2112 Tasting Notes
Half an hour lost… because I pressed escape key. I am so sad :( it was so great tasting note!
I have received this one from Derk, I divided the package in half so 2.5 grams twice.
Anyway, I will try to rewrite it. Somehow. Anyway, it has been a while when I used gaiwan for last time. I guess I wanted easy teas. But not today, needed to calm down.
85 ml gaiwan; 2.5 grams of tea; freshly boiled water in thermos; 10 seconds rinse.
Now no tropical aromas after rinse. It was sweet somehow, with little cooling effect but I do not think it is minty as derk suggest. I think it is rather like pine or fir forest. Little malty. I wanted a black tea; but as this is so complex I think this worked well too. It was just nice to drink; nothing bad.
Aromas were wonderful. At first I do not recall anything, then it changes to be more and more fruity. Little hay, passion fruit – and of course bit of pine again. Actually those aromas are written completely random as it came to my mind I wrote them down.
A taste. Complex – haha. No, it was interesting cup. When I did not noticed any fruity notes (I noticed a forest notes instead) I took another steep and fruitiness was there. It was becaming slowly bitter, so I shortened next steeping time. And it was another again. Bit herbal; but not a bad taste though! Maybe a little of the pine/fir/another tree. It was great. Simply GREAT!
Oh I forgot about visual of tea – well; it reminds me something bit different than amber. Something I won´t write down :)
What surprised me – it was full of taste all steepings, no signs of becaming weaker; not always I use whole thermos for single tea.
Well, this second tasting note is not so nice and great I had before. But I still hope it made you happy – you have enjoyed reading it and hopefully – derk, you send me really nice teas and now I finished it really all. Thank you for this swap, where I am the debtor and hopefully I can send you something again so we can swap again. Maybe I will give a try on those Azores teas. And something else I can find for sure.
Soon my first Farmerleaf order should came, I can´t wait at all – but on the other hand in two weeks an exam period starts. So, I will drink tea, but I am honestly afraid, that I won´t have time for enjoying it completely (and writing tasting notes). Feels bad man.
Preparation
I expected much more!
A light and delicate white tea…nope.
It was light for sure, but certainly not delicate. It was something stingy artificial beverage.
4-5 minutes, bit cooled down water – that is their suggestion.
I used 4-5 minutes with boiling water. Result?
A cloudy, brown, liquor, with light aroma of strawberry. As there are not aromas, I thought it is okay. But nope.
It wasn´t aromatic at all. I tried to smell it several times but nothing.
I sipped. Okay, it tastes like weak black tea, as usual from white teas from tea bags. And then the weak artificial (or maybe dirty) taste took place. Stingy, dirty strawberry, but weak taste.
It was weak tea without any distinctive notes, at least not awfully sweet. I can not recommend this tea. It is not good.
Preparation
I am trying to “understand” this tea since I have received it from my Swiss friend. She sent me whole box of 20 tea bags, so lots of to explore. She said it is her favourite, so I was looking very forward to it.
It is all organic; clear ingredients – just apple pieces (90 %) and rosemary (10 %). That is something I really like. No sweeteners, no aromas, no flavours.
They suggest 3-5 minutes steeping time, I don´t know how much I did though. Maybe it is closer to 5 than closer to 3. Liquor looks like cloudy apple juice. Aromas – it is quite earthy, herbal, but with sweet notes of ripe apples.
In taste – is earthy as well. Sweetness is close behind in taste profile. It goes well together. Earthy with sweet notes. I never thought it could work. And as rosemary has got quite specific taste profile, it is there as well.
In some kind of conclusion: I have to say that I still don´t “understand” this tea. It is certainly interesting blend, not weak anyhow, but somhow weird. It goes well along (apple and rosemary), but sometimes I think that – apple is too strong; then another sip and oh, rosemary is so strong.
I really can´t explain what is tea about. It is so interesting, buton the other hand it is kinds of weird as well. Maybe I like it because it is so unique?
