2036 Tasting Notes

88
drank Hao Ya 'B' by Harney & Sons
2036 tasting notes

This is really delicious. The dry leaves smell earthy and bready, but the aroma opens up into so many layers in the steeped tea. The bread is still there, but there’s also a toasty sweetness that is sometimes caramel and sometimes brown sugar, and there are notes of chocolate and molasses as well. It’s a pretty, clear, cherrywood red color.

I would call both the aroma and taste more toasty than smoky. I’ve been drinking a fair amount of lapsang lately, so I have a high threshold for smoky — this doesn’t give off enough smoke for me to notice it. But toasty, definitely yes.

Someone else referred to this as stout. I don’t get that from it. It’s hearty, yes, but stout to me means thickly bready like stout beer. I’d say hearty but more medium bodied than full.

It’s not head-blastingly strong, but it’s flavorful and a nice wake up tea.

Flavors: Bread, Brown Sugar, Caramel, Chocolate, Earth, Malt, Molasses, Toasty

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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71
drank Pear Caramel by Leland Tea Co
2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 58 of 2017 (no. 414 total).

It didn’t work as an iced tea all that well, and it didn’t deliver much pear whether cold or hot. But it was a decent caramel black tea when prepared hot.

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73

This tea is a bit of a mystery.

I found this unopened sample packet in my stash. Todd & Holland describes this as a “semi-black” tea, which to me means maybe darjeeling or oolong. But they seem to describe darjeelings as black tea and also have things they describe as oolongs, so maybe not? I put it in the queue for the untried flavored black tea in my weekend morning ritual.

I steeped according to the directions on the packet. There’s really nothing else to go on in terms of information — nothing on the packet itself, nothing currently on the Todd & Holland site.

The dry leaves look like darjeeling; a bit on the green side, a bit on the long side. Something that looks like orange zest is in among the leaves, which is puzzling. They smell like jasmine and earth.

The steeped tea is light gold in color and clear. It has a lovely, floral smell that doesn’t come across as sprayed on.

It tastes a bit like a jasmine oolong. And I love jasmine, so there’s that. I find this tea a puzzlement because I don’t really know what it is, but it’s pleasant. I wouldn’t say it’s distinctive, though. I’m a pretty tough grader when it comes to jasmine.

Flavors: Jasmine

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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85

Another of my hoarded Simple Leaf packets, newly cracked open.

So this may go to show that Assams aren’t my favorite. I prefer the Amor to this one. Maybe it’s because this one is more Assam-y. Very, very malty (lives up to the name) in the dry leaf aroma, steeped aroma and flavor. It’s a stout flavor, comparable to dark beer in character but not taste. It’s the color of an amber beer and tastes of bread and leaves. :-)

There’s just the tiniest metallic tinge to the aftertaste and a small amount of bitterness. I expected a bit more depth than I got from this. It’s good at what it does, but what it does exists on a narrow plane and I was hoping for something more expansive.

I think I will try lowering the water temp next time. I didn’t read the packet instructions before steeping and the recommendation is a slightly lower temp than boiling.

Flavors: Bread, Malt, Metallic

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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67

Sipdown no. 57 of 2018 (no. 413 total).

It didn’t bowl me over as an iced tea, either, though it was pleasant enough.

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90

First to write a note on this? Unbelievable.

I tried to fix the picture but I couldn’t. (Why? I tried several different ways and all I can get is more images farther down the page.)

I wasn’t sure I’d like this one from the smell of the dry leaf. It has no sweetness in the dry leaf aroma and a rather ashy fragrance that usually spells dislike for me with lapsangs.

But you can’t judge a book and all that. The aroma of the steeped tea is quite different — sweet, molasses-like, leafy and tree-like, with a lot of depth and surprisingly little smoke. The smoke is really verging on not there at all, except in the aftertaste and fortunately it doesn’t add bitterness to the lingering flavor. The liquor is dark amber with a reddish tinge and clear.

The flavor has a quality that reminds me of black coffee, but not as bitter. The smoke, molasses, and tree are all there in the flavor as well in pretty much the same way they were in the aroma. Thankfully there’s no ash, no meat, and no resin (though if you like those things in a lapsang, I guess that’s not a plus).

I’m torn because I think this is great compared to others I’ve had recently, but that’s because it departs from qualities I associate with lapsang that make me view it as a once in a while thing. If this is the sort of flavor Churchill prized, I can see why he drank lapsang daily.

