Inoki Bathhouse

Day 10 of the Inoki advent calendar. I finished these off earlier today. The jasmine is nice, but no matter how I brewed it the base tea just felt thin. It’s not a bad tea, just not particularly notable.

Day 9 of the Inoki advent calendar. I have a migraine so this was very welcome. Apparently the aroma is quite strong, as my partner can’t be in the same room with it. He says it smells like toothpaste. Which, yeah, I suppose it does have a somewhat toothpaste-y flavor. Sweet, menthol, gently cooling at the back of the sip. Nice when I’m not feeling well. Although now I can’t get that toothpaste comparison out of my head…

Day 8 of the Inoki Bathhouse advent calendar. Gong fu. This tastes like the mental image I have of a Chinese black tea: rich, chocolatey, chicory-esque. Slightly astringent, but when I overbrewed the third steep by 20 minutes it didn’t get more astringent, which I found impressive. Solid entry in this calendar.

The lid fell off my gaiwan teapot while I was pouring out the third steep. It shattered. I felt weirdly sad and guilty because it’s one of the first pieces of teaware I bought on my first trip to Taiwan, and I have really fond memories of that trip. But I guess the bottom piece will now get to have a second life as a pitcher and it could be worse.

Day 7 of the Inoki Bathhouse advent calendar. This is the kind of chrysanthemum I’m used to – little fluffy yellow flowers. I had to drink my second steep the day after brewing it. Turns out I like chrysanthemum even better iced than hot, surprisingly. It’s floral but more in the savory way of chamomile flowers than the softer way of lavender or rose. I can see why Roswell Strange described it as peppery – there’s a little tingle that lingers after the sip, not as harsh as ginger but notable. Now I get to file away chrysanthemum as a good option for iced herbals when the weather gets hot.

Day 6 of the Inoki Bathhouse advent calendar. Tbh, I’m just generally not a fan of ginseng. It’s like ginger’s more earthy, less zingy cousin. This seems like a decent, even good ginseng to me, but I’m not a good judge and I still don’t like it because it’s just not to my taste.

Day 5 of the Inoki Bathhouse advent calendar. This might be my least favorite tea so far of this advent. I don’t know if it’s me or the tea, but I feel like this is just ok. I liked it best as an iced tea – somehow the general hay/vegetal flavor was more enjoyable cold. Maybe because it’s not a flavor profile I typically think of for iced tea, so it was a pleasant surprise. Hot, it’s just… a bit nutty, a bit hayish, and a bit green-vegetable. But not really enough of any of those things. And a stronger steep just made it drier rather than teasing out the flavors better.

Day 4 of the Inoki Bathhouse advent calendar. Love Japanese greens, so this was right up my alley. Off the bat, I really liked the color of the steeped leaves – a slightly less green version of how cooked spinach looks. As for the flavor, I was expecting something hojicha-esque but this wasn’t really. It was more like a mix between sencha and a light hojicha. Vegetal with a bit of nuttiness. This got finished off quickly!

Day 3 of the Inoki calendar! This was a more elaborate blooming tea than I expected. It gave me fond memories of the first time I visited my partner when he was living in Taiwan – I drank so much blooming jasmine tea when I was there. I was just starting to get into tea and I would drink the bloom grandpa-style, just topping it off periodically. This is obviously a different floral note, but it has that same balance of floral note to vegetal green. Three solid steeps from this. The rose is definitely present but it’s not overwhelming the base. This was such a nice stroll down memory lane!

Day 2 of the Inoki advent calendar. Made this gong fu, currently on steep 6 and still going strong. I’m going to have to stop after this and hope I can still sleep tonight XD

This is incredibly buttery, creamy with floral undertones and no harshness at all. Even this late steep still has a butter cookie quality to it. I’m inclined to agree with Roswell Strange that this might be flavored given how rich it is. That’s ok, this tea is delicious and I am finding it hard to care about whether it’s flavored right now.

