What-Cha

Well, the inevitable happened, I have become addicted to another game. This time around it is the game Plague Inc that has hooked me, it is a strategy game where you play as a strain of (in my case) bacteria trying to wipe out humanity. I also hate this game because I spent hours staring at my phone playing and did not win a single game, this game is hard! Currently I am playing the free version, but I really want the full version, but no offense phone, I want it on my computer. Sadly I lack the $15 to shell out on a new game, and if I had it I would be putting it towards finally getting Minecraft on the PC, le sigh, so many games, so little time.

Today’s tea for What-Cha Wednesday is Ceylon Golden Tips Black Tea, it is so fuzzy and pretty, very golden! Ok, you guys caught me red handed, I spent way too much time staring at the leaves, they are adorably downy, like little caterpillars, though what really struck me was how they have a slight silvery sheen to them, unlike the fuzzy golds from China, which are Shining Gold (yes like the Citadel paint) these have a dullness too them. This tea fascinated me, though I do wish there had been a tiny bit more information as to where in Sri Lanka they come from. The aroma of the fuzzy leaves is iconically a Ceylon, it is brisk and bright, but it also has notes of oak wood, roasted peanuts, distant flowers, malt, and fruit. The fruit notes are muscatel and cherry, in fact, this tea reminds me of a three way dance between an Assam, Ceylon, and Darjeeling, how fascinating! The aroma is not overwhelmingly strong, it is delicate and a bit pretty, much like the leaves themselves.

I waffled back and forth as to whether or not I wanted to go Western or Gongfu style for steeping, deciding on Gongfu for now. The aroma of the now soggy and not quite so golden leaves is pretty malty and brisk, it wakes up my nose with an almost effervescent quality (I love when I have an excuse to use that word) the sharp notes of oak wood blend with a touch of flowers and muscatel sweetness. The liquid lacks all briskness, it is smooth and sweet with notes of malt and a creamy touch of cocoa, it is almost like night and day!

The first steep is surprisingly light in color and taste, also the brew is cloudy from all the leaf fuzz, this might be the first time I have ever wanted a strainer because I am pretty sure I could have made an adorable little fluff ball out of all the fuzz. The taste starts out with delicate notes of fresh grapes and malt, this transitions to cocoa that lingers. I am surprised at how smooth the mouthfeel is, I was expecting it to be all tickly from the fuzz.

The second steep, oddly, has pretty much no aroma at all, there is a tiny hint of malt and that it is. The taste was also a bit odd, there was a surprising note of rich yam and a bit of malt, that was about it. It was strange how this tea seemed to lack all body and yet had such a rich yam note.

So, clearly I need to steep this tea Western style to see how it compares, and I can safely say that this tea is one of the strangest I have encountered! While it lacked any and all body, it had a really delicious taste. The taste is a blend of raisins, malt, a touch of cocoa and a tiny bit of maple syrup at the finish. I am baffled how a tea can have a lovely taste but absolutely no substance and weight, it was like drinking warm flavored water instead of tea. It confuses me! It does not taste stale or off in anyway, just like the ‘cha qi’ or lifeforce of the tea has been removed, maybe this tea was attacked by a tea vampire or something. I dunno, I feel very conflicted by this tea, it tasted nice but was so lacking in oomph, so yeah, I am going to blame pixies or something fantasy related as to why this was the case.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/what-cha-ceylon-golden-tips-black-tea.html

Well, the inevitable happened, I have become addicted to another game. This time around it is the game Plague Inc that has hooked me, it is a strategy game where you play as a strain of (in my case) bacteria trying to wipe out humanity. I also hate this game because I spent hours staring at my phone playing and did not win a single game, this game is hard! Currently I am playing the free version, but I really want the full version, but no offense phone, I want it on my computer. Sadly I lack the $15 to shell out on a new game, and if I had it I would be putting it towards finally getting Minecraft on the PC, le sigh, so many games, so little time.

Today’s tea for What-Cha Wednesday is Ceylon Golden Tips Black Tea, it is so fuzzy and pretty, very golden! Ok, you guys caught me red handed, I spent way too much time staring at the leaves, they are adorably downy, like little caterpillars, though what really struck me was how they have a slight silvery sheen to them, unlike the fuzzy golds from China, which are Shining Gold (yes like the Citadel paint) these have a dullness too them. This tea fascinated me, though I do wish there had been a tiny bit more information as to where in Sri Lanka they come from. The aroma of the fuzzy leaves is iconically a Ceylon, it is brisk and bright, but it also has notes of oak wood, roasted peanuts, distant flowers, malt, and fruit. The fruit notes are muscatel and cherry, in fact, this tea reminds me of a three way dance between an Assam, Ceylon, and Darjeeling, how fascinating! The aroma is not overwhelmingly strong, it is delicate and a bit pretty, much like the leaves themselves.