I haven’t had the Samovar in a long time. I rated that one 90 as well, so I think I should taste it again sometime soon and see if adjustments are warranted.

But it makes it a bit easier to decide which is the next sipdown candidate in project lapsang sipdown. It won’t be this one.

Flavors: Coffee, Molasses, Plants, Smoke

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML
teepland

This sounds amazing—adding it to my wish list!

__Morgana__

Hope you enjoy!

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69

I liked this one more than I expected to from the smell of the dry leaf.

It has a strange, papery smell in the tin, but that doesn’t carry over (much) into the steeped tea, which is a reddish brown and translucent.

The flavor is rather more subtle than I would like, but it’s tasty. I get a nutty, caramel/toffee flavor from this that approaches, but doesn’t quite become brittle. There’s not enough nut, and not enough overall oomph to get it there.

I generally count lots of points off for teas that don’t live up to their names, so I feel constrained to do that here. But like the Leland Pear Caramel, the tea is better in an absolute sense than my rating suggests. It’s totally pleasant to drink, it just doesn’t taste like Cream and Nut Brittle to me.

Flavors: Caramel, Nutty, Paper, Toffee

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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92
drank Black Frost by The Simple Leaf
2036 tasting notes

Another of my hoarded Simple Leaf teas that I just opened up. I steeped this hotter than the package directions mostly by accident. I didn’t think about looking at the package this morning. I’ll try it the other way another time.

I don’t have a distinct mental flavor profile of a Nilgiri even though I’ve had them before. For whatever reason, there’s not a distinctive map in my mind that identifies Nilgiris, the way I have a map of Assams, Darjeelings, Yunnans, and Keemuns. But this particular one is lovely in my book.

In the packet it smells bready. After steeping I get sweet notes of caramel, coffee, and berry. The tea is a clear, light-hued coppery golden.

It’s a mellow, mild flavored tea. Generally less sweet in flavor that aroma, but with bursts of sweetness that pop in the mouth during the sip and just a tad of smokiness. There’s an interesting softness to the mouthfeel that makes it very pleasant to drink, and a cooling sensation in the aftertaste.

It’s one of the better Nilgiri’s I’ve had. Even though I don’t have a mental map, I can remember that though I’ve liked some of those I’ve had in the past, none of them have really bowled me over.

This one comes close, which is why I’m sad it’s no longer around.

Flavors: Berry, Caramel, Coffee, Smoke

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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72
drank Lapsang Souchong by Lupicia
2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 56 of 2018 (no. 412 total).

I’m disappointed in my recent sipdown count. I think I need to sip down some samples to make myself feel a bit better about it.

On the upside, the last four or so were full sized tins. So there’s that.

This is notable because it’s the third lapsang I’ve sipped down of my full sized tins since project lapsang sipdown began. I haven’t decided which one is up next. I am thinking of trying the Tea Trekker against the Golden Moon to see which I prefer first. I might also throw the Mariage Freres into that mix. Oh what the heck, maybe I’ll pull them all out and taste them against each other.

This one was good. I just don’t need more than one lapsang in my life, or two at the most.

Evol Ving Ness

No need to be disappointed. You are drinking and you are noting and you are counting. Sounds like a win to me.

Evol Ving Ness

There used to be an option to delete comments or am I dreaming that up?

ashmanra

You are not dreaming! I wonder where our little trash can went?

__Morgana__

That’s weird — how could that disappear?

Lexie Aleah

It still works you just have to pull up the individual tasting note on the persons profile then click comments to delete.

Evol Ving Ness

I found it—hurray!
Actually, it just appeared when I clicked on this post, so yay for things being easy. Thanks, Lexie Aleah, for writing out the explanation too.

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94

Wow.

I’ve found most of the S&V teas I’ve tried to be very solid, but not terribly distinctive. Solid, very enjoyable, but not stand outs.

This one breaks that mold. This tea does one thing, but it does that one thing extremely well.

Everything is blackberry, blackberry, blackberry — smell in the tin, smell after steeping, taste. It’s a deep, organic infusion of blackberry into the tea base, which is really not all that discernible except as a substrate. If this wasn’t as tasty, that might be a problem for me, but I find the flavor delicious — rich but not heavy, strong, but not too strong, not medicinal or artificial. The reviews on the S&V site disagree with me, finding the flavor artificial. But I’m standing by my tea.

It’s going on the wish list.

Flavors: Blackberry

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML
Arby

I’m sold. On my wishlist it goes.

__Morgana__

Hope you like it!

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Profile

Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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