2036 Tasting Notes

65

This morning I finished up my last bags of this. My assessment remains the same, but I can’t see myself going back to this as a standard. I have many more Earls to try in my cupboard, but if I don’t find one I love I already have in the Samovar Earl Lavender.

LiberTEAS

As I think I’ve said before, this is one of the best bagged earl grey teas I’ve tried. But then, bagged has it’s limitations. I definitely prefer Lupicia’s earl grey to this.

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79
drank Mint Pu-erh by Numi Organic Tea
2036 tasting notes

After the first time I tasted this I’d been meaning to go back to it and play around with it a bit. While I liked it, second only to the chocolate among the Numi pu erhs, I wasn’t sure I’d steeped it correctly the first time.

The instructions on the bag seem to suggest it ought to be steeped as a green tea. I found this confusing, because whereas others of the Numi pu erhs do seem to be blends of other teas with the pu erh, this one’s main ingredient is “green pu erh” and its only other ingredient is mint.

So I decided tonight to give it a side by side test in identical glass cups. I brewed one as a green tea, with a 2 minute steeping time and 175 degree water, and the other for 3 minutes with boiling water.

Let me back up for a minute and say that the bags smell quite nice. Very minty, with the barnyardy/leathery scent of the pu erh as almost an accent, keeping the mint from being too candy-like.

The longer, hotter steep yielded a darker liquor; more tawny/tan yellow than the other, which looked very like green tea liquor, a greenish yellow. The aromas were interesting to compare. The longer steep brought out more of a pu erh smell, while the shorter seemed almost like a minty green oolong, with just a hint of the earthy tone of pu erh.

Taste-wise, the comparison came out similarly. They were both nice cups. The longer steep was heartier, and had more in common with the other Numi pu erhs I’ve tried. Leathery, barnyardy, earthy. The mint is a nice contrast to this, a fresh high note that would probably be appealing to people just starting to experiment with pu erhs and those who are looking for a counterpoint to the dark, pungent flavor. The shorter steep was heavier on the mint, thinner on the pu ehr flavor, but tasty in its own right.

The digestive aid properties of this one are not to be underestimated. I felt rumblings in my intestines almost immediately upon starting to sip this…

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

There’s that strange combo again… mint and pu erh… I can definitely understand why your stomach problem stopped- peppermint and pu erh both are supposed to have digestive aid qualities. Doesn’t work for me though. I if I have those problems I like something light like a raw pu erh, green, or white tea.

Ricky

It’s like vanilla mint pu-erh from Rishi!

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46
drank Earl Grey by Tazo
2036 tasting notes

Hallelujah! I’m at the end of my bags of this! It wasn’t awful and at times was actually pretty enjoyable, but the bergamot was, in general, too heavy and perfumy for me. For a month I’ve been looking forward to better Earl Grey without the guilt of having unused bags lying around, and now I can sally forth guilt free. Hmmm. What should I start with? A&D? The Upton sampler? Samples from American Tea Room or Harney & Sons? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: so many teas, so little time!

Rabs

I love having options without feeling guilt-tea! ::badoom-ching!::

Stephanie

Congrats to finishing up tea! Start with A&D!

__Morgana__

I have one more serving of the Numi Earl Grey for tomorrow and then I’m bagged Earl Grey free! I am going to step up the bagged purge. There is just no comparison between most of them and the loose stuff!

LiberTEAS

I liked the Numi Earl Grey quite well, of the bagged varieties, I think it’s one of the best, if for no other reason than their use of Assam rather than a typical Ceylon.

__Morgana__

Yes, I prefer it to the Tazo by a lot, but the Samovar spoiled me. :-)

LiberTEAS

I don’t remember if I ordered the Earl Grey from Samovar… now I must go check my samples…. nope… doesn’t look like I did. Other good Earl Grey teas include Lupicia (make sure you get the Keemun one) and Steven Smith Teamaker. And, if you like your Earl Grey to be a smooth operator, I … kind of like my Earl Grey Creme too. LOL

I ♥ NewYorkCiTEA

I second Stephanie on the A&D. I’d also be interested in reading some more American Tea Room tealogs.

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94

Having just finished cups of Black Orchid by Mariage Freres and Starry Night by the Jade Teapot, I’ve turned to this one as the third in my tale of three vanillas.

The dry leaves look quite a bit like the Black Orchid. The color is similar and you can see vanilla beans in this one, too. I’d venture to say that the leaves of Black Orchid are slightly longer, which is probably owing to a difference in the variety of black tea used.

