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Lewis & Clarke TTB

Yay, a second Darjeeling from Golden Tips! This one is an oolong, whereas the last one was a black tea, so I assume they’ll be quite different from one another. The leaves of this tea remind me of Oriental Beauty – they’re varying shades of brown and grey with silver tips mixed in. Dry scent is pretty similar to the other two Darjeelings, with sweet and slightly musty hay and grain notes. I used the lower end of the steeping time spectrum again, at 4 minutes.

Yum, the brewed aroma is a luscious mix of strong honey, sweet fruit that definitely leans toward grape juice, and bread notes. Wow, I actually really love this one! And it does somewhat remind me of Oriental Beauty in taste as well. There’s a ton of honey sweetness mixed with a lovely grape juice-like deep fruit flavor. I also taste a bit of that nice somewhat roasty autumn leaf note that I associate with oxidized oolongs. This tea screams “Autumn!” to me and I love it.

Thanks so much, Cheri, for including this tea in the box! :D

Lewis & Clarke TTB

Trying another Darjeeling to compare! :D I think Cheri added this one to the box, since I know she has the Golden Tips subscription. Thanks, Cheri! The leaves of this tea look very different from the Giddapahar that I just tried – they look very much like green tea, especially after they’ve steeped and expanded. The dry scent is similar, though – musty sweet hay and grain, similar to a white tea. I used the shorter end of the steeping time range provided, mostly because I was afraid of bitterness.

Brewed, this tea smells pretty floral, but it also has creamy hay and grain notes. I also get a little bit of fruitiness, but it’s similar to fresh grapes instead of dried fruit. Wow, this tastes very similar to a white tea! It’s very creamy and smooth with sweet hay and pastry notes. At the beginning of the sip, I do get an interesting floral flavor that seems to disappear near the middle. It then reappears in the aftertaste and lingers on the tongue long after you’ve finished drinking. Luckily for me, it’s not a super strong or heady floral, so it’s pretty inoffensive. I’m surprised to not find any of the fruit notes that were in the last Darjeeling I tried. I’ve really enjoyed both of them, though! :)

Lewis & Clarke TTB

First off, I have little to no experience with Darjeelings. I know they’re Indian and the word most used to describe them is “muscatel”, but I think I’ve only tried one ever? Hah. So I was happy to see this in the box! The leaves actually remind me of bai mudan in that they’re varying sizes and colors with some silvery buds. Dry scent is musty hay, which also makes me think of white tea, hah! The directions called for a tablespoon of leaf, but I didn’t want to use that much since there’s not a ton in the package, so I just used less water for my cup and used 2 teaspoons.

Hmm… The brewed aroma definitely reminds me of a lighter black tea. There are pastry or light bread notes along with fruitiness and honey. Oooh, this is interesting! It definitely has elements of white tea – it’s very creamy and grainy. But then it also has dark dried fruit notes, similar to a black tea. Yum! I can definitely see a comparison to wine from the fruitiness, and it’s somewhat astringent which I think is common for Darjeelings? I actually like this one a lot! Thanks Stacy! :)

Lewis & Clarke TTB

Hooray, more Yunnan Sourcing! I wish every company had been this generous with their sample sizes, because then I don’t feel bad about trying every tea they included! :D The leaves of this tea and thin and very straight, almost like pine needles or twigs. They appear to be mostly dark with some spots of gold. The dry leaves smell very sweet and malty with honey notes. I did my general “black tea” parameters of 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

Once brewed, it smells strong and malty with a little bit of an earthy note. I can also smell raisins and honey/molasses. Just as an aside, I don’t generally enjoy this style of Yunnan as much just because they tend to get into the earthy/mineral side of things. This one, however, barely touches those notes. It’s mostly lovely malty bread with a bit of sweet potato and dark fruit flavors. There’s a little hint of earth in the background, but it doesn’t bother me here. I am pleasantly surprised by this one! :)

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/2885-feng-qing-classic-58-dian-hong-premium-yunnan-black-tea-spring-2014.html

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I have been wanting to try this one, and someone kindly added a (wee) bit of it to the box! Thanks, someone! My teaspoon was the only one left in the pouch, so it was very broken up and I didn’t really see any elderberries in there. Dry, it mostly smelled mildly minty. There was only about teaspoon left, so I used less water than I normally would have for this cup (suggested volume is 1.5 tsp per 8 ounces).

