1040 Tasting Notes
I received an amazing surprise package in the mail today. I have the best tea friends. It’s a cute celadon set. I love celadon. So of course I need to make dark shou to start the crackles. This is good – sweet – what it should be.
So yeah – tonight is all about hockey (OMG what a crazy game, with a heart break ending….), greasy Chinese takeout, shou, and thinking about what amazing tea friends I have.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfuSYgqh_K_/?hl=en&taken-by=dex3657
This tea is really soft, gentle, not as bold as most oolongs I drink. It’s sweet – I find that a little weird – some honey, some stone fruit and of course some woody oolong. It’s good. People who aren’t a huge fan of dark oolong might like this one, it’s milder than other’s I’ve tried. I prefer bold, aged oolongs that are a lot like leather and old books – so this isn’t quite my cup of tea.
(Really tight hockey game happening – hard to focus on the tea when I’m sitting on the edge of my seat…… go jets…)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfcPdpUBWCZ/?taken-by=dex3657
That picture looks good on my phone but really washed out on my laptop…. weird….
I’ve spent the last couple of days lying on the couch watching season 6 and 7 of Game of Thrones – OMG what just happened !!??!! I had almost given up on it after season 5 but was convinced by friends that I really needed to stick with it. Yeah ok season 7 was awesome. Can’t wait for season 8. But now on to season 2 of Colony.
I’ve been spending the weekend on the couch because I’m trying to fight off the cold/flu thing I’ve got happening. I didn’t get any worse today so I’m calling that a win. Still a little stuffy and have a bit of chest congestion, but not nearly as sick as everyone else at work. Crossing fingers that I can contain it to this….
Strawberry cream? ok sure, I’ll go with that. Fruit black tea anyway. Nothing really exciting, but also nothing offensive. It’s fine to be sipping while watching TV. Thanks Evol for sharing.
This was the second tea that came out of the sample box today. I like it. This is a nice black for me. A little sweet, a little malty, some fruit, not really chocolate but thick and sweet. Thanks Evol for sending this my way.
My head is feeling better tonight, but still icky in the throat and chest. I am not getting sick, I am not getting sick – (or at least I’m wishing it away) I’ve spent the majority of the day in front of the TV – I think that is going to be the plan for the rest of the night and most of tomorrow.
About half the people at work are sick. There is a nasty cold/flu going around and so far I’ve been able to avoid it…. until I got up this morning. Snuffly, phlegmy, scratchy throat, heavy chest. Ugggg – I am not getting sick, I am not getting sick. Spent the day on the couch with the cat watching season 6 of Game of Thrones. (Part of me thinks I should have been watching season 2 of Colony on Netflix, but that’s another story).
This was the tea that randomly came out of the sample box. Not what I normally think of as a Jin Jun Mei. I didn’t get any malt, or chocolate. Others are saying smokey – I didn’t get any of that until it really cooled and then only a hint. This is fine, nice enough black tea. I drank it Western – lots of leaf, cool water, long steep (and even longer 2nd steep). I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t anything really special. Thanks Evol for the share.
“About half the people at work are sick. There is a nasty cold/flu going around …”
+2: Both Patty & me got it. It lasted about a week. We hope you feel better soon!
FWIW: Cold-Eeze helped me recover faster than Patty who didn’t use it.
Gah! I hate that. Experienced the same thing during the few days at my workshop over the holidays when I was surrounded by sick people. I think hot tea w honey and popping vitamin C and a lot of hand washing helped me stave it off. Also, daily morning walks, I think had something to do with it too. Stay healthy!
Thanks – I’m voting sleep and positive thinking is working – I feel quite a bit better today.
Hurray for the winning combination!
This is really interesting. Sort of like an aged white. It’s not floral, it’s not hay, it’s not grassy – it’s sweet, it’s a bit corn, it’s a bit apricot, maybe just a touch of honey.
The leaves (sticks) are beautiful, such a strange looking tea.
This is why we keep trying all the tea. I would never have run into this one if Sil hadn’t sent me a sample – thank you. You never know what fun and interesting things are out there, so we keep trying – and this was definitely worth trying.
I dug this out of my sample box and I’m not sure where it came from – Sil ? I think – who ever it was thank you.
I’ve had this before. It’s on my wish list. Last time I wrote that I loved it. Sil and Terri wrote that they liked it. This isn’t the same tea. This is smoked – it’s really smoked. Opening the bag confused me – it was campfire smoke all the way. I really under steeped it and it’s still really smokey. Why would they smoke a fantastic Jin Jun Mei? or this is mis-labeled ? All I’m sure of is that this is really smokey and this tea shouldn’t be.
I’m just really confused…..
First the bad news maple is not my favorite flavor – I know, how un Canadian of me.
The good news is that there is more going on here than just in your face maple. There is definitely some astringency from the black base – that helps cut the sweetness. I’m also thinking this is a little creamy with just a touch of nuttiness. For me, this reads a little like maple walnut ice cream – that might be a bit of a stretch, but more like that than pure maple syrup.
Thanks for sharing Evol – always interesting to try different things.
I’m quite liking this one tonight. It’s pretty light and fruity, but has some malt and depth to it. I know I know – I write all the time that I don’t like the lighter fruitier blacks. This one is deeper though, has more going on than just fruit and top notes. More interesting. Dunno I like it.
Thanks Sil for sharing.
