Craig Stokes Send Message

This is my first experience with The Shu Fits and so far so good! The dry leaves smell like cocoa powder and make my mouth water when I inhale deeply from the gawain. I rinsed twice with boiling water. The first few steepings were very quick tasted like dark chocolate with hints of tobacco, leather, and a savory fruit. Raisins? Every sip conjures up memories of walking through a quiet forest in the early morning just after a rain.

On the third steeping I started to catch notes of brown sugar followed by a subtle bitter dryness in the finish. During later steepings (#4-6) the dark chocolate mellowed into milk chocolate and i also tasted some mineral notes. The brown sugar sweetness is still hanging out in the shadows only to make its presence felt every now and then.

Overall, I really like this tea and look forward to my next session with it.

I quit smoking cigars about 10 years ago but the aroma of this tea reminds me of my most favorite cigar ever: a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series cigar in a Maduro wrapper. In this tea, I detect very strong notes of tobacco along with leather, raisins. and dark chocolate. The smell is simply intoxicating.

This is a silky smooth tea. It’s ‘earthy’ but not ‘EARTHY’ like the other shou puerhs I’ve sampled in my short tea journey so far. I taste mushrooms, hints of dark chocolate, and maybe a touch of cedar.

I like this tea quite a bit. I received it as a sample in a recent Mandala order. I think I’ll be ordering up some more of this one soon!

This was my first experience with a white tea. I received this in a Tea Party sampler from Mandala. I really didn’t know what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed it. This tea is very delicate with subtle floral notes with almonds. There’s a lingering bit of sweetness that I really enjoy.

I received this tea as part of the Tea Party sampler from Mandala Tea. I don’t exactly hate the smell of jasmine but I certainly don’t particularly like it. I had very low expectations for this tea but since I’m on journey to expand my tea knowledge I was prepared to give it a fair shot.

Okay, so while I wasn’t too impressed with the smell of this tea the taste was pleasantly surprising. It’s buttery smooth, the jasmine is very subtle, and there are some delicate floral notes. After 4 steepings I can’t tell if the jasmine smell has decreased significantly or if I’ve just grown accustomed to it. I do find this tea very relaxing.

A pretty good morning tea but I wished it packed a bit more punch. I’ll have to experiment more with tea quantity and steeping times. Pleasant notes of leather, earth, mushrooms, and a bit of sweetness. Feels velvety in the mouth. I like this tea, but just not sure if I love it yet.

1 tsp tea w/ 8 oz water. Steep times of 30 sec, 60 sec, 90 sec, 120 sec.

I had a sample of this a few days ago and did enjoy it but failed to take notes. I do recall a fruity tartness to it, which I liked. I need to try this one again.

A malty sweetness with hints of leather and cherry. One of the few teas I’ve found so far that satisfies my early morning need for “All The Caffeine!”