694 Tasting Notes
Sadly this is the last of this tea., at least for now. I have not yet written about this one. I really shouldn’t have been allowed to try this one as early on in my oolong exploration, but I am glad I circled back to it tonight. I started tasting oolongs with a milk oolong and then this was my second one. I have since fallen in love with roasty oolongs, and I am beginning to appreciate the more green oolongs and now I am drinking this again. This is so interesting. It has the toastyness that I like, but there is this sweet, fruity tangy taste as you drink this tea that seems a bit out of character for an oolong. I also get a very strong spice, although I can’t put my finger on the flavor. It wasn’t in the first infusion, but it came out strong in later infusions. coriander? cinnamon? I think I will have to have some more of this tea eventually. I have so many Butiki Teas to explore I am not sure this one will make the cut for the next order, but I hope we will meet again some day Gui Fei!
I have been working on cleaning out my cupboard a bit. Drinking down samples here and there and I am starting to find that some of the actual teas I own are in the sample range too. Since today was a tad on the stressful side, tonight’s teas are ones that I know I enjoy. I am saying good bye to this one. Hopefully we will meet again some day.
Tonight this almost taste like I am drinking straight honey. Man this is so sweet. I get a bit of a of bread flavor in later infusions and a little bit of a juicy fruity, maybe apricot? at the end of the sip. I am really really enjoying this one tonight! It is a great replacement for dessert.
This is from the January 2014 Steepster Select Box.
I have trying my best to drink all the little odds and ends of tea that I have sitting around. Everything that is in the 2-4 cup range. I have significantly reduced the number of teas in my cupboard, but then more tea just keeps coming in:)
I have been using my new gaiwan to brew oolongs lately. I have always been an oolong fan and now with the start of summer and the gaiwan, the more green oolongs seem to be something I am starting to crave. This one is really hitting the spot tonight. It is light, floral, slightly buttery, and I get a bit of tang at the end of the sip. I really need to do a green oolong sampler one of these days to see if I can detect more subtle flavors. With the greenish oolongs, the flavor for me seems to vary by the amount of floral, buttery-ness, and the slight bitterness at the end of the sip. Sometimes I get a slight hint of fruit, other times the bitterness overtakes the fruity notes. This seems to be a nice balance between all the components.
Yay for green oolong tastings! Join the club, it’s a fun experience! And that is awesome you got a gaiwan. Do you notice a significant difference brewing tea that way compared to western-style? I have been considering getting one for a while, but just haven’t yet.
I haven’t done a taste off yet. What I do notice is that I get a wider range of flavors as I go through the multiple steepings. I also notice that I get to enjoy a tea for longer and I am not constantly warming up my cup in the microwave. I have been doing a lot of one samples lately. When I get to some of the teas where I have a lot left I will do a side by side comparison.
I received a sample of this in a swap with bluebelle. Thank you.
This has a pretty strong scent to it and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I have 2 cups work left so I brewed this up and had it over ice tonight. It is very tasty. Tasty enough that if I ever ordered from Den’s tea I would definitely pick some of this up. I am not sure I get grape. I get more fruity green. It is sweet and I would say that it taste exactly how it smells.
Preparation
I received this sample from KallieBoo Thank you!
A black tea base with a sweet flavor. This was a nice afternoon tea. I wish I would have been home to be able to add a little milk to this one. It was a nice treat. This isn’t my favorite from the day, but I will definitely have no problems finishing the sample. Thank you!
Preparation
This is another wonderful sample from KallieBoo! Thank you!
This was another hit today! I think I might have figured out the trick to 52 Teas black teas. Lower water temp and shorter steep time. I didn’t get much of the float of the rootbeer float of this tea, but I did get a nice balance between the black tea and the roorbeer. I will really enjoy the rest of this sample. Thank you for sharing this KallieBoo!.
Preparation
I received this sample from KalieBoo! Thank you!
I have heard some wonderful things about 52 teas banana flavoring, but I have never been brave enough to purchase an entire 2oz of black tea because their black tea seems to be hit or miss with me. This one was a hit! I think it also helped that I brewed this with a lower temperature and a shorter steep time. This was really yummy this morning. I got the banana, I got a nice base in the background, I also got a hint of the cinnamon or some spice which was blended very nicely into the mix. If I ever crossed paths with this tea again I wouldn’t turn it down.
Preparation
This is from the Steepster Select December 2013 box.
This is yummy! A green oolong, sweet, nutty, floral and quite a bit of buttery-ness in the first few steeps. This is really hitting the spot on this spring afternoon. This maybe a mood tea for me though. I believe when I tried this one back in December it didn’t stand out. Right now I just added it to my wish list. I would tread lightly if I were to try to purchase this again.
This is another tea from MissB’s mystery pack. Thank you!
I drank this hot yesterday. It was a good balance between the black tea base and the mango. I could definitely identify the mango in this and it was pretty tasty. Nothing about the base tasted cardboard-ish. It was just a yummy fruity tea. I plan to make the rest of this as an ice tea as I think this will shine a bit more cold.
Preparation
This is another tea from MissB’s mystery pack. Thank you.
This one is probably my least favorite of the french teas that I have tried. I like it, but nothing about rang keep me forever. The almond in this hit me right a way with a twinge of chocolate and then a hint of orange at the end. I like it, but I think the chocolate in the middle caught me off guard a bit. A well balanced good cup, but not a favorite.