408 Tasting Notes
Few weeks ago, a collegue of mine gave me that tea caddy because she is not a tea drinker.
So I do own a new beautiful tea caddy and a new tea to taste. Problem : this is a plain blend from Breakfast type and I am very picky with these types of teas.
I get scared by the leaf ! Broken soooo broken… I’m going to take a ride on the strong side of the tea it seems !
So I decide to steep it only 2 minutes in a water at 90°c to lower the strengh of the Assam
The liquor is from a deep orange.
Tasting it , I was right to be a little afraid : Assam is there and so present with its strong bitterness.
Of course as any Breakfast Tea it is quite malty. It reveals orange notes as well, strangely.
I am trying to add a splash of milk . English Tea is comfortable and cosy. It is against my habits. But let’s get crazy and let’s add some sugar rocks.
Verdict : England won again … yes with some milk and sugar this tea is quite pleasant…this is the reason why English people have their breakfast tea that way, no ?
I am not the public for Strong Breakfast teas nor indian teas but once pimped my cup is nice.
Pics of my session with this tea are visible here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/strong-breakfast-boissier/
Flavors: Malt, Orange
Preparation
It is a pretty dark green leaf Oolong, rolled and mixed with Goji berries from a deep orange-red and flowers. The dry leaf smell is very strong, very fruity and peach -y. I do not feel especially the floral side of the low oxidized Oolong.
I decide to steep this Oolong at 80 ° c and for 4 minutes.
The leaves unfold quite well but still have a great potential for future steeps. The Goji berry is still very orange and energetic!
The infusion smells peach and fruit. The colour is really beautiful with a very warm orange yellow.
Unsurprisingly peach is the first detected aroma, it is powerful, maybe a touch too much. But peach, despite its ingenuous physical, is not a so discreet fruit. Refined but not discreet, it often takes everything out its way.
This peach does not play on the sweet side, which brings a great freshness to the blend.
On the next sips I can now detect very specifically pear notes, very significant. We should not sometimes rush to much to isolate and detect flavours. And I love pear …
However I am quite happy to not really detect lotus as my palate was not thrilled by all the lotus teas that I tried in the past.
The texture is very light, a bit mellow but nothing more.
While cooling, the pear begins to seriously challenge the peach … for my highest pleasure. I think it must be absolutely divine as an iced Oolong tea.
This is a successful tea and I’ll be more than happy to buy some this summer.
Pics of this very lovely tea (liquor and leaves are gorgeous) are available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/tag/theodor/
Flavors: Peach, Pear
Preparation
yay, for reviews from you! This sounds very interesting, like you I do not like lotus very much, so it sounds interesting.
i really should try brewing this at home before i share the rest with everyone…
Yes Sil you should because it was really better at home than at the event and you’ll get much pear :)
Teresa it is definitively very interesting if I buy a bag of this Oolong I will send you some for sure.
Thank you Ysaurella, but do not worry about it – it has pear, which is a note it scares me a bit. But even if perhaps not a tea for me, it sounds fantastically well done and ambitious.
This is a tea I drank a morning during a breakfast apointment in a Parisian cafe ( I can take pictures of my tea during profesional appointments, amazing … )
This is therefore an Earl Grey, kind of tea I particularly appreciate as a huge fan of bergamot .
This one is on a Yunnan black tea basis and mixed with blue flowers .
Although I was not able to pay the best attention to this tea , it seemed fine enough , the bergamot flavouring was a success. I am just regretting a too light body as the base was not present enough IMO.
Into the same tea family I preferred the Earl Grey French Blue by Mariage Frères but I would have to compare the two at the same time at home to get an unbiased idea .
The liquors of the Palais des Thés often have a very nice colour and this one is no exception .
Pics of my session with this tea are available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/blue-of-london-le-palais-des-thes/
Preparation
I’ve been away from Steepster for a while ! Much on my blog and on a local website about tea where I can express myself in my mother tongue but I missed you all so here I am !
