. I’ve tried it at around 160, 185, and near boiling, but not 175…I’ll try that next time. :D

195 is what I usually steep oolongs at and it got me a lot of milky/creamy/buttery flavor out of this. To get anything near bready, I had to “throw my mind out of focus.”

I take these notes by companies (perhaps naively or incorrectly) not to be random, but to mean that a more cultivated palate than mine has identified these tastes or aromas and that I can train my palate to be better by searching for the notes. Sometimes I come up dry, but sometimes I really can find them, or something that I think might be them, if I try hard enough and if the stars otherwise align in terms of steeping temps/times, mood, amount of leaf and other things I’m sure are intangible. In this one, I didn’t get what I normally would think of as bread, which is a yeasty flavor, or a dark malty flavor like a thick slice of dark bread. What I got was the white inside of hot french or Italian bread, which when I think about it has a lot in common with, and isn’t that much different from, a creamy/butter flavor anyway, which I definitely tasted.

I’ve always been told that a good quality oolong like a green TGY is best at boiling.

I think I mentioned this already, but Four Seasons from Nantou is usually described not as particularly buttery, but as fruity and honey-like. The main fruit flavor is supposed to be osmanthus…I’ve read pineapple at some places too, which makes sense because osmanthus is kind of pineappley-peachy-apricotty. But it’s not bready, it’s not bakey, it’s not starchy, and it’s not particularly lactose-y to me.

It might not make a difference at this point, but out of curiosity, what size cups are you making? Takgoti sent me a sample of this a while ago and honestly, I never really got it – it just seemed kind of flat to me – until my last cup where I made a big 14oz mug instead of the 6-8oz cups I had been doing. Of course, I’m not sure if that is what made it taste so much better or what but that last cup I had was really delicious. The other cups before? Not so much.
(Though I never got bread – looking over my notes I got flowers, nectar and cattails.)

Ah, I’ve been doing between 6 and 8 ounces…I’ll try the bigger size one of these days :)

And flowers and nectar are what I tasted too. :)

I love this note! The Samovar spell has broken! :)

I just wanted to ask about your label on your container. My label said to use 1 tbsp per 16 oz of water. When I went to the web site, it said 1 tsp per 10-16 oz of water.

My Royal Garland label was even worse. It said 2 tbsp per 6 oz. Which resulted in this horrid, bitter icky brew.

Yeah, my labels were like that, too. I’m still pissed—there’s no way in hell there’s 40 servings in my tin of a teaspoon each, let alone a tablespoon or 2.

Shanti — just placed my first Samovar order 13 days ago and I’m already getting pissed. Not that they have a lot of control over shipping, but I was told I’d get my package on the 20th. I watched the package tracker start off in NV (?) head toward me, and now it’s in CA and heading to NV again. What the heck?!? The little “estimated delivery” when from 20th for sure to the 22nd, and now it’s saying the 25th. I’ve spent 1/4 of the money at other online tea stores and have had prompter deliveries than this. Going in a circle, really? This isn’t making a good impression on me. :P

Pretty!

Congrats on 200 tasting notes! Yours are always very informative and interesting reads!

This looks intriguing. Happy 200!

This is one of the few teas from Butiki that seemed to catch my attention.

Congrats!! By the time I get to 200 reviews I’ll be nearly 35 years old! Are you with me peeps? Hehehe…….yeah right. :))

Yay may the bagpipes play for 200 tasting notes! I love seeing your notes every day Bonnie – you inspire and bring joy :)

Thank you sweet Daisy and Scott! I guess this means I’ve finally reached 35 years of age right Scott?!

Thank you LiberTEAS! Thanks Amy (are you feeling better?) .

yeah Bonnie :))

Bonnie – yes, thank you. I had to go to the doctor have my ear irrigated but that certainly helped.

Happy 200!! I love your notes— they’ve helped me improve on my own tea tastings. :)

Congrats!! :) You made this sound so wonderful! Buttery and Salty?!?! Two of my fav things! YUMM!!!!

Congrats on 200! and this sounds like a very interesting tea, did you make it to 20 steepings?

