818 Tasting Notes

I really need to start logging more teas. I’m drinking tea, I am! The problem is a bunch of the ones I’ve had recently are not in the Steepster database, so I have to go through the trouble of adding the tea.

Anyway, I did it! Thanks to Grill for this sample!

I haven’t developed a taste for sheng with some years on it, but this one ain’t bad! Very clean taste. Brews up amber in color with a slightly minty aroma. Tastes kinda fruity, like dried fruit! Mmm! It has some bitterness, especially in early steeps. Not super thick, but decent. It’s also very reasonably priced. I really like the dried fruit taste, so this one is wishlisted!

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Thanks to Grill for this sample. This is a deliciously sweet and aromatic sheng, and it has great longevity. You can push it and there’s really no bitterness to speak of. It’s silky sweet. I felt some energy from the Qi, but it didn’t make me crazy. Very nice!

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Thanks to boychik for a generous sample, of which I got to enjoy two sessions with this tea. It reminds me of a cross between Drunk on Red from YS and Bangdonghong from W2T. It has a bit of raspberry fruitiness, and a little spiciness. Very nice tea, and I wouldn’t mind having more in my cupboard.

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Thanks to Boychik for this sample! She knows what I like…we have very similar tastes! This tea has a hint of smoke, a bit of bitterness, but it’s smooth and has a medium oily texture…love the oily ones! The aroma is sweet and vegetal. Turns out, it’s not super sweet, but has a bit of complexity that I like. Boychik reminded me that this is not puerh, but border tea. Still tasty though, and that’s all that really matters to me. :)

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I had to pick up some of these as everyone kept raving about them. They steep up dark pretty quick, but they’re light on flavor at the beginning. It takes maybe four or more steeps to get them going, and you really gotta steep them out long….several minutes, and then they’re amazing! Sweet, rich cocoa, mmm! Reminds me of Mandala’s special dark…that kind of cocoa, but maybe sweeter! My kinda Shou! I almost feel like I shouldn’t like them though, because aren’t they like the leftovers? The scraps? So delicious though!

looseTman

To have the full flavor on the first steep, you may wish to try the following: After preheating your gaiwan, rinsing the nuggets, and a mrmopar recommended 20 min rest, insert a cocktail fork into each nugget to loosen them up. Enjoy!

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I received a free sample of this tea in my last teaware order. They have wonderful teaware on this site and thanks to boychik for telling me about it and enabling me! ;)

I’m not usually into green tea, but I’ve heard there’s something unique and different about those from Korea, so it was worth a shot! The dry leaf smelled sugary and nutty. Once wet, the leaves are more vegetal in aroma, and there’s some saltiness there too! The tea tastes a lot like asparagus and spinach, nutty and vegetal. It’s a very beautiful tea, with little verdant green leaves and a vibrant greenish yellow liquor. I also felt very warm drinking it. Overall, I enjoyed my session with it.

boychik

Glad you like it ;)

Tealizzy

Have you tried this one, Boychik?

boychik

not this, jaejak . also yellow tea hwangcha

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Today was the first day I felt like autumn was finally here…so cool! I pulled out my autumn leaves mug and steeped up some of this tea. I was at work, so didn’t have milk, but I decided it didn’t need it. The base tea has a nice smoothness to it that mimics the creaminess of milk. I even oversteeped it on accident and it was still great! It tastes mostly of nutmeg to me, but it’s cozy, and it was perfect for today.

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So, I didn’t feel like making a new tea page for this tea. I got a really great ginger root herbal at Apple Hill last weekend. It’s so tasty! Has a lot of bite to it, more if you let it steep longer. I tried my first cup at a 5-minute steep and tonight I’m drinking a 6-minute steep and it has a lot more bite and heat. Yum! I also put in some fresh honey, also from Apple Hill, and it’s delicious! I really was never a fan of ginger, but that seems to be changing. I think once I’m done with these teabags, I’m going to experiment making my own from fresh ginger. Should be fun!

keychange

I’d love to learn more about your ginger tea experiments! I struggle with random bouts of nausea, and I’ve heard people wax poetic about how great ginger is, only I think I’m in the camp of people who’ve not really liked it all that much. I hope that will change though!

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Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted on here. You know how it is, you drink the same teas, or you don’t feel like making a tea page for all the new teas you have, or life just gets busy. Anyhow, it was finally cool today, so I thought I’d have some Shou. Stephanie sent me this in a surprise package and it’s so fun! It’s my first whole tangerine Shou. I’ve had a sample before from another company, but it was just pieces of the peel and tea. This time, I got to break it up myself!

It has that smoked/char taste that I noticed in the other one, which is warming and cozy when it’s cold out. I also noticed a bit of citrus, and that seemed to come out more as I steeped and the Shou got sweeter. Very nice and smooth, no funk. Thanks so much Stephanie! :)

looseTman

Welcome back! :-)

Tealizzy

Thanks, looseTman!

keychange

Haha, I’m back now that it’s hopefully going to be fall out soon too!

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I finished off the rest of what I had from the monthly subscription this morning and now I’m sad. This is such an amazingly delicious and unique black tea. Like a spicy potato tea. I used the remaining 5.5g in my shibo and it was perfect! It also lasted more than the usual 3-4 steeps I get from black teas. Although it’s no longer available, I heard that more might be coming in this autumn, so I will definitely pick some up, maybe with some samples of the other Spring puerh I haven’t yet tried.

boychik

Yummy. Every time I drink it it’s like grilled veggies

Tealizzy

Yes, it’s so tasty! Now I wish I had already picked up a bunch before it went out of stock. :/

JC

This definitely has that green note to it. Very good, thick and yet puckery at the same time.

Christina / BooksandTea

White2Tea just announced that this is now back in stock.

Tealizzy

Thanks, Christina! I saw! :)

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Profile

Bio

Another profile facelift! My tastes have changed a lot from when I first discovered loose leaf tea.

I can trace my tea journey back to October 2012, when I discovered DavidsTea. Before that, I had the occasional cup and enjoyed high tea at An Afternoon to Remember, which has since closed.

I went through a period of wanting to try all the teas, and was really into flavored teas, especially dessert blacks, but my tastes have substantially changed over time.

I still enjoy the occasional flavored black or rooibos, but I’m more into unflavored black teas right now and recently, puerh. Chinese black teas are amazing…with their notes of chocolate or sweet potato, who needs a flavored tea? I had a much steeper learning curve when it came to puerh. I used to dump out cups of puerh for tasting like leather. Now, I am really enjoying them. I think it took finding good quality puerh and steeping them gong fu style to really enjoy them.

I also, on occasion, enjoy a good oolong, white, or green tea.

Favorite tea companies right now include: Mandala, Teavivre, Butiki, Golden Moon, Lupicia, and DavidsTea (for teaware mostly).

Just a note: I don’t rate my teas numerically because my iPad doesn’t like the scroll bar. Maybe someday that will change…hint hint, steepster! ;)

P.S. My profile picture is of one of my 2 cats, Holly, who is a little princess but very photogenic, and she loves boxes, including those that bring me tea! :)

Location

San Francisco Bay Area

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