681 Tasting Notes

61
drank Happiness by Lupicia
681 tasting notes

Sipdown 155/397

The first tea made with my new temperature-variable kettle! I don’t know how I made it this long without one. I raised the temperature, not to boiling but higher than typical for the way I brew green teas, and left it steeping much longer this time and got a lot more flavour out of it this way. Still indistinctly ‘fruity’ but far less underwhelming. Upping my rating a little from 59 to reflect this.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Dustin

Getting a variable temp kettle was a game changer for me. I’ll never go back!

Mastress Alita

Same, Dustin! I’ve upgraded a few times since then too, and given my old models as gifts, which were always greatly appreciated.

Nattie

Right?! I can’t believe it’s taken me 5 years!

Mastress Alita

Treat yo’self.

frjeanxeau

Vtemp kettle is a great idea!

Nattie

I got it in the sales too, so I’m feeling extra justified, haha.

Mastress Alita

I got a variable temp kettle that was worth $100 for $60 because it had a big discount and was super pleased with myself at the time. But the model I had before that was really great and only $40 and I tend to recommend it to lots of folks. Really is convenient and ups the tea game!

Nattie

Ooh what was the $40 model?

Mastress Alita

I’ve seen a few different brands that are more or less the same pop up on the Amazons; the first one I got was the Epica 6 temperature variable kettle, the one I found just like it that I got for work was by Aicok. After I upgraded to the Bonavita, I descaled them really well and passed them onto friends as housewarming gifts.

Nattie

Thanks! I’m looking at getting a Bonavita eventually,

Kittenna

I upgraded from a cheapo $10 plastic kettle to a stainless variable temp, and it was amazing. I admittedly don’t use the variable temp part too much; what I LOVE is the fact that it tells me the temp of the water digitally, even as it is cooling, so no guesswork for greens. Mine’s a Black and Decker one that I’m quite happy with; it was reasonably expensive ($60? $80?) but my workplace got a stainless variable temp one at Costco that seems to be pretty decent and is more budget-friendly (I believe it’s close to $40?). Mine looks nicer though.

Nattie

Mine is a goose-neck kettle design, which I love, but apart from that I think the digital temperature reading is my favourite part of it, too! Mostly I’m just curious (did you know my tap water comes out at 22 degrees?) but I’ve been planning my drinking order around the temperature readings so I don’t have to boil the kettle a bunch of times (moving from black to green to white for example). Definitely a worthwhile investment already!

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89
drank Thé au Caramel by Britley
681 tasting notes

Drinking at work again but this time on a quiet lock-up shift. Much better! I drank it black, and there’s little astringency so I don’t need milk which drowns out the caramel flavour. The tea is actually a present malty note, not just a bland backbone for the caramel. The caramel is sweet and buttery. Yep, this is much better.

Edit: 400th tasting note! Woot!

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61
drank Happiness by Lupicia
681 tasting notes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope 2019 is good to you all.

I started the year of with a cup of Happiness, because well, it’s a cup of happiness. I picked it based on name alone and didn’t even look at the flavours or the recommended steeping parameters (boiling water??) so it’s not the most successful cup of tea I’ve ever had, but at least I’ve got enough leaf to do another cup properly next time. Guessing the flavour before I looked, I only knew it tasted generally fruity, and my mam said she could taste cinnamon (but she has a cold and her tastebuds are off). After finding out it’s peach and grapefruit, I can pick out a grapefruit note at the end of the sip but no peach. This is probably due to the fact that I steeped it at waaaaay too low a temperature – I din’t even know there was rooibos in it – and for too short a time, so I won’t hold it against this tea.

Here’s to a wonderful year!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
Mastress Alita

Lupicia always puts boiling on their instructions, and I never do it. When it’s a green tea, I always use 175F/80C water.

Nattie

Gotcha. Longer steep next time, still not boiling water. I have a temperature-variable kettle on the way so I’ll be able to properly brew it for once rather than guessing like I normally do!

Mastress Alita

Ooo, variable-temperature kettle! I love mine! Exciting times!

