158 Tasting Notes

85
drank Keemun by Teas Etc
158 tasting notes

Steepster! I miss you, steepster. I am just insanely busy and, in fact, the only reason I have a few moments this morning is that I’m packing to go on a trip. But I do miss you, and all of your wonderful tea discoveries!

This isn’t one of them, sadly. I’m slowly beginning to come to terms with the fact that I’m running out of Jackee Muntz, and I’m in need of a really solid Keemun to replace it, so I’ve begun the hunt. When Teas Etc. shot me an email about a crazy keyword deal, I decided that the time was nigh. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to be the staple replacement I’d hoped for, but it’s a pretty good tea — it just doesn’t knock my socks off the way that Muntz does.

Reading the scant notes about this I can see that one person thought it was weaker than usual (Auggy) and another person thought it was stronger (someone I don’t recognize). I’m leaning in Auggy’s direction. I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but there isn’t much punch to this one. In the interests of full disclosure I should say that I’m slightly stuffed up from allergies, so part of this is probably not the tea’s fault, but I did steep longer than my standard for new blacks of three minutes, in the hopes that my water would continue to turn amber, which took quite some time.

On the plus side, the flavor is clean, there is a pleasing sweetness present, and even if the cup is slightly watery compared to the Keemun I’m searching for, there isn’t a hint of astringency to be found, which might make it a pretty swell afternoon cup.

And that’s it for me! One brief and inadequate half-asleep cameo before I dash off to shower and throw a few more things into a suitcase so that I can wing my way south for a family reunion I am not even a little bit prepared for. Whee!

Hope all of you marvelous steepsterites are beating the heat with endless pitchers of iced tea.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Auggy

The second time I had this, I used a little extra leaf and I think that helped it be more normal Keemun than mild Keemun… still no match for Jackee though!
Have fun on your trip!

Rabs

I wish that I could’ve done a better review of this one, but it was my first straight-up Keemun. I’m not sure how you feel about smoke, but the Tea Guys’ Evening Escape is a blend of Keemun and Lapsang Souchong (despite what their website says — it’s LS and not Darjeeling). I would rate it higher, but I think that it’s almost too rich for me Keemun-wise.

You’ve been missed! I hope that soon you’ll get a chance to relax with some great tea in the near future :)

Ricky

Have fun and good luck with the reunion. Then come back to us :)

sophistre

Many thanks, friends! Trip was a smashing success.

I love smoke, Rabs! And I dig Tea Guys (hit and miss, but they’re from my state and probably got me into loose leaf tea, so my loyalty totally holds). I’ll be sure to tack that tea on the next time I place an order with them. Thanks for the recommendation!

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91
drank Amor by The Simple Leaf
158 tasting notes

I can’t believe how remiss I’ve been about adding tasting notes. I didn’t even have this one listed as in my cupboard, but I’ve had it for quite a while now…I’ve gone on to two other tea orders since then! Shameful.

This is a good Assam. The aroma — both of the dry leaves and of the tea itself — is really nice (I don’t ever talk about the smell of the wet leaves because for some reason, the smell of wet tea leaves of any variety is sort of gross to me).

I’ve noticed that many Assams have a sort of berry undertone for me. Sinharaja has that same sort of thing going on, despite being a Ceylon. It’s very complementary to additions of turbinado sugar — something in the molasses content blends nicely (though I tend most often to take my teas, even my black teas, straight).

Not the stiffest Assam I’ve ever had, but pretty stiff, and it has that honeyed biscotti sort of flavor that tends to define the ones I like most. Those people grieving the inevitable emptying of their tin of Thomas Samson might consider this as an alternative, with those shared notes…though it’s definitely a bolder cup of tea than Thomas, and may not tickle every fancy.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
JacquelineM

Good to know about it being in the same honeyed biscotti family as Thomas!!!! :) Thank you!

sophistre

I had some Thomas afterward just to ensure that I wasn’t crazy…and…the honey content is significantly less, alas. Thomas might comfortingly pat your shoulder in the morning, but Amor wants to grab you by both and shake you, so caveat emptor! I can always send you a sample to see, though.

