Seven Teahouse

Yum!

I love this sort of Japanese-style grape flavoring, and it goes so well with the jasmine here. The grape definitely takes center stage, with jasmine in more of a supporting role. It’s just so sweet and fruity and floral, but with nice depth from the grape. My only complaint is the green tea doesn’t seem to have much flavor? It’s very mild, and the flavoring is strong, so I don’t really taste it. A touch of earthiness perhaps, and mineral notes. I bet it would be wonderful iced as well.

I’m a bit conflicted on ordering more, partially because it’s only available in individually-wrapped sachets (which just seems wasteful) and partially because I always stock Jingle Bells from Lupicia and I’m not sure I need more than one grape tea…

Drinking this one up, it’s very light on the strawberry and more heavy on the tieguanyin floral oolong. I get more orchid than strawberry at first, then it transitions into the strawberry. It’s not fake, but it’s light and candy like. I would have liked a little bit more strawberry that’s redder. It’s refreshing and thirst quenching. Might be better light. Needs more umph.

Still making my way through these fruity tea samples from Seven.

This one is really excellent, definitely the best lychee flavoring I’ve had. It feels much more dimensional than other versions I’ve had. Generally lychee flavor tends to be all top notes if that makes sense, light and floral and sweet. But this has more depth, a deeper honey-like flavor to it.

Anyway, it’s scrumptious, and of course it goes perfectly with the somewhat floral oolong. Not too floral for me, thankfully, and it has more of a refreshing mineral flavor than a creamy one. Definitely on the list to reorder. :)

This came out a teeny bit watery, I waffled on the amount of water to use and probably should have gone with 12 ounces instead of 14.

The strawberry here is reminding me of something, not sure if it’s another tea or what. It is quite candylike and a bit tangy, but also a touch floral/perfumey. Can’t quite place it, but I’m thinking maybe it’s those hard candies with the strawberry-printed cellophane wrapper.

It’s nice enough, though the base itself is a bit weak (my own fault). Still has those nice savory notes that I associate with Fujian black teas, plus a touch of the trademark caraway. Would be nice to see more quality Chinese teas being used as a base for flavored teas, they have so much more character than the usual suspects.

More fruity teas from Seven Teahouse!

For me, it’s hard to go wrong with what I would consider a Japanese-style grape flavor. Here, the tea is Chinese though, so maybe they’re fans of it too ha ha. Here it’s paired with a light yet flavorful shou mei base, which isn’t a combo I’ve had before. It’s lovely though, sweet and juicy on a soft and haylike, slightly woody base. Definitely a dark purple Kyoho-esque grape here, with a nice depth of flavor.

I have one other sachet of this flavor, and I think I’ll have to try it iced!

Tea Pop!

All my tea pops this week just came out disastrous and I really only have myself to blame. I made this one the day after my over steeped Blackberry Ginger teapop and out of an abundance of caution I ended up very much understeeping this brew. So, it was thin tasting and almost felt more like a lychee LaCroix (ie. “just a whisper”) instead of the juicy, rich lychee and black tea I know this tea can be.

I don’t remember whether I chose this one or they included it as a freebie, but it’s quite nice. I like the Fujian black as a base, it has that nice chew and savoriness to it that contrasts well with the blueberry jam-esque flavoring. There’s something slightly candylike to it as well, a tangy note that reminds me of blue raspberry (my husband’s favorite).

I don’t know that I would go out of my way to buy it, just because I don’t see myself craving a blueberry tea. Plus, I already have a blueberry green in S&V’s Acadia, so I certainly don’t need two. But definitely wouldn’t turn down a cup!

Another fruity tea from Seven!

I agree with Kelly on this one, it does taste a bit yogurt-y. It reminds me of a peach yogurt smoothie, or maybe Calpico. It’s nice though, with a sweet white peach sort of flavor on a silky oolong base. I steeped this one just slightly less than last time, and I think it helped cut down on the floral notes from the oolong a bit.

Enjoyed the cup, though not sure I would order this one as peach just isn’t a favorite flavor of mine.

Next up from Seven! They actually sent me an extra sachet of this one, in addition to the two I got in the white tea sampler. Yay bonus tea! I sent one out in a swap, since I had enough to share. <3

This is just lovely. I like orange and citrus things in general, though often orange-flavored things can be quite sweet and candylike. This is not. It has a very natural orange flavor to it, a nice balance of sweet and tangy. It reminds me of eating a clementine or something similar, and goes so well with the honeyed hay notes of the light white base.

I might try icing the other sachet, as it seems like it would be great cold too. Either way, this seems like a repurchase sort of tea to me… Their sachets seem expensive, but they have a lot of tea inside. I only need one for my 16-ounce mug.

