168 Tasting Notes

90

14th day of Sara’s Advent

Wow, the flavors really come together in the right balance!

I swear there’s chocolate in here, but it must be a combination of the other flavors, maybe the pu-errh and hazelnut. It tastes like chocolate-dipped strawberries. I can taste the hazelnut a bit at the end of the sip.

I remember them from my yearly visit to the Boise farmer’s market. I will definitely hit them up next time.

This is really, really good.

Flavors: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Nutty, Strawberry

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

She didn’t set up a booth last year due to her father’s health. She still sells online. This is their best tea as far as I’m concerned, and it was out of stock for a really long time. I think it tastes like dipping strawberries in Nutella!

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81
drank No. 39 Fez by Steven Smith Teamaker
168 tasting notes

Lucky 13th day of my advent calendar from Sara!

This is a pretty tasty Moroccan Mint. I taste the spearmint and lemon, and at the end of the sip, I swore I tasted bergamot at first, but that must be the myrtle. It’s smooth and kind of creamy somehow. The lemon and spearmint balance nicely until the end of the sip, where the myrtle takes over.

Flavors: Lemon, Spearmint

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

Lemon myrtle is my favorite of the lemon herbals. It is a nice Moroccan Mint.

derk

<3 lemon myrtle

Mastress Alita

Lemon myrtle > lemon verbena > lemon balm > lemongrass

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73

12th day of my advent calendar from Sara!

This one smells oh so lemony. The taste is very lemon, maybe some lemon zest, and a note of the houjicha that is stronger at the end of the sip.

The lemon flavor is so strong, that I’m not really enjoying the houjicha much. It’s an enjoyable tea, but I think it could be better. I wonder how it would taste iced.

Flavors: Lemon, Lemon Zest, Roasted

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

I still need to try it iced, too. Do you think you prefer houjicha that isn’t blended/flavored? I rarely can find houjicha used in blends or flavored in general (and sort of wish blenders would play around with it a bit more). I have tried a few flavored mugicha and of those, tend to like plain mugicha more.

Todd

Blends can be good if they add a little flavor that matches well, like that Maple Houjicha, mmm. But I don’t know if it pairs well with many flavors.

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85

On the 11th day of Advent, my Sara gave to me…

Dark Chocolate Raspberry from Snake River Tea! And probably originally from East Indies Coffee & Tea Company.

Is there tea in here? I think I can taste a slight note of tea, but that’s all. But that is okay! I taste a perfect balance of chocolate and raspberry! Okay, the end of the sip is more strongly raspberry, but that is fine. Oh there it is, yes, black tea, hiding in the background, showing off the chocolate and raspberry. Mmm.

Flavors: Dark Chocolate, Raspberry, Tea

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

This one makes a good latte as I recall, too.

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90

On the 10th day of Sara’s Tea Advent Calendar…

It smells very vegetal! Should be good!

Oh wow, smooth and quite vegetal with a bit of artichoke. There’s a little astringency. There’s maybe a citrus note and some kind of spice at the end of the sip. This is some good quality green.

Flavors: Artichoke, Citrus, Spices, Tea, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

I still need to try this particular harvest of Bi Luo Chun, but I’ve had others and it always proves to be a favorite of Chinese greens. Glad you enjoyed this one!

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83
drank White Hibiscus by Beleave Teas
168 tasting notes

Ninth day of my advent calendar from Sara!

This smelled delightfully of hibiscus while brewing. That’s the main flavor too. There’s also a bit of a mild white tea flavor. If you love hibiscus, I think you’ll love this tea. If you hate hibiscus, please look elsewhere.

It’s also excellent iced!

Flavors: Hibiscus, Tea

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

I actually don’t taste hibiscus at all in this one. It’s really floral, but I get a really sweet floral taste, and lychee fruit… and, oddly enough, bubblegum. But I don’t get that tart fruity hibiscus flavor at all, which always confused me about the name. I have my review over under the wholesaler, here: https://steepster.com/mastressalita/posts/370920

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70

Day 8 of Sara’s gift tea advent calendar!

