teabento

Thanks to tea bento for this sample. Today we have BALHYOCHA from korea, which is an oxidized tea. This is a pretty dark black tea, and I started by heating my yixing for black tea and using about 205 water. Since I keep hearing about the deep chocolate flavors of this tea, and higher temp usually brings that out. I got a strong aroma of chocolate, nuts, and a bit of fruit, dark fruit like dark plums.

Brewing this up , I skipped a wash as I wanted to get the full flavor and feel of the tea, and I dont think black teas really need a wash. Sipping I got a flavor of chocolate, the dark fruit flavors as well as a tiny bit of citrus, honey and a teeny bit of pleasant sourness. Its a bit sweet as well, and a touch of caramel. Very interesting tea , I was a bit surprised that it is from Korea, its so rich and sweet.

This is quite the interesting tea, I might have to get some more to see what some variations on brewing produce. I highly recomend at least trying this tea, if you like black tea at all.

This starts out so yummy smelling from the bag – chocolate roasty toastedness. Plus, cute little black sheep curls – I love the presentation of TeaBento’s teas for sale.

This is light, sweet, with a touch of chocolate. Only a small amount of malt, and it’s a thinner, buttery tea. I could drink this all day. It’s smooth and luxurious, without overpowering anything. Even though I normally like a bolder taste to my straight black teas, this one is a daily drink.

Mmm, lovely earthy, sweet, rich, cocoa, bread, malt with hints of sweet potato. I used a bit more dry leaf in my western style steep than I normally would and I think it served me well. This reminds me very much of Laoshan Black, which I have been drinking fairly often in the past couple of weeks, but with a twist. It has that same smooth bread, rich, malt, cocoa, earth thing going on, but more sweetness and a lighter lilt to it as compared to the heavier more grounded feel of a Laoshan Black.

A very enjoyable cup.

The loveliness continues in steep two and three, though the sweetness begins to fade and the slightest bit of astringency starts to set in.

Thank you, teabento, for sending me a generous sample of this to try.

Thank you Tea Bento for the lovely samples!

This one has small, wiry, brown to black leaves with a strong cocoa aroma. The brewed flavor is dried grass, dark chocolate, nuts, and grain with a milky texture. Very tasty!

Thank you to Tea Bento for the free sample of this!

I had no idea what to expect from a GABA oolong, but this was a delicious morning cup. The main flavours are grain (brown rice, barley), toasty and slightly sweet. I did not experience any side effects from the GABA, but it was a very tasty cup and I will continue to experiment with GABA.

While this has a distinctly toasted oolong vibe to it, it emphasises the toasted grain so well it reminds me a lot of genmaicha. The aftertaste starts heading towards that bitterness that some tasted oolongs have, but then steers away towards molasses and tapioca pudding.

The mouth feel is thick, malty. It brews a lovely amber colour. As you re steep, it starts brewing light gold. New notes of hay and honey appear in later steeps (3-4).

As an aficionado of Taiwanese teas, I couldn’t resist trying this one from Yu Shan. Situated in the southernmost part of Nantu County, Jade Mountain is the tallest peak in Taiwan, but its output is low due to its remote location. I did steeps of 50, 40, 60, 90, and 120 seconds in 195F water, using 4 grams of tea in a 120 ml teapot.

If I didn’t know where this tea came from, I’d guess it was from Alishan. It’s sweet, floral, and buttery with vegetal undertones. In the second steep, these undertones resolve into something lemony and herbaceous—lemon verbena? This is gone by the fourth steep, as the tea becomes more vegetal. There’s still a lot of flavour, but the florals and sweetness are almost gone. This tea, though perhaps lacking in staying power, has a fascinating and distinctive character and I’m glad that Teabento generously allowed me to review it.

I was intrigued to see this relatively uncommon tea on Teabento’s website. This seems to be part of the trend to turn varietals that are usually made into white or green teas into blacks, sometimes with mixed results. Thanks for providing a sample for me to try!

The leaves aren’t pressed flat as in the green version of this tea, but are your standard spindly, somewhat fragmented hongcha. Upon opening the bag, I understand why Teabento decided to call it Plum Rooster, as the scent of plum skin and barley sugar hits my nose. I followed their steeping directions for infusions of 1 minute, 30 seconds, and 3 minutes at 185F, although I used a 120 ml vessel and about 3 grams of tea.

The first steep has that plummy note, combined with barley sugar and florals. The aftertaste is kind of starchy, reminding me weirdly of raw potato. There’s no astringency or bitterness present, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear someone had added sugar to this.

In the second steep, the plummy note seems even sweeter and more berry-like, maybe like blackberries or cranberries. This is a very sugary tea! It’s also smooth and easy to drink.