And that’s where the similarities end. I get the same chocolate note from the dry leaves of the Dian Hong that someone else mentioned instead of the amazing vanilla that came out of the Black Orchid. This, however, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just a different thing. The aroma of the tea also has a chocolatey note — in any case, it is not overwhelmingly vanilla, though I can smell some vanilla in it. Mostly what it has going for it is that aromatic Samovar black smell that is common to all of the black teas of theirs I’ve tried. It’s a brown sugary, malty, smooth, delicious foundation for all the other flavors to frolic on and among.

The two notes here, chocolate and vanilla, are like two for the price of one. If you’re looking for a vanilla flavored tea, you’d probably be more satisfied with the Black Orchid, which is classically vanilla flavored. But if you’re looking for something with vanilla flavor and something more, give this a try.

I’m not sure which I prefer to tell you the truth. Both this and the Mariage Freres Black Orchid are exemplary blends. Black Orchid is a Rembrandt, this is a Jackson Pollack. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. I’m calling it a tie.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
teabird

Loving your comparison tastings!

~lauren.

Very methodical way of conducting a taste test/comparison! Nicely done!

Rabs

Your Tale of Three Vanillas (<—LOVE that) was inspirational for me – tomorrow my first GM sample must be a vanilla one! :D

__Morgana__

I wish I could have done more! But I figure I can always amend to add more later. ;-) And I got the workout done, which was the impetus behind the whole thing. Lol.

I ♥ NewYorkCiTEA

Loved reading your three-way vanilla comparison. Yay @ getting your workout done!

__Morgana__

I think I’m going to have to do a three-way chocolate tasting. I am up to my ears in chocolate flavored things here, but three seems about the right number. I can’t imagine trying to compare five at one go. And I might have to do a caramel as well. And maybe everything with the name cookie in it. Hehehe.

~lauren.

All reviews/posts to look forward to, __ Morgana __ !!

AmazonV

oo i can’t wait for that comparison…COOKIES

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79
drank Starry Night by The Jade Teapot
2036 tasting notes

Number two in the tale of three vanillas. I discussed its various merits in an earlier note. The purpose of this one is to compare this as a vanilla flavored tea with number one in the series, Black Orchid by Mariage Freres.

It’s fascinating to me how two teas with similar flavor profiles can taste so different, and each be so enjoyable in its own way. Where Black Orchid was symbiosis between the tea flavor and the vanilla flavor, this one seems to have a stronger tea presence in the beginning of the sip, follows by the vanilla, which lingers in the finish. There’s also an odd, almost green note in this one which I didn’t notice before but do in comparison to the Black Orchid. It’s odd that it’s present in this tea, but not an odd flavor. It’s rather refreshing.

Both experiences are pleasurable and lovely in their own way. This tea seems to have less depth than the Black Orchid, but that’s not such a bad thing depending on what you’re in the mood for — stew, or salad.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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94
drank Black Orchid by Mariage Frères
2036 tasting notes

I missed my workout today and desperately need to go do it, but it’s been a long week and I’m not exactly perky at the moment. So I’m going to start a little adventure called a tale of three vanillas in the hopes that by the end I’ll be energized enough to work out.

This is the first in the saga, to be followed by a rerun of The Jade Teapot’s Starry Night and my sample of the Samovar Vanilla Dian Hong.

Gee, this tea smells terrific! No, really, it is a tantalizing smell coming out of the tin, a sultry vanilla smell. It’s incredible, you can actually smell the beany grain of the vanilla which gives it a slight resemblence to the smell of coffee. It’s like being inside a vanilla bean, or rather, swimming in a vat of vanilla beans like toddlers do in those ball pit things. There’s a dark roasty smell as well, which is certainly the tea, which is dark brown and luscious. You can see pieces of vanilla bean among the leaves.

The aroma during steeping is equally delicious. I think vanilla may be a hard flavoring to get exactly right and it seems as though its success is highly dependent on the quality of the vanilla used to flavor as well as the thing being flavored. My experience with the Numi Vanilla Decaf was pretty bad, and though I thought it unlikely this experience would be similar I was relieved to be right. The vanilla aroma rises gently and organically out of the cup, along with a malty, sugary tea smell that is quite enticing.

The liquor is lighter in color than I’d expected from the darkness of the leaves, a sort of burnt orangish brown.