JacquelineM

I love Assams, and I love the Simple Leaf, so I bet I will like it, even if it isn’t exact :) Thank you for the offer, though!! I am getting low on Dawn and need to place an order soon as it is – I will throw in the small size of Amor. This sounds like a great tea for the morning – I so need to be shaken in the AM!!!

Rabs

LOL! I kept reading the name of this tea as “Armor.” I just added this to my Shopping List as well since I’d rather have a “kick in the pants” morning tea vs. a “snuggle and go back to bed” one. ;)

sophistre

Oversteeping this, the way I chanced to this morning? Mouth full of cardboard. Not very forgiving.

Consider this forewarning!

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95
drank Dawn by The Simple Leaf
158 tasting notes

Not sure on my steep time here. Less than five minutes, but more than three. I’ve already written tasting notes for this tea, so I don’t think I need to revisit them, but it’s worth noting that I’m digging this one at 190…discovered by accident this morning through a zojirushi oversight. The slightly more bitter astringency is nowhere to be found, and the cocoa notes are much stronger.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C
Rabs

Hooray for happy accidents! :)

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83
drank Pear Ginger by The Tao of Tea
158 tasting notes

There must, I thought, while I stood here at my desk sniffing this package of tea, be something wrong with the inside of my head.

Flavored teas aren’t really my metier. I’ve been curious about them lately, though, and had enough success with the stuff I got from 52teas that I’ve been somewhat emboldened to branch out, after having been thoroughly chased away from them by Teavana.

Still…pear? All of the pear teas that I’ve tried have been abominable failures. One of them is probably what I would consider my arch enemy, in terms of tea, because I want to like it…I should like it…it initially promises me that I will like it…and then I spend the next quarter of an hour rinsing my mouth and wondering why I can’t learn that it’s horrible.

So, yes. Pear tea. Pear ginger tea.

It’s actually pretty good. I think the leaves are CTC leaf…they don’t have the appearance of pellets, per se, but they are very small and shredded in appearance. The pale yellow petals in the blend are quite pretty.

I think this blend works for me because it’s subtle. The pear flavor is there, but it doesn’t taste like stewed fruit. The ginger is there, but it’s even more subtle than the pear; it’s mostly notable in a gentle warmth that haunts your tongue after you swallow, with the sweetness of the pear just peeking about its edges.

I’m not sure whether or not I would rebuy this. I think it would make a fantastic iced tea, actually…

The good news is that Tao of Tea has a sort of frequent-buyer program. Every dollar spent with them earns you a ‘tea leaf’, and these can be used to buy…more tea. Or teaware. Or anything on their site. It’s pretty nice.

It’s also nice that you can buy their tea by the ounce…I bought a whole slew of 1oz bags of tea. It seems pretty inexpensive, as well.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 45 sec
Erin

The only pear-flavored tea that hasn’t been truly awful was Art of Tea’s Caramelized Pear. It was delicious!

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I’m having a difficult time rating this tea today. It’s…very unusual.

Earl Grey is probably the tea that drew me to tea, years ago…strange but true. Especially strange in light of the fact that I tend to have an aversion to intensely perfumey sorts of teas.

This one combines lapsang souchong and earl grey, and there is definitely no mistaking that fact: you can find both very powerful, very fragrant notes together here.

I’ve read that other people have thought ‘smoked pork’ when they smell lapsang souchong, and I’ve always been a little bit tickled by that; for me, lapsang souchong has always just smelled like a campfire, more pine-like than meat-like.

This is the first time I’ve opened a bag and thought…oh…definitely smoked pork.

The tea does not, thankfully, taste like smoked pork.

I’m sort of reminded of Samovar’s Scarlet Sable, unsurprisingly, but I think I prefer this one. The longer I sip it, the more I’m enjoying the sweet, citrus-floral component. It seems to linger on the palate just as well as the smoked lapsang does, making this tea feel lighter than your average lapsang despite the fact that I think it’s really not, in actuality. It does lack the harsh, acrid tar element that some lapsangs seem to tend toward, but since that’s my least favorite quality of lapsang souchong, I can say I’m pretty glad that it does.

