Tearunners

Sipdown (250)

I shared this with multiple people now and while most of us were fairly indifferent/not overly impressed with this one, Courtney actually enjoyed it. Since I am preparing a package to send to her anyways, I decided to give this another try and pass the rest along to someone who might appreciate it more than I do.

This last cup is leathery and with a touch of malt. Honestly there is nothing wrong with it but I don’t find it very interesting either. I just have other teas I would reach for first and if I were to drink this it would just be to finish it off.

Roswell Strange had an awful experience with the sample that I sent her with this tea. She got sudsy and chemical and “fresh linen” deodorizer. Needless to say, that did not have me particularly excited to try this.

With that said, that is not my experience at all. To me, this doesn’t really taste a whole lot like anything. I got a slight hint of milk chocolate. Maybe a touch of malt. A little metallic/copper at the tail-end of some sips. It’s sort of run of the mill and meh but I am definitely not getting suds and fresh linen. So is that a win? I don’t know.

Sipdown (1428)!

Well it took a few months of trying to push through and finish this one off, but I did it! The last mug was a nice round mouthfeel and clean finish but leaned a bit too floral in taste. So, some qualities that were representative of the better mugs I’d made and some that lined up with the worse ones. That felt appropriate, given what my experience with this tea wound up being.

Slowly working my way through this tea…

I think it was my last mug of this that wasn’t too bad? It was definitely my first that I did not jive with though – and I have to say this was closer to that first cup than anything else I’ve made. Quite floral and heady for a black tea, but in a way that builds on the palate to a point of tasting unpleasant once you hit the half way point in the mug.

I guess there are still quirks to this tea that I’ve yet to iron out in the steeping.

I don’t remember liking this tea very much the first time I tried it, and my rating seems to back that, but I can’t really remember why I felt that way…

This cup, while not great, wasn’t unpleasant though – at best I’d describe it as a very neutral black tea. Y’know, the sort of thing that add body/texture to a flavoured tea and thusly makes a good tea for blending with, but may not necessarily be the sort of thing you gravitate towards on its own.

Just finished a mug of this for my first cup of the morning – thank you VariaTEA for sharing it! I think I’m going to have to go and look it up on the TeaRunners website to see if they list any tasting notes/information on the tea because I found it really weird…

The aroma coming from the dry leaf and off the steep aroma was like a nice sweet honeycomb and red fruit, but the taste is sort of sudsy and chemical. It reminded me a bit of the “Fresh Linen” scented laundry detergent that I use. Not as full blown as that, of course, and with an undertone of something pleasant but just not wonderful. Though there’s still hints of malt, honey, and red fruit. They’re just drowned out by that off note.

Cold Brew!

Sipping on this one currently. I think it’s nicer as a hot cup of tea, but this cold brew is pretty smooth and mellow which makes for a nice refreshing drink. I would say the flavours that stand out the most are a generic mineral note that makes me think of rocks a bit along with some elements of plum skins, cocoa butter, and floral undertones. Kind of generic tasting, but in a good way?

I’ve been steeping a lot of Dancong Western style lately because I’m enjoying it more brewed that way than Gongfu, and this is one of several I’ve had with that method of brewing. More mineral and rock-y flavours in the top notes with bits of char and roast, but then floral notes like orchid that build up from undertones to more of a main body flavour with these flavour ribbons of stonefruit that lightly dance overtop of that. Complex, and medium bodied – and just so cozy feeling.

Thanks VariaTEA for coordinating this group order!

I dipped into this one late into the morning, and I liked it a lot. Compared to the other teas I’ve had today, this was much more subtle and delicate, but the gentle mineral notes complimented by soft spices (cinnamon) and floral stonefruit (plum skin and orchids) notes was entrancing and quite relaxing.

I can’t imagine that making this Western style was the best form of preparation, so I will try it Gongfu – but it was good this way! And I think the name is accurate.

This is another tea I am tossing into the TTB since its a straight black and a company that isn’t overly common so hopefully it will be a chance for someone to try it out. This is an alright and a pretty easy drinking tea. There is no particularly strong flavor, which makes it good for an everyday sort of tea that you can drink absentmindedly and get some caffeine.

Steepster is working! Yay! Hopefully it lasts!

During the Steepster freeze I drank a lot of teas and got a wonderful package from my Dad which had my new teas from Tea Please and my order (with Sil and Roswell Strange) from Tea Runners. Need to add them into my steepster cupboard.

Tonight I divided up the teas that needed dividing so I could seal up the package for Roswell Strange. This was one of the teas that needed dividing as I’m sharing it with Sil and it also happened to be the tea that I finished dividing when the kettle was ready. So I brewed it.

