New Tasting Notes
I purchased genmaicha as a huge gamble due to my dodgy past with Japanese green teas, which I’ve come to see as the rough neighborhood I’m frequently chased out of by prowling vegetable notes and buttery flavors – a statement of preference rather than quality. That said, though my relationship with drinking veggies is unstable, my standing when it comes to rice is certain, and if there’s one thing I like more than rice, it would have to be the premium, charred rice crust I get to chip out of the bottom of the saucepan after I make rice for the simple reason that I do not know how to make rice but insist upon doing so. For this reason, genmaicha stood out as a dubious beacon of hope, but a beacon of hope nonetheless.
A whiff of the leaves did nothing to quell my reservations, evoking a somewhat grassy profile that was faintly dry and saline but unmistakably vegetal. Still, the splintery green leaves were richly interspersed with promising, amber nuggets of puffed rice and even some small, white popcorn-looking morsels that renewed my interest. The dusty breath exuding from the tin conjured a colorful suggestion that the best may be yet to come, specifically because the best is possibly locked in this bancha’s stuffy basement begging to be let out. So we return to the sketchy kitchen scale for a rough estimate of 6 grams of leaf (4 tsp volumetrically) dosed in 12 oz of 175F water for 3 minutes. The smell of the tea as it steeped is where everything changed – this was the puffed rice tea of my dreams.
Finally let out of its cage, the delectable, toasted scent of the rice has the ball! It’s mowing down any other flavors in its path! It tramples green tea underfoot! It’s broken into the end zone! Or something like that, I don’t know sports. The savory touchdown is nothing short of Orville Redenbacherian and it’s everything I could have hoped for. Though this tea rapidly grows bitter after its allotted three minute soak, as one might expect, the steeped kernels of brown rice are soft and too pleasant to waste and I must restrain myself from eating them all before the resteep.
Are there limits to this ambitious blend? Is there a law restricting me from adding more rice? How much rice can I add before surpassing the threshold of genmaicha and encroaching into congee territory? Tune in next week for answers to all these and more. As always, this has been Monday, and I am your host.
Flavors: Grass, Popcorn, Rice, Vegetables
Preparation
This is from MiepSteep, thanks very much! This flavor type was calling to me today, so here we are. The leaves are absolutely lovely, a rainbow of colors. Huge and twisted. The flavor is what you might expect. Sadly I have already had this sitting for another year since MiepSteep has sent it over, so the flavor notes will not be as distinct as they could be. I bet it was real flavorful back in the day. I wish I could be more specific! I will just have to appreciate its greatness from a distance of time….
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2-3 min
This is so tasty. Lots of dried fruit, raisins. A touch of starchiness- like taro. Also some spices- cinnamon, clove. It’s reminding me of a mince pie or plum pudding. I did find this was quite mild unless I used quite a lot of dry leaf and brewed at 205degrees.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Dried Fruit, Plum, Raisins, Taro Root
I don’t like bergamot, but I thought I’d try this Earl Grey that is one of Happy Lucky’s best selling teas. It smells like rose and tastes like an orange creamsicle with bergamot underneath. I can still detect the bergamot is there, but its very muted. Not a bad cup, and I’ll actually vote for it instead of Waffle Sauce today, but I don’t need this in my cupboard.
Flavors: Bergamot, Orange, Vanilla
I’ll include a cup when I send you that book that I’m supposed to be reading, but I keep getting ebooks I’ve placed on hold to read!
I told myself I would save this tea for another day, but lies wear many robes. This robe looked like a spontaneous trip to Target (where I also told myself I would buy NO TREATS!) to take my mind off the tin of plump, happy buds waiting for me. Inevitably, I would get home and allow an ample three minutes for me to sink back again into the depths of boredom and ultimately give in to temptation. What can I say? I can’t resist a snappy dresser.
In the dry buds I immediately noticed a bright aroma that caused me to say out loud in disbelief, “Coriander? Is that you?”. (I consulted my kitchen spice rack for confirmation – I can hardly recognize my old friend.) This largely dissipates into a nose that is more vegetal and floral as it steeps, but the spark is somewhat retained in the wet, tough buds, which have a strikingly bitter taste. Though the vendor listing predicts a thin, diminutive body likened to water for the steep – by no means a bad thing in my book – its arrival is accompanied by a certain, faint, buttery quality that sits sweetly on the tongue long after it’s swallowed.
Ordinarily I approach “vegetal” descriptors with caution, as they’re not my favorite with respect to teas, but as a recent and a zealous convert to the Cult of Cabbage, I profess to some partiality on behalf of your commentator, and I find it to be balanced and mild otherwise. Perhaps that will change as I let it steep into infinity. Additionally, the flavor of the buds is so pronounced in comparison to the tea itself that it seems unfair to consume them together, so I might strain this one in the future to give it a fighting chance.
For the second steep, time to put the screws on Chinese Silver Needle. I subjected it to 200F and was rewarded with a much more uniformly saccharine profile. On the other hand, the steeped buds persist in being unbearable – blech!
