Daylon R Thomas Send Message

I’m a moron. I used the same parameters in my Kyusu as I did with my first Nepal tea this morning, going more for less than 2 minutes with a very generous serving of leaves. It was over a heaping tablespoon, and I timed it by aroma and color. I poured some at 20 sec, sipped, waited about 40 ish seconds longer, than poured it. So I guess between 1 minute to 1 min 35 at most.

This time, I got the beer and hoppy flavors, but I got more tippy chocolate malt than I usually do. This is the first time I used my Kyusu for the leaves. Before, I’ve mostly used a metal strainer for a mug, or one of my gaiwans. The weather was also significantly different last winter. It’s been relatively warm in the 40s so far, being just cool enough to sweeten the tannins without taking them away.

Second steep closer to three minutes, and its still sweet and malty. Not too much chocolate or cocoa now, but more grapey. The Guinness and sweet potato vibes are still here.

It’ll be interesting to see if how much I change my mind on this one. I intended to swap it out because it sat around for too long, but now there’s a chance I’ll finish it quicker by using more leaves. I’ll still keep some around for sharing because I do think it stands out as a Nepal chinese style tea, but I might have to finish it while the weather is on this lukewarm border of cold. Otherwise, it’s been a generic malty black tea with some viscousness. Does anyone else notice a huge change of flavor due to climate for their black teas?

I’ve had this tea for years, and am now just reviewing it. I had to remind myself I really don’t need more tea, and since I’m buying house, I have to actually go through my horde and manage my resources. I will still buy new tea, but I’m only going to pick teas that I know I really like as pure teas and some flavored ones from now on.

It’s a fruitier black tea that had a lot of similarities to white tea for me. It’s almost muscatel, but it’s more grapey and floral. I kept tasting apricot and geranium, with more herbal qualities that sometimes reminded me of sage. I guess that’s how the astringency of it hits me with the dry qualities that come up here and there. I’ve mostly done western and gong fu, but I slightly prefer a shorter western session of 2 minutes with a generous 2 teaspoons or less. I got more fruity qualities western than gong fu-gong fu was more herbaceous and floral. Sometimes, the astringency and bitterness would overwhelm me, so I’d have to take breaks from it. I think I could finish it off western easier, and might tumbler fuel it for work this week to sip it down.

Maybe I can save some for Leafhopper if she wants some.

I’ve had an unopened package of this for nearly a year. It’s softened some of the fruitier edges unfortunately, but it’s still excellent, floral, nutty, and buttery. I wish Spirit still carried this one and the bug bitten Dayuling. Those were steals.

I tumblered it on a rainy, foggy day after seeing some of Van Gogh’s original art at the Detroit Institute of arts. The silky incense and soothing chocolate malt of the oolong was insanely soothing, improving as it got some licorice flavor still sitting in the tumbler. I’m upping the rating. I’m determined to finish my other Derk teas since I now have the time to enjoy them before the break.

I’ve had this for three years….damn I still have over an oz left. I really wanted to like this one, but I was not in love and I actually didn’t like it. Young Mountain has some amazing teas, and this is the kind of tea that I usually like, but similar to my blacks, it’s too malty for me. The leaves are still gorgeous to look at after such a long time, and it still has a little bit of carob in the profile, but the flavor doesn’t stand out. Maybe I’m being too harsh? Maybe it’s too old?

I tried again, shortening the time and…it’s still malty and bitter. I got heavy cocoa nibs in profile with a little bit more complexity, but that’s pretty much it. The malt was hitting me more. I’d be curious to see someone else’s opinion of this tea. It’s too dense for my preferences, and I didn’t rebrew it past steep 2. I still have a lot of it on hand, and I really want to get rid of it. Maybe I can cream and sugar this bad boy up to see if it works better that way.

I’ve barely touched this tea since that last note. Actually, I’ve been pretty bad about my unflavored blacks. I’ve mostly finished my Taiwanese ones, and then try my others and end up not finishing them passed steep 2 or 3.

This one was an exception because I got a vanilla note today more or less flash steeping a bunch of leaves at 15 second with the malt, cedar, and slight woodsiness. There was a little bit of cocoa steep two at 20 sec, but mostly malt. I got bored after the third steep since I was mostly getting malt. It does stand up better than some of my other Yunnan, Assam, and Chinese Blacks overall.

