4054 Tasting Notes
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #21
The scent of the dry leaves here almost scared me away. It has kind of a sour scent. But the flavor is SPOT ON pear! Not one of those very green shiny pears that look so fresh but one of those brownish mottled overripe rustic pears. I can definitely mostly taste the pear skin here. Magic! The black tea is tough to describe but pairs (pears) well with it. The second steep didn’t have as much of that pear flavor but the first steep was amazing! I didn’t think the French teas were my thing before, but I can work with this one. Best pear tea I think I’ve tried! (I think I said that about a pear tea I tried from the last round of this teabox.)
Steep #1 // few min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #20
This is a nice one but not strong enough for the morning! Maybe because there is also rooibos here, it mellows it out. The steep color is a light brown. Big chocolate chips! The flavor is more coconut than chocolate though. Hints of both. That black tea is too light to figure out!
Steep #1 // few min after boiling // 4 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // half mug // 4+ min
Additional notes: Time to sip the last of this one down, sadly. I will MISS it. The coconut was not bad in this one yet, therefore making this the best coconut to use in tea. The tastiest coconut too. There should be more 52Teas blends with hojicha!
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #19
I’ve had a sample of this one before but I didn’t think it had enough to make it eggnog, but sipping again it is a magical green tea if I just see it from that perspective… no need for extras! There are some sips at the beginning of the first cup that taste like eggnog in a subtle way. But this green is amazing. So smooth (creamy) even with so many leaves and such a long steep too. Raising the rating from 85.
Steep #1 // 30 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // 20 min after // 4+min
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #18
A spicy rooibos here! I’m not sure how “pumpkin” it is, but it does have a hint of creaminess to it. There COULD be a hint of squash. But the orange pieces are actually… orange pieces, though they don’t show up in the flavor for me. The spices aren’t too tough. I always love a nice rooibos chai at night: comforting and no caffeine.
Steep #1 // just boiled // 3 min
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #17
I accidently oversteeped this one but it wasn’t ruined in the least. This is like the candy peach flavoring but I’ve had much worse. The peach tends to overpower the white tea flavor, even with the long steep time. The purple is just from the flowers but the flowers are pretty. I love a few of Steep City’s blends and I’m very sad I can’t order from all of the tea companies I wish to order from.. Steep City is on the list (maybe not this blend though). I’m sipping tea all day every day, doing my best. :D
Steep #1 // 30 min after boiling // 5+ min
Looks like the forums are not working with Steepster now… so I’ll just keep trucking on these teabox teas.. hopefully they will work soon so I can start working on the teabox list for round #4.
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #16
I get to try the plain yaupon too. The leaves look like leaves I went to the yard and picked.. I can see the leaf veins, while with a guayusa or yerba mate I don’t really see that. This one does not get overbrewed like the other types. The cup of the color remains a light green with both steeps, while a guayusa would get really dark. The flavor is unique and interesting… it’s like a light vegetable mixed with hints of cantaloupe. The second steep remains sweet like the first but there is a hint of brothiness like a tomato soup. Super smooth. I can see people liking this one even if they don’t like yerba mate or guayusa. I really like this! I’ll have to keep yaupon in my mind as something to look for in the future, but searching ‘yaupon’ seems to really only have results for the two teas I’ve tried. These two teas seems to be a rarity, so I hope others give them a try in the teabox!
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // 10 min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 min
Thanks again Teavivre for the samples! Always a wonderful mail day when a Teavivre package arrives (well the package arrived a while ago anyway.) Teavivre has quite the collection of keemuns now. Five of them. The thing is, I think all of them could taste similar depending on how they are steeped… they seem sensitive to steeping! The leaves here are longer and wirey, so the leaves are physically different from some of the other keemuns Teavivre carry. I didn’t follow Teavivre’s instructions this time around. Six teaspoons is a lot of tea… though that is for 17 ounces of water and my mug is 12-13 ounces. They also suggest 194 degrees for 3-5 minutes.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 15 min after boiling // 3 min
The cup here is very light in color but there is such a lovely fragrance before I even take a sip! Perfume in the best way possible. It has subtle flavors that I would attribute to Keemun, as well as something that reminds me of the muscatel from Darjeeling. There is also a squash flavor. This one reminds me of a Keemun blended with Darjeeling. But it would obviously be a different cup brewed differently…
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min
…and it is. This cup is much darker in color and the taste is more like a Keemun, however that flavor can be described. Not sure, but I love Keemun. This cup is so different from the first cup that it could be more similar to some of the other Keemuns Teavivre has. Neither cup had much smoke as none of the Keemuns from Teavivre do. I also tried another Keemun from them the other day and the results were entirely different than the first steep session. They are constantly changing but if I love all of the Keemuns from Teavivre then it really doesn’t matter.
Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #15
Oh I’ve wanted to try some of the Teavivre herbals! This one seems like mostly hibiscus/rose hips which I’m not a fan of… but some of the other herbal blends from Teavivre sound amazing. This blend also has some apple and mint. Two teaspoons at just boiling for my 12 ounce mug and the red of this cup is looking fierce. Before sipping, there is an apple cider like fragrance. The first sips are extremely tart but really it’s like a syrupy fruit punch/apple cider. I probably could have added a bit of sugar. It’s tough to notice the mint except for the hints of cool to my mouth. The tartness is more tolerable as I’m drinking but this one would be an AMAZING iced tea. I think I’d like the blends with less hibiscus better but this one was good.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // just boiled // 2-3 min
This might be my favorite I’ve tried from JOTea so far… just my thing! I love tulsi since it is holy basil and I love basil.. especially the purple type. I also love that this type of tulsi tastes slightly like green beans since I love those too. I eat them raw.. I’d actually prefer them to potato chips (in the case of green beans they look like French fries!) This one is a very unique blend in that it also has lemon myrtle and spices. After waiting around ten minutes to steep the spices don’t overpower the lemon or tulsi. The lemon is definitely noticeable so there is a lovely balance between the tulsi, spices and lemon. Very nice! I’m so sorry for the late reviews, JustOrganicTea.com!
Steep #1 // 10 min after boiling // 4-5min
