New Tasting Notes

Steeped this one over the weekend and it was nice – crisp and mint forward with medium bodied chocolate notes on the back end. I’ve had a handful of mint and chocolate teas over the last few months from multiple companies, and this is sort of right smack in the middle of all of them – perfectly nice, but not anything exceptional either.

Gongfu!

Like I said in another tasting note a week or two back, I’m trying to make the most of the time I have available for outdoor tea sessions (before it’s winter) so I packed up a bunch of tea and teaware yesterday and a massive thermal carafe of hot water and had a whole afternoon of tea drinking in the park yesterday.

Syrupy liquor with ripe peach notes, and a finish with more astringent and bitter peach skin notes overtop a greener undertone. It got dark during the session, and I had to move to a different area of the park with lighting, so I finished the session under the light of the baseball stadium. It was not the ambiance I expected, but something about the deep blue and purple sky contrasted with the yellowing leaves of the teas was actually kind of magical and I felt like it added to my last few steeps of the tea.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGTMkgagQ67/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4BZ3uOSHI&ab_channel=DORIANELECTRA

I’m just finishing up a mug of this one currently, and I’m quite into it – it’s sweet and creamy with lots of pistachio pudding notes but mixed with pops of cherry and refreshing and citrusy lemongrass it makes me think of something more Middle Eastern inspired that I can’t put my finger on. They use pistachio and sweet fruits in a lot of pastry and desserts though, so that’s probably what my mind it thinking of.

I’m nearly out of this – I don’t need to restock because I have so much tea, but I really want to restock this one when it’s gone. I think the shop still carries it, but under a slightly different name now…

At some point I should actually do the math and figure out how many Harry Potter inspired blends I own, because I have a gut feeling it’s actually a lot higher than I think it is – especially with more on the way from a recent Adagio order. I wanted Halloween teas, but couldn’t resist adding in some fandom samples too. I was trying to decide what HP inspired blend I might drink for… reasons… Maybe podcast related reasons…

I had too many options.

This tea just keeps getting better each time I have it. Now that I finished my sample, I am going to be thinking about getting a cake.

It seems able to preserve a lot of its fragrance. The taste is pungent with a lot of high notes, but not overwhelmingly floral. The bright and crisp character is complemented by a gin-like bitterness and a heavy sweetness. There is a lot of focus on the aftertaste, which is refreshing even with all the returning honey-like sweetness.

I bought this tea for late summer and early fall at Wegman’s. Very spicy with cinnamon and chili. Loved it.

Included in decaf sampler package. Delicious with warm spices and fruit

Often found free at various events, nice mild lemon taste with other subtle flavors

Another “all day” drinker and good dark tea for the price.

I’m tasting honey, hay and fruit – maybe grape? On further steeps I get more of a light pepper spiciness. Very smooth but mild. For me, good for 3-4 steeps or so.

Solid l-theanine vibe upping the rating.

The price is good on this, I recommend if you want to try dark tea.

prominent cinnamon and apply, exceeded my expectation

green tea is a little bitter for me and jasmin not bold enough

Mild cinnamon flavor but apple very hard to notice

Another great sample from VariaTEA!

I steeped this one at just under boiling (very scientific, left the kettle open for a few seconds after it came to the boil) for 4 minutes.

This one smelled fairly sweet, but I felt adventurous today. The flavour is actually great! I can’t believe I’m enjoying this as much as I am because I usually don’t care for ‘overly’ flavoured teas, but this one is well done.

This has a very smooth feel with a healthy dose of vanilla and coconut. The base is not astringent at all, which I love. Overall a really smooth and lovely cuppa this afternoon.

Thanks VariaTEA!

Its funny how our tastes can change over the years. I initially got into teas via flavored ones. I then moved on to pure teas, realizing that a really good tea was a delight all of its own. And for some reason, this fall I am drawn back to flavored ones.

The description of this tea sounded intriguing, but the presence of Lapsang Souchong made me nervous. I am not a fan of smoked anything. Mildly smoked pork is ok, but anything else is pretty gross. I have another smoky tea that I can’t stand and has never been used beyond the first cup.

But this was my first August Uncommon pourchase and I had an introduction 20% off code I wanted to make good use of. I have also not consumed sugar in any form for almost 7 years and I rarely make use of alternative sweeteners (months can go between uses). My options were limited. So i bought it anyway, telling myself you never know for sure until you try. And I’m glad I did.

The smoky flavor is mild, barely a hint, which helps a lot. There is a slight taste and smell of toffee. Nothing strong or overpowering, but it is there and its quite pleasant. None of the various flavors overpower or dominate over any of the others. This can actually be a failing in others where the flavors drown out the tea base itself. I feel Golden Arrow has a very nice balance that is so rare to find.

I also have to give kudos to August Uncommon in that they allow one to search based upon criteria such as sugar free. I very much appreciate not having to guess on which teas may or may not be safe for my consumption. (T2 diabetic. Just because sugar won’t kill me today doesn’t mean it won’t kill me in 20 years. Seriously, go on, have a little arsenic. You won’t fall over dead today, so obvious it must be safe.)

Finally went through a truly immense stock of oolong and shoumei that was getting me through the summer months. On to something new and perhaps more seasonally appropriate. Up until now I don’t think I’ve tried any scented/blended teas from this store, but their pure loose leaf has been great so far.

