564 Tasting Notes
No matter how many teas I try, I always come back to this one. I think it my be my all-time favorite, or if not it’s definitely in the top three. When I make two cups of tea at once I tend to make two that are extremely different just so I can tell them apart, but this one goes surprisingly well with the Houjicha I just drank. As always, refreshing and delicious.
Flavors: Coconut
I got a sample of this with my last Den’s order and didn’t get around to trying it until now. It’s a delight! It’s sweet in a green way, like snap peas, with a hint of a more honeyed flavor. The roastiness is gentle and doesn’t overpower the other flavors at all. In fact, it takes a back seat to the other flavors. I’m really glad I reached for it tonight.
I overleafed this slightly and the results are much better than last time. There’s a kick of molasses that I didn’t get in the last cup, but this time around it’s equal to and maybe even stronger than the apple. This is a really delicious cup that manages not to be too sweet! Bumping the rating up.
This one is a nice, mild tea. It’s not really exceptional in my opinion, but there’s nothing wrong with it either. It brews up on the light side and has some pleasant fruitiness—there’s grape like you would expect from a Darjeeling but there’s also something citrusy. Almost like a tangerine. The aftertaste is honey-like, almost to the point of being like caramel. That said there is an astringency to it that’s just a bit too much for me.
I got a few bags of this from TeaTiff in our swap; thank you! This one is fine, not wonderful but not offensive. I taste rooibos and vanilla and cinnamon, and they all blend together pleasantly. It actually reminds me a little of their Hot Apple Cider, enough that I thought it had apple in it before I read the description. I’ll have no problem getting through what I have but I don’t think I’ll buy it.
I don’t know what to say about this one, for once. It brews up quite dark and there’s a bitter edge to it, but it doesn’t taste oversteeped. It’s reminiscent of coffee, in a way. The actual flavor is more like French toast than crème brûlée. I’m not getting any creaminess, and the spices aren’t very assertive like I hoped they would be from the “chai” in the name. Oh, well, to the swap pile with it.
I oversteeped this by just a hint this time, but it doesn’t suffer for it at all. The base is more robust but it doesn’t quite make it to bitter. The fruit and florals are both present but the jasmine is a little deeper and fruitier this time around. The middle of the sip is astringent but not too much, and it all makes for a nice, complex cup.
A sipdown. I made a big cup (1 1/2 tsp/12 oz.) and the ratio ended up being just about perfect. This EG is amazingly smooth, with just the right amount of citrus zing and astringency toward the end of the sip. I really appreciate EGs that don’t have a strong, bitter base—I like my citrus fresh. This one is gone for now but maybe not forever; so far H&S has a high percentage of my favorite EGs and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this one.
I made this alongside the last cup, which means the water was a little hotter than last time. This tea doesn’t seem to have suffered for it, and in fact it’s just as good as last time.
In this cup I’m getting some of the deeper oolong flavors with a darker stonefruit note. It’s a little like cooked peaches with some alcohol mixed in with a darker-roast oolong. There’s a note almost like coffee in the background that’s really interesting with the other flavors. I like it this way but I think my preferred steep is just a little less heat—I love the lighter florals present in the last cup.
