1048 Tasting Notes

91
drank Feizi Xiao by Verdant Tea
1048 tasting notes

On nights when I have on-call duty, I like to have something caffeinated in the evening. Since I need to sleep lightly and be up and out the door on a moment’s notice, it’s a good idea for me to drink something that gives me enough energy to get the job done. Yesterday, this unique black tea was my evening tea. I had put off trying it for nearly a month, but after spending the better part of a week drinking flavored teas, I wanted something light, sweet, and fruity that was unflavored. This was the best choice I had.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. Since I have been experimenting with my gongfu preparation lately, I did not specifically follow Verdant Tea’s suggestions. Following a very quick rinse (approximately 2-3 seconds), I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 6 seconds. I performed 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 18 seconds, 21 seconds, 25 seconds, 29 seconds, 34 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, and 1 minute 15 seconds.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves gave off powerful aromas of clementine, lychee, cantaloupe, and honey. After the rinse, I detected even more powerful aromas of lychee, honey, cantaloupe, and clementine. I also picked up a faint aroma of peach. The first infusion provided the expected pronounced fruitiness on the nose. In the mouth, robust notes of honey, cantaloupe, lychee, clementine, peach, rose, and wood filled the mouth. The second infusion provided a fruity nose with a more floral touch. In the mouth, I noted exceptionally strong, yet balanced notes of lychee, cantaloupe, peach, clementine, honey, and rose underscored by touches of wood, herbs, and a subtle toastiness. The following series of infusions played up strongly integrated aromas and flavors of clementine, lychee, rose, cantaloupe, and honey balanced by toast, herb, peach, and wood notes. Later infusions saw the fruitiness fade a tad and more pronounced touches of honey, rose, herbs, toast, and wood emerge. By the final 2-3 infusions, touches of lychee, peach, and cantaloupe remained, though the clementine presence was still quite detectable. There were still aromas and flavors of toast, herbs, and wood hanging around too. I also noted a very subtle mineral presence.

I really enjoyed this tea. Its aroma and flavor profiles are incredibly unique. I could see this going over well with fans of sweeter, more fruit forward teas, but I could also see this working for fans of traditional Chinese black teas as well.

Flavors: Cantaloupe, Citrus, Herbs, Honey, Lychee, Mineral, Peach, Rose, Toast, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 5 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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34
drank Tilleul by Harney & Sons
1048 tasting notes

It’s been a long time since I have actually posted a full review for a tisane, so I figured I should probably get around to doing one. I have been trying to cut down on my caffeine intake lately, and with my sinuses once again draining like crazy, I wanted something that would both help me sleep and soothe my aching throat. This was what I selected for the purposes outlined above. Though this eased the scratchiness in my throat and helped me sleep, I can’t say I really enjoyed the experience of drinking this stuff.

I prepared this in an extremely lazy fashion. Rather than carefully measuring the amount of linden I was using, I just used whatever felt right at the time. I managed to go through the better part of an ounce of this stuff in just under a week. I found that what worked best for me was to put as much of the leaf, stem, and flower material as possible in a large brew basket and steep it for 5 minutes in 8 ounces of 212 F water. The flavor of this stuff is very weak, so I found that I got more out of it when I used more per cup.

After infusion, the liquor showed a pale yellow in the cup. Very mild aromas take some time to express themselves on the nose. They were very hard to describe. They were kind of floral, but also kind of woodsy. I thought there was a straw-like scent there too. Honestly, the smell is pretty nice, which is a shock because as soon as the leaves come into contact with water, they emit a smell very reminiscent of fresh cat urine. So, with that in mind, I was expecting the scent of the infused liquor to be much more unpleasant. In the mouth, I noticed fleeting impressions of wood, dried flowers, grass, and straw underscored by subtle hints of cream and fresh pastries. The finish was very clipped and mild. I noticed traces of floral and straw-like flavors.

Normally, I rather enjoy wacky tisanes, but this one was not all that appealing to me. For what I was using it for, it worked, but I doubt I would purchase it again. I kind of feel that one would have to be really into some of the quirkier and/or more challenging herbal teas to really appreciate something like this.

