Steven Smith Teamaker

I am at a library conference this week and brought packages of this tea along for the breaks. I’m so glad I did—the teas offered were nothing I was interested in. This has made it much more enjoyable being away from home and my usual tea collection.

Unfortunately I didn’t really pay much attention while drinking this tea flavor note wise. One of my family members was admitted to the hospital today and I was getting filled in. Since I volunteered to dog sit. This tea came from my grandfather(the one in the hospital currently) it was very fitting to drink this now. He got bought one serving size of this unprepared for me while at a coffee shop. Even though he doesn’t pay attention to flavors I like(there are a lot of them) and picked this at random. It was a great choice and very thoughtful.

Inspecting the tea: I thought this would be loose leaf since the sachet looks just like the David’s Tea samples you get. So much to my surprise I opened it up to find a silken loose leaf tea filled sachet. I was struggling to find a clean tea strainer so this was quite convenient. I brewed it as directed for 3 minutes at 190 F. The dry tea sachet smells very floral and fresh.

Tasting: This is the best Jasmine tea I’ve ever had. It’s very sweet and floral but fresh as well. In my opinion It’s not exactly perfume-y like so many Jasmine teas are. There are sweet vegetal notes and sweet fresh floral notes. I really unfortunately didn’t pay much attention but it was an amazing cup. I need to add this to my buy more of list.

A wonderful play on oolong. The subtle hints of olive oil and bergamot really pair beautifully with the tea leaves. The aroma projects warm notes of olive oil and bergamot, setting the stage for your palette. The high grown Taiwanese oolong comes through immediately, with a mild vegetal sweetness, followed again by the soft scents of olive oil and bergamot post-sip. This feels like a comfort tea and creates a comforting experience. The minimalist layers of aroma and flavor truly allow this tea to pull you into the experience of the cup.

Absolutely love this tea. One of my personal favorites.
I’m a fan of genmaicha in general and this Steven Smith blend has done a wonderful job in pulling together the toasted rice and grassy notes of a traditional genmaicha with a sweet floral rose. The rose permeates both the flavor and aroma in a most pleasant way. Subtle notes of toasted rice and sweet grass reveal themselves on the backend of each sip.

Had a sachet of this that was given to me by a friend and I’ve had this one before so I decided to use it up and drink it while I finished my final exam. This one I did add some cream to since I don’t love the bergamot that they use. With a little cream and honey added it was better though. Maybe this one would be better steeped at a lower temperature. It’s nice and smooth though!

Alright, it’s time for another back-of-the-tea cabinet discovery. I’ve been my working my way through this Darjeeling blend for the better part of the week. At the time of this writing, I only have one sachet left and will probably go ahead and finish it before I go to bed. Even with a little age, this blend holds up well.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped one sachet in approximately 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I attempted no subsequent infusions.

Prior to infusion, a whiff of the sachet revealed aromas of toast, wood, raisin, herbs, and spices. After infusion, I picked up refined aromas of herbs, toast, malt, wood, Muscatel, and butter. In the mouth, I found notes of wood, herbs, butter, toast, grass, straw, malt, lemon zest, roasted almond, and Muscatel underscored by subtle raisin and very mild nutmeg notes. The finish was smooth, yet fleeting. There were lingering touches of herbs, toast, roasted almond, and wood chased by a very faint fruitiness.

This was a fairly solid blend. I think it would be good for someone who just wants a predictable, consistent cup and is not all that interested in the world of single origin, single flush Darjeelings, though I could also see it being a good introduction to Darjeelings in general. While I’m glad I tried this, I doubt I would go out of my way to purchase it again. It played it a little too safe for my liking and didn’t surprise me in any way.

Talk about a blast from the past. I could recall buying a two ounce pouch of this tea back in the summer of 2016, but until last week, I was entirely unaware that not only I still had it, but that I had never even gotten around to opening it. Upon discovering this, I made the decision to prioritize drinking this one. Fortunately, the tea was still viable. I’m aware that the shelf life of loose Earl Grey is longer than many people realize, but one great thing about Steven Smith Teamaker is that their loose packs are very thick and both heat and light resistant. Since this was still sealed and stored at the very back of one of my tea cabinets away from heat and light, I noted no deterioration in the tea. I have to say that this was a very nice Earl Grey, and fortunately, I did not find it to be too heavy on the bergamot oil.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped one teaspoon of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted a powerful bergamot aroma underscored by subtle hints of malt and toast. After infusion, the bergamot was still front and center, but I could detect more pronounced malt and toast aromas coupled with traces of roasted nuts, orange peel, and caramel. In the mouth, the bergamot was particularly heavy on the entry, but the liquor soon acquired a semblance of balance due to the presence of roasted nut, caramel, malt, cream, leather, orange peel, and brown toast notes. The finish was rather powerful, as the bergamot once again reasserted itself and left a lingering citrusy tartness in the mouth and throat after the swallow.

