807 Tasting Notes

drank Sun and Cloud Mist by 52teas
807 tasting notes

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90

A very nice vanilla bean tea! A good black base that is fairly strong with a lovely french vanilla flavor! I really do love The Persimmon Tree Tea Company. I have only sampled a few flavors that are not my style but that is a personal taste thing. Most of their teas have been very satisfying. You have to try their Mandarin Silk! This one is no exception. I am choosy when it comes to both chocolate and vanilla flavorings and I really do like this one! It is great on its own but I have added a little German Rock Sugar because I have a sweet tooth right now (always).

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Kittenna

You’re just going to keep on trying teas that sound good to me, aren’t you?!

Azzrian

Kit you MUST order from them! Seriously – the reward points build up SO fast that you can place one fair order and as long as you review the teas on their site you get points (like verdant) and they build SO fast! I got three teas two 2 oz and 1 4.5 ounce for under 11.00 FREE SHIPPING – then I got another 2 ounce for 59 cents! The teas are really good – a few I was not too found of but most I have really enjoyed ! Give them a try! I really love White Guava, Mandarin Silk, and this one. I still have a lot more to try and they always send several free samples WHICH you also can review unlike Adagio where you can’t review and get points for samples!

Kittenna

Oh wow. Well I think you sent me one, if not more than one sample from them. I’ll check them out! You seem to be pretty impressed :)

Azzrian

Their teas are not the most complex creations on earth – I mean they can’t be compared to say Tevivre or Verdant but then I have only tried their flavored teas and not their straight.

Kittenna

Gah, another company with horrendous Canadian shipping. $24? Really

Azzrian

Seriously? Ugggggg well you know what you can do! :)

Kittenna

Definitely was thinking about it!! No more ordering until I’m back from holidays though. I’m already worried that things are going to arrive while I’m gone, and stay cooped up in their packages for two weeks… I think I have 3? things en route right now, Amanda’s nicely going to hang onto my stuff (when it all arrives) so that problem doesn’t arise…

Azzrian

Oh good we don’t want your babies out in the heat that long!

Kittenna

Azzrian – would you like to earn the points by referring me? Not sure what that entails, but you may as well get some $$ (since I’ll probably end up placing an order eventually).

Azzrian

I would love to but didn’t know they had a referral program! I will go check that out!
Thanks!

momo

One of you can refer me too, I think I have to try them based on this points system!

Azzrian

Oops deleted that by mistake! Let Kat have it so she has a good start on her first order! :)

Kittenna

Thanks Azzrian! You won’t get points until my first order, but I will make one…! Eventually :D And probably send it to you :D

Azzrian

Works for me and I can send you more goodies when I forward the package your way! Amanda is welcome to have hers sent here too and I can get it to both of you via you right Kit? If she wants to do that anyway.

Kittenna

Amanda is luckily American! Indigobloom is my Ontario tea buddy :D

Azzrian

Ohhhh okay. I have the Durrs today.

TassieTeaGirl

White guava? Wow… The french vanilla also sounds lovely.

Azzrian

I think I like the white guava even more than this one – but apples to oranges of course one is white one is black BOTH are good.

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68
drank Chocolate Chili Chai by DAVIDsTEA
807 tasting notes

A big thank you to Kittenna for this sample.
This one is just okay for me.
I do appreciate the nice light spice from the chilies mixed with chocolate and I think if the chocolate were a better flavor it would be darn good HOWEVER being the chocolate snob that I am I don’t care for this chocolate flavor used in this tea.
Its not too hot just so you know – it won’t cause you to break a sweat and the mixture is well balanced. My rating is only due to the use of the chocolate flavoring that is displeasing to me.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 45 sec

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68
drank Chocolate Chili Chai by DAVIDsTEA
807 tasting notes

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97
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
807 tasting notes

Quick note – watching a movie – but I am sucking down cup after cup of this stuff – its SO good! Malty yumminess! Good with rock sugar too!

