New Tasting Notes

So I am currently enjoying my 2nd attempt at a homemade chai tea latte. I think the second attempt turned out better than the first. It seems to have much more tea flavor, and I even used a milk frother so it has the foam on top like when you get it at a coffee place. I am definitely enjoying!

P.S. thanks cofftea I used your advice!

So this is my first gunpowder tea experience, I have to say, I’m not all that impressed. Right from the get-go, the smell of the leaves, I smelled a strong almost burnt green smell, it reminded me of bitter and earthy green tea, uh-oh.

I brewed the sample hot, 2.5 minutes, no additives. The smell of the tea is very green: vegetal, earthy, rough, a heavy smell that tells you the mouth feel will not be smooth or short. I usually like green tea, furthermore, I usually like overinfused and bitter green, but this is a different beast altogether. The taste of this tea starts as green, very bitter green, but there is an unpleasant smoky-ness to it, not like Lapsang Souchong, like unintentionally burned tea, followed by more bitter and finished with a strangely misplaced hit of sweetness. Surprisingly, there is no aftertaste.

So, bitter, burnt, bitter, sweet, nothing.

There are probably ways to fix this, adding sugar or messing with infusion times. Since my sample is out, I will have to try something else.

My Rishi chai sampler came in today, and this is the first one I’ve tried. Quite delicious! I added some sweetener and milk after brewing, and it has a perfect balance of sweet and spicy. Smooth on the sip, but going down has just the right kick from the ginger and pepper. I’m definitely going to have to order more of this, I can see the sampler pack being gone before the end of the week… unless one of the other 3 samplers can beat this one. I hope they give it a good try!

Today was another long day in the laboratory. I was excited to come home to some new teaware. I received the Tea Forte Kati double walled ceramic tea brewing cup-thing. I decided to make some oolong and this came to mind.
It tastes like lentils and that’s all I have to say.

These leaves are huge, it was really hard to measure out the right size portion for my teapot, but I managed :)

To be fair, I’ve been a bit on the sick side the past few days so my taste may be off. The smell out of the package was interesting and very sweet and bakey…like the smell of a strawberry cake in the oven. I don’t usually like white tea, so hopefully this will change my mind. This brews up a very pale color, almost clear, which I guess is typical for white tea. The taste is good, there actually is a taste. With white tea, I usually just get scented hot water, but this has a taste. Maybe adding a bit of sweetener will bring out the strawberry more….I’ll be right back…

Okay, I added just a scant bit of sugar. WOW! What a difference a little sweetener makes! The strawberry is actually at the forefront now, although the bakey type smell doesn’t translate into the taste. I wonder if a bit of milk would really transform this into more of a dessert tea, but I’m a little scared to try it because the tea is so light to begin with. Maybe another day.

I’m rating this tea based on it being the only white tea to date that I would love to have more of. I don’t know if I will order this when my sample is done, but it is possible.

I’m here listening to This American Life (episode 401: Parent Trap: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/401/parent-trap) and packaging up tea. So why not drink some tea.

Well, I won this tea through Leafbox Tea’s Giveaway, which is pretty awesome! Got this and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, and both of them came in today. So I figured, this one is caffeine free, I’m sleepy-ish, and it’s here… why not?

Anyway, this one smells ridiculously like root beer. Not even kidding. When I opened up the box, I could just smell it coming from the tin! The rooibos here are a lot tinier than I usually see, really finely chopped.

So I steeped up a heaping teaspoon, watched the water turn ruby-red. I should mention at this point that I’m actually not the biggest fan of root beer! I will definitely drink it if offered, but I probably won’t reach for it by myself. It’s a pretty good flavor, but it tastes a lot like bubble gum to me. I’m more of a ginger beer sort of person.

That being said, the infusion smelled exactly like root beer. And I’m happy to report, the taste is pretty awesome as well. It’s not as thick and syrupy as I thought it’d be. It’s actually a lot easier and lighter to drink than real root beer. The rooibos isn’t really a star here; the flavoring is, and that’s perfectly okay, because the flavor is deliriously authentic.

Halfway through my mug, I decided to get a little frisky/creative/adventurous and add a bit of Very Vanilla Silk and a tiny pinch of sugar to the cup. This was actually better than the plain! It was creamier and silkier, with a nice milkiness that complemented the root beer flavors. Definitely something that was very sippable and comforting.

So yay to Pete at Leafbox Tea and TheNecessiTeas for having the giveaway. Still in shock that I won! And shocked that I liked this one as much as I did, because novelty teas are sometimes not my thing. GOOD tasting novelty teas, however… I’m ALL over that.

I love this tea- a mild mint flavor (that is not as powerful as typical peppermint black tea) w/subtle background of strawberries to add some sweetness….

Yum a very mild green tea- There is no noticeable vegetal flavor in this tea. The flavors are very subtle: almonds, chocolate…smooth from the added chamomile. Can actually see the bits of nuts. Note that this tea does not have a strong chocolate flavor……

I arrived an hour early to university today as unknowingly I did not have a class. So turning misfortune into opportunity I decoded to have my first cup of the day. I walked into a new coffee and tea shop that has just opened to see what they offer, teas by T2 it seems. Bother.

None the less I place my order for Earl Grey and despite the fact it is dispensed on a paper cup I take a seat in their comfy seats. Now the tea. After what could only have been 60 seconds the tea is already jet black and although risking biting mh mouth I taste it and no flavourhas yet been imbued in the liqour. I smell burgamot but that’s it. A little citrus here and there but other than an overly malty back note reminicent of every cheap tea I might as well have ordered the dish water.