I waffled back and forth as to whether or not I wanted to go Western or Gongfu style for steeping, deciding on Gongfu for now. The aroma of the now soggy and not quite so golden leaves is pretty malty and brisk, it wakes up my nose with an almost effervescent quality (I love when I have an excuse to use that word) the sharp notes of oak wood blend with a touch of flowers and muscatel sweetness. The liquid lacks all briskness, it is smooth and sweet with notes of malt and a creamy touch of cocoa, it is almost like night and day!

The first steep is surprisingly light in color and taste, also the brew is cloudy from all the leaf fuzz, this might be the first time I have ever wanted a strainer because I am pretty sure I could have made an adorable little fluff ball out of all the fuzz. The taste starts out with delicate notes of fresh grapes and malt, this transitions to cocoa that lingers. I am surprised at how smooth the mouthfeel is, I was expecting it to be all tickly from the fuzz.

The second steep, oddly, has pretty much no aroma at all, there is a tiny hint of malt and that it is. The taste was also a bit odd, there was a surprising note of rich yam and a bit of malt, that was about it. It was strange how this tea seemed to lack all body and yet had such a rich yam note.

So, clearly I need to steep this tea Western style to see how it compares, and I can safely say that this tea is one of the strangest I have encountered! While it lacked any and all body, it had a really delicious taste. The taste is a blend of raisins, malt, a touch of cocoa and a tiny bit of maple syrup at the finish. I am baffled how a tea can have a lovely taste but absolutely no substance and weight, it was like drinking warm flavored water instead of tea. It confuses me! It does not taste stale or off in anyway, just like the ‘cha qi’ or lifeforce of the tea has been removed, maybe this tea was attacked by a tea vampire or something. I dunno, I feel very conflicted by this tea, it tasted nice but was so lacking in oomph, so yeah, I am going to blame pixies or something fantasy related as to why this was the case.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/what-cha-ceylon-golden-tips-black-tea.html

Had this one this morning help me wake up. It’s full-bodied and a bit malty, but smooth. No astringency or bitterness. A great cup for the morning!

Such a lovely, delicate tea! I chose to brew this one up this morning. Usually I like a black tea for morning, but I went with this one and don’t regret it.

An exceptional white tea. The dry tea leaves do look like silvery-green needles and brewed, the tea is a very pale color in the cup. I had another of What-Cha’s teas yesterday, and I enjoyed it, but I think I like this one even better. A very delicate flavor, not sweet, not sour, not astringent, and not bitter. A lovely cup for the afternoon or evening.

Normally I want a black tea right away in the morning, but my sinus infection has gone into my lungs (sino-bronchitis, it’s called. lovely) and my throat is raw so I looked for something mild and soothing. I haven’t had this one in a while, so I decided on it. Such a lovely tea, so light and mild I can’t imagine anyone not liking it.

Well, I DO like oolongs! I had a flavored oolong a year ago that I didnt’ really like, so I thought I wouldn’t like any oolong. I was wrong! This tea brews up quite pale in color, with a delicate flavor that doesn’t require sweetener. We’re having our first real snow of the year (Imagine, Fargo, North Dakota, USA with bare grass showing until Feb 9! Now it’s all covered with light white stuff that blows around before finally settling on the ground) and I’m enjoying a nice cup of this while I work. In fact, off to see how well a second steep tastes!

I like this tea. It isn’t spectacular but nice. Has no bitterness or astringency. Nice honey, maltiness flavor. I really like this company and some of their teas are my favorites. This isn’t bad by any means, but they have some I like better.

My goal for the summer is to drink up as much of my tea as I can by September so I can buy more in the fall. Cold brewing—or any method of making iced tea in general—uses more tea. I think I can do it!

I cold brewed a jug of this. I wanted to try a straight black tea iced. It was tasty. I think I prefer a fruity tea iced, but I had no problem drinking the whole 1.5 liters. I did not add any sweetener but it wasn’t bitter. I think this tea is so smooth it’s hard to turn bitter.

I made homemade gingerbread. I clearly needed to drink tea with it. The ginger was quite strong, along with the molasses and nutmeg, etc, so I decided on a plain tea. Here is one I hadn’t had lately. It was a good choice. Smooth and rich, it complemented the gingerbread perfectly. Some tea, especially straight black teas, can be a bit bitter. Not this one. An excellent tea!

I’ve been going through my tea stash to decide what I’d like to order come fall. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ordered from What-Cha, so I’ll probably place an order in November or so. I won’t need any more of this, as I have plenty of it left, but What-Cha has so many lovely teas that I know I’ll find new favorites. Like this one.