This lovely tea came from Nicole , I was looking for yunnans and she kindly sent me some including that one.
This is a very special tea : a lot of personnality ,tobacco, malt , cocoa and so mellow. For me it is maybe a little too much smocky – tobacco notes are not among my favourites in tea. But I have to recognize it has a lot of personnality and qualities.
This is for sure a great tea, maybe just not 100% for my taste.
Pics of my session with this tea are available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/yunnan-gold-tips-chinese-new-year-2014-andrews-dunham-damn-fine-tea/
Preparation
It was my 2nd test from the Tea house Tea Ave. and second success.
It is a beautiful oriental beauty picked between 400 and 800 meters. The oxidation level is at 6 on a scale of 10 .
A fragrant honey smell typical of these "bitten"Oolongs is emerging from the dry leaf.
I steeped this bai hao 3 minutes at 100 ° C for the first test. The leaves impeccably unfolds .
The beautiful liquor smells delicious fruits and honey.
The taste is from a typical oriental beauty , the body is quite light and fruity very pronounced . Honey is there but in the background and leaves the leading role to dried fruit, stone fruit. The “sweet” aspect is present in a good quantity ,but very balanced.
This is not the best OB I tasted so far but it is definitely very good and it made me starting the day nicely.
Pics are visible here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/oriental-beauty-tea-ave/
Preparation
I choose to start the Tea Ave samples with the Rose Oolong, it was the best choice on earth for sampling something for me who loves rose so much! 1rst very good point, indications are super accurate: oxidation, type of Oolong used everything is mentionned on the package. I have rarely seen such accurate indications.
It is therefore an Alishan picked at 1200 meters and little oxidized scented with taiwanese roses I am about to drink.
This rolled leaf smells divinely good , a real bouquet of roses. Tea Ave. requires an infusion at 100 ° c, so do I.
3 minutes later, I have a beautiful yellow-green liquor, very pale, typical of Alishan and a sweet smell of roses.
From the first infusion leaves unfold very well. What beautiful leaves … and with rose petals, I am in love.
Then…the taste… because it is not because Tea Ave sent me some samples that I am particularly kind with the teas. But then … I can only be a little seduced beforehand … Oolong + rose … this tea begins with a big advantage … and … it is good. Yes, it’s a good Alishan, refreshing, with a body between light and medium.
The scent of rose is present but just right for my taste, it does not hide the Oolong. I adored my first steep, the second infusion is nice but is less interesting for me as it has less body.
For my first sample with this Tea house, I am delighted.
This is however a beautiful tea, pics available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/rose-oolong-tea-ave/
Preparation
I have never seen rose petals still look so pretty after infusing! This is definitely going in my basket!
you are lucky @ashmanra because they don’t ship internationaly. so sad
Hey Ysaurella, thanks so much for loving our Rose Oolong. We would like to invite you to stop by our site to rate our oolongs when you get a chance, so others can read your comments and thoughts :) Thanks so much!!
My last sample from Tea Avenue. The base is an Alishan, a Jin Xuan picked at 1200 meters. The degree of oxidation is inevitably low, 2 on a scale of 10 (I love those details from the Tea Ave.)
Although we have some osmanthus flowers mixed with the Alishan it is not profusely. I’m sick so I will not go into the description of the smell of the leaf. Fortunately my taste is not yet affected by the cold.
2 minutes into a boiling water and small flowers rise to the surface, they are very present in the end, they were hiding between the leaves.Once drained, we can not see them again too … it’s an Osmanthus hide and seek game.
The liquor is of course very pale, a very pale yellow like Alishan have the secret.
The taste is pleasant : a refreshing Alishan with nice floral notes.
Was it a good idea to have choosen this one for the morning? … Not sure. I think this tea is perfect for the evening (well for my taste). This is undeniably a tea very good. This is not my favorite type of tea but it doesn’t shadow all its qualities. Thank you so much Heidi at Tea Avenue for this sample.
