15350 Tasting Notes
This tasting note will not do this tea justice as i think i’m going to leave this for the night and continue this tomorrow when I’m puttering around the house getting my swaps in order. my mini goal this weekend is to try and get down to 190 teas (ignoring the 70+ that are on their way atm and not yet IN my cupboard of course).
As many of you know, oolongs are not generally my thing. But i picked up a sample of this to force myself to branch out a little. So i WILL drink this, at least the small sample of the sample i pulled out, and the rest will go to one of the girls/swap folks who enjoy a good green oolong!
to be continued….
Edit: Been having this in the morning while i figure out swaps and orders and overall it’s not a bad tea. But it IS an oolong and there is something in it that is tickling my nose and making me want to sneeze.
1100 tasting notes down. An infinite number to go!
I’m logging this one under this tea since it’s essentially “my” version of 3 friends. By that I mean that one of the other wonderful surprises Stacy sent along to me in my last order was a small sample of 3 friends tea, sans marshmallow. Yes people…she’s paying attention and being awesome!
I’d remarked in one of my notes that perhaps it was the marshmallow flavour that was giving this a bitterness that i just can’t get behind no matter how much i want to love this tea.
So the verdict? I DO much prefer this without the marshmallow flavour. One of the other samples that stacy sent me had marshmallow flavouring in it, and though it balanced quite nicely with that tea, i could taste the same taste as what makes me frown with 3 friends. Soooo note to self, I have a hard time with Stacy’s Marshmallow flavouring. That being said, it’s not really a “flavour” that i’m in love with anyway. I want the whole package…the texture, the way is poofs in your mouth, that artificial gooeyness… not just the taste :)
Thank you so much for this stacy! I really do like this version a great deal! (not changing the rating though since 3 friends original is what i rated here)
That is so sweet of her to have done this for you. Stacy, you rule. :)
I wholeheartedly agree incendiare!
Hmm, if that bitter flavour was caused by the marshmallow, which is gone – that’s awesome! Because I really enjoyed this blend but for that final bitter aftertaste. I had been thinking it was the base tea, but I have some of that Zhen Qu and it’s quite lovely, no bitterness at all. Glad the problem was figured out! Even if the original blend will still contain marshmallow :)
Kittenna – I’ll see if i can hold on to some for when we’re up so that you can try it.
If you have enough to do so, that would be great! I figured you’d only have small samples though :)
The marshmallow flavoring tastes really sweet to me. I kind of thought it might be the orange rind, which is a tiny bit sour-y. I do like the chocolate and orange on the Taiwanese Assam a lot. One of these days I want to make a flavored tea with that base.
maybe it’s the combo of the marshmallow and tea base lol. And the assam just works better. At this point i’ve got zero clue. Next time i’m in the area i’ll swing by your place stacy and we can try every iteration/combination haha
Hahaha. Yeah, I definitely love how that Assam works. Now what to make with it? Hmmmm.
i suggest caramel or toffee or strawberry or cream or…yeah so just make something fabulous as usual :)
I have a few ideas. We shall see.
Happy to be a tester anytime lol
Well, you know me I love sharing some in-progress samples.
Secret Stacy sample #2! I have to say after trying this one, I am even MORE anxious for Stacy to produce a caramel tea. Yes I know poached caramel pear is on the way but that’s a pear tea in my head. I want a delicious creamy caramel vanilla tea….nothing to interfere with the deliciousness of caramel and vanilla.
Digging this one Stacy! Sans “yellow” stuff :)
I tried this tonight again because of another tea that I wanted to compare this against, not that they share the same ingredients or anything lol but it was an excuse to try this tea. I’m pretty sure I’m about done with this one, so the remainder of my sample will be going to a good home. Bergamot and I do no seem to dance well together. :)
I’m not a bergamot fan either. I’ve been trying to find a variation of Earl Grey to enjoy but I just can’t. I think it’s time to accept I just don’t care for bergamot haha.
I’m in the same boat. I gave up a long time ago. Every once in awhile I’ll try again to no avail. Good thing there are millions of other flavors!
Uh if you like lemoney flavours… earl grey creme from upton tastes like lemon chiffon to me..but maybe i’m a crazy person. it’s the only earl gery i’ve been able to drink lol because it doesn’t taste like normal earl grey haha
I used to like the earl iced, unsweet. Then I didn’t. Hot, it always seemed harsh to me. I tried the tea spot’s earl, which tastes like lemon pastry, I like that one. I’ve sort of developed a taste for earls lately, with stevia, but I like some more than others.
Cold brew of this one tonight as well. I think I prefer it hot to be honest. Th cold brew just seemed to flatten the flavours and make it less appealing to me. Still a nice tea, but not as versatile as I’d hoped.