Flavors: Cream, Floral, Grass, Pastries, Straw, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 236 ML

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91

So, I gotta say that I did not just stick with the Organic Assam this morning. Everyone needs a glass of tea right before they jump in their car to go to work, right? Okay, all jokes aside, I really just wanted to go ahead and finish the sample of this so I could write about it before the end of the day.

I used my usual preparation for this tea. I steeped the sachet (I guess it was about a teaspoon) in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions.

After infusion, the liquor showed a delicate, slightly cloudy amber in the cup. The cinnamon aroma really hit me hard out of the gate, but there was other stuff there too. I thought I noted hints of toast, cream, cocoa, and orange peel. I did not pick up on the cloves. In the mouth, this tea was all about the spice. The cinnamon and clove notes really packed a wallop on the entry. Around mid-palate though, the spice notes softened and allowed flavors of cream, malt, toast, cocoa, and orange peel to peek through the murk. By the time the liquor slid down my throat, I was beginning to realize that while the spiciness remained, I was able to get a feel for the extremely light, smooth tea that capably served as a springboard for the spices and orange peel.

This tea did not provide the most refined drinking experience in the world, but it was very good. Keep in mind that assertion is coming from someone who is ambivalent toward cinnamon. This tea was clearly designed to be all about the cinnamon and it did a great job of showcasing the cinnamon aroma and flavor while displaying enough tea character to still be identifiable as tea. The additions of orange peel and clove were also not distracting in the slightest, as they complimented both the cinnamon and the tea base wonderfully. In essence, I found this to be a fun and surprisingly good little blend.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Cocoa, Cream, Malt, Orange, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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86
drank Organic Assam by Harney & Sons
1048 tasting notes

Until last night, I had forgotten just how many samples of tea from Harney & Sons I had lying around the house. I knew that I had several, I just didn’t realize how many. I also somehow acquired more samples of this tea than any other. I made it my breakfast tea this morning.

I brewed this tea in sachet form. Again, I’m guessing that there was about one teaspoon of tea in there. I brewed this tea for 5 minutes in 8 ounces of 212 F water. I did not attempt additional infusions.

After infusion, the liquor showed a relatively dark amber in the cup. It was neither as dark nor as murky as some Assam teas I have tried in the past. On the nose, I picked up pleasant aromas of cream, roasted nuts, malt, leather, caramel, toffee, and molasses. In the mouth, I noted delicate notes of cream, roasted nuts, toast, leather, caramel, toffee, molasses, malt, and cocoa. The finish seemed to emphasize toast, cream, roasted nut, and caramel notes, though I also noted a slight astringency that became pronounced on the back of the throat.

I’m kind of surprised, but I really liked this Assam more than expected. It is a very basic tea, but it is also not nearly as harsh as some of the other Assam teas I have tried. For me, Assam is one of those things that I really enjoy, but I have to be in the mood for it. Sometimes it’s a little sharp and sometimes it’s a little bland. This tea falls between those two extremes. I found it very approachable.

Flavors: Caramel, Cocoa, Cream, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Roasted Nuts, Toast, Toffee

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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57
drank Paris by Harney & Sons
1048 tasting notes

Following the cleaning out of my sample hoard and the reorganization of my tea cabinets, I set about going through some of the many samples that I have accumulated in recent months. I ended up with a free sample of this tea in an order from Harney and Sons a couple months back, but was not all that excited to try it since I ended up with a tea bag rather than a sachet, and boy do I ever loathe tea bags.

I prepared this tea by steeping the bag (I’m guessing there was about a teaspoon in there) in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. That’s all there was to that. Naturally, I did not attempt additional infusions.

In the cup, the infused liquor was a surprisingly light, clear amber. On the nose, I picked up delicate scents of caramel, cream, vanilla, black currant, and bergamot. In the mouth, I mostly just detected notes of caramel, cream, vanilla, black currant, and bergamot. I also got a mild toastiness, but that was about it. I could only imagine how much more robust, complex, and lively this tea would have been in loose leaf or sachet form.

As far as bagged teas go, this could have been a lot worse. I did not get the usual grittiness or pronounced astringency I get from bagged teas. I could still tell, however, that this was likely a big step down from the other formats in which this tea is offered. I know that several individuals whose reviews I read fairly regularly and whose taste I trust are big on this tea, so I can’t wait to try this in a form that is more appealing to me. Until then, I can only say that this is semi-decent for a bagged tea, though I highly doubt I would try this tea in this form again.

