75

I received this in JakeB’s sale a while back — a whole cake! Thanks JakeB! I’m not sure if I tried this before because there is a piece missing, or if I just removed a piece to send to someone else. It would be surprising if I didn’t write a tasting note for a tea the first time I sipped it…. especially as this is the highest rated tea on Steepster at the moment (whoa!) Sadly nothing is special about it, so I probably had it before but didn’t write a note. My rating might drag it down from a 92 though, despite so many glowing reviews from other Steepsterers. I’m not sure if I’m steeping this wrong but this seems like your average ripe pu-erh… very smooth and dark but not as dark as I love my pu-erh to be. A smooth pu-erh seems like black tea to me (that somehow never gets astringent) but my favorite pu-erh needs something MORE there. Of course I’m very happy when none of those icky pu-erh flavors are there. All three steeps had relatively the same flavor, despite vast differences in steeping. I’m missing the magic that others see in this one though! Ah well, different tastes.
Steep #1 // 16 minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // MANY minute steep

Edited to add: Honestly, I lowered the rating on this one until it was among the 90 rated teas and wasn’t the only tea as a 91! (Yesterday it was 92!) But my original rating would have been 80 anyway.

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Bio

Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.

Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandala
verdanttea.com

Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas

My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.

Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!

I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.

My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors

My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again

I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)

Happy sipping!

Location

USA

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