2201 Tasting Notes

78

The other day I thought about this tea again and it dawned on me that it might make a great cold brew. Root beer is usually drunk cold, afterall.

It came out pretty well. The sarsaparilla flavor was nice, although the cold brewing brought out a bit more vegetal-ness from the oolong than I would have preferred. I may drink the rest of this up via cold brew this summer; it might also make a decent tea soda.

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92
drank Coconut Oolong by SOKO Tea House
2201 tasting notes

I am exhausted after an early and packed morning of teaching, and a large lunch including a alcohol. Nap time?

I saw this one peeking out of my stash at me and decided I had to have it. And now it’s brewed and smelling delicious and being too hot to drink. Mmm so much coconut macaroon. I had a HUGE one the other day at an art fair, and this is so much like it. Thanks again to OMGsrsly for my sample of this one!

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Memily

I’ll bet this is everything I wanted Argo Tea’s coconut oolong to be. (It’s full of licorice root, weirdly.)

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98
drank Caramel-Toffee by Dammann Frères
2201 tasting notes

Once I have moved (so, after July 1) I am planning a Dammann tea order for a limited blend and a couple of new ones I just came across. I am also thinking that I will need to order refills of this tea and Fleurilege, since I am almost out of both of them! To be fair, I only had 50g to start, but it’s kind of amazing to me that I have almost completely blown through them. I mean, I could use the time to finish up other teas, but where is the fun in that? Plus if I am paying for shipping from France I might as well throw in a couple of extras.

Unlike Sil, I am still hopelessly in love with this tea. For sure my perfect caramel tea.

Flavors: Caramel, Toffee

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Sil

haha well i’m super glad you still love it.. and it IS really nice.. i’m just tired of it heh

Dinosara

I admit I am curious about the Caramel from TeaG that you love, although I have not been super impressed with TG’s blends in the past. Maybe I just haven’t had the right ones. :)

Sil

DF is caramel toffee…. teaG is just caramel. I could have both in my cupboard and be happy.

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99
drank Gardens of Anxi by Verdant Tea
2201 tasting notes

A little bird told me that this tea was reblended for this month’s blends club… the month that I cancelled. Of course, I knew that would happen! One of my favorite blends ever, and I cancelled right before it was reblended in a very limited capacity. It is just about enough to make me rejoin the blends club, especially since I’ve been fairly successful in selling off the ones I don’t like lately. I mean, it’s only $17/month.

This is an elderly tea for sure. You can sit on many black blends for a long time, but that’s just not the case for oolongs and greens. I’ve been cold brewing through a large stock of a green Dammann blend that has lost most of its flavor, and it’s kind of sad. This one has hints of greatness around the edges still. Lovely florals, notes of butter and candy. The are just weak.

Much as I don’t want to just “get through” this blend, I’m wondering if I should cold brew. It’s certainly not getting any younger.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
mrs.stenhouse12

Ahh I’m excited to try this one in the monthly box! :D I’ve never had it

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87
drank Amandine Rose by Teavana
2201 tasting notes

This is one of my older teas and although I do still enjoy it, I’m not as in love with it as I once was. Partly it could be the tea aging, which it certainly has, but I’m also going to blame it on refined tastes and the fact that I have a rose/almond tea that I love more these days.

I wonder how this would cold steep? Teas with spices often taste wrong to me when cold steeped, but I do enjoy almond and rose in cold steeps. Guess there is one way to find out!

Flavors: Almond, Pastries, Rose, Spices

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
ohfancythat

Which rose almond tea do you like better? I just discovered Fauchon’s La Naissance and am sadly in love, I was wondering if there were any similar, more accessible teas out there!

OMGsrsly

I think Dammann Freres has a cheaper almondy tea like Naissance. Maybe.

Dinosara

Unfortunately, my favorite rose almond tea is La Naissance! I haven’t found any that come close that are more accessible, and this one is discontinued too. Rose and almond are tough!

Amande Amaretti is pretty good but it’s just almond (no rose) and it’s also just a lot less nuanced blend. Doesn’t really replace La Naissance for me. I did recently come across another Dammann tea called Amore that has almond and rose, but also chocolate and bergamot. I’m planning on ordering some after I move in July.