The scent is very mild.

The taste is mild too. It’s a bit earthy, with something… metallic at the end of the sip. There’s a bit of a woody note in there somewhere. The notes are quite balanced. I feel like it’s the kind of tea that could grow on me.

Flavors: Earth, Metallic, Tea, Wood

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

It’s a very dark oolong using purple leaf tea and it’s from Indonesia. Purple leaf tea itself can be very hit-or-miss for people. It’s been a while since I had this one, I remember it being very earthy, mineral, and like roasted nuts. Definitely one of the more unique teas I have, and now that I have a gong fu setup I really should revisit it eastern style when I have a chance. I’m curious what the short infusions would bring.

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90

I poured in the hot water, and the whole kitchen smelled like peppermint. Mmm.

Mmm, it’s a nice minty chocolate, more mint than chocolate. It’s rather sweet and very holiday. There’s also a little tea note, though I can’t pick out what sort of tea with the other flavors. I know it’s pu-erh from the ingredient list.

This is really almost a perfect chocolate minty tea. I’m going to try adding some cocoa powder to the infuser on my second steep, as I often do with chocolate teas to make them more to my taste.

Flavors: Dark Chocolate, Peppermint, Tea

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Todd

It is gooood with the extra chocolate, though the whole flavor has diminished thanks to it being a second steep. Next time I’ll add chocolate for the first steep, as I have another sample bag.

Mastress Alita

By itself, I think it tastes like York Peppermint Patties. Chocolate in teas is typically a more subdued note, and sometimes those notes come from the tea leaves themselves, too (many Chinese blacks have cocoa notes to them). I think latte style with chocolate almond milk would be better than just throwing cocoa powder in though to get moar chocolate since then it would be creamy and thick, myself.

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81

The smell is very vanilla! Like the vanilla coffee is sometimes scented with.

Hmm, I feel like I’m tasting the vanilla and then the mate, but not together. Or something grassy. There’s a very slight note of macadamia, but I wish it had a little more of that.

It’s not bad, but after smelling it, I’m a bit disappointed by the taste.

Edit: Okay, I tried it again cold, and I like it much better! I moved it up from 65 to 81. I also now taste a coffee note.

Flavors: Coffee, Grass, Nuts, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 354 ML

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85
drank Amazon Spice Guayusa by Fusion Teas
168 tasting notes

5th day of the Sara Advent Tea Calendar! As soon as the hot water touched the leaf, the kitchen smelled like… is that the guayusa? It smells like tulsi!

It doesn’t taste that much like tulsi. But it does a tiny bit to me. It’s sweet and herby with a hint of spice, cinnamon? It tastes like warm goodness. Mmm.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Herbs, Tulsi

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Mastress Alita

Guayusa is a close cousin of yerba mate, the two caffeinated herbals from South America. I find guayusa to be a bit more naturally sweet than yerba mate, but they both taste sort of like gunpowder green tea to me — a sort of tobacco smoke, grassy green taste (I usually get sort of hay-like notes from both guayusa and yerba mate), with occassionally mild notes of coffee bean (I usually get more of the coffee notes if the leaf has been roasted, which it was not in this case).

Tulsi is an Indian basil that has three varieties, and usually when I encounter it in tea, they are typically using a blend of the three types rather than just one (krishna, rama, or vana). Krishna tulsi has more of a purple color and a taste described as being clove or pepper-like, rama tulsi has green leaves and a more mellow taste than the krishna variety, and the vana variety has light green leaves and is described as having a more citrus flavor. Tulsi to me typically tastes a little minty and a little citrusy with a peppery aftertaste (for a typical 3-varietal blend).

There is lemongrass in this, which would account for a lot of that herby, grassy citrus flavor.

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Bio

I have enjoyed various teas most of my life, but have recently started exploring higher-end teas. Still, plain houjicha (loose-leaf or bagged) makes me feel like I’m in Japan.

Location

Boulder Creek CA

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