Since I’m back to no smelling (again, gosh darn it. I think it’s really gone now.) I decided on a straight black tea for my midmorning cup. I remember that this one was a favorite. It’s mild, mellow and smooth. I don’t have to pout over not catching some luscious fruit flavor or subtle caramel sweetness. This tea is just fine on it’s own.

This was my tea this morning. So nice to have something mellow and warm on a cold sleety day. I enjoy this one because it has a smooth taste, malty and almost sweet. I’ve never added milk to my tea and this one certainly doesn’t need it.

Nice, warm tea, with no bitterness. I like this one a lot. Nothing fancy, no added flavorings. not that there is anything wrong with added flavor, but right away in the morning I want a good black tea to wake me up. This one did the trick for me this morning.

Another hit from the Georgia Tea Sampler from What-Cha. Smooth, a bit malty, even a teeny bit smoky (although I could be wrong about that since I don’t taste much). It’s amazing to me as a newcomer to quality loose leaf tea that unflavored black teas have such a variety of tastes and flavors. This one meets all my must haves: Smooth, no bitterness or astringency, and no need for added sweeteners.

oh yummy – this is one of my first darjeelings ever, and i am loving the texture – so much less green and leafy than oolongs, more wood and spice. this isn’t really oolong-y in my mind, but i also haven’t derjeeling’d long enough to tell you if it’s more darjeeling than oolong. it’s a whole new thing, to me. quite enjoying multiple infusions all morning long!

Super Sample Sipdown Weekend! February 2015

This was quite a satisfying tea! I don’t normally go for oolong that aren’t tightly rolled up in to little buttery, floral balls of yum. I was taken aback by this one! No astringency, only a little dryness. I really loved the plummy fresh baked bread aroma and taste. It’s not anything that I am used to, which is nice. I wouldn’t normally go for a tea like this, but thank you so much Alistair for throwing this sample in to my latest What-cha order, it was a great and pleasant surprise!

opted to try this one today. I’ve had a few yellow teas before and only one ever knocked my socks off. I’ve been searching for a similar one ever since. This one is pretty good. It’s got a delicious fresh and juicy flavour to it, while not falling into that trap of tasting like a green tea. Yep..even as this one cooled, it was just really tasty and delicious! I’ll likely pick this one up again since it’s the closest i’ve come to finding that one yellow tea i loved.

this one didn’t float my boat this morning. I’m not sure what i was about it but it just didn’t have a deep, rich taste or really taste like much. I’ve got just a wee little bit left though that i’ll send over to dex as maybe she can figure this one out :)

Another from what-cha that is sweet and smooth. These Georgia teas are interesting to say the least though i should probably revisit them on a day when i’m not sick. If nothing else, these teas are work looking in to – the sample sizes are pretty large and allow for a few cups of tea brewed in different ways. OR…..for sharing. I like sharing haha. overall this was a pleasant cup, but just didn’t rock my socks off. Happy with it though!

whaaat no other reviews on this one? well my review won’t be much help to everyone as i got distracted with work and let this get cold. I will say, that like other what-cha teas, this is very smooth with no astringency. i don’t know if this would float to the top of my must have tea list, but i’d be happy to have this in my cupboard anytime!

this is not the breakfast blend for me. there’s an astringency here that i don’t like…though i have for sure found it present in other breakfast blends. It’s just not a taste that i like…especially not in the morning. I prefer bold, rich, deep teas lol. The rest of this is off to terri to try though as i suspect she might enjoy this one.

I didn’t realise this should be brewed at NOT boiling, so i almost ruined my cup…thankfully i noticed it at the last minute. This is an interesting tea…it’s sweet and slightly malty but not in an in your face sort of malt. I don’t think i’ve ever had a ceylon gold tip sort of tea, making this a neat one to try.

Feeling sick of winter today. This one said spring to me. Good choice. The dry leaf is battleship gray. The tips are white. It smells sweet, kind of fruity, and grassy. Steeped western mug style the liquor is light golden green. The sip is bold for such a delicate looking cup. It is not a pucker bold, or harsh bitter. It is that solid good green bite. When the intensity drops it brings out a sweetness, and corn. The aftertaste is corn mixed with vegetal.

I cannot catch a glimpse of smoke but then I almost never do in green tea. I probably have tasted it many times without knowing. Someday.

I really like all the Vietnam teas I have tried.

What-Cha – I’m curious, what does ‘Five Penny’ mean?

Just finished off the last of this tea this morning. I still really, really like it and it might go on the re-order list. Of course, I’m not ordering any tea until fall. Summer’s about to kick in here, so most of my tea drinking from this point will be iced. Of course, this one might be terrific iced.