Are you kidding…I still have more to go this evening!

Congratulations!

Congrats on 200 tasting notes! That’s quite an accomplishment. Very descriptive review. Quite interesting the notes you were picking out of that tea.

Thank you all my tea friends! Thanks Butiki! (I had more infusions of both tea’s ending with the Rose Violet for dessert!) .

Yay for 200 posts!!! Congrats :)

Woot!! Congratulations on reaching 200 tasting notes!!! And this tea is intriguing. Puer that doesn’t taste earthy and brews up to a yellow liquor? I didn’t know such a thing could exist!

This sounds so tasty! I got my samples from Fong Mong yesterday and this was one of them, now I’m extra excited to try it.

Same here!

I asked for this one! I have had Ruby #18 and Black Ruby which are the same varietal from the area and loved both, so I have high hopes for it!

Are they only on EBay?

I’ve only seen the ebay sadly. It appears that the cheapest way to purchase would be to go in with one or more others to cut costs which looks good actually. So far the tea gas been very high quality.

Gas? Really? Waz up? HAS OK!

Spell check?? :)

It’s ok Bonnie, we all know you really meant gas ;)

Ok ok…I know what. I give you guys GAS! So there! Keep it!

By the way, where are all the old people like me on Steepster? Don’t you guys have young hearted grandparents or moms and dads? Kick some sense into them! (You are keeping me young though!)

I’m over here laughing at the comments and my husband just looks at me and shakes his head!

He’s over 40 isn’t he?! That’s what they do. After 50 they can’t hear. After 60…have no idea. If I get one again…they’d better mind their own business until I need them. And have some money this time. I’ve been mama too much and I’m done with it!

You go girl! :)
However …. how did resteeping go for you on this one? Mine was unsuccessful.

I’ll try that now ….and I forgot amore! I think tea drinkers must be passionate folk!

Ok…resteeped for 5minutes and mmmmmmgood!

No not quite 30 yet!

So sad!

Wow. That’s awesome. I’m so glad you are enjoying it.

Enjoying it!?!? I’m about to start snorting it! Frank seriously don’t run out of this. I just got Pot of Gold from you – I have to make more money now to buy more of this! Auuuggggg

You’re killing me

LOL I have so many teas I still want to get that I don’t already have too! You have two I want, I don’t have my almond cookie from Joy’s … and frank keeps putting out things like this. Do you think when I die they would bury me in tea?

This is making me wish I had some of this to try. It sounds like it would be a fantastic iced tea!

I will know tomorrow :) Will post the cold brew findings!

I might have just broken my “no more buying tea” rule because of this review. I need a good iced tea, and if you can get 3 re-steeps out of it I’m sold!

If you don’t like it I will buy it from you after payday! :) How is that for a deal? :)

Just be sure to increase time with each steep. I think I did 3 minutes then 4 then 5

I hate you for liking this tea and posting a good review. Hate hate hate. I am not allowed to buy more!

But I LOVE you! MUWHAhHAHA

I’m going to bet that if you liked it hot, you’re going to LOVE it iced. Not sure about cold-brewing, but hot brewed, then chilled and served over ice, this is hard to beat.

“I mean first of all its limited which it should not be. This should go into the permanent stash ASAP!”

I knoooooow. moans Frank, if you have too many permanent ones, can we hold a vote on which one to kick off the island?

I second this!

Your reviews BAD!?!?! NEVER!!!! Love your reviews!

Thanks, I’m not getting sleep…4-5 hours is not enough. This fire has been triggering migraines. That does make me write wierd or silly. (come to think of it…noone will know the difference ;) )

I’m so sorry that you have been going through this. Sounds just horrible. I agree with Azzrian, your reviews are always a great read.

Thanks Stacy! I guess this tea was one of my happy tea medicines! Now maybe the Tangerine Creamsicle!

I’m glad it helped a little. Tea can be a great medicine.

Like good friends ; )

Very true!

