New Tasting Notes

I was staying with a family friend in NY for the eclipse, and they had this local tea, which I tried a cup of. It was a little sour/tart and thin. Not bad cold and sweetened, but not great. The ingredient list is a little too straightforward for my general tastes though.

Отличный чай . Был приятно удивлен. Сбалонсирован по цене и качеству.

April Sipdown Prompt – A pantry staple

I have had this tea on shelf for fourteen years (not the same tin ha ha) with very few months where there was none at all in the house. We definitely prefer the loose leaf version over the sachets. If you buy the pound, turn it upside down occasionally because this is FULL of vanilla bean specks and they need to be kept evenly distributed.

The first few times we drank it, we thought we had tea dust in the bottom of the pot until one day when JacquelineM wrote that those are vanilla bean specks! So instead of discarding what looks like the “sludge”, slurp it down because it is yummy.

I have made many notes on this tea already, so here is something new. When I made this last, I made a huge pot and we had about ten ounces leftover. I poured it in a jar, stirred in a little sugar, and put it in the fridge to have with lunch because we are working very hard on our outdoor projects and it is over 80F most days. Iced tea season is upon us. (We drink all year anyway.)

This made an absolutely brilliant iced tea. I may have to go back to buying it by the pound for this summer. The vanilla is so smooth and glides down when you are hot and thirsty. I highly recommend this tea both hot and cold!

A tropical-fruit laden jasmine green tea. The fragrance is of juicy green pear, mangosteen, pineapple gummies, flowering pear tree, lychee, honeycrisp apple, and tangy green grapes.

Tastes of watermelon and grape Jolly Ranchers, Nerds candies, white flower pollen, watermelon rind, magnolia tree, summer wind, and then finishes with buttery green tea notes like bok choy. Medium-intensity, fruity, and not soapy at all, as some jasmine teas can be.

Today hit 80 degrees in Los Angeles (about 27 degrees C) and the evening was perfectly cool and fragrant with orange blossoms. The hummingbirds seem delighted by the improving weather, chirping their happy hellos to one another, and maybe, I hope, to me as well. A quiet seat outside, enjoying the delicious silence after a beastly workday. The gift of a sunset. A perfect moment for this tea.

Know those little cheapie wafer cookies with various and sundry artificial flavored cream between the layers? (Lemon and strawberry are my favorites, especially chilled in the summer.) Imagine a smaller, chunkier, version filled with matcha and not-so-sweet cream—that was my afternoon break today and a lovely little birthday treat from my son. The office HVAC is out of whack, which meant it was way too sultry to steep something hot to accompany them, but once the universe is in balance again, they’ll pair nicely with something nice and green or nice and lemony.

This is like a black tea mixed with salad greens. There is a lovely underlying sweetness as well. A very unique cup.

The description notes seaweed notes and maritime briney-ness, but I don’t get that. I recently had Coastal Oolong from MS, so perhaps that has swayed me since that was very ocean-esque. Though to be fair, this is my second cup of this one and the taste profile has been the same both times.

Attempting to sip down/de clutter teas from my stash.

Well looking in the tin, its obvious I’ve tried this before a few times in the year and more since I bought it. But no notes or ratings, which means I didn’t like it.

Now, its not bad, but not a flavor profile I am wild about. Its more astringent and drying than I like, which becomes more pronounced as it cools.

I think this is one I should be able to finish. Might try this as a cold brew and see how I feel that way.

A sipdown! (M: 1 Y: 44), prompt: A tea with a special meaning to you
Just marking a sipdown as I finished it on Saturday. But well, it’s hard to make sipdowns when your stash is roughly 5 hours by car away.And in meantime, I have been busy and somehow not in mood writing a note.

Happy to have this finished and the special meaning? Of course I could pick so many others… but this will be as a tea bought on the 1st tea festival I have been to.

This is quite fake tasting, but not bad cold. I taste a pretty even mix of peach and raspberry flavoring, but I would have preferred more of a fresh flavor combo.

today’s brew had warmer water, and it’s much stronger! I feel that it may have lost some of the citrus, but it is still distinctly a grey, instead of a straight black tea (i.e., english breakfast, prince of wales, etc.)
this tea is shaping up to be quite versatile, and I’m glad I got it! might consider adding it to the repurchase list :)

Sipdown (2583)!

I was reorganizing my desk a few days ago and I can across a mug with a couple of these different Adagio “portions” stuffed in that, I’m gonna honest, I had totally forgotten I still had. So I figured I’d brew this one up and put the others somewhere a little more visable where I will hopefully not forget about them…

I’m not at all familiar with the fandom this tea is inspired by, so I’m drinking it and judging it on flavour alone. It steeps up bold and brisk with strong nutty notes of roasted almond. I like that there’s an almost chicory root kind of dark, “burnt” edge to it. Not enough to be, like, bitter – but it’s just so clearly not a sweet amaretto or marzipan style of almond. The finish is a little creamy and vanilla-like in a way that makes me think of coffee creamer. It’s nice, though there’s something about the almond and vanilla combination that feels eerily familiar. I’m confident that I must have had it in more than a handful of other Adagio fandom blends.

