Dinah Saur select Send Message

I am not a great drinker of green teas, but I am trying more each day to see how my preferences may alter!

I got this in a box of samples and must say it’s pretty tasty. The initial aroma of the liquor was a little overpoweringly like fresh seaweed, so I let my cup set a moment before proceeding much. As it cooled slightly, the scent was less pervasive and the flavor of the tea itself became more to my taste!

It’s a very solid, general green tea. It is lightly vegetal but not overpowering in any flavor. It’s definitely a mellow brew, and that suits me right now! I’m trying to determine where to draw the line between “grassy” and “seaweedy” in flavor, but this sort of balances between the two for me.

Not my favorite tea, as I don’t drink green teas with much frequency as I noted. But it definitely is going to be considered whenever I am in the mood for a mild flavored tea.

This was delicious! Just a beginning to my review. It actually reminded me of the Da Hong Pao I recently tried from my brother, but this was sweeter and a bit more resonant with maltiness.

The liquor is a gorgeous amber shade with a sweetish, caramel-based aroma. The tea itself isn’t exactly sweet, but evokes sweetness in it. Like cinnamon. It is spicy and fun and a good cup overall!

I think this would be an ideal tea to start my day off before work. Help me wake up and perk up for the hours in the office!

I’ve had a lot of jasmine scented teas over time. Most of the time, they’re pretty nice, but I just have never been particularly drawn to them.

Thanks to TeaVivre, that has officially changed. For this specific one, at least! The floral flavor is so light and sweet. It doesn’t overpower the tea and just makes for a beautiful cup of tea! I’m drinking this gong fu style, so I look forward to trying again in the future in a larger mug/cup.

Thanks agian for the sample, TeaVivre!

I love a good pu-erh tea. I did not always, but I do now! And this one was particularly tasty.

I was a little surprised at just how finely cut the leaves are in this mini tuo, but it did allow for a hearty strong brew, dark enough to satisfy my coffee-craving brother! Most pu-erh I drink, even in mini tuo form, has somewhat larger leaves, but it did not denigrate the flavor of this tea.

As far as pu-erh goes, I really enjoyed this one. It has a distinct malty, earthiness and minimal to no astringency or bitterness.

Thanks to TeaVivre for sending along this sample!

There has been a quality to Yunnan black teas that I’ve noticed multiple times across the various ones I’ve tried. Until now, I haven’t quite known how to describe it. Every Yunnan black I’ve tasted has the same earthy quality that distinguishes it from other black teas. This earthy quality is unlike that I’ve found in other teas because it’s almost dry. Most of the time, I’ve noticed that when drinking an earthy tea, it brings to mind moist soil, a forest fresh after rainfall, etc. But with these, it’s a dryness that really comes to the fore.

I love it! And I’m not even entirely certain why. When it comes to alcoholic beverages, I tend to avoid dry drinks. Leaves a weird taste in my mouth. But with tea? Yes, please!

I received this with a few other samples from TeaVivre, and let me just say… delicious! If you couldn’t tell, I’m a bit of a sucker for a Yunnan Black/Red tea. I’ve got about 3 or 4 others tucked away in my cupboard of varying qualities. Based on the dry leaf alone, this is probably middling quality compared with some I brought back from China myself. But to be fair, I brought back some really freaking nice Yunnan Black!

I love the golden tips, and this one is particularly beautiful to behold. This tea has an interesting, almost dusty scent to the dry leaf that could give a bad impression to someone unfamiliar with this type of tea. But it was exactly what I was hoping for when I opened the package. It’s sharp and lightly floral. Gorgeous.

My first infusion was accidentally a little longer than intended, so had a mild bitterness to the end. But my successive infusions were better timed and absolutely delicious and smooth.

Delicious!

As I opened the package of this tea I started thinking about my experience with white teas… and I realized it’s absolutely minimal! I do tend to lean more towards black/red, oolong, and pu-erh teas. So it was a very pleasant change of pace and please forgive me if my description falls inadequate!

