Steepster

I am very behind on tasting notes!
I had this last week. And its definitely my favorite of the Steepster Select Box. I’ve never had an oolong, especially a green oolong that has held this much complexity and richness. I am truly in love with it. Where has this been all my life! The first steep you can tasye and smell the coffee. The richness of the brown sugar sweetens this cup and gives the tea an amazing amber color. So pretty! You also get the tart rich flavor from the concord grapes, and ooooh my favoritr part! The creaminess of the coconut. The steepings only get better each infusion:):) man if only I could afford this.

Just a note from memory (had this 2 days ago), which I might update when I next brew this.

I adore the scent of this. Really astonishing, intense, and unique. Roasty and sweet. Nutty with brown sugar and all the other promised aromatics – coffee, coconut, even concord grape, which was very interesting. I just wanted to lean over my cup and breathe it in.

After the aroma, the flavour was a bit disappointing, mostly because it tasted much more mild than the scent promised. But it was still very impressive. I brewed it a minute longer than suggested, which helped, and a longer steep on the second brew sorted out the issue of strength vs quality of flavour. I’ve never tasted anything quite like it. I love the strong roasted flavour, which gave it a warm depth, but was balanced by a very smooth sweetness, which was what emerged as grape in the nose. Also very creamy, and nutty if I remember correctly. I’m curious to see how other roasted dong dings will compare.

I was surprised I liked this one as much as I did. Smoother than I expected, with some definite sour cherry notes. I didn’t pick up on the caramel, though, so next time I might try steeping it half a minute or so longer than the recommended time.

For me, the recommended brewing time wasn’t quite long enough. I let the tea steep for an additional 30 seconds, which brought out both the caramel and black tea notes. In a lot of black teas, any caramel sweetness comes out below the tea flavor, like the sweetness requires thinking about and parsing out. This tea seems to lead with the caramel, with the soft round black tea coming in second.

Mild black tea flavor, very nice notes of fruit in the finish. Not a particularly bold tea, would be nice for summer and warmer days. Nice flavor complexity, with many delicate overlapping tastes. Light tannins, very easy to drink. 8/10

My steepster select teas came a few days ago, & how could I not start with this one? I am a fan of Wuyi teas, & this one is no exception. It has a deep earthy kind of taste, & a fruity richness. My only regret is that I only get 2 servings. I drank one this evening, re-steeping twice. I may try one more steep, just to see if I can get anything else out of it.

As soon as I got back to chilly Boston, all I wanted was a nice cup of oolong. I remember trying this one right before I left, so I thought it would be the perfect way to bookend my little vacation. It is pretty much exactly how I remembered it, so I won’t repeat myself. I’ll just say that I’m going to be very sad when I run out of this!

Edit: I’ve been resteeping multiple times and the flavor is still going strong! I almost think it’s getting smokier each time.

I was a bit skeptical about signing up for Steepster select because I can be picky, but I’m really excited to try all of these teas! Anyway, this is the first tea I’m trying from this month’s package. There is definitely a strong roasted taste with maybe just a bit of smokiness. It’s also surprisingly sweet. For me, roasted + sweet + oolong is turning out to be one of my favorite combos, so I’m really enjoying this one!

I’m thrilled to be among the pilot members of the new Steepster Select program. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to continue subscribing, as it’s well over my monthly tea budget, but for the moment I’m enjoying indulging. My first shipment arrived yesterday.

The Guiyuán Roasted Dong Ding is the first tea I’m trying from the Steepster Select shipment. I chose it because I’ve never heard of this varietal of oolong and it sounded like what I wanted this morning.

I brewed 16oz following the directions and got a strong cup of tea, on the verge of being bitter, but not. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably try slightly cooler water.

This tea is is true to the description, sweet and smokey. I do detect the coffee, brown sugar, concord grape, and roasted coconut aromatics as described on the pouch.

The mouthfeel is rich and wonderfully creamy, although by the end of the first cup the tannins gave me that pithy feeling on my tongue like you get eating an unripe apple.

A second brewing at 185º came out even better than the first. Some of the more subtle oolong flavors from the first brewing are able to shine. It’s also a little softer on the tongue, less rich, and with less tannins.

Overall I found this tea satisfied my desire for umami as well as my desire for a rich oolong tea.

I was about to say I couldn’t be more pleased, but it appears this Steepster sourced original is sold out! Shucks, I guess I’ll just have to surf Steepster for another Dong Ding. Any suggestions?

I am hesitant to try Chinese blacks anymore, except yunnan. Others usually taste like veggies that have been steamed in a dry pot. yuck! But the description of this one made it sound much different: fruit, cherry, caramel. . I almost detected the fruit at first, but then I lost the detection. This tea, to me, has that smokey undertone that I can’t appreciate, like a keemun. These type of teas literally taste all identical to me. I can’t get past the smoky to notice other flavors. I am leaving this tea unrated since I cannot be a fair judge here.

Yay, my very first steepster select box arrived today! I love the packaging and the helpful extras like the filters and tea-info card.

This roasted dong ding is quite tasty. Roasty at the top of the sip with a sweet finish. I can’t say that its significantly better than any other roasted dong ding that I’ve had, but it does have a place amongst the rest of the “winners” :)

Love this. Love the fruity smell and strong oolong finish.

Sorry, I’m biased :)

Hmm, I used a good amount of tea for this one. I can’t remember exactly, but it was something like __lbs and __ . __ounces (1 decimal).

That’s kinda cryptic…

So Steepster won’t let me add teas. Is that a Newbie thing or a bug?

Tonight was my first night having Matcha! On my way back from having dumplings, I convinced my friend to stop in this little tea shop on St Mark’s place called Physical GraffiTea. The owner blends all the teas, so that’s pretty awesome!

My first taste of Matcha latte made with almond milk tasted like a vegetable soup which isn’t a bad thing because I like it. It had almost an asparagus quality to it. A couple sips in and it started tasting like green tea ice cream. Toward the middle of the glass, the bitterness got a little overpowering and I to add about a teaspoon more honey. I really enjoyed how thick and creamy tasting the Matcha was and would definitely have it again.

Bonus: I got to finish off my friend’s pot of Cinnamon Plum Tea. It was a blend of plum, currants, hibiscus and cinnamon. At first you taste the cinnamon and then BOOM comes the fruit! Very flavorful and full-bodied.

Extra Bonus: Got a sample cup of the tea the lady working the counter made for herself of Ginger Tumeric: Also had lemongrass, licorice root, lemon & orange peel. The ginger is very subtle. On the first sip you taste the tumeric (and maybe a little of the lemon grass). Second sip you start to taste and feel the ginger creep up on you. Nice and warming as it started to thunder and rain outside! :-)