:( So sorry to read of your headaches and lack of sleep due to that nasty smoke!
Praying for you all there.
This tea does sound yummy and I am so glad it brought you some relief.

oh Bonnie… stay safe. Fire fire go away please don’t come back any other day!!!

I go to a Greek Orthodox Church …I should spit on it! Pith pith pith …
(Remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding)

I can’t wait for the fire to leave you alone! It sounds terrifying… It sounds like when the volcano erupted in Quito. We didn’t get any fire but there was ash everywhere and we could barely breathe…

Also, your reviews are always great! : )

Miss Bonnie, your reviews are good reads. No worries there. :D

Yes there is ash. Scratchy throat!
I went to a place in the Andes (Peru) (State of Ancash by Huaraz) where there was an Earthquake and mudslide that came down so fast covering the town. You could see the top of the Church and a bus suspended in the air. At one end of town, a hill which was the graveyard with a Statue of Christ like the Christ of the Andes, outstretched arms facing the town. The only people who survived were the ones who ran up to that hill.

You are all lovely people…I’m just not feeling up to par.

That fire is pretty worrisome. Perhaps you could visit out of town for a few days and get away from it?

My daughter is the only one I know and she’s 10 miles away in the same boat. The smoke is all the way to Denver 65 miles away. The thought is nice though. I just have to stay inside and wait. Keep things closed up and drink tea, take aspirin.

D’oh! Well I’ll keep you in my thoughts.

Thank you everyone! I just woke up on the couch with my chin resting in my hand…dozed off finally…tired…

My heart goes out to you and all involved in a horrible fire like that….keep your entertaining reviews coming, I always enjoy reading them!

Sounds pretty awesome.

Awesome, unexpected, different!

Correction – YOU wanted them and they are blessed to have had you! <3

Thanks! Explains why my daughter has adopted 3 and Fostered 27 (the 2 she has now are maybe adopt additions!) . My parents raised my orphaned cousins. You keep the love going!

You would do the same. You don’t leave kids out in the forest!

Ah, I just got the 2008 yabao that’s on Verdant’s website

It’s in the pu-erh section, but I don’t think it’s the same tea as this one that says it’s from 2010 in the description?

Got it! Happy!

A big thank you to you and your daughter for your devotion.
We adopted my little sister when she was 4 and she had been in the system for 2 years, she had some wonderful foster parents, and we are forever thankful that they cared for her till God blessed us with her:)
The tea sounds so yummy!
We heat with a wood stove, so I know the smell you are speaking of, I love that smell:)

Hesper June, Hug!

Hugs right back ya’ :)

There was a “Spring plucked” silver buds yabao which sold out about half a year ago, that probably accounts for the confusion.

I too have way more fun, flavoured teas than straight. I really have to make more of an effort to try straight tea because sometimes I feel like a bit of dummy on Steepster. I just can’t tease out all the flavours that other people seem to be able to.

I wanted to tell you something…OH LOOK! A butterfly! …so, yeah where was I? lol I love people who do that, it’s so amusing!

Don’t worry. I began with only flavored tea, started with a really good couple of straight tea’s and it took time to understand the flavor profiles. If you had a Laoshan Black tea, you could taste the Chocolate for instance it’s obvious but it’s not flavored. An oolong might taste floral and sweet but it’s all natural too. A genmaicha would taste like toasted rice or popcorn, a savory flavor…all natural.

@MissMylin – glad to hear that I’m not the only one

@Invader Zim – hahaha! That’s me 100% I’m like the dog from the animated film called “Up”…SQUIRREL!

@Bonnie – good to see that’s where other steepsters have started. I have a few oolongs from the straight tea special, so I will bear in mind what you said about them when I drink them. I used to drink Genmaicha all the time – your taste description is spot on. I will have to try a Laoshan Black – sounds delicious. Thanks for the tips

I love that movie! My master is good at smart. lol I find animated movies to be better than most other movies these days.

So true, I can’t wait to see Despicable me 2

Glad you liked this one. I’ll have to bre wmy sampler and compare it to the other Darjeeling I bought from DT. And PHEW…. I was worried I was the only one who had trouble describing the straight/classic teas.

