424 Tasting Notes
I have been really bad about posting reviews lately, mostly due to the site issues. But it seems to be mostly normal now, at least I can see other people’s reviews.
This is a sip down, and not a tea I will ever purchase again, but it’s a bit nostalgic because it’s one of the first loose leaf teas I ever had. When I first got interested in loose leaf, I asked a friend where he ordered from and he said Adagio. I ordered four sample packets of tea and this was one of them. Now I have mostly “moved past” Adagio and on to teas that I think are better, but they were definitely the gateway drug for me. So good job Adagio!
The last couple of days I have been picking low-hanging fruit from my cupboard, things with only a couple of servings in them so I can clear some out. I finished off two Simple Loose Leaf samples Cheri had sent (thank you Cheri!) and a Yunnan Jig (Adagio) I had gotten from a TTB. Unfortunately two weren’t in my cupboard officially, so I only reduced the number on here by two, but that’s still ok. EFFECTIVELY I’m down four.
After reading on Reddit yesterday that this tea is Alastair’s (of What-Cha) favorite black tea, I put it in front of the tea line for this morning’s cup. Definitely not disappointed! I don’t know that I had ever had a tea from Nepal before but now I am really intrigued! My favorite teas are the malty blacks from Yunnan, and I could easily have mistaken this for one of those. Even the look of the leaves – with that delicious cocoa like powder on the inside of the envelope – was the same. Really, really delicious and definitely worth your attention!
Yum, I love teas that leave magical golden fairy dust on the inside of the package! :D
I love the idea of a ‘tea line’ for a given day…
Thanks for the review Marzipan. I like to think of my tea as my children when you ought not to have a favourite but sometimes you just can’t help but favour one more than the others. This is very much the case with the Nepal Golden Tips.
Sounds yummy! I definitely need to place a What-Cha order one of these days….
From Marco Polo TTB, thanks The Tea Spot!
This tea has been on my radar for a long time, but for some reason I was intimidated to try it. I am determined to make my way through all of the Marco Polo samples since that’s the top thing on my “Tea Do” list right now.
I really liked this! It smelled really delicious when I opened the sample (which was a sachet in a package). Very strong cocoa notes, with a bit of something else. The flavor was bold, as promised – a bit of chocolate and a bit of tea. Very very nice, and different!
Another from the Marco Polo TTB, and another thanks for Verdant for the sample.
I tried this in tandem with the regular LB, and I think the regular version was a little more flavorful for me. I liked them both though. Again, I have a hard time identifying what exactly this tea tastes like (and that’s a failing in me, not the tea). But I liked it very much!
From Marco Polo TTB. Thank you to Verdant for supplying samples!
I really admire that Verdant supplied some of this tea, because it’s not an unknown in the community and it is highly lauded as being great. I think they supplied it because they are kind :)
I pulled out a sample before sending the box on, and enjoyed it this morning. I love traveling tea boxes but I like not feeling the pressure to try everything before I send the box out. This one was strong and delicious. I can’t think what it tasted like. I know it wasn’t sweet potato, it wasn’t malty. No muscatel. Not honey. What does that leave? I liked it, whatever it was!
From Marco Polo TTB. This is the last of the YS teas I am trying from the box. It was different from the others and I liked it. It smelled a lot like a darjeeling, sort of a grape-y smell. It transfers over to the tea. It isn’t malty at all, but has a sort of darjeeling flavor and a bit of an astringent finish. I enjoyed it very much!
This was really nice, more subtle and lighter than what I usually drink so it was a nice change of pace. Photo of my gong fu with it: http://imgur.com/LWCu73p
I don’t drink a lot of whites, but really enjoyed the chance to try this one.
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/whitetea/2887-silver-needles-white-tea-of-feng-qing-spring-2014.html
From Marco Polo TTB.
This was really delicious. I got a lot of honey from it, some dried fruits, raisins perhaps. It brewed up strong but not knock me down strong. Just nicely balanced. And the price is great on it – $6 for 50g. http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/2850-spring-2014-high-mountain-red-ai-lao-mountain-black-tea.html
Definitely recommend this one!
Is it a cold or allergies?
:( So sorry you’re still sick. Here’s to hoping you’re feeling better this morning.
Seems to just be a cold – stuffy head, headache, neck hurts. Today the symptoms are still there but better. I’m afraid it is moving to my chest though, and that usually happens. I’m taking it as an opportunity though, to get rid of some tea I wasn’t crazy about before.
feel better. get yourself(if possible ) fresh ginger w/honey. really helps, but on a side not in hot tea
I hope you feel better soon! I always get a bad chest cold too and the cough is the worst to get rid of.