Flavors: Butter, Cabbage, Coriander, Floral, Sweet, Vegetables
Preparation
Thank you! Good to be back. I don’t think I broke the dashboard, but I’ve broken just about every instrument I touch at work so I wouldn’t rule it out.
I was one of those kids who never voluntarily tried unfamiliar fruits or vegetables, and the bad habit has stuck over the years…so in a blind fruit test, I doubt I could recognize an actual pomegranate by taste or texture. However, since it became a trendy flavor several years ago, I’ve had multiple variations and mutations of pomegranate teas and drinks. This is a pleasant one. Fruity with only a little tartness. Not sure I caught any raspberry, but I still liked it. Reminds me of one you could serve your kiddos.
Speaking of whom, you should have seen mine at work. Volunteer day. We spent a couple hours at our former city library which is in the process of becoming a children’s science center. The building has been vacant since 2017, and my crew swept, vacuumed, Swiffered, hauled boxes, arranged furniture, and organized dozens of boxes of supplies the non-profit staff had moved from their temporary home.
One fifth-grade girl who ducks behind her older cousin rather than make direct eye contact smiled at me while hauling a folding table that weighed about as much as she did and said, “I think this is making me come out of my shell!” One of my fifth grade boys, given a vacuum cleaner, remarked, “Wow. I’ve never done this before!” Priceless.
Oh, and two of the girls found a lizard skeleton. Brought it in a dustpan to the center’s director, who grinned and said, “Hey! I’ve got a glass jar about the right size for that.”
Hope your Sunday afternoon was just as much fun, wherever you were.
Spring 2023: Dry leaves have a pleasant, sweet, fresh-baked bread type of smell. Steeping western style, I would recommend one minute for the first steep at 175° – 185°. Definitely steep at a lower temperature and a lesser duration because this one does get fairly bitter if over-steeped. Nice balance of fruity, grassy, and nutty tones all coming together to make a fairly complex tea that just feels good and has a nice lasting aftertaste. Almond, green apple, lemon zest, not a small amount of grassy/hay-like notes (none of which I find offensive unless steeped too long), and along with the grassy notes there are some slight hints of spice such as coriander.
Preparation
As a tea barbarian, I’ve braved the slings and arrows of young adult life leaning on flavored teas prepared so recklessly and uncaringly as to taste less pleasant and complicated than the concerningly flavorful supply of tap water in which it was made. This is a sure way to forget what tea tastes like, why it should be consumed, or what the meaning of life may be. Changing that begins with two things, and those are, firstly, a tea whose only flavors are the ones god gave it, and secondly, the ultimate symbol of status and sophistication: one faithful Brita filter to moderate the charming savor of PFAs.
The vendor says 175F so that’s what I gave it. It’s just as agreeable at 200F. The actual weight of tea used is anybody’s guess, including my kitchen scale’s, which seems to be notably receptive to the suggestion of minor adjustments to the position of the leaves on it. “3 grams? Or maybe 4 grams. What do you think? I guess it could be 2. 5 grams if you insist.” Assuming the FDA isn’t stopping in for a cup, I imagine that will do fine.
This tea is delicious after steeping for 3 minutes, but it’s also delicious after steeping for 2 days, so there’s that. It brews up crisp and clear, revealing a mellow tint of marigold the longer you let it play. The understated aroma of citrus and spices is a preview of the taste – each sip a gentle cruise over smooth waters scintillating with unexpected sweetness. The whole, unbroken buds are delightfully soft before steeping, like eager little ferrets in silky cashmere sweaters. I never strain these out because they’re a playfully bitter and irresistibly tender little snack, and anyway it would be a crime not to challenge this tea in all its forms through its own veritable Crucible of steeping abuses like a fresh recruit of the United States Marine Corps. I have a feeling this tea would come through just fine if you steeped it in a grease fire.
Flavors: Citrus, Spices, Sweet
Preparation
I smiled all the way through this review! I have never gotten the hang of tea that’s too fussy to take water on the full boil. This sounds like it might stand a chance at my house.
As much as Ashman loves white tea, I have never bought this one. Maybe I should. (He has had lots of Teavivre white tea, though.)
Logging a few swap&toss downs:
A swapdown! (M: 6 Y: 38): Georgian Tea 1847 — Wild Green tea. Actually I have an extra pouch, so not really a sipdown!
A swapdown! (M: 7 Y: 39): Pod Lampionami — Kaoribi Oolong. Sadly the rest I saved for myself was mostly tea dust; so I tossed the rest.
A swapdown! (M: 8 Y: 40): Nous Tea — Hanoi Spring
A tossdown! (M:9 Y: 41): What-cha — Taiwan Sencha Green Tea. Sadly too old and I never reached this tea too often in the office. I assume it is mostly because it needs indeed colder water and I have don’t have there a temperature setting kettle.
A sipdown! (M: 5 Y: 37), prompt: Your current favorite daily drinker
Eeek, I never wrote a tasting note for this one while I had a lots of it? And now it is a sipdown. I would change in the prompt a single word. Current → all time.
Anyway lots was said about this tea by others and I have to agree with them all. And I am so sadI am not able to contact the Georgian owners of this shop; they are not responding for my Whatsapp messages (okay, I tried it just twice maybe?) and their website isn’t working. Since then I found other source for Georgian teas and also with very tasty teas, moreover based in the EU, so getting those teas is definitely easier.
