Featured & New Tasting Notes

Drum roll please. I have in front of me my favorite breakfast blend with half/half & sugar, and a fresh glazed twisty donut. It’s my virtual Friday – we do a thing here where we get every other Friday off due to easing traffic congestion. Am I being bad with good stuff? Or am I being good with bad stuff? Either way the taste blend is INCREDIBLE! Bite of soft, gooey glazy twisty donut, slurp of creamy breakfast tea. Slurp of creamy breakfast tea, bite of soft, gooey, glazy twisty donut. What was that about work? Don’t bother me, I’m cheating. 80’s music softly rounding out the experience. I swear when I die, I will erect a donut shop bakery and a tea house in heaven right underneath my spiritual living quarters. This must be one of the main reasons why I reincarnated during this century. Came in too late to have to wear a dress all the time, but not too late to enjoy the pleasures of taking tea and facilitating Victorian-style spirit circles. Gotta love it! Om nom nom nom nom nom. :)

JacquelineM actually inspired me this morning, so after finishing the morning pot of Lapsang Souchong, I switched to this.

I’ve never really managed to get the hang of Dragonwell before and I’ve never really been able to agree with myself on whether or not I like it much. So I was in a weird situation where I had a sort of semi-craving for something that I wasn’t really sure I liked.

What to do, what to do?

It’s not really practical to brew half pots at the time, because I have a tendency to forget that I’m only supposed to fill it half up with water and end up with a totally weakling cup of tea. I don’t really have the brain capacity to do it that way when I know I’ll be steeping it several times. If it’s just the one or two times, it can be done, but more than that and chances are it’ll go wrong at least once.

Cue the little yellow gaiwan that I hardly ever use, because I always spill and/or burn myself. I was feeling brave though, so I brewed in that and carefully decanted after steeping into another little cup. That gave me half a very small cup on each steep which isn’t so much that I’ll give up on the questionable flavour or get too much of it, and it allows me to do a multitude of steeps.

So I’ve been drinking Dragonwell for oh about… let’s see… hmm… about four hours or so. I haven’t got the faintest idea of which steep I’m currently having, the counting got messed up, but JacquelineM totally nailed the primary flavour note when she called it asparagus-y. It’s like with Takgoti and the walnut note in the Pai Mu Tan. I knew it was a well-known clear flavour, very easy to pick up on. I just couldn’t work out what it was.

At this point though, on Steep X, the asparagus-y-ness has diminished quite a lot. It’s not really a flavour that tries to invade and conquer, it’s just sort of there. Much more toned down. The flavour has sort of deepened, if you know what I mean. It’s not as bright and bouncy anymore. It has calmed down and turned darker. Like the difference between brand new leaves on trees at the beginning of spring, and leaves that has been on the tree for half a summer already.

I’m liking these ‘older’ steeps better than the first ones, definitely, so it seems like with this one the gaiwan is the way to go.

As I said, I lost count of what number steep this is, but to give you an idea of how far I’ve approximately come, I’ve become quite good at transferring from gaiwan to cup. I don’t spill every time anymore. And I haven’t burned myself either.

It’s still not a tea that I really see myself drinking a lot of though, so I’ll leave the rating where it is and let first impressions count for this one.

This tea courtesy of Doulton!

I am very excited because I’ve been wanting to try this tea ever since I read about it. The leaves are absolutely GORGEOUS! Long, dark and handsome! It’s so hard to believe they are not blended with chocolate!!

This tea is ridiculous, and I mean that in the most highly complimentary way possible! It’s deliciously tea-ish and a chocolatey roasty flavor. Not hot chocolate, not coffee, not chicory although all these things come to mind. It’s something all it’s own and simply sublime!!! I want to wander the streets and go up to random strangers and say “Taste this tea! It is simply pure camellia sinensis, but have you EVER tasted anything like it!?!?!?!?”

!!!!

Now that it is cooling a bit I am tasting a caramel note joining in with the tea/chocolate/coffee/chicory. Wow. This is one of the highlights of my tea tasting experiences thus far!!!! THANK YOU DOULTON!!!!!

EDIT: Great resteep! 6 minutes, more roasty chicory chocolate. Lighter but so delicious. Better than many teas first steep! but steep #1 is the best one.

Backlogging from last night.

I picked up a handful of teas from Teavana yesterday, and this was one I’ve kinda had my eye on for a while, I figured I’d get it since I tend to have issues sleeping most nights and I don’t currently have any other chamomile teas.