The third steep of three minutes is less fruity and a bit drying; maybe I used too much leaf and should have shortened it. The sweetness, though, persists. An attempted fourth steep of six minutes was similar and I think the tea is finished at this point.

While I enjoyed trying this tea, I don’t think it’ll be replacing my Yunnan or Taiwanese staples anytime soon. It’s kind of similar to a black Dan Cong I tried from Camellia Sinensis, leading me to wonder whether these “non-traditional” varieties tend to produce very sweet black teas. (Clearly, more research is needed!) That sweetness is also the main point of similarity between it and regular Long Jing, as it lacks the typical nutty flavour. All in all, I’m pleased to have expanded my horizons.

Small jade leaves, many with a bit of white fur. Tastes of buttery chestnut with hints of sugarcane, green grass, and lemon juice. Very refreshing. A nice dragonwell.

Holy wow. This is a thick, warm, almost spicy malty chocolate tea. Holy wow.

The leaf smells chocolaty. There’s no question about it, it’s a rich dark tea. It’s hearty. It’s full bodied, and it’s rich.

I could drink this allllll day. I kind of wish I’d kept it piping hot, instead of letting it cool. It’s less.. thick? creamy? warming? as it cools, and it gets more of a potato type of taste to it.

A huge thanks to TeaBento to sharing this tea with me so that I could review it. I’ll add more steeps to this as I go through them. I’m so excited to see how this matures and changes with each steep.

My first time drinking a Daejak, or Korean green tea with a specific preparation style. I’m so excited!

Out of the bag the tea smells strongly of grass, honey and straw. Steeped up it’s more of a strong honey note with elements of greenery, kind of like some of the wildflower honeys we get in Canada.

The flavor profile is a buttery, sweet honey-ish green, a bit thin. I feel like this would be an excellent blending tea, something to pair with another sweet or creamy element. Honeysuckle, that’s the flavor I’m getting, plus some roasty-toastedness.

It’s a multifaceted tea, one that I’m enjoying. Normally i don’t got out of my way to drink greens, I find I sneeze a lot when I do (and this one was no exception). Still, the sweetness is lovely, a lush green tropical sweet paradise.

I have a feeling there’s a fruit associated somewhere in the tropics with this flavor, one I’ve yet to try.

Huge thanks to TeaBento for sharing this tea with me so I could review it, and for giving me my first taste of Korean tea.

Ooh, the Prince has arrived!

The smell wafting up from this tea is a rich, malty chocolate. It surprised me, but even more so the lovely long leaves. I have a special fondness for teas where the leaves are all long and twisted, unbroken, beauty in a cup.

The flavor wasn’t as punchy as the smell, and I was a bit surprised that I didn’t coax out a stronger flavor from it. It was smooth like a French rose, light, and malty with a hint of coffee chocolate notes. The smell is way stronger than the flavor. I look forward to a few re-steeps to see what I can coax out further.

I prefer my black teas a bit thicker and bolder, I’ll admit. This felt a bit thin. Yet, it’s obviously an extremely high quality tea, and I’m thrilled to have gotten the chance to taste it.

I love it when tea packaging includes very specific instructions, including re-steep suggestions and the number of grams per pot or cup. TeaBento does an excellent job with their packaging, labeling and instructions.

A huge thank you to TeaBento for sharing this tea with me so that I could review it. Soon, I’ll have it over on my instagram account, too. http://instagram.com/teatravelninja

My box from teabento arrived a while ago, but since I was between homes, while staying at a friend’s house in her absence, I was a bit here and there, so I wanted to wait to open my box of samples until I was firmly established back at home. And so, here I am.

First of all, I must say that I adore teabento’s website: really nicely designed, great images and tea descriptions, and easy to navigate.

Also, I’d like to mention that my interaction with my teabento person was delightful. If that continues to be the flavour of their customer service, they are most definitely on the right path.

This tea is the first packet I’ve opened. My packet contained enough tea for two efforts at steeping and sampling on two separate occasions.

The scent of the leaf in the packet is plum and earth. Intoxicating. The plum scent continues with steeping.

The dry leaf is long, spindly, and quite beautiful. It is wiry leaf, so it tends to leap out of your measuring spoon. I measured likely more than half of the packet into my western style steeper and steeped briefly.

My first sip, though I had let the tea sit a short while after steeping, was a bit astringent, to my surprise. The plum and earth flavours became richer as the tea cooled, adding a gentle sweetness. The closer to the bottom of my cup I get, the more enjoyable this tea becomes with more stone fruit emerging.

The second and third steeps continue the plum, honey, and stone fruit.

