174 Tasting Notes

drank Rwanda Rukeri by Butiki Teas
174 tasting notes

Backlogging from last week.

I ordered a nice little green tea sample pack as a new customer, this is from that pack.

The leaves are relatively straight and dark green and are very green smelling. There is no other way I can really describe it other than green. The wet leaves turned a bright green and smelled very oceanic with steamed greens.

The taste contained notes of seaweed and artichokes. There was a sweet juiciness that fills the mouth. There is a bit of astringency in this tea, something I do not care for. This is my first time trying a tea from Rwanda, one of the reasons I’m not rating this, the other being the astringency.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Backlogging from last week.

A sample I received from Stacy, thank you.

The leaves look like emerald spears and smell like homemade dough for pizza or for bread. Wet, the leaves smell like bread with greens mixed in, like zucchini bread, it smelled good, made me hungry.

Taste was like spinach bread, I’ve never had spinach bread but it tastes like the zucchini bread but replace the zucchini with spinach. There is a silky texture and it’s a bit astringent. There is also a juicy quality at the end of the sip.

I like this tea because it’s so different, I can’t say I’ve tasted bread notes like that in tea before, and I like it! Unfortunately I don’t like astringency at all. I feel like I’m about as sensitive to astringency as I am to smoke…which is pretty sensitive. If you can handle a little astringency then there should be no problem.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Butiki Teas

I’m going to recommend that you stay away from the Korakundah in the sample pack then since that is slightly astringent and smokey. We probably should have balanced that green pack out with some of our sweeter greens.

Invader Zim

Aside from the astringency this tea was still very fascinating to me! And I’m still going to try the rest simply because my curiosity won’t let me not try it! I hadn’t realized that most of the teas in the sample pack say slightly astringent in their descriptions.

Butiki Teas

I really like how unique this one is. I tend to use a little less leaf, so the astringency isn’t as noticeable to me. Well, the South Korean isn’t too astringent. That one might be ok but I think that Korakundah is going to be a little rough for you.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Backlogging from last week.

Sample I requested with my package. I didn’t want to buy a full ounce of this because licorice is in the ingredients and I’m not a fan of licorice. I do enjoy tulsi and mint though and had to give it a try.

Upon opening the pack I immediately smelled the mint and tulsi. I saw little bits of fennel and what I guess is the burdock root. I took a little nibble at it and it wasn’t licorice, it kind of tasted like dry bark, earthy.

Taste was nice and earthy tulsi with a little bit of spice from the fennel. The mint was more of a feeling than a taste. The licorice appeared in the aftertaste, but it wasn’t too bad, sort of mellow, it wasn’t that overwhelming cloying sweetness in the back of the throat that I usually experience.

This isn’t bad for an herbal blend with licorice. I would only drink this once in a while though.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

I like this in the Winter too. Find that it is warming not just cooling. Not bad iced. The second time I had it I liked it even better.

Invader Zim

I feel like this is almost an acquired taste, something that grows on you…in a good way! I will have to try this iced now!

Tea_is_wisdom

This tea sounds interesting for a herbal blend and love the name. But I am a Oolong lover at heart. LOL!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Got my package in from Butiki today! This is the first one I tried. The leaves are dark green with some lighter ones and are slightly curled and twisted with a nice grassy-beany scent to them.

I brewed this in a smaller cup (about 5oz) but not actually gaiwan style. The wet leaves were a brighter green in color and the aroma was the same but with a creaminess to them. The infusion was creamy greeny goodness and pale in color.

The taste was at first a hint of something floral and juicy, it was creamy/buttery yet it remained crisp. Reminded me of buttered peas and beans. It had wonderful vegetal notes of green beans and asparagus. Perhaps a hint of spinach, but that could have been from my lunch earlier.

At the tail end of the sip I did get sweet corn on the cob that Bonnie got, but it wasn’t as prominent for me, it certainly didn’t make any less better. Definitely a good green tea and a good intro to Stacy’s teas.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Sometimes you taste what you do depending on length of brewing, method, temperature and so on. Another day…who knows. Part of the fun of it. I really did think this was lovely.