Like most Earl Greys, this was not the most complex or nuanced blend in the world, but it did what it was designed to do. Blends like this are specifically designed for lovers of bergamot, and as this artfully showcased the aroma and flavor of bergamot, I cannot fault it much. For me, this would not be an everyday Earl Grey, but for those times when I want something a bit tarter and punchier, it would the sort of blend for which I would reach.

Free sample in a sexy, sexy little black folder.

I am going to ramble about my tea journey with this one. I love Mao Fengs and fruity greens, but I rarely purchase them. I started off on steepster being a Sencha lover and someone thinking he’d love dark ripe Pu-Erh’s and oolongs. Now, I stay mostly in the comfort zone of greener oolongs, whites, and blacks….constantly complaining that some green oolongs aren’t sweet or fruity enough, never mind there are green teas that do just that.

I generally stay away from greens because they are often too vegetal for me, never mind they price slightly cheaper than oolongs. As for this tea, it makes me think of rain in bamboo filled mountains. The profile is light, creamy, vegetal like sweet peas, bamboo, a little floral, and fruity like honeydew and eating whole strawberries…including the stem. I know, I am odd. The tea is straightforward, but it very clean, elegant, and sweet tasting for a green tea sachet. I got four brews out of it total, starting with 2 1/2 minutes, 3, 4, then grandpa styling the last two. I still prefer oolongs to greens even though I think this is a better tea than the Alishan. WTF is wrong with me?

Thank you Steven Smith for the sample!

If I was smart, I would have tin refilled this instead of the oolong, BUT I am always in the mood for oolong and would not drink this 2nd flush every day. I would drink it every other day.

“Complex flavors of butter, nuts, flowers and fruits with balanced astringency and a sweet toasty finish” is fairly spot on, but it is a fairly muscatel second flush-just the way I like it. I admit that I oversteeped the first brew because I held the tea pot while talking to my mom, but it still produced a rich, vibrant orange cup of sweet muscatel goodness. The grassy bitterness and astringency were a bit much bordering on hay,straw, or even basil, but it the tea was still super tasty. I got more almond in the early mid sip, and more honey in the mid to aftertaste as it went down with the hay-dry bitterness.

The second 5 minute rebrew was much more balanced and definitely comparable to a Bai Hao with it’s honey aftertones. The almond-lemon taste was much more pronounced, and the florals were fairly buttery. Overall, this was a very smooth and sweet cup. The third seven minute rebrew was the lightest, but again, had the lemon zest honey thing going on with some dry characters still there.

I am tempted to pick up more of this one. It ranks as my No. 1 sachet black tea as of now, Aug. 6, 2017. As for those looking for a quality bagged Darjeeling or a slightly floral black tea, I highly recommend it. This tea is also fairly easy to recommend to experienced drinkers and newbies alike. The price is my only detractor personally, though the loose leaf pricing is not bad. $11-14 for 15 sachets is not ideal, but you are paying for quality.

Why do oolongs always open up a month after you open the bag? Seriously, every gaoshan oolong becomes 10% better after I first try it.

Anyway, I grandpa styled this at my placement school last week and the fruit and floral notes were heavy amidst crisp lettuce ones. Basically, the rating would go from a 75-80 based on how it lushly improved. It also gave me a little bit of a caffiene rush, especially considering the earlier Fog Cutter cuppa joe pumpin’ through my veins…I’m a student teacher, don’t judge me.

I pretty much knew what this tea would taste like and trusted eastteaguy’s suggestion, but I was curious to have a few sachets of this on hand. It’s what you can expect from a Jin Xuan, and while it is pretty good, I have had better oolong sachets from the local markets in East Lansing.

The sachets were fairly light, and even though steeps longer than 3 minutes is not recommended, I found that the sachets did fine Grandpa style. Grandpa yielded a little more nuttiness and fuller creamy textures, but the other notes pretty much remained the same in a slight flux. Western style, and just generally, the tea tasted like lettuce water and rice milk with some floral tones smoothing in the background. The cantaloupe fruit notes were there, but very subtle making the tea mildly sweet. I’d guess that the fermentation is a little higher, maybe there is bare light roast.

This tea could be stronger, but it is much better than other sachets or tea bags. Again, it is what you’d expect from a Jin Xuan: floral, creamy, and vegetal. Though I might hesitate getting it again, I do not regret having some easy going sachets on hand and I still recommend Steven Smith as a company. Their Meadow blend is one of my favorite chamomile personally.

