1557 Tasting Notes
52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 1
Kiki’s back!
“Ok yeah, this is good. Idk if this is good yet, but this is good. It smells originally like raspberry jello. I initially said strawberry but it’s raspberry, maybe the currant, who knows.
heavy tea huffing I’m gonna pass out.
Maybe a little vanilla or somethin’. And then it’s got some kind of, I’m thinking black tea, or some kind of dark green tea because first of all, it’s very dark.
It’s like candy, tastes like candy, and it doesn’t even have any sugar in it, so. And it smells good, it smelled up the whole room. I could smell it from 3 feet away!
I like it I would drink it again. I could drink it more than 1 time again. I could drink it as iced tea or hot tea. I could drink it anyway. Kinda like Dr. Seuss – I could drink it in the chair, I could drink it anywhere.
I had to have somebody move their car in front of the house. Tell them my husband (me, lol! she calls me her husband) has to park there.
Maybe it’s a white tea. Oooh I’m getting dizzy. lots of quiet sipping
Kinda tastes Christmassy. I can’t see. It steamed up my glasses. So I’m done, almost done. Kinda like a juniper berry or something undertone. So what is it?
Cranberry Creme Black Tea
burps Oh my god, haha
Ahhh, cream – that’s the vanilla flavor in it I think. See, holiday-like. burp Oooh I drank it so fast. I like it, I give a big 9."
Preparation
200F is the sweet spot for me. I again forgot a cup brewing today but it didn’t turn out biting/drying. Drank at room temperature (which today is about 65 degrees), it was buttery-scotch pumpkin and earthy black tea but not in the way shou puerh is — more like the cold, wet soil upon which the patch-pumpkin sits. Pear brightens it up a bit. I also notice the allspice more than when drank hot. The cinnamon is very mild, which I like. Honeybush sweet.
Flavors: Allspice, Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Earthy, Pear, Pumpkin, Sweet
Preparation
December 2023 Sipdown Challenge – a holiday tea
Not quite there yet but this is my latest sipdown-at-work effort. I bought 100g of Noël à Pékin at the same time as Miss Dammann. They’re both passionfruit-flavored teas and they both have lost that tropical magic over the past few years. Now, this one is still full-flavored but with a big punch of muscatel and lychee and mellow bergamot. It has a natural sweetness and juicy mouthfeel balanced by a woody astringency. Guessing the base black tea in this green-black blend is a Darjeeling. What I never noticed before is how cooling this tea is on the backend. Still a very enjoyable tea!
Flavors: Astringent, Bergamot, Candy, Cooling, Fruity, Juicy, Lychee, Muscatel, Sweet, Wood, Woody
December 2023 Sipdown Challenge – a tea with a red ingredient — almost gone
Loved the idea of this tea so I picked up a small pouch.
Brisk and coppery-earthy black tea meets slightly creamy root beer and sweet spices. The overall experience is sharp and hits mostly high and bright thanks to the raspberry which mixes with the coolness of wintergreen; a light fluff of marshmallowy vanilla-malt plays underneath.
While I’m not a fan of this kind of black tea, the composition works well. Sometimes it reminds me of medicine but overall it’s such a unique interplay of flavors that I find it strangely satisfying. Best as an afternoon tea.
Flavors: Bright, Brisk, Clove, Copper, Earthy, Licorice, Malt, Marshmallow, Medicinal, Raspberry, Root Beer, Sarsaparilla, Spicy, Star Anise, Tart, Vanilla, Wintergreen
Preparation
2023 harvest
So much to say, so little to desire to write. I have been burned out from work.
Yesterday, a customer I’ve developed a work-related friendship with called out to me as I rushed past him. I apprehensively turned around and walked back to him. He told me a story.
‘There was an American man who traveled to Japan during war. The Japanese consulate denied him a new visa so he went to sit in a park. He drank tea and wrote a poem, then went back to the consulate to present it. After reading the poem, the consulate granted him a new visa.’
My customer inhaled sharply to stifle his tears.
’The poem read:
Drinking a bowl of
green tea
I stop the war.’