Yum. It tastes smoother and more delicate than I expected. It’s not a shot over the bow so much as a gentle rumble. The vanilla is sweet and delicious, and it melds with the tea’s own sweetness to create something that, astonishingly, is just the right amount of sweet. The flavors lean on each other nicely. A wonderful cup.

I’m not sure exactly what the right steeping time for this one will turn out to be. It was fine at 3 minutes but a bit better at 4. I might try 5 next time, just for laughs.

And as a postscript — the empty cup smells nommy!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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58
drank Calm by Tazo
2036 tasting notes

In the “full leaf” sachet, this tisane is like a miniature bouquet of dried pinky red and yellow flowers complete with accenting greenery. Quite charming looking.

Its scent is hard to pin down as there is so much going on. I do smell the chamomile and the mint, but the overarching fragrance is floral with a tinge of spice. It smells like something you might take a bath in — bath-salty, without the salt.

The main flavor I taste is chamomile, and it’s a nice one. Some chamomiles have a tendency to taste a little like a mixture of paper and dried straw that’s been “flavored” with chamomile. This doesn’t. It’s a fresh-tasting chamomile, possibly aided in that respect by the touch of mint.

I don’t get an overpowering taste of mint as some other tasters have. It’s a suggestion more than anything else. There’s also a suggestion of something that is probably the hibiscus, a tangy, herby/earthy taste. It’s interesting to me that I don’t really taste lemon, though both lemongrass and lemon balm are listed in the ingredients. I taste lavender more than lemon, and that’s toward the end of the ingredient list.

It’s not bad, and I’m not a chamomile-hater. I like this much better than the Numi chamomile. The main thing I find objectionable about this is that it’s too busy to be calming. I can’t chill when I know there are nine different flavors, as I keep trying to account for all of them and how they interact with each other. It’s like trying to meditate and being unable to keep track of the mantra because the thoughts are coming too fast and furious.

Calm should be simpler than it is.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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89
drank Sencha Fuka-midori by Den's Tea
2036 tasting notes

Den’s tea sample number three. Compared to the organic sencha of last night: these leaves look similar — feathery and delicate, but are a bit darker green. I had thought the organic sencha leaves smelled vegetal last night, but it’s interesting, compared to these they smell less vegetal and more, for lack of a better word, herbaceous. The liquor looks similar, a chartreuse color with tiny particles suspended in it. The aroma is similiarly cabbagy/spinachy/asparagussy, but more buttery and not grassy at all.

I did not get any bitterness in the taste, which was vaguely reminiscent of steamed broccoli, right when it turns that very bright green color and is still al dente. There’s a mildness that isn’t quite sweetness.

I’m not really sure which I like better, but I’m giving this one just a tiny bit higher rating because it seems to have just a tad more depth.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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72
drank White Peony by Adagio Teas
2036 tasting notes

This here is not a tasting note or a pipe.

I only had enough White Peach left in my Jade Teapot sample to make .2 cups, so I dumped some of this in with it. Of course, I can’t really taste the rest of the Jade Teapot sample, but the white peony is sweet and tasty. Since I’m having it in an adulterated form, I am not going to write a full note now. More to come on this one.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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54
drank Lemon Mate by Tazo
2036 tasting notes

I don’t feel too badly about not loving Yerba Mate after reading at the Mayo Clinic site that some studies have shown it increases the risk of certain types of cancer, particularly for smokers, if drunk in large quantities over long periods of time. I don’t smoke (and haven’t for years) but if I’m going to be drinking something tea-like, I’d much rather drink something that’s believed to inhibit cancer, like green tea.

I like this one better than the Mate Lemon by Numi. It’s better without the imposition of a green tea flavor in the middle of the lemon/mate mix that the Numi has. The Tazo has ginger in it, but it doesn’t affect the taste as much as it does in the Green Ginger tea. It has a smooth mouth feel, and a lemony/herby flavor to it that is ok, but just ok.

I’ll finish what I have of it, but it’s not something I like well enough to replace when I’m done.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 45 sec
SoccerMom

You know have me worried about my Mate addiction. :I

__Morgana__

Sorry :-( I’m betting there are studies that say the opposite. Seems like there always are. I am trying to give up drinking 10+ 20oz diet cokes a day because of the aspartame!

AmazonV

i think there are a whole bunch of studies touting the health benefits of mate….like anything else there is always studies one way and the other

Ewa

The actually amount that “large quantities over long periods of time” in these sorts of studies translates to is usually pretty ridiculous, so I wouldn’t worry. Besides which, most things are harmful in excessive quantities in SOME way, so I wouldn’t worry about it.

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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