Featured & New Tasting Notes
Tea of the morning here and it’s a sipdown. Okay, I only bought 1 oz. of this but it’s gone anyway. :)
I find a lot of teas are fine in smaller quantities unless I really love them, odds are I will get sick of drinking them before I finish an entire tin. I forgot to set the timer for this one and I walked off and left it steeping. It got a bit oversteeped but still drinkable, especially with soymilk and sugar.
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Taking a wee little break from tasting all of my new Kusmi teas and relaxing with this. From all the first-time notes I’ve been writing the past couple of days, it’s nice to just sit back and sip without thinking too hard about the flavor profile. I’m having it with sugar and whole milk this time around, and I think next time I try this I might do two sachets if I’m going to put milk in.
Do any of you lovely people have a good method for making hot or cold tea lattes? Please share if so, I have several teas I would like to try this way! :D
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I have my comfort teas that I like when I don’t want to think to hard or I just need something stable and normal and to turn out right.
But I am curious to hear the answers to the latte question.
Hah, I am definitely not one to judge when it comes to indulging! I have the most horrible sweet tooth ever, especially for creamy things. :P
I haven’t tried it yet but I might have to… I never though of adding it to tea! What have you done?! :P
i think its better than milk and sugar, and i never buy cream. its the best consistency. but dont overdo, while its hot it seems not enough and when it cooled could be sickening sweet. in my country we dont add anything to a tea, drinking on a side with cond. milk, or preserves,or pastries. BTW many yrs ago i was in Russian Tea Room with my hubby. thats where i got my first cup of Prince Vladimir with red currant preserve on a side.
I use half & half and splenda. I put them in the bottom of my cup and then froth them with a battery powered milk frother. Once it has frothed up, I add the tea.
@boychik – Yeah I noticed that the sweetener is more and more effective as the teas cools when I was trying all those Russian blends. Luckily they all tasted better warm anyway!
@Skulleigh – Do you use less water when you brew the tea or do you do it normally? I could see it making sense to reduce the amount of water proportionally to the volume of the milk you’re adding.
Having a nice cup of my favorite tea today on my anniversary. Today the hubby and I have been together for 20 years and this Sunday will be the 12 year anniversary of our wedding. Woo hoo! This week is really packed, we have a good friend’s birthday, our anniversary, father’s day, and a wedding. This week will certainly be busy but for now I’m relaxing and enjoying this delicious cup of chocolaty, caramely deliciousness. In other news, I noticed that the CDC came out with a list of Powerhouse (nutrient dense) Fruits and Vegetables. That’s pretty awesome, but ugh watercress, really. Guess I will have to look into some recipes that kind of hide the watercress. Here is a link for anyone interested: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/pdf/13_0390.pdf.
Awww, thanks guys! :) The hubs and I are going out to our favorite vegan restaurant (Vedge) in Philly to celebrate.
That CDC link was interesting too. I wonder which chinese cabbage they used in the study exactly. Aren’t there a billion of them?
Stephanie-I was wondering about that. Some of the categories are rather vague. Maybe Bok Choy? Another thing that left me with questions was using B12 as a basis for determining nutrient density. I thought B12 couldn’t be obtained from veggies or fruits due to the depletion of B12 in our soil. Maybe I’m wrong but this is big issue with vegans since we need to supplement B12.
Thanks Cheri, we love Vedge. Some people don’t love the small plate sizes but for me that just means we get to order more dishes.
Happy anniversary. In Denmark you’d wait another 6 months and celebrate your copper wedding at 12½ years, possibly with a larger do for friends and family. Half way to silver wedding, you see. :) (Husband thought this was bizarre)
Angrboda, that is a great idea! I love it. (Ours is coming up, and that would be a blast of a way to celebrate it.)
Aww, so glad I saw this post, Happy Anniversary!!!
And thanks for that awesome link! The addition of banana and pear help to reduce that watercress taste in green smoothies, it works for me at least, just thought I’d share :-)
Tea of the morning. This tea is insanely good. Today there is malt followed by a sweetness – kind of a non specific frutiness – and then salted caramel at the finish. So. Very. Yum. After I get my youngest to school I’ll resteep it. One thing I like about this tea is the flavor profile changes ever so slightly from cup to cup, so tasting it is always interesting.
I have been hoarding this tea, but I’m giving myself permission to drink it with the belief that I’ll be able to order more in the near future. Brenden, please tell me that’s true! :)Preparation
I don’t think they are related though I could be wrong. I believe the Laoshan Village is in the Shandong province and the Ailao Nature Reserve is in the Yunnan province.
Shan means mountain. Laoshan is named after Mount Lao I believe, and Ailaoshan translates to Mount Ailao…the nature preserve is quite perfect for tea production :) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAFuwKa5zMo/Um4UtKhvo1I/AAAAAAAAVCM/TfMwMMwWlKo/s1600/yuanyang-terraces-2.jpg
Queued post, written May 4th 2014
The last of my JW teas to try! The safe bet too. I’ve already mentioned how LS is so well known to me at this point that I don’t need to sample before buying. If I need a fresh supply of LS, I get one wherever I’m shopping. Sometimes I get one close to my preferred balance of body and smoke and sometimes I don’t, but they’re all Close Enough.
And every once in a while you run into one that hasn’t actually been smoked. It’s the same tea, it’s still an LS. It just hasn’t gone through a smoking process. I’ve had very good experiences with that variety too although it is a somewhat rare beast. I mention this now because sniffing at this cup, I’m not actually finding much smoke at all. It’s grainy and sweet with perhaps a little bit of smoke at the periphery, but that’s it. There’s a thick and sticky sort of note to it as well that makes me think of caramel. That note is quite strong.
