Green Hill Tea

I made matcha tea again with my mother. I think we added too much matcha this time, because the bitter taste was extreme, and there was a lot of powder at the bottom of the tea pot. I was still able to drink it, but next time I’ll remember to portion it a little bit better.
8/24/18

This matcha was a bit darker than I like my matcha to be. The overall taste has a bitterness that doesn’t align so well with the vegetable taste that matcha has already. I was able to try this a few times and decide that it was on to the next matcha and say goodbye to this one.

Threw this entire sampler into a teapot to try it out and compare to some tea I had from the Uji district. This gyokuro is okay but it is nothing special. The quality isn’t horrendous but it also isn’t something I would recommend someone trying on their own if they had a choice.

This was a sample from the pass the stash tea Ttb. It’s very light on coconut flavor, almost too light. When brewed cold I think it needs a bit more than 1 teaspoon. there is a slightly coconuty, almost ginseng..ish aftertaste.

I feel I’ve done something wrong brewing this. It came out quite bitter in an unplesant way. I see it says its astringent in the description but I’m not sure if thats what I’m getting or if I just oversteeped. I don’t hate it with some milk and a touch of Stevia. But I’m glad I got it in a swap instead of paying for it. Hopefully when I brew the rest I find a way to make it easier to drink.

Thanks ToiToi for this sample!
I was surprised at the rice to tea ratio of this genmaicha – definitely more rice than I’ve seen before. It turned out more rice-y flavored too!

Thanks for this sample, ToiToi! 1 cup of tea samples always make me feel really good when removing from my spreadsheets muahaha

So I ended up getting distracted from this but it was actually still really good cold. Like a creamy vanilla custard balanced with black tea. It’s just sweet enough, I wonder if you sweeten it, if that would become more like ice cream? I like it how it is though.

The jasmine petals in here aren’t just to look pretty, I think they add just a hint of floral flavor to the tea. Not too strong, but just like a good way to balance everything in here.

Drinking my first cup of this at a friend’s house during our big 50-hour Trivia contest. Not being able to bring all my tea accoutrements, I basically used a Rishi fillable tea bag, large teaspoon of tea, and white John Deere mug + tap water which I warmed in the microwave. So I’m refraining from judging this until I can try it under conditions closer to ideal.

I will say it has a yellow color in the mug, vaguely brothy brewed smell/taste, and does not really partake in the characteristics I associate with gyokuro: vegetal taste, green liquor. Basically it tastes like bright-ish green tea and not much else, though this does mean there isn’t any bitterness.

For the moment, when I just needed some liquid that wasn’t tap water (someone stole my bottle of water out of my bag out in the garage…grrr) and had some caffeine (18 hours left to go in the contest), it goes down pretty easy. But I’d like to revisit this with better circumstances.

I received a sample of this tea from ToiToi at our Steepster meetup! TY!

I prepared this iced. Actually, this is a herbal I would of passed on as I prefer berry herbals, but the flavor is pretty nice and strong. It’s got a lot of hibiscus in it so it’s really red! However, sweetened I got lots of pineapple flavor with an orange flavor. The aftertaste is a really nice tropical + mandarin orange. Yum! This would be really good with fresh orange slices added to the iced tea!

Once I’m done my tea, I will tiger balm myself. Elbow sore from brazilian jiujitsu.

Finally got around to brewing this sample from my swap with ToiToi

I made it a cup for my husband, planning to brew something else for myself, but I had to make sure to try it at least. All the green hill black teas that I have either tried or smelled have a musky perfume aroma and a strange aftertaste (hence why I have put off sampling more). My husband seems to like this one though. He says it just tastes like black tea to him and that he doesn’t detect the almond.

I’m sure there are some good teas for my from Green Hill, but after the four samples that I have experienced, I now think of it as the “manly tea shop” because of the heavy/musky aromas. :p

Another sample from ToiToi

It’s slightly astringent. I can taste the vanilla and the black tea. The vanilla is not too powerful as it is in other blends that I’ve had. However, a third flavor, I assume its the grenadine, is a bit too masculine-flavored to me. I suppose the blend is aptly named. I’m enjoying my cup for what it is, but I won’t be buying this one.

Sipdown, 179. I’m actually not traveling (though I do start another trip tomorrow) and am not stuck in an airport. This is actually the tea I am drinking this morning, thanks to ToiToi, who sent me a sample in our last swap.