All in all, a nice enjoyable tea.

Thank you, teabento, for generously sharing this with me to sample.

Beautiful florals, creamy, and fruity—this is a great oolong. I think it’s my first Li Shan, which I’ve read some fantastic reviews on in general. The scent of the brewed tea is intoxicating.

Thanks, Teabento! :)

Thank you so much to Teabento for sending me a gloriously generous parcel full of samples! I am so excited to try these because I can always use good black tea in my life.

Total sucker for Assams so I expected this to be awesome to the tenth power, but this is a lot thinner than I would have imagined. I’m primarily picking up on a bready note, akin to a light rye. Then there’s some soft fruity sweetness in the background.

I personally wouldn’t buy this one but I’m super stoked to try the others!

Thanks to Teabento for providing this sample! Bug-bitten teas are a favourite of mine, and I’m excited to be looking at ones that don’t come from Taiwan. Unlike its Taiwanese counterparts, this Vietnamese version is lightly rolled into small pellets. Upon opening the bag, I get typical bai hao aromas of stewed fruits, citrus, sandalwood, and spices—yum! I followed Teabento’s directions and did steeps of 2, 1, and 3 minutes in 185F water; I used about three grams of leaf in a 120 ml vessel, which is slightly more than the 1 g:50 ml ratio they seem to recommend.

The first steep reminds me why I love bai hao so much. White grapes, pears, and citrus combine with a perfumey note that I’ll describe as sandalwood for lack of a better equivalent. No astringency is present and the aftertaste is long.

Ah, this is good! The second and third steeps are very similar to the first, though maybe a touch more woody. Those who don’t appreciate spicy or perfumey notes may be put off by this, as they’re pretty strong, but I really enjoy it. I managed to coax a fourth and fifth steep out of these leaves before they started declining.

This bai hao was a pleasure to drink and compares favourably with Taiwanese versions. I’d gladly buy it again!

Teabento generously provided this sample for review. I love bug-bitten teas and am excited to try some non-Taiwanese versions for comparison. I used slightly more than a teaspoon of leaf in my 120 ml teapot and followed Teabento’s steeping directions of 2, 1, and 3 minutes at around 195F.

The leaf is somewhat broken and many have silvery hairs. Upon opening the bag, citrus is the first thing that hits me, followed by muscatel and malt. The aromas intensify in the preheated teapot.

The first two-minute steep smells like a second flush Darjeeling. I get muscatel, lemon, and malty honey, with a tiny bit of astringency. This tea is also delightfully sweet.

The maltiness falls away in the second steep, leaving sweet muscatel and citrus. The tea is somewhat drying and while it’s tasty, it’s not too complex. The third steep continues along these lines, though the pronounced citrus flavour is also starting to fade and the astringency is picking up. I also get a bit of a raisin aroma from the cooled liquid.

I attempted a five-minute fourth steep, but they were right to recommend only three.

Compared to Taiwanese bai hao, Himalayan Donkey is a much less complex animal. What there is of it is great, but like many Indian teas, it lacks staying power. It would be interesting to cold brew this to make the most of its sweetness while minimizing astringency.

Teabento generously sent me over eight of their teas to review, and this is the first of them. I followed the steeping directions on the package, but since I don’t have a 200 ml vessel, I used a 120 ml teapot with about 4 grams of leaf. I steeped the tea for 50, 40, 60, 90, and 120 seconds. (I usually use more tea and do shorter steeps with high mountain oolongs.)

When first scooped into the teapot, the loosely rolled green nuggets smell sweet and savoury. The initial 50-second steep is buttery, floral and vegetal with no astringency. There’s also a lovely herbaceous/balsam note in the teapot that I wish had made it into the cup. More of this note emerges in the second steep, and while the bok choy-like vegetal quality is still present, the tea also becomes more floral (sweet pea flowers or something equally delicate, perhaps). I’m impressed that such long steeps produce no bitterness.

The next two steeps confirm that this is definitely one of the most vegetal Shan Lin Xi I’ve had, either because I used markedly different brewing parameters than usual or because this is its natural flavour. The balsam note also stays around, along with the sweetness. By the fifth steep, some of the complexity has disappeared, though the distinctive sweetness and vegetal notes remain.

Although I don’t think this is a typical tea for the terroir, it’s a very good one, and depending on the price, I’d gladly purchase it again. I’ll have to try the rest of the sample using my regular brewing parameters.