At this point I read the label on the tin. It doesn’t actually say anything about smoke anywhere at all on the label. At all! Could this be an unsmoked LS, I wonder? I does actually say caramel, though. HA! I totally called that.
Further reading on the website mentions smoky undertones. UNDERtones! That implies a naturally occuring note of smoke, doesn’t it, rather than something added to it. It’s a Fujian black, so a natural smoke note would not at all be unusual.
The smoke note is relatively strong on the flavour, but again not at all as strong as it would be if it had been smoked. At least not if it had been smoked to the degree of the LS I’m used to drinking. I suppose it coud have been smoked very lightly to enhance the natural note. I’m a little in doubt now about whether or not I think it’s gone through a smoking process. Interestingly, I was reading what other people wrote about it and a couple of people felt this one had heavy smoke notes. What have they been drinking? I’m finding it quite mild! Or am I simply too familiar with LS at this point that I can no longer view it objectively? (Not that tea tasting could ever be objective, but I think you know what I mean. I can’t find a better way to express it.)
It’s still quite grainy and sweet, just like it smells. The caramel note is not as strong in the flavour as it is in the aroma, though. I believe it’s the smoke note that tempers it somewhat. It’s a very dark sort of caramel, not a milky one. Caramel sweet as opposed to fruity sweet. That’s a new one. I’ve usually found LS quite fruity-sweet.
The more it cools, though, the stronger the smoky note gets. I take it back, this is definitely not unsmoked. It’s just… trying to pass itself off that way.
Smooth and strong. A good way to start the day.
I happened across a LS review yesterday with a comment on it that unsmoked LS is becoming more common because of import restrictions/pine smoke bad or something, but I don’t remember what I was looking at in order to refind it, and google is failing me. I remember thinking “baroo?” at the comment, as it didn’t mention where they were that such restrictions were happening. Oddness.
What about your browser history?
I seem to vaguely recall having heard such a thing before, but if smoked foods in general are bad, well… In Denmark we smoke all sorts of things. Fish, sausages, meat, even a certain cheese. We’d be in trouble if restrictions were introduced! O.o
Yeah, in the US we like smoked salmon, ham, sausage, and cheese too. It doesn’t seem like a restriction that would actually be implemented successfully!
Oh, re: browser history – I was on like 5 different devices/machines yesterday. I are technogeek. I have no idea which device I was on :D
I found myself scoping cadeau-deco-vendome ( A Dammann reseller) so I figured that this is as good a time as any to dig into the samples that Sil sent me.
This tea smells like butter, roasted hazelnuts and vanilla and has a light maple wood coloured broth after steeping at 1tsp/225ml/4min/95°C.
There is a lovely roasted hazelnut note with a touch of a wood in the flavouring, as well as a touch of butter caramel and a warm vanilla tone. The flavouring blends well with the base tea which is slightly fruity with a cocoa note and is relatively innocuous except for providing a light astringency and a medium body. The flavouring is light and subtle as is the tea itself.
Thanks for the treat Sil
My experience with cadeau-vendome was so awful…brings back bad memories. Guess I was just unlucky though cause everyone on Steepster seems so happy with them.
Both!!! The whole thing was surreal, really, maybe all their regular staff was on vacation or something and an unexperienced employee took care of my order. I know it’s overseas, but the box that it arrived in was so damaged, it was made of very thin cardboard and nearly got destroyed in transport. The tea was poorly packaged, not sealed, and not even labeled as Dammann Frères, so it could have been anything really. The worst was the smell: believe it or not, the tea was wrapped directly in smelly newspaper, the smell was so strong it took over the entire box! The tea not being sealed, it got compromised. They all tasted like cigarette ashes! I wrote them twice, they never answered back… I decided to let it go cause the whole thing made me too angry, didn’t want to think about it anymore, lol.
That’s awful. My experience was awful, but I have noticed that some of the less popular teas can taste a little weak. My experiences with them were good, but I did notice that in the shipping notice they say to refuse acceptance of the package if it appears damaged. Any ways my next French tea purchase is used to be Betjeman and Barton from fouvrac in Montreal, but I always get sidetracked by other things.
At the moment no. But they claim to carry the whole line and as a bonus I think you can order 50g. So, if your interested build an order from http://www.betjemanandbarton.com/fr/ and then you order over the phone at http://www.betjemanandbarton.com/en/content/9-world
If you have any questions first you can contact fouvrac through Facebook first https://m.facebook.com/lefouvrac?_rdr. They sell the teas at both locations.
I’m guessing people at Fouvrac would speak some English? Because my spoken French is not good enough to place a tea order. I could email them in French, but…
They do. I wrote them on Facebook and they responded in English. As well, a member of Steepster, I think they were in California ordered this way with no problems a number of months ago.
OMGsrsly, I’m pretty sure they do, I don’t know many merchants who don’t in Montreal, businesses are 99% at least bilingual. Sometimes, it’s even the other way around, they don’t speak French, lol.
I haven’t placed my order yet. It cost $10.00 to ship 200g of tea for the US order. I was just told that shipping was reasonable when I mad my original enquiry.
Seriously, guys, you are all just a bunch of enablers. OMGsrsly peer pressured me into having a small evening foods, I made a pitcher of Jardin Sauvage because of TheTeaFairy, and then DTT posted about bringing old blends back into stock and I remembered this and absolutely had to have it.
