115 Tasting Notes

86

My Monday morning tea today is this very nice blend. The flavor is smooth and malty, a little sweet and can be taken without milk just fine if you don’t steep it past 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. It’s a very enjoyable flavor with deep amber color. My can is getting low and may be soon time to reorder. I recommend this tea!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

Makes me wanna go back to Paris!:)

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95

My after lunch tea today is this fine varietal. Opening a new bag of this, I was then surprised that I had already sampled this tea from a small sampler bag. Once again I find this tea is outstanding! The leaf is med-long, finely twisted and beautiful with it’s golden tips. The aroma of the dry leaf is wonderful. The light smoky caramel is nicely pronounced. I brewed for 3 minutes and sweetened with one Splenda packet. The brew is golden amber, medium darkness. The flavor is outstanding, clearly rivaling my all-time favorite golden yunnan from Tao of Tea called Emporer’s Gold. It has the slight smokey but caramel flavor with spicey notes thrown in. I will have to do a taste test between the two to determine the champion. In the mean time I’m going to really enjoy this mug of tea on this cold cloudy winter day. If you enjoy golden or tippy yunnan teas and you get a chance to try this congou from Hubei, you won’t be disappointed!

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

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88

This full leaf tea with some tips provides a bold tea with a mild malty flavor. Hopefully it keeps me more alert following my workout and lunch meal.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec
Wiseman Tea Co.

Ah the post-workout tea is the best…

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93
drank Milk Oolong by thepuriTea
115 tasting notes

Someone threw out my Jasmine Pearl tea leaves before I could do another steeping so I went for this one next. This is a really great tea. I’ve never had Milk Oolong before this recent order. I got a sampler size and it’s good. I’m still trying to decide if it’s milk it tastes like or something else. Whatever it is, it’s like the others have been saying…yummy! The brew is a pale greenish yellow. The aroma is wonderful and matches the flavor well. If you haven’t had this tea before, get some quality stuff and try it. I haven’t tried other brands but this one from thePuriTea is worth the price! Standard disclaimer…I have no connection with them other than as a customer.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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90
drank Jasmine Pearl by thepuriTea
115 tasting notes

Settling in for a nice quiet evening sipping this beautiful and tasty oolong tea. It is fresh and fragrant in it’s aroma before and after steeping. The flavor is wonderful and provided you like Jasmine, you can’t go wrong with this one. The brew is a pale yellow with a hint of green. If you aren’t a big fan of Jasmine this one may be even considered slightly overpowering. However, I assume that is what you would purchase the tea for. A second steeping and maybe even a third may be in order for this cup.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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83
drank Black Dragon Pearl by Teavana
115 tasting notes

My first tea of 2010 is this one. Three balls in the mug and 3 min steep. Brew comes out a deep golden amber. With a little sweetener this is a great cup. Flavoring is bold and reminds me of a Golden Monkey with a little malty, woody, and caramel-y notes. There’s no bitterness or astringency and makes for a great morning tea or anytime.

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

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63

Selected my last tea of 2009 to be this one. It has a tightly rolled up leaf dark green in color. The aroma of the dry leaf is mild, with a sweet floral and slightly fruity aroma. I brewed it for about 3 minutes. The brew was a moderate greenish yellow color fairly typical for an oolong. The flavor is not as bold as I was expecting from this oolong. For being “superior” I think I expected more. It’s a very nice flavor but suggests I need more leaf next time. The leaf did not completely unfurl after the 1st steep so I later tried another steeping, adding another minutes. It came out just as tasty as before. The leaf unfurled the rest of the way and the leaf is full and beautiful. Size wise they are small to medium leaf. It’s quite a beautiful tea visually. While I’m not an oolong expert but I was expecting a little more for a “superior” grade tea.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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88

For a cold showery winter morning this tea hits the spot. It’s a full leaf assam with some tips in it. I steeped it my usual 2 minutes for an assam and the astringency/bitterness is mostly non-existent, so no need for dairy additives. I find the brew bold and dark, the flavor smooth and moderately malty. It’s a good cup to sip and reflect on this last day of 2009.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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79

This is the 3rd place holder in my taste test with three assams from SpecialTeas. This is a complex malty assam tea that has some other notes that adds a bit of mystery, maybe a hint of pine or smokiness, but very subtle. It’s a nice assam, at 2 minutes steep doesn’t really have any noticeable bitter aftertaste. It likely would do well with dairy (milk or h-n-h) but I usually drink my assams black with sweetner. For this taste test I used just sugar.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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74
drank Assam Malty FBOP by SpecialTeas
115 tasting notes

I did a taste test today with three assam teas from SpecialTeas. This was the close runner up of the three assams. I like a malty caramel flavored assam and this one is a good one. It’s also a nice smooth medium strength flavored assam but has a little more bitterness in the aftertaste, which the first-place winner didn’t. This was even with a 2 minute steep. I added no dairy products so just the sugar for sweetner.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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Profile

Bio

I love loose leaf tea! While I gravitate towards black teas, I’m getting more into oolongs, greens and whites. I’m always looking for great fresh new teas to try. This tends to lead to the problem of ordering more even though I already have way too much.

My collection of tea has kind of gotten out of hand. After taking over several kitchen cupboards, it has spilled into the back hallway now with containers of tea stacked up there. I think I need more hours in the day to drink it all.

I’m also a vegetarian who loves dark chocolate, photography, travel, computers, web programming, technology and cats.

Location

near Portland, Oregon

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