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Just saw Ashmanra’s review of this – and as someone who’s gone out of their way to review teaware in the past I can’t believe I didn’t think to review this! So thank you, for the reminder to do so!

Gonna keep my review simple and to the point; I definitely like this set. It was my first experience with an aroma cup – and I’ve definitely liked it. With the help of some Youtube tutorials I’ve found it very easy to pick up. And, it really adds another layer to experiencing and review teas, and since I’ve definitely been branching out this year away from more Westernized ways of brewing it was a nice way to sort of ease even farther away from that preparation style.

I also think the size of both cups are really nice; with the amount of tea I usually brew up at a time they hold the perfect amount! The tray is nice too; usually I keep coasters or potholders on the table that I prepare/drink my tea at but it’s much more aesthetically pleasing to look at the tray instead. And finally, I appreciate how tasteful the branding on the set is; nothing splashy or in your face!

PS. Happy birthday Marzipan! Couldn’t have picked a better birthday twin! Hope you’re drinking some really good tea today to celebrate.

Sipdown (120)!

One more queued tasting note, and then it is the time for sleep because sleep is good.

Finished this one off with a little splosh of milk in it. Or at least I thought it was a little splosh; the milk flavour was very, very exaggerated though! So maybe I was more generous with the 2% than I meant to be. Early in the morning when I’m making my work tea, I’m not really quite “all there” yet. Many a time I’m just amazed I can leave the house without forgetting things at home, like my bus pass or debit card.

Other than the milk, this was really really quite sweet. We’re talking intense notes of creamed, sugary honey and some wicked powerful raisin notes. But, not raisins? Most of you know my thing with raisins; I don’t really like them. That’s putting it nicely; I don’t do raisins. This, was like a raisin but sweeter? Google is telling me that I’m thinking of Sultanas – and that makes sense I suppose. Sultanas are sweeter raisins and have a history of being paired with or likened to honey as well. That seems to describe this tea aptly.

The sweetness here was actually sort of cloying; and definitely jarring so early in the morning. It really felt like I had a serious sugar buzz going for the start of my shift! Not my favourite because of raisin similarities; but good overall. Good for fans of sweeter blacks.

And, today’s word of the day was (technically in Saskatchewan it’s the 11th for five more minutes so I’m including this): Gingham! Gingham is “a cotton clothing fabric in plain weave". Is that something a Georgian Old Lady would wear?

So, I got Chef Darcy laid using the power of tea!

Chef Darcy is the guy who comes in and teaches cooking classes at work; basically he’s there five days a week and he just picks things he wants to cook and then teaches how to make them totally fresh and from scratch. Everything he cooks with comes from the store, and so in that way he’s kind of advertising the products for us. As an example, he did a Lobster Alfredo and he start with killing your lobster – no prepackaged stuff in his classes! I do the art for the whiteboard out front advertising the class, when I have time during my shift that is – and when whatever he’s doing is something I can put together a picture for.

When Tea Ave. sent me a second sample set I tried to think of who I knew in person who would actually appreciate it, take the time to learn how to use the equipment properly, and then use and enjoy it. I was torn between my friend Robyn and Darcy – but I bombarded Robyn with tea not too long ago, so I gave the second set to Darcy along with a sample of this tea because I’d been talking about it and he’d expressed a lot of interest in it. Well, the set went over well because he and his girlfriend took the time to learn how to use everything and then did tastings of all three teas together! And, she thought it was a really romantic and sweet activity and, well…

TEA; GETTING PEOPLE LAID SINCE… WELL PROBABLY SINCE A LONG TIME.

When I portioned out a sample of this one for Darcy, I left the bag out for myself too so I could come back from work and enjoy a pot of it – which I did. I’ve only had this one a few times now, but I’m very much enjoying it and of the WP teas I got on Cyber Monday it’s the only one I know with absolute certainty I’d want to order again (it’s also the most affordable of the ones I purchased; which is a super happy coincidence)!