And yes, this sample is still alive and there is enough left for one more cup. I was going to have some on my birthday, but I ended up having so much other good stuff there was no room for more tea.
This is still so tasty.
And I still feel dirty for liking it so much.
Considering possibly nudging it up five points. Shhh. Tell no one.
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Not even remotely. Here is what I think it tastes like: http://steepster.com/clareborn/posts/227538
Haha! Hilarious, yes we are a bunch of enablers, aren’t we? Like I spent my entire day under a blanket, reading a book and sipping oolong because of TeaTiff! ( yes, I proudly play the blaming game!!)
So it seems like my first thoughts about this being similar to DAVIDs Birthday Cake is probably right. Thank you for sharing :)
And VariaTEA – I haven’t tried that yet, but I’m going to try to trick Sil into getting some for me for our swap!
No need to trick Sil because I have lots and am happy to share. Also, I will be by David’s tomorrow and can pick stuff up :)
No, because Sil must go there and get me the Movie Night she LOATHES BEYOND WORDS AND COMPREHENSION.
It’s pretty funny.
Alright. So I will leave this for Sil to get you unless instructed otherwise prior to our eventual swap
lmao…. it’s all a vicious plot to make me go to davids…but i’m ok with that… though honestly, we should all just get together and make one GIANT BOX for anna that takes like 2 ppl to carry…
Yes. My box for Anna, I meant. Clarification achieved. Although your box is a little bigger than Anna’s, Sil.
I’ll weigh before I finally manage to send (next week now because I’m visiting family this weekend) and report back. :D
Wait, I just read this whole thing – OMGsrsly, what are you DOING?! What is in this box? I DEMAND TO KNOW. No, wait I don’t want to know. Or… no. But. NO. ARGH.
It would be so awesome if you were in the box and I opened it and you came walking out and it turned out YOU’VE BEEN THAT SIZE ALL ALONG.
Also, you’re lucky you don’t weigh less than 500g, because otherwise I would never let you out of my purse and that might get boring for you.
Those two tigers are head to head and create magic in my cup this morning!
Thanks to the wonderful and very generous Terri Harplady, I finally get to experience what Devotea is all about.
I chose this tea first cause with the name, I assumed it would be a good tea of the morning. If this stuff is an accurate representation of the company, well I am impressed!
The smell first. My grandfather was a farmer and worked really hard. At noon, he would come to eat lunch and my grandma always prepared a nice pot of strong black tea with sugar for him, just the way he liked it. The aroma took over the whole kitchen and I loved it so much as a child. My grandpa would let me have a few sips, winking at me.
The smell of this tea just reminded me of those special days, and I am already thankful for that…It’s super fragrant.
It says “a blend of Indian and Chinese teas” in the description…Assam for sure, and I am assuming Yunnan cause this tea offers boldness and mellowness at the same time.
First I taste a “bang” from the Assam and a light astringency, but I immediately get some comfort and softness from the earthiness and sweetness of the yunnan, (if that’s what it is).
There’s a very light touch of smoke in this tea, and though I’m not a fan of that usually, in this case it’s not offensive, it rather brings all the flavours together.
I am delighted I got to try this wondrful tea, thank you so much for choosing it for me Terri :-)
this story is beautiful. My grandpa has a special place in my heart.
Im in love with this tea. Do you know that AmazonV decided to make it tea of the month because of my constant whining.
Haha! Didn’t know it was a favourite of yours, now I’m gonna read your review…
Plwa
Please excuse my lack of knowledge but what is AmazonV? (Lol, I’m Canadian, remember?) Is that a special place for tea on Amazon that I’m unaware of???
Lol, the minute you said Amazon, I was like, OMG more tea available to me please!! I know who you are talking about now :-)
Cameron B.: Hahahah!!!
pls read the comments of my note TheTeaFairy. you, Canadian friend is cracking me up (good laugh only);-)
http://steepster.com/boychik/posts/245567#comments
“OMG more tea available to me please!! " you are priceless ;-)
you need more tea???!!!!i can send you some. i now have an experience
Boychik, I read all the comments, lol, it’s good to be persistent :-)
Noooooo!!!! I don’t need more tea!! (345!!!) I just want more all the time, it’s a curse!!!
teafairy… i WAS at 205…aiming for under 200 by this weekend… bonny put me back up at 231 lol boychik…yes but sometimes sip downs are solo tiring…especially when you have like 131 small cups to drink hahaha
…and uh i might have one more swap, two travelling tea boxes and uh two orders still on their way bwahahaha
(i also really wanted to place a WP order tonight but i’m still sick and so sleep is taking over lol)
Thanks TeaTiff, it’s a wonderful tea…
Teabrat, I got it from a swap, but read the comments on boychik’s link just above.
My favorite leafhopper tea! And I got a BUNCH of it for my birthday! :D
Tastes like rich and sweet like waffles…yum yum yum.
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I’m actually really happy I decided to place my last Butiki order…and then I stuck myself on tea buying hiatus for a while because I perhaps ordered too much. I love Butiki teas, so I have no regret over the order. I just wonder how I’m going to drink all the tea in my pantry. I now have tea on 3 shelves.
Before I start playing with this tea, I have to say I’m pretty sold on it, as I usually love Dancong oolongs.
It’s always interesting to see how very light and clear the infusion of such dark leaves produce.
Oh, if this tastes half as good as it smells like, I’m in for a treat!