Preparation
I have some of this in the Azzrian Box that I’ve been working on sipping down today. Haven’t gotten to this one yet…
:)
I’m totally spending this weekend drinking down things and packing up swap boxes!
sounds like a good idea to me! I’m getting ready to do some new trades, & I’m thinking I want to polish off the trades I already did
This is weird, but this one as well as other flavored teas taste best to me after they have been inthe fridge for several days. This gets really sweet and mellow, and a friend who had a glass last summer immediately bought a pound of it for iced tea.
Not weird..my cold brews are usually put in the fridge and then I forget about them, put the tea away and then have to play the “what tea is this again?” Game lol
:-)
Do I understand correctly that you steeped cold for only 7 min 45 sec?? I always thought cold steeping was a process of hours… (not that I’ve ever tried :-P).
the system won’t let me put in hours – and since i was writing this on the ipad i couldn’t get it to put 8min or more. fixed it now :) it was cold brewing for a couple days :)
Thanks! :-)
Sip down! Thanks to kittenna for the sample. I did this one as a cold brew and its pretty tasty. Again, nothing I MUST have in my cupboard but it was nice to have. The fruit and nuts blends nicely in a cold brew….though there are a lot of floaters :)
Preparation
Morning Matcha smoothie!
I’m having a tough time trying to decide if i should place another red leaf order to get 50% off GC so that i can place a second order with that 50% off. The problem is, i have a few unopened packages of my favourites sitting in the cupboard waiting for me to get through a few of my less enjoyed matchas (chai, pear, raspberry truffle i’m looking at you). Decisions, decisions…especially since there are so many other flavours i still want to try from red leaf!
This one is a delicious fruity matcha, though not likely one i need to restock. I’m happy it’s in my cupboard and I will enjoy it for the next few smoothies i make but that will be it. :)
Surprise Stacy Sample!
I’m not sure how much she’d want me to give away but I feel compelled to write tasting notes when I try things. This one is a delicious green coloured blend that i am quite enjoying tonight. I am missing out on the chocolate side of it, but i can imagine how this would taste with the chocolate blending in with the tea. Yeah…i’ll be on the look out for this one. 78/100 Stacy – since it’s a work in progress :)
(hopefully that’s abstract enough of a tasting note lol)
Hmm, a chocolate-flavored green? Intriguing!
Heh while i love seeing/hearing about what stacy’s up to..there’s another part of me that hates it because it means more tea for me AND having to wait…and wait…and wait…
This one you can talk about. Its almost done. :) I’m really liking how its coming out.
Alphakitty-It’s a marshmallow leaf and peppermint leaf tisane with chocolate flavoring & chocolate pieces. Sort of a late night dessert.
That sounds divine! Does marshmallow leaf taste like marshmallow root?
MARSHMALLOW PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE oh my god my brain just exploded with joy. And I have just enough saved up for an order soon~
Mercuryhime-Hmmmm, I’m not sure. I’ve never tried marshmallow root before.
Alphakitty-It only has a vague marshmallow flavor, the leaf is more sweet than anything. You did just give me an idea to try out though.
Stacy – i figured this one was ok to talk about but i need practice being secretive lol wouldn’t want to spill the beans when i shouldn’t…plus this totally makes things more fun in a way haha
Sil-Hahaha, definitely more fun. Hmmmm, you just gave me a fun idea for a contest for the next blend I come up with.
ok but only if i can win another contest grin
No more winning for you missy. :P So, what do you think of this contest idea? A 50 questions game. You get to ask me any yes or no question in a discussion thread about a mystery blend and I will answer back. The first person to guess all ingredients in the blend wins the blend. Does that sound fun? I like games. It would be really hard for me not to talk about a new blend though.
Ohman….sounds like fun ;)
Sounds great! (the tea, and the contest idea!)
Sweet, now I just need to come up with some ideas for a new tea. Hmmm, I might have to add some strange ingredients.
Ack, I want this blend!!! I need more tisanes in my cupboard.
And that game sounds like fun!
I always loved 21 questions. Let’s go! :P
I want this blend too! I love chocolate and mint together. Thats my favorite flavor combination in a dessert. :-)
Hahaha, it is 20 questions. Don’t know why I was think 50. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Questions.
i was wondering what crack you guys were smoking…i just figured you were giving yourselves a much needed edge in the game :)
Hahaha.
Daaaaayam. And here I was feeling super sheepish that over the past week, I’ve acquired, I don’t know, 20 new teas.
Mini goal is right. I would probably cry if I had a cupboards filled with 190 teas.
Incendiare – I blame kittenna, Indigobloom and raritea. Because we’re all in close proximity, we often place online orders together. Sometimes splitting sample sizes or the bigger sizes so that we can try new things. Thankfully, MOST of my teas are in smaller sizes except for my butiki teas hahah
Cry of joy yeah… :-)
Sometime,try a very dark roast oolong and see if you like those better. I enjoy some pretty charcoal roasty ones now and then.
Bonnie – oh I for sure like darker oolongs better. I’ve tried a few and most of them i’m ok with. That doesn’t stop me from trying green oolongs though to make sure my tastes haven’t changed :) The rest always goes to a good home when i don’t like them.