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I quite enjoyed this today. With gluten free cheesecake. :)
One of the mugs I took to work with me. The other two were coffee (all gone) and Butiki’s So Long and Thanks for all the Licorice (not much gone at all).
I had a busy day.
But now I’ve had ice cream, and I have a large glass of water with lime in it, and it’s pretty much time for bed.
I’ll finish the Butiki tea as an iced treat in the morning.
Preparation
3 steeps later and I’m neither tea drunk nor awake. Is it bed time yet. Mom says it isn’t, which makes me sad.
This tea is delightful. I haven’t had another sun moon lake before but I couldn’t resist because of the name. Nice and sweet assamy malty flavours. Sil and MissB will definitely be getting some of this.
Simple decaf black tea with sweet vanilla. Impressed at the intensity of the vanilla and tastes like the authentic bean. It is quite sweet; a total dessert tea and I wouldn’t add sugar at all. I like the tiniest bit of milk with mine to offset the sweetness a little
Edit: some steeps have been very sweet and some have been a little bitter. I think it depends on the amount of vanilla pieces you get in each teaspoon. But generally, it tends to go a bit bitter if brewed a little too long or left by itself for a while. Easily fixed with milk/sugar though
Flavors: Vanilla
Preparation
i am beginning to believe that MissB is having fun with me, lol.
samples are arriving with less and less information on them. hmm, am i a social experiment? maybe!
i got a wicked sunburn yesterday at the fair. slept 11 hours and woke up with a sun hangover. i needed a solid tea to stagger to class with. hattiali? what was it? i had no idea… sure, why not? =0)
this is a brown sugar beauty. reminds me of the bricks of brown sugar you can buy in china town. lovely and smooth, a hint of malt without any acid… ever so light on the malt even with a 5 minute steep.
very nice MissB! oh, and TeaCentre, lol.
Preparation
Ha! I stole this from my mom. :)
yay stolen OMGsrsly mom’s tea! has she discovered it yet?
Well yes. She was the one who found a baggie for me to take it home in!
yay mom!
She is a Tea Enabler. Much like everyone on Steepster, only she buys me a lot of tea!
Yep, this came from OMGsrsly, through me. :P
Brewed this up much earlier today and only got to it now. I found this a bit weak, honey-like and surprisingly sweet. I may have under leafed it slightly by accident, and thus the weak bit.
Huge thanks to OMGsrsly for sharing this slice of Vancouver Island awesomeness with me!
Flavors: Honey
Preparation
I stole a baggie of this from my parents the last time I visited. :)
Drank it for the first time today. This is a delicious Assam. It’s not quite as golden as the Golden Lion I got from Butiki, but it is delicious and smooth. I didn’t add any sugar to it, and really enjoyed my mug.
Hopefully they have it the next time I make it over, because I’d like to stock this tea!
Preparation
When I read “I stole a baggie of this from my parents…”, I laughed out loud. It doesn’t sound like a phrase that would be used when you are referring to tea. Ha ha.
:D Swapping is shipping little baggies to people. Pretty much always makes me laugh.
I sent a box of tea to a friend in Australia, and it was held back as it entered the country because they’d assumed I was sending this big haul of wink wink little baggies. When my friend picked up the package, they had a good laugh… whomever opened it to check was mighty disappointed it was just tea.
That is pretty hilarious! But then, you are from BC!
Hi my name is Dex and I’m really new to the world of loose leaf tea. I’m hoping that some of you wonderful Steepster members will help me. I am seeking tea lesson, I need to learn more about the different varieties of tea and their characteristics. Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.
I received this tea in my wonderful swap package from MissB Thank you so much for sending some of this my way.
This tea is beautiful, large dark twisted leaves with WHITE tips – not golden but pure white. It’s a nice mild, slightly astringent but well balanced black tea, there are some fruity and slightly sweet tones. This isn’t my favorite style of black, but am enjoying the sample I have. OH WAIT – this is an oolong – I’m so confused. This looks like a black tea, this smells like a black tea, this tastes like a black tea. There isn’t anything oolongish about it. I need some serious help…..