It unmistakably smells like unsalted cashews, really, who doesn’t love cashews?
The taste is also very nutty and creamy, think marzipan. That nutty richness is cut by a brisk orange citrus taste, a characteristic flavour of this tea.
The second steep doesn’t smell as nutty as the first, now the orange blossoms are really shinning, taking control of the cup and it really lingers in the mouth.
On third and fourth steeps, I get citrus, peppercorn and cilantro. It’s a different tea.
I stopped at the fifth infusion cause I like a strong tea and to me, it was getting watery.
You can easily get to 15 even 20 infusions Gongfu style with this type of oolong, but I promised myself I would follow the WP recommended brewing method this first time around.
I am happy I did, I got many good cups western style, but I can’t wait to spend a full afternoon with it using the Gaiwan.
Another lovely tea from Whispering Pines…my experience with them has been flawless so far :-)
Flavors: Citrus, Coriander, Creamy, Marzipan, Nuts, Orange Blossom, Peppercorn
I like this type of Dancong, the one I love has this really interesting liqueur tones that reminds me of this whisky based liqueur that my cousin brought back from Scotland.
Sounds lovely! I’ve tried two different Huang Zhi Xiang wulongs, one from Seven Cups and the other from Verdant. The former was so sweet, it was as if I was drinking straight mango and passion fruit nectar. The latter was more mellow, still juicy and sweet with oaky notes. And yours, well, again, it sounds completely different! That must go to show how even on particular tea can change character from purveyor to purveyor.
Chadao, I have verdant also, you are right, it’s very sweet in an almost fruit juice kind of way. I will have to see how different this one is Gongfu style. I am expecting sweeter notes that way. And I agree, it’s amazing how different tea can be from on estate to the other, or from one harvest to the other. I’ve had a Da Yu Ling oolong recently that was so muted in taste compared to the regular brand I normally drink.
I did! Didn’t I review it a second time?
Its more boozy and orangy with short steeps…I much prefer it that way, it keeps changing from one steep to the next…that’s why I like gongfu brewing so much…did you try it yourself?
Yep, I have. I like it more that way too :) I think you did review it now that I’m thinking about it…hmmm…haha
Lol, no worries, I can’t remember myself…But I drank it many times this way already and it’s much more complex, my favourite way for pretty much any oolong. I bought a nice Yixing pot for them, just can’t decided if I should use it for green oolong or more oxidized like this one…big dilemma.
Normally I would comment something like – just get another then you don’t have to decide – BUT I would be remiss of me not to bring up the fact that you’ve agreed to go on an yixing buying hiatus…. ;)
Haha!! Dexter, thanks for keeping an eye on me…but let’s not give that story to the world…not my finest moment, oops :-O
But, but, I was just on Zen Tea’s website cause my heart is just like my little pumpkin pot…it’s broken :-( what to do???
:) I just bought two yixing pots (my first ones) last week! I’m stoked!
I’ve got a set of yixing cups for yunnan blacks, shou puer, and lapsang…so I bought a 120ml red yixing pot to match my yunnan black yixing cups and a 150ml black yixing pot to match my shou puer cups :)
If only they made 50ml yixing pots…i would be ALL OVER THAT. I can’t get over small teaware. It’s just so…adorable and perfect. :P
Remember that number you quoted not that long ago (but long enough that you’ve placed more orders since) – THAT NUMBER – you know the scary one – and it didn’t include any of the tins for you organization project…. I have no problem with you replacing your pumpkin pot – just trying to look out for you….
Brenden, that’s so cute! I love tiny teaware too but a 50ml pot?? Lol, that’s one sip! Have you seasoned them yet?
Oh, but Dexter, I just want the pots!! No tea. Lol, Brenden seems to be getting all my business lately anyways :-)
Those Zen Tea pots are going to disapear very soon, unbeatable quality for the price. I was thinking of replacing the broken one + the one the boychik got, the orange one. Then I’m gonna lock them up so I don’t break them no more. What do you think?
If I told you what I really thought (you should use and love them not lock them up) – you would laugh hysterically and tell me to take a look in my own cupboard, no right to give you advice etc. I would say something like do as I say not as I do – you would smile, pat me on the head and buy one anyway. :))
LOL you can do what you like, I’m just trying to do my job as the “voice of reason”.
(For those that don’t understand – I have four yixing pots, I’ve only seasoned one – not using any of them – I have no right to tell anyone that they should be using and enjoying their teaware…)
Lol, we know each other too well by now, scary!! The thing is, before I went to “breaking” mode, I was using them on REGULAR basis….but now my confidence is shaken…I’m wondering if they are better off being just “looked at” instead of end up cracked on the floor!!!
(Smile, pat on the shoulder… I just bought them!!)
Nope, they’re still on the way to me, but I’ll be seasoning them right away when they arrive!
Lol, Dexter…I can’t imagine having teaware that didnt get used!
I would highly suggest creating a tea space with thick fuzzy carpet under the drinking area. I personally have a nice big carpet under my tea table, which is only a few inches taller than my knee. I’ve dropped many cups off of the table and none of them have broken :)
Brenden are your yixing cups porcelain lined? or are they just clay? How do you like drinking out of them? I have a yixing mug (I understand that’s not what you have) and I don’t like the roughness of the clay to drink out of – don’t like how it feels in the mouth, against teeth. I have itty, bitty, teeny tiny clay tasting cups, but have never used them – too small, and afraid of the clay feel. Just wondering if proper sized cups would be better?