Darjeelings are a tea that I haven’t explored much because I haven’t had too many that were that intriguing to me. But I am always up for trying new teas, so here goes! First off, I might have steeped this one too hot. There are a lot of greenish leaves that have made themselves known post-steeping, and that seems to have resulted in a bitter note that comes out at the end of the sip. The aroma of the cup and the first part of the sip are promising, however. This tea smells both like a malty black but with some floral notes. The first part of the flavor is bready and nice, but then those bitter notes come in. They’re not super strong, so I am still drinking the tea. The darjeeling brightness sometimes gets to me, but in this case it is subtle enough.

Overall I am enjoying this one more than I typically do a darjeeling, but it’s still not totally winning me over. Glad I got a chance to try it though.

Sample sipdown, courtesy of ToiToi!

I would have never thought that the list of ingredients (includes hibiscus petals, cinnamon, and orange peels) would create a liqour that smells like pumpkin pie. It’s strange and I can’t quite get over it.

The flavour is spiced and sour, with a hint of soft smoothness that I can imagine being pumpkin. I over-leafed this a bit but, regardless, this doesn’t have the easy going nature that both Butiki’s Pumpkin Tea, or David’s Pumpkin Chai have (I’ve abused both of those plenty and they never so much as nipped me).

Still, this isn’t bad at all! I can taste delicious, creamy sweet pumpkin near the second half- I just get kicked in the mouth first. Neat.

Grammar/spelling and me seem to be at odds with each other these last few days. I think I hurt their feelings and now they are being vindictive and petty.

Got a sample of this in trade from ToiToi and just trying it out this morning. She sends samples that are the perfect size for exactly one full pot of tea for me, which is nice. Also these little seaied! bags, and I don’t understand how she does it but they’re really nice.

Anyway onto the tea. I let it cool down a lot before drinking it because honestly I was sorting email and kinda forgot I was drinking tea. It smelled really nice, but that’s sort of dull now. The taste is ever so slightly artificial tasting, but otherwise good. The peach and apricot flavours meld well and I can’t really pick them out individually but as a fruity tea, this is a nice one. I’m enjoying it.

Thanks for this sample ToiToi! This is a very mellow tea. It has a nutty taste to it but I can still catch the black tea base. Very nice :] Thanks again!

Thanks ToiToi! The aroma of this tea is like a freshly baked vanilla cup cake. Brewed it smells like short bread cookies and black tea. Which by the way is the PERFECT snack. The vanilla is actually pretty strong. Most vanilla teas I’ve tried are weak in flavor. This is the best one I’ve tried yet. It’s creamy, smooth, and now I’m craving the short bread cookies on my kitchen table and I can’t have them :( (I’m in a hotel in the middle of Idaho…) Thanks again!!

Thank you ToiToi! This one smells delicious. Lovely fruit notes. Mostly peach. Once it’s brewed the apricot aroma starts to come out. It came out a bit bitter but it is still good. Has a nice fruity flavor. The bitterness goes away and the peach really comes out as it cools.
Also… Yay for my 300th tasting note :D

This was included in a Christmas swap from ToiToi!

Black vanilla tea always make me think of sunny spring afternoons. It may not be spring but it is a sunny afternoon here, and this is a very pleasant, straightforward vanilla black tea.

It differentiates from its fellow vanilla comrades slightly, however, in the cream component, also noted in this tea’s name. While sipping this I sometimes get the impression of icing cream and cake; it’s kind of sweet! The black base is mostly smooth and lightly jasmine infused, although there is a hint of robustness to it (at least for me) that I’m sure would come out if it was steeped for over five minutes.

This is a very pleasant dessert tea without being a chaotic overly artificial mess. It’s sweet and smooth enough to take without milk, although I am curious to try it with some. I wish I knew what kind of black base this has; I’m a newb when it comes to black tea and “luxury black” doesn’t cut it for me.

I don’t know if it’s the sun or this tea but I feel very happy right now. It’s bright out! Thanks again, ToiToi!

Thanks to to Toi Toi for this one. Reminds me of a lot of other Yunnan blacks that I have tried. I little milder than others I have had. Decent.

Loose
Appearance: red-brownish black slight crinkle in leaf, bright yellow petals noticeable
Aroma when Dry: tart, fruity floral
After water is first poured: fruity, syrupy
At end of first steep: sticky syrupy, grenadine most noticeable
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: brownish red
Staple? No
Time of day preferred: unsure, first tasting
Taste:
At first: tart, slight tang of the grenadine notes, vanilla closes
As it cools? notes open, layer, tea sours
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? yes, with a sour and vanilla cloying tanf

I don’t like this tea alone but add a flavor and it is not to bad. It is very strong and full bodied for me. I like when I have eaten to many carbs the night before it helps to calm the bloat.