Preparation
Hm, that sounds good. Maybe the strength variation in sips between apple and rosemary is because there is not another ingredient in the tea to tie those two flavors together.
I love rosemary water, i just fill a glass carafe with water and add a few sprigs of rosemary from the garden and let it chill in the fridge for several hours or up to a day. As I drink it, I keep topping up the container. That makes me think I would enjoy a tea with rosemary in it!
ashmanra – maybe I can pick few bags and send them for you :-) including few other teas I have in my stash. I bet I can choose something from you I would like to try :)
Few hours backlog and I don´t remmeber everything. I did not even wrote something down.
Grandpa, 3 grams for 300 ml. Almost boiling water; I guess around 90 °C it can be.
The brew was very nice. Smooth, not bitter at all. Some notes of roasted nuts, pecans, but also some notes of fruits – mainly a pear. Lingers for long and I liked the taste during it.
I also acknowledge that it remains same all the time. You can brew it differently, but is still same. It do not turn bitter, yet it is still complex tea.
Enjoyed this simple cuppa in the afternoon.
Preparation
That sounds so good. I love What-Cha’s oolongs. I had their Vietnamese GABA last night and am in love with it. I slept like a baby which is rare too hehe.
Kawaii433: I got Wild boar sample (I think) with my first order and was hooked with oolongs since.
I will put in GABA next time – I heard so many nice reviews
A black tea. Green tea was pretty okay, but black tea is different story. Let´s find out.
As I have read previous tasting notes, it seems it is quite weak in flavour, so I let it steep for long 6 minutes. There is nothing on the bags, so it is bit rough estimate. It turned out great. The colour of liquor is clear copper, like from some Ceylon teas.
Aroma is somehow weak and I don´t know if I notice anything. But in taste it is clear black tea. Yeah, little malty, little fruity. I notice as well some black pepper notes. Interesting for sure. Really worth trying this estate.
I have found some Czech web shop which is selling few loose leaf varietes they offer. Maybe we can make some group buy, because I am not really sure if I want to spend quite a lot for tea which goes stale.
And now I checked direct from company. Shipping to Europe is for 4,4 € which it makes even cheaper than from Czech shop. Weird, but yeah. And of course, tea is cheaper there.
Flavors: Pepper
Preparation
A tea bag for wet morning. There was a rain finally in the evening and night, so everything is wet. I was really sleepy too, so I just picked some tea bag. Apparently last one I had of this one thus SIPDOWN. I didn´t kenw I had even something last.
Anyway, they suggest 3-5 minutes brew and I did like two and half. I don´t like really strong black teas and I found out making tea steep half of suggested time works usually really well.
Hmm, tea itself is dark brown and cloudy. I used to think that Basilur is one of the better brands. Yup, in matter of tea bag certainly is.
As it is past BB (8 months), opened as I needed the tea bag envelope to collection, so no aroma at all. Or slighlty tea-ish, like bit bland English breakfast. No weird aroma notes.
In taste it was quite similar, quite weak – yet noticable calssic tea bag black tea flavour with little notes of toffee and red grapes. But grapes were really weak. Not malty at all.
It is not a bad example of tea, certainly good for this morning – but fresher it is certainly better (I recall that grapes were more present in taste).
Have a great day everyone!
Flavors: Grapes, Toffee
Preparation
Prepared in evening for everybody in my family, so 4-5 people.
Immediately gone, right now preparing second steep. Probably would not be so good, but I have first one with me :) so that is review about first steep.
Very interesting ingredients, expected much more lime pieces, but it is quite buttery and lime in aroma. Are lime leaves smelling similar to fruit? I do not know. I am surprised that I do not notice any wood aroma from rooibos. Glad to smell.
Liquor is quite brown, typical rooibos. Something went from strainer again, but it is overall quite clear. In aroma it is quite buttery and dough, sweet – little creamy too.
Oh taste – you want to hear, right? Sweet, honey, cream, slightly sour. Eh, I mean savoury. Expected more. Also something like cookie flavours. Like those with chocolate chips but without them.