My jot notes from the pot:

- Cream! SO MUCH CREAM!
- Silky/smooth thicker mouthfeel
- Corn and hay notes
- Corn is like a sweeter Peaches & Cream corn!
- Peaches & Cream Creamed Corn? Is that a thing?
- Creamed honey notes too; especially in the aftertaste
- More herbaceous the longer it steeped
- A little pine? I’m still not sure if that’s really the right word for what I’m tasting…
- But given it’s meant to be pine wood and not needles, it’s probably the right word

And, now that I’ve recently had that Dian Yin Zhen from Nannuoshan I’m recollecting a note that was very present in both cups; though struggling to identify what that note is because, skimming through tasting notes I’ve done for both respective teas, I haven’t really used the same flavour descriptors. Maybe it’s the pine? I didn’t mention tasting pine with the Nannuoshan blend because I only tasted it a few times and so fleetingly, it was a little hard to pick out from the other flavours. But, it’s the only thing that the two really have in common…

So; very comparable pine notes I guess?

Anywho, bumping my rating up.

Sipdown (121)!

Finishing off an older matcha; and it’s a good feeling! This is the first of the 30g packages I got what feels like ages ago that’s being sipped down – and it just means I’m that much closer to the next RLT order. And, there will be another; there’s enough I want to restock and that I’m curious about. I just need to make room first is all.

I had sushi for supper today while drinking this whisked in milk; it was a very ‘Westernized’ Japanese themed meal, and I sipped my matcha milk out of a Spiderman mug and ate my sushi with a fork. Definitely was a nice pairing of flavours, though. This isn’t one that I plan on restocking; I just found that it wasn’t consistently good for me – and when I want something really sweet and creamy coconut matcha is just easier to turn to overall, and mixes better with the other matcha flavours I’ve got in my cupboard.

I think I pulled this one out because I had Chawans on the mind…

Sad news tea friends; I was supposed to be getting that gorgeous Persimmons Chawan from Rikyu that I’ve been eyeing for months for my birthday – when my Dad was here we ordered it, and it came through as accepted! Hooray – right!? Except, they contacted him today and they don’t actually have it anymore – so now I have to pick another one. And, there are several others I’m interested in, but I’m just crushed I can’t get the one I really wanted.

The company suggested two different Persimmons themed ones, but they don’t even come close to grazing the beauty of the one I originally wanted, let alone touching it. The art/glaze work on each one respectfully looks juvenile – my ten year old sister could probably have painted it.

Anyway, these are my second and third choices – depending on what they’ve got in stock:

http://www.rikyucha.com/item/list2/104031/ (Choice #2)
http://www.rikyucha.com/item/list2/151551/ (Choice #3)

I’d be more than happy with either – and I’d kind of feel bad if my Dad got me the waves one; I mean, I’d love it but it’s about double the price of the one I originally wanted. So, if I do get one of these it’s likely going to be Choice #3. I definitely love the colouring and design of that one (and there are actually three others in the same style, but with different images of the ‘poet’) – the only reason I didn’t have it higher on the list is that I kind of dislike the base – though it may just be the angle of the main picture, because it looks fine in the others.

Tea Infused White Rum Part One:

So, as I’ve mentioned my birthday is coming up really soon – in three days in fact! It’s kind of a big one; I’m turning twenty. And, of course I’m going to do what a lot of twenty year olds do to celebrate; have some booze! So, in the three days leading up to and including my birthday I’m finishing off the 750ml of White Rum I have by doing different tea infused rum shots.

I’ve prepared three pineapple/Pina Colada related teas which I’ve infused into the alcohol via cold brewing. This is the first one – and the only one of the three that doesn’t have coconut in it. And, of the three I made the least of this one because I didn’t want to use up a whole lot of my treasured, hoarded tea life – but it is a special occasion, so some could be justified.

It actually smells pretty decent after being strained; I really smell the orchid and other floral tones of the oolong, and I really don’t pick up on the pineapple at all – which sort of defeats the point of picking pineapple teas? Still – it smells nice! “Fancy sophisticated booze” if you will.

So… Time to chug it back!

I’m just going to be as straight forward about this as possible; I got it down and not even thirty seconds later I threw up. Thankfully, I was standing in the kitchen and our garbage can doesn’t have a lid – so I just whipped backwards away from the counter and purged.

It was one of the worst tasting alcohol related things I’ve ever had and I don’t think it would be hyperbole to say that it may have even tasted better coming up. Going down, it tasted like flowery hand soap. Like someone had just pumped a few shots worth down my throat. Except, it had alcohol burn too. NO NO NO.

Originally, this was meant to be my 2500th tasting note – glad that didn’t happen.