Flavors: Bergamot, Black Currant, Caramel, Cream, Toast, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Cathy Baratheon

The loose leaf version of this is excellent, however.

MadHatterTeaDrunk

I have almost a pound of the loose leaf if you wanted to try some. PM if you’d be interested. :)

Mookit

Interesting. I have tried this only bagged and loved it (I don’t usually love bagged teas) so I wonder how much more I will like it loose!

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93

So, I cleaned out a couple of my tea cabinets over the weekend and I made a pile of samples that I had either purchased or received free with various orders over the last 5-6 months. Yeah, I worked on finally cleaning out the hoard. Right now, I’m trying to work through 3-4 samples a day. I worked through two this morning prior to going to work. This was the second of the two and the one I liked best.

To prepare this tea, I steeped approximately 1 teaspoon of tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions. Again, I normally do not do so with flavored, small leaf, and/or non-Chinese black teas unless specifically recommended by the vendor or I just get curious and want to experiment a bit.

The infused liquor showed a dark amber in the cup. The nose was heavy on the bergamot, though I could also pick up traces of caramel, toast, and malt. In the mouth, the tea veered between delicate notes of cream, malt, honey, toast, caramel, and cocoa and heavy, tart notes of bergamot. The finish really emphasized the bergamot flavor.

In the end, all I can say about this tea is that this one is specifically intended for fans of Earl Grey. If you don’t at least kind of appreciate the Earl, then I highly doubt you will like this tea. It isn’t particularly deep or complex or refined. It is brash and forceful, offering a bergamot presence that one will likely love or loathe. Personally, I love Earl Grey. Harney & Sons tend to do this type of tea justice, and I feel that this is probably one of their best and most consistent takes on the style. I especially appreciate how this tea allows the bergamot to come through loud and clear. If you, like me, are an extreme Earl Grey lover, check this one out when you get the chance.

Flavors: Bergamot, Caramel, Cocoa, Cream, Honey, Malt, Tart, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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46

The second of the milk oolongs I have tried from Tealyra, I actually bought this one with the other three a couple months ago. As some of you know, I utterly loathed their Quangzhou Milk Oolong. In my opinion, this one is considerably better, though I still would not call it great. Hopefully, the other two (which I have yet to try) will right the ship.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. Normally, I will do a quick rinse and then start off with an infusion of either 10 seconds or 20 seconds, increasing my steep times by anywhere from 2-5 seconds per infusion, but I didn’t do that here. I have been reading up on gongfu techniques over the past couple of days and wanted to try starting off with a shorter infusion, so I decided to tinker with my approach for this session. After a quick rinse (maybe 2-3 seconds), I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this infusion with 9 additional infusions. The steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, and 1 minute 15 seconds.

This being a flavored oolong, the first thing I noticed was that the dry leaves smelled like a combination of cream and butter with virtually none of the floral aromas one would expect of a greener Taiwanese oolong. After the rinse, I noted that the powerful aromas of cream and butter remained, though traces of fruitiness and floral character were beginning to peek through the murk. The first infusion produced a similarly powerful creamy, buttery nose, though I did pick up on somewhat faint aromas of magnolia, lily, and lilac, as well as a hint of peach. In the mouth, this infusion was surprisingly mild. I picked up on gentle notes of cream and butter underscored by traces of kettle corn, custard, magnolia, lily, lilac, nectarine, and white peach. There was also a slight grassiness. The second and third infusions began to emphasize fruitiness on the nose and in the mouth, though pronounced notes of cream, butter, and flowers remained. The traces of grass, kettle corn, and custard were similarly amplified. I began to note that the peach and nectarine flavors were joined by tropical fruit notes resembling a mixture of mango, papaya, coconut, and pineapple. The fourth infusion saw the tropical fruit aromas and flavors come out in a big way. By the fifth and sixth infusions, this tea was all about the interaction of cream, butter, and tropical fruit. The floral notes had faded, though the grass, kettle corn, and custard notes remained distinct, especially on the finish. The seventh infusion saw the kettle corn and grass notes begin to play a larger role. The previously described floral aromas and flavors had faded, though oddly enough, I thought I could detect a hint of orchid on the back of the throat. The final three infusions saw the tea fade quickly. By the tenth infusion, I was mostly picking up on a wash of cream, butter, kettle corn, and grass with very faint, distant floral and fruity notes.