This type of tea is also known as Oriental Beauty. It has a relatively high degree of oxidation hence some of it’s similarities to black tea. I am by all means not an expert ( I have 2 but the only one I’ve tried is a cheap box of a higher grade sea dyke brand one from the Chinese grocery store;), the other I haven’t touched yet). This article gives you some history and information about this style of tea though.
http://teamasters.blogspot.ca/2007/02/study-of-oriental-beauty.html
I had this experience with my first and, thus far, only Bai Hao recently! It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it was indeed an oolong.
Thanks for the link yyz. I did read it, I now understand that the sweetness/honey notes come from the cricket bites on the leaves, I understand that it’s highly oxidized and therefore would be closer to a black than a green tea. I’ve had lots of highly oxidized oolongs and they all (other than Black Pearl Sumatra – but that’s another one that makes my head hurt) still have some oolongishness too them. If someone had just given me a cup of this I would have sworn it was a black… Oh well, thanks for the info, I’m going to file this tea under confusing and move on until I have a better grasp/understanding.
greenteafairy – that’s exactly how I feel. It looks like a black, it smells like a black, it tastes like a black….but it’s an oolong…
I remember when I bought this tea; the lady who sold it to me told me the history behind it, and had met the tea farmers face-to-face prior to buying it for her store. I wish I could remember more of the story, however it was (and still is) one of the most expensive teas I’ve ever purchased. I was curious as to what extra money bought (I know it sounds silly, however I really was curious) and so I grabbed 50g of it. The way they made it in-store blew my mind. Somehow it tasted like a black, yet was sweet and fruity like an oolong… I managed to get that out of it the last time I brewed it, however have yet to try again. If you’re really curious, I’m sure the folks at the Tea Centre in Courtenay, BC would be happy to talk to you about it (teacentre@shaw.ca; http://teacentre.ca/bai_hao_oolong.htm)
Maybe I’ll ask my mom to get me some of this for Christmas. :D
There is no doubt this is a beautiful high quality tea. It’s just so strange to me. Can’t comprehend how it can go so far against everything I thought I understood about tea.
I think sometimes that the categorization of teas is maybe a little more fluid than we sometimes like them to be here. I know that on Aliexpress that Dancongs, and Da hong Pao are often sold under black tea vs oolong.
OMGsrsly, I will give you the rest of what I have, if you’d like it
– or anyone else who would like to try some. Oolongs hate me right now, and as much as I love this tea, I’d rather it was enjoyed than just sit in my cupboard.
My mom only buys her tea from there, so if someone further away is interested, share with them first. :)
Now I remember why this sat in my cupboard for so long, even as much as I love it. Within 20 minutes of my finishing the first cup (which is so big it’s more like two cups), I felt so nauseous, I almost got sick all over my kitchen. Then it came to me in a flash: oolongs (usually) give me a horrible stomachache, especially on an empty stomach. A quick bite to eat helped, however as soon as I started drinking the tea again, the nausea returned in full force.
Dammit. I love this stuff, however it’ll just go to waste in my cupboard now. Quite a bit left – anyone want me to send it to them?
Found this at the back of my tea cupboard, and am a bit worried it’s been there too long (even though it’s well packaged). Bought this at an amazing tea shoppe in Courtenay, BC, where I had many a discussion with the owners when I lived there about their yearly jaunts to Asia to find the perfect tea. This was one of their highest recommendations, and it’s still (by far) the most I’ve ever paid for tea.
I forgot when steeping that I needed double the amount of tea, so this one’s a bit weak. Still, it’s divine. Smells faintly of hay, jasmine, and a touch of sweetness I’m struggling to place. It’s light and airy yet fully flavored, and while I’ve been on a real flavored kick of late, I forgot what truly exquisite tea tastes like. This, along with their matcha, is what got me into tea initially, and I think I’ll be sipping this pot all day as I re-steep it over and over again.
… I remember getting four steeps out of this one way back when, and it just got better each time. I wonder how many I can get today?
Preparation
Having this again at my parents. They have hid all their full bags of tea so we’re drinking up leftovers. Heh. Normally they have ~20-25 varieties of black tea to choose from, but I only see 7. Boo!
Oh well. It’s a nice strong delicious tea. I’m having it with almond milk because I steeped it for 3 min and the tannins were a little strong. Mmm.
Instead of waking me up like usual they let me sleep in. So I’ve made my breakfast and some tea, and as soon as I’m done we’re gearing up for a walk in the mud and ridiculous pouring rain.