Another sample, courtesy of teabento and their ongoing generosity. So I enjoyed this one quite a bit, actually, and tried it several different times with various preparations to get the full experience. I’m sipping the latest rendition as I type this, humming thoughtfully into my cup and feeling strangely comforted. This is definitely a pajamas and fuzzy socks kind of brew, and makes me ache for summer to officially be over and autumn to arrive. What’s a girl gotta do to bust out the winter wardrobe? So many jackets, so little time.

The chocolate quality pretty much everyone else has mentioned remained constant throughout my trials, a nice, warm flavor that settles on the tongue without being cloying. Short, hot steeps appear to bring out nuttier qualities, whereas cold brewing it over a period of hours results in a cross between stone fruit and blackberry honey. The latter option made it exceptionally toasty as well, but with a malty, smooth undertone that made it easy to drink. I have yet to try it with milk, but I think it might be a pretty good match if brewed up strong enough.

Sipdown (570)!

Finished this off a few nights ago – I realized I was SUPER CLOSE to being out of it, and so I figured I’d just finish it off now instead of doing my normal thing and hoarding. I found it a little light on flavour – maybe because of age? Though the sweet, fruity notes I did pick up on were quite nice; somewhat of a pomegranate kind of vibe, contrasted by wood notes and a little bit of malt.

Sipping on this one now, while browsing Netflix…

I need a new show to watch; something with more than a season or two but that isn’t a massive ten season commitment either. Something I can tackle in less than a month. Any suggestions?

As for the tea; it’s pretty enjoyable! I let my cup get cold in between all of the flipping between different TV show ideas, but it’s still perfectly fine that way – maybe even a little smoother/easier to slurp down? It’s very fruity, with honeyed peach notes standing out the most to me and lesser red fruit undertones, with a nice backbone of malt and cocoa. I’m pretty down for lightly chocolate and honey drizzled peach slice tea!

Delicious, but so much for my cup of tea with some TV. By the time I land on something to watch this is gonna be all sipped down…

Midday pot of tea.

This is one of several Dian Hong teas I nabbed from teabento after their generous offer to send samples to people in exchange for reviews. I tried the last one Gong Fu but this afternoon I’m more in the mood for something super casual/where I wont have to time anything. So I’m having a larger, Western style teapot of this one. I used 3.5g of leaf, and let it steep for about four minutes.

The dry leaf is really pretty for this tea; not as visually striking colour wise as the Golden Fox but I’ve always deeply loved the appearance of tea that’s as twisty and softly curled as this one is. It smells lightly malty, with some stonefruit notes and this also stays true as it’s steeping: warming malt notes with a sweeter fruity element.

Flavour wise, I’m immediately drawn in by how smooth this one is both in flavour and mouthfeel. It feels like drinking liquid velvet; very rich, and soft. I feel like it coats my whole mouth in the most pleasant way. To take it even a step further poetically, it’s not the sparks/fireworks of a first kiss sweeping you off your feet but the intimate and deep, flowing molten lava of a kiss from someone who’s not only swept you off your feet but caught you, and continued to hold you close to them.

Flavour wise, I don’t think this is nearly as chocolate-y as Golden Fox. I mean, you have to keep in mind that these are too very different prep styles but I have a feeling that regardless of how you steeped them this would be the less chocolate-y one. It’s definitely a lot more fruity; a mix of plummy stonefruit notes and more jammy red fruit notes. Red currant also springs to mind. The finish is a little more malty with accompanying wood notes, and the slightest hint of lemon curd. I’m enjoying the mix of sweet fruit notes and more savory/umami woody elements in this tea immensely!

Honestly, so far between the two Dian Hongs I think I might enjoy Golden Fox just a little bit more, but only because I tend to lean in hard to those chocolate notes in a good black tea. Both are REALLY good though – and I think could probably have a place in my cupboard if I didn’t already have so many DH teas on hand already. Plus, I think because they’re so different at least in regard to that key chocolate note that someone could also deeply love one but not like the other, if they weren’t like me and a fan of both of them.

Thanks to teabento for this sample. I started by getting a glass kyusu style teapot and brewing up 4 grams for about 30 seconds with 175 water. I didnt heat the pot and I poured over the side of the strainer to not burn the tea. I got a medium green color liquor that is quite thick. I got the aroma of spinach, asparagus, butter, and general vegetal from it.

This is quite a good tea, and the color in the cup is quite dark , though there is only a touch of bitterness in the tea. Its more sweet, vegetal and buttery, what you would expect from a high grade sencha. The leaves before brew was quite small which is usually a good sign. The tea liquor is quite thick and rich and very umami , this is a really nice sencha, which is good since Im on a bit of a japanese tea kick recently.

You will need a basket strainer to strain this, as the tea leaves are quite fine and using a cone strainer it might clog up.

I recommend this tea for anyone who loves thick rich sencha.