Very impressed with this tea. It is pre-packaged in sachets. Has a molasses and toast flavors with a bit of honey in the background. Strong in caffeine. It is perfect for a quick morning or afternoon pick-me-up without time to properly measure and steep a loose leaf brew. Excellent flavor that is not overpowering. I’ll definitely add this to my regular collection!

As some of you may know, my nose and mouth were attacked by potpourri, jam, and dirt last night (I conducted a lengthy gongfu session with Verdant’s 1985 Special Grade Qing Xiang Aged Tieguanyin), after which I immediately decided that I should drink something that restored a degree of faith in the tea merchants of the world. In other words, I experienced the wackness and ran screaming into the outstretched arms of an orthodox second flush Darjeeling. I think Thomas Wolfe may have been wrong about that whole not being able to go home again thing, but I could be taking that title too literally.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped one rather healthy teaspoon of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I kept this simple and did not conduct additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, I noted that the dry tea leaves emitted mild aromas of straw, grass, herbs, and Muscat grape. After infusion, the Muscat, herb, grass, and straw aromas intensified and were joined by aromas of roasted almond and toast. In the mouth, I experienced a lovely mix of toast, malt, cream, Muscat, roasted almond, grass, straw, lemon zest, and pungent herb (almost lemon balm and basil-like) notes.

This tea was very, very good. Sometimes it is so nice to return to something with which you are familiar. Prior to my experience with this tea, I do not recall ever trying a tea from the Steinthal Estate. I am hoping that those grassy, lemony, and pungent herb notes are characteristic of their teas. I feel that I could safely recommend this one highly to fans of orthodox Darjeelings.

This is one that I have been meaning to get to for some time. I’m new to Bai Hao oolongs, but all of the very few I have tried or otherwise become familiar with have come from Taiwan. This one was sourced from mainland China. I was very curious to see how it compared to Taiwanese oolongs of this type.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 190 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I noted that the dry tea leaves emitted pleasant aromas of honey, peach, and apricot. After the rinse, I noted intense aromas of peach, honey, apricot, fresh flowers, wood, and some sort of minty herb. The first infusion produced a very similar, though slightly more floral aroma. In the mouth, I easily detected notes of honey, peach, apricot, and wood underscored by flower, cream, and herb notes. Subsequent infusions were noticeably more robust on the nose and in the mouth. The floral aromas and flavors began to separate, revealing lily, honeysuckle, gardenia, osmanthus, and magnolia impressions. The cream aroma and flavor began to soften the peach, apricot, and honey tones, while the woody and herbal characters began to stand out a little more. I also noted the emergence of mineral notes, as well as some more savory stuff. A doughy, bread-like character emerged, and I also detected hints of toast and steamed rice. The later infusions were mineral, bread, and cream heavy, though ghostly impressions of herbs, toast, wood, steamed rice, and peach were just barely identifiable.

Overall, I admired the depth and complexity of this oolong, but it was a bit too light on the palate for my taste. The last Bai Hao I rated (Tealyra’s Dong Fang Mei Ren Formosa Oolong) was fruitier and more syrupy, and I recall rather liking that about it. Compared to that one, this Chinese version is more floral and savory with a subtler, more refined layering of aromas and flavors. Normally, I would be all for that, but here, I was really looking for more sweetness and more fruitiness. Also, this tea faded just a hair quicker than I would have liked. To be clear, I still rather enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t spring for it over a good Taiwanese Bai Hao most days.

I’ve been drinking this of a morning at work, and its been really nice actually.
This is a nice breakfast blend, not too astringent or too malty. I actually really liked it, and I’m not always one for Breakfast blends.
This has served me well, but now its a sipdown!

As much fun as this weekend was, it was certainly long, and I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted.
So, this is my afternoon pick-me-up (much needed), and I’m enjoying it very much.
Part of my traditional activities at the Dickens Faire is afternoon tea at Cuthberts Tea Shoppe, which has scones, sandwiches and trifle, and of course a pot of tea. Now, I’ve had better afternoon teas, but its just so charming that I never miss it. They served a rather ordinary breakfast blend as their tea, with no option for anything else. I never have cream or sugar in my tea at home (or so rarely that it might as well be never), but I do have it sometimes when I go out to tea. This tea most certainly benefited.
So I’m happy to go back to this better breakfast blend today. This is very rich, smooth, and just plain tasty. A much better thing, and good without sweeteners!

Uh oh. I woke up with that slightly sore throat that indicates post-nasal drip. Drat, I’m getting the illness that the boyfriend had last week!
Grumble.
So I’m packing tea today. I’ve got tons of the stuff, to get me through this working day, and then when I get home, I will have even more, probably with some honey while curled up under a blanket.
Its a busy week. I gotta get it under control. And tea is the only home remedy I really know.