Now I’m worried about the rest of my tea infused birthday shots because, like this one, they smell amazing but if I proved anything here it’s that literally means nothing in regard to how they’ll taste.

Sipdown (122)!

Heyoooo! Tasting note 2500! Wow that’s a big amount of reviews…

Finishing this one off hot in a mug, Western style. The base is definitely standing out more tonight than it did last time; it’s so silky and smooth with velvety vanilla notes! The jasmine is much milder this time around – not quite sure why. I still like it and think it’s very natural tasting, but tonight I just can’t get over those vanilla notes. They’re slaying. Sorry, but the jasmine’s supporting the vanilla this time around and not the other way around.

I think this is still my least favourite of my three Tea Ave. samples – but by a narrow margin. They’re all solid teas!

I caved and broke into the Spring teas! I couldn’t help it; I really wanted to be a part of the initial stream of reviews for them, heh…

So far this one has not been reviewed all too favorably, and it’s definitely one of the blends I was least excited about in the collection – but when I cracked all the bags open today to smell with my Dad this was his favourite, and my second (White Nectarine was my first).

I was very cautious about steeping this one; definitely used a lower water temp that DT had suggested (probably about 75C), and watched this very closely as it steeped for the three allotted minutes. Even though the smell is really good, I didn’t want this to come out bitter or medicinal.

I definitely really taste the peony, and it’s really refreshing. The elderberries in this are sweet and sugary; definitely like elderberry jam! However, both of these flavours do almost completely mask the white and green tea in the blend for me. I don’t mind not tasting the green tea, but I’d like to be able to taste the white a little bit more. Someone compared this to wine in their review; and while it doesn’t taste like grape based wine to me, elderberries can also be used to make wine and it does remind me a little bit of the one elderberry wine I’ve tried. And yes, if I stop thinking about it actively and just drink it I totally taste pink jellybeans. It’s almost uncanny. But as soon as the part of my brain that dissects flavours kicks in that goes away and it becomes peony/elderberry again.

But so far, I’m really into this one! Seriously, not a touch medicinal or bitter – and the right balance between floral and fruit for me while maintaining a sweetness and naturalness. Maybe I’ll be in the minority, like I was for Choconut Oolong, but this is good!

Sipdown (123)!

My Nannuoshan samples came in! Hooray! This was the first of the four I decided to try out; I know they offered to send more than that out to a person, but I knew I wouldn’t have time to review more than four promptly for them, so I limited the ones I requested. I picked out one silver needle – one of my favourite straight tea types, as well as two darkers oolongs for operation “explore more oolongs this year” and the one Pu’Erh they were offering, to explore that tea type a little further as well.

With all the samples coming in lately (Tea Ave. and Nannuoshan) as well as birthday stuff, I’m impressed that I’ve managed to balance drinking new teas and old teas as well as keeping my cupboard from puffing up. I’ve been hovering around 120 teas pretty consistently! And that’s a good number for me.

I enjoyed my first pot (both pots were done Western style) of this one early into the afternoon with my Dad; it was cool actually getting to pull out my tea set and share it with someone instead of just drinking on my own which is what I usually do. I should offer to share tea with Tre more often; as long as I’m brewing up something fun and flavoured he’s usually fairly interested if I don’t try to teach him about it.

I wish I’d asked my Dad’s impressions on this one; he has a history of not liking white tea at all and I’m wondering if, the more I serve it to him when he visits, that’s changing at all. He did have two cups of it though, so I know he didn’t hate it. That’s pretty high, even if unspoken, praise from him – when I made him Teavivre’s Jasmine Silver Needle he wouldn’t even finish one cup.

I found the first pot had a very soft, milky taste with a light floral edge to it which was really enjoyable. I know it was placebo, but the milky flavour made the tea liquor seem thicker and creamier to me. In the finish, I also noticed a bit of citrus flavour. While, apart from the creamy, milk note that made up most of the body flavour, the flavours in this tea were much more generic I think I liked this infusion just slightly more than the second.

