The Pleasures of Tea

This tea is good. It is malty. It is a little fruity in flavor, not sure what fruit. It is a little bitter, it is a little astringent. It is a nice breakfast tea. Only bought a one ounce sample of this.

Brewed this one time in a 12oz infuser mug with 2 tsp leaf and boiling water for approx 4 minutes.

This tea is not bad and not great, it is somewhere in between. It has a strong flavor of raspberries. They also taste somewhat artificial even though I think they are not artificial. I don’t specifically recommend this tea but I recommend anyone local go to the Infuse Tea Bar and the Pleasures of Tea. It is a great store.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

This tea is slightly good. It is slightly malty with notes of raisins and baked bread, I think, hard to be sure if I am describing it right. It is a tasty straight black with a high proportion of buds in the mix. There is a certain subtle sweetness to the tea. I can tell this even though I added sugar for real sweetness.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

I am drinking decaf tonight as it is another week of frightfully early days. I bought this one from The Pleasures of Tea the other day. Compared to other decaf it is pretty good. Compared to regular tea it is decent but not great. I will attempt to compare it to other decaf. It is fairly sweet tasting although I added sugar and am unsure how much sweetness is behind the sugar in the tea. The flavor of the pomegranate is nice and fruity. The background tea has a slight bitterness but not much, not enough to make this an unenjoyable tea.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min. I would recommend this but only in comparison to other decafs, when compared to a non decaf it is one step down.

This tea is fairly complex with some sweet notes. It is also slightly bitter, just slightly. There are some smokey notes as well. This is a relatively good tea but not one I would probably buy again. I will have to gongfu it to see if it improves.

I brewed this once ini an 18oz teapot with 4 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 min.

I brewed this again today, radically different from last time. This time I used 160 degree water and gave it much less time. It is noticeably improved. It is still not incredible though as peach oolong should be. The peach flavor is improved steeped like this. There is no longer any bitterness. There is still a touch of sourness, but no longer so much that I wouldn’t want to drink this tea. At least I didn’t waste my money as I thought.

I brewed this one time in an 18oz teapot with 160 degree water and 2.5 tsp leaf for 1 min 15 sec.

Drinking this one again today, decided not to give up on it. I did change the brewing parameters. I lowered the temperature significantly and lessened the steep time. The sour notes are now mostly gone, thank god. The peach flavor is slightly tart but is not bad. Still this is not a tea I would buy again.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 160 degree water for 2 min.

This tea is not bad and not great. It is slightly bitter and slightly sour. I falls into the category of “I wish I hadn’t bought four ounces” tea. The peach flavor is not bad, just a little off.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 190 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

This tea is good. While it may be called Brandy Oolong the notes I am getting are pure red wine. They are strong and sweet. There is no bitterness to this tea and no astringency or malt flavor.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 190 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

This is an excellent tea. It is somewhat sweet with almost no bitterness. It is good. It doesn’t taste quite as good as when they brewed it at the Pleasures of Tea Infuse Tea Bar.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 min.

This is a tasty sweet (not meaning sugar) oolong with almost no bitterness. It was brewed for me today at the Infuse Tea Bar at the Pleasures of Tea, a store/tea bar in West Sayville, NY. I got a variety of notes and a little sugar brought out an unusually sweet plum or berry note, not sure which. This was a good tea. I bought about four oolongs from the Pleasures of Tea today. I hope they are all as good as this one. This had sweet notes and it was brewed western style. I shall soon gongfu it and see what I get.

This was brewed four times in a 10oz tea pot. I am guessing the leaf quantity was about 3 tsp. The water was around 190 degrees and the steep times were around 3 min each.

This tea is a reasonably good Chrysanthemum Puerh mini tuo cha. I gave the tea two rinses as I did not break it up first. The first steep was light and tasty. The second steep I forgot to give less time to. It was over brewed and the earthy flavor of the puerh was a little too powerful. I lowered the time on the third steep and it was improved. This tea goes into the category of teas I will probably finish but probably not buy again. It is good but a fairly average quality tuo cha.

I brewed this 4 times in a 220ml gaiwan with boiling water and one tuo cha, about 6.8g leaf. I gave it two rinses and brewed it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 10 sec, and 15 sec.

