Nightshifter Send Message

I made a 64 oz pot of this while I had family visiting. It is almost a year old now as I recall and unfortunately I think it lost some of its nuances like graham cracker and the lime has become more astringent. It was still decent with the smooth black base, but I don’t think I’d re-order it. I have other teas from Della Terra I just like so much more. :)

Made this one for a family member that flew in yesterday to visit. They are not much for tea, but landed with a cold and I wanted to give them something soothing and flavorful. Boy did this hit the nail on the head! He really enjoyed it and helped me finish the big 64oz teapot worth. Gentle Laoshan Black chocolate meets chamomile, spearmint, and spices. Calming, flavorful, and sparkling! The tea itself is absolutely gorgeous with long twisty leaves and whole flower heads mixed in. I don’t think I could drink this as an every day tea, but as an afternoon calming blend, it is perfect. Bumping the rating up a bit to reflect both of our enjoyment.

Sipdown! I tried to enjoy this tea, but it never was anything remotely similar to a pumpkin milkshake for me unfortunately. Today I made the last that I had exactly according to the directions and it also had a strong bitter note- maybe some of the flakes at the bottom of the bag contributed to this? Either way, I have really enjoyed most Butiki teas but this is one I really won’t miss at all. Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

This is truly a lovely tea experience. I have enjoyed all Keemun teas from TeaVivre, but I especially like that this is organic. The dry leaf is small, very dark with a few light buds mixed in, and tightly twisted. They feel airy and light as they go into the infuser. The smell is fresh and malty. The liquor is clear mahogany- very attractive to look at. The smell of the steeped tea is something particularly enjoyable as it is an unusual combination of honeyed flowers with malty yams or sweet potatoes. I can see why some people would think of brown sugar or baked goods, though this completely lacks any nuances of yeast or baked breads found in some other teas.

The taste of this tea is a deepening of the fragrance- mild, smooth, malty on the tongue with the notes of sweet flowers, malt, a hint of fruit (apricots?), and sweet potatoes. The malt is fine and low on the flavor profile. This tea takes many common Western black tea flavors and replaces them with delicate sweetness that is difficult to describe other than what I’ve said above. Do I like this tea? YES! I just placed an order with this vendor for Dragonwell and I am already planning my next..

In other news, Steepster is breaking again! Last night I couldn’t get back to reply to a discussion and today I can barely load any other tasting notes or reviews. I am liking other posts and the likes are vanishing right before my eyes. I also went to look at some of my historical notes and the number is there, but the review is gone. Thank goodness for this delicious tea to keep me calm while trying to load pages over and over. :)

I have been enjoying Zhu Rong all day. Literally, all day. Resteeping these long and twisty dark leaves with golden threading yields a flavorful and lightly spiced tea. It makes me think of honey, cedar, and wheat with a touch of earth. I only have enough left for maybe one more pot of this after carefully hoarding it for a long while, so it is fortunate I ordered more yesterday. Yis!

For Thanksgiving morning, I knew exactly what I wanted- something cozy, sweet, and spiced. I love this tea and look forward to it every year. And now it is in my mug as a latte and I am happy.

I had this one yesterday, but Steepster wasn’t loading anything. To be brief, it is another exceptional Dragon Well from TeaVivre. I have yet to try a green tea from this vendor that isn’t flavorful and lovely. This one has the classed pressed leaves for this type of tea that unfurl into green beauties in the tea pot. It is naturally sweet, brothy, and has a faint green nuttiness to it. I also love that it is organic. My biggest issue with trying to so many green teas from that I love from the same place means it is that much harder to decide which to keep as staples here.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Steepster friends!

I didn’t expect to like this tea so much, but I actually really do! Now that I am able to drink higher caffeine again, I have been going for the full-of-flavor selections. This one has the dark chocolate, roasty-toasty malty goodness that I’ve come to realize make up several of my favorite teas. It is nothing too complicated and the leaves are dark, small, twisty, and airy. Both the smell and taste are naturally sweet and full-bodied and it creates a lovely clear brown liquor. And now I has a sad because it is listed as out of stock on the WP website!

Sipdown! I love this tea. It is bready with roasted barley, full-bodied, malty, with a hint of dark chocolate and molasses or maybe a note of raisin. Either way it is full of flavor and resteeps pretty well, too.

Omnomnom. This is a lovely tea… BUT, if I could make it perfect, I would remove the oolong and just use Laoshan Black as the base. It is chocolatey, malty, baked-bready, and toasty, but I think it lacks some of the depth of the dark chocolate/cocoa because of the oolong blended into it. It also seems to add a little bit of earthy/savory piece at the end of each sip that I honestly could probably be happier without. Sadly, I am not much of an oolong girl- or maybe I haven’t tried the right one? Anyway, this is tasty and comforting on a cold and dreary morning.. definitely my favorite genmaicha!