The dry leaf is light and sweet. I love the look of it, too. It just looks pleasant, for lack of a better term. The leaves were whole and unbroken, soft and downy. I was careful to use water of the correct temperature and to brew within the recommended time frame. I’ve noticed how some of my recent teas have been fixed outside of recommended methods and have fallen short for me.

The tea itself is light and springy, mildly vegetal and more grassy, I’d say. But it’s a light flavor, not overwhelming at all. I would love to try this someday as an iced tea as well, though I have a feeling I’ll still prefer it hot. I almost forgot how few infusions can be made from a white tea. As I noted, I am much more used to drinking darker teas that can withstand many infusions, so it was sort of a nice change of pace to end after just a few small infusions.

This tea is very tasty and I’m excited to try it more!

Thanks again to TeaVivre for the sample!

The first time I tried this was with FyreTyde and we drank from some of my china cups. Just yesterday I brought this with me to the office, along with some brown sugar. When making tea in the office, I have to make a somewhat larger quantity at a time and use a larger mug, since I’m limited on how often and when I am able to get up to refresh or refill.

So I made myself a mug of this deliciousness, prepared just as if I were making it for a more intimate party. It was definitely just as delicious as I remembered, but I guess what was lost to me this time around was the feeling of sitting around with my girlfriends drinking tea out of antique china cups.

The larger quantity/size of the mug did take a little from the experience for me and I think I’ll be keeping this beauty at home to enjoy in smaller, more focused settings to get the real flavor of it!

I tried this for the first time a few days ago, so forgive me if I’m not perfectly eloquent today!

First of all, the smell of the dry leaf is ricey and sweet and fun. It definitely begins to evoke the concept of a cherry cheesecake. I’m pretty fond of a genmaicha, but haven’t had a ton of experience with them. I was first introduced to genmaicha by a friend of mine I used to work with. She was allergic to just about everything except for rice and green tea (I think you see where I’m going with this). She was even unable to drink black teas. I’m not quite sure why, but somehow that was the case.

In any case, I had a small amount of genmaicha with her a while back and enjoyed it, but wasn’t blown away. To be fair, I wasn’t exactly blown away by much green tea at all. I’m pretty sure it stems from the fact that everytime I had green tea for a very long time, it was prepared improperly, usually with too hot of water.

So when I saw the Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha, I knew that I wanted to try it. After heating my water, I allowed it to set and cool for a few minutes to get water temperature more along the lines of what is needed for this kind of tea. I allowed it to steep a couple of minutes and poured myself a cup.

I wasn’t fond of the smell of the wet leaf, it was a bit too heavy on the rice aroma. But the liquor itself, well… that just smelled delicious! The tea itself was nice a lightly flavored. It was like a nice green tea with a hint of the rice (almost simulating the taste of a crust if you keep entirely in cheesecake terms) and a very mild sweetness. I think my favorite part was how mild the cherry flavor was. It was definitely present, but just sort of interlaced itself with the rest of the flavors to enhance the overall product.

Not listing my preparation details as I can’t remember them that precisely, but I definitely enjoyed this and may have to get one of the other remaining bags of it to ensure I have some on hand for a while!

I’ve tried a couple of Lapsang Souchong teas lately and I think I just don’t like it. Each time, it just makes me feel like I’m drinking liquid smoke, and not in a pleasant sort of way.

I’m giving what I have left to a friend who enjoys Lapsang Souchong, so hopefully it will go over better there!

I had this once more with a friend this weekend. This time I was able to prepare it gong fu style and had a little more control over the water temperature. It was very nice!

The overpowering rose flavor from the first steep last time was much milder to begin with. It persisted further across multiple infusions, but was a background note instead. The smokiness and undertones that remind me always of a Yunnan red were still there and felt a little more prominent this time around.

Looking forward to enjoying this tea more in the future!