To be completely honest, this tea really did not do anything for me. It is rather obvious that this is a bland, generic lower grade Jin Xuan that has been flavored by a combination of milk and water in order to approximate the taste of a higher end tea. I suppose if one were to approach it with an idea of what it is intended to do in mind, this tea could be perceived as being decent. I, however, am incredibly picky when it comes to Jin Xuans. This tea is just too shallow and two-dimensional for me, but at least it lacks the overpowering sweetness and (to me) artificial milkiness of the Quangzhou Milk Oolong. Still, this tea bores me, and I cannot say that I would feel comfortable recommending something I don’t find the tiniest bit interesting.

Flavors: Butter, Coconut, Cream, Custard, Floral, Fruity, Grass, Kettle Corn, Mango, Orchid, Peach, Pineapple

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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81
drank Pai-Mu-Tan by Simpson & Vail
1048 tasting notes

You know, I didn’t realize this until very recently, but I have always unconsciously limited myself when it comes to white teas. In the past, I mostly stuck with silver needle and moonlight white teas, or teas that were very similar to them. Oddly, I never bothered to try white peony, which is especially strange considering that it is one of the more popular and readily available white teas. Recently, I decided that I really needed to try some pai-mu-tan, so I ended up with a 1 ounce sample of this tea. Simpson & Vail seems to not be offering this tea at the time of this review, though they are still selling an organic version of this tea. I bought this one solely because it was cheaper. I figured that if I liked this one, I could always purchase a sample of the organic version in the future and compare the two.

I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped 2 full teaspoons of this tea in 8 ounces of 175 F water for 5 minutes. I also tried a single 4 minute infusion with this tea, as well as multi-step Western infusions and a short gongfu session. This review primarily concerns the 5 minute preparation, though I will briefly comment on the others.

I did not hold out much hope for this tea at first. I noticed that when I was first pouring the water into the glass, the leaves emitted a powerful odor that reminded me of egg yolk. I hate the smell, flavor, and texture of eggs-I literally become nauseated just at the thought of eating an egg or the sight of someone cooking and/or eating eggs. It was an instant turnoff for me, but I decided to persevere. After the prescribed 5 minutes had elapsed, I gave the infused liquor another sniff, and the egg aroma had vanished. I noted delicate aromas of peony, cream, butter, herbs, straw, toast, and honey. In the mouth, I picked up on pronounced herb, straw, butter, cream, toast, peony, and honey flavors. I also noted a very slight spiciness somewhat reminiscent of cinnamon. The 4 minute infusion produced similar results. The multi-step infusion incorporated steep times of 3, 5, and 7 minutes. For this session, I noted powerful herbal, straw, and floral aromas and flavors on the first infusion, creamier and more balanced impressions on the second infusion, and an increase in straw, herb, and spice notes on the final infusion that were accompanied by a subtle mineral presence. For the gongfu session, I utilized approximately 5-6 grams of leaf in 4 ounces of water (I used the same water temperature for each session). The initial infusion was 10 seconds. I increased the steep time by 5 seconds for each additional infusion (15, 20, 25, and 30 seconds). I noted that the tea held its aroma and flavor well through each of these infusions, moving from more pronounced cream, butter, and floral characters to mineral, spice, straw, and herb characters. I also thought I detected a hint of lemon zest that I did not get with any other method.

This tea is hard for me to rate because this is the first time I have tried this type of tea. It was extremely difficult for me to come up with an overall rating for it. I couldn’t compare it to any other white peony tea, so take my rating with a huge grain of salt. I can safely say that I rather enjoyed this tea, though I would probably not choose to drink a tea like this on a regular basis. Still, I am interested in trying other pai-mu-tans from other vendors. As an introduction to this type of white tea, I think this is admirable. I really liked the aromas and flavors this tea displayed, and though I did not fully explore its potential in a longer session, this tea did seem like it could maybe hold its own without embarrassing itself.