Gongfu!

It’s been pretty rainy the last couple of days and, like clockwork, I’m finding my cravings have shifted to darker and more cozy teas like this session of chenpi shou pu’erh!! It’s incredibly smooth with a dense, heavy woody and earthy flavour and a clean, medicinal aged citrus note. However, most striking is the very brothy and savory taste that runs like a current throughout the sip and lingers in the back of the mouth and throat after each swallow. It made for a really calm and grounding session with all the forest-y and petrichor aromas in the surrounding area.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5yjY9gOsyZ/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzeoOUGvVgU

Gongfu!

Today I’m enjoying some raw pu’erh from a new to me tea company!! This beauty is 2017 Honey Water, a Lincang sheng that settlingtea was kind enough to gift me to try along with several other tea samples that I’ll be tasting throughout the next week. The dry leaf was sweet smelling with notes of honey and ripe fruit. Those notes only intensified after the rinse, really show casing exactly where the name of this tea comes from. In addition to bright, sugary notes of golden honey this tea also has playful red berry notes, floral undertones and a finish that tastes of beeswax candles in the best sort of way. Very, very soft and smooth liquor without lacking in flavour department one bit. As a first showing from this company, it’s very impressive. Cannot wait to keep sampling!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5vsqHWu0xq/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtjuAStxd2o

oday seemed like a perfect day to enjoy some kōridashi (aka “ice brewing”), so I’ve got some tea all set up and steeping!! The wait is the hardest part, but when I’m finally able to enjoy my first sips of that silky smooth green tea with the pop of bright and citrusy yuzu top notes it will be well worth it!!

For my tea friends who more frequently brew kōridashi style tea, have you ever tried it with tea types other that green teas? I’ll be the first to admit this is a method of brewing I’m less well versed in, and I’ve really only ever seen it done with Japanese green teas. However, as most of y’all know, I don’t exactly drink a lot of those – so I’m just wondering before I go and get too experimental if anyone has had success trying a something else!!

EDIT: And, once all the ice had melted, it sure enough was a ultra refreshing and velvety smooth brew with that perfect sunny and complex yuzu citrus flavour. So good!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5tNkN1Oe5X/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUw3LPM7OBU

Sipdown (2584)!

Polished the last of this off over the weekend and it was one of those cups of tea that kind of tasted really ethereal in its strange makeup of flavours? A little nutty and toasty from the rice, but also tropical with a more generic “yellow/orange” leaning fruit flavour and a soft, hard to pin point spice note. Sometimes I find teas that hit so many flavour points without really leaning heavily into any of them kind of “middling” in taste and a little generic, but this one was just soul soothing. Exactly the kind of tea I needed for a drizzly, low energy sort of Sunday.

Sipdown (2585)!

A bit of a bittersweet sipdown since this is such a pleasant and deeply unique tasting blend. It’s got one of the nicest and most accurate orange blossom notes I’ve come across in a tea with that perfect balance of floral and citrus elements that riff off the natural honeysuckle and creamy cucumber pulp notes of the white tea. It’s also got a wickedly smooth and nutty note of almond that’s jussssttt sweet enough. Makes me think of whipped or otherwise more creamy marzipan? Not as rich though. But similar idea. I love the way the almond and orange blossom interact – so sophisticated and complimentary!!

Sipdown (2586)!

Not something I’d probably seek out since I have many similar things in my stash already, but I found this to be a pretty in offensive blend of peppermint and other herbs. In particular I like the sweetness and kind of licorice-y depth that the fennel inclusion adds to the cup, and the nettle was very inoffensive. Not spinachy like it could have been. Made for a smooth and soothing cup with a light medicinal sort of feel to it. Medicinal, in this case, in a good way where it felt like it was doing something positive for me.

Sipdown (2587)!

I like the inclusion of spearmint in this blend because it adds more dimension and natural sweetness to what is otherwise a very basic and straightforward peppermint. However, I think leaving this tea sachet to steep in the mug while I drank may have been a mistake because near the end of the mug it ended up getting very potent and savory with a herbaceous element that almost felt like tulsi or even dill??

In my head I was remembering this tea as a bit more medicinal tasting, so I was surprised when I took my first sips of this mug and was met with more of a creamy yogurt sort of note. Strawberry, too. Fresh with a hint of a tart snap to it. Very “strawberries and cream” as an overall profile with a nice mix of bright top notes and silky vanilla/cream in the finish. Rooibos forward to be sure, but just not quite as medicinal as I think I experienced my first go round.

Weekend cuppa! Very strong, aromatic and sweet notes of roses. Not light and delicate, but the kind of rose that makes me think of giant bouquets of deeply pink roses that fill the whole room with that potent but pleasant perfume-y sorta smell. The caramel note was present (especially in the finish), but something about it almost read more as a thick golden honey. Very delicious, regardless.