Well atleast there’s hope for the day.

It’s odd. I picked up the tin of this tea thinking it would be full and found it nearly half gone. Thinking on this, I realize that pouchong is always the first tea to be emptied out of my stash, closely followed by wuyi ensemble. There’s something about this tea that makes it vanish into thin air. On the first sip, it has a very lovely, classic oolong taste to it, but with my vague cold, after the first few sips, it just taste like warm tea that will heal my throat. Either way, I’m enjoying it, and I guess if it’s the first to go, I should order more of it next time.

Yes, because I need more tea today. And yet, I kind of do. Out of general shell-shock-ed-ness I’m not taking this one past two steeps.

This is a happy tea. I could stand for this to be a little stronger but then I probably should have used less water then, shouldn’t I? Yes. Regardless, this one is still fresh and sweet but a bit citrus-y refreshing and it makes me think happy thoughts. Which is sad because finishing this one off means I think I’m out of good Japanese greens. I’ll have to dig around to see if I have one more little bit hiding somewhere but I don’t think I do. But fortunately at least Maeda-en has started to accept shincha pre-orders so I have a feeling my lack of Japanese greens won’t last for long.
5.9g/12oz

Yay! My second Teas Etc. order arrived today! I immediately steeped this one. Some quick impressions (because I’m supposed to be working):

This tastes like sunshine! So bright and sunny. It’s immediately uplifting. I imagine running through a meadow at springtime like Laura in Little House on the Prairie.

It’s a beautiful day here (a strange but cool combination of sun with intermittent rains) and I’ve been feeling good today so this matches nicely. :)

I remember eating and really enjoying those honey-sesame snaps so I added a teapsoon of honey to see if I could get this tea to taste in any way similar. It sort of does but there’s a bitter bite that comes through the honey – maybe I just need to add more.

Today I bought my coffee beans at the Starbucks on campus, and they offered me a free cup of coffee. I asked if I could have tea instead and they said sure! so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try the whole leaf version for free!

It is an improvement. Still weak but a touch more flavor. Less bitter but still some bitterness. All in all, a very lackluster tea. Bumping the rating up a bit since it is an improvement over the previous version, but I can’t recommend.

Very light and refreshing. Minty but not overwhelming. Good for relaxing, not waking up. More pricey than my usual tea.

I bought this because it looked weird. I love weird teas. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed when I got it. It says on the packaging, but not the website, that this is red chili pepper- not the red bell pepper I assumed it to be. Yeah, yeah. I know what happens when I assume. Speaking of the packaging… I bought the bag, not the tin. When sealed, it’s definitely protected from the elements buuut… once opened (it needs to be cut) it is not protected at all. I’m sorry, but a company that expects me to pay more for the same amount of tea to be protected from the elements for the entire time it stays in my cupboard is quite underhanded. That annoys me.

Anyway, back to the tea. Steeped as suggested except that I didn’t bring the water quite to a boil to preserve the health benefits. The liquor is a dark brown w/ reddish tones and the aroma is earthy and toasty.

Now if you freaked out as soon as I said chili pepper, don’t. This is not as spicy as 52teas Mayan Chocolate Chai. The chili leaves plenty of room for the depth of the oolong to come out. It would; however, pair wonderfully w/ a chai spice mix to make an oolong chai.

I think this one will grow on me. I’ve seen it suggested both hot and iced in reviews for the same from various companies. This one I tried warm, because in the Minnesotan Tundra warm is good, with about 1tsp of sugar. I also steeped it for 45sec longer than the suggested steep time, as my past experience with green teas have been a more subtle taste that I am typically enjoy. I think I will scale it back by 15sec in the future, as the spearmint was a bit much on this cup. The flavor is what you would expect: spearmint, with it fading to a clean “grassy” after effect. It left my mouth feeling clean, and once it cooled down a bit, it lent itself to being drunk rather than sipped. I think in the summer this will make a great sweetened iced tea, as many have suggested. I think once I get the steep time, and the drinking temperature worked out, this will become a cupboard staple :)

This has probably been my favorite flavored tea I have tried since I switched from pop to tea. I only mention the switch to give you an idea of where my tastebud’s fall, I’m not generally inclined to the subtle :) Maybe I’ll get there on day. Anyway, this tea might have been better named “Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal”, as me and my wife both agree that’s what it smells like, however the taste is at a midpoint between Apple Pie, and the Oatmeal. I put about 2 teaspoons of honey/1teaspoon sugar in the bottom of a 12oz cup, and used 2tsp of tea in the infuser (as the instructions suggested 1tsp/6oz, unlike the 1per 8oz i’ve seen on most other teas I’ve bought elsewhere). The result, after 3:45 steeping time (3:00 suggested) was a very definite, full flavored Apple Pie/Oatmeal taste that is perfect for sitting around on a cloudy Minnesotan Sunday afternoon. I would strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys boldly flavored teas.

Backlogging from last night…

This was my first cup of tea in like two weeks. That is absolutely insane. It just shows how crazy school and soccer have been. It felt so relaxing to just sit back and sip on some citron. Really need to order some new tea.

This is, surprisingly, a weak tea. Next time I think I’ll put two bags in my mug. It smells delicious and the taste almost lives up to that scent, but not quite. I do like it, though I wish there was a stronger Cardamom bent to it. It’s quite sweet and cinnamon-y and I’ll be eager to try it iced!
Update: I adore this tea and have almost finished the canister. Occasionally I’ll use two bags, but I’m giving it a longer steep time and the flavours are much better. It’s only so-so iced, so I prefer it hot. I’m upping my rating to 92ish _