There’s a despicable me2? Ohhhh yeah!

SQUIRREL!

I think Despicable Me 2 is set to come out July 2013 – those little minions cracked me up

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all live close enough that we could all get together, drink tea and watch Despicable Me 2!

Best tasting note ever! I know exactly what you mean re: sophisticated palate. It’s one of the reasons I’m trying to wean myself off sweetening everything, so I can taste a straight-up tea and actually taste it. But boy do I love my dessert teas. =)

@Invader Zim – That would be fantastic. Or as Agnes might say “It’s so awesome I’m gonna die!” lol! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82utG7Q3G_k

@Nik – hahaha! Thanks Nik, I must have been feeling inspired that day. Dessert teas are amazing. I just received my very first order of 52teas a couple of days ago, and I think I found yet another favorite tea company.

I’ve got my first 52t order, too! [squee]

It’s so fluffy! lol I love it!

YAY! I knew I wasn’t crazy lol. I agree, ‘umami’ is a usually a green tea characteristic but I have found some Puerh that wear it. I like it, it is soothing in my opinion.

YAY! That mean’s that I’m not crazy too, or we’re BOTH crazy!

LOL! SHHHHH! They are not supposed to know that. But honestly, I really like it, no matter how unexpected it was for me. It was very welcomed. In my experience, the ones with this trait have a longer than regular aftertaste, and as time passes it starts to become sweeter like you would have expected the aftertaste to be.

After reading your review, I wonder if I get bitterness a lot because I overleaf? When I did mine (I don’t have a scale) it ended up filling my entire cup when it was fully expanded. And just so you too know, I read nothing :)

I’ve begun using a very minimal amount of leaf with puerh and enjoy it a lot more. There’s even touchas that I cut in half to maximize flavor for me.

Invader- I don’t read notes before either as a rule. I do read brewing instructions on regular tea’s though but not information on taste. I like to make up my own mind and see how it compares. I’m more at ease with how much Shu Pu’er to use and how long to let it steep. I like mine a bit on the stronger side so no cutting Shu Tuo cha’s in half for me Whispering Pines. You can’t do the stronger brewing with a Sheng or the hairs on your head will raise up like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. (I lost some of you with that reference!) That’s where cutting back a little works better for me too.

Lol, Bonnie, when I said I read nothing, I meant of how you two are crazy! But I don’t read reviews before trying teas either. I like mine a little less strong, but I think I will start using less leaf, especially for shengs. And my hair is short enough that it does look like Alfalfa in the morning! No reference lost on me!

Me? Crazy? Heh, you tawkn to me?

Nice review, as always, Ms. Bonnie. I haven’t tried this one yet, I was gonna drink it today, but I realized I was more in the mood for a Shu. Even though I’m still fairly new to Puer, it feels good to know which type I was in the mood for!

I’m finding that with Shu’s I usually go with 5grams of tea in my 4 oz Gaiwan, whereas with Shengs I want much less. Still not sure how much yet. 5 grams was WAY too much, even with the shortest possible steeping, 4 grams still seemed too strong, so I’m gonna try 3 next time.

Good idea. This one I think less is more. My own opinion though.

Teachat has some good threads about aging puerh if you’re interested.

I guess I missed the ‘slamming’, must have happened when I was off playing gigs somewhere.
I find that with tea, as with all other things in my life, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder (or in this case the taste buds, etc). A tea that I love might be a total turnoff to another sipper. The price I am willing to pay, the place I put my trust (as in tea purveyors), those are things that are subject to my own experience, & no one else’s. We all share our experiences & preferences here, in what I consider a loving & open hearted community, but only I can determine what my tastes are, if it’s worth the cost, how it makes me feel, etc. I Love Verdant, more than anything because of the commitment to the authentic & unique artisan ideal, but also because the teas are awesome. I love the educational element as well.
So the bottom line, for anyone, is “Do I like this? Is it worth the price for ME?” If not, don’t buy it. No need to trash a person, or a company, just give your opinion in an open hearted way, and try something else.