Bonus advent calendar! Roswell Strange made this calendar sound so appealing that I asked for it as a birthday present. It was so pricy that I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy it myself, but that’s what birthday presents are for :-)

So, day 1! This is a surprisingly large flower. The only other time I’ve seen a chrysanthemum tisane this big is The Qi’s royal chrysanthemum. I’m more used to seeing it as small flowers. Since it is so big and beautiful, I brewed it in a glass mug for maximum prettiness. This flower isn’t just pretty, though. It’s delicious, too – earthy and gently floral. I got a bunch of resteeps out of it too. Feeling optimistic that this will be a good calendar!

Adventageddon Day 25

Gongfu!

Merry Christmas to everyone here on Steepster who celebrates. It seems like every year there’s at least one advent calendar with a bonus day on the 25th, and this year, it’s Inoki!! Most Wuyi Oolong that I typically drink are much more oxidized or roasted rock oolongs, but this one is greener and more soft, buttery, and floral. I’m not complaining, though, as the lighter bodied and aromatic notes of lilacs, orchid, sweet peas, coconut oil, and freshly whipped cream are so tender and fresh that they almost evoke that soft, fluffy and magical feeling of a heavy snowfall on a still Christmas morning – it’s a very peaceful way to close out this advent season, and one I was more than happy to get to sit with throughout the day.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEBHXLrBitn/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqUMdfXEhCY&ab_channel=RumJungle-Topic

Adventageddon Day 24

This is the only advent today that it’s finishing up – I’ll have one last day tomorrow. Part of me is kind of glad that we’re not closing things out on pure rose, but not because I have anything against the rose petals. I actually love rose as a flavour and I thought this was really lovely tasting, but it just doesn’t feel right as the last tea.

I brewed these straight in a glass teacup and it was REALLY interesting watching the pigment rapidly steep out of the petals. The liquor in the cup were from an initial blue to more of a grey-ish purple before finally landing at a soft, rose-y pink with the petals having virtually no colour left at all. My photo for this one was taken somewhere in the middle of all that.

The flavour was surprisingly sweet, and definitely very smooth and aromatic. If, like me, you like rose then you would have loved this because it was pure and pretty potent without going into hardcore perfume land. However, because it was so straight forward and authentic there’s nothing for those notes to “hide” with if you’re not a floral tea kind of person.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD-iurcyqIK/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe-PWjYOSfU&ab_channel=UMOVEVO

Adventageddon Day 23

Turns out my DAVIDsTEA matcha wasn’t the only matcha in the cards for me because Inoki surprised me by including a matcha right at the end here when all of the other teas have been loose leaf. Not a complaint! It’s also fitting timing to get doubled up matchas because today is Matcha Monday.

I whisked this up a bit strong and thick, but it was very good. Smooth and deeply creamy in both taste and texture with really fresh, umami and sort of brothy notes to it. At times it made me think of split pea soup? A bit sweet and a bit savory. I paired it with a white peach mochi puff and though the fruit element was maybe a touch at odds with all the unctuousness of the matcha I thought the whipped, creamy filling played very well texturally and did a lot to elevate the more creamy and fresh feeling of the matcha.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD79dBPyeuo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdTXYXZi8Xk&ab_channel=TheWonderlands

Adventageddon Day 22

I was super unexcited to see this one in the advent this morning because as pretty as butterfly pea flower may be it’s also quite unpleasant tasting on its own and I really view it more as an ingredient over something you’d drink on its own. So, that’s exactly how I approached this one.

I’ve had a lemon in my fridge set aside for a week or so now in case any of the advent teas that I’ve gotten would be good as a lemonade or with some lemon wedges, so I used that today to essentially make this into a bit of a lemonade. Though, I did drink it hot so not really a proper lemonade. Something I also did differently was make a charred lemonade. I don’t really know how I thought of the idea, but I was just feeling like I wanted something with a bit more depth and flavour complexity…

So, I cut my lemon into slices and grilled them so that they started to caramelize in places and burn in others – and then I finished them by bruleeing a bit of sugar on top. From there I “juiced” a few straight into the butterfly pea flower (I only steeped two or three buds – just enough to get a rich starting colour) which turned the liquor into a rich purple from the colour changing effect. Then I garnished with half a lemon slice that was prepped the same way but hadn’t been used for the juicing.