This was definitely not the tea I wanted when my order from Tao of Tea came in, but I was so curious about it that I couldn’t help myself. I’m not sorry that I had some. It’s a strange combination, but it works! Citrus and floral and smoke. Gonna have to say…this tea…is a harlot in a housefire.

A little bit more in-your-face with the flavor than many teas I consider staples, but one of those blends that probably occupies a space that no other tea can wholly occupy.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Shanti

This sounds really interesting! I’m not a huge Earl Grey fan either, and I’ve never had Lapsang Souchong, but somehow the idea of citrus and smoked pork sounds delicious :)

By the way, did you leave of the rating for any specific reason? I was curious as to what you’d rate this…

sophistre

I couldn’t figure out how to rate it! It wasn’t what I was wanting when I had it, so…I feel like I might’ve short-changed it if I’d tried, and it was unusual enough that I thought I’d better live with it a while before I decided. It’d definitely be in the green range of things, though…I’m just not sure where!

I ♥ NewYorkCiTEA

This sounds oddly interesting.

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90

I am increasingly fond of this chai. There’s something remarkably uncommon about the smoke-laced depths of it. It still reminds me of re-enactment villages and antique shops, and the stony fire pits of the Anasazi…or maybe venerable old houses made of good, creaking wood, with big flagstone fireplaces.

Something about it smells almost undeniably feminine to me, too. I cannot for the life of me tell you what the reason for that might be; the tea doesn’t smell floral or sweet or fruity, but somewhere in the back of my mind, it sets off little bells of familiarity strong enough to warrant the thought.

It’s not the chai I reach for every day, but a definite ‘reorder me’ tea even so.

Stephanie

I love the imagery!! This tea has now jumped unto my Shopping List!

Jillian

I love the name! LOL XD

sophistre

I hope you enjoy it! The smokey element is really quite nice. Very shadowy.

And it is a rather sassy name, isn’t it?

Meghann M

Love the name of this chai, yum! Miss the movie, may have to dig it out of my stash of movies on my day off this week!

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drank Kuki Yerba Mate by Samovar
158 tasting notes

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81
drank Yerba Mate by Samovar
158 tasting notes

So, my 4-Hour Work Week Samovar thingy came a few days ago, but I hadn’t had the chance to open it up until today. And…I discovered that the included book is missing! This is actually not a huge problem for me, since I ordered the special for the yerba mate…but even so!

Anyway, I must be seriously insane to be sipping on yerba mate at nearly 8pm in the evening. I’m questioning my own judgement here…but really, it smelled nifty and…new tea! Too weak to say ‘no’.

I’m really digging the smell, honestly. It’s very grassy…but less like the soft green grass of summer, and more like pond reeds of some kind, or something slightly woodier, something thicker, with a stalk. Bamboo, maybe. Not quite sure. It’s an earthy, nutty, but grassy (reedy) smell with a green note at the very end.

The description notes that there’s licorice root in here somewhere, but if so it’s so subtle that I’m not able to isolate it on its own, which for me is a good thing.

It almost has a savory chalkiness to it. That sounds terrible, but I’d say that it reminds me of…I don’t know…oats or some other grain before you turn it into granola or oatmeal or what-have-you. Not chalky, per se, but…

Oh, I’m totally spacing the words that I want. Maybe finishing this cup will help!

This is a pretty robust cup. I can see people either loving it or hating it, but I definitely dig it. I’m really looking forward to trying the other two that came in the set!

Preparation
5 min, 0 sec
Stephanie

It was discovered by AmazonV that the set does not come with the book. Most of us thought otherwise too! :( http://steepster.com/discuss/572-samovar-the-4-hour-workweek-organic-yerba-mate-set

~lauren.

