Tea Runners

The Tearunners subscription package came this week. I am not a fan of floral teas, so please bear in mind that this tasting note reflects my own bias.

First, there was a LOT of rose petals in the leaf. It was very pretty. The base was Yunnan black tea. Rose petals and Vanilla bean were the other two ingredients. I brewed 1 teaspoon in about 8 or 8.5 ounces of water for the recommended 4 minutes.

I did not taste the vanilla bean. I didn’t really taste the rose either. That could well be my faulty nose. I could taste a bitter note which became more bitter as it cooled. I drank about half the cup. Someone who enjoys floral teas might very well like this one a lot more than I did. Maybe I over steeped. Maybe 3 minutes would have been better. I don;’t think I will try this one again though. If you are someone who enjoys floral teas and would like to take this off my hands, feel free to email me at maddy barone at gmail dot com.

another cold february day. i’m off to a late start so this high caffeine assam is a good way to begin. a strong and tasty morning tea. makes sense that assam is one of the teas used in irish b, my fav tea. there’s a hint of smoke scent upon lifting the mug but it doesn’t carry through to taste unfortunately. if so, this would be a contender for my regular morning cuppa.

pencil shaving rose first comes to mind. you know that woody kind of taste of the end of a pencil crayon? seems to permeate the entire flavour. this is my first taste of this tea. maybe i’ll like it better as it cools.//
a few minutes later … still strongly tastes like pencil crayon shavings. the sweet is coming out a tad more. the base tea is a tad bitter. i steeped for 4 mins; perhaps i should have steeped for only 3. the package recommended 4-5.

‘Samurai’ Traveling Teabox – Tea #10
A very tightly rolled, jade green oolong.   The flavor is great but it’s tough to pick apart the flavors.  The second steep might be the best after the first steep is just beginning to blossom.   The third steep isn’t exactly oversteeped, but it doesn’t have that delicateness of flavor that was lovely in the second steep.  The fourth steep: the flavor becomes more distinct and it tastes of orchids and vanilla.  Perfect.  I just wish it didn’t take so long for the flavor to get to that point. The leaves had certainly been unraveled by the third steep.   Probably Western steeping isn’t the best for this one.  I still feel I shouldn’t have steeped it for two minutes earlier on and I’m very glad I only used one teaspoon.
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling  // rinse // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 16 minutes after boiling //  1 1/2 min
Steep #3 // 12 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 2 min

‘Samurai’ Traveling Teabox – Tea #5
I forgot this was the company run by Kaylee from Firefly! haha. I just finished rewatching Firefly about a month ago.  sigh.  I miss it already, yet again.  She was also on the episode of The Magicians I just watched last night. Tea Runners actually have a good sale right now.  A handful I wouldn’t mind trying: like the coconut pineapple oolong.  Though I think I can spot the sources for some of their teas.  This is loose leaf ripe pu-erh.  The flavor is in the middle of the pack of deliciousness for ripe pu-erhs.  It’s not too strong, not too weak.  No negative qualities.  But not too many things that make it a unique one.  A level of starchiness but then a very thin aftertaste? It’s tough to describe.  Now that I’m looking at the steep instructions, it says the first steep should have been for five minutes, so possibly I should have been steeping these leaves much longer than I did.  Not really many flavor notes I can pull from this one!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 5 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep 
Steep #3 // just boiled // 8 minute steep

very subtle flavour here. starts out dark then sweet, and the flavour gets easier to detect when the tea has cooled down a little. perhaps i need to play with steeping times and temperatures to get a better understanding of this tea. its a tad too subtle for me.

this tea so far doesn’t do anything for me, but i’ll keep playing with steep time and temp to see if i can squeeze a flavour out of it. right now it just tastes like hot water.

this is a robust tea with no need for milk. the chocolate taste is quite strong, but it isn’t a sweet tea. the tea has a slightly astringent aftertaste. i’m drinking a mug on the last day of the decade whilst overlooking the early morning snow.

has a substantial flavour, a bit like potato or barley, the smell of wet cotton drying in the open air. a sweet but not too sweet after taste. quite tasty.