So I ordered a build-your-own sampler with a sachet of every flavored oolong that Seven sells. This is the first one I’m trying, and I’m a “save the best for last” kind of person, so I chose a flavor that I wasn’t overly excited about. (My husband thinks that’s weird, by the way… XD)

The wrapper recommended 300 ml of water, but that seemed crazy to me given the amount of leaf in the sachet. I ended up using 16 ounces because it was almost a tablespoon worth of leaves, and oolong expands so much. The resulting brew has plenty of flavor, so no regrets there. The oolong is definitely on the floral side, which is not my favorite. Strawberry is there as well, though it’s quite mellow and light. I would say it’s on the candy side of things, but it doesn’t taste terribly artificial or anything.

It’s nice, but the floral presence is a bit strong for me. Definitely looking forward to trying some of the other flavors though.

I’m not usually super into osmanthus flavoured teas or, really, foods/beverages in general so I was skeptical about this blend but it’s maybe one of the nicest osmanthus blends I’ve ever had. I’ve always had people describe osmanthus as tasting like honey and peaches and this was the first time I’ve really, truly, and deeply experienced that. Very aromatic and fresh with almost a juicy sort of element to it? Lush feels like a very apt word for it. Also brisk and full bodied from the malty and slightly cocoa-like black tea base, and I think that strong foundation was a really great contrast with the osmanthus. I just can’t convey how impressed I was by this tea as someone who was convinced that I just didn’t like osmanthus.

Tried my second sachet of this one cold-steeped, in 16 ounces of water as instructed on their website. I did steep it a bit longer than they specify.

To be honest, I’m not in love with it. The lychee is lovely cold, as I would expect, but for some reason the shou mei is actually giving me red rooibos vibes. A bit woodier than it was warm, and because it’s combined with a fruity note, coming off a little medicinal. I do still taste those nice dried fruit flavors, but the rooibos note is ruining it for me.

At least now I know not to try the other flavors this way ha ha! Perhaps I’ll try a shorter cold steep though, or even iced.

So I couldn’t resist ordering from Seven Teahouse after seeing them recommended by Kelly, and also I love Lupicia’s fruity oolongs, which is a category that Seven seems to specialize in. I got a build-your-own sachet box with one of every fruity oolong they carry, along with some flavored black teas. And then I also picked up their fruity white tea sampler, which has two sachets each of five different varieties.

This is the first one I’m trying, and it’s nice. It’s a shou mei base with lychee flavor, and the shou mei is deep and flavorful without being too woody or autumn leaf-y. Some nice dried fruit notes pop out at the end, something like apricot and maybe a bit of golden raisin. The lychee is a lovely complement, not overpowering and even not noticeable on first sip, but it makes itself apparent midway through, and adds a lovely refreshing sweet and floral top note.

Off to a good start for sure. I think I’ll try the other sachet cold-steeped, I saw that they had instructions for it on the package, and I bet lychee would be the perfect flavor for it!

This one and the pineapple one, the Lychee black, and the summer jasmine black are all my favorites. I couldn’t get enough of this one. It’s soooo juicy hot and cold brewed. I also got a minimum of four resteeps for it without losing much lustre. The orchid notes of the TGY blend very well with it. This particular fruit oolong is greener and fresher than some of the other blends. I don’t know if it’s the lychee, or what. I wish I got more of this one, even though I got a whole box of it. Definitely a top tea for the year so far. I feel so basic that I’m enjoying this more than some of my high quality Gaoshan too.

I decided to splurge on a 7 Teahouse order to get full boxes of this one, the lychee oolong and black, and the regular Jasmine Black which is not the same as the Summer Jasmine Black. They also included a fair number of bags for me to sample.

This one is easily a new favorite. It’s like a darker version of the Dole Whip Icecream. It’s still a greener oolong, but there’s a little bit of roast or oxidation in the leaves that makes nuttier and fuller bodied. I expected something closer to the lychee, but it’s a welcomed suprise that makes it stand out. It’s like a super ripe pineapple in profile. Later rebrews western bring out more of the oolong and less pineapple, but it’s good oolong. There’s some floral elements, but they’re not prominent so far for me except orchid and general TGY notes.

Definitely a winner and one I’d consider getting more of for my cupboard. I’m biased to pineapple and oolong anyway.

Gongfu Sipdown (2630)!

I was so impressed with this tea; it’s wonderfully complex with a rich body and overarching toasty minerality. The first few steeps in particular really jumped out for their notes of grilled corn, roasted peanuts, plantains, horned melon and, especially, the creamy floral undertones and finish. Over the course of the session the horned melon and plantain notes backed off slowly, but the distinct creamy smoothness of the finish and the notes of orchid and stonefruit only seemed to deepen. Such a pleasant way to begin my morning today!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8XdB6AugCf/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqHbD1i4NF4

Pretty basic and straight forward tea but I like the body, slight malty and cocoa-like tasting notes, and very subtle astringency of the black tea blending base that Seven Teahouse uses. Plus, all of those things compliment this well balanced, fresh and aromatic pure play rose flavour. Not too perfumey and intense at all, and not watered down and afraid to embrace its floral qualities. I have lots of similar teas in my collection because in many ways my tastes are very, very predictable: I like roses and I like black tea. I’m never going to complain about having another option though – and the sachet format here is very convenient.

