894 Tasting Notes

75
drank Butter Tart by LuxBerry Tea
894 tasting notes

This tea is confusing. Delicious but confusing.

The dry leaf is very pretty, speckled with pink peppercorn, pistachio and almond slices. Both the name and the picture drew me in and tempted me to try this one. The leaf smells sweet, of almonds and a hint of cumin.

Steeped, the cumin and pink peppercorn take the lead on the nose, which is weird and interesting.

I drank this with a teaspoon of sugar, and again confusing. Because I really taste the cumin a lot, which makes it feel very savoury, but there’s also this melange of flavours that really does give the impression of butter tart. But then cumin. But then I don’t think the butter tart flavour would be there if the cumin wasn’t! It’s not really buttery but there’s the sensation of eating pie crust and the rich sweetness of the butter tart filling. But cumin! And then raisin on the finish which is perfect.

I dunno. I think I like this quite a lot, even if it’s confusing. It actually kind of reminds me of cumin shortbread cookies that I bought once. I was kind of weirded out and bothered by the presence of the cumin, but also, I couldn’t stop shoving them in my face.

I think this is a tea that’s definitely worth a try for its uniqueness and complex flavour, but it’s probably also a tea that a lot of people won’t like.

Flavors: Almond, Pastries, Peppercorn, Raisins, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
sweetea

Oooooh I wonder if this is the same blend as Tealish’s Patisserie? I will never forget the cumin-punch that came with every mug of that tea . . .

Anlina

Hmm, they do look extremely similar, quite possibly identical. I hope not – LuxBerry sells on Etsy, so I bought with the assumption that their blends are unique and handmade.

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82
drank Apple Tarte Tatin by LuxBerry Tea
894 tasting notes

Mmm delicious. Apples, raisins, cinnamon, caramel and nuts. This both smells and tastes like an apple cake with a nice, bold base to support it.

It reminds me a lot of some other tea, maybe DAVIDs Coffee Cake? Not quite right, but the smell in particular really reminds me of something else.

I had it straight but I think it would probably be even better with a dash of sugar to really bring out the cakeness.

Flavors: Apple, Cake, Caramel, Cinnamon, Nuts, Raisins, Spices

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
VariaTEA

Yum! This sounds delicious :)

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70

Sipped this down this morning (because for some reason it was in my untrieds box, and I couldn’t remember if I’d actually had any of the fresh leaf I bought or not.)

This was pretty good today. Much like my last tasting note. Butter, earth and fruit on the nose. Sweet strawberry and creamy coconut with earth, licorice and puerh tingle.

Quite an enjoyable morning cup, particularly on a day where I’m up way too early (serious, how is 6am even a real time??)

Flavors: Butter, Cocoa, Earth, Licorice, Strawberry

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML
Dexter

LOL – I would rather think of 6 AM as bed time rather than get up time. :))

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91

I enjoyed this so much yesterday morning that I had to share a pot with my sweetie last night. Mmmm.

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95

Bah. I should buy some kitchen grade matcha for making lattes with, but I have this now and it’s delicious, and I’m not going to not drink it. This is so tasty in a latte, I could drink a dozen of them a day. And I love that it doesn’t make me feel over caffeinated at all.

Besides, matcha doesn’t keep very well for long right? So I’m not wasting this by drinking it in a latte, I’m using it up while it’s still good! ;P

Preparation
1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
AllanK

How do you make a matcha latte? I have matcha but have never made a latte with it.

TeaBrat

I keep mine in the refrigerator, you could try that.

Anlina

I don’t have a matcha whisk or equipment to prepare it properly, so I just put a teaspoon of matcha, some sugar, hot water and milk into the blender and run it for a few seconds.

OMGsrsly

I have my matcha in a sealing tin (designed for dressing or something?) in the fridge. It seems to be keeping very well.

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73
drank Green Tea by Chaday
894 tasting notes

Not a bad green tea. Vegetal, a bit buttery and roasty. Lots of hay and some green peas on the nose that doesn’t really reach the palate.

I brewed this for 2 min at 82C. The package recommends boiling water for 3-5 minutes, but I can’t even imagine how bitter and astringent it would be. Already it has some pleasantly astringent notes and a bit of a drying feel.

Flavors: Astringent, Butter, Hay, Peas, Roasted, Vegetal

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 236 ML

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91

Oh wow, this is not your usual chai and I am really impressed.

I usually like my chai brewed up really strong, with milk and sugar, and so I had some hesitations around this one, as many tasting notes have said it tastes weak. While this is not at all bold and brisk, like some Assam based chais or ones with a CTC base, nothing about this tastes weak to me.

The dry leaf smells strongly of cardamom and ginger, with a whiff of vanilla. Steeped the chocolate notes come out on the nose, as well as a butteriness and sweetness.

On the palate, the base teas are forefront and not overpowered by the spices. Malt, floral and fruity. The chocolate, ginger and cardamom combine beautifully, for a rich, spicy but almost cooling flavour profile. The vanilla is there and adds a nice creaminess. The finish is ginger and cardamom.

I am so impressed with how complex and well balanced this is. I’m glad I got a whole, unopened bag from the stash sale, because I think that this will be a regular cup for me.

Flavors: Butter, Cardamom, Chocolate, Floral, Fruity, Ginger, Malt, Vanilla

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Sil

i wonder if the formulation was changed. I hated this one previously

Anlina

I dunno. I picked this up from a stash sale so it might be quite old. I think a lot of teas from that sale were. I know that they don’t offer it anymore at Verdant.

Kittenna

I quite enjoyed this one, but yeah, I believe it hasn’t been offered in quite a while. The fact that I think I actually don’t have any left should give you an indication of that! (Considering I have bits of like, everything left.)

Kittenna

Also, Sil – could have been different harvests? I feel like it was around long enough for that to have been a factor.

Sil

could be.

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97
drank London Fog by Cornelia Bean
894 tasting notes

I’ve had an exhausting and rather rough day, and I’m just getting to my first cup of the day at 10pm. So instead of trying something new, I made the biggest cup I have of one of my favourite, most comforting tisanes. Lots of milk and sugar tonight, and it’s creamy and sweet, with lemon and bergamot notes and just delicious.

Sil

oy..no tea until 10pm! :(

Anlina

Yeah I usually have my first cup when I get up, but yesterday was just weird and busy and stressful and I didn’t get around to it.

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90
drank Calm Me Teatoxy by Teatoxy
894 tasting notes

This is such a great evening tea. My sweetie and I had a pot of this to wind down after the gym last night.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec 6 tsp 21 OZ / 621 ML

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93

Picking up where I left off with yesterday’s leaves.

45s, 60s, 2min all at 90C. While this was still tasty for the 6-8th steeps, the amazing complexity and honey nectarine finish did not reappear. Just lots of floral and a bit of grassiness. Ah well. I think these leaves are officially spent now.

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Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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