Nattie

I am ridiculously excited, lol.

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60
drank Caramel Oolong by Della Terra Teas
681 tasting notes

Sipdown 154/397

I’m not getting any orange or citrus notes from this tea, which I’d say is a good thing since I find orange and caramel a slightly weird flavour combination. I remembered liking this more, but I think I’m confusing it with another tea since I seem to remember chunks of some sort of fudge, but there are none here. The oolong looks roasted from its appearance and the dark colour of the tea, but there’s none of the strong nutty tones I would expect from a good roasted oolong. It’s not a particularly strong tea, even though I overleafed slightly with it being my last cup, with the caramel flavour being stronger than the base though not by much. I had to add a whole teaspoon of sugar to coax out the butteriness of the caramel, which is something I prefer not to do if I can help it. Not a tea I will miss, which I guess is for the best since it’s long since discontinued.

Sample from Janelle ’s Mystery Box.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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84
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
681 tasting notes

This is easily my favourite genmaicha I’ve ever tried. I’m not a huge fan of green vegetal teas or more savoury teas in general, vastly preferring black when given the choice, so I’m sure the addition of black tea to this mix has a lot to do with it. The caramel and vanilla flavours meld together really nicely, and create a sweeter genmaicha than any other I’ve found, whilst keeping the flavour more on the natural-tasting side. It’s definitely not an overpowering sweetness. Reminds me of Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam, but with a lighter body and a roasty twist. Yummy! If I ever find a way of ordering from Nina’s – I had a look at their website and they don’t seem to have an online store – this would quite possibly go on the list. It is definitely the only genmaicha I would consider purchasing.

Thanks for sharing, VariaTEA! Sipdown 153/397.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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54

This was the other tea I attempted to make at work on Saturday, and another failure. This time the teabag was left in the hot water for over an hour, and by the time I got around to it was ice cold. I expected extremely bitter tea, and was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not only drinkable but actually not bad. No mango flavour to be found, but the base tea was mild and not at all astringent until the final sip. I gulped it down iced and it was fine.

Preparation
8 min or more
Mastress Alita

I can’t imagine steeping green tea in hot water more than a few minutes and not having it turn super astringent. If my tea was going to oversteep that badly at work I’d just go cold-steep always at that point: leave the tea in cold water for several hours, remove bad, done, heh.

Nattie

Cold steeping might be a good idea in the future! I was working in an unheated tent in 2 degree weather with doors open, though, so I really wish I could have had it hot, haha.

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89
drank Thé au Caramel by Britley
681 tasting notes

I had the idea to take a ziploc bag of individually-wrapped teabags to work with me since I have quite a lot of them and never really reach for them at home. It seemed like a brilliant idea, if it weren’t for the fact that I NEVER get enough time to make a cup of tea at work. This was the first I attempted to make yesterday on my 12-hour super busy matchday shift, and I ended up leaving the teabag in around 20-30 minutes before I had a chance to take it out and add milk. It was only very slightly warm when I drank it and it was the first thing I’d drank all day so I gulped the whole cup without paying much attention to it. I do remember thinking the caramel was weak, though. Unsurprising now I’ve read my old note back and realised I usually use 2 teabags for a cup of this. Plus, it’s embarrassingly 6 (!!!!) years old now, so that could account for a loss in flavour. It’s about time I finished these.

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91

Sad sipdown (152/397)

Goodbye Golden Orchid, you were great and will be missed. Here’s hoping Brendan will reblend this in the future, it would be a definite purchase for me. I steeped the last leaf at a lower temperature hoping to find some nuances that were missed at boiling, but sadly this just made it lose flavour. Note to self, if this comes back, stick to boiling.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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85

Drank with sugar, I am getting super intense marmalade this time around. Just as tasty as it was 2 years ago, only a little bit lighter. This could definitely be from underleafing, though – I had slightly less than a full spoon of leaf left and I didn’t feel like compromising on a smaller mug. The orange note intensified as the cup cools. I bet this would have been good iced.

