259 Tasting Notes

1

I like August teas, but this one tastes like Listerine. It’s the one and only time in my life that I am throwing out a canister of tea. It’s fugly!

gmathis

Well, hello there! Good to see you! I hate tossing tea, too…got a plant that you can fertilize with it? :)

ashmanra

Doulton? Is it really you? Welcome back! We have missed you!

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1

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96

This is a delightful tea! Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for this sample. Although I did not pick up on the soy sauce overtones mentioned in Jacqueline M’s review, I did find it deeply robust and satisfying.

This is a different tea for sure and a keeper. I will have to place an order. It is very smooth. I had it straight up and loved it that way but I also think it could sustain milk and/or sugar and is stalwart enough to be experimented with.

Thank you, Ashmanra.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 30 sec
ashmanra

It resteeps pretty well, too!

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96
drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
259 tasting notes

Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for sending me this exquisite sample. When I got it I felt an impulse to save it for just precisely the “right” moment (but not having defined right, I did not know when I would drink it). When I read that today is the 100th birthday of Lucille Ball, I thought “golden monkey!” to myself and promptly steeped this fine tea.
Jacquelin M and others are right when they say “caramel”. It’s full, fresh, brisk, and elegant. What a delightful treat!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 45 sec

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97

Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for sending me this tea. I love Lapsangs so I saved this up for a while in order to titillate myself (which is not as obscene as it sounds). It’s delicious!

Warm, naturally sweet, smoky, but not overwhelmingly so, I can understand why it is rated so high. It’s got a level of refinement that I don’t ordinarily associate with a Lapsang. It’s a very nice break from my typical ash-tray tastes in smoky tea.

Thank you!

CHAroma

I personally dislike smoky teas. But I have a friend who loves them. I’ve been reading your posts for a while, and I think your tastes would coincide with his very well. Can you recommend some of your favorite teas (smoky or otherwise)?

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97
drank Queen Catherine by Harney & Sons
259 tasting notes

Thank you very much to ASHMANRA who sent me this tea. It’s a fantastic blend of three Chinese teas and they work together as if they were in a classically choreographed ballet. The “players” seem to include some Keemun and some Yunnan, I think, although I don’t know. There are tell-tale traces of flower and spice and chocolate plus a little bit of smoke (not enough smoke to scare you away, I promise).

All in all, a very solid and strong morning blend that I’d be happy to wake up to every day. It’s got a great dance of melismatic flavors subtly bowing to each other. You might want to give this a try if you are in The Simple Life’s DAWN detox.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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95
drank Wenshan Baozhong by Harney & Sons
259 tasting notes

My eternal gratitude to ASHMANRA for introducing me to this tea by sending me a beautifully packaged sample.

It has all of the spring-like vegetal qualities of the best green teas, but the spicy quality is the one that most captures and enraptures me. It’s almost as if somebody has grated a touch of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg into this tea. This is the kind of tea that has launched a thousand ships! It’s meditative and wise, if that makes any sense. It’s like the wise uncle of a capricious little Buddha child.

This is not a tea to just slurp up and run with; it’s a tea to gaze at and to swirl around in your mouth, and to sit still and appreciate it.

Thank you!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 30 sec
gmathis

I love teas that you can contemplate over!

ashmanra

So glad you liked it!

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96
drank Aida by Mariage Frères
259 tasting notes

Excellent! This is one of my favorite Mariage Freres combinations: it’s like a smoky Earl Grey. It is rich, strong, and elegant.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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Profile

Bio

I really love big, bold, brash teas. Smokiness enthralls me. I don’t seem to do subtle.
I don’t do rooibos.

My rating system:
0-30:
Never again in a hundred million years

31-55: This tea probably has some redeeming qualities but I won’t would not seek it out again.

56-70:
Shows some promise but also has a fundamental flaw. I probably owe these a second taste but am unmotivated.

71-80:
Good with at least one strong quality; I probably would not buy it but would drink it cheerfully.

81-90: Worthy contenders; they might be ranked 100 on somebody’s else’s scale. I like them a lot but have not fallen in love. Will probably buy and use.

91-95: These are the true loves, the chosen ones, the ones I dream about and crave. Unless they are in a limited edition—la! how you tease me!—I will always keep in my cupboard.

96-100: I cannot be separated from these teas and would develop a panic attack if I were to run out.
-

“She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain.”

Elderly dowager. Quintessential cat lady.

Tea which must be in stock always:

Black Dragon LS by Upton Teas: My choice every morning.

Florence & Lapsang Souchong by Harney & Sons

a good Gen Maicha

Samovar: Russian Blend, Maiden’s Ecstasy, Ryokucha

Mariage Frères: Confucious, Vivaldi, Eros, Aida, Marco Polo

American Tea Room: Brioche

Leland Teas: Bogart

Life in Teacup:
An Xi Tie Guan Yin Grade II modern green style & also Charcoal Style

Location

In the midst of the middle of the heart of nowhere in particular.

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