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“Wow – I totally forgot about my tea steeping since I was on a long call with a student – it must have steeped for 10 minutes!!!! I was expecting a horrible bitter mess (much like the student I was...” Read full tasting note
“I had a lovely tea lunch with youngest daughter. Since we were both drinking the same kind of tea today I used the big red pot Sandy sent to us from New Zealand and brewed some Emperor’s Red from...” Read full tasting note
“This is a sad, sad day Steepsterites!! I am officially drinking the last of my Emperor’s Red this morning. I really do love this tea. I have been saving the last bit of leaves for awhile and they...” Read full tasting note
“This is very nice. Sort of a rich, syrupy tasting golden monkey (and both are made in the Fuijian region). I am not sure if I picked out any cocoa notes, but more like a deep malty flavor. This...” Read full tasting note
Fantastic black tea from the Fujian Province. One of the most popular top grade teas. Medium-leaved with golden tips. Has an intense, sweet aroma and a chocolatey taste with fruity undertones. Unusual and delicious.
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Wow – I totally forgot about my tea steeping since I was on a long call with a student – it must have steeped for 10 minutes!!!! I was expecting a horrible bitter mess (much like the student I was speaking with!), but I got a delicious chocolatey roasty rich Happy Accident!!!! Can this tea do no wrong? :) Sheesh! I am going to steep it for at least 5 minutes from now on (and I want to run out and buy 29038290348902384 lbs of it so I never run out!)!
♥
I had a lovely tea lunch with youngest daughter. Since we were both drinking the same kind of tea today I used the big red pot Sandy sent to us from New Zealand and brewed some Emperor’s Red from JacquelineM! The rich, cocoa aroma will win your heart! We are on the second resteep and it is still so good. I took mine plain and enjoyed all the nuance, but youngest took hers with milk and sugar. It is that kind of tea – you can enjoy it no matter what your tea tastes may be.
We paired it with Genoa salami and Kerrygold Dubliner cheese from Ireland in honor of oldest daughter’s imminent departure for a month in Ireland. Music to accompany the meal – Sandy Denny’s “It Suits Me Well.”
What a lovely day! It began with Sandy’s dog, Sasha, catching our mole at 8 am when I joined youngest daughter in her tent out back where she had camped out in hopes of catching Mr. Mole. Fortunately Sasha obeyed when I screamed, "Leave it! " and we were able to capture the little guy for release later. He is happily hunkered down inside my gardening glove with worms in the fingers (that will definitely have to be washed in HOT water before I wear them again!). I let the mantis join us for tea, but I drew the line at the mole. While he is certainly as cute as the mantis, his little home has more dirt and he smells terrible! Do all moles smell this bad? Oh, she named him “Diggory Delvet.”
That is a day alright! I just spent some time with this lovable pest:
http://www.spo.gs/RetroCamera.jsp?img=tSQQ
He is my neighbor’s cat who I saw kill a bird last week. I had to talk to him about it and tell him it was wrong and all that, being he was in my yard snooping for more birds.
Most moles I have had the pleasure of meeting do have a distinctive aroma.
What a great review and story. You painted some good mental pictures for us.
It is the little things isn’t it? Some good food, a little nice music, family, a faithful dog…tea. What else could we need or want?
JacquelineM – That kitty looks like he is a character! I have one who visits my feeders in hopes of getting a birdie, and I shoo him off, but Mr. Hawk thinks it is a birdie dispenser and I guess I am still feeding birds when HE gets one, so….
Teawing – Distinctive smell, indeed! Garlic spaghetti, wild onion, and armpit. LOL!
But youngest thinks he is the softest, most beautiful thing EVER!
How is the mole doing today? :)
Full of earthworms and waxworms and enjoying life! He has been to visit a number of our friends and will HOPEFULLY be released by this evening! (Youngest is asking to keep him forever. I told her Mr. Mole needs a girlfriend.)
LOL!
I hope he finds a beautiful Mole Wife where you release him! Maybe one day he will tell his Mole Children about the Magic Ladies who fed him earthtworms and waxworms then took him to meet his wife!