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90
drank Le Bonheur! (Happiness) by Fauchon
2201 tasting notes

Because my dreams told me I had to have this one this morning.

I will be so sad when my tiny tin of this one is gone. It is definitely my favorite “red fruits” blend. sigh Maybe Vente-Privee will have another Fauchon sale someday.

Flavors: Berries, Lemon, Red Fruits

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Stephanie

Yeah, Vente-Privee needs to hurry up!

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100
drank La Naissance by Fauchon
2201 tasting notes

Guys, last night I had a dream that there was another Fauchon sale on Vente-Privee, and I bought another tin of this tea and one of Le Bonheur!

Sadly it was just a dream, but I figured it was a sign that I should have some of my faves this morning. Particularly this one, since it featured so prominently. This is just such a “me” tea. Almond and rose? Yes please.

Flavors: Almond, Cake, Rose

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Cameron B.

Oh my goodness, your note caused me to look up Fauchon and I must say I am now severely upset that they don’t deliver to the US! What have you done?! XD

Dinosara

Haha, sorry. Most Steepsterites have gotten Fauchon teas through sales on vente-privee.com, or at one point a whole bunch of Fauchon teas showed up at TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Winners stores. Finding it in North America is pretty hit or miss!

Cameron B.

Yeah, I’m new here so I don’t know a lot of the popular brands. I signed up at the Vente Privee website so hopefully they’ll get some interesting teas in soon. Thanks for your help. :)

yyz

I love this one too!

Stephanie

I love love love this tea and I wish your dream would come true :)

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86

I have not had this tea before, and I’m looking forward to trying it in comparison to some of the lower grades thanks to my samples from Teavivre.

I think I should probably be steeping these dragonwells at slightly different parameters (for me), but I wanted to still brew this one at the same parameters as the others for equal assessment. I will say, this one brewed up much milder and sweeter at these parameters than the others did.

I get the same buttery goodness from this one, but instead of spinach I think it’s closer to asparagus in the green flavor. Still, the lowest grade is the nuttiest. The higher grades get fresher and greener. This is quite lovely. Glad to have been able to try all of these teas! Now I’ll have to try them out with short steeps at home sometime.

Flavors: Asparagus, Butter, Sugarcane

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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80
drank Orchard Spice by Verdant Tea
2201 tasting notes

When I swapped with OMGsrsly a while ago I asked for a sample of this tea, but she couldn’t find it and/or was out of it. But apparently she found some because she sent me a surprise sample of it! Thanks!

Despite the unseasonality of it, I am drinking this fall-themed tea this summer afternoon. Overall, pretty tasty. There are definitely nice apple spice notes in this, although I admit that I don’t really taste the tea itself. The white tea I can imagine being swamped by this, but I would have thought the Zhu Rong would make an appearance. It’s tasty enough but I don’t think it will go on my have-to-have list. Thanks for the sample OMGsrsly!

Flavors: Apple, Cinnamon, Clove, Spices

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
OMGsrsly

Yay, you got it! :)

OMGsrsly

It was hiding flat underneath some other teas. I knew I had some, and felt so bad when I couldn’t find it.

Dinosara

Thanks so much for the surprise package, it was fun! :D

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85

Next grade up in my samples from Teavivre! I would have assumed that I’ve had a previous harvest of this tea before but I can’t find prior tasting notes so I guess not!

At first when it was still very hot I found this tea surprisingly underwhelming. It was kind of flat and uninteresting in the first few sips, but luckily that changed as it started cooling. I find this tea “greener” and less nutty than the Premium grade. Perhaps even a faint hint of a floral. I think I might prefer the Premium! But they are so close that it is hard to really say. Maybe I will have to have a dragonwell-off one day. Regardless I am enjoying the fresh green teas!

Flavors: Butter, Peas, Spinach

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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Profile

Bio

I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

In my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: Mind-blowingly good, just right for my palate, and teas that just take me to a happy place.
89-86: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
85-80: Pretty tasty teas that I enjoy well enough, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
79-70: Teas that I would probably drink again, but only if there were no preferrable options.
69-50: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.
Unrated: Usually I feel unqualified to rate these teas because they are types of teas that I tend to not like in general. Sometimes user error or tea brewed under poor conditions.

Location

Ohio, US

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