So yeah, last night, I was just beat…. I spent most of the day running around places, spent a couple hours at a park throwing a baseball around with a friend just trying to get ourselves ready for summer softball leagues… So I thought this would be a great tea to end the night with to help me get to bed.

The tea itself has a nice smell to it. There is a sweet citrus-y aroma to it either form the orange blossoms or the citrus peels. There are small undertones of lemongrass scents in this as well. I can’t really smell the chamomile all too well though. Once steeped this tea has pretty much the same scents as it does unsteeped.

I typically don’t mind the tartness of hibiscus or rosehips, even when they are in a tea together, I sometimes even enjoy the tartness of the two. But since I was looking for a nice soothing tea to go to bed with, I wasn’t really wanting a tartness to the tea, so I was almost afraid of trying this one.

But MAN, this tea was actually really good and wasn’t tart at all! It definitely does have a very soothing quality to the tea, I could definitely taste the chamomile a lot better than I could when it came to the smell of it. I was able to taste almost every ingredient in this, except for the hibiscus and rosehips, which is pretty interesting.

Needless to say, I passed out shortly after having this tea. I don’t know if it was because of the relaxing qualities of this tea and the chamomile, if it was because I was already feeling dead tired from being out and about for the day, or a combination of the two. But this tea definitely hit the spot right before bed. Definitely a good nighttime tea choice.

You know, I’m starting to wonder if I didn’t do something wrong in storing this — I put it in a tin, but it’s a biggish tin for a small sample. This pot, like the previous one, is just not as flowery as the very first one. I mean, on any other tea I’d be calling this flowery, but here? Only barely.

Well, I’ve already ordered a bit more. I’ll have to see if I can treat the next batch better!

Mmm, flowers.

In my book, anything with the name ecstasy in it can either be discounted immediately as puffery or has a very high level of living up to do. Ecstasy is, after all, not just a run of the mill, mild feeling. It’s sheer rapture.

The fact that I have had a four for four success rate with my Samovar samples thus far (I am intending to order more of all of the ones I’ve tried, something unsurpassed in my admittedly limited experience) left me doubtful this name could be discounted fully, so I had very high hopes for this one. And I haven’t been disappointed. Though I wouldn’t go so far as to state that drinking this left me ecstatic (wouldn’t that be cool, though? maybe one day I’ll find a tea that really does leave me ecstatic and then I’ll know all the secrets of the universe and more), I can say that I’m now five for five.

My only pu erh experience before this has been the Numi bags. They’ve all been varying degrees of enjoyable with the chocolate out in front. But because they’re bags, there’s a visual component to the experience that is missing. I’m finding more and more that I really enjoy examining the dry leaves of the tea I’m about to drink, and watching how they change after they’ve had their steep.

The Maiden’s Ecstasy leaves are brownish green, dark and pretty. A little on the small side, and not overly curly. Dry, they smelled to me as they smelled to Auggy after rinsing — like sweet tobacco, right from the pouch, with notes of leather and earth.

After rinsing, the leather aroma came to the fore. This, I think, is what I smell where others might smell fish. There is something slightly fishy, but not in an unpleasant way, about the smell of certain kinds of warm, pliant leather. I’ve had belts and shoes that have had a fishy note to them that body heat brings out and I know I’ve smelled this in horse saddles. It’s not always the case, but common enough. The smell of this steep makes me think of a new, buttery smooth, black leather English saddle.

My first steep at 2 minutes delivered a beautiful mahogany colored liquor.

The taste. It has that Samovar thing going on for me, an almost preternatural smoothness that makes their teas taste like velvet feels. I love that. To me, it is the difference between something that is nice and well made, like a shoe or a car, that you wouldn’t mind having, and the same thing delivered by a luxury brand. There’s a little luxury in every sip.

Within the smoothness, there is also a flavor that verges on leather — but is kept from being a stark leather flavor by its sweetness. I’m not getting raisin here, but perhaps a pre-raisin (i.e., grape) fermented sweetness, as though the tiniest drop of a fine port has been dropped into the tea.

The second steep at 2:30 yielded a similar flavor. The nose became more sugary, more carmelized.

OK. I’m about ready for my third steep and I am going to stop now and just go enjoy this for a while. I want to sit with it and see how it changes. I have all kinds of time for this tea.

I got this on a whim since I’ve always wanted to try a rose tea and so far I’m really enjoying white tea. It arrived today and I popped open the bag (*special note on Stash’s loose leaf tea containers: if you have a kitty and you give him kitty treats out of those crinkly bags, then be aware that this is how their tea comes. My poor schmoo was so utterly baffled as to why he wasn’t getting treats. I shall be getting some different tea containers soon).