TassieTeaGirl

Watching pirates of the Caribbean curse of the (insert tea name here), by any chance? ;)

Kittenna

Black Pearl makes me think of Pirates of the Caribbean, which makes me think of Johnny Depp and makes me really REALLY want to watch the (first) movie! Except I left my DVDs at my parents’ place when I moved (and although I’m heading back soon, I have noooo idea what box they’d be in… :( )

Kittenna

Nice, TassieTeaGirl! We totally posted that at the same time!

Daisy Chubb

6 degrees of Johnny Depp : Tea Edition

ashmanra

Have you seen Chocolat?

Azzrian

LOL you girls are a hoot! Thanks for giving me something fun to wake up to. :)

TassieTeaGirl

Ha! Nicely done ladies! :)

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25
drank Creamy Nut Oolong by Teaopia
807 tasting notes

First of all I want to thank Kittenna for generously sharing some with me. I really REALLY wanted to try it as it sounded SO very yummy. HOWEVER … I can’t stand it.
I feel bad because it was so nice of Kit to share with me but for some reason it is very off putting to me.
It seems to be a love it REALLY love it or really dislike it tea.
To me it tastes and smells like dirty gym socks.
I don’t like sounding mean but I have to be honest.
I feel like telling the tea “its not you its me”.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec
JC

That’s a shame, it’s awful when that happens. I feel like is fairly common with flavored teas. You hear the name or the description and you say ‘ flavor!? I love that flavor! And tea!? This is going to RULE!’ Then its like someone hurt your feelings :P

Azzrian

LOL exactly and I don’t like hurting the feelings of those who sent it to me.

Kittenna

Don’t worry about it Azzrian :) I love it, but it’s not necessarily for everyone. I worry that you may not like the Salted Caramel from DT though, if you didn’t like it. I also hope it didn’t get contaminated or something (or perhaps too hot in the package).

Azzrian

Did you send Salted Caramel? I don’t think you were able to send that one to me. I will double check but I just went through it all and picked Malted Chocolatemate to try. Hummmm maybe I missed it.

Kittenna

I didn’t send Salted Caramel; you had just commented on someone’s post since everyone is seeming to like it, and I figured you’d perhaps try and get some in a swap!

Azzrian

Oh well if anyone has any I would sure like to try it! But no I have not got any yet.
:)

tattooed_tea

I didn’t enjoy this one, but definetly didn’t feel it tasted like gym socks :\ YUCK!

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82
drank Coconut Cream Pie by 52teas
807 tasting notes

Thank you Kittenna for this sample. I have wanted to try this forever.
I think this would be so good with Frank’s new black base!
It is very good as is however.
I do find I enjoy it more as it cools so I think I am going to let this get to room temp then put in the fridge and see how it tastes cold.
There is such a nice creaminess to this tea but I am a little surprised there is not more of a coconut flavor.
It may be my palate though so letting it cool and having it iced might help.
Will make more notes later. :)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
Kittenna

I definitely got a nice coconutty flavour from it – I hope I put enough coconut chips in your bag! I do agree that it could be better with the new base though.

Azzrian

Oh I think I got plenty of coconut in the mix. Maybe its me – just not very coconutty flavored today.

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drank Jiaogulan by Teaopia
807 tasting notes

Hummm maybe I should have only did 8 oz like Kittenna…..this is a little weak but I sure can tell there are yummy flavors there wanting to come through! Slightly sweet which is nice but not really getting too much of the lovely vegetal only SLIGHTLY – I may re-steep this in 8 oz and see how it comes out.

Scatterbrain

I can’t help but notice that this tea looks a little bit like… something else.

Azzrian

Yes indeed as do several teas as my son likes to always point out to me lol

Indigobloom

How much water did you use?

Azzrian

21 – it said use 24 but as I was adding the water I got scared so stopped at 21. Mad at myself.

Daniel Scott

My sister calls this one “mutant weed,” LOL.

Kittenna

Oh – I thought it was one ball for 8 oz. water, and it was plenty strong that way. It definitely re-steeped ok though! I found it rather vegetal (but different than tea), and sweet.

Azzrian

Well its weird the description does say 24 ounces to 1 ball but maybe that was a mistake. I think it did better when I re-steeped it using 16 ounces of water.