It was actually quite good! I’ve had a roasted peach lemonade before that was wonderfully complex from all those darker char and maillard notes and this was very similar tasting to me. Still has brightness and sweetness, of course, but is just a more full feeling drink with a little less acidity to it. I’d totally make it again, even without the butterfly pea.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD5YtkaSoDn/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z81vNSdV3fs&ab_channel=StillWoozy

Adventaggedon Day 21

Gongfu!

Every black tea that Inoki has included in this advent so far has totally slapped so my expectations were high. They were also met, though, as the dry aroma smelled richly of leatherbound antique books, fudge, and cigar smoke. Steeped up it was so thick and dense with a taste like a cross between dark chocolate dipped espresso beans, flame-licked rye bread, bourbon, and just a hint of campfire smoke. Really complex but dark and dense with a fleeting bitter top note before plunging into some of those richer notes.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD2z0qQS4Nm/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS9InmJ0es4&ab_channel=JessieReyez

Adventageddon Day 20

Gongfu!

Honestly, I didn’t notice until I was writing up my instagram recap that every tea I drank today was a green tea. How I didn’t notice is kind of baffling to me, because I guess maybe that speaks to how nice the teas all were?? If nothing else, this was a very nice genmaicha. Now, was gongfu the smartest way to steep it? Almost certainly not. But I was just really craving a gongfu session and I did like that it let me stretch out my time spent with this tea…

I think what impressed me so much with this one was how simultaneously fresh and buttery the green tea was while having a nutty, mineral and almost cocoa-like flavour from the genmai/rice. Really great balance between those two components that made this genmaicha seem so much more flavourful and full of like. Bad genmaicha isn’t usually really off tasting but it can be quite considerably flat and his was DEFINITELY not a flat tasting tea. Of course it steeped out quickly, so my three steeps were pushing it.

(Snacking on the rice out of the gaiwan afterwards was also a really nice experience.)

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD0PAQWSm53/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD0PAQWSm53/?img_index=1

Adventageddon Day 19

A love a good Nepalese black tea, but unfortunately I REALLY badly over steeped this mug because I got distracted by Marika dropping by the apartment to deliver some tea mail from an order we’d split. Well, and to just say hi and wish me a happy holiday before she leaves the province for her holiday break.

So I think this tea steeped for like forty minutes, and it was very cold when I got to it. Also very, very bitter and astringent. If you’ve ever chewed an advil it was kind of like that but with a hint of muscat that somehow fought its way past the medicinal taste. I think this is the first tea this advent season that I’ve just totally botched the brewing of, and it’s a shitty feeling because there’s no do-over with this tea. But I guess one in, like, 70 cups of tea isn’t that bad of a success rate??

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDxqOyIyeMK/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qgafLCLWkA&ab_channel=CherryBlonde-Topic

Adventageddon Day 18

Deciding what to do with this hojicha was really tough because I love it so much and knew that with today’s weather I was reaaalllyyyy going to want to lean into that toasty and snuggly feeling. I almost did a giant Western teapot since I’ve been loving doing that in the afternoons the last few days, but I was also craving a latté and none of my other teas today made sense to be made that way. So hojicha latte with strawberry marshmallows it was! Very delish.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDvFf6my37O/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyzGdNHypkU&ab_channel=TomWebber-Topic

Adventageddon Day 17

Back to back black tea days from Inoki made me quite happy today – I feel like they’ve really consistently knocked it out of the park with their black sections. I had no time for gongfu today though, so this was a Western style teapot that I brewed up at work and shared with my “pod” of desk mates.

I think I could have pushed the steep time a minute or two longer, but I’m still really happy with how this one tasted. Very bold, brisk and woody with near perfect undertones of smoke and bittersweet dark cocoa.

The coworker I shared this with doesn’t drink a ton of straight teas. Though, I mean, way more than the “average” person given that we work at a tea company and she’s been here for nearly a decade – her preference just happens to usually be blends. However, straight black teas are probably what she leans towards the most when it comes to traditional teas and though she’s modest and would deny it I think she has a pretty discerning palate. I’ve yet to find a more smoky tea that she likes, so I was very pleased that she enjoyed this one as much as she did. Made sharing it all the worthwhile!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDsgx80yZkj/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5BfciHOUrc&ab_channel=ZBerg

Adventageddon Day 16

Gongfu!

