Teekauppa Chaya

Still experimenting with oolongs with a specimen that was found roughly a month ago and which just waited patiently as the other life decided not to give any slack for a decent cup. Not that yours truly needed to ask any permission to take it slow this morning in order to take a sniff or four, type, sip, type, sigh, type, devour the cup, create and artist book while minding the tea cup being safely away from the papers, and type again before eating breakfast and hitting the blizzarding city. Small joys.

The scent is heavy with floral notes, but also lihgtly fruity with a sliver of dried fruits, maybe apricots? The wet leaves give once again a rather pleasant surprise with the fresh floral-ish aroma accompanied by a well-moistened edge of late summer’s morning dew that’s tilted towards mature sweetness which is heavier when compared to, say, sugared fruits, and more enticing than average joe’s dark chocolate. Definitely far away from flavoured dark chocolate as well. It’s basically something one would love to smell on slow mornings after revolutionizing the laws of time and space way too many times in a row.

Scratch tasting, this one’s designed definitely for the sense of smell only.

The scent of the bright yellow liquid leans more to the fruity side with a somewhat intriguing layer of something not quite roasted but darker still than the rest of the tea’s aromas, and, well, one can’t sniff the cup without taking a gulp.

Sip.

Sigh.

Nice.

Comparing to the Green Jade this one is slightly heavier on the tongue, it’s wholesome with all its notes and acts as an all-around good guy towards my taste buds. The aftertaste seems to be quite scatterbrained since it occasionally just disappears and then pops up unexpectedly, like it would forget to linger around for a while longer and then suddenly remembering what it was supposed to do just now. Entertaining cup this one.

Still sniffing the wet leaves constantly, though.

Light. Airy. Sweet.

Springy.

As it seems that I’ve fallen heavily for oolongs after the previous good trials with these specimens, it’s more than required to take a couple more tasting tests to see if this tea type could take a permanent residence in my cupboards.

This little one is giving its best at the moment.

The aroma is very subtle but still filled with different, even complex layers among the actual key scents, which further creates a well-composed body for the specimen. It’s something to just breathe for a while and enjoy the wholesome-ish, lingering grassy sweetness which gives yet again hope for the actual Spring to come in these neighborhoods.

The sip itself presents firstly the shy optimism of an airy character, which evolves into surprisingly thick palate with the more fruity notes of ripe fruit flesh, and offers a very pliant feeling on the tongue. The taste lingers long enough to be fully noted instead of just demanding to fill one’s mouth with another sip, although the aftertaste is a tad bit thin and dodgy. This feels like a tea that would blush all the time as it would stutter and twirl its hair constantly if asked something; both cute and frustrating at the same time.

But the scent that caught my nose the most is actually the aroma of the wet leaves. It’s so heavy with fragrant fresh, fruity and floral notes all at the same time that it makes my head reel a bit. Enticing. Also the beauty of the leaves is just amazing, just to observe the slow process of them unraveling from tightly rolled pearls into big and lush leaves is something that makes my drawing hand itch. Or I really need to use more moisturizer. Either way…

This I could happily have as a fragrance right next to the two made of Japanese blended and Scottish single malt. If I could ever have an impact on perfume industry, that is…

..but the application for the cupboard residency has good credentials so far.

If I ever thought that out of all the things man can create, a simple cup of tea just cannot be as pompous and presented with an ego equally large as any narcist walking..

This one is a rare treat indeed.

Have never laughed so hard while reading the description nor when typing it down for this site.

So.

The leaves are indeed leaning into blue hue, and they are well-sized, granted…and it’s still mere tea. No enlightement reached here so far.

The scent if the first to give the chocolate in it, albeit maybe a bit too light for my liking (taking 100% chocolate for delightful snack, 99% made me giggle once while observing as others were trying to restrain from spitting it out. After that nobody gives me permission to buy the chocolates for parties without someone else keeping watch. Killjoys.) After that comes the roasted aroma with the lingering trace of nut. Sadly it’s not as compatible with the chocolate as I hoped it to be. Although hubby seems to fall head over heels for it…his train of thought takes it towards very old malty whisky.