Fairy – I am not surprised. :))
It is scary, don’t need to actually HAVE the conversation to know how it would go. Enjoy your new pots!!!
One of these days I’m going to take a me tea day and actually spend some quality time with some of my GOOD teas and GOOD teaware – just need to find some time…
Brenden, i had a phase of uncontrollable clumsiness…let’s hope it’s over now. But the carpet is an option to consider ;-) i’d love to see your pots when you get them!!
Dexter, You know I hope and pray everyday for that to happen for you my dear friend :-)
Dexter, totally unglazed. I love drinking out of them…when I first got them, I didnt season them and they felt and tasted rough, just like you explained. After I seasoned them they began to feel smoother on the lips and produce much better tasting tea. I didn’t think I would notice much difference, but after using them for a few months I definitely started tasting a difference. All of the teas I make in them are so much smoother and cleaner tasting. I have a set of clay cups that are really low quality and i couldn’t stand to drink out of them…after seasoning it was so much better…but still definitely not as good as a good quality cup.
TeaFairy, I will definitely be posting pictures on here. Excited! :)
Also, I like to pour my first cup of the session into the yixing cups and let it sit for a minute before drinking. This seems to “open” the teacups up. Could just be my imagination though :P
Thanks Brenden – now that you say it – makes perfect sense. I did let tea sit in my mug a couple of times when I first got it to “season”, but I didn’t submerge it. That’s what I need to do, build up some patina on the lip and outside to cut down the rough mouth feel. I really want to love my yixing mug – I’m way more of a coffee mug rather than tiny cup kind of girl – this seemed like the best of both world. I’m going to submerge my mug a few times and see if I can’t get it to “smooth out”. Thanks for the advice. :))
The tea smells fabulous with sweet potato,cocoa, the brighter tones of malt and the spicy tones of gardenia, sharper tasting sweet berries and a touch of honey.
The dry leaf is mostly chocolate brown broken leaves with scattered golden tips
Once brewed it yields a red toned broth
There is a light flavour at first that is slightly vegetal with the bitter tones of malt, but this quickly dissapears and you get the heavier tones of malt, cocoa, and gardenia, that then sweeten into fruit, honey and cocoa notes. As it cools sweet potato is present in the first notes as well as a citrus note, and a hint of floral. Allowed to cool further the fruit notes come to the forefront with the sweet potato and the berry notes are more distinct.
The tea resteeps quite well, with sweet potato, citrus and malt notes more apparent.
I brewed this tea at around 92°C for three minutes and there is a mild astringency and a cooling feeling at the top of the mouth. There seems to be more caffeine in this one than Tiger Assam as I feel it buzzing in my upper arms. I am quite enjoying this mix of floral spice, fruit, cocoa and bitter tones. I might actually prefer it to Tiger Assam.
Thanks Sil this was a perfect first cup for today!
i wasnt impressed at first time i tried a sample. im so glad i picked a tin on NYC Fest. The more i drink it, the more i fall in love with this tea.
I think it might be a tea that might be easy to over steep, it does have those bitter tones. Others have found it to be astringent thats why I used a cooler temperature. The very first sip when hot was kind of vegetal and thin but as it cools it transforms to something really pleasant.
Yyz, you always make me want to drink whatever you’re having, but it’s rarely in my cupboard :-(
This time, it is!! I recently received a huge sample from a generous tea friend, I think I will try it tomorrow morning…
yay! glad you’re enjoying it. it’s nice to be able to try these before committing to a whole 4.4oz tin!
thank you Angel of teavivre for sending me this tea. As most of you know, greens are not my go to tea. That being said, these teas from angel are almost enough to make me want to change my mind. :) This is a fabulous dragon well. it’s tangy and very much GREEN but without that overly vegetal taste that i dislike. there’s a buttery sweetness to this as well that i am loving! i drank more than a few cups of this today. I may need to see if a joint order is possible since i DO love these teas but i can’t get through a 100g bag fast enough to keep the freshness!
I would definitely be up for that! I’ve heard so many good things about Teavivre but I haven’t tried anything from there yet. I don’t know which teas you’re interested in but I think I’d be willing to trust your judgment. :P
(I told you before Sil…me think you are slowly leaving Dexter behind and joining forces with me to the “green side”, muahahaha!!!)
cameron – have to wait a while before i can pick up more teas sadly, but i’ll keep you in mind. heh teavivre has some incredible teas, and it seems like i am loving their green teas when it’s their blacks that are one of my go to places.
I’m with you guys on the dark side….haha. But so far I’ve actually enjoyed the green tea from Teavivre!
to be fair i do like green teas, i just don’t crave them like i do black teas…so if i buy too many of them, they end up losing their freshness…which is part of my operation to get to within 6 months of tea purchases…
Part two of the date involved coming back to my place (because he actually lives 20 min. outside of town so that didn’t seem like a better option) to watch Game of Thrones. I’ve never seen GoT until today but I decided to give it a shot since he really likes it, and it seemed like something fun to do together and he was on board with the idea.
We actually didn’t get to watch much GoT. And get your heads of the gutter; it was just ‘cause my computer was being really shitty and videos longer than three or four minutes ended up being heavily problematic when it came to loading them. Boo to that. So, we watched two episodes: my impression thus far is that I like Tyrian, Daenerys, and Joffrey. Of course my impression on these characters is formed around two episodes of content; but Tre and Tyrell seem shocked I like Joffrey. I get he’s a total asshat, but I think that’s why I like him? I don’t know – I always fall for the most despicable characters.