Anyway, this bready and potato-y (sweet one) tea is just perfect to drink. I tried it weak-handed, but also heavy-handed, but never turned out bitter, astringent or unpleasable. Thick and yet so mouthcoating.
Long mouthfeel with boom of flavours, though it is almost 2 years since harvested. Those two steeps were also a bit more earthy, but I assume because much more broken leaf.
Lovely, so lovely and I assume even a bit better than Guria Likhauri. But that’s because I have such a soft spot for Georgian teas. That one is also Georgian, but this is just a tiny bit better. Maybe it’s the visual with golden buds.
Preparation
I found this single wrapped bag waaaayy in the back of my tea drawer. I wonder if it was part of an advent calendar that I put aside because of the hibiscus? It said Best Before January 2022 on the wrapper..
Ooops.
The flavor seemed muted to me. Probably because it was old? I got a bit of zing from the hibiscus, a faint hint of spices. I didn’t get any orange. Between my bum nose not being able to smell and the age of the tea I just didn’t get much. It was drinkable but not very flavorful. I bet it would have been better two years ago.
I am unfortunately back to fighting cancer. A new spot appeared on my liver and was found at the end of January. I’m doing very well. I’ll be done with this round of radiation next Thursday. I have been drinking a cup of herbal tea most evenings, mostly my trusty peppermint. Maybe I’ll branch out into cold brews soon. :)
Sipdown!
Better than most of the spiced black tea Christmas blends, this one has cardamom and some apple and cranberry flavors. There is still more clove than I would wish, but it is nevertheless good and better than the black tea plus orange plus clove plus cinnamon tea that is ubiquitous.
Very nice for cold weather, so I am glad we are finishing it just as spring is coming along.
Honey component is artificial but still pleasant, apple is natural, just like all the other fruit, herbs and spices used here.
It’s nothing extraordinary, of course, but it’s a warming, pleasant brew.
Flavors: Anise, Apple, Citrus Zest, Honey, Licorice, Stevia
Preparation
Loyd tea isn’t readily available here in the Midwest US, but I stumbled across some at an outlet store a few years ago. This one was especially helpful during cold and flu season.
Here in Poland they are widely available in Lidl chain stores all over the country. Great price to quality factor.
52teas 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 12
I didn’t finish this year’s advent with Kiki since she went to Ohio to see her family before Christmas. She’s a coffee drinker at heart, and winter was rather mild this year so her desire for hot tea wasn’t as strong as in winters past.
Oh this is nice. It’s almost like orange creamsicle but really subtle with the marshmallow root creaminess and with sharper, fresh and juicy-sweet mandarin/peel. Am I also getting lime? The spearmint shows more in the finish, pleasant, if a bit dry. Overall, the flavors are really well balanced and carried well by the mixed green tea base which gives a bit of an unctuous yet brisk body. Bright taste tethered by a savoriness and a little dry grassiness. Kinda sweet, kinda tangy, kinda comforting, kinda refreshing!
This was my first time getting the 52teas advent. Anne definitely has a touch for flavoring and blending teas. She knows what base teas work well for her ideas. Looking forward to the 2024 set!
Flavors: Brisk, Citrusy, Dry Grass, Drying, Lime, Mandarin, Marshmallow, Orange Zest, Savory, Spearmint, Sweet, Tangy, Viscous
Preparation
Robust and slick, that’s how I think of this Dian Hong. It has a fairly classic profile with strong chocolate/cocoa notes. It is sweet, woody, a touch bitter and drying. It also reminds me a bit of eucalyptus, partly in the flavour, partly due to the cooling, astringent mouthfeel. Generally, the liquor is pretty thick and satisfying.
Flavors: Bitter, Chocolate, Cocoa, Cooling, Drying, Earth, Eucalyptus, Sweet, Wood
Preparation
With all the spring grass and green growth happening here, I was inspired to buy some matcha since my cupboard has been without for too long. Based on reviews by amandastory516, and wanting to stick more local with my purchase, I bought from Breakaway Matcha.
This matcha is as lush as the spring growth under my feet. Brilliant and saturated blue-green color gives way to a smooth and silky sip. The umami blooms in the back of the mouth with the notes that Breakaway suggests: thick flavors of young peas, shiitake and sweet cream. I feel the tea’s restorative energy course through me. What a great brew to start off a rainy spring weekend!
Flavors: Cream, Mushrooms, Peas, Rich, Savory, Silky, Soft
additional notes: I’m really enjoying this one and then remembered that it’s one of the blends that B&B took out of their rotation. Dang it. Why. I remember they culled so many of my favorites back then, and I’m less thrilled with the blends that have stuck around on the tea wall. meh. I guess David’s blend is quite similar to this, and I do have some of that left.
I have some lovely Coffee PU’erh from Teamaze should you need a fix. (Not a recent buy, but it holds up nicely.) Send a message if you’d like to try!
https://teamazeshop.com/shop/coffee/?doing_wp_cron=1711232698.0827438831329345703125