987 Tasting Notes
Oh boy, this is a tea I just feel I need right now. I had some of W2T’s Lao Cha Tou earlier today to review it on the blog, but it just knocked the wind out of me. I feel all groggy and dehydrated.
I just want something that screams “comfort” and “health” and other good-for-you things, and this is so herbal and sagey and sweet (and non-caffeinated) that right now it’s the only thing that will do.
Backlog from this morning.
I’ve had this tea a few times, and I’m still trying to sort out how I feel about it. It’s definitely not a bad tea, but it’s maltier and breadier than I like. It reminds me of whole wheat bread, of bread crust.
It’s rich, but I tend to like my black teas a little sweeter/spicier. However, I will keep this because sometimes you just need a strong kick in the pants.
We need to get a swap list going on for tea festival…
Yeah. In the existing forum thread, I think, so it’s all in one spot. Did you want some of this?
Mm. This sounds like I’d like it. I’ll have to look for it in my next YS order.
Christina – yeah that would be awesome. I’m hoping my bags arrive before the festival so that i don’t have to use dollar store bags.
A strong kick in the pants. I like it. I am having that kind of tea day too.
I’ve never had a strawberry tea cake myself, but when I smell the dry leaf of this, I definitely get the sweet note that Anne was aiming for. Delicate hints of strawberry, vanilla, and pastry play out in the leaf. In fact, the whole thing smelled like a strawberry wafer – you know, the kind of little pink crispy wafer things with fake strawberry filling? It’s completely spot on.
Plus, it looks delectable – there are big, noticeable slices of freeze-dried strawberry mixed throughout.
I took a teaspoon of dried leaf and steeped it in boiling water for just over 3 minutes, then let the whole thing cool for 5 or so minutes to bring out the flavour. However, the flavour was muted, and while I got a hint of vanilla in the back of my mouth, I mostly got the black base leaf. I bet the tea would taste more true to its scent if I added some sugar or honey to it.
The mint is definitely the strongest smell in the package; it’s sharp and refreshing, but not in-your-face overpowering. The marshmallow root adds an interesting undertone that makes the whole thing smell rounded, soft, and fluffy, like a pillow.
I took a teaspoon and a half and brewed it in 80°C water for about 3 minutes. The resulting tea was a medium yellow green, and the mint smell was very strong. The marshmallow and mint are both showing up on my tongue, and the two flavours are well-balanced even without sweetener. As a whole, the thing kind of reminds me of a wintergreen-flavoured Life Saver. Tasty!
A twist on classic Cloud and Mist tea with lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon balm and lemon myrtle, plus what I think may be dried marshmallow root. It reminds me of Lucky Charms cereal — the smell of the dry leaf is exactly like those freeze-dried, generically sweet marshmallows I remember from childhood.
The name is also visible in the dry leaf, which features sunny specks of orange peel nestled among the green leaf, while the other dried herbs provide greyish undertones.
However, the lemon and marshmallow flavours aren’t bold enough when I brew the tea. I thought I’d boost the flavour by adding some honey, but even less than a spoonful of honey drowned out the lemon notes. I originally steeped the tea for only 2 minutes, though (as per the instructions) so I think that the flavours might be more prominent if you let the leaf steep longer.
The dry leaf for this one smelled intensely sweet. The main chunk of leaf was a murky tangle of dark green and brown, like camouflage. The rinsed leaf smelled creamy, sour, sweet and smoky — a combination of tobacco, prunes, and cheesecake that I found quite compelling.
The first and second steeps were similar in flavour and colour, with both being a pale gold. However, the second steep tasted more intense, with a smoky flavour that had a dry, sweet aftertaste similar to licorice. (That I kept on drinking this tea is amazing, because I absolutely hate licorice.)
The third steep was a rich golden colour and the brew smelled like tobacco. I liked this a lot, especially with the sweet aftertaste. The sweetness was dry and herbal, like stevia or dry wine, rather than being fruity, juicy, or honey-like.
The fourth, fifth and sixth steeps were similar: I got a deep golden brew, but the sweet flavour morphed to both metallic and fruity. I also noticed some nuttiness, like walnuts.
Where this tea really shines is in the mouthfeel, though. As I was drinking it, it felt like my mouth was full, like the tea was taking up more real estate than it had any right to. I could feel its warmth and lingering flavours inside my cheeks, on the sides of my tongue, and even on my hard palate. There was a roughness, too, to the tea in my mouth, like construction paper was sliding over my tongue.
