OLD VERSION (2011-2014) River Rain

This really truly tastes like rain, or “less salty ocean” for those of you like me who have forgotten what rain looks like and have no rivers nearby. After being corrected, yes, rain, I remember this feel.

You know how it smells when it’s just rained in a grassy area? That’s how this tastes. It’s really not grassy overall, there’s just hints of it. And the jasmine notes give it this freshness that I can’t even put into words. This is how I imagine, without any weird chemicals and the like in the air, collected rainwater that you immediately drank would taste.

It’s a very light cup, but even with just a minute it is bursting with flavor despite its physical appearance.

Second steep, +15 seconds: it’s still a very strong flavor, just like the first cup! I’d say though the one major difference is the jasmine is a lot less floral. But seriously it’s like it was never even steeped in the first place, that’s how bright the same notes are.

I can’t wait to try this one out in my gaiwan. And also have a third steep preferably much later on today, too full of tea already haha.

I am super impressed with my Whispering Pines teas! Haha, I’ve probably said this already :P but yeah, oh and also, I forgot to mention the hand-written note that came with my teas was a nice surprise, good customer service! I had a cup of Honeysuckle White tea by them earlier and didn’t rinse my cup, so there might be a bit of honeysuckle taste in this cup that is not normally present lol. I’ll have to write a review about that one at some point too! Anyways, onto this tea.

First off, this one has a very faint green tea scent dry, nice and light. I steeped for 1.5 minutes at 175 degree water. The steeped smell is of jasmine, fresh little buds of it. The taste is very delicate and fresh, I definitely taste a floral element, whether that is the honeysuckle adding to the jasmine from the previous cup, I’m not sure, but it is quite nice. The green tea is very light and smooth, with the slightest hint of grass. I can see how this is likened to rain in a forest or on blades of grass, it is just fresh and sweet and pure.

Overall, I am quite enjoying this cup, I am finding it quite relaxing and I love the images of a forest it evokes for me. Ahh feeling a bit Zen-like, much needed after a busy busy day at work. I will hold off rating until I try it in a clean cup to make sure the white tea isn’t messing with the flavor.

This was a wonderful sample from Rachel!

This is a very nicely done blend. It’s lightly vegetal with notes of chestnut and wafts of jasmine. The jasmine is not strong at all, it’s delicate and very well done. This tea really does resemble its name, a light rain in a field with wild flowers with a creek flowing through it. Beautiful tea, thank you for sharing this one with me Rachel!

I imagine this would be pretty darn great in the springtime, particularly when it is approximately 65 degrees. Rainy, clearly. Because it is both warming but light and refreshing when it isn’t cooled.

I am enjoying it now because I am determined to work through some of my cabinet to make room for new things, and keep plugging away at whittling down the stash a bit. Lately I’ve been picking 3-4 tins and 4-5 samples to work on sipping down at once so I have variety in my day, but so I make progress on my storage challenges. I have quite a bit of this, and will enjoy it each day.

I’m not a huge fan of jasmine, but wowser, is this a good tea! Most jasmine teas overdo it – I feel like I’m being assaulted with the flavor. This one is a solid green tea with jasmine very much present, but not overwhelming. I did six steeps in my gaiwan 20/15/20/30/45/90 at 180° and was not disappointed by any of them, though it was pretty faded by the last go-round. My wife and daughter really like jasmine pearls, so I’ll be interested to see how they react to this one.

I had a couple cups of this tea this morning. I love mao jian tea and I love jasmine but wasn’t sure the combo would work. I thought the jasmine might overpower mao jian which is perfect on it’s own. I needn’t have worried. The jasmine was so light. A barely there jasmine giving it a jasmine scent but not overpowering in taste. A very nice cup.
It went well with the heavy rains this morning and my book I’ve been reading “The Dalai Lama’s Cat.” What a fun book and there’s lots of wisdom in it too.

Lewis & Clarke TTB

This is going to be another one of those terrible notes because I was playing Diablo III again… Oopsies. The leaves are those type that are thin and dark and partially curved into little ‘u’ shapes and loops. Dry scent was faint jasmine.

I found that this tea had a little too much jasmine for me when it was hot, I couldn’t really taste the green tea base much. As it cooled, I liked it more, but it was still very jasmine-y. Apparently I would like jasmine green teas cold brewed! :P

As you may know by now, I love taking tea and nature photos. I’m just a casual photographer with no special skills, but I like to capture life’s unexpected blissful moments. One morning this week, I checked out my window and this is what I saw:

http://instagram.com/p/rHsiYJQh_C/

The beauty in this world…simple pleasures, big rewards…such as this tea.

It’s delicate and yet so powerful. When you drink it, you are taken by its beauty.

I brewed it Laoshan Style, in a tall glass. This is reminiscent of my beloved Sleeping Bear of course, the jasmine part.

It’s fresh and floral, but not overly perfumed. The name is just right…for being in the rain and by the river quite often in my neck of the woods, I can appreciate that.

It’s so sweet and a little nutty. It’s not very grassy or herbaceous for a green tea, a thing that might appeal to non green tea lovers.

The perfect afternoon companion, while Steepstering and reading a book…

Brenden threw in a sample of this with my recent WP order. This morning, trying to get out the door and realizing I needed more tea at work, but having no time to deal with pulling out anything and no space for anything but sample sizes, I grabbed this and hoped for the best.

It’s really good.

I love jasmine teas. I love green teas. This is a beautiful jasmine blend. It’s not too too jasmine, but it’s still definitely jasmine. Beautifully jasmine. Deliciously jasmine. Dance on my tongue jasmine.

It kept me company all morning. On the website, there are directions for 3 infusions, but I got 4 for sure. I thought about doing a fifth, except I them knocked the brew basket off my desk and decided I didn’t want to use the leaves that were now all over my cubicle carpeting again. (Other than tea, this has been my day.)