Do you know where the tea comes from? Lincang and Yiwu produce ‘ready-to-drink’ Puerhs that match your description. Sounds nice!

JC – I bought the material made in to this cake when I was touring dehong area in April 2012. Was enamored with it and for days I kept coming back to the samples of it and got continuous confirmation to do a pressing of it. It just made me feel good. Lincang was also an area where I spent several days and got the material for the “hear of the old tree” pressing that I did. I’m working on another pressing which will be a blend of several leaves from various places I visited in April. I’ve tweaked the combo of leaves over the last couple of weeks and the pressing should happen in the next week or so!

“heart” not “hear” of the old tree.

Thanks for the answer Garret! That makes sense. Those areas produce very nice and ‘ready-to-drink’ Puerh. That new pressing sounds interesting!

JC… I don’t know if you are into ripe teas at all, but I am totally pumped about a ripe blend that I completed since my April trip. It is a combination of 4 leaves from Yong De (love it there) all picked and processed in 2011. The pressing finally happened and I am so pleased that pressed over 400 cakes of it. Also got 150 pounds to have as loose leaf here in the shop. I’ll have the loose leaf up online in the next week or so. The cakes are not ready to ship out of China yet so we will not see the bulk of them for some time. But… I had 10 of the cakes airmailed to me and they arrived yesterday. Fantastic! The clarity of the liquor and the lack of post-fermentation smell is boggling my mind. I am so happy about it that I am seeing if I can possible squeak anymore of the same batches of leaves to make one more pressing.

Sheesh, I get too excited, hit send and find out I should proofread… I meant to say “see if I can possibly squeak out anymore of the same…”

Edit Version
Hahahaha! I was just thinking about Yong De, all that area (refering to Dehong/Lincang and vicinity) seems to produce a Burgundy ripe tea that is incredibly clean looking. I wonder if that is the reason why usually has some ‘juiciness’ to them.

I don’t have much experience with Puerh… yet. lol I’ve been drinking both ripe and raw for about 3-4 years now and I’m just amazed on how with some experience you can begin to understand the traits the tea will/might have just by knowing where it comes from. The way around as well. Puerh is a world of its own in my opinion.

Same here I had to edit my comment and if I read it again I will find many other things to edit. New found and true loves are like that, they get in your brain.

In your brain, for sure, and more importantly, the heart :)

Yes… pu’er is a world unto its own… raw pu’er – one world. ripe pu’er – another world. I keep diving deeper and deeper in to each, a daily pilgrimage… you know what I mean, I can tell!

You are very right indeed. Honestly, tea in general, but specially puerh has sparked all sorts of interest in me. As well as pursuit for knowledge. Puerh, in my experience so far, is very humbling. You slowly start to form an idea of what ‘composes’ the traits of a ripe/raw and then comes along a new one you haven’t tried yet to shatter (in the greatest of way possible) that ideal. It is like the teacher that presents you with a challenge and keeps you forever interested in a lesson.

Thanks to Claire for getting JC and I together in a conversation :)
Late night tea session here in MN, complimented by the musings of a fellow lover of the leaf! Tea keeps bringing great folks together!!!

I drink to that! (A late night session in DC). Chá Dào

I hope you all don’t mind my evesdropping, this has been an interesting conversation! I’m still new to Pu’er myself, but am loving it. Thanks for the review Claire, this sounds like one I’d like to sample as well. Garrett, the tea you’re describing sounds exciting, and I’m checking out your website!

Hi Terri! Eavesdropping… always an interesting word to me. And I’m glad you eavesdropped in! I’m glad you are getting interested in pu’er tea. I drink anything of camellia sinensis (if it’s good, that is), but pu’er is definitely my 75% of the time drink. Thanks for checking out the site, too… lots of changes coming for Mandala Tea as we move our headquarters to another city in a few short weeks, bring on a new biz partner and gear up for website changes, more travels to China for finding more raw material for or private label pressings and work hard to help others discover the joy of all things tea! I see you are a musician! Me, too! I have played drums and percussion and also voice for many years. Music and tea make for incredible companions!