The first thing I noticed about this cream earl grey is that the leaves are definitely a bit lower in quality and moderately broken, although it seems that’s usually the case with blends. Still, the dry aroma is enticing and I just loooove bergamot. Brewed this up Western style and am very content. It’s not sickly sweet or saturated with a chemically-strong fragrance like many other earl grey’s I’ve tried. Just some tasty Chinese black tea and a gentle, creamy bergamot flavour. This is how you balance a scented tea, it’s very well done.

This is our go to Earl Grey. Everything about it works for our household. A great take on the classic formula, the additions of lavender just balance things out quite nicely. The lavender’s there but not overpowering at all.

I bought this a while ago now, but the flavor seems like it’s staying consistently vague since I bought it.  I’ve been trying it with different steeping parameters and I think I’ve found the right way to brew it now.  Two teaspoons for a full mug with a very short steep and cooler water makes the flavors pop better than if I just try to oversteep the tea on the first cup.  I’ve found one minute steeps work best on teas with subtle flavoring, especially if there are not really any additional ingredients other than flavoring.  Honestly, it would be difficult to make a tea taste like Salty Caramel Pumpkin with flavoring alone and that is what this is.  Black tea and flavoring.  Like possibly the flavoring was added to a tea, it was taste tested, and someone were asked to think up a name for it… it MIGHT be “salty caramel pumpkin”?  It’s tough to tell what this tastes like otherwise.  There is a hint of salt, sweetness, and maybe the savoriness of a pumpkin, but only if you’re really trying to reach.   Raisins in the second cup when it’s cooled.  I like the depth of the black tea – it’s comforting with these flavors in autumn.  But I will definitely be steeping this tea like this in the future.  Both steeps had equal amounts of flavor.  Otherwise, any longer than one minute and it starts tasting like plain black tea.
Steep #1  // 2 teaspoons for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling  // 1 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 minute steep

Also, how did I forget to mention?  It’s The Morning News Tournament of Books Super Rooster time!  Already in the thick of it.  For any bookish fans… I’ve been following this for years and now the WINNERS are competing against each other.  This is a highlight of a dismal year, for sure:  https://themorningnews.org/tob/superrooster/welcome-to-the-super-rooster.php Yes, I have read all sixteen winners.

This is one of my go-to cold night, keep-the-chill-off teas. It has everything you want in a good respiratory health tea. A little bit of honey (not too much cause the licorice already adds some sweetness) and you have a perfect caffeine free clarity drink too! I tend to steep it strong to get all the goodness out of it too!

I absolutely love this tea. It’s sweet, floral, and full of incredible honey flavor. If I could only drink one straight tea for the rest of my life, this would probably be it. My brother and his friend came over for vegan Thai the other night, and I made this for them post-dinner. It was such a treat. Having it again this morning, because I couldn’t resist. It’s also extremely cost efficient, which I appreciate.

I got a mystery bag along with my recent order from Louisville Tea Co (I can’t resist a surprise bag of tea), and this was included. The peach note is quite strong, and works really well with the slightly floral oolong. There’s a bit of a buttery/crusty flavor going on, which turns it slightly into the cooler category, rather than straight peach.

I really didn’t know what to expect from this one. At first, I found it to be a little sour and strange. I added some milk and extra sugar, and actually, I kind of like it in its eccentricity. I totally get both the chocolate and the fruitiness, and the combo works. It’s like having a bar of dark chocolate with dried fruit bits in it.

Well, the valerian does the trick. A perfect night cap to get you to dreamland quickly. I have on occasion added a little brandy or bourbon to the mix, but just a drop. This is a very powerful cup of nighttime incentive and great for these cooler nights.

I bought this for my partner on a whim as he’s become a fan of passion fruit of late. I thought it’d be nice to have a good black tea to mix things up in the afternoons. The fragrance straight out of the package was bonkers good. It’s hard to describe but a punch of fruit forward joy! It’s a solid black tea with just the right amount of perk. A pleasurable cup to be sure!

I found out I put into my virtual cupboard wrong Phatty Cake, athough it was clearly labeled with II.
I am as well not fan of ripe pu-erhs; but I like drinking them during cold days as those hit my country and yes, we had the snow already. 90 km (56 mi) from my home: https://twitter.com/CT24zive/status/1315566575152500737

A tea, received in box from derk and again my assumption it’s from her. So thank you If it is from you, White Antlers, sorry and thank you for it :) — but it is hard to recognize, though there is WA mark on some.

Anyway I was drinking this tea during the lecture of “Statistics and Probability” and there is one task:
There are 5 white balls, 6 black ones, 2 blue ones.
If I take three of them, what is probability I took
A) all blacks
B) every one is different
C) two are blue and one is white?

Ah, tea, right?
As I said before, I never been fan of shu. They were quite all same for me, somehow dark, peat, fishy, smoky… But this one seems different. Although it was certainly peaty when dry, even in first steeps, it was as well quite pleasant. Leather notes, woody, forest floors, mushroomy (but in a good way), I enjoyed the thickness of this tea. There are some notes reminding me chocolate and petrichor (that could be outside though).

I am glad it wasn’t one of those teas which are full of that less favorite smells and flavors and rather those nice ones.

Not sure about this one. It’s intense. A bit thick. I understand why milk and sugar is traditionally a must. Not sure I’d reach for this repeatedly. I first read about this blend on the Harney’s site and was curious about it. When I saw it boxed in bags at the grocery store I thought I’d give it a try. Can’t really recommend it without extra tastings.