We parted ways.
He is a teacher.
2023 harvest
Fresh and flavorful with a minty edge and a lightly sweet aftertaste. Liquid sunshine in a glass pot. All chrysanthemum I’ve had pale in comparison, except snow chrysanthemum buds which are in a class of their own. I can steep these flowers any time of day and they give me what I need in the moment — my personal adaptogen.
I really hope these will be a regular seasonal offering at Mountain Stream Teas. These tiny flowers are so complementary to my system that they sometimes make me not even want to drink caffeinated tea.
Feeling: calm, content, clear headed, cooling, respiratory system cleansing
Flavors: Bright, Chrysanthemum, Herbs, Mint, Nutty, Tangy
It does! My past experience (no doubt with much lesser quality varieties) ended up tasting like the wrappings on a chrysanthe-mummy.
I don’t think I have ever had chrysanthemum but I have a sample of one in the kitchen waiting to be tested…pretty old now but maybe it will give a hint of the flavor!
Received as a freebie with my last order — thank you!
This tastes just like persimmons to me complete with cinnamon and vanilla undertones. Syrupy liquor with typical sheng astringency that’s somewhat drying; bitterness is at a good level. Easy to drink.
It is good now. How would time treat this leaf?
Flavors: Apple, Astringent, Cinnamon, Dry Grass, Honey, Honeysuckle, Mint, Osmanthus, Peach, Perfume, Persimmon, Sugar, Sweet, Syrupy, Vanilla
Preparation
Tea Habitat says tap water is prohibited for their teas, haha. I’m lucky to have decent tap water so that’s what I use for all my home brews.
2022 harvest
Body is viscous and silky in early brews before the dancong oolong bitterness and grassy astringency come in, both of which are never harsh. Quiet, sweet aroma. Taste develops naturally as the aromatics bloom off the tongue. Floral in a fruity way. Plenty of delicate yet rich honeyed buttery melon, persimmon, butterscotch-dates, a hint of osmanthus. White peach aftertaste drapes like a sheer curtain and rises into sinuses. Gently cooling. Lovely. Looking forward to sitting more with this tea.
Flavors: Butterscotch, Caramel, Dates, Fruit Tree Flowers, Fruity, Grass, Honey, Melon, Osmanthus, Peach, Persimmon, Silky, Soft, Sweet, Viscous, Wood
November 2023 Sipdown Challenge – a smokey tea #2
2022 harvest
Compared to the 2021 harvest, this is both more muted and rougher around the edges. It’s strong and can get rather bitter when oversteeped. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable and complemented some of the hotter, drier days we had at the end of dry season.
Overall feeling: campfire-smoked sweet-scented tropical flowers (champaca?), sharp herbal spicy incense, dry leaves, earthy rainforest petrichor
2021: 91
2022: 65
Average: 78
Flavors: Campfire, Dates, Dry Leaves, Earthy, Flowers, Herbal, Incense, Petrichor, Rainforest, Spicy
November 2023 Sipdown Challenge – Nov 21 – National Gingerbread Cookie Day
A tea with a ginger note rather than a gingerbread tea.
No sipdown yet but I’m plugging away at the last of the 100g bag I bought a few years ago. This is more of a medium-spicy ginger-lime (awesome slightly tart lime flavor!) green tea now compared to it being balanced with passionfruit when fresh. The green tea is on its way out but still holding up flavor-wise and gives a nice body. It stands up to very hot water which is a plus. Glad I’m drinking this down before it’s too late!
Flavors: Butter, Dry Grass, Ginger, Lime, Spicy, Tart, Toast
Yay! Kiki returns! (And the fans went WILD…….RAAAAAAAAAAHR!)
I could drink it in the chair, I could drink it anywhere! LMAO XD
Kiki’s notes are the best! So glad we get to hear from her again.
Yay! Kiki’s notes! Say hello to her from all of us!
Amazing :)
Kiki, we missed you!!!!!
I just read all these out to her and she couldn’t stop laughing :)
AH KIKI IS BACK!!!! derk, you do such a perfect transcribing…