I was busy while drinking it but it was good. Nothing special but good. Sweet is really the descriptor that comes to mind. It’s a sweet black tea. I’ll enjoy drinking it again but I may not remember it by the time I get to it again if I’m being honest.

Stole a sample of this from Roswell Strange and enjoyed it while playing pandemic. It was light and fruity and reminds me of Ombrelle de Papier…but not as sweet.

The weather is hot. Stinkin’ hot. It’s been in the upper 80s and low 90s for the last couple of weeks, and the 10 day forecast calls for more of the same. Even worse, the lows are in the low 70s. Ugh! I really hate to be hot!

Thank God for air conditioning and iced tea. This tea was part of my June subscription packet. It is a teensy bit bitter, but that is removed by a splash of lemonade. Very refereshing. I won’t be buying any teas soon, but this is one I mi8ght get a refill on.

From the Samurai TTB.

First note in my brand-new Moleskine notebook and last note for the teabox. This is my second TTB and I think they are just so much fun. Now to start the next bit of fun – picking out teas to add back to the box. I think I love that part just as much. Anyway, on to the tea!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to drink any of the white/green/oolong teas in the box. Black teas are my favorite and I enjoy herbals on occasion, but I can almost never seem to brew a white or green tea in a way that is really enjoyable to me. So I figured, why waste these beautiful teas on someone who can’t fully appreciate them? BUT. I did a splurge and bought an electric kettle, hoping that getting the temperature right would be the key. So I picked this one from SkySamurai out of the box based on how amazing it smelled. I absolutely love florals and this one smells exquisite. Jasmine, I think?

I have to say, it’s one of the more flavorful white teas I’ve had. They usually come off tasting like lukewarm water and not much else. This one is still fragrant and keeps that floral fragrance in the taste. It’s a touch bitter and slightly astringent but enjoyable. My husband had a sip and said that it tastes metallic. Now that he says it, I can see that.

Overall, I would say this hasn’t won me over for white teas but it certainly has shown me that they can have flavor that I haven’t experienced before. I’ll withhold a rating here since this isn’t my preferred cup of tea. I do want to add – I think this would be really refreshing iced!

Another tea box tea! It’s so fun to watch the pearls unfurl, so I used my one clear mug for this. The flavor was pretty strong and classic. It was a little bitter at first, but that mellowed overnight. If you want a tea that’s strongly flowery, this might be the one. It’s one of the better flowery teas I’ve had.

It has been so blessed hot lately. Normally we have around 10 days a year in the 90s. In the first 16 days of June we’ve had 6 days in the 90s. Ugh! Even th air conditioner does completely cool the apartment on those days. But i suppose 82 is better than 92!

Made a jug of iced tea using this leaf. Wow, excellent flavor, no bitterness or astringency, and almost sweet on its own. Some straight black tea are just icky iced because they are so bitter/strong. Those benefit from a splash of flavoring or lemonade or even sugar, altho i avoid added sugar. This one is lovely. Didn’t even need additives to be drinkable.

Today I finally made the switch from morning coffee to morning tea. At first I was going to brew a cup of North Winds, which is one of my favorite straight black teas, but I decided to try one of the straight blacks from my recent Tea Runners box. It is a Sri Lankan tea

I liked this one. A lot. It is very smooth. I didn’t get that faint bitter after taste that I sometimes get. I added 1 teaspoon of leaf to 10 ounces of 205 degree water and steeped for 4 minutes. along with one small lump of rock sugar (about the size of a pea) I can imagine this one iced. Pretty tasty.

i like it strong and i like it with a high caffeine content, so this tea is spot on. i taste mainly malt and nothing much else, which is fine with me. it can withstand a splash of milk without losing flavour. it’s a good morning cuppa. this is the last of the teas from my Tearunners March subscription. i hope you are staying safe, home and healthy where you are.

this is absolutely lovely tea. it’s strong and the sweetness goes with the malt very well. it can handle milk without losing flavour. a mere hint of astringency. the black currant flavour is subtle but resonant. and unique.

dear friends, i’ve departed from my precious black teas for a bit to try this oolong. i haven’t had a lot of oolong teas so far. i adore milky oolong by World of Tea, but that’s another entry.

this is a delightfully bright tea with a bit of zing and a lot of flavour. i can taste the hint of oolongy-ness, how do i describe that? sort of milky/buttery?
it’s also got a smokey flavour as well. the aroma upon first nose sniff when it’s still dry is very plummy but the taste is more peach than plum. this tea feels very kind and friendly on a rainy day in Ottawa and is a good distraction from the free floating anxiety of these sad and worrieome times. i hope you are safe and healthy where you are, my friends.