3225 Tasting Notes

drank Black Dragon Pearl by Teavana
3225 tasting notes

More of this tea from PurrfectCup! This tea has such rich chocolate aroma! Only Emperor’s Red has ever smelled this chocolate-y without getting smokey as well. There really isn’t any smokiness to this tea, just rich, chocolate Keemun flavor. Absolutely delicious!

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drank French Spice Quartet by Teavana
3225 tasting notes

I am seeking entertainment that doesn’t require me getting off the couch this morning, so youngest is serving as my barista and bringing me tea. This is a sample from ThePurrfectCup. Many thanks!

The description of the tea really says it all. There are lots of spices in this and they are true to what you would expect them to be. They are strong enough, though, that I am not able to detect that the base is oolong and puer. I do not claim to have the most sensitive palate in the world, so maybe other people would pick up on that right away!

If you like chai spices, you would like this, and this is just the season for something so warming.

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drank Fruits d'Alsace by Harney & Sons
3225 tasting notes

I have been very excited to try this one, and I finally got it today. I love Tower of London and agree with the comparison between the two. They are similar, but there are differences. My youngest daughter felt that it smelled a lot like Marco Polo from Mariages Freres, and by golly I think she is right! I’m glad, because hubby likes both Marco Polo and Tower of London so I think this will be one more we can enjoy together!

ashmanra

Forgot to add: though it is a bit like Marco Polo,it has none of the astringency or bitterness that sometimes creeps out in that lovely tea, even though we steeped for four and a half minutes. Youngest liked it, too. I think Tower of London would probably win if I could only have one of these two, but it is very good.

mpierce87

I’m waiting for my Harney order which includes this tea! I’m super excited that you like it.

SimplyJenW

Oohhh! I agree on the astringency bit…. However, I have to profess my love for Tower of London and Black Currant over this one. Luckily, I don’t really have to choose just one!

ashmanra

Jen, I had black currant once and didn’t care for it, but it was a long time ago. Perhaps I should give it another try, I still have some of the sample left. I love love love Tower of London, even more than Paris, I think.

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drank Black Dragon Pearl by Teavana
3225 tasting notes

Thank you, thank you, Purrfect Cup! My package arrived today with so many goodies!

I found myself getting another biopsy today unexpectedly and now comes the long wait for the results. (it is probably nothing this time, but why around the holidays??)

I wanted a tea treat and I just knew this would be one. It is! The rich, chocolate-y aroma is reminiscent of Emperor’s Red by Premium Steap. My youngest daughter was astounded when she smelled it. This is smooth and sweet, has nice body, and is a bit like a chocolate Golden Monkey. I will be near a Teavana tomorrow, and this may be coming home with me to be put in my stocking!

IllBeMother221B

Glad you got the package! I hope you like the other goodies I added in. Hope the biopsy is nothing.

Dinosara

Sorry to hear about the biopsy, I hope everything comes out fine! Glad to hear you had a good tea treat for comfort!

KeenTeaThyme

Sending you happy thoughts re: the biopsy. And I agree with Dinosara – glad to hear you had tea for comfort. :)

gmathis

Peace to you while you wait, friend!

ashmanra

Thank you all for the ll wishes. Last year I spent Thanksgiving and up to the week before Christmas waiting and got a breast cancer diagnosis. This year they are checking because there is a chance that the cancer medication has given me a secondary cancer. Grrrr. But I am thinking it is not!

IllBeMother221B

Sending you positive vibes!

Rabs

My thoughts and prayers will be with you!!!

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3225 tasting notes

Whenever I go a little while without making Golden Monkey, I am always delighted and surprised when I lift my cup to my lips and I smell that incredibly rich and caramel aroma. Hints of chocolate, hints of fruit, a deluge of honey notes….exquisite tea.

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drank True Love Flower Tea by Teavivre
3225 tasting notes

Since my guest enjoyed the flowering tea last week, I decided to serve a flowering tea again this week. I have been craving really good green tea lately, probably because of my Teavivre samples that have been so delicious. This one was beautiful and very good. We steeped it only twice because I used a slighter larger pot this time. I had three cups! Thank you, Angel and Teavivre!
I am looking forward to putting together my first Teavivre order!

TeaVivre

I’m glad that you like it^^

JacquelineM

How much water do you think should be used with these blooming teas? I was thinking maybe three cups?

ashmanra

I think I started with about two at the most, and each time I poured a couple of small cups, around four ounces each, I added a small amount of hot water back to resteep. I believe I may even have been just shy of sixteen ounces for the first.

JacquelineM

Thanks! I’ll try 16 oz. I want to try this one over the holidays for certain!

ashmanra

I just saw that the glass pot sold on Lupicia especially for blooming teas are only a little over seven ounces. That makes sense. I noticed at Southern Season that they steep their blooming tea in a wine goblet which wouldn’t be much more than that, and they don’t fill it all the way. It definitely resteeps well, though.

K S

That seems so small. These blooms would completely fill that pot up. Guess I will have to try it that way once. I was using an 8 cup coffee decanter – 8 cup thats 4 real cups!

JacquelineM

I have a liter carafe – I have to try filling with say 10 oz and see if it is too shallow. I may have to buy a tiny charming glass pot – oh how terrible :)

ashmanra

I used my Bodum iced tea glass carafe. It is about 40 ounces, I think, but I only filled it about one-fourth of the way up.

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drank Paris by Harney & Sons
3225 tasting notes

This was our first tea at tea party today. I haven’t made it in a very long time because I was nearly out of leaves and didn’t want to be COMPLETELY out of it! But a new box of Harney Tea is supposed to arrive tomorrow and there is a refill of Paris in there! It was wonderful as always. I noticed the berry notes a bit more this time…perhaps because it was near the end of the tin?

IllBeMother221B

I always give my Harney flavored teas a gentle shake before opening them. Just to try to get a pretty even flavor each time. Paris is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

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drank Vanilla Jasmine by Golden Moon Tea
3225 tasting notes

I had a nice workout at physical therapy this morning and it is finally turning a wee bit chilly here, though that probably won’t last long. I didn’t have time for brekkie before I went, other than a glass of milk and I was in the mood for something different. For some strange reason, our loaf of bread fell to pieces yesterday when we took it from the pan, but it was DELISH! I cut some cubes of Dubliner cheese, warmed some of the leftover whole wheat buttermilk bread and made a pot of tis to go with it, sans additions. The first time I tried this, I had never had a GOOD jasmine tea, only bad ones. Now that I have had some really good ones, I can enjoy this one more because I know how to better isolate the vanilla and jasmine flavors. This is lovely, and I feel so blessed to be here sharing tea with my girlies on this rainy morning. Thank you to JacquelineM who sent me this tea!

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drank White Christmas by Harney & Sons
3225 tasting notes

I bought this for my daughter to try and we shared a pot this afternoon. I was very careful about temperature and time. There is no bitterness, but also…I can’t say this is rocking my world. I would much prefer a white tea from Teavivre to this. There isn’t a lot of flavor here, and I would put it down to my own error but I was extra careful with all parameters since that daughter is new to tea and I don’t want her to get a false impression of any of the teas she agrees to try.

She drank it, shrugged and said, “It is tea.”. She drank two cups but wasn’t impressed. Maybe it just isn’t our thing.

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73

I have had this pouch of tea for a very long time…over a year. It is drinkable, but I can tell that if I have very much of it I will get a stomach ache from it. I may have had the water a bit too hot, I may have used too much leaf snce it is so very light and I was weighing it, but it has a bit of bite and is a tad astringent.

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Bio

I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about fourteen years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs.

We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey.

My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

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North Carolina

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