Azzrian

I had my eye on this one.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

84

I cold brewed the last of this one. I switched things up this time around though. I started off with my 12oz Italian mug, I put the tea in, added a little bit of brown sugar and a splash of vanilla. Then I proceeded to fill the mug…but not with water…with milk. It sat in the fridge for about 48 hours and I’m now drinking it on this disgustingly hot day.

The milk is slightly discolored from the pouchong and is incredibly smooth and sweet and creamy and I need to buy more for this purpose! I even had my husband sip it and he didn’t think it was too bad. He hates coconut and doesn’t care for tea. This is incredibly delicious!

Preparation
Iced
mpierce87

Okay, I know what I’m doing with the rest of my Coconut Pouchong!

Kittenna

…. it hadn’t even occurred to me to cold-brew a tea in milk!! How clever!! I need to try this :)

Invader Zim

Someone had mentioned they had added some milk to their cold brew, so I figured why not just cold brew it in milk? It came out great!

Pureleaf

I’m with Kittenna on this one – milk as a substitute for water? Sounds great! Gotta do this some time. Maybe. :) Makes me nervous. Guess I’ll have to take your word and try!

Invader Zim

I would suggest starting off with a mug instead of a full pitcher. Just to see if you like it. But I found it absolutely delicious!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

Another one from the sampler pack. The leaves are dark green and have a wonderful vegetal aroma similar to spinach. The wet leaves have a higher aroma with notes of butter and brussel sprouts. I brewed this one in my 12oz mug, again being too lazy to brew gaiwan style.

I happened to be starting the computer up as I started to brew this and so I had left it brew for much too long making the first infusion very bitter. I added some honey hoping to make amends, but to no avail. But through the bitterness I could taste a nice creamy, buttery, vegetal green tea with hints of corn. I could tell this would have been an awesome tea had I not royally screwed it up.

So, I poured out the first infusion and made a second. Even after having the first one sit for at least 4 minutes the second infusion still had plenty of flavor in it! Here I could taste the wonderful creamy, vegetal green tea without any bitterness. The flavor was a bit muted simply because of the long steep time in the first time around.

This tea holds up surprisingly well, I bet you could get quite a few good infusions out of it…dare I say you could get 5??? Even through my mishap this still turned out to be really good.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Azzrian

I love Shang tea – need more in my stash! Someday I will have my stash all worked out to only my favorites – Shang WILL be in there – I am still having too much fun tramping around tea world.

Invader Zim

Same here, still doing a lot of sampling. Shang does have some really nice teas!

TeaBrat

Ha- that’s what I’ve been doing for the last year. There seem to be no shortage of new tea companies but I do have a few faves.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

89

No one has made any notes about this yet???
First!
I just ordered this as a sample. I opened the little packet and was greeted by a wonderful aroma, it was grassy in a savory way. Like a lawn that was mowed yesterday and today is humid bringing the smell up better. The leaves are long and green.

I brewed this in my 12oz Italian mug. I’m feeling a bit too lazy to do gaiwan style today. The wet leaves turned a beautiful bright green hue and the smell reminded me of a sencha, it was so wonderful. The infusion was very pale with notes of butter.

Taste was fresh and grassy with a floral note, orchid perhaps, and a slight nutty note, chestnut maybe. The texture was silky and creamy yet the tea remained light and fresh. What a wonderful green tea, this is what I like in green teas, this is why I crave them, why I prefer them.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

Stop it! Stop making me want to order more tea! No, wait! I don’t mean it!

Invader Zim

Buy ALL the tea!

TeaBrat

It’s mine!

SimpliciTEA

I’m glad you liked this one. It’s price is not far from the upper limit of my budget or I would have requested this one with the package of samples I got just this weekend. Glad you are the first to review it!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

Backlogging from this weekend.

A sample David was kind enough to send me.

Brewed this gaiwan style for 15 infusions after the initial rinse. I’m not going to write about all 15 infusions, just the first 5 where the most changes happened for me.

The dry leaves were brown and packed and smell was woody with a hint bubblegum, but not just any bubblegum, it was the Big League Chew bubblegum!

Wet the leaves unfurled with shades of green and smelled like mushrooms.
The first infusion was crisp and woodsy like conifers with notes of mushrooms and a sweet note that I couldn’t place. The mouthfeel was thick with a creamy-silky texture.

