336 Tasting Notes

80
drank Zhen Qu by Butiki Teas
336 tasting notes

I can’t remember whether I’ve done a tasting note on this or not.

This tea is decent. It’s one of the earthy ones. The item description says something about floral chocolatey-ness but I’m not getting it. Honestly it’s just a little too understated for me. I like it, but not enough to restock.

No numbers yet. I need to try this once or twice more to see if I’m goofing something up or not.

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89
drank Paris by Harney & Sons
336 tasting notes

Sipdown!

But NOT permanently. Absolutely NOT.

I had like 1.66 cups worth of this left, so I just dumped it all in and made one cup. It does taste a bit overleafed; for lack of a better comparison, I’m getting more of the salty end of caramel, and the floral overtone is a little more astringent than normal. Brilliant tea nonetheless.

I’ve had some hits and misses with samples lately, but I have to say I’m very happy with this, Hot Cinnamon Spice, and – it really has grown on me – Tower of London from Harney & Sons. When I was first venturing into tea, I had some doubts about H & S, honestly more out of snobbishness than anything. But I’ve gained a lot of respect for their teas, especially this one. I also like that you have the option to order loose leaf or sachets for a lot of teas, and that the sample bags FREAKING ZIP! THANK YOU!!!!!

I look forward to placing another order.

keychange

Love this tea! and I think H and S is a company you can feel snobby about liking-their blends are delicious!

Rosehips

Paris and Tower of London are some of my favorites. Good blends all around.

TeaBrat

The Decaf Paris is pretty good too.

tea-sipper

Those three are my favorites too – along with the Indian Nimbu and Vanilla Comoro.

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75

Backlog from last night. I had this in my clear mug as I watched Treasure Planet.

Not a whole lot to say about this tea that I haven’t already said. In the clear mug, it’s a dainty light citrine. Still one of my favorite oolongs. Green-y yet complex with flavors buttery and dewy.

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90
drank Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea
336 tasting notes

How’s it going, Steepster? Apparently I’m only on here once every week or so now.

This is a sipdown! In recent days, I’ve gotten especially addicted to my super-perfumey Russian tea, so I kept expecting to be drinking that as I sipped this cup and then… heeeeey, that’s not perfumey, that’s warm and chocolatey. Mmmmm.

I’m going into a tea funk. I’ve gotten so lazy with it, I just don’t want to fiddle with waiting for the kettle, then waiting for the pot, then cleaning out the infuser before I make another tea. I’m debating the idea of getting some new flavors in my cupboard, but with all the ones I don’t drink regularly anyway, I feel guilty adding to that if they’re all just going to sit there and get old. The perpetual tea drinker’s struggle, right?

TheTeaFairy

Nice to see ya ;-)

Anna

Get rid of everything you don’t love. I think that’s a good general rule to live by – works for the kitchen, tea cupboard, shoe closet, bookshelf, phonebook…

Terri HarpLady

I need to follow Anna’s advice, not so much regarding tea, but regarding everything else I my life… If I don’t love it & use it regularly, it should go

Anna

It frees up a lot of time and space, that’s for sure.

TeaKlutz

Y’all are so right about getting rid of excess stuff. You know, that thing I’ve been meaning to do for… oh yeah. Forever. :P

Anyone want Harney & Sons Pumpkin Spice? I have two tins of it.

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89
drank Paris by Harney & Sons
336 tasting notes

Why did this get erased from my cupboard?!?

New Year’s Day is always very blah for some reason. This year’s has been especially dumpy… it has to do with something my mom’s going through and prescriptions and freaking crappy insurance and me being worried and upset for her. Sigh. So today has involved a long bike ride, bad movies with cute guys, and me drinking this tea.

Suuuuuuuuch a good tea. Still sweet and floral in the most interesting way. Restock. Totes ma-gotes.

Wow, what an eloquent tasting note.

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88
drank Tower of London by Harney & Sons
336 tasting notes

Happy New Year!!!! May 2014 be filled with lots of good things and lots of good tea.

