518 Tasting Notes

So I was supposed to get extra samples with my last order from Green Terrace Teas because they didn’t have the gongfu teapot available that I ordered. And then there weren’t any samples included with my order. Oops. So they sent a few samples later. This was one of them, in fact the only sample of their teas that was included that I hadn’t already had.

But I’m really glad they included it.

I’m having a lazy, blah kind of day. I have a bit of a sinus headache and I have this horrible knot in my neck/shoulder. So I’m not accomplishing much of anything. I’m even lazy in my brewing and did this in my ForLife mug western style.

It’s actually quite good this way.

This tea is pretty sweet without being over the top. I was expecting at least a touch roasty, but I didn’t get that at all. Not really floral, either. Sweet, maybe fruity.

A second infusion. I forget to set my timer. Oops. I’m really not sure how long this steeped for. At all. AT least five minutes, probably a lot longer, more like 10 to even 15.

It’s not ruined at all. Now it tastes kind of apple-y. Still sweet. Not bitter like I expected. I’m actually getting a little bit of the roasty now, too. I like this.

sherapop

That happened to me, too: no extra (promised) samples. Then when I wrote to them I got a strange response to the effect that it was “possible” that they forgot to put them in. That kind of offended me. I mean, I wrote because they DID forget to put them in, so that was like accusing me of lying to get free samples. They did end up sending me a couple more, but I don’t know whether I’ll shop there again, between having had to place the order four times and then that last little jab…

Cheri

Yeah, I got a weird email back from them, too. I have liked the teas that I got from them, but I, too, might not shop with them again. Especially since they’ve changed the smallest size I can order now to 150g for most teas. That just seems like a lot of tea, when I would rather have smaller amounts of tea for more variety in my cupboard. It’s too bad.

KiwiDelight

Shoot. I was planning to order more of this. WHY would anyone do that?

Anlina

Yeah I noticed the change in minimum quantities. 150g is just ridiculous. It’s so rare I find a tea that I like well enough to buy that much, and if I’m ordering online I certainly want to be able to buy multiple teas to make the shipping cost worth while. I’m certainly not going to buy 150g of something I haven’t tried.

Cheri

I dunno why. I think they weren’t selling enough or paying too much for shipping or something. They had their big sale to get rid of all the smaller sizes, is my bet. I really liked that they had the samples, too. Ah well.

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85

I decided that I wanted oolong today but I didn’t really have the time to sit and enjoy the ceremony of it with my clay teapot and all that jazz, so I did this one western style. It worked out pretty well and tasted delicious. I do like this tea quite a bit. I finished off the sample I got from GTT today, but I ordered more during their big sale.

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87

This was my tea of the morning today. Yum. I planned on having 2 or 3 cups of it, but in breaking up the major cat brawl this morning, my infuser basket was knocked down on the floor and all the leaves spilled out, so just one mug full.

Anlina

Oh cats… they are why we can’t have nice things.

Cheri

Yep. But I love them anyway.

Stephanie

hehe, rascals!

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I finally got around to trying this one. I had the sample of it, and then just went ahead and got it in my September box.

So I tried the sample of it.

It’s a good four seasons oolong. Not the best I’ve had, but not bad at all. I am enjoying it.

It goes well with Twix. I don’t know why, but it does.

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88

Garret sent me a few of these mini tuochas with my order.

I’ve been looking at them sitting there for a while, but I was never brave enough to try them, or any of the ripe shou that I got from him in the sampler. Nope. Terrified.

I tried these today.

I am in love.

I did two rinses and then tried the third infusion. I didn’t like that one very much, and I dumped it about half way through.

But after that….

YUM!

At first, it was black, like a dark roast coffee black. Deep, dark, and so rich. Almost creamy. Earthy.

Then it mellowed out. Still rich and creamy, but not to heavy. Delicious. Amazing.

Oh, and did I mention that I was kinda really tea drunk by this point? I just kept gulping it down as fast as I could.

Tea Drunk. At work.

Fortunately, it went fine and dandy, no problems.

The tea did calm down more through the later infusions. It did get almost sweet, which surprised me. REally nice.

I was sad when the final infusion (I wish I’d counted, but I was distracted with work and drinking tea) of 8 minutes was weak. I knew that was the end of it, and stopped there.

I will be buying more of this. So Yummy!

Garret

hehe, I’m pretty much always tea drunk at work :) I’m so happy that you enjoyed these mini-tuos. In a year, they will change a bit. In two and three years, they will change much. I don’t want to wish time away, but I do look forward to tasting them then. Did you see that this is also available in 100 gram cakes?

Thanks for writing up your experience with them, my friend!

With gratitude,
Garret

Cheri

Well, I don’t think I could do it every day. Today, it worked…although part of that might be that I went out to lunch during the worst (best!) of it. I really enjoyed this tea. I hadn’t realized it is also available in a cake. Ooh. I might have to just get that and age it. It’ll age better than a mini tuocha, I think. And the minis for enjoying now. Hmmm…… I don’t need more tea. (But I want it. I will just put most of it in a drawer and age it…..hmmm…..)

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I had the rice mini.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. I don’t know why I’ve bee so afraid of Shou, but I have been. I didn’t need to be.

I got multiple infusions out of this. Lots and lots. Just below boiling.

If I didn’t know it was rice, I wouldn’t have guessed rice, but once I knew for sure, that was exactly what it tasted like. Weird how that works.

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August GTT Subscription box

I drank it but I don’t really remember it. I don’t like third flush as much as I do first and second. Shrug.

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August GTT subscription

Much better than the other first flush that was from last year. This one is from this year. The scent from the dry leaves was much stronger, as was the flavor. A good tea. I quite enjoyed this one.

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From the August GTT subscription box.

This is a decent first flush, but it’s from last year, so I wonder if it’s lost a lot of its flavor already because it seems kind of flat. It feels like it wants to be more flavorful, but it just isn’t there.

It’s easy drinking, though, and keeping me company as I work. I can’t work with a bad tea because it actually distracts me too much. This one works.

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Profile

Bio

Still relatively new to drinking teas, or so I feel, even though I’ve been at it for several months now.

I’m drinking more and more of different varieties of tea.

It’s been a few months that I’ve been on here. I’ve expanded from greens and flavored teas to now I’m all about the oolongs and some unflavored blacks. I’m mostly drinking unflavored teas now, but there are a few of those flavored ones that have a special place in my heart.

Pu-erh is also something I’ve recently found that I enjoy.

I have four kitties and a spouse.

Location

Metro Detroit

Website

http://theteaminator.blogspot...

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