Jacqueline – I sent the pic to your email so you can see him having tea time with us! I couldn’t figure out how to post a link like you do – but I don’t have a smart phone or anything to link to RetroCamera. He is so soft…
I put him on my flickr so everyone can see him big!!!!!!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackiemania/5850807458/in/photostream
Thank you! :)
Thanks for posting the picture, and what a regal cup he used!
That mole is pretty cute in that tea cup!
He’s adorable! I’d have a hard time sending him away.
Sigh. He was supposed to go yesterday, then today, now tomorrow…daughter says she needs photos of the release! He is indeed adorable, though, and so soft and sweet. He is really enjoying his waxworms and earthworms. We bought him some imported Belgian worms that supposedly will last months in the refrigerator! LOL! But we have two species of box turtles in the yard to feed, so we needed to buy all those worms anyway!
I just ran across this review again. How about a really late update? Youngest is away at college, and I miss our tea times together. Mr, Mole was released at my mother-in-law’s woods. He apparently found that girlfriend, because I was there today to dig up some daffodils as a reminder of gardening with my mother-in-law, and what should I see all over the back lawn but mole tunnels and hills! Mr. Mole himself or his children? What a poignant reminder as I am feeling a little sad and missing people tonight.
This is a sad, sad day Steepsterites!! I am officially drinking the last of my Emperor’s Red this morning. I really do love this tea. I have been saving the last bit of leaves for awhile and they taste even better than I remember. I will definitely be restocking these sometime, but probably not in the next few weeks as I have a lot of tea right now to get through before buying more. Until then, I will be enjoying my tangy, roasty, cocoa love and enjoying each second of my multiple infusions.
This is very nice. Sort of a rich, syrupy tasting golden monkey (and both are made in the Fuijian region). I am not sure if I picked out any cocoa notes, but more like a deep malty flavor. This is very nice. The best part? This is a strong tasting tea similar to an Assam but no sugar/milk needed. This is a perfect cup – for a first drink in the morning.
Yes, this is as good as they all say it is. I have ever so lightly sweetend mine and plan to resteep. The cup is slightly smokey and incredibly smooth. I do get the faint hint of cocoa. A huge thanks to my ‘dealer’ JacquelineM.
Since my palate is essentially newish to tea, this tea and a few of the other more expensive types make me wonder if premium teas are lost in translation for the newbies. In all honesty, this is very good, but do I really notice a huge difference in comparison to a less expensive variety? Is the difference actually worth the price difference to me? I know there are tea drinkers out there who can very much tell the difference, and the premium teas are definitely worth the expense to them. And we all know, life is too short to drink tea that is just so-so. Still, I may have to look into this a little more for my personal information, and I might even try to get a blog going about it…kind of outlining my deals, splurges, and great values of the tea world.
That would make a great subject for a blog!
I have my favorites, and some are .10 a cup, and some are .50 a cup when I do the math. There have def been times that I tasted a very expensive tea and was not blown away. There are other times that I would have paid double for a certain tea! I do know that I’m a practical enough person that if I couldn’t tell the difference between two teas, I’d buy the less expensive one, but I am enough of a hedonist that if I could tell the difference, only the more expensive one would do. I would just drink it less often :)
I definitely see both sides….and will probably still indulge myself a little every now and then…and then….and then. ( Wait, how many thens? ) I am even thinking I am going to order some Emporer’s Red at some point (the Queen Catherine is already on order!) for research purposes, of course!
I have decided that the only bad tea purchase is one that you can’t drink yourself or pass along to a friend who will enjoy it…..
Yes – I think Queen Catherine is a great example of a very reasonably priced super yummy tea! :) When I fell in love with it, I bought a pound, reducing the cost even further. The other thing is that my local tea shop carries Emperor’s Red, so I don’t have shipping to pay, and the owner overstuffs my bag, gives me an ounce of something to try here and there, etc. so I always feel that even though the tea is expensive, I have other perks around it which add value.
Plus, it’s all an education :) The thing I love about all the trading we do on Steepster is that it helps with the high cost of education :) :) :) Paying back those tea student loans can be a bear! ;)
She should stuff your bag at Premium Steap. You are her dealer, afterall! Actually, she is lucky to have such a good customer who is so willing to spread the joy of her teas since samples are not available.