As a tea-nog latte this morning. There were 4 tsp left, but 1/2 tsp was crumbly bottom of the tin bits, so those went into the compost.
I don’t love this tea. It’s very very drying, a little green, and somewhat pithy. Unfortunately even the eggnog couldn’t hide all those flavours.
Oh well. My mom knows to not get me another 100g!
(3.5 tsp in 10 oz. 6 oz eggnogs)
Preparation
(Whoops! I almost missed it! Note 1551. :) )
Yep, it’s tea. Not my favourite, but I figure that since my tasting isn’t so great right now I’ll drink up some of the stuff I don’t love so much. :)
(I gave my BFF the rest of the Forever Nuts, WOO! And because all I have is DayQuil, she’s going to get me something so I can sleep tonight.)
This tea is… interesting. I steeped it really strong, and added 1/4 mug of almond milk. It’s almost smoky or leathery, it’s weird. And sharp. The sharp brightness is what I don’t care for in a lot of Ceylons.
But it is tea.
Preparation
Nomming this as my second tea of the day. Sadly I’m just starting it!
With milk and sugar this performs well in a travel mug. Heh. I shouldn’t have my mug in the lab anyways, but if I don’t, I won’t drink, and then I get dehydrated and that sucks. My rationalization is that I’m not near a work bench, and the mug is one of those Contigo sealing ones…
Preparation
Today i steeped this with cooler water then dumped it into my mug. Very floral, very fruity. Not enough maltiness or depth of flavour for a morning tea for me when steeped like this. Maybe i need more tea leaves? I only used 2 tsp for a 16oz mug.
It’s a nice tea, and i get why my mom likes it, but it’s not something i’d purchase.
Hmm. I don’t know what’s up with this one, but I disagree with the “tawny tips” in their comments about the tea.
Otherwise, it’s a good basic black tea that I’ll probably drink with honey and milk. I had it this morning and steeped for the recommended 3 minutes. The flavour isn’t as bold as I generally like in a morning tea, but it was not astringent or bitter at all. Very smooth. I didn’t get rose from it, but that’s possibly due to my additions and possibly because I just don’t like rose in my tea.
This is one I hope my mom picks up for me again next Christmas. She has a good taste for plain black teas, even though she’s super picky! (I just visited, and I brought 8 teas for a tea tasting. She liked one. Dad liked most of them.)
The nice thing about doing Christmas this late is that I now have enough money for one of those programmable water heaters! I have my eye on a 3L one at a local Asian market. I hope they have another sale coming up soon!
Preparation
Made cake. With tea. http://www.shutterbean.com/2012/chocolate-earl-grey-cake/
It’s all I can do to not dig into it right this minute, but I have to save it for tomorrow.
It’s so good, people. So. Good. The extra floral of this earl grey really adds to the cake, but I imagine it’d be excellent with pretty much any tea you favour. Jasmine, chai, vanilla, strawberry, rose…
(I just use milk with lemon or vinegar to sour it, since I’m lazy and don’t always have yogourt. I also use 1 1/2 cups sugar as I prefer my baking less sweet.)
(Also, I really dislike this tea for drinking, unless I’m super careful and do a hot brew then pour it over ice. And add some citrus pieces. Too floral for me.)
Preparation
From teacentre.ca in Courtenay, BC.
This Earl Grey is almost too much for me to drink straight. The flavour almost overwhelms.
Occasionally I drink it hot, with lots of cream or milk and a little honey. In the summer I cold steep it overnight and drink it iced. My favourite use for it is actually in an Earl Grey Chocolate Cake. (http://www.shutterbean.com/2012/chocolate-earl-grey-cake/) The floral flavour comes through, and it’s an amazing flavour with the chocolate. Love. I probably won’t purchase this tea again (My mom got me 250g, and I’m not even half way through!), but it is something to consider if you like really floral Earl Greys, or you want to bake with it.
(I’ve also added it to a French macaron recipe, filled with a honey custard. Amazing.)
(I’m eating the cake right now. OM NOM NOM. I added a giant spoonful of cocoa powder because I like my chocolate.)
this picture makes me think of the Flying Spaghetti Monster for some reason
The tea totally looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The leaves are SO big!