I was a little rushed this morning and only had time for one gongfu session and I was told between this and the Tea Thoughts tea, but I went with this one and I’m glad I did. The dry leaf was so interesting smelling for a Golden Monkey too! Chocolatey as expected, but also surprisingly quite citrusy with a distinct lemon note.

The steeped up tea was very full-bodied and intense with brisk, tannic backbone with thick sweeping layers of malt, bittersweet chocolate, and different dark woods on top of it. I did actually get just a bit of that citrus note I was picking up in the dry aroma – mostly in the undertones. But it was largely covered up by just a really decadent and dense, saturated chocolate flavour though. Unsweet, though! I really appreciate when a black tea packs that kind of chocolate punch without too much sweetness.

So far I think all the black teas from Inoki have been quite strong. I hope we get a few more before the advent is done!!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDp8zy5SWRb/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGSPec19IVg&ab_channel=MICHELLE

Adventaggedon Day 15

Gongfu!

I adore a really good Moonlight White, so this tea session was quite special. That tea had a surprisingly quite high resteep value and the infusions were soft and creamy with crisp vegetal notes of snow peas, cucumber skins along with fresh linens, honeydew, peach skins, and just a touch of wintergreen. I’m really glad this one popped up on the weekend so I was able to take time brewing it up. I would have felt really sad if this had been a day where I was busier and more rushed.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDnXG-LSVmP/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30NiaDUiemA&ab_channel=MichaelMorella

Adventageddon Day 14

I don’t know if this is my favourite tea (well, tisane) from Inoki so far, but it’s definitely high up there. Obviously the lotus blossoms are absolutely stunning to look at in the cup but I thought this was also really educational for me too. I’ve had lotus before in different blends, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever steeped it up on its own and I thought the flavour was very pleasant. Soft and just a little bit sweet with a very clean earthiness to it that made me think a little bit of petrichor and the smell of my grandma’s garden after watering the flowerbeds during summer mornings. However, it also had this sort of pleasantly powdery cocoa note to it that I wasn’t expecting. Very raw/unrefined but quite lovely in its simplicity.

Inoki doesn’t actually sell any of these teas straight yet – I have a sneaking suspicion that might change after the advent depending on what the overall reception is like. This is one of a small handful of things I’ve tried that I would easily purchase again though.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkyWWISpLo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdcbB7KNKYc&ab_channel=JoyAgain-Topic

Adventageddon Day 13

To be honest I probably did have time today to brew this one up gongfu, but I just really wasn’t feeling it so I just went with a Western style mug. Personally, this was a little too oceanic tasting to me. Though the mouthfeel was pleasantly buttery I couldn’t get past the almost spirulina-like flavour of the brew. Though, it had undertones that made me think of alfalfa, which were a bit more neutral to my palate. Nothing against the tea though – I think it was a nice quality sencha. It’s just a style of tea that is a personal dislike.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDiNdwYye3L/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMD-R70Lnhw&ab_channel=WaxJackets-Topic

Adventageddon Day 12

This is the second flowering tea to come up in this advent. I didn’t mind the first one despite not generally loving blooming teas, so I wasn’t as disappointed to see it this morning. However, I am hoping it will be the last one.

As far as aesthetics go this was fairly pretty for a bloom! It had a nice long string of white flowers that made a bit of an arch, which was a semi-unique shape. Not quite as pretty as the rose, but close enough. The taste was fine. It tasted floral but much more softly and in a more generic way – wouldn’t say it was distinctly lily or anything like that. However, the overall profile was smooth and silky with fresh grassy notes. It didn’t dip into the bitter/astringent zone so many flowering teas seem to wind up in.

I drank the pot over the course of my afternoon while working and it was good background tea during a busy afternoon. Just a little grounding/soothing too.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDfpFk7ptSS/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU2sHhl3eK4&ab_channel=FIG