The second infusion was still very woodsy with mushrooms. The texture became very smooth, more velvety. There was a sweet spice starting to come in, something like nutmeg but not as strong, I couldn’t place it.

In the third infusion there was definitely more spice, the earthy notes were becoming stronger and pine notes were making their way in.

Fourth steeping had that sweet spice turn into black pepper. The pine notes were much stronger and the aftertaste was becoming thick, mouth-coating thick.

Fifth steeping the spice began to fade. The earthy and pine notes were getting stronger still with mushrooms coming back in. The aftertaste was very thick. The aftertaste coated my mouth with a texture similar to eating a too ripe banana.

The later infusions had more pine notes, earthy almost soil-like notes, and mushrooms. For my first time brewing my own pu-erh I would have to say this was a success!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Bonnie

Awesome success and good discription!

SimpliciTEA

Sounds great! I have yet to even consider steeping into the realm of pu-erh.

I remember Big League Chew bubblegum! Do they still make it?

Invader Zim

I had tried a pu-erh once before that someone else had brewed up and I couldn’t resist trying this after reading the different flavor profiles. I still prefer my white and green teas but a nice oolong, and now pu-erh, is good once in a while.

I have no idea if that gum is still in production.

SimpliciTEA

No big deal on whether or not they still make the gum, I guess my question was me thinking out loud; you’re mentioning it brought back memories from long ago. Thanks!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

68
drank Secret Garden by SerendipiTea
174 tasting notes

I make my own herbal blend of lavender, chamomile, peppermint, and red rooibos. It’s a lot like this blend minus the rose petals, but it’s so much different. I feel like there is almost too much rose in this one. If you like rose then by all means go for this, but if you don’t I wouldn’t go near it.

One thing I do with my personal blend is keep all the ingredients in separate containers so that way I can put in a decent ratio as compared to this tea where everything is thrown together. I feel like if I would buy rose petals and put into my own blend at a different ratio that it would be so much better.

Alas, I know it doesn’t make sense to send all the ingredients separately, but I feel that it’s just better that way. I will stick to my own blending instead of buying this. I may buy rose petals and add as necessary though to mimic this blend eventually.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

98

Got in some samples from Teavivre the other day and had to try this one right away. I love jasmine pearls…in case no one has noticed :) and this immediately made it’s way toward the top of my list.

These are beautiful little balls of green and white leaves with a very pleasant aroma of sweet jasmine and hints of honeysuckle. The wet leaves are heady without being cloying while the infusion is a very soft floral.

Taste is a wonderful soft sweet jasmine with honeysuckle in the tail end of the sip lasting into the aftertaste. There is a wonderful silky texture throughout the sip and an almost sparkling quality in the aftertaste.

It’s sweet jasmine without being cloying.
It’s floral without being soapy.
Caffeinated yet wonderfully calming.

The only problem of loving jasmine pearls is the price, usually they are expensive. Teavivre’s price for these on the other hand make these well worth the purchase. Excellent quality for an excellent price.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

I am glad to read this, because I LOVE Teavivre’s Jasmine Dragon Pearls, but I have never tried any others and didn’t know how they compared. I know the price of some others, enough to know that these are tasty and the best bargain I have seen.

Invader Zim

Rishi and Teavana’s are relatively the same, overly priced and can get bitter easier. Harney and Sons has nice quality pearls, but these ones are a bit better and cheaper. I would stick with these.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I’m an avid tea drinker, it’s what I drink all day and why I’m here. I don’t sweeten my teas except for the occasional iced tea or cold-brewed tea. I typically brew my teas with a brew basket in a 12 oz cup. If I brew another way I will always note it.

Dislikes: black teas, milk flavored oolongs, hibiscus, red rooibos, licorice, dessert teas, mate, guayusa.

Loves: straight teas, especially Chinese green teas, sencha, jasmine, dan congs, mint, coconut.

My ratings are based mostly on the smiley faces. If a tea is of good quality but not to my taste preference I try not to rate it because I think that is unfair.

I drink a lot of the same teas and will not record every time I drink them. I log them the first time I try them and then again if I did something different and/or got different results.

I also try to keep my cupboard updated to what I actually have for those that wish to swap, although some of them are merely samples.

100 – http://steepster.com/teas/verdant-tea/32720-hand-rolled-top-grade-jasmine

Location

Pennsylvania

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer