149 Tasting Notes
Backlog from yesterday.
This kind of reminds me of Florence, probably because both have chocolate flavouring. The main difference is that this is a creamier milk chocolate, which is likely because of the coconut flavours. Good balance between chocolate and coconut, and quite tasty overall.
Backlog from earlier today.
Mmm. The coconut in this is amazing. It’s almost as if I were drinking coconut milk. Yum! So smooth and creamy, with an authentic coconut flavour. Getting some floral notes, too. I’m guessing it’s the pouchong? This is so good… I’d imagine it’d taste amazing iced, too.
Resteep: Not as flavourful as the first steep, but still quite tasty! I might try a third steep, but I think that’d be the limit for this.
Backlog from two days ago. I’m slowly getting around to writing notes on samples I’ve received from various merchants.
Not usually a fan of Earl Greys, but I’d heard a lot about Earl Grey cream teas around here, so I jumped on the opportunity to try a sample of this from Zen Tea.
I was pleasantly surprised with this! There’s a very creamy aroma, even with the dry leaf. The balance between vanilla and bergamot is perfect. Great on its own or with a tiny bit of sugar.
Backlog from yesterday.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a straight Keemun before (it may have been in some blends I’ve tried), but if this is what Keemuns usually taste like, I think I can safely say that I quite like them. Chocolatey and smooth. Tasty afternoon tea. Thanks to Zen Tea for the sample!
Backlog from this afternoon/evening.
I’m still not very experienced with pu’er, but I really enjoy this shu. It’s earthy and musty, but very pleasant and comforting, like the smell of the earth in the woods after the rain. There’s a bit of sweetness to it, too. And it lasts for a number of short (< 1 minute) steeps.
Did you western brew or use a Gaiwan? (I like the 30 second steep method with poking the nuggets)
Western brew (mug and a large filter basket, steeped for ~20 seconds. I haven’t tried poking the nuggets— I should do that. Thanks! :) ). I’ve been meaning to get a gaiwan at some point, but haven’t had much time to do any research on them, sadly. Maybe during winter break…
Gaiwan doesn’t matter as long as you have a brew basket and mug and saucer to put on top or something. You need to control how much water and such. I like to poke the nuggets a little and I read that David Duckler’s Pu-er person in China does this. Try 30 second steeps.
I feel like I’ve been in an endless reading/research/writing cycle over the past few weeks, and I was feeling something similar with my tea drinking (I’ve been avoiding making any new purchases until I clear out some of my stash). I remembered that I still had several samples Azzrian sent me, so I decided to break my usual tea cycle and try out a new flavour.
I’ve never had a flavoured pu-erh before, so I’m excited to try this.
The dry leaf smells quite citrusy, but I can’t really smell anything chocolatey. When steeped, the tea smells like an earthy citrus, with a hint of chocolate. It tastes like that, too. The pu-erh base isn’t very prominent, but it’s there to provide the earthy background, while the citrus flavour takes the spotlight and the chocolate comes out in the aftertaste. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate orange flavoured things, but this was surprisingly pleasant to drink.
All in all, an interesting and refreshing tea. Thanks for the sample, Azzrian!
Gah, I haven’t posted here in such a long time. Midterms and essays, followed by a visit from a good friend whom I hadn’t seen in about a year and a half, followed by getting a cold have been keeping me away from this site. :(
Anyway, I brewed up a cup of this… kind of an odd tea to brew when you’re sick, but I just had a craving for a toasty Oolong. :P
… and I’m going to head back to bed, watch sitcoms, and write. Last day of break, hopefully the worst of this cold will have passed by tomorrow!
Thanks to Teajo Teas for a sample of this tea!
Yikes, it’s been a while since I was last on Steepster! Midterm exams and papers have been pretty intense over the past few weeks.
Anyway, this is a very nice tea with a definite peach-y flavour. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be tasting very much ginger, but that likely could have been because I had just finished making some ginger ale and was expecting a strong ginger taste. No astringency, slight maltiness.
Overall, this is a very nice tea that makes me want to curl up with a book and think of summer.