The tea smoothed out by the sixth steep, but by then I had also started to notice a warm tickle at the back of my throat. I let the tea run its course over a few more steeps, but by then I was all tired and I could feel the liquid sloshing around in my belly. Not a bad way to end the evening!
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2016/01/wymm-tea-samples-jingmai-and-mahei-sheng-puerh/
The dry tea leaf looks dark and spindly with the occasional silver tip; its smell was fairly neutral — sort of an earthy forest floor note. After the rinse, the tea gave off a really strong funky, fermented smell, followed by a fruity finish.
I didn’t time the steeps too much, but I tried to keep them under 10 seconds. The first steep resulted in a pale gold liquor that tasted smooth and mild with no astringency. The flavour hadn’t woken up yet, but I could taste minerals and pale wood, like birch. What’s really cool is that after the first steep — and throughout the rest of the tea session — the leaves themselves smelled like sultana raisins. Raisins! Hell yeah.
The second steep resulted in a cup of tea that was deep gold edging into amber. The flavours were still very mild, but stronger than the first steep; I tasted metal, earth, wood, and autumn leaves. There was a little bit of astringency starting to peek through — on the back of my tongue I sensed a sharp aftertaste reminiscent of chewing on grapeskin.
The third steep was a deep goldenrod yellow. The wet leaf still smelled like raisins, and there was still a strong mineral/autumn leaf/wood note in the taste. However, I didn’t go much further beyond this point. I only did about 5-6 steeps in total because I was starting to get a headache.
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2016/01/wymm-tea-samples-jingmai-and-mahei-sheng-puerh/
Since I have a bunch of buckwheat from YS, I have less incentive to hoard this now. And it’s tasty – cozy, toasty, nutty. I’ll see if I can get a second steep out of this.
But otherwise, let me tell you about this awesome soup I just made that I’ll have for lunch over the next few days:
- 2 big carrots
- 1/2 head of cauliflower
- 1 acorn squash
- 1 red onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger (very thick)
- curry paste
- salt, olive oil
- herbs and spices (whatever works for you)
- cream
- chicken broth
1. Take the cauliflower, squash, and carrots, and cut them into medium-sized chunks/florets. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, along with whatever herbs/spices you have on hand (eg: sage, oregano, garlic powder, whatever).
2. Toss the veggies, oil and spices together to coat, then roast them in a 375°F oven for 50 minutes or so. Make sure to give them a stir every often so they don’t burn.
3. A few minutes before the veggies are done roasting, chop a red onion and finely dice/grate the ginger and garlic.
4. Heat a large soup-pot, put some olive oil in it, and then add the garlic, ginger, and onion. Let them saute for a few minutes and add some salt and pepper to the pot.
5. Once the onions start to brown, add the curry paste (2-4 Tbsp) and stir it all together. If things are clumping up or sticking to the bottom of the pan, add some liquid to deglaze.
6. At this point, the roasted veggies should be done roasting and have had some time to cool outside of the oven. Take those veggies and chuck them into the soup-pot, and give them a stir so they can get coated in the onions and curry paste.
7. Now add the chicken broth in (I dunno, 4-6 cups? I didn’t measure). Let the whole thing boil for about 15 minutes. You can taste the broth as it’s cooking to adjust the seasonings as necessary.
8. After it’s done boiling, turn the heat off and get out an immersion blender (stick blender). Then start blending like crazy until it’s a puree. It doesn’t have to be velvety smooth, but it should definitely be a puree.
9. Now add the cream (1 used a small 1-cup carton of 10% cream) to finish it off.
Then eat it!
Fucking delicious, yo. I’m going to really enjoy lunch tomorrow.
This sounds fab! Saving. And bon appetit!
So funny, my other half made potato leek soup last night as well!
Sounds great. I don’t eat dairy and so rarely make puree soups but I could add coconut cream to that for a Thai flavour.
Ubacat: Coconut milk sounds like it would be a great addition.
Surprisingly, the crucial ingredient appears to be the cauliflower, which I’m otherwise not a huge fan of. When I’ve made similar soup in the past without cauliflower, it was far too sweet. The cauliflower adds in a lot of depth and savouriness.
Soup sounds yum!