Anyway, I sorta took Tyrell being around as an excuse to just make whatever teas happened to tickle my fancy, so I brewed up four teas at once; kinda as a “test” to see whether he could wrap his head around my “tea crazy” and he was pretty shocked_ just how many cups I was having in one go – but he was also on board with it and kinda just embraced the tea crazy. I think that’s a very good thing. Also, four cups at once isn’t that much of a stretch for me though two or three is closer to my norm. Didn’t want to get up to make tea mid episode, though.
I’m trying to finish this up which is why it was picked; but also I kinda just wanted something peachy too. I’m close to getting rid of the bag of this though; probably two cups left?
It was really good actually, peachy with sweet snap pea notes, until it began cooling off and then it just got crazy bitter crazy fast. That’s not cool. Boo to that! But oh well; it was nice for a while and I guess I’ll take that…
Flavors: Carrot, Lemongrass, Peach, Peas
Ok, it’s crazy that you like Joffrey. I hate him so much! But Littlefinger… I kinda like him, aside from the creeptastic behavior towards Sansa.
Oh tea twin, your feelings towards Joffrey is something we definitely do not share. However, the character gave me a whole new appreciation for the actor as he captured him impeccably well.
Oh wow! I don’t think I’ve had this one with cream before. It’s so good this way! Apricot and orange are NOT a flavour combo I thought I’d fall for, but I did.
Still, I think the 100g tin will be enough. Fauchon teas are expensive even in Europe, I think mostly for the seriously lovely tins. (I’m still looking at Madeleine de Miel, just because I’ve never seen these flavours before, and… honey tea! <3 http://www.fauchon.com/en/the-madeleine-au-miel.html)
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Madeleine de Miel was the one that caught my eye when I was browsing their website! You’ll have to tell us how it is if you do decide to try it. This one sounds delicious as well, I’m a sucker for anything apricot.
Someone has offered to send it to me, but it’s still $22 plus shipping. Almost as much as my beloved Chandernagor costs locally!
I just discovered Fauchon from other Steepsters posting about it, and I am so sad that it’s not available in the US. I signed up for Vente-Privee and I’ve been checking it every day like some kind of weirdo. >>
I want L’Hiver but I really don’t know if I am ready to spend $20 on 50g. So I definitely understand your hesitation about buying Fauchon.
Yeah, I was looking at that one too. It’s just so much, especially for a tea I haven’t tried. But MF Chandernagor? No problem, I’ll buy it even at $25 or $30 a tin. :) That’s what happens when a tea is a favourite.
I tried L’Hiver and liked it a lot but I still have issues paying $20 for 50g cuz that price is insane. I also would love to try the MF Gourmand teas but same problem of a huge price and a not so large amount of tea. I understand willing to spend for a favorite though.
Sucky tasting notes abound…sorry team…just trying to track this so I can get back to sleep. This is another courtesy of variaTEA and a decent one at that. It still can’t compete against the pumpkin tea that Terri and I love but this was a nice enough visit with the pumpkin spice :) thanks for sharing VT!
Seriously ridiculous bulk order sounds like a good time to me – especially if I can get even a small piece of it. :))
No I haven’t, but I’ve tried a MOUNTAIN of pumpkin teas and Della Terra Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie is my favorite. That should tell how excited I am to have the opportunity to try this one. Based on your comments I anticipate making everything else seem like warm swill water….
ew..no this one is better than della terra’s…though to be fair it’s got ginger, so if you’re a ginger hater, it won’t be for you :)
ok ppl, i need this what you are talking about. i dont know what tea is that, but based on your conspiracy … very intriguing…
haha boychik – this tea: http://steepster.com/teas/traveling-tea/42210-pumpkin-ginger-spice
terri sent me some, i feel in love with it…it’s terribly delicious and fresh and made with love and real pumpkin chunks… and it’s gone…and it’s a sad time because it’s pumpkin AND ginger..and i love it.
So really we are right back where we started with Terri needing to place a seriously ridiculous bulk order for us. ;))
Notice how I too just assumed my way in.
that’s how it goes.. and all i have to say is…as long as i get at least 200g…you ladies are all welcome to share in the joy of a giant order. lol otherwise…BACK OFF! (i kid i kid! but i wish i had this one to add to the GCTTB)
I am afraid I just ruined my nose by making my hair coloration this morning. This is a new one and I had a heavy scent of amoniac which just lingerates for 1 hour now.
I cannot really enjoy the tea as it is probably regarding smell but my taste is intact and I really enjoy sipping it.
I get all the things I love so much in Laoshan Black + a roastiness quite heavy to me. This is very lovely. Even if I tend to prefer the black version because I didn’t really get the Oolong-iness I was expecting from it.
Thank you so much Dexter for sharing.
Preparation
It’s probably just a very temporarily ruined nose. And hopefully your hair looks good enough to be worth a few hours of Temporary Nose Disorder!
thank you Anna for the support. Yes my nose came back but I am quite impressed a simple coloration can be so chimically nuisible, this is the first time I experience this.
I love how “shabby chic” White Peony tea looks like, unstructured and lacking in formal rules. The leaves look like they just woke up and didn’t have time to fix their hair yet!
Fluffy, some large and some small, oddly shaped, it’s beautifully disorganized.
Brewing it never fails me. It’s one of those I always go «Ahhh, yes, here you are, it’s been too long…» cause I usually shy away from white tea during winter but drink lots of it during summer season, cold or hot.