Alright, it may be perfect fit for some.

The scent grows stronger when steeped by each passing second, now the chocolate hits heavily with even more tangible sense of it being roasted. Almost like a soaked pastry made of dark chocolate. The liquid does turn very deep yellow, although it does have a slightly dimmer tone in it when compared to Tit Kom Yum, the oolong yours truly tried out once. The nut seems to be a bit lost now, need to sniff the wet leaves for a while in order to find it again.

Sip.

…The mouthfeel is nice. Not so full as hoped. There are nutty fragments in the taste, but sadly very narrow ones. The chocolate has dimmed down considerately, which is somehow nice since the overwhelming scent was already making me hesitate on the next actions with it. Now the palate is focusing on mainly roasted notes. The crop is barely there and more as in giving support to the roasted flavour rather than standing on its’ own.

This could be a treat with the right food or scotch by its’ side. But on its’ own..hmm. I can taste that it’s sophisticated and does have similarities with puerh….

And there’s something lingering on the tongue. Hoping that to be the aftertaste.

This little Napoleon is taken down a peg or two in my books.

Very nice tea. It smells artificially fruity in the bag but, when brewed, the fruit flavors aren’t too strong. The combination of goji berry, pomegranate and orange is a pleasant one and though I’ve been casual with my brewing times, it’s difficult to make it too bitter. I received this as a gift but I may purchase it again when it runs out!

This a smooth, medium-bodied tea with a light sweetness in both the scent and flavor. It’s a bit toasty with a slight vegetal taste lingering on the tongue. This feels more like a spring tea rather than something to drink during the winter. It’s relaxing though, and I’m enjoying it quite a lot.

This tea is AWESOME! Just in the tin, it smells like its exploding with warmth and cozyness. My mouth gets all tingly from the ginger and it tastes more of cloves than of cardamom. Cinnamon lingers on the tongue for a while. It really warms you up from the inside and is perfect for the long Finnish nights.

I still can’t decide if it like it more than the Upton Rooibos Chai. This one is much spicier and the Rooibos tastes somehow “fresher” than Upton’s, but the Upton version has a more balanced mix of flavors. Also I forget what Upton’s tasted like when I first bought it. I guess I’ll have to keep buying both, HOORAY! :D

After brewing this tea for a relatively short 3 mins, I really like it! I’ll have to see how it tastes after 4 and 5 mins, but brewing for 3 results in a soft, smooth Assam that is still toasty. It doesn’t have too much astringency and would probably go well with a little milk. I tried re-steeping the leaves for about 3 and half minutes and they still retain quite a bit of flavor. It would probably be best to do the first infusion for 3:30 and the second for 5:00.

After running out of my Twinings Vanilla black tea, I decided tea bags were too wasteful to use every day and I was sure there would be several better vanilla-flavored black teas that I needed to try. This tea is one of them! It has a much more natural vanilla flavor.

When brewed, it smells like warm caramel. I often drink vanilla teas with milk and a little sweetener, as that makes them taste like some dessert drink one would get from Starbucks. Plain, however, it’s also quite drinkable, though vanilla becomes more of a background note rather than the main flavor in the tea. I don’t know if this is my ultimate vanilla black tea, but it’s definitely a good one!

Visited today the new teashop Chaya in Helsinki. Scottich Caramel pu ehr tea from this shop is a total delight to senses. The tea smells heavenly before and after steeping. Colour is caramel-dark, and the aroma is strong, velvety and and sweet all the way. Caramel flavour is in harmony with the pu ehr earthy tones. It is a good dessert tea, can´t wait to try it with caramel dessert:). This is better than my previous pu ehr favourite (Numi chocolate pu ehr).

My first cup of Gyokuro. I wasn’t sure what to expect after reading so much praise about this tea. It reminds me of sencha. I don’t think I can taste much difference between good sencha and this gyokuro. What does that tell? I have some great sencha? I think I like Tamaryokucha more, but this is a close second. I got lucky and bought this for half of the normal prise. Otherwise this is way over my tea budget.