Okay. So. The smell was insane. Like “HEY I’m a HUGE bouquet of cheap flowers and I’m gonna punch you in your naughty bits via your sinus cavities!” The smell utterly devestated me. I wanted a giant cup of fou-fou and not a giant cup of anger!

I went ahead and gave it a go since I’ve discovered what a difference a steep makes. Praise Jeebus that it did indeed mellow the heck out of it. The tea taste was much more prominent (not a ton, but it was there), and the smell was better. It was more like my aforementioned “fou-fou” desire. Like the Jasmine I’ve tried it gets bonus points for scent memory in that it reminded me of a childhood friend’s “Barbie Perfume Maker” set and the rose water it contained. (After typing this I looked up the Barbie Perfume Maker and it turns out the scent I recalled is named “Tea Rose Water.” Brilliant!)

And I think the second steep was ideally what I was hoping for. (I did go for a third – white tea and all. Yeah, not so much. Truly barely rose water.) I shall go forth and quest for my ultimate girlie-girl rose tea, but I’d probably order this one again. NE

Absolutely delicious! For the coconut aficiondo, this one is delicious. It reminds me very much of Premium Steap’s Organic Coconut and I am very hard-pressed to select between the two. They both have given me superb coconut experiences. I may need to hold a coconut tea survivor game and sip all of my coconut “contestants” and force myself to vote one “off the island” until just one supreme winner remains.

But such is the speech of nonsense. I don’t want to snuff anyone’s flame. This tea is just as rich, full, and delicious and true to flavor as any other coconut I have had.

I also have to make a plug for the speedy service American Tea Room provides.

I tried more of this—two days in a row because I was having a major jones for it. As Jane Austen might say, “I extend my approbation completely”.

Upton Sample Buying Spree Tea #14:
Just the green Earl Grey left!
Before anything else, I have to say that I really liked the color of this tea – it was such a nice reddish brown. Or was it brownish red? I’m sure there’s an official name for that color. Possibly to do with wood. Mahogany? No I think that’s darker. Once again the leaves are pretty finely crumbled (or whatever they do to them) so it brews up fast.
On first trying this, the astringency kind of slapped me in the face, but that faded as I drank. Still, I can definitely see why they recommend drinking this with milk. Tough luck, Upton Tea! Milk is for cereal! and oatmeal, I guess. and for making into cheese. mmmm, cheese. Anyway, I stand by my tea without milk stance! It’s very difficult for the human body to digest you know! In fact, the majority of people are lactose intolerant to a certain extent! I read that in Newsweek! Or possibly Wikipedia!
Ahem. Now that that’s out of the way. Nice black tea, certainly pretty to look at, think I liked the Scottish and Irish blends better, though.

My order from Lupicia arrived today. I’m thrilled!

Before I begin with my tasting notes, I want to talk a bit about grapefruit green tea. Last year, I went to Tohono Chul Park (in Tucson, AZ), and of course I had to dine in their tea room. I had their high tea, and I selected their grapefruit green tea to accompany my meal. It was absolutely delightful. Since that time, I’ve been looking for a grapefruit green tea that is as delightful. So far, I haven’t yet found one (I did contact the supplier of that tea. They did get back to me to tell me when they would sell locally. However, I live in Washington state, not AZ, so I couldn’t attend their local sale. I asked them if I might procure from them via mail, but they have not replied to that request)

So… that is why I ordered from Lupicia – in the hopes that their Grapefruit Green tea might be as good as I remember the tea being in Tucson…

Alas… it is not. That is not to say it is not a good tea, it is decent. A fresh, grassy taste to the leaves which is the strongest profile of the cup. The grapefruit is a very pleasing flavor, not overwhelmingly sour but pleasantly tart, with a nice citrus-y aftertaste. I like. But still, my search must go on!

I’m trying this blend in its teabag form, although I did get some of the tea loose-leaf aswell as part of the Green Tea Beginners sampler-thingy. The tea bag was just covered it matcha and the tea turned the water a bright green shade that looked very much like watered down matcha tea. The taste is an interesting mix of the matcha’s grassiness and the genmaicha’s roasted, malty flavours. I think the matcha has the edge in this tea, especially as you get down near the bottom when some of the powder has settled.

This seems to be a similar idea to Samovar’s Ryokucha, but I think the Samovar version is superior simply because it has more complexity and depth of flavour and because the malty genmaicha is the dominent flavour note.

