61 Tasting Notes

96

So I have decided that for me this is the perfect office tea. I like the tast both hot and cold. I like it with out any additives – no trips back top to the break room to grab sugar or milk. It is very forgiving if I forget and over steep.

ashmanra

This is one of the most unique looking teas I have ever seen. It is soooo good and the honey aroma is wonderful. I agree, it is good no matter how you drink it!

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88

It is interesting how you can taste different things at different times. I didn’t prepare the tea any differently this time nor am I eating anything but today I can taste just a little smokiness in this tea. Maybe I should brew other tea and see if I pick up any nuance I have missed before. Maybe I have a new super power! (because I have so many old super powers)

ashmanra

That happens to me all the time! I think it has to do with there being so many variables in the process like brewing temp, length of time, temp of tea when you start drinking, how much milk and sugar you add – or don’t add.

As for super powers, you have the ability to drink fluids like a camel without taking a potty break! All those hours in surgery and on rounds! You can get to the tea shop in half the time it takes us to drive there. (We won’t go into HOW.) And your dogs can make entire batches of cookies DISAPPEAR! :)

Sandy

That’s the dogs super power, the counter snatch. Man, they are fast and sneaky. I do have super bladder. Umm I think u tend to get a little lost with that GPS of yours, it has nothing to do with my lead foot.

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88

Dry it has nice size dark twists that smell a little sweet almost like raisins and a little like a warm tobacco field. The wet leaves smell a little fruity, too. The cup brews a dark orange/brown and smells malty. The taste is mostly malty assam with a slight astrigency especially as the tea cools, but there is an underpinning of ceylon. The second cup I added a little sugar which I think brought out more of the ceylon flavor without losing too much of the malt. I tried a little milk after that and it became more malty again but lost it’s astrignecy. Overall a good breakfast tea, a nice break from the more ceylon based breakfast teas I usually drink.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 15 sec

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94
drank Emperor's Red by Premium Steap
61 tasting notes

I don’t know is I should thank Ashmanra for sending me a sample of this tea for now I love what I do not have. It does have a lovely roasty aroma. It is a dark color and the taste is of dark chocolate. The taste is so rich to me that it feels thick in my mouth than it really is, I think it has the mouth feel equal to a syrup. The second steep was just as wonderful. I am currently contemplating tempting fate with a third.

ashmanra

Have no fear – I will share mine! Thank JacquelineM for getting us both hooked on this one.

Sandy

You are my hero.

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92
drank Zealong Dark by Chicago Tea Garden
61 tasting notes

I have to thank Ashmanra for sending me this tea and waiting to have a tasting with me. Maybe my nose is broken but I really didn’t get much charcoal or smoke from this tea, dry leaves or wet. It does have a very roasted nut flavor and aroma to me with a slight sweet, floral note at the end. I didn’t enjoy a second steep all that much but I may have used too much water for my amount of leaf. It was a little creamy but it tasted more of a weak green tea to me.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec
Lori

I agree Sandy about your note. Actually, I am the one who sent the sample to Ashmanra. When I purchased it, I expected- something toasty like DaHongPao but instead- it seemed like a full flavored green oolong? If you have any sample left, if you retry w/much less water- the taste should be “full”- I think I did 1 tbs w/6 oz water…but really, I was somewhat disappointed as I did not get a “dark” flavor from this one….

Sandy

I will try with the 6 oz, thanks

ashmanra

I used 1 1/2 tsp. with 6 oz water, so mine was stronger. The second steep was very creamy.

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89
drank Earl Grey Blue Flower by t Leaf T
61 tasting notes

I got a smaple of this and unfortunately only had enough for one cup after spilling the rest on my carpet. I would have liked another cup just to fully register my feelings about this tea. The first sip was very bergamot-y to me and I thought I was not going to like it. As I continued to drink it, the flavor mellowed. I don’t know if I just got used to it or I started picking up more of the floral notes. It wasn’t a bad earl grey but I don’t know that it will become a favorite.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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94
drank Chai by t Leaf T
61 tasting notes

I was drinking this one yesterday afternoon while it rained. I was planning on rating it then but got caught up talking to friends on skype.

This is a really well balanced chai. It has nice dark leaves, clove, cardamom, pieces of ginger. I didn’t have any whole star anise in this pot but the flavor is there. It is very fragrant dry and after brewing. It is a rich deep orange steep and takes milk and sugar well.

I was brewing a large pot (1L/33oz) so I ended up using 4 tsp of this tea and 1 tsp of a ceylon because I enjoy this tea and i am trying to conserve it bit. It didn’t make any difference to the flavor as when I have brewed it uncut before.

I find it pretty similar to Tazo but less peppery. A very enjoyable tea.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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93
drank Tokyo Lime by t Leaf T
61 tasting notes

I am remiss. I have been drinking this for about a month and haven’t reviewed it. I thought I had. First of all I love the way it smells. It is effervescent. The citrus-y sencha smell of it alone was the reason I bought it. It is sweet and the aroma sits on the back of my palate like fizzy lemonade. It’s nice to look at, too, plesant green leaves that unfurl in the pot, yellow and pink blossoms and flowers add a nice color. It brews a pale yellow typical of green tea. The brewed aroma is not as intense as the dry but still lightly citrus over a green tea base. As a flavored green, it tastes more of the lime with a sweet edge from the mallow, chamomile, rose and sunflower petals than of green tea but the tea flavor isn’t completely lost.

It is a lovely light cuppa that I particularly enjoy after long sunny afternoons.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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88

I would like to send a congrats out to Earl Gray and English Breakfast on their baby. Who even new they were dating? I drank the first half of the cup black since that is how I take most me tea and it was good. It is a malty, barely smoky, hints of bergamot pretty smooth tea. The package said best with milk so I added a little and it smooth out an already pretty smooth cup. It be thorough I added some sugar and it was the same tea only sweeter. It is a pretty nice morning tea.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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97

I am not sure if I should thank Ashmanra for sending me a sample of this. It is fabulous but now I am an addict to a $200 a pound tea. This tea is worth though, it is that amazing. Just to look at it you think much of this little tea. It is nonuniform, some big chunks some tiny leaves, a nice shade of green but nothing special. The smell of the wet leaves was like toasted pine nuts or maybe sunflower seeds to me. The truly amazing thing is the transformative taste of this tea. It first hits your tongue as a mineral, nutty roundness and the as you swallow becomes some and citrusy and lingers on the back of your palate. As you inahle after you still have those lingering notes. It is so amazing that you simply want to meditate on this tea and the sensory experience that you have just had. I am quite simply hooked.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

I enjoyed our virtual tea tasting from NZ to US! I will be buying more of this, and will send you some!

Sandy

Oh thank you, thank you. my addiction needs to be feed. :)

ashmanra

How were the resteeps?

Sandy

They were very good. I have 1 left for this evening. Still as nice as the first steep

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Bio

Grew up in Texas, lived and worked in Australia and New Zealand for a year. Now I am back stateside and living in Oregon. I drink most any kind of tea but blacks are my favorites.

“Tea is the taste of my land: it is bitter and warm, strong, and sharp with memory. It tastes of longing. It tastes of the distance between where you are and where you come from. Also it vanishes—the taste of it vanishes from your tongue while your lips are still hot from the cup. It disappears, like plantations stretching up into the mist.” Little Bee (Chris Cleave)

Location

Brookings, OR

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