Sipdown 151/397

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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68

Welp, I caved and opened another new instant tea. I figure it’s only a small sampler and I’ve had them all entirely too long, so I should try to get through them the same as I am with my other ‘proper’ teas. I’ll save a proper review for later since I have to go to bed now – I’ve got to get up early in the morning for my first driving lesson since I failed my test over a year ago, and I don’t want to be tired for it. It’s fruity, but I’m not sure I’d say cranberry and raspberry specifically, and quite sour too. I think I’ll use less tea crystals next time.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
tea-sipper

Good luck!!

Nattie

Thank you! I’m super nervous. :S

mrmopar

Good luck!

Kawaii433

Good luck! :D

Nattie

Thanks guys!! (:

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Profile

Bio

I first got into loose leaf teas when a friend of mine showed me Cara McGee’s Sherlock fandom blends on Adagio a good few years back, but they weren’t on sale in the UK so I started trying other kinds instead and have been hooked for almost three years (and have purchased several fandom tea sets including the Sherlock one I lusted over for so long).

Flavoured teas make up the majority of my collection, but I’m growing increasingly fond of unflavoured teas too. I usually reach for a black, oolong or white tea base over a pu’erh or green tea, though I do have my exceptions. I will update my likes and dislikes as I discover more about my palate, but for now:

Tea-likes: I’m generally easily pleased and will enjoy most flavours, but my absolute favourites are maple, caramel, chestnut, pecan, raspberry, coconut, blueberry, lemon, pumpkin, rose, hazelnut and peach

Tea-dislikes: vanilla (on its own), ginger, coriander/cilantro, cardamom, liquorice, pineapple and chocolate

I am a 25 year old bartender, English Literature sort-of-graduate and current student working towards finishing my degree. I am hoping to one day complete a masters degree in Mental Health Social Work and get a job working in care. Other than drinking, hoarding and reviewing tea, my hobbies include reading, doing quizzes and puzzles, TV watching, football/soccer (Sunderland AFC supporter and employee of my local football club), music, artsy weird makeup, and learning new things (currently British Sign Language).

I should probably also mention my tea-rating system, which seems to be much harsher than others I’ve seen on here. It’s not always concrete, but I’ll try to define it:

• 50 is the base-line which all teas start at. A normal, nothing-special industrial-type black teabag of regular old fannings would be a 50.

• 0 – 49 is bad, and varying degrees of bad. This is probably the least concrete as I hardly ever find something I don’t like.

• I have never given below a 20, and will not unless that tea is SO bad that I have to wash my mouth out after one sip. Any teas rated as such are unquestionably awful.

• This means most teas I don’t enjoy will be in the 30 – 50 range. This might just mean the tea is not to my own personal taste.

• 51+ are teas I enjoy. A good cup of tea will be in the 50 – 70 range.

• If I rate a tea at 70+, it means I really, really like it. Here’s where the system gets a little more concrete, and I can probably define this part, as it’s rarer for a tea to get there.

• 71- 80: I really enjoyed this tea, enough to tell somebody about, and will probably hang onto it for a little longer than I perhaps should because I don’t want to lose it.

• 81 – 90: I will power through this tea before I even know it’s gone, and will re-order the next time the mood takes me.

• 91 – 100: This is one of the best teas I’ve ever tasted, and I will re-order while I still have a good few cups left, so that I never have to run out. This is the crème de la crème, the Ivy League of teas.

I never rate a tea down, and my ratings are always based on my best experience of a tea if I drink it multiple times. I feel that this is fairest as many factors could affect the experience of one particular cup.

I am always happy to trade and share my teas with others, so feel free to look through my cupboard and message me if you’re interested in doing a swap. I keep it up-to-date, although this doesn’t mean I will definitely have enough to swap, as I also include my small samples.
Currently unable to swap as I’ve returned after a long hiatus to a cupboard of mostly-stale teas I’m trying to work through before I let myself purchase anything fresh

I also tend to ramble on a bit.

Location

South Shields, UK

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