My Silk Road Tea order arrived this afternoon and of course I had to try the Dragon Balls first. I was prepared for something a bit larger than a jasmine pearl and a bit smaller than one of those round gum balls. What I got was full-throttle testicle sized balls!

Anyhow, I put a ball into a glass tea pot and put in some just not boiled water and removed it to the dining room table, in scientific mode, to see how the ball would unfurl.

I was joined by my grey cat who is known as Bongo or Princess Annie or “mon frère”, depending on which member of my household you happen to be. He stared, utterly enchanted, at the slow unwinding of the dragon ball. At first it seemed to be resisting the heat and looked like a huge wad of chewing tobacco stuck in the cheek of a New York Yankee. Then slowly and subtly, the ball began to disintegrate. The cat and I were both captivated. It may have been something like watching an elderly movie star remove her make-up to reveal the ruins underneath. It ended up in a long-leaved mound and looked a bit like one of Monet’s paintings of hay-stacks in my glass pot.

The ball took five minutes to become a large mound and I thought it was high time to drink it (I had been making some experimental pours throughout). The water was a deep amber and indeed I thought that perhaps it would sport the kidney taste redolent of a tad of urine. Dragon Ball tea is indeed a bit funky, but not like urine. It’s more like the taste of decorous garden greens taken from a nut-growing plantation.

Oolings are rapidly becoming a favorite brew for me. They are subtle and they make me think seriously hard to pin down my characterization of their taste. I don’t think that there are enough analogies, similes, and metaphors to cover, adequately, the world of tea. I’m thrilled that I will get three or more steeps from my first ever Dragon Ball!

SECOND Steep: When I poured in the water, the Monet hay-stack collapsed into a pile of long delicate leaves. The second steep reinforces my favorable opinion. The aroma is delicate, nutty and floral and this time I can taste some buttery malt—subtle but certainly there. The color is a deeper amber because I gave it an extra 30 seconds. This tea is delightful on its own, but the name and the slow unfurling of the big ball make it a real conversation piece as well.
P.S. Thank you very much to Erin who told me how to bold text.

This opportunity to try Andrews & Dunham’s Series 1 Nepal is brought to you by – Ricky! Which is great, because that was the one tea I really wanted to try out of series 1.

Others have described the leaves well – large, multicolored – but the liqueur is a lovely shade of amber gold. The aroma is fruity, spicy, and definitely reminding me of last night’s darjeeling blend. My first thought on tasting is – citrus? Orange? Not what I expected from a plain black tea. The “black tea” taste, in fact, is quite faint. There’s a tiny bit of astringency, but certainly not enough to be offputting; it’s growing as the tea cools, though. I think this was better hot.

I didn’t mean to brew this at such a low temp (I just didn’t warm the pot well) but it came out pretty nicely. I would NOT add milk to this one, though honey or a squeeze of citrus would likely go well.

I packed up 6 samples to go out to various members of the Steepster community and still have a couple to go…in the meantime, I decided to reward myself by steeping Napoleon.

I really cannot say that I am disappointed at all but my expectations get very high for some tea brands. If this were a TeaVana or an Adagio I would probably rank it close to 100. Keeping that in mind, the brew smells and looks rich, honest, and sincere. The predominate flavor that I get is a great solid black tea with generous vanilla overtones. As a lover of vanilla, I am certainly pleased. There’s nothing synthetic here, nothing cheap or cheesy.

Overall, I’m delighted and will almost certainly reorder unless I find a better black vanilla. TWG stands for “The Wellness Group,” by the way. I can most certainly see this tea promoting wellness. Named in honor of Napoleon, this tea makes me feel a bit more successful and a bit European!

ICED TEA: I put this on ice last night and the results are very pleasing. The appearance is cloudy (does not bother me but I might not serve it to guests) but the taste is delicious—the vanilla comes through loud and clear. Very nice!

Visited the Tea Zone in Portland yesterday and asked about any new teas of the owner. He stated they had some new Assam teas in that were not yet on the menu list. Great I thought! I asked for a malty one and he suggested this one. It comes in organic and non-organic, yet he states that their flavor profile is quite different between them because they are grown in different areas.

I tried this tea at my brunch there yesterday and liked the tea so much I bought some to take home with me. The leaf is very dark, virtually a black leaf. There are no tips in it at all. The leaf is cut but offers large chunks 1/4"+ in length. The brew is golden brown and reveals a bold flavoring. It has the malty flavoring but also has a bit of a yummy sweet potato flavoring along with other notes I can’t quite put a finger on. It’s a complex but delicious flavor. I’m really enjoying this as it’s yet another addition to my Assam collection that is different from my other tippy and malty Assams.

