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I’m really digging this tea lately – it’s got great sweet caramel/toffee notes.

This morning I decided to mix things up and brew it using the teeny tiny teapot I got from the Salvation Army last week (https://instagram.com/p/6KycTXxIf-/).

And this teapot is perfect! It’s just enough for 1 cup of tea, and it pours very smoothly. I managed 2 steeps of the same leaves before I left for work — which is unusual, since I normally only do 1 steep.

On the first steep I got lovely spicy/cocoa notes. On the second steep it was a bit more muted and malty, but still a nice deep colour. I LOVE this new teapot! :-D

I’ve been sipping this one often lately – it’s one of the teas I keep in my storage locker at work. Nice, malty, sweet potato-y, not too demanding.

As a bonus, it seems to not care about water temperature too much – the office I’m at has a hot water dispenser but I have no idea what the temperature is. And it resteeps well. Good choice for work!

Backlog from a few days ago.

I stuck with the 70C temperature, though I let it go for 3 minutes rather than 2. Didn’t notice a big change in flavour – still a pretty standard, straightforward green.

Sipdown.

Made the rest of my mini-container as an iced tea, and I’m still not loving this. The hubby enjoys it, but when I drink it, I get this very unpleasant chemical aftertaste. What a pity – it smells lovely and luscious and fruity.

The dry leaf of Teasenz’s Tai Ping Hou Kui is gorgeous and unlike any other kind of tea I’ve seen before. The leaves are pressed long and flat like thick blades of grass and have a delicate, fluffy texture like feathers or moth wings. The different strands of leaves mingle together so that it looks almost like the tresses of some beautiful mermaid.

The first steep produced a brew that was pale yellow-green and had a mild smell that was briny and vegetal. However, the taste itself was much stronger — it packed a sharp punch that reminded me an awful lot of some sweeter sencha teas.

Full tea review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/08/teasenz-tai-ping-hou-kui/

I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. I got a pitcher pack and when I opened the pack, there was the cocoa and coconut smell, but there was also an underlying sharpness that made me think of rum.

Steeped this in hot water, added some agave nectar, topped it up with cold water and let it sit in the fridge. The resulting brew was not bad, but definitely not the most pleasant thing. There was an oiliness and thickness to its mouthfeel that I didn’t appreciate, and as it cooled, little solidified flecks of coconut fat dotted the surface. Not the most appetizing.

This won’t be a restock.

I’m nearly done this – probably have about 3-4 cups left.

I’m surprised by the notes of chocolate and rose I get whenever I open the tin – it’s so weird to get those two notes together in a single tea for me. Nice, malty, floral, somewhat sour even.

I’m drinking this at work so the steeping conditions are not ideal. But I’ll finish it off soon enough.

Sipdown!

I finished this off this morning before heading to work. It was somewhat savoury and a bit malty, but otherwise it didn’t make a big impression on me. Maybe I’m just not a Keemun kinda gal?

OMG, today has been an awesome day, guys. Because it’s a long weekend, and where I live, this particular long weekend is host to the local Rotary ribfest.

Ribs! Omnomnom.

But it gets even better: last week I saw a contest advertised in the local paper to become a judge for ribfest. So I entered – and I won! And I got to go to the ribfest and eat a WHOLE LOT of ribs for free! A rib each from 11 vendors total – all in less than an hour! And afterwards I had a roast corn on the cob with butter and lemon pepper.

People, it’s about 6 hours later and I’m STILL stuffed. Just a huge pile of meat resting in my belly. And I also bought a pretty new hat with a wide brim so I can walk around in the sun without sunglasses.

Anyways, this tea. I thought when I got home that I would top things off with some lapsang souchong after the barbacue smorgasborg, but I just thought it would be too much of a good thing. So I had this instead. I steeped it for 4 minutes, but I think I should have gone for 5. I get hints of malt and sweet potato, but not much else aside from the smoothness.

But yes! Today was a good day! And yesterday I got my new laptop, which I’m typing on right now! MEAT and TECHNOLOGY – the source of many good things, alongside TEA.

I think I’ve had this tea before, but I never logged it.

Today was a pretty awesome day and I’ll explain why in my next tasting note, but suffice it to say that I wanted to start things off with a breakfast that would be heavy enough to last into the early afternoon until the real day’s eating began. So I whipped together one of my favourites that I make when I have the time: a slice of toast topped with hummus, fried mushrooms, and a fried egg. What’s even better is that we had roasted garlic hummus in the house! Beauty.

I wanted a tea that would complement the flavours in my breakfast, and I thought this would do the trick since Keemuns tend to be grainy and savoury.

Not a bad choice, as it turns out. 3 tsps in my 3-cup teapot, 90C water, 3 minutes, and I got a nice amber liquor with notes of malt and raisin. I didn’t get the “grain” note I was expecting, but it was malty, savoury, and strong enough that it wasn’t overpowered by my food.

As a bonus, I probably have just enough left for a cup or two, so this will make an easy sipdown.