166 Tasting Notes

92
drank Apple Hill Chai by K&K Chai
166 tasting notes

Another sample from the SF Tea Festival. The leaf smells almost like licorice, though I don’t see anything like that in the ingredients! I can also smell some cinnamon and clove.

I tried a sip and decided to add some oat milk. This is quite a treat! I love how the flavors balance together, which is pretty key for chai. Overall it tastes like a good gingerbread. I can pick out the cinnamon, clove, and ginger.

I might have to get more when the sample runs out!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Gingerbread, Licorice

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 8 g 12 OZ / 354 ML

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80

I got this as a sampler at the SF International Tea Festival. My stomach is feeling a little off this morning, and this sounded good.

The leaf gives off a strong peachy flavor. The tea is sweet, with strong peach notes and a little fruit punch at the end of the sip. I’m reminded of a fruit salad that’s heavy on the peach. I’ll bet this would be good iced too!

My stomach has calmed down a little too. Hopefully I’ll be hungry later.

Flavors: Fruit Punch, Peach, Sweet

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

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72
drank Peach Oolong Tea by Bestore
166 tasting notes

I got this from a Bestore across the street from my hotel in Chengdu. Just opening the pouch it came in, I got a blast of artificial peach smell. The brewed tea smells of it, but not as strongly.

I admit I can’t taste the tea very much. If this were served as an herbal peach, I would believe it. It tastes strongly of peach, with a little sweet.

Flavors: Peach, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 354 ML

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82
drank Lavender Sencha by American Tea Room
166 tasting notes

Another cold brew. This is very lavender-forward… I’d say lavender with a little sencha. There’s lavender at the start of the sip, lavender and sencha in the middle, and a strong lavender taste at the end of the sip. A bit after the sip, I can pick out more vegetal sencha goodness. Does lavender cause a cooling sensation like mint if you have enough? Cause it seems like that. Actually, trying it again, I think there is a bit of mint flavor too. Maybe spearmint. As a lavender lover, I do love this. If you don’t like to go crazy with the lavender, I would avoid this. I can imagine plain sugar cookies tasting great with this!

Flavors: Lavender, Mint, Spearmint, Vegetal

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 3 tsp 1500 OZ / 44360 ML
Mastress Alita

Lavender is part of the “mint” family of plants and can sometimes have minty notes in flavor and aroma.

Todd

Oh that makes sense!

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86
drank Genmaicha with Matcha by Jugetsudo
166 tasting notes

Pretty sure I bought my fancy tin of this at the PDX Tea Fest with Sara in 2018. I tried cold brewing it, and mmm, it’s crisp and clean and… almost sweet, I’d say. The roasted brown rice flavor is definitely there, and I can smell it too. There’s a hint of the matcha flavor, but it’s not as strong as the roasted rice. Very nice genmaicha, would buy again!

Flavors: Astringent, Crisp, Roasty, Toasted Rice, Vegetal

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more

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88

Oops, I apparently never reviewed this tea before! Now I’m doing a sipdown, cold-brewed. It’s licorice-forward, and I love how the other flavors come together to support it. I loved it hot-steeped and love it as a cold brew too. I’m glad to see Portal Tea still makes it! I remember hearing they changed their name from Tea Chai Te, wonder how long ago that was.

Excellent tea, would buy again!

Flavors: Honey, Licorice, Pepper, Sweet, Tulsi

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 4 tsp 51 OZ / 1500 ML

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86
drank Magic Aloe by Oxalis
166 tasting notes

I got this from Martin and lost track of it, finally brewed it today. The brewed tea smells citrusy. Wow! With so many flavors, I’m getting an overall fruit punch flavor or a mulled wine flavor. I’m not picking out the aloe flavor, but I’m not sure what that tastes like. It pairs well with dark chocolate. Thanks, Martin!

Flavors: Citrus, Floral, Fruit Punch, Fruity, Orange, Spices

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 6 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Martin Bednář

I am glad you liked it!

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88

The brewed leaf smells heavenly, all pure and vegetal and green. I let it cool down to 51 C / 124 F so I wouldn’t burn my tongue.

I got this at a tea festival in Portland with Sara in 2019. We both really liked it.

Oh, it has been a while! A slight bitterness and astringency, vegetal notes at the end of the sip, something almost leathery, and I swear candy. I’m really vibing with this tea for the extended winter here. I might keep at it and sip it down.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Candy, Leather, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 354 ML

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89

Four years after I first tried this hot, I finally tried it as a cold brew. I want to drink only this for a week, LOL. I imagine this would be great sitting in a garden in Portland, Oregon, with a bright white Oregon sky. Or, instead of a garden, in the parking lot of the abandoned Fry’s Electronics building in Wisonville, Oregon.

The flavor really pops with a cold brew, about as well as hot-brewed. The vegetal/grassy toasty green tea balances nicely with the rose flavor.

Flavors: Grass, Rose, Toasty, Vegetal

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 3 tsp 64 OZ / 1892 ML

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72
drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
166 tasting notes

This was blended by a neighbor here in Boulder Creek and presented to my daughter-in-law Emily in a re-used glass pudding jar, with no list of ingredients. Emily runs a home bakery and occasionally gets thank-you tips/gifts. She quickly offered it to me as someone more willing to try such things.

I can see and smell chamomile in the dry leaf. I brewed it grandpa-style in a mug, then poured it into a travel mug. As I poured it back, I did so through the lid, filtering out most of the leaf in the process. Back and forth again, and it was a drinkable temperature. I prefer to drink plain tea at 51 C / 124 F, or about 53 C / 127 F with milk.

This blend is very licorice-forward. I wonder if it has anise and/or fennel, but I definitely taste some sweet licorice root in there. The chamomile flavor comes in at the end of the sip. I can still taste licorice well after a sip. It’s overall pretty nice, and probably good for an evening herbal brew. I’ll have to ask which neighbor made this.

Flavors: Chamomile, Licorice, Licorice Root

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 7 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Bio

I have enjoyed various teas most of my life, but have recently started exploring higher-end teas. Still, plain houjicha (loose-leaf or bagged) makes me feel like I’m in Japan.

Location

Boulder Creek CA

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