This definitely reminds me of Elder Grove a bit, and the two do have several common ingredients. I wish there was more berry flavor, but I think that was just due to my teaspoon not having many elderberries in it. The main flavor is mint, but it’s mild and smooth and not at all abrasive. I also get a nice mellow roasty flavor, I assume from the ceder leaves, and a touch of cinnamony spice. Overall, tasty! I would like to try this one again with a more representative sample. :D

Lewis & Clarke TTB

This isn’t going to be a very good note, as I drank this while playing Diablo III… Sorry! The leaves are thin and flat, and very dark green. Dry scent is fresh-cut grass. I did a 1 minute steep, as I generally do with sencha.

I must say, this tea is very tasty! I drank most of the cup stone cold, because I got distracted by the game (click click click!). The vegetal flavor is somewhat strong but not harsh or biting, and it’s quite sweet with a creamy texture. I actually found it interesting that I get a floral note from this tea, which is not something I have experienced with other sencha. Overall, quite good if you enjoy Japanese greens!

Lewis & Clarke TTB

Another tea from Yunnan Sourcing that I’ve been wanting to try! The leaves are very long and tightly twisted, and very dark chocolate brown in color. The dry scent is actually kind of hard for me to place… It’s definitely roasty and a bit smoky, but there’s also an interesting dried fruit note along with a fairy amount of sweetness. Pipe tobacco, maybe? I steeped mine for 3 minutes.

Brewed aroma is very roasty with some smoke with an interesting herbaceous note. I’m actually surprised that there’s not a ton of smoke in the taste. There’s definitely roasty flavor that reminds me of roasted coffee beans, and there’s a little bit of mineral flavor and smoke alongside it. There’s something a little bit herbaceous about it, although I’m not sure I can place which herb (sage maybe?). I also get a mushroom-like flavor.

Overall, this tea is tasty and it seems quite unique compared to other black teas I’ve tried! :)

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/2908-light-roast-wild-tree-purple-varietal-black-tea-of-dehong-spring-2014.html

Lewis & Clarke TTB

More from Yunnan Sourcing! I was quite impressed with the other white tea I tried, so I figured I’d try this one as well. I love that they provided huge samples so everyone could try every tea, so nice! This tea is a mixture of fuzzy silver buds and medium to dark green leaves in rather large pieces. Dry scent actually kind of reminds me of a black full bud Yunnan tea! It’s honey sweet and has that slight stonefruit scent to it, but this tea smells a bit more grainy and haylike while the black smells malty. When I brew white teas, I generally use a lot of leaf (a tablespoon usually) and steep it for just 1-2 minutes. I find the flavor to be stronger that way, and since this sample is so huge I was happy that I got to do just that!

Mm, the brewed aroma has a very strong honey note along with some grain that’s almost pastrylike. I also smell a little bit of fruit, though I can’t place what kind. Taste-wise I get mostly honey and sweet hay, and then the grain pops out near the end of the sip and lingers for the aftertaste. There’s the teensiest bit of fruity flavor if I really think about it, something mild like a dried fig or golden raisin. Overall, this tea is very simple but tasty.

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/whitetea/2913-yunnan-yue-guang-bai-air-dried-white-tea-spring-2014.html

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I think this is the first green I’ve had from Yunnan Sourcing, but I have loved all of their other teas so far, so I have high expectations. :) The leaves are slender and formed into slight curls and loops, and they’re grey/green/blue in color. Dry scent is sweet and somewhat vegetal with some oats. I did a 2 minute steep because I felt like it. :D

Once brewed, it smells vegetal in the squash/spinach sense and also somewhat creamy and nutty/grainy. This is a mild and sweet green, similar to the last one I tried. The vegetal component of it reminds me of butternut squash or zucchini and is very creamy. I also get a little bit of a nutty component to this one, perhaps cashew? Overall, sweet and mild and a nice tea for relaxing while watching a movie. :)

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/greentea/2927-teng-chong-hui-long-zhai-yunnan-green-tea-spring-2014.html

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I’m on a mission to try all of these Verdant teas, since they were so generous with their samples! The leaves of this tea look pretty much identical to Laoshan Green, slender medium-sized leaves that are slightly curled into loops and grey-green in color. Dry scent is sweet and a little bit floral with some musty hay notes. I was unsure on the steeping parameters so I only let it go for one minute at 175 degrees. I see now that others here on Steepster steeped it for longer.

Brewed, it also smells similar to Laoshan Green – sweet, creamy, and mildly vegetal. The taste is also somewhat similar for me, the chief component is a mild vegetal flavor combined with a lovely creamy mouthfeel and some sweetness. The only difference I can think of is that this one has a touch of grassiness? And there’s definitely a lightly fruity aftertaste with a hint of floral. Another lovely green tea from Verdant! :)