Pics of my session are available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/osmanthus-oolong-tea-ave/
Preparation
It seems this Oolong has a taste of glutinous rice as the Oolong has been mixed from the start of the manufacturing process with a local plant (Nuo Mi Xiang) which has a glutinous rice taste. This was indicated on Tea & Ty ’s website.
I open my cute little pink bag and I’m seeing quite a nice green rolled leaf. As I still have a cold the description of the leaf stops there, unfortunately.
The leaf does not unfold at the first infusion, which is logical with an infusion at less than 90 °c.
I get a pretty pale yellow-green liquor.
Fortunately I still have my taste buds skills to enjoy this tea: the texture is round without being mellow however.
Glutinous rice taste is there, a touch of lichen too but is also accompanied by a lighter note which is a fruity note. I would think plum, not sure but it tastes like plum to me.
The end of the sip is surprising, tea vanishes on a darker touch with a tiny bitterness which immediately disappears.
Surprising tea, really.
You can see pics of this tea in a new japanese cup here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/nuo-mi-xiang-oolong-tea-ty/
Preparation
You know I am a sucker for oxidized Oolongs but I love floral ones as well. This one is a floral type which comes from one of the highest mountain of Taïwan and is incredibly soft, light and pure. Yes, pure is the word which is coming first to me as I am sipping this lovely tea.
The dry leaf smells fresh herbs.
After 5 minutes into a boiling water the leaf is not totally deployed It retains some secrets until the 2nd infusion.
The colour of the liquor is from a very pale yellow.
This the taste of crystal Yes…I know but if crystal can be liquid and drinkable it would have the taste of this Li Shan, sure. Pure so pure, so refreshing and light, it is incredible.I adore it. None bitterness nor acidity.Lilac and touches of peach are the most evident notes to my palate.
1000 thanks Gabriele for this sample, it would almost make me change to jump in the low oxidized Oolong world. But I am on the dark side of the Oolong-y tales and I’ll remain even if this tea would probably have its place in my cupboard- and a very good place.
Howw much do you sale it Gabriele ? it is not on your website :(
Pics are available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/li-shan-nannuoshan/
Preparation
We had no time yet to upload photos and description of our Taiwan oolongs, but they are actually all on stock and available for selling. If interested, you can send us a message for further information:
http://www.nannuoshan.org/pages/contact
Li Shan is an expensive tea, mainly because of the growing condition (2600m above see level) and the quality of this particular lot. The crop is limited and the harvest conditions very tough for the farmers. We decided to feature a top-quality Li Shan while offering also a Ali Shan at a more affordable price.
The Li Shan costs 35 euro for 50g. The Ali Shan 20 euro.
@nannuoshan thank you very much Gabriele for the addtional informations :) It is quite expensive but it deserves to be drank even at that price, this is a very lovey tea.
The Rougui , the famous tea of the rocks is in my cup this morning and brightens a little this bad weather morning .
I strictly respect the recomandations , 4 minutes in a water at 90 ° C.
The leaf doesn’t fully unfold , it’s true that instinctively I would rather use a water at 100 ° but it does unfold very well at the second infusion.
The liquor is very red , of a dark amber .
This is a very balanced Rougui between mineral and roasted notes . Some sweetness emanates from all this light liquor, a bit enveloping .
This is exactly what I was expecting from this tea and I’m delighted : it has a real personal touch and releases its own aromas in a successive and distinct manner. Gabriele thank you so much for this sample, it is my type of tea.
Some pics are available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/rougui-nannuoshan/
sometimes milk and tea is just fantastic, with the right tea!
And this brand, i went snooping, and I wonder if their teas are dammann´s as well? Noel a paris, Jardin Bleu? They only call 3 of their teas exclusive, the others might not be.
it is absolutely a possibility Teresa…I won’t be surprised