2036 Tasting Notes

81

I love the fragrance of roses, both directly from the flower and in scented products such as soaps and perfumes, so I’m the perfect target customer for this tea. The perfume of this tea is indeed very rosy. It’s an old world scent; to some it brings to mind grandmothers or their blue haired luncheon companions, but it makes me think of cream colored china with pink floral designs displayed on doily-draped antique washstands. And it makes me feel calm, content, and meditative.

The color is a dusky pinkish brown, as though someone dropped a little of the color associated with the pink version of the flower known as a tea rose into a cup of standard light brown tea.

I know I’ve eaten rose petals before but I can’t call to mind their flavor. There is something sweetly floral about the taste of this tea, which must be the rose. I have only had flavored white teas, but my experience of them has been generally that tend toward sweet and fresh-tasting, and so this is (though I think I steeped it a bit too long this time around as it was more astringent than the last few times I had it when I steeped it from 3-4 minutes).

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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73

Working my way through the Numi puerhs…

I wasn’t really sure how to prepare this one. The instructions said use boiling water, but that didn’t sound right to me since the main ingredient is green tea, though I know higher temperatures are recommended for puerhs. For my first try I went with a lower temperature and shorter steeping time on the theory that this was mainly a green.

At that temperature and steeping time, this seemed to me to be essentially Emperor’s Puerh lite. Same leathery smell and flavor, but less so. There is a softness to the flavor that is probably the green tea, but could also be the floral influence. I grew up around Magnolia trees and I’m not picking up a distinct Magnolia quality, but there is definitely a floral note in there. The green and floral notes are most noticeable in the aftertaste, where they provide a fresh, gentle uplift to the intensity of the puerh.

I am going to try this again at a higher temperature and see what difference that may make. I’m not ready to rate this one until I think I’ve arrived at the best preparation technique.

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

Ah! Blends made up of different teas drive me insane! How do they expect both teas to be steeped properly? While amazing, their chocolate pu erh is also a blend. Why can’t they just leave well enough alone? I love blending, but some things just shouldn’t be blended together.

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51

It looks a lot and tastes a little like (a sour) Hawaiian Punch. My feeling about this tea is much like my feeling about Raspberry Darjeeling Black by Numi was. Too strong on the hibiscus, and perhaps the pomegranate as well, which makes the tea too tart and masks the other flavors. The taste isn’t altogether unpleasant, but it isn’t what I expected from the name of the tea. I’m not getting the raspberry I did from the Numi, even in the finish, and I’m not sure where the pomegranate is, other than in the tartness (but I should say that though I’ve eaten pomegranate seeds I haven’t had pomegranate juice so if that flavor is in here I wouldn’t be able to identify it as such). Instead it’s a generic tart fruitiness (as opposed to fruit tartiness, heh) that I’m tasting, which does seem as though it could be good iced.

If I concentrate really really really hard, I can pick up a green note in the aroma. But I can’t taste it.

As an aside, my boyfriend told me his company has this in their kitchen, and as he’d been eyeing mine he had some the other day at work. His reaction to it was much more positive than mine, but though he’s been a tea drinker for much longer than I have and pretty much always chooses iced tea to go with his meal when we eat out, he hasn’t been participating in my tasting endeavors and experiencing the really excellent teas I’ve had lately. Also, as it turns out he tells me they have an extra zorijushi which they’re talking about giving away. To which I responded first “how Silicon Valley start up of you” and second “gee, I wish you’d told me that before I sunk the bucks into buying one…”

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

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77
drank Lemon Youkou by Teavana
2036 tasting notes

Today the two lemon Teavana herbals recommended by denisend arrived. This is one.

They’re both pretty amazing looking. Huge hunks of fruit mixed in with other ingredients; very colorful, multitextured mixtures. I kept wanting to pull handfuls out of the bags and chow down on them. They really remind me of trail mix.

The variation in the size of the pieces makes me wonder whether different servings of this will taste differently since it’s very likely that no two steeps will be identical. One might be half taken up with a two inch dried orange slice, for example. The dry fruit smells tart and citrusy, though the first ingredient is listed as apple bits.

When brewed, it smells slightly sweeter, and is a clear, pale yellow. The dominant taste is citrus, and I’m definitely getting lemon which I find interesting since there’s nothing identified with the word lemon on the bag. The description on the page here must be from a previous blend. My bag says: apple bits, roseship peels, citrus peels, orange slices, apple slices, citric acid flavoring and marigold petals. I guess the citrus peels could be the lemon variety of citrus so maybe that’s where it comes from.

Unsweetened, the lemon flavor is on the tart side, but not bitter, and (yes!) not at all soapy. A significant improvement from my lemon myrtle experience. It’s a little too tart in my book to be my perfect lemon. I did try to sweeten it up a bit, but a small amount of sugar didn’t make much of an impression on it and I suspect the amount of sugar I’d have to use to bring it into the ballpark would make me not want to go there. However, there are times when tart is called for, and besides, the next cup could be completely different given the distribution of the ingredients. For now I’m liking the Strawberry Lemonade better (wombatgirl recommended that one, too), but I’ll save that discussion for another note.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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85

I’ve had a pretty hectic week and didn’t have quality time to spend with my Oolong sampler until now. This is the third in the sampler, and it is quite lovely. The dry leaves are the greenest of the four Oolong samples (not surprising given the reference to jade in the name) and are in fact a color that isn’t far from jade green (the “darker” jade green). It’s less toasty smelling than the fine grade or the amber. Though that note is still present, there’s a greener, earthier smell to it that makes the toasty note regress some.