And you are right…it is an education. Luckily, my husband is into beer, so my budget is pretty good for tea!
Oh, hello lover.
He’s rich and golden, gently sweet with just a hint of astringency/bitter. Crisp, malty, honey, bakey, beautiful. Perfect to cuddle up with on a cold December morning.
Thank you, JacquelineM, for sending me this tea. He’s wonderful, and I must have more of him in my life. This first pot is already gone, and I have such a horrible sad right now.
ETA: Second steep at 6 minutes. Less honey taste, much more robust. Edging on the bitter side without getting there and all the better for it. Excuse me, we’re going to cuddle now.
Have you met his girlfriend, Queen Catherine? She is pretty awesome, too.
No, I haven’t met her yet…oh, dear, is she good for cuddling, too?
The Emperor can hardly keep his hands off of her! But really, she is the tea I turn to when I wake up sore and stiff instead of feeling rested. She doesn’t whack you in the head and rough you up, but as a morning tea with milk and sugar her tiny tinge of smoke does tell you to get a hold of herself and get to it! And she is quite lovely with cookies plain in the afternoon.
Oh, want. I love smokey teas!
Thanks to mrawlins2 I had enough of this sampling to make a pot of this tea. Smooth, not bitter and not astringent. Paired wonderfully with my apple tart and then with some dark chocolate. I drank the whole pot before it had a chance to cool even the least little bit. After reading all the reviews on this on, I am eager to resteep and enjoy this one again today.
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.
Just got 2oz based on everyones reviews, Especially JacquelineM’s. And I was surprised! I let it steep a little longer than 5 minutes, and the cup turned out, syrupy, oily, a consistency I would expect after I added lots of sugar. And It was reeeallly smooth, not bitter at all, something I would expect after adding milk! So from first impression, this tea doesn’t need any additions (but I’m excited to experimenting with it). Taste reminded me of PG tips, sort-of. Not usually a black tea drinker, so my description will expand as I have more time with this tea.
Horrible bitter mess…a lot of people are like that today, huh? Definitely need to get me some of this tea, since it’s so forgiving!
Yes! …and so young (I work at a college)!
I work for a public school system. They’re starting out young!
Ay! I am in school too to get certified to teach – I started wanting HS but I have since switched to elementary hoping to get em before bitter/jaded. Ya think 5th grade is too old? ;)
I overheard a 4th grade girl lamenting the fact that men aren’t knights in shining armor and that fairy tales are crap because boys aren’t charming. Kid you not.
Fifth graders are my favorite people on the planet. I teach ‘em at church and write curriculum materials for them … they’re old enough that you can communicate to them in adult-level sentences, but the middle school snits haven’t kicked in yet. (And Jaime, chivalry is not yet dead among 11-year-old boys…couple weeks ago, two of mine wouldn’t let me kneel on the floor by our activity table…they brought me a chair and saw that I was properly seated. Coulda hugged both of them!)
Uh oh!
gmathis – have you ever heard of the teacher Rafe Esquith and the Hobart Shakespeareans?
http://www.hobartshakespeareans.org/
He is the person who got me REALLY excited about 5th grade for all the reasons you mentioned! If you haven’t seen the documentary film, omg -
http://www.amazon.com/Hobart-Shakespeareans-Ian-McKellen/dp/B000CRR3GA
I could burst out in happy/sad tears just typing about them!!!
Will check it out! I am absolutely in love with this year’s bunch…actually, I say that every year….
I sent Sandy (in New Zealand) a teaspoon of the first ER you sent to me in our first swap. Did you see that her one cup has made her fall in love with the emperor as well? I told her I would share some of my bounty with her! The Emperor and Catherine are mainstays in my house now!
ashmanra – and I will share my next ER bounty with you :) :) :) I hope to visit Premium Steap in the next week to go on a “YAY 92 on a Hard Test” tea spree :)
So great! You are so smart – of course you made a 92, and that was with one lobe of your brain tied behind your back.