This is a very chocolaty rooibos. I chose this onew tonight because I am avoiding caffeine. I really wanted to brew up some shou in my new teapot but that will have to wait. I’m letting it soak in the tea water overnight to finish seasoning anyway.

This tea falls short of what a really great rooibos should taste like. So far I am only 50/50 with my teas bought from The Pleasures of Tea. They did sell me an incredible gaiwan though. I can’t describe what it is I don’t like about this tea, I just don’t think that much of it. Its not bad enough to throw out, I just would not buy it again. There is somoething slightly off putting about the taste, don’t know what.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with boiling water and 3 tsp leaf for 5 min.

I bought this tea because it smells incredible. That aroma does not translate into taste however. The tea liquid brewed cloudy for a start. The chocolate flavor is there, but it seems as if it is stale or something. I don’t recommend this tea. It is not bad enough for me to throw out but I’m glad I only bought 2 ounces.

I brewed this in an 18oz teapot with 185 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

This is without a doubt the most unusual puerh I have ever drank. They call it witches brew puerh because it is sold in puerh bundles that look like a witches broom. It doesn’t taste like one though. It was pretty good. It had an aged taste in the first infusion. This quickly mellowed out and smoothed out. By the third infusion this unpleasant aged taste was gone and the brew got smoother. By the fifth infusion it was very smooth.

I brewed this six times in my new green gaiwan. The gaiwan is great, the handle portion doesn’t get hot. It is an easy gaiwan style so there’s no propping the top on the gaiwan to pour. I bought the tea and the gaiwan at The Pleasures of Tea in West Sayville, New York today.

I brewed this six times in a 150ml gaiwan. I used 4.5g leaf and 200 degree water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min.

Bought this again the other day. This time I am primarily planning on making it as iced tea but I brewed it hot today. It has a very nice berry flavor and it is still one of the best decaf teas I have had.

I brewed this one time in an 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 minutes.

This is another tea from the Pleasures of Tea. It is a mildly bitter, mildly astringent, decaf black tea. It has strong berry flavor and an aroma to die for. It is the best decaf tea I have purchased in a long while.

I brewed this one time in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

This was tasty tea. I can’t give you the exact brewing parameters of this tea because it was brewed for me at the Infuse Tea Bar in West Sayville, NY. She steeped this four times for me western style, several minutes on each steep. The result was a delightful, sweet brew that only needed a tiny about of sugar (about 1/4 tsp) to cut the fermentation flavor. It will be even better when I brew this Gongfu style. If you live anywhere on the south shore of Long Island or even the North Shore you should visit this place. They have a sit down tea bar where they prepare any tea for you hot or cold. It was a rare experience for one used to making my own tea, not at all like having the staff at Teavana make you a cup of tea. They also have 300 teas that they sell including real Yellow tea and everything else. They have a very nice selection of teaware too.

I am not going to give this one a numerical rating because I don’t have anything to compare it to, having drank yellow tea only once before. It was not bad for a first attempt. It was not bitter or astringent. It was slightly floral. It had just a bit of a sour note that I did not like. Overall, the tea was decent. If I get a chance to try some yellow tea that is recommended by others I will then give this a number in comparison.

I brewed this once in a 18oz teapot with 175 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

A wonderful example of a Japenese tea. This tea has a very strong vegetal flavor, though not unpleasantly so. It is buttery in the mouth and goes down smooth. While wonderful hot, I would not let this tea cool too much as it starts to taste grassy (like drinking your lawn clippings on a humid summer day).

Oof, watch out on the steep times for this one – I let it go a bit long thinking it could take it because it’s rooibos, but instead the apricot just steeped and steeped this into a sour, undrinkable cup. Whoops.

This is one of the most unique rooibos teas I’ve ever tasted – there’s a tartness to it, but it’s a very full-bodied tartness, the aftertaste of an apricot. It’s a very pretty tea in the canister with all the marigold petals, too. I can’t really taste the cinnamon chips at all. Weird, all in all, but not a bad weird by any means.

Finally found the optimal time and temp for this tea. A delicious cup to start my day.