The color is a pretty, clear light golden yellow with the smallest touch of green. The infused aroma, too, has a greener smell to it than the others. It deepened and became more “tawny” and floral on the second and third infusion, and by the third it was downright buttery with a twinge of something that seemed almost vanilla.

The flavor is delicate and sweet, and it changes fairly obviously from infusion to infusion, getting creamier through at least the third (steeped five minutes) and fourth (steeped six minutes). These were my favorites, though I went for five. The leaves had expanded in the filter so much by the fifth that I moved to a larger cup, and that likely made a difference, or perhaps the flavor was just naturally tapering off by then.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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73
drank China Green Tips by Tazo
2036 tasting notes

DISCLAIMER: At the outset I should say that I have very little green tea experience, and even less positive green tea experience. I have yet to try brewing a loose green tea. Most of my experiences (other than random restaurant experiences prior to my interest in tea where I wasn’t really focusing on what I was doing and those I’ve written notes about here) have resulted either in completely tasteless cups of colored water, or completely tasteless but bitter cups of colored water. I thought for certain it must have been an acquired taste that I would never, ever, ever acquire.

After doing some very basic research, I determined that the reason for my awful experiences was essentially temperature and steep time related (though water quality may also have contributed). So I significantly lowered my water temperature and lessened my steep time, and things started going better. But I still haven’t tried high grade loose green tea, only bagged Tazo, Twinings and Numi variants.

With that said, I am liking this one a lot. Compared to others I’ve tried, it is very flavorful in a vegetal way, sort of cabbagy/spinachy, but I don’t find it grassy. And it’s sweet, not at all bitter. The first time I got this result I said to myself, “Self, this must be what all the green tea fuss is about, more or less.”

The flavor comes across at 175 degrees, but even moreso at 140 degrees. I’m using two bags in about 16 oz of water and the bags are the full leaf version.

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 1 min, 45 sec

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74

After the Chocolate Puerh experience I thought I’d give the others a try. I’m starting with this one.

I’m rather a novice at wine-tasting but I always found it amusing when I read tasting notes for wines that describe them as having a “barnyard” or “leathery” nose or taste. And yet, that describes the smell of the bags. It’s peaty, loamy, and horsey, more on the poop side than the saddle side (though this last note is not so strong as to be unpleasant). The aroma of the steeped tea, though, reverses that and has a much more leathery scent to it along with the earthiness. The liquor is indistinguishable from black coffee.

I’d describe the flavor, too, as leathery. There’s a bit of smokiness to it as well, almost like what you find in Scotch, and an afterlingering sweetness I associate with breakfast blends containing Assam. The consistency is very similar to that of the Chocolate Puerh, smooth, slightly slick, and brothy. It’s thick, and gives the illusion of chewiness.

It will be interesting to taste for this next time I drink the Chocolate, as I imagine that under the lovely chocolate and spice additives to that tea, this is pretty much the unadulterated tea flavor. I’ve also ordered some samples of loose puehrs as I think I could become a fan.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 45 sec

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72
drank Vanilla Rooibos Parfait by Tazo
2036 tasting notes

I wonder how mood affects taste. About a month ago now, I tried this for the first time and I was totally starstruck. I even went out and bought my boyfriend a tin after raving to him about it. In the interim I had one or two experiences with it that weren’t as exciting, and then tonight the magic was back. Not sure why, but interesting to ponder. Perhaps it was that I was more relaxed. The other couple of times that weren’t as enjoyable I was on the rushed side. Perhaps it was because I’d had more tea experience and so more to compare it to. In any case, bumping the rating up a couple of notches based on tonight’s experience, because though my experience of it is uneven (or perhaps I’m just indecisive ;-)) it’s a keeper.

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72
drank Honeybush by Tazo
2036 tasting notes

I haven’t had honeybush before, but after this I definitely want to have it again! It’s a very interesting flavor. Subtle, sweet, and slightly grassy, but the dominant note is definitely a somewhat dilute honey flavor.

The bag smells like apricots (!) and it brews to a dark apricot orange color. The aroma is of honey, with a fruity tang to it.

I made this at work, and I am guessing it would be even better at home with better water. It will be interesting to try different types for comparison.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Ricky

Hmmm, Tazo has honeybush?? I’ll have to give it a try sometime.

Meghann M

may have to look for this one at my local grocer. Found a few shelves of Tazo last time, this one sounds good.

__Morgana__

I ordered it from amazon.com, but I think I remember seeing it at Whole Foods last time I walked down the tea aisle there.

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50

I actually didn’t read the ingredients (or the subtitle) of this before I tried it or I might have been scared off from my last lemon myrtle experience, the soapy memory of which I can still, unfortunately, bring to mind pretty quickly along with a strong urge to rinse my mouth and spit. But as I’d speculated, lemon myrtle seems much more suited to blending into other ingredients where it can be balanced by other flavors. I actually like chamomile, though I have to be in the mood for it, and this was a nice balance between chamomile and a lemony flavor. If I let my mind wander to the thought, I could sort of taste soap in the lemon myrtle in this, too, so I tried to steer my mind from that. It’s sad that one negative experience can have such influence, as the last thing I really want to do while sipping tea before bedtime is have to think about what not to think about….

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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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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