I can’t believe I haven’t done a tasting note on this yet. WOW I’m running behind!

I quite like this tea, but it’s not my favorite. It’s a very bright, punchy, somewhat citrusy tea. Floral, but in a pretty heavy way. It’s another “old-fashioned” tasting tea, one that feels like it comes from a different time. It’s another one that’s great for a little kick when you’re feeling groggy in the morning and can’t quite get up to speed.

Fjellrev

Happy New Year to you too!

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80

CRYYYYYYYYY! This tea was supposed to be BLUE! The picture on the website showed it being this pretty purple color. Some of the user reviews mentioned it being a bluish-gray.

It’s YELLOW! It started out being a nice, tasteful light sunshine color. Then I tried steeping it longer and it came out more like amber. It looks like pee!

CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

That’s what I get for believing advertising.

… At any rate, I normally drink tea for the taste, so I might as well review for the taste. I like lavender; for some reason, it reminds me of the trip to Ireland we took the summer of 2001. And it’s certainly lavender! If you like lavender, be prepared for a lot of it! If you don’t like it, DON’T DRINK IT! It’s thick, husky lavender, not dainty and not for the faint of heart. It is assertively floral. It will CALM YOU THE #$%& DOWN. But I like it.

So, all in all, I give it a thumbs up for its unflinching lavender and the associated nostalgia. But be warned.

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100

First of all, a belated Merry Christmas to anyone celebrating today!!! (Or yesterday… whoops.)

I got some lovely tea-related things, including a replacement infuser, two insulated tumblers, and (quite possibly my favorite) a double-walled glass mug so I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE COLOR OF THE TEA. DUUUUUUUUUUDE. (I can’t wait to try my Harney & Sons lavender tea in it!)

I had a bit of the H & S Holiday Tea this morning to go with present-opening and such. Then I decided to try this in my new glass mug. It’s, as one might expect, a lovely reddish amber hue, and delicious as always. Even my mom said, “Oooh that’s pretty! What is it?” when I showed it to her.

I look back on 2013, and it has really not been a remarkable year at all. In fact, in many ways it’s been quite bland. But I can honestly say that one of the coolest things about it was that it was the year I got into tea, which has brought me such relaxation, fascination, and non-intestine-shredding caffeine kicks. The “tea” culture/mentality has also encouraged me to find peace and positivity in my life, two things which I am very good at rejecting, haha!

I’m so thankful to have tea – and THIS tea – in my life.

And now I have just successfully incorporated New Years’ Eve and Thanksgiving into Christmas. BOOM.

ashmanra

Love it! Sounds like a great year AND a great Christmas to me! :)

Terri HarpLady

Yay for this tea AND for Tea Paraphenalia!

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Profile

Bio

The name’s Holly. 27. Work for a small IT company. About to finish a Master’s degree this winter. ISFJ for what it’s worth. I play various instruments (mostly bass guitar right now), attempt to write songs that I’m too scared to play for anyone, and I’m currently taking voice lessons. I also enjoy starting various hobbies, wearing monochromes, writing, cooking, taking walks, and various and sundry other things…

I’ve been a tea drinker since spring of 2013. Tea is a source of happiness, positivity, curiosity, and relaxation (…and caffeine) for me.

I’ve been on and off this site over the years, and I even had a separate tea blog at one point. For now, I’m just working on getting back in the habit of enjoying tea regularly and to its fullest.

Love: Malty Chinese black teas, shu/ripe pu erhs, soft flowery teas (esp. jasmine teas)

Like: Japanese green teas, sheng/ripe pu erhs, white teas

Still trying to get into: Most oolongs, chai teas

Not crazy about: Roasty teas, fruity teas, rooibos, many (not all) herbal teas

Ratings:
90-100: YEAH!
80-89: Nice! This is good stuff.
70-79: Respectable tea.
60-69: Not bad.
50-59: Middling. Not really worth it.
25-49: Eeeeeugh. Not good.
0-24: Did you know you can use tea leaves as odor absorbent?

Location

Ohio

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