Indeed, quite sweet for my teeth. But not bad. I expected more savoury taste. But I never had this pie, so I can not tell if it is good sample like of piece of cake or not.
Honestly I am pleasantly surprised by this cup. Not really great, but very interesting. 20 grams I had are just right amount for me.
Flavors: Butter, Cookie, Creamy, Lime, Pleasantly Sour, Sweet
Preparation
Another not rating because of making it differently.
I put a bag in, added a tea spoon of black tea – St. SebasTea Ceylon. 2+3 grams both.
I have no idea if it is better or not. It is like kind of chai. Quite bitter chai. All spicy taste is gone. Or overwhelmed with with black tea flavours. Maybe it is little better than plain.
Colour is cloudy brown, not very nice.
That’s it. A changed cuppa than last time. But still nice.
I should experiment more.
Preparation
April 2019 subscription
A first one in their list. Aaand soo good.
I prepared it several times, almost same all the time. Once in pot for whole family and nobody complained. Open the sachet, you know this is good! Cinamon hits the nose, with wood notes of rooibos. Then another spices, nutmeg, vanilla. Hazelnuts. Carrot. Everything is there and noticable.
Strainer, 3 grams, keeping all the time, because it does not turn bitter. You turn your nose to cup, and it is carrot cake all around. Vanilla notes became stronger. How lovely. I thought I am not fan of rooibos blends or something. But this is really good. I appreciate that real carrot pieces are in.
The taste is velvety smooth and again I will repeat, it tastes like actual carrot cake. I had it just few times in my life, but I had. Vanilla, nutmeg, carrot. Dough base. I feel biased, but really, so high rating. Because this is probably one of the best loose leaf “fruit” teas. Okay, actually not fruit, rather spicy. But it is just great blend.
I know this tasting note is not up to my better notes, but I feel bit numb in English today, so I can´t rewrite my thoughts so well.
Preparation
Exactly two months ago I have wrote a review for this one. Time flies.
Anyway, yesterday was my first day without tea (since New Year) – I was whole day in school and when arriving home I really didn´t wanted any.
Prepared western, I did not weigh (but I think about 3-5 grams) for my favourite glass mug of volume around 300 ml. Tea was in water for… maybe 3+ minutes.
Colour is clear yellow-green, little dusty. Aroma is kinda floral, creamy, little notes of sour, or it is rose soap?
Well, in hour and half I should be at dentist. I don´t really want go there, but what I can do? Liteally nothing. It may sound funny, but it is kind of big achievement for me. I was not there for 3 years and before that I was not there for 7 years. Probably avoiding the costs :D . And I forgot about exam today – from Algorithms, it is not really hard, but oh well, it is tiring having each week an exam and from something else.
Okay, first sip is again very floral. But quite sour as well. Not a bad thing though. Certainly interesting blend, not really my cup of tea though. Maybe too much rose soap I notice?
At least the panic attacks are somehow moreless gone. (This must be wrong in English, right?). Feeling tired all the week though. Not just week. I want the semester end and then I should study and study… during exam period. I guess – it is so much to handle. Or I need to stop stereotypic life-style.
Flavors: Floral, Pleasantly Sour, Rose, Soap
Preparation
(If you’re asking, it would be “panic attacks are somehow more or less gone”. Don’t worry, it’s confusing in English too. haha. But you’re doing well with English.
I hate going to the dentist… I still have my left side to be worked on and I’ve been dragging my feet. It’s an achievement for sure, Martin.
sorry to read you lost your original tasting note. maybe you could type your notes into google docs first and then copy paste it here.
You’re welcome, Martin. There is no debt but I wouldn’t turn down another swap once I make my way through a big one. Do you get a school vacation soon?
derk – thank you, of course I will wait for next exchange. Well, as I wrote; exam period starts soon for an month and then I will be “free” (acutally working part-time) for two months. Hopefully it will be over soon. All the stuff. I made one very important yesterday.
Martin – I almost asked if you were in exams! It is exam time now in the US at most universities,