I gotta figure out how to get rid of the many blacks I have. There’s a few I’ll still keep on hand, but there’s too many I’ve had since 2019 and have not touched. I’ve gone through my oolongs fine, yet this particular type of tea and my white teas have sat there in a box pocket drawer unopened and shuffled around every two weeks. I’ve gone through my flavored teas and oolong so much faster, so I’m going to try to narrow my purchases for next year. I’m buying a house after all, so I need to be more frugal, and less impulsive. Namely, but actually finishing the teas I have.

This is the GIRLIEST tea I have, and it’s for my birth month. Based on the reviews and site, it was likely intended as an iced tea or a mocktail alternative. I haven’t iced it yet, but served it only western for a few sessions typically beginning with 3-4 minute steep times, and then I keep reusing the leaves at length. The most I’ve rebrewed so far was 5 or 6 times.

The overall profile is very straightforward in having a champagne like pink hue, but the strawberry and jasmine really lead it downplaying potential dryness the champagne flavoring might have. Strawberry takes the lead for the most part, and the lemon myrtle serves to add sweetness and acidity to the strawberry. Silver needle and lower grade white tea were combined for it to both elevate the profile and fill it out to prevent the tea from becoming too thin. I enjoyed that the tea was delicate, but sweet with just the right amount of viscousness. Everything combines together in a blend that oddly works, balancing sweet, floral, acidity, and dryness all at the same time. Simple ingredients, but complex profile of dimension to three primary flavors.

I really liked this one and could see myself getting more if it weren’t so expensive. It’s more of a special occasion kind of tea, and I’m saving some for midnight tonight for the new year.

Got this for the oolong. This is the November tea, and uses a Tie Guan Yin for the base. Initially, I was kinda meh about the first serving since it was a cinnamon heavy oolong tea leaning partly into chai territory, but later sessions went into the opposite effect. The oolongs profile is actually very strong into the floral orchid territory of Tie Guan Yin, and the cinnamon with the flavors enhance the profile into something like a cider. This particular tea can rebrew often and is very forgiving. It kinda works gong fu with 30 sec increments to really push out the pear flavor, but the longer steeps bring out the apple and cinnamon more. I mostly stuck to tumbler steeping it or 3 minutes western.

The cinnamon can occasionally dominate the tea to much to the border of a fireball whiskey, but it provides a nice warming feeling and a cooling sensation in the aftertaste that’s really nice. The caramel really is not that noticeable and butters up the profile. The pear and apple flavoring are the best aspect of the blend enhancing the natural flavors of the oolong. It’s definitely a winter tea and I drank it more often in this cold December than November. Main criticism is price.

I thought I wrote about this tea, but I guess I wrote it in a random post or of another tea. I’m also sipping it down today.

This is the original staple matcha blend green tea for Club Magic Hour, and served as a template for Happy Heart. A lot of the customers on the company page and on youtube compared this one side by side to Happy Heart and most preferred that one over this one. I got this particular tea for comparison, so that’s how I’ll write a portion of the review.

Both teas were intended as a desert alternatives with the health benefits of green tea and matcha: Happy Heart was aimed primarily as a heart healthy vanilla blend, whereas this one is more of a sweet tooth satisfier. Both blends create the illusion of a chocolate profile by combining matcha and almond, with Happy Heart having more of a vanilla white matcha chocolate taste that leans into herby and grassy, whereas this one is noticeably sweeter due to the currant and stevia.

Initially, I preferred Happy Heart because of its higher grade matcha and vanilla profile, but I transitioned more into enjoying this one because it was less grassy. The black currant also highly enhanced the flavor profile into a more decadent category. My main criticism is the stevia because it can enhance the sweeter profiles, but add an artificial splenda tasting film to the tea that I’m not a fan of. Anyone who’s had stevia probably recognizes what I’m talking about.

Brewing it, I never go above 2 minutes to balance it out and get the full effect of a light creamy almond profile, unless I am tumblering it. It’s creamier as cold brew and doesn’t really over steep using one teaspoon in a 14 oz tumbler of ice and water. Hot brews, however, in a tumbler or in a traditional setting can cause it to over steep and taste like fruity old mowed grass. Doing it write, you can brew it for another solid two brews, maybe three if you have more currants in your serving.

Obviously, I like this one. I initially was going to rate it a 75, but it’s hovering closer to an 85 for me. I kept coming back to it over Happy Heart, and I’m happily sipping it down now. I wouldn’t get this one in bulk like I have some of the other teas, but I don’t mind having it around.