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Backlog of a sipdown: apology to jello tea.

Jello tea, I did not know you long. In the short time granted to us I abused you, microwaved you, under-leafed you, one steeped you.. I thought that you were like all the other teas in the box- all marshmallow root and green leaf. It would be an understatement to say I had no appreciation of your true grandeur. Not until I iced you in the fridge. On your final cup.

Where do we go from here? Why did the window seals in this rented bedroom have to go? So much water, so little jello. Dripping sounds are annoying.

This cup contains a lot of plums tonight. First steep was darker with something that was flirting with coffee (don’t do it, tea! Coffee’s a jerk). Wet leaves smelled a bit fishy although that did not transfer over to the taste.

Second steep is where the plums are- pruned, pickled, jammed, sort of plums. There’s a little bit of a roasted flavour but it’s mostly fruit. If I take bigger gulps I get some dry, burnt tobacco and a crusty roasted starchiness. The finish is sweet while the aftertaste is crusty, sour, and buttery sourdough-like! So many crazy things happening in this second cup; Depending on what I focus on I get a different impression. Definitely on my keeper’s list.

Tastes and smells like eggnog to me! The egg custard note comes out near the end. The tangy creamy body is heavily tinged in vanilla. Again, it’s hard to believe there are no dairy ingredients in this. The only thing I might be missing are spices (LiberTEAS has a good suggestion for nutmeg), and possibly some thickness(lowfat eggnog).

My pot tonight is on the diluted side compared to the cup I had last night, where I was able to notice the well paired smooth green base, but it’s still good and eggy.

Thank you, BoxerMama; I really wanted to try this! It helps contain my eggnog cravings without making me feel ill from drinking the real McCoy.. apparently the real McCoy is actually MacKay, which is just confusing and defeats the meaning, but..err, you know, THIS TEA IS GOOD! I’ve had an awkward day.

Earl White is an oddball that I don’t choose to drink often. That being said, I’ve refilled my tin at least three times in the last year, and this baby ain’t cheep. Its robust tartness and smooth white base have made it my go to tea when I’m feeling under the weather.

This was actually my first white tea that I decided to buy during a particularly nasty mid-semester cold; I was hoping the citrus ingredients would send in magical cleaning griffins to purge my clogged sinuses and throat. Hocus pocus anapneo bergamot! I like to think it helped a smidgen..

The body is creamy, floral, vegetal, and melon-like, with a bit of lemongrass. The finish embraces the true spirit of what it means to be tangy; I could get the same effect by squeezing the fresh juice of a sour citrus fruit of choice directly into my mouth. It gets easier to handle and smoother upon later steeps.

The citrus group photo includes: citrus peel, mandarin & lemon fruit essence, the infamous bergamot, and the adopted cousin, lemongrass. It can be…abrasive, also soapy, if not kept in check. Earl White will definitely not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Still, I persist on giving it a high rating; I even dedicated my 100th tasting note to it! Lucky Earl White.

Edit: is there any difference between this and the "Laoshan White? I’m putting my note under this name as that’s what it says on the sticker..

I ripped open my sample of this to have as a celebration tea for making it back to University town and being reunited with my never-before-used “blooming teapot” (and also, my cool roommate).

The first few steeps were tinged with seaweed greenery, and I was missing my Yunnan White Jasmine dearly at this stage. It felt like I was drinking an extremely mild, vegetal green.

My later steeps are more to my liking; “silky”, “clover honey”, and “almond milk” are spot on. Nom nom nom. Much more like the creamy white I was craving, although the vegetal elements are still apparent (and much appreciated). I think this is around my sixth to eighth infusion but I could be mistaken.

This was a beautiful choice to “baptize” my small pot in; the leaves are long, slender, and stringy. I know my tasting experiences are limited but I’ve never had a white tea that tasted quite like this.

Just as I was starting to feel sad about the lack of new Butiki blends to try BoxerMama’s parcel arrived to save the day. Thank you!

Initially, I was worried about over steeping and over leafing this flavoured green. As it turns out, however, the flavour is a mild and smooth one that I prefer being generous with. The milky and sweet body gives a strong impression of melted ice cream, while the green pistachio, backed by a perfectly matched green base, provides a gentle nuttiness. This buttery, creamy, and sweet ice cream tea is enjoyable lukewarm or iced. Butiki teas may potentially be inflating my expectations for flavoured teas.

I emptied my ziplock sample today and this will be the last tea I finish before heading back to school after my extended holiday.. I was supposed to start on the third but I stuck around for a friend’s 21st birthday. Indian Curry smorgasbord trumped syllabus collecting, unfortunately. I’m a bad student.

I had this last night (backlog?) at my sister’s and ended up giving the rest to her. This may be one of the more upfront and consistent white teas to stumble my way. The liquor tends towards a golden-like brightness, although, after I left it in the glass pot for a while it turned reddish and reminded me of a light black. This will hopefully be a good introductory white for my predominantly black tea drinking sister.

A quicky from the iPod! My sister and her husband received this as part of a wedding gift in the summer.

Not bad at all; a smooth black tea with some prevalent peach notes to make it softly sweet and fruity. The light astringency comes off as rather pleasant.. Maybe it’s that way because I always understeep my black teas.

I’m glad I got to try this! I had completely forgot about it until I opened my sister’s and brother-in-law’s pitiful tea cupboard. What they lack in tea they make up with (unwanted) pigeons on “their” apartment “balcony”, however. City birds are fearless and better at sleeping through the whine of the sirens that ricochet off buildings than I am!

Thank you, BoxerMama, for this sample. I think these tuocha pieces found a good end, although they definitely aren’t something I would find myself drinking regularly!

To me they have a musky odour. They taste exactly like moist clumpy rice ,that has been wrapped in vegetal bamboo leaves, once steeped. I went with a rinse and 30 second steeps.

I have two cups of this beside me right now (first and second steep). First is more oily and buttery and makes me think that there might be egg in the middle of this rice ball. Second steep comes off more green, although equally buttery. Mild astringency but no bitterness. Picking up salty and sweet notes.

Third steep is more astringent and bold; the tuocha disintegrated completely (so cool!). Almost have to reduce the steep time when it falls apart to reduce the briskness.

Pros for me: not fishy, coffee-like, or bitter. Flavours of buttery steamed rice with a pinch of green. Savory and filling profile.
Questionable qualities: light musky body that may rub people the wrong way if noticed (like eggs, mushrooms, or fat). Also picking up a note very similar to cilantro. I like cilantro but it’s a wild card.

I think this may be very good alongside certain dishes.

I heard you like eggnog, so I put your eggnog in your eggnog tea so you can drink eggnog while drinking eggnog tea…(sorry).

Half completed experiment last night where I put eggnog in this, as I felt it wasn’t quite eggnoggish enough. However, after making it I decided I wanted to sleep instead and placed the cup in the fridge. Result? Not bad. Cold, creamy, somewhat eggnoggish spiced rooibos that tastes like it has alcohol in it.

I think I prefer it on its own. That way I can appreciate how naturally creamy and spiced it is, even if it doesn’t taste quite like eggnog.

The snowflake sprinkles are cute!