Did anybody check the actual Select page? I would except I don’t know how to recall that date’s Select back to view it ….

~lauren.

I looked at that Select and the book is included. I posted on AmazonV’s discussion above.

sophistre

Okay…for a minute there I thought I was nuts, but I was pretty sure I’d read that it did. Thanks for finding that! That makes me feel better about the note I sent the company to see what they wanted to do about the missing piece!

~lauren.

Maybe get Jason involved? Since it may include more than just you and AmazonV… I’m not sure who all ordered that Select but maybe Jason can do the talking for everybody?!

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91
drank Coconut Cream Pie by 52teas
158 tasting notes

Whee, 100 tasting notes. I sort of felt like I ought to have a really rarified tea for my 100th, but then I had one of those mornings where everything that happens seems custom-designed to frustrate and annoy. I couldn’t help but to reach for something sweet.

I’ve been awfully lazy about tasting notes lately. In point of fact, I have none for this tea, but my pouch of it is very nearly empty now, which saddens me. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I have.

There’s not too much that I can add here that other people haven’t already. The shavings of coconut are large; the vanilla is very subtle. The black tea holds up well to both. While it’s a decent tea without any additives, making it like a chai on the stovetop — sans sweeteners, but with a very generous spoonfull or two of sweetened condensed milk added along with regular milk — makes for a completely decadent treat.

I wouldn’t say that it’s a substitute for pie, of course…or even that it tastes exactly like coconut cream pie, when consumed hot…but the results are so delicious that this hardly matters, in my opinion. Thinking about it, I wonder if the viscosity and sweetness when served iced would make the difference?

Regardless…this was just the cup of tea that I needed for drowning a very cranky start to the day. It’s not an ‘every day’ tea for me…but it’s quite nice to have it on hand, and I think I can probably find a regular spot for it in my cabinet.

Preparation
Boiling
LENA

Congrats on your 100 posts!!!

Stephanie

I enjoyed reading your 100th review! Adding the condensed milk sounds yummy—I’ll need to try that!

Jason

100, woot! Totally agree with this review; not a substitute for pie but a good treat nonetheless. I think of it more as a coconut flavored steamer than andthing too pie-y or even tea-y for that matter. I tried it iced and it’s pretty much the same thing…just colder. Definitely a nice dessert drink though.

__Morgana__

Congrats! I just passed 150 myself and didn’t even notice until you mentioned your milestone. :-)

Angrboda

Yay Steepsterversary! Congratulations. :D

sophistre

Woot! Thanks. And grats to you too, Morgana!

@Jason: Agreed! That’s the perfect way to describe it — a steamer.

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64
drank Honeybee by The Simple Leaf
158 tasting notes

Upped the amount of leaf significantly this go-around to see if I could pull a more saturated liquor out of the leaves. I think I did…but the result is still undeveloped and somehow unconvincing to sip on. It’s completely inoffensive as a tea, but there just isn’t much substance to it at all, and what is there isn’t intriguing enough to make hunting for it with focus a worthwhile time.

Not bad. I would drink it again without hesitation…but I won’t be sad when I run out of it.

Dan

I had to use more leaf and steep longer to get this tea where I liked it.

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Profile

Bio

Ohhh, I dunno. I like tea but I’m kind of a tea newbie. At this point I can say with authority that I may never be anything else, no matter how many teas I try…there is always something new out there.

I write a lot.

I also play way too many video games.

Ratings! (Bout time, wot?) This is a new arrangement, so…subject to change!

1-10: Not potable. First-sip disasters.

11-30: Intensely unpleasant…won’t catch me finishing the cup.

31-50: I really don’t like it…but maybe somebody else out there would.

51-70: Drinkable, but probably not the first thing I’m going to reach for.

71-90: Pretty good tea, and stuff that there’s a good chance I’ll have on-hand. Will do in a pinch at the low end, all the way up to regular visitors to my infuser on the high end.

91-100: Teas I really do not want to be without.

Location

Boston/Cambridge

Website

http://sophistre.tumblr.com/

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