Gongfu Sipdown (2492)

Enjoyed having this sample paired with some candied hawthorn this afternoon!! This was such a good session: I found this oolong really syrupy and fragrant, even without the added sweetness from the hard sugar coating on the hawthorn. It mostly tasted of rich, juicy lychee and stonefruit with a softer mineral undertone of shale rock and pleasantly perfumey top note that stretched into a lingering orchid-like finish. Very, very lychee, though. One of the most lychee tasting Dong Fang Mei Ren teas that I’ve tried.

On the slip side the hawthorn was sweet and sour, though mostly sweet. I’ve always found that hawthorn makes me think of really cooked down and jammy strawberry compote, but with a really tangy kick to the top notes – as if someone sprinkled a bit of malic acid on a spoonful of jam. I’ve always loved the pairing of strawberries and lychee, so it was no surprise to me that I also loved the pairing of this lychee note heavy Oriental Beauty with the hawthorn!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2X6sRouaIy/?img_index=1

I’m also super in love with the beautiful colouration and glossy finish of this new Houhin and cup set!! I own so many gaiwans, but prior to now just a single houhin. Though the functionality has always appealed to me I’m more than a bit picky when it comes to the aesthetic of the spouts. I fell immediately in love with this one when I first saw it, and I’m happy to say it’s one of those fantastic cases where you don’t have to sacrifice form OR function. It took a bit of a journey for it to get here, but it was well worth it!!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSMVflSBKx8

Gongfu Sipdown (2414)!

Drank this while diving into Plush, a new (to me) mini horror comic series!! I ended up stacking steeps about three at a time for this session, for a total of three “stacks” overall. As expected, this yancha was warm and roasty with an overarching mineral and spiced profile: cassia, allspice, shale rock, slightly burnt pie crust, and heavily toasted walnut. However, it also had a jammy sort of sweetness to the top notes that made me think of black currant jam and sugar plum. A touch floral, especially on the backend. Wouldn’t go so far as to call this a “fruity” oolong, but the fruitier elements really popped alongside an otherwise very typical and even keeled profile for a Rougui!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0FORqBud6P/?img_index=1

It was also my first time taking this beautiful cup (bought via Salt Stone Ceramics) for a spin! I love this sort of swirled clay/porcelain technique so much. I have another more more traditional (for gongfu) cup that uses it which I love, though it’s just shades of brown and white. The colour and texture combo of this Linzy Casal piece are just so superb though; I couldn’t resist adding it to my pottery/ceramics collection!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xT0vWporWs

Steeped this up today and to be honest I’m not totally sure how I feel about it??

The jasmine is very strong in this blend and has an almost strange sweetness to it. Very fresh, aromatic and bold. I think what has be sort of on the fence is that I can’t totally tell whether it’s actually scented black tea, jasmine flavoured black tea, or a combination of both. I wouldn’t mind regardless, but I just don’t love the ambiguity. It makes it hard to properly set expectations while drinking the tea.

Geek Steep S3E17 – Paper Girls (Graphic Novel)

This is the tea that I drank during our recording! I had recently gotten in my big sample order from Seven Teahouse so I was excited to drink one of their teas on the podcast, and it was actually even more perfect timing because I’d also recently gotten a really large haul of moon cakes for the Mid Autumn Festival! So, this tea was enjoyed alongside a lemon paste and egg yolk flavoured moon cake.

The mooncake was delicious with a great balance of zesty sweet lemon and buttery pastry – like a fancier lemon pound cake. It paired great with this tea, which is a Dong Ding oolong. It was floral and nutty with a pleasant medium body. The nuttier notes melded perfectly with buttery pastry and the orchid and lilac notes with the lemon. It was a very nice little moment!

I definitely could have given this an extra minute or maybe even two for the steep time to get a richer, sweeter melon flavour – however even still I really appreciated the soothing, floral notes of the oolong with that hint of fresh, juicy green melon flavouring. The combination is almost “dewy” feeling to me. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe Seven Teahouse has this flavouring on any tea bases than oolong. Or, at least, they didn’t when I made this order from them. However, I’d really love to see it applied to a white tea and a black tea…

Aaaaah! As expected, this is packed with that sweet, sweet Japanese style honeydew/green melon flavour. I gleefully slurped this back. One of my favourite blends from Lupicia is their Melon Oolong and this is a damn good replacement for it since it’s not very accessible to me anymore!

So I guess I was maybe in a subconsciously strawberry centered mood this week because I only just noticed while writing tasting notes that I made myself four different strawberry blends over the course of two days. All very different styles of strawberry, though. This one was very soft and mild with a lot of floral undertones to the otherwise gentle berry flavour. As much of a “pink strawberry” feeling strawberry flavour as you can probably get without the presence of cream or vanilla.