Hi Garret! Nice to meet you! Music is my life, and Tea has been a big part of that life. Between gigs, students, & CD sales I manage to make a pretty good living, and have lots of free time to sip tea in the process. I even wrote a song, “TeaMind”, (I also sing), that’s on one of my CDs.
I’ve had some really interesting experiences with Pu’er, which initially freaked me out a little, but I’ve been reading a lot of things, and am developing an understanding of Chaqi. I’m not new to energy work & movement, but I had never experienced the kind of sensations I was having from Tea! I’m looking forward to sampling some of yours!

I wandered away from the PC for a few hours and came back to some great comments and conversation. I love this community!

I’ve been sipping on the wild monk for most of the night now and it’s still fantastic, very calming for me. Perfect end to a long and tiring week.

Some day i’ll need to get in to pu’ers…

Yeah, Claire, see what you started? You’re like a little tea socialite, getting people together like this :)

Sil… pu’er is great stuff, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve got so many friends and customers who never really get into it. Pu’er tea is definitely interesting stuff, but it is no king/queen of tea. Tea is no monarchy, rather it is a democracy and each person elects their favorite each time they reach into their personal tea vault. I love that I get to hold several elections every day!

I just encourage everyone to practice joy, no matter what tea they are into. With joy in mind, any cup of nice, well-prepared tea can take us on a journey deep within, get us closer to our friends, closer to the perfect and inspire our future successes.

white, green, yellow, wulong, black, pu’er – all are merely different paths up the same mountain. Drink up and LOVE what you love :)

Best of health to each of you!

Ill have to but you when I get into them garret and see what you recommend from your store :)

I love Rayn’s little “reviews” of teas, and I forgot to add his from last night! He took a sip and said “hay…smoke”. One more sip and then “a burning barnyard”.

Ish they shipped to Canada…some of these that you’ve been trying lately sound really good.

Yay! I am so eager to try this one. Glad to hear that Janet’s blends have improved so dramatically!

Nik… you know you’re going to place an order..and then swap with us..right? right! lol

So, Nik is your Canadian dealer?!

Bonnie lol I’m open to all dealers! ;) Nik and I just have a planned swap for January after all the Christmas magic is over to keep things happy with the mailbox :)

Great idea! I think it’s easier to send from here to Canada and visa versa than to buy from vendors directly sometimes.
Although, it seems that Canadians pay more shipping usually from what I hear. Even Davids Tea was only $5 to Colorado which was great (but took a long time).

Sil, sounds good! Maybe instead of shipping it, I can just bring it with me to the Toronto Tea Festival. :D Let’s see how things go and check in with each other in January.

Bonnie – yeah we do. If you understand the post office you can be smart about how to get things to the us and other countries without paying an arm and a leg but you have to understand their silly rules. :)

Either way it gives me hope to see you liking this companies teas more now. We seem to have similar thoughts with a number of companies. Someday ill get down to visit your lucky tea house :)

If anyone ever comes this way let me know and I’ll set up a tea tour, beer tour, scenic tour…easy to do with tips to save money. This isn’t an expensive State! Nothing is far away which makes it simple. Fall is beautiful! July is the Tea Festival in Boulder over a weekend.

Sil,
Wanted to let you know we will start shipping to Canada by the end of the day.

Nice! that sounds fantastic! As soon as I have a bit of extra cash I will totally need to check that out :)

appreciate the great review of this!

Thank you Sil :-)

Great review, I love your descriptions and the story about lying on your back and catching the rain in your mouth!

Have to be honest, I normally skim over long reviews but I enjoyed every word. Though I am still confused how this went from cleaning the tub to running through the forest, but glad it did. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Claire… maybe not such a great idea today with the acid rain unfortunately!

Hahaha! KS, my thoughts EXACTLY, how did it happen?? This one being several miles long, I thank you for going the distance, I take it as a big compliment if you normally skip long reviews!!

Hooray for you! You stopped and listened and the tea took you back to a place that was magical. Every word you wrote was an opening for us to peek into your life. Thank you for stopping when you had almost raced on by. This is not the last of these journeys!

