126 Tasting Notes
I forgot I had this, it was buried in the back. Good thing I found it, because it’s good.
Very vanilla scented, and the blend of spices is just right. It has a round mouth feel, very silky smooth tasting and feeling, almost like there is milk in there, but there isn’t. So almost a creamy taste? And a sweetness for sure.
I will try it another time with a little sugar and milk, like they suggested, because I love LOVE Thai Iced Tea from the Thai restaurants, but I’m not sure it will be the same, the restaurant version is very very sweet.
Very nice, I’ll move this to the front of the cabinet.
I forgot I had this one when I first got to work today! I even wrote down tasting notes and stuck it in my pocket! These are teas that we get at work.
It’s okay, it just tastes like black really. I might have oversteeped this one, it was a little tannin-y. But no aftertaste, just a little astringent. It’s golden brown tea. I detect sweet notes, maybe fruity, but very minimal. And the initial smell is almost a little grassy, like a field. I think I can get better black tea taste from my trusted PG Tips.
Okay, I am logging this again because I really really am loving this one. Maybe it’s my mood today (unexpectedly inexplicably giddy), but I am loving this more and more. It was slow at work so I even got to properly time it (only three minutes) and got two steepings in before I went home, enjoying third steeping as I type. :-) It is consistently yummy every time, again woodsy and pastoral. I could also be growing too fond of it because I swear my hair stylist dyed my hair the same dark dark brown with a hint of red color. I looked in my cup and saw my hair. :-D
The leaves come out of the tin looking like those dehydrated worms that you feed fish with. But they unfurl into pretty whole leaves! And the color of the tea is so nice, a medium dark golden brown. It smells, well, like wet leaves.
I like the taste, woodsy, mushroomy, a hint of sweetness, a little nutty, yet very delicate. The flavor comes out more as it cools. I like this one. I don’t think it has a whole lot of caffeine in it because I fell asleep on the couch after having two cups this afternoon. So I think this is something I can have late into the day as well and not be up all night. It would be good after a long after dinner stroll on a cold evening.
So I brought some over to my mom. She’s wondering why it’s called “hongcha” if it’s not red, which I was curious about too. And she got none of the aroma or taste notes that I got, “it’s just roasted, that’s it.” haha! Well, my mom and I have never agreed on much, we’ll just add this to the pile! :-D
I’m confused. It kind of tastes like a mild chai. Smells like vanilla, but doesn’t really taste like it. I even tried it with some sugar, and then it tasted like a mild sweet chai. And by mild, I mean weak.
Hmm, I don’t know what I was expecting from this tea. But what I got was not great. I think what added to the disappointment was that I was coming off of a great pu-erh, so I was on a tea high, then this bummed it all out.
I got this at Whole Foods, they mix concentrated tea with sparkling water. I’m not a fan of carbonation, except in my champagne and beer, so I wasn’t sure about this. But really, it’s good, sweet of course, not quite like juice, but close. And the bubbles weren’t bad. Didn’t taste a lot of green tea, but the citrus and the mint went together nicely, and I think I detected maybe a hint of ginger, because there was a little bit of a zing in it. Next time I’m there, I’m going to try the Sparkling Berry White Tea flavor.
I steeped this for 90 seconds, they recommend 1-2 minutes, so I went half way. Dark dark, looks like coffee, but with a reddish tinge. Smell is damp grassy kind of smelling. The taste is mellow, contrasting the dark color. It’s mellow, smooth, and a little sweet, like a blend of an oolong and a pekoe. It reminds me of my mom’s old tea pot she brought with her from China almost 40 something years ago (she still has it and the basket, and uses it!), just very earthy and pastoral. So so nice, and a good pick from World Market!
So I “remembered” the numbers wrong, it was to steep for 4-5 minutes! haha! So today, my second steeping with the same leaves, I did it for 4 minutes. Was pitch black instantly, so letting it steep for 4 minutes was a little nerve racking for me, I didn’t want it to turn bitter! But now the vegetal kind of taste comes through more, and it still keeps its mellowness and hint of sweetness. So even at 4 minutes, still good!
So my local coffee shop calls this “Grand Crus tea”, but they get their tea from Cafe Moto, so I put it under the name that Cafe Moto uses.
Now I know why they called this Grand Crus! This is really one of the finest jasmine pearl teas I have ever had. Beautiful fragrance, light taste, lasted through 4 steepings with no change in taste. The second steeping I even forgot about it while at work, so it turned out darker than the first, but no bitterness, just jasmine goodness down to the last drop! I hated throwing this away, but I didn’t have anything to store it in for transporting, and as much as I love this, I didn’t want it all over my car.
It was well worth the extra dollar I paid for this, the same price as a mocha! I would totally “splurge” and get this again, I felt like a princess drinking this. :-)
I haven’t had anything lately that wasn’t something I already talked about on here, but I’ve been working my new Mickey head tea ball, a late Christmas gift from my BFF, and I love that thing! It makes it easier to bring my loose leafs to work with me! The ball has Mickey ears and it even comes with a Mickey head tray, all stainless steel, my favorite steel in the microscope! My BFF, she knows me! :-D
Anyway, this sencha is nice, roasted grass flavor, a medium hued liquor, light scent. Not outstanding, but nice quality.
