Ten Ren

refreshing light nutty taste, replaced regular bottle of water in the commuter bag

This is a very light oolong with light lychee flavor which is a bit of a surprise from how strong of a lychee aroma the dry leaf has. Overall a decent tea but I’m glad that I only got the small sample, instead of the small bag as this is a tea that I will not be buying again.

My father’s favorite tea he’s been drinking for over 30 years. A robust oolong flavor that first hits the tongue in bitterness, but leaves a sweet aftertaste. This tea is a must-have in your cupboard.

I needed some quick tea and caffeine, so this bagged tea did the trick this morning. It was pretty smooth and not bitter for a tea bag. Not so complex in the flavor department, but gave me what I was looking for.

It’s a hot, fiery, dry Spring (let alone Summer yet!) here in Australia, so I’m trying out a bunch of my favourites as iced teas in preparation!
This is the first oolong I’ve iced, and it turned out beautiful! Although the flavour itself is very light, the fragrance is so sweet like a garden. I put in a slice of lemon for a little extra flavour.
I left it overnight starting in room temp water, but next time I think I might start with warmish water to help the leaves unfurl.

I bought this from a Ten Ren franchise store.
The first steeping was about 20 seconds and smelled peppery to me. It had that sort of lightly peppery flavour. when I had finished the tea and smelled the cup, it smelled more floral. It got more floral and less peppery with each steeping.

Thank you so much LaFleurBleue for sharing this lovely tea with me.
It comes directly from Singapour and I took ages before trying it : that’s not fair from me.

Now my tastes have changed, I am revisiting my swap box and rediscovering a lot of lovely samples I wasn’t prepared to taste at this period. Now I am ready !

I respected the detailed brewing instructions given by LaFleurBleue and I am enjoying it. The dry leaf smells herbal as the smell of the liquor.
The liquor is just a kind of liquid pale gold, incredibly clear and attractive.
The taste is surprising, very refined and delicate, quite herbal with a very very very light touch of pleasant astringency at the very last moment.
While cooling I can detect some fruity notes.

A very relaxing tea.

This is a sweet tea – a very sweet tea. The first few sips are almost overly sweet but once my taste buds got used to it, the flavor mellowed out and turns slightly salty (did you know plums are salted in Chinese culture?) so it tastes almost like the salted plums I had as a child – salty sweet.

Unfortunately, as a tea, it tastes weird. I’m not sure if I’ll buy this again.

Random tea bag! Some how I’m seeing tasting notes for this loose, but mine is a tea bag. I’m surprised at how nice this one is… I’m not sure why, since another one of my favorite jasmine teas is in teabag form. Even though I oversteeped it by a minute or so, with a bit of bitterness from the green tea, the jasmine flavor was nice. The jasmine definitely redeemed the teabag since just the plain green tea might have been a bit boring with this one.

I picked up this at Ten Ren. This is the $60/lb version of the Green Tung Ting Oolong Tea – there is no other way to differentiate between the different types available for purchase at the shop other than price. It wasn’t the cheapest, and it wasn’t the most expensive. I found it rather off. It was dry, like a white tea, but tasted fresh like green, and I didn’t notice the subtle flowery notes that I associate with Oolong. That said, I didn’t find it unpleasant and I will continue drinking it. Which is a good thing since the sales clerk wouldn’t let me purchase any less than 4 oz of the tea.

Decent enough, but it’s lacks the depth of the loose stuff. Good in a pinch, though. The taste leans more towards the roasted rice than the green tea, though I can taste the tea more as an aftertaste.

Tried the bagged version today. A serious MEH! compared to the loose one. I got alot more “earth” and less of everything else. Perhaps next time I’ll break open the tea bag. Still very good for a bagged tea though
Rating: 79

I’ve been craving Pu’erh lately but always feel that it deserves more attention than I can reasonably give it at work, which is where I drink most of my tea. and the only pu’erhs I have are tuochas, so I figured a bagged tea would solve my problem. It’s quick, and I’ll feel less guilty about just grabbing it when on the go!
So when I walked by the Ten Rens shop yesterday, I was compelled to ask the “tea lady” if they had any. On busy days, they have a lady dedicated to selling tea, separate from the bubble tea line-up. Well!! she invited us (me and my friend) to sit down for a tasting. She obviously thought I was a newb and went on the whole shpiel about what pu’erh is and it’s benefits etc. But then I started asking questions. Was this a shou, or a sheng? (this was prior to my tasting the tea, or seeing the cakes) She had no idea what I was asking… so perhaps it has another name that I’m not aware of?
She blinked in confusion. I’m a white girl! how do I know about tea!? so she asked me. and I told her, my best friend growing up, she is Japanese. That explained it. She needed no further details lol
Oh and the lady was so pleased to see a “non-asian” girl knowing about tea(she’d gone over to a co-worker, gesticulating happily towards us) that she gave me two free tuochas! score!! I think I’ll save them for a rainy day, let them age a bit.
Anyhow, the tea! it was super tasty! earthy and rich. and smooth. A little sweet on its own. Bready, in a way I don’t often see with Pu’erhs. With each steeping, it got a little richer and deeper. We went through atleast three.
Now, we didn’t stay long and and the place was hopping so paying attention to the subtle notes was difficult. The bagged version will surely be a bit muted, but if I notice any other points of interest, you can be sure I’ll update this.
For the price, 31c per bag… I’d say it’s a deal. Most likely anyhow, since I haven’t been back to work yet so that I can try it out in it’s intended setting.
ALSO, my friend that was with me, she likes tea but will drink anything, esp EG. So when she told me afterwards that it tasted like “earth”, but in a good way, and she didn’t know what to make of it… I was grinning from ear to ear. Folks, I might be breeding a convert here. muahahahaaaa
Raitng: 88 looseleaf, bagged tbd!

On another note… do you ever feel that tea is a secret? I mean, it’s SO good, and so many people seem to have no idea how amazing it can be. They go about their lives drinking bagged crud and have NO IDEA what they are missing out on. I feel so privileged to have been let into the club. I’m not sure what’s gotten into me now, but I am grateful to have tea.

This steeps very quickly. Steep it for a short amount of time, or it will be bitter.