Thanks Bonnie! I learn from you :-)

I always really enjoy reading your reviews! :) You write in a way that I have such vivid images of the stories you tell. That brought me back to my childhood. We had woods behind our house and would always explore them and lie on the ground just talking for hours. Thanks for sharing!

Stacy, I’m so happy you can relate to this story… then you understand how special this memory is :-)

I can definitely relate but I must say I miss living in the woods.

Thanks Paul… And The Black Keys are definitely good tea companions :-)

I love this review!

I just read this again and it makes me happy!

oh god.. more new tea from stacy. crap on a cracker!

LMAO @ Sil!!!
teehee

Yeah…I’m super excited about these – then again – I always am!

oh i have money to burn with stacy…she’s the only expception to my "must drink my stash down to 150 teas before ordering more* rule that i’m TRYING to stick to… but not only are we working on the strawberry rhubarb tea from the contest but there are at least 2 straight teas of hers i’d like to try, then there’s the plum tea, the three friends, eggnog, potato applesauce uh…and i think another that i’m forgetting.

Not to mention that I still have an abundance of her teas i’m working through.

Sil – Stay Tuned…I will be tasting most of those SOON :)

this is where i say… i don’t really need you to taste them to tell me i know i’m going to want them hahahaha pretty much almost a guarantee that i’ll pick up at least a half ounce (or an ounce) of almost any of stacy’s flavoured teas that sound like i’d like them….because i always do.

At least I can TEASE you LOL :)

curse you woman! :)

haha

TeaEqualsBliss-This one should be up on our website in about a week. The Potato Pancake, Kamba Berry, and Highland Green will be up either tonight or tomorrow. I’m really hoping to make this one into a special chai.

mmmmm more tea… yay!

Sil- :)

i swear you just make me wait to torment me stacy… just watch there will be “technical difficulties” that prevents the tea from posting lol (i kid i kid!)

I agree with Sil quite tempting us! (see no tea, taste no tea, buy no tea)

Sil & Helena-Hahaha. :) I will say the last technical difficulties were so not fun. My hosting company was hacked when I was trying to upload the new pages. Whoever hacked it also put up service tech numbers that were to a porn number and without knowing that I called the number. So, every 10 minutes or so I was getting a text from a that number. Still to this day like once a week I get a text from that phone number.

lmao ok stacy that just made me laugh…a lot. Not that i’m laughing at your pain but oh man… just teh mental image of you calling a porn number unknowingly… “yes i’d like to report a technical issue with my website” "oh yes baby…i can help you with you “website” yeah anyHOOOOO…. la la la

Oh no, that’s terrible Stacy!! I hope they get sued or spammed themselves somehow. Not cool.

Sil-Hahahaha. I kept getting messages asking if I would like to party with underage girls. Um, no thanks. Hahaha.

Indigobloom-It was amusing at first but very quickly became annoying. Ah well, at least its only once a week now.

This one sounds like a must buy.

I’ll bet.
Just saw the note about Kamba berry?! eeeep, I’m excited!

Indigobloom-The Kamba Berry is a blend done by Royal Tea of Kenya. Its a special blend that is dedicated to the Kamba tribe in Kenya and is their take on a berry blend using the purple tea with a specific focus on using ingredients with a high amount of antioxidants.

I wanted to mention that though Grandpa’s Anytime tea is a CTC tea, it has a ton of flavor and some very nice chocolate notes. I tend to water this one down a bit but I find it very delicious. I never thought we would carry a CTC other than for a chai blend but this is very tasty. I’ve been reading a lot lately about the quality of many CTCs being very high and I feel like this is one of them. This tea will also be used in a special chai blend that we are working on.

Great additional info! Thanks Stacy!

So tempting… so very tempting!!

I want to know from Stacy when this is going to be available because I want some right away!!!!!

Man, that tea must be horrible!!! Glad I know not to waste my money on this one ;P

HAHAHA! Yep, ignore this…leave it all to me!!!!

