1726 Tasting Notes
During the winter storm, this was my first official tea for me. It was a good choice. The maple woody vanilla palette is warming and comforting during the snow. I’m going to dive into more of my blacks today during the coming fimbulwinter winds this Christmas season.
Flavors: Butterscotch, Caramel, Malt, Maple, Vanilla, Wood
I’m really behind my notes, but Wang Family Tea Sent some Ginger Sun Moon Lake Teabags in the last order. Sooooo smooth. I deeply enjoyed the bag and kept coming back. My mom accidentally threw it away too early. I’m surprised I couldn’t find the bags on the main site because I’d be tempted to buy some. Either way, I appreciated it with the order.
I got more of the Shanlinxi Jasmine and the Competition Light Roast Lishan Oolong. It’s good and complex. I will have to do an individual note on it for depth. It’s a lot like the Zealong Aroma in its balance of roast and greenness, and on the lighter end. I wouldn’t drink it super often and kinda wish I got the Gui Fei competition instead, but I definitely don’t regret trying it or the tin I received.
Sounds like an interesting tea! I just tried their Sun Moon Lake and thought it was nice and very minty, though I didn’t buy more because Red Jade just doesn’t do it for me as much as other Taiwanese black teas. I recently bought their Award Winning Shan Cha, Award Winning Dong Fang Mei Ren (could have been a mistake), 50 g of their white tea, and the Fushoushan and SLX Wild Garden. I probably should have gone with the Qilai Shan instead of the DFMR, but that’s hindsight.
I’ll keep some of mine for swap because I