Kittenna

I saw on the tea page that it indicates 24 oz. My bad! I guess I just did what I wanted :D

Indigobloom

ha I used 8oz as well, way back when! I didn’t trust the 24oz theory!

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96

This stuff is DA BOMB tastes just like the ice cream people I really mean it I want MOAR NAOW!
Can’t wait to try the whole line up of these teas! WOOT excited yes I am!
Made them ICED no less hahaha yes I know they ARE iced teas … ANY way … very much worth getting! Made two HUGE iced tea travel containers of this stuff – one for me one for my daughter.
I even re-stepped the bag and it was still great!
Getting more!
Thanks Frank for making good stuff!

Daniel Scott

Adding to my shopping list now.

Azzrian

You will enjoy it.

Daisy Chubb

ee love your review! Can’t wait for the mail to come :D
Also – I swear I was following you, but I found this review and it said I wasn’t following you! What?! So now I am again haha! All is right with the world.

teawade

oo this sounds great and your enthusiasm definitely sold it for me haha. thanks for the review!

Azzrian

Thanks Teawade
Daisy that is so weird – I am pretty sure we were following each other before – glitch probably. Glad you we are back together lol

Missy

I’ve had several people drop off of my list of followed. I try to remember them all and make sure I pick them up again if they go MIA. I’m getting old and losing the battle with memory though, lol.

Azzrian

Me too Missy – I feel ya!

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100

Zo and I – as I am affectionately calling him have just had our maiden voyage. Okay I have not made tea with him yet but he got a first boil clean out.
So far I love this thing!
Handy as all get out, cute musical alarm to tell me the water is ready, four heat settings, reboils water SUPER fast for those small repetitive infusions of tea, a nice nifty handle to move from one room to the other with if need be, and small enough to sit on my coffee table to enjoy pu-erh all day long!
I am going to be in heaven with this thing!
YAY!

Thomas Smith

Been considering this for a while. I don’t like the notion of maintaining high heat of water for any serious amount of time but I can’t really say I could call out a difference between a Zoji and freshly boiled in my heavier teas. This review is swaying me more towards the “I should buy this” mindset.

Azzrian

Well the reason I did this – as I do have the breville as well – is that I know I will not only drink more pu-erh but ENJOY it more with this. I mean to sit at my coffee table on the floor with a bunch of pillows, or take it into my meditation room / exercise room and enjoy it … quickly having the water the right temp RIGHT NOW for another steep – with the steeps being so small and frequent. Just could not see myself doing this with a stove top kettle or breville.

TeaBrat

We have one of these at work and it is convenient, but I swear my tea tastes better at home when I use boiled water from the tap…

Azzrian

Do you think it is the office water or the machine?

TeaBrat

Both the water from my apartment and from work come from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir which is supposed to be very clean. Honestly I have no idea. Maybe it’s just that everything is better when I’m not at work, or maybe the water tastes better when it’s freshly boiled rather than sitting in the water heater for a period of time.

Thomas Smith

For most teas there’s definitely a difference in flavor between water that’s kept warm for a prolonged period and fresh cool water brought up to temp since most gasses dissolve in water more easily at lower temperature. Most people will tell you it’s oxygen but I don’t buy it since O2 is tasteless. Dissolved CO2, however, forms an equilibrium with carbonic acid which produces a crisp taste. At the extreme end of carbonic acid saturation there’s carbonated water, to give you an idea of the effect it has on taste (try both freshly opened and after a few hours as it bubbles out of solution as carbon dioxide, going flat).

Azzrian

Yeah I can understand that concept – I don’t plan to let it sit around all day though – I hope at least to have an hour sitting time with my teas then I will either dump the water or at least change it over.

Garret

I have been using these for 9 years! Love them! At home, at our tea shop, these things rock! Funny that you called it Zo because that is what we call it, too!

You also don’t have to let it go through its boil mode and then cool back down to say, 175. Let’s say you set it for 175. As the temp is heating up and it gets to 175, you can simply unplug the Zo for 4-5 seconds and then it will switch off from “reboil” and hold it at the 175. It’s quicker that way, too!