Bonnie-Glad you like this one! I love this one too! Like our Gui Fei & Mi Xian Black, this too has been bitten by leaf hoppers but it is different in that it is a wild tea and is pretty limited in quantity.

It should be up on our website later this week though we do have it in stock now, so it can be purchased now.

I don’t see it so maybe you can send me some info.

Its not on our website yet, but will be later this week but we do have it in stock. I haven’t written the description yet but would be happy to send you any info. What info are you looking for?

I sent you an e-mail

wow, this sounds delicious. I haven’t ordered any Butiki in a long time…..my credit card is screaming NOOOOO right now! lol

waffle tea! I wonder if it’d go well in a simple syrup drizzled over a hot plate of waffles :P

Congratulations!

very exciting!

ew! just read the last line of your post…. i hope you gave him the stare equivalent of a whallop and lectured him on good manners! (and personal space)

Hooray for your 300th review!!!

300 Yay! Sneezy guy boo!

Congrats on 300!

Thanks everyone :D
@JustJames- No lecture (he was wearing headphones), but a few of the passengers (including me) gave him a disgusted look – he seemed oblivious. I can’t fault him on the personal space because the skytrain was pretty full, but not covering his mouth -ugh!

Yay! Congrats on reaching 300!

Oh, I totally would have sneezed right back on him! :P

@CHAroma – bahahaha! That would have been awesome!

Félicitations Canadianadia!

Merci Beaucoup :)

Welcome back!

I am so glad that everything is ok Bonnie. I’ve been worried but figured RL had just gotten in the way. Happy Birthday! and lots of wishes for a speedy continued recovery.

Glad to see you’re back and doing better!

Had no time for Steepster this week, sad, sad. But something compelled me to browse through tonight, and even though the dashboard is out at the moment, here I find you…Such a relief to finally see you emerging from that fog Bonnie, nothing but love for you. Happy Birthday :-)

Thanks to you all! Weird,Steepster is sick now that I’m well tonight!

Glad to see you back, Bonnie! :)

Welcome back, Bonnie!! And best wishes for the upcoming year for you!

Glad you are back! I am sorry you had to go through such an uncomfortable time.
Happy you had your tea during that time.

Glad to hear you’re alright!

Happy birthday and welcome back! I didn’t know ANYONE but my youngest daughter dipped fries in ice cream or shakes! I can’t wait to tell her.

oh gosh… I was wondering where your tasting notes had been and kind of remembered that in another one you said you weren’t feeling well. I’m glad you’re feeling better & that tea was there for you!

Welcome back Bonnie!! Have missed your reviews, happy you are feeling better now! :)

so happy to see you back with notes here Bonnie ! Welcome back on board and JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE !

So glad you’re ok Bonnie. I’ve missed you! get better soon k? I don’t review much myself anymore but plan to start again in a few months

Belated welcome back, glad you’re feeling better, and happy birthday. I am, as always, forever behind in my dashboard reading. lol

OoooOooo!

Tealux is quickly becoming one of my favorite companies.

Kittenna, I’m not even half through my last order with them but I’m still contemplating the idea of taking advantage of their 25% off sale this week end. Please, can someone stop me?? In desperate needs of arguments to help resist…

@TheTeaFairy Chill! It’s not like they can’t grow more of it. The tea isn’t going anywhere. There will be other sales. There will always be tea.

Best argument? Their teas are not really limited edition, and they seem to have sales quite frequently. Wait until your stash is smaller, and then keep your eye out for a sale. I’ve seen 20-25% off sales with enough frequency that I wouldn’t be too worried about missing this one!

Haha! Thank you guys, great arguments, I really feel the urge dissipating now, I’m chillin… (NOT!)

I just bought 12 samples. So excited to try them out. :)

Have to ask before I jump on the bandwagon (in June)….how is their shipping costs for a bunch of samples. I know they advertise free shipping over 60 dollars (I think)

Mmmm I’m drinking this now. Though my packet doesn’t say takachiho,so I wonder if its the exact same? Hmmmm.

It is. The packets just aren’t well-labeled.