123 Tasting Notes
A friend of mine gave me a box of these tea bags a while back. Its the first time I’ve seen pu erh tea bags and I’m not sure what to think really. This is obviously some shou pu erh of questionably cheap quality but I am curious. After steeping western style for 3 minutes, no initial rinse by the way, the taste is like typical pu erh thats been watered down to its most basic form. If you’re looking for a quick fix of pu erh tea, when is anyone ever in the mood for “quick” pu erh, then this is the place to go. Its missing that interesting mushroom and soil taste that makes pu erh so fascinating. Its just dull but if you need quick pu erh they make that now apparently.
This tea came in my incredibly generous free samples box from Teavivre. Its a very reliable Fujian tea with a light sweetness that reminds me of dark chocolate. I’ve had a lot of Fujian black tea that have the same taste palette but this is by far the freshest tasting, it doesn’t feel greasy or “heavy”. There is a nice bite at the end almost like biting into a lemon. A great reliable tea when I have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it.
Ah Constant Comment, like many people here I grew up with it as well. But sadly it is not a fond memory. I really can’t stand orange flavoring so I admit I’m very biased. It smells like old clove that’s been sitting with Christmas tree ornaments all summer and it doesn’t taste much better. It does taste very winter time and is the closest I’ve gotten to mulled tea but I think I’ll try one day to make my own then to return to this. Another trip down memory lane but I’ll skip it for now.
I haven’t had too many Kenyan teas but the few I’ve had have always been very earthy crunchy teas. This CTC tea from Joy’s Teaspoon is rolled into little balls almost like gunpowder. It’s got a taste similar to assam but only slightly. It isn’t bitter but it is strong and perfectly acceptable without milk and sugar. The taste reminds me of unsweet granola or wheat germ. I also can taste a whiff of coffee but that might be my mind playing tricks on me because I know its an African tea. It really is quite nice when you want a morning tea but not an Assam or Ceylon blend.
Also want to add that this came in a very generous sample from Joy’s Teaspoon which makes me definitely want to get some more soon!
Once again Verdant tea comes through with a tea that is truly a step above most other tea companies. Now that I’ve tried a number of companies there does seem to be an taste aesthetic to each one. This may be due to their resident buyer/taste tester or owner preferences. Verdant seems to find teas with a whole lot of depth in them. Every tea seems to be like an onion, rich in layers.
The Zhu Rong Yunnan is another fine “deep” tea. And when I say deep I mean its like diving into a very large pool, every time I take a sip I get subtle taste variations. The first time I steeped this western style I did it for 3 minutes which turned it very bitter and ashy. But the second time I did shorter steeps of about a minute and this seemed to bring out the perfect amount. The smell is malty and caramel, there is an almost an element of fine aged whiskey (without the burning aftertaste). The taste is like mexican hot chocolate which then fades into a stronger cooking chocolate taste. I can also taste the hint of cayenne pepper. This tea has a wonderful soupiness but it never gets harsh or bitter.
YES! EXACTLY! Mexican hot chocolate!
this is a really nice tea, I think I will need to try short steeping it next time.
I enjoyed your review! This tea should be shorter steeped than most black tea’s and if people don’t look at the instructions on Verdant’s website they can miss the point and have a cup thats not at its best! I found the liquor quality also. Good job!
This is one of my favorite ice teas, not too sweet with a nice bite. Honest tea’s was one of my favorite companies and I loved how they refused to serve iced tea that had 50g of sugar in it. My favorite flavor of all time was their decaf ceylon. Sadly it was discontinued because they got bought out by coke. Now they are owned by coke and all their new teas have more sugar in them. Enough said.
Found this in the back corner of my parent’s pantry. Not sure how old it is so I’ll try to review it with a grain or pound of salt. Its a pretty basic Ceylon with some kind of dried cherry pieces but sadly it does not taste like cherry. Its more like cherry Robitussin that’s been forgotten in the bathroom. I rarely like flavored teas due to the unpredictability of flavorings. Once again this could have been amazing when it was fresh, but then again it is a black tea and shouldn’t age too much. I’ll put it back in the corner of the pantry and it will probably be forgotten for a while.
A nice dependable genmaicha, not my favorite that honor goes to genmaicha with some matcha thrown in, but still very dependable. It isn’t the gold genmaicha so I would like to try that as well, I’m sure it has some fancy sencha or something. I first had this tea in one of my favorite sushi places and I still want sushi with it every time I make it at home.
This one of the better Twinings chinese blacks. It isn’t amazing but it isn’t terrible. Its smooth and mild and has the least dusty taste compared to others. It isn’t strong enough for me in the morning but it is a nice relaxing tea at night. I’d love to try their loose version of this, maybe its got more of a bite.