We do a lot of tastings using the zo. Pretty darned convenient. And unless that water has been sitting along time, we have a hard time discerning a big change in the waters qualities. Quality water to begin with is a huge contributor to that, as is not using the reboil mode, especially using it frequently.

As the old Chinese tea books say, one can also add more fresh water to an old pot of water to bring it back to life. Or change the water completely.

Garret

Great! Someone reviews the Zojirushi and we are out of stock on them!! Sheesh :) We are waiting for a new shipment.

TeaBrat

Garret – how do you clean it? that maybe part of the issue with the one in my office as well.

Garret

Hi Amy! Not with vinegar!
This is the only way to fly with it:
http://shopmandalatea.com/tea-wares/water-heaters/zojirushi-water-heater-cleaner-descaler.html
Or find citric acid and follow the Zo cleaning instructions. It makes the Zo more efficient and gets rid of all the calcification and funk.

TeaBrat

thanks!

Azzrian

@ Garret yeah that is a bummer that your all out :( Maybe you should set up a Pre-order on your site so people can get them and you can ship them as soon as they come in! Just note that they are not in stock yet maybe.

Garret

Azzrian -If I wasn’t about to take off on a 5 day meditation retreat, I’d get on that. I soooo need to back away for a few days from my business and have some solid meditation and qigong time. I am going to be without electronics and computers and phones. Need some serious recharge time. I’ll get all the Zo stuff taken care of next week. But you have a great idea there, my friend!!!!!
We are having a major heat wave here right now. Local tea sales ground to a halt yesterday. Funny thing is, I drink hot tea no matter what the weather. I’m sure our locals are icing their teas right about now!

Azzrian

Enjoy your time Garret – sounds wonderful.
I will post updates to my Zo experiences though to keep the love alive :)

Garret

I would expect nothing less, m’dear, nothing less :) I leave this evening and will check in throughout the day today, though I’ve a few massage sessions to do. Drinking some incredible wild arbor gong ting pu’er right now. The cakes just arrived yesterday!!! I had 200 of the 250 gram cakes pressed of this amazing material. After 3 months since commissioning the pressing, they arrived yesterday and it was like Christmas in July for this young man!! It is tea-licious!!! While it is quite tasty now, I really look forward to what 2 and 3 years is going to bring to it. It’s gonna open up wide in 2014/2015!

Azzrian

Oh I bet you were so giddy having them all come in! Are they on the site yet? I can go look – ignore this post and go enjoy your retreat!

Garret

Not on the site yet! It’ll have to wait until I get back. I’m going to put them up for a special price for the first 25 cakes. I’ll post it to Steepster once I do.

Azzrian

Nice! Will keep my eyes open for it!

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Bio

Most of my reviews will be “snippits” of full reviews that can be found at http://sororiteasisters.com/
Posted every evening at 6 EST.
I usually try to post the exact date that the full reviews will post however sometimes post dates need changed so it may not always be correct. Generally the dates are correct however.

About Me:

Most of my reviews, although not all, will be quite favorable of the tea. This is not because all tea is excellent, but more so because I generally will not waste my time on an inferior tea. If I do not care for a tea I won’t continue to drink it let alone spend time reviewing it. If you see a review by me you basically know it is a quality tea. Granted it may not suit your specific taste buds, we all like different things, but as for a tea on the whole it is a good one, from a good company.

I am a spiritual advisor by profession.
I have two “young adult” children.
Four cats and three dogs.

Some of my hobbies include gardening, essential oil therapy, natural perfumery with essential oils, and cooking.

I look for complexity overall in any tea, dimensions to the flavors.

I believe tea should evoke a feeling, thought, emotion, or attitude.

I enjoy most all oolongs, blacks, whites, and greens.

I always love to try a good yellow tea.

I favor unadulterated teas but I do have my longings for a good flavored tea now and then so I don’t rule them out by any means!

I enjoy green rooibos don not like red rooibos.

Find me on facebook and twitter – Azzrian Visions

Location

Kansas

Website

http://www.azzrianvisions.com

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