I am using the Gaiwan, I don’t measure or weigh it cause it’s too light, I just completely fill the vessel, it’s simpler.
It smells and tastes like hay warmed by the sun. It has beautiful notes of stone fruit, maybe apricot, and I also get some cucumber.
The second steep is always the best, it bursts with sweet melon juiciness, more stone fruit, hay still present.
Very relaxing and warming, a solid tea I can always rely on.
Welcome back to my life Bai Mu Dan!
I really enjoyed the Bai Mudan I tried and I will definitely be trying this brand as well. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Teavivre. :)
I’m very interested in the whole gaiwan / gong fu mechanic but I really have no idea what it entails. I guess it’s something that I will have to do some research on and try in the future!
Cameron, I don’t think you can go wrong with Teavivre!
Here’s a link I like a lot for an introduction to Gongfu brewing methods. I love it cause it also shows non formal methods to make it accessible to anybody, (if you don’t own a Gaiwan or a gongfu pot). All Verdan’t videos are fantastic, I have learned a lot with them. Hope it helps you and gives you a direction :-)
Lol, sherapop, I always think “bad hair day” when I look at it ;-)
Oops, here’s the link:
Sounds delicious! If you like bai cha (true “bai hao” white tea) like Bai Mu Dan, then you might also like its cousins, Shou Mei and Bai Hao Yin Zhen. Shou Mei is usually more robust, but still with that hay and delicate fruit flavor. Yin Zhen, you may have tried it, its delicately sweet and luxurious.
Thanks chadao :-) I love Silver Needle…I bought Shou Mei only once in form of a cake (also from Teavivre), it reminded me of some Sheng I’ve had. Was that what you were referring to?
Not quite, I’ve never actually heard of Shou Mei in cake form. I was thinking more along the lines of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoumei_tea
http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Shou-Mei-Organic-White-Tea-2013.html
Thanks for the links…here’s what I’ve had before, just FYI:
http://www.teavivre.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Shou+mei
It’s my birthday!!!
I’ve had a nice relaxing morning so far. Woke up and made a cup of Laoshan Black (yum) and made a Dutch Baby with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar on top (also YUM). Then my husband gave me some of my gifts…all were tea so far LOL!
He got me the Starbuck’s matchaccino copy from RedLeaf, and a HUGE box from Butiki including-
The Black Lotus
Blackberry Lime Guayusa
Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black
2009 Banchang tree Puerh (having that one now, SO GOOD!)
Kenyan Silver Needle
Stacy also threw in some excellent samples! Birthday cake (totes apropos) the NEW Chocolate Espresso with Strawberry Cream frosting (OMG can’t wait) and the phase one butterscotch chai trial, and a new Taiwanese Black! Thanks Stacy!!!
Tonight I’m going to a neat local event the call Zoo Brew. They close the local Zoo for the evening and people pay to get in and there are a TON of booths with food and beer samples of all sorts. My husband is actually in the local homebrew club so he will be there with 5 gallons of his donated beer (an Amber Ale) serving samples to the masses. The homebrew club booth is always the MOST popular…these guys are fantastic brewers but they can’t SELL their beer without the proper licensing, but they CAN donate it to events like this! People go nuts for their unique and tasty beers :) Anyway should be a great time if it doesn’t get rained out!
Sounds like a great start to your day! Way to go hubby on the gifts! And I love Dutch Babies, especially with honey. My mom has always made them for her kids on their birthdays. Wish there was a way to make them delicious without half a stick of butter.
Happy birthday, enjoy your tea. As an ex-homebrewer I’m sure the Zoo Brew will be a fun change of pace for your taste buds. Have fun!
Happy Birthday! Hope you have a fantastic day! Your hubby happened to mention that the teas were for your Bday, so had to throw in a sample of the Birthday Cake. FYI, the Butterscotch Chai is not going to happen. Just feel as though it is not right but it tastes great with sugar. Have fun at the Zoo Brew! That sounds awesome!
another backlog from yesterday, this one courtesy of VariaTEA I’m a little worried that i’ll get my teas from swaps mixed up so apologies if i miscredit someone with a tea they gave me. I’m trying to get them all separate since the house is a complete mess but who knows how well that will work. It was lovely to have this back in the house again. it’s one of the few teas from ATR that i really enjoy enough to want to purchase but they are a pain to get to canada. thanks for putting this back in my cupboard!
You’re welcome. NayLynn got 3-4 oz for me so I was more than happy to share as I haven’t been able to get to my cupboard teas lately, what with all the swaps, and I would hate for all that tea to go stale.
both of you…all your tea is packed up and ready for pick up (beyond anything you want to “shop” for at my place)…anytime is fine by me – my tea is one of the few things really organised in the house right now lol
Haha. I see you had your priorities straight. Tea first, everything else later. When I moved home, I insisted my box of tea go in the van with me as opposed to the moving truck and it was the first thing I unpacked.
Really, now. All the talking I do about this tea. All the references to the delights of the melon oolong. All that swagger. And yet I barely ever log it.
The main issue is that I’ve given most of it away, so I’ve been hoarding the rest of it, just a little bit, for summer. But now summer is here! 33 C in the shade, and Em and I have to go groceryin’, and Em is all but the heat and I’m all I love when it’s warm and Em is all noooo please carry me and I’m all well, if you’re a very very good little puddle of sweat i will buy you a gelato and I could go on but you get it.
This tea is gorgeous. I’ve been in doubt after all these melon white discussions – did I really note such a big difference between the two? Was I mistaken? I am very happy to announce (ha, classic hog) that I was not. This is so much better than the melon white, in my opinion – ripe, fruity, smooth, complex. This is really, really, really good.
