376 Tasting Notes
Ran late this morning barely got in to do morning news on time. Mix this with JavaVana Mate from Teavana…bring on the morning!
Another offering from Angel at Teavivre. A start to a short week so that already makes for happiness. I’m finding it true in what Jim Marks said in another review that there is a point where it gets tough to differentiate between Chinese greens. However there is a large difference in the actual dry leaf. This one’s fuzzy. Reminds me a bit of the Monkey Picked White that I have sampled from Dr. Tea. Brewed there’s not a whole lot of difference either. Very light and pale liquor. Vegetal and slightly nutty. It’s held up to 3 good steeps. It even reminds me a bit of a yellow tea like a Hou Shan Huang.
Here is another sample from the lovely cornucopia sent to me from Teavivre. This reminds me of the Yunnan Emerald buds that I sampled from Teavana. Definitely different leaves from the the Dragon Well. The dry leaves are tightly rolled and have a slightly smoky aroma like charcoal. First steep a pale yellow liquor. Slightly smokey and slightly bitter. The wet leaf kinda reminds me of cooked greens and one of my favorite Christmas songs from Run DMC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8 The second steep is where it gets interesting. The the liquor this time is a bright orange hue. Definitely smokier and more bitter. Reminds me a lot of green pu-erh. I have not been a fan of green pu-erh so far but this is not as bad as my previous experience with the green pu-erh. Decent cup though.
I received this one from Tamm I have no idea why I thought it was a black tea when I got it. My mind must have been thinking Yunnan=black, but not the case. Needless to say I let this one steep for longer than you should let a green steep for. Preparing for a massive dose of bitterness that I thought I would be dumping down the sink… surprisingly not bitter at all. I like the hint of smokiness in this one. It almost has an almondy oolong finish to it. I have not been much of a green man myself. I mostly like black and oolongs, but I’m starting to think my tea pallet might be expanding. Not bad at all.
Straight up. No sweeteners. No flowers. No chocolate. No frills. Just roasted mate. Plain roasty goodness with all the caffeine to get me through the rest of the work day.
Thank you Dinosara for sharing this tea. The dry leaf smells really good. Mapley. First brewed I though naaaa this one is off a bit. I get the maple and butter but not really the pancakes. However after it cools down that’s when I’m thinking this is like pancakes oddly enough as I’m making pancakes for the kiddo. When it cools down there is a texture of like pancakes. That’s really makes this tea like a jumbo stack from IHop.
Part of my package from a across the pond from Maisonlula I was interested to try this because I’ve never seen the limited editions in the states. “by appointment to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” I don’t know if I have ever noticed that before…because it’s not on Twinings teabags in the states. Not a bad blend there is a unique flavor but also a familiar one….barbasol. Dude it’s like black tea that tastes like shaving cream smells. However it’s not gross. Who would of thought the smell of shaving cream is citrus and lavender….by jove I solved a mystery
So yet another swap with Brandy3392 I must say that she has been awesome every time that I have swapped with her. This is maybe the third offering that I have tried from DAVIDsTea. I’m thinking I may have to start trying some more. There are many teas that I have seen described as coffee teas to try and emulate the taste of coffee…or coffee type drinks. For those of us love our coffee as much as we love our tea. Or are trying to get us to kick the coffee completely. Most of them I have tried are very good and equally as tasty…but don’t quite have it spot on. Until now! Spot on I am loving this tea! The chocolate is great but doesn’t take over the tea. There is a coffee essence that really makes this tea, and yes the schnozberries taste like schnozberries ;) After seeing what that means in the urban dictionary I don’t know that’s a great comparison but I’ll run with it. With all that being said the Pu-Erh is not masked either like in some other flavored Pu-Erhs. Ahem. Uh(cough) The Pu-Erh is a little more earthy/musty than others I have had but still an amazing tea. So far I been able to get 3 great steeps out this one. The fourth one is where I lost the flavoring, but the base tea was still great. Absolutely a teagasm tea! I think I’m going to be trying some more offerings from DAVIDsTea