I’m just finishing up my second pot now; there’s definitely a difference in flavours although there are similarities too. Most of the milky flavour has faded, though it’s still there as a supporting note, and the citrus flavour now reads to me as decidedly more lemony and is present in the body of the sip and not just the aftertaste. The floral note has become a little harsher, and is the first thing I’m noticing as I sip. It’s a little too strong for me. I’m also getting some camphor notes, which I didn’t notice in the first pot. Not sure I’m loving them.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good tea – though I chose not to continuing steeping after the second infusion because I felt the direction the flavours were heading was not one I would have been able to speak too favorably about. In particular, I like the milky/creamy flavour and the way the lemon/citrus intertwined with it.

Thank you Nannuoshan for the sample!

Sipdown (124)!

Well, my Dad’s gone back to Regina after spending the day here celebrating my birthday. So, of course, presents were brought up with him/purchased. From my Mom, I got money and the DT Spring Collection (which I thankfully hadn’t bought yet) so I look forward to digging into those ones in a few days. The money went to grocery shopping; I fully took advantage of my Dad’s car to buy some bulkier things that I likely wouldn’t have otherwise, and also splurged a little and got some fancier/more expensive things.

One of the things I picked up was grenadine; I’m gonna try playing around with the amount needed to add it to straight black teas and sort of make my own Monk’s blend – which I think will be a fun, exploratory adventure. I fully expect some flops; but hopefully I can make something really tasty too!

We also went out for supper, and contacted the people with whom my, untouched, education fund is run through. There’s near five grand in there which has just been sitting since I decided that I wasn’t going to college/uni after graduating since I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Well, now I have something I’m really interested in – so we’re working on withdrawing the funds for me to complete the modules necessary to get certified as a Tea Sommelier! My New Years resolution was to get started on that; and we’re working on making it a reality! We also stopped at the post office, and I sent out VariaTEA’s birthday present. It probably wont make it to you in time for your birthday (though it’d be amazing if it did) but hopefully it’s close!

And, as his birthday present to me he purchased the Chawan from Rikyu that I’ve been lusting after, as well as this tea from Camellia Sinensis:

http://steepster.com/teas/camellia-sinensis/38823-meng-ding-huang-ya

I was showing him the Gaiwan I ordered for myself which is on the way, and I ended up pulling that tea up to show up. I explained how it’s something I really, really want to try but probably wont ever buy for myself because it’s so expensive ($20 for 25g) – but how it was fun to think about trying it ‘someday’. He read the description and I think something finally clicked for him about how the flavour notes present in straight tea are similar to different distinctions in wine – and he loved CS’s information on the estate which the tea comes from (he made so many wine comparisons). So, he bought me that too.

Seriously; we put in a Camellia Sinensis order for just the yellow tea; $20 in tea and $10 in shipping! That’s crazy – I’d have never done it. Theoretically, we paid more than a dollar a gram! But I’m really excited about it arriving! My first straight yellow tea!

As for this tea, I’m quite sad it’s gone now! So far, it’s been my favourite out of the swap from TheLastDodo – though I still have stuff left to try.

Unfortunately I botched this last mug a little bit – I was steeping it when my Dad got in from Regina – and got heavily distracted, so this grossly over steeped. It actually didn’t taste terrible but it did have a bitter edge and a kind of rusty and metallic note was brought out. Still nice and smokey though; and while I didn’t like the bitterness I actually thought that metallic taste was an interesting, albeit unexpected, addition to the flavour that didn’t totally clash.

I let my Dad try it, and he insisted that I include in my review for this one his impression too. So, and I quote, this was what my Dad thought: “It’s like smoked fish from a can.”. And then he quickly thrust the mug back in my direction and scowled. Not a fan of Lapsang, I’d say. I don’t get fish AT ALL but I can see the “can” part. Maybe he was tasting the Pu’Erh mixed in with the blend? It doesn’t taste fishy to me, but if he was picking up on it I suppose I could see where he’d draw that conclusion from.

Queued Post.

Revisiting this one like I said I would after not paying attention to it the first time around. Pretty average as a cold brew; not a very impressive flavour. The cinnamon and vanilla are soft and immediately noticed and the cinnamon is actually really well balanced for my tastes; feels like it’s sprinkled on and not like caked on spicy, dry cinnamon death. There’s a dull hay and an unsweetened starchy vegetal taste. I suppose squash? Though there’s enough dissimilarities that the comparison is a little forced, and for sure not something I’d blindly know.

I did like it; but it was a touch underwhelming. Perhaps it’ll be much better hot, though.