Rabs Send Message

I decided to bite the bullet and try my second-ever pu-erh after having such a negative first experience. I read the little blurb on the sample packet and immediately my imagination took off for the whole duration of the steep. It’s “aged in secret caves?” Visions of the opening scene from Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark played in my mind. But this time the handsome adventurer is trying to steal a bag of this tea instead of an idol. And then my mind shifted gears and I thought of Batman sipping a cup of this tea. Yeah. I have issues.

Back to reality!

The packet smelled kinda musky/earthy. When I was adding the hot water I got an unexpected whiff of french fries. No, not fries, but of the hot oil used. Like when my brother used to work at a fast food chain in high school he’d come home with that greasy smell – that’s the smell I’m talking about. I put the teapot’s lid on and said a little prayer for my palate.

The aroma from the cup was like a barnyard after a light rain. Still not the greatest fragrance, but eons better than the Adagio sample I had that was “dirty fishtank.” It’s the taste that sort of took me aback. It’s so different than what I was expecting. Still not my favorite, but it was much more interesting to me. I spent the first half of the cup just totally absorbed in trying to figure out how to put this taste into words. Like licking a cave’s wall? Making some black tea out of water dripping from a stalactite? Licking a shag carpeting from the ’70s? And where on earth was that sweetness coming from?

Halfway through the cup I sort of got distracted by other things and so came back to it where it’s almost completely cooled off. This is where it really gets weird for me. I have trouble drinking Bigelow’s Constant Comment because it reminds me of my maternal grandmother who passed away when I was a young girl. My mom assures me that she drank it even though I can’t recall her drinking any tea, but in my mind that tea is part of my grandmother. This tea reminds me of my maternal grandfather. He lived much longer and never drank tea. But my lord. I’m drinking this and it’s rather unsettling. This tea is part of my grandfather. I can’t explain it further than that.

I’m actually looking forward to trying a second steep. I never thought that I’d say that about a pu-erh. I will edit to add something if I feel that it affects my initial note. I really don’t know if I’ll purchase this tea. I have a newfound curiosity regarding pu-erhs as a result of it so it gets a surprising NE from me.

ETA: Second steep was more earthy and less…mineraly than the first. I just added a minute to the steep. I’ll probably sample some more pu-erhs, but this one is a possible future purchase.

I’m finally getting to the part of the GM sampler where it’s tea that either doesn’t intrigue me or that I’m dreading. I never thought that a Jasmine tea would be part of either of those categories, but here I am and there it is.

This was a much better experience than GM’s Jasmine Pearls. The packet smelled pleasant enough (yup, it’s jasmine) and not once did a waft of “tootsie roll” happen whilst I poured the tea into the cup. Hooray! But I did sense its presence sort of hovering in the background waiting to spring it’s candy-trap-o-doom. That never happened, but that possible threat kept me from truly enjoying my two steeps.

On both steeps the tea aspect was pretty unremarkable. I really could not taste it. It was like I’d steeped a variety of jasmine that has a slightly sweeter aspect. No tea in it. And as it cooled it just bacame more jasminey. I think that it might indeed make a good iced tea (as the packet asserted), but I’m not willing to purchase more in order to find out. M

Another one of my tea bag samples that came free with my order. I was up very late finishing my final paper for a class and then spent a long time deciding whether or not to do the Steepster Select (I caved this morning). So, I needed some more black tea caffeine power and some that I could take on my commute to my final class of the semester – woohoo! It’s been a decade since I’ve been in school and I survived my first Grad-level class :D

Anywho, to the tea! I really need to experience more black teas – it’s getting silly in that my descriptive powers fail me. The packet smelled like a black tea which I guess is a good thing. It steeped to a purty dark brown color. And the smell? Are you ready for it? It smelled like black tea. There was a subtle taste of spice that I couldn’t put a finger on. It just sort of hovered there in the background. I also think that I now can identify tannins when they rear their bitter heads. They were there, but not horrible. Overall, I do not plan on purchasing any more of this. M

Wowsa. Orange Pledge dusting spray. That’s all I could smell when I cut open the sample bag and the bag was nowhere near my face. I just couldn’t believe that smell was coming from that tiny bag. So I did a tentative sniff and it was confirmed: Orange Pledge dusting spray. ::shudders::

I really hadn’t thought much of this sample until I read Ewa’s review and my curiosity was piqued. I mean, perhaps I could balance out that review since I’ve only smelled Earl Grey whilst preparing its bagged version for others. I am now trusting Ewa’s tastes in all things Earl Grey.

I woke up a little stuffy, but that smell did assault my sinuses into waking up a bit more. But I think that my stuffiness adds to the difficulty of my reviewing this one. It’s black tea-ish with fake orange smell, and something else that I couldn’t identify until I reread Ewa’s note: papery lavendar. Bizarre, but true. I’m on my second steep (yes, I’m sadistic) and I’m getting a teeny-tiny bit of sweetness – but lordy, my throat is starting to feel really rough. It’s like the astringency is going from the back of my mouth all the way down my neck. You know that unpleasant tingly feeling the underneath of your tongue gets that happens right before you blow chunks? Well, I’m actually getting that specific sensation, but without the fear of the usual followthrough. I’m not going to finish this second steep. Ick. GA

After having some of Golden Moon’s Sinharaja and being reminded of the taste of this (as well as Erin’s comments), I decided to brew up some of this because it’s been weeks since having this last. I steeped it for a shorter period of time and had the water just ever-so-barely boiling. I have no clue what that temp would be. I was also making my lunch and had a few multigrain Pringles which I think might have skewed the taste of the first half of this cup.

But with all that combined I’m really enjoying this! I was expecting to still regret that I’d purchased the 4oz on a whim, but now I’m glad. I can taste the Ceylon, the maltiness aspect is reduced, and there’s some sweetness coming out that I’ve never noticed before. I still don’t think that I’ll repurchase this one, but what a nice surprise! NE

So my poor attempt at budgeting just flew out the window – 3 different tea companies just got orders from me in the past 12 hours. And a fourth is probably coming since their coupon is only good through April. I must take a vow to not purchase any tea or teaware in May. This is redonkulous.

Okay, onto the tea! And we have a frontrunner on the Black Tea I will most likely purchase from GM. Yup, I shall add this to my shopping list so that it can join the Nepalese Afternoon Tea. I can’t really tell you much about this tea except that it’s smooth, complex, and what I think an ideal black tea with oomph should taste like – especially on the 2nd infusion. That’s where the sweet kicks in – not so much while it’s hot, but as it cools it gets sweeter and sweeter. Naturally all I can think of is how amazing this would be as an iced tea. NE