Flavors: Butter, Cinnamon, Cream, Floral, Herbs, Honey, Lemon Zest, Mineral, Straw, Toast

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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90

I know that I posted a review of this tea earlier, but at the time, I had not finished the last of it. I figured that I would work on finishing it up this week, and wanted to see how this tea fared Western vs. gongfu. Of the two preparations, I think gongu works best for this tea, though the multi-step Western infusion I attempted yielded respectable results.

As one would gather from the above, I prepared this tea in the Western style. I settled on a three step infusion this time around. I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 195 F water for 2 minutes. The second and third infusions lasted 2 and 3 minutes respectively.

The first infusion produced an aroma that was simultaneously vegetal and floral. I noted somewhat creamy and buttery qualities as well. In the mouth, I detected a pleasant mixture of sweetgrass, butter, cream, magnolia, and orchid. I also noted a slight minerality on the alternately buttery and floral finish. At this point, I noticed that neither the aroma nor the flavor of the tea was nearly as complex when prepared this way. The second and third infusions saw the floral qualities fade. The second infusion was relatively balanced, offering pronounced butter, cream, and sweetgrass notes in addition to some lovely, if slightly more subdued floral flavors. The third infusion was mild and more vegetal. The tea was not quite flat at that point; it still had enough flavor to be satisfying. I noted that there was still a little bit of creaminess, though the sweetgrass and mineral notes were much more pronounced.

Overall, I am quite pleased with this experiment. This preparation yielded an approachable and very straight-forward tea that emphasized slightly different aspects of its character on each infusion. Compared to my earlier gongfu session with this tea, this method yielded a smooth tea that was very easy to drink, though there was a noticeable loss in floral character (I didn’t pick up the lilac and violet notes) and complexity. Of the two, I definitely prefer gongfu for this one, but preparing this tea the way I outlined above resulted in an experience that was far from bad.

Flavors: Butter, Cream, Floral, Grass, Mineral, Orchid, Vegetal

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 6 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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83

This is the other Darjeeling I have been drinking recently. Even though I have been familiar with Adagio’s products for a long time, I have to admit that until I cracked this one open, this tea was new to me. At first, I did not like it at all, but now that I have tried it multiple times, it has grown on me quite a bit.

I prepared this tea using my familiar one step Western infusion. I experimented with steep times quite a bit. It took awhile, but I think I have finally found what works best for me with this tea. According to Adagio, one should steep 1 heaping teaspoon of this tea in 8 ounces of 212 F water for anywhere from 3-5 minutes. I found that a 3 minute steep using the amount described oddly lacked character, so I adjusted the amount used and the steep time. I actually used slightly less leaf and found the result to be a more balanced, nuanced brew. I still used slightly more than a traditional teaspoon of loose tea leaves, but not quite as much as what many may consider to be a heaped teaspoon if that makes sense. I also found that a steep time ranging from 4-5 minutes using the amount of tea I settled on produced a nice cuppa. For the purposes of this review, I will be specifically referencing the 5 minute infusion.

Prior to infusion, a glance at the dry leaves revealed that this is a higher quality tea compared to the Summer Puttabong offered by Adagio. I did not notice nearly as many fannings, primarily spotting larger broken leaves and some smaller full leaves. To be clear, I still highly doubt that this would qualify as a truly high end Darjeeling, but relative to the other summer Darjeeling offered by this vendor, this one at least appears to be a little nicer. After infusion, the liquor shows a dark golden amber in the glass. On the nose, I found that mellow aromas of honey, Muscat grape, toast, almonds, cream, and malt were easily detectable. In the mouth, I picked up on mellow notes of clover honey, cream, toast, malt, almonds, herbs, straw, nutmeg, and Muscat grape. The finish was longer and mellower than the Puttabong offering, with delicate notes of Muscat grape, almond, toast, cream, nutmeg, and honey lingering.

This does not come across as the most refined Darjeeling in the world, but I found that I really enjoyed the honey, nut, and spice notes offered by this tea. The Muscat grape presence is nice and pronounced too. Compared to Adagio’s other summer Darjeeling, I definitely prefer this one. I could see this being a consistent, solid introduction to the summer flushes.

Flavors: Almond, Cream, Herbs, Honey, Malt, Muscatel, Nutmeg, Straw, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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