“The first cup is strong like love, the second bitter as life, and the third sweet like death.”

I always think of this quote when I drink a good Japanese green tea. Many Japanese teas follow this flavor transformation rather closely which can be surprising the first couple of times you make these teas if you are only used to black or oolong.

Depending on my mood, I go back and forth on my “favorite” infusion of this tea. Right now, I am totally going with the strong/bitter grassy flavor of the second, but the sweet and delicate third infusion is excellent as a summertime tea… which hopefully will be needed soon.

I just had a flash of brilliance(?): “50 Days of Sencha” starting in early June or something, drinking a different Sencha every day for 50 days. EPIC!

Roasty and toasty, indeed. I really like the flavor of this tea. It’s a traditional tasting oolong in every way except the final kick of roasted/toasted, nutty notes. The color of the liquor is so light…I’m surprised it packs this much of a punch. It reminds me of Soba-Cha, but much more complex. Medium to Dark roasted oolongs are my preference, and this one is one of the best ones I’ve ever had. It’s nice to have an oolong that tastes just like an oolong…none of the green/vegetal notes are present at all. I might have found the right tea for my brand new Yixing pot. Maybe…I’ve had it since Christmas and still have not decided on a tea. It’s a big decision for me. :)

Major props to TeaEqualsBliss for including this one in our swap. I have found a new gem! Yay!

Very delicious Rainy Monday Morning tea :) I love the natural sweetness. It’s so sweet dried fruit to me! I would think that it had some sort of addition to it if I didn’t know any better. Enjoying it with half and half and sugar.

I decided to do another steep (rainy! monday!) which does not work with all black teas, but this one was very flavorful – it’s no second steep of Jackee or Tiger, but it’s good!

Which leads me to ask – do you drink a black tea which has a really fantastic second steep? Do share :)

I’ll admit, the first time I drank this it was without anything added, and I didn’t see what the fuss was about this tea. But today I decided to try it with some skim milk. OMG – YUMMMMY!

It tastes so smooth and creamy with a hint of vanilla and the light sweetness balances out of pungency of the bergamot very nicely. I’m jacking the rating up a couple notches.

Hmm, the brewed scent is almost like sugared celery. I’ve never actually had celery with sugar—but it’s a fresh, stalky, sweet green aroma I’m sensing (strange for a black tea, I know). The sweetness deepens a little and gets toastier, upon cooldown. The vanilla has a soft and baked quality, but the flavor is faint. The black tea base is very mild and only slightly tannic.

This tea is fine. Nothing too extraordinary. An acceptable vanilla black tea.

A good choice for the conservative black tea drinker thinking to venture out unto flavored territory.

I had to see if I could replicate yesterday’s Jackee. Yes! Wonderful again. Now I have to worry about drinking him up too fast. Thankfully, Thomas has had two days of recovery from his harrowing evening half-drunk wanderings and should be up to going out again tomorrow.

2nd steep: 205° F, 5 min.

Crazy sweet and nectary and fruity. Makes me think of mango or pineapple or honeysuckle but with a faint undernote of hay – sweet but not as sugary sweet as the nectar sweetness going on, a bit of a more solid sweet. I’m bumping up my rating a little because this is fantastic.
5.7g/12oz

Mokalbari Estate was my morning black tea today. A strong Indian tea with a heady and delicious taste, I could recommend this as a reliable daily morning brew. The resteep help up and was strong but not bitter, even though I gave it a couple of extra minutes.

In very broad strokes, I tend to think of a new tea in four broad categories: 1) intoxicating and I want to reorder it immediately, 2) very impressive and I’ll keep it on my list to reorder. I want to drink it again, 3) What’s all the fuss about? This tea is OK, but I don’t get the rave reviews or the outpourings of adoration. I can live without it, and finally 4) What fresh hell is this? What travesty has ended up in my mouth?

Mokalbari Estate is certainly a 2. It inspires me to try more Indian tea and to move away from drinking too much tea that has Count Chocula, Froot Loops, and Kiwi Pineapple Breadpudding Wine overtones.

The American Tea Room provides really speedy service. I know that I’ve said it before, but it bears mentioning again.

I love how the gentle fragrance of jasmine fills my kitchen while this is steeping. One of my favorites, second only to sencha.