Preparation
Backlog:
LOVE!
Some time ago, in the forums, I commented on the thread that asked what Dragonwell people were going to get this spring. This is one that I recommended. It’s an OUTSTANDING dragonwell.
Then again, you can’t really go wrong with Teavivre.
This is a very fresh Dragon Well, and it’s a freshness that can be tasted. Sweet, mild, fresh, pure, clean, nutty and buttery are all words that come to mind when I sipped this tea. It’s an invigorating and refreshing green tea.
A delightful chestnut flavor with a hint of steamed veggies. As I continued to sip, I could pick up on some apple-like flavors. Savory notes toward mid-sip: a little salty. A really, really good Dragonwell!
here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/04/21/organic-nonpareil-qian-dragon-well-long-jing-green-tea-teavivre/
Thank you Dexter for sharing this with me. It is a good genmaicha – roasty with a little bit of butter and grass from the base. A very pleasant cup, though, there is nothing particularly outstanding that I would go out of my way to stock it. I am glad I got to try it out though so thank you once again :).
Interesting – I like this one…. Can I ask what’s your favorite genmaicha? LOL If there is one out there that is significantly better than this I should be looking for it. ;))
There is not one that I can think of that I like more that is not flavored but to me, most genmaichas are similar with just subtle differences. This one is very good but Lupicia isn’t exactly the most accessible so I don’t think it is unique enough to warrant placing an order just for this. I would maybe add it to an order if I was already making one though.
No I don’t but if I find one, I will let you know. Honestly though, I tend to prefer the flavored genmaichas like Japon.
Japon was the first flavored gemaicha I have had and it is delicious, but I also have a special place in my heart for plain genmaichas. I’m always looking for new ones to try.
I LOVE Verdant’s Loashan Black Chocolate Genmaicha – that’s probably my favorite. Plain genmaicha, I too keep looking for one that’s the right balance of toasty roasty to green. I really like genmaicha, but I think in my heart I know that my favorite genmaicha is a hojicha. Or what I’m trying to say is that I think if I’m in the mood for that style – hojicha works better for me…
Drank a resteep of this while I was watching the local news coverage this morning about how the RCMP caught the psycho cop killer who shall not be named.
What a relief it’s all over, just knowing he’s not out there anymore and no one else had to die because of this scumbag. Now we focus on the healing of our city and trying to feel safe again.
There’s a vigil tonight for the 3 RCMP officers who lost their lives at the hands of this guy whose name I shall not speak.
But three names I will speak, because these names are important:
Const. Dave Ross
Const. Fabrice Georges Gevaudan
Const. Douglas James Larche
Thank you for protecting our city. May you all rest in peace.
This review wasn’t about the tea, but I don’t think it needed to be.
Okay, this is largely off topic but does your Steepster name have anything to do with this song: http://youtu.be/8cMmCtLLHGg ? Because every time I see it, I hear this song in my head :D Which is great because The Smiths are one of my favorite bands ever.
Thank you for focusing on the brave fallen souls rather than the killer, I feel the media spends far too much time talking about the bad guys and don’t talk enough about the good, happy someone shares my sentiments! And ptayers to all affected <3
I went to the hospital this morning, and I saw great beauty.
There was an older man sitting next to me in the waiting room. He told me he had a brain tumour and only 6 months to live.
I asked what were his plans for the next 6 months. With tears in his eyes, he pointed at the little boy next to him, his grandson. His daughter was also there. He told me he was going to spend as much time as possible with them.
Then the little boy, (three years old) got up, gently took his grandpa’s face between his two miniature hands and stared. He said with a big smile on his face: «Don’t be sad Pappy, all the pain is gone…»
I cried. His daughter cried. Then we all looked at the little boy, and laughed. It was one of those moments where you can’t help reflect on your own life. It was special. That little boy will be forever in my heart and so will be the old man.
When I got home, I was exhausted, but grateful. Grateful to have time in front of me to love and cherish those who are important to me.
I chose to dink this tea for its beauty and purity.
It’s clean, and it gives me some peace and quiet inside. It’s very sweet, brothy and slightly vegetal. It’s milky in a rice milk kind of way. It’s soothing. It’s what I need.
I don’t have much else to say, just thought I’d share this beautiful story with you all :-)
Thank you guys, I’m glad I’m not the only one who was touched by this little boy today…
Inranger, that’s what it was all about :-)
It’s the little things that mean so much. And words from a child the purest and most honest sayings.
Thank you for sharing this lovely story! A great reminder to enjoy every moment in your life, especially with loved ones
I’m sitting here sobbing. This so beautiful and so heart-wrenching. I lost my very beloved Daddy to brain tumors much, much too soon. I want to hug that little boy and that man so hard. It’s Father’s Day next weekend and that is always a bittersweet time for me and he’s been gone for years now. Thank you for sharing this.
It’s OK really. I still miss him a way lot. My Daddy was hilarious and and loving and I was the light of his life. I got a lot
From my Daddy and I have great memories.
agreed! I wish all tea companies would let you purchase small orders
Definitely! Unless it’s a tea I’ve already tried and know that I like, I don’t want to buy 100g of it. :P
sometimes i don’t even want 100g…i’d rather get 50g and be able to buy it again and have fresh-er tea later.
That’s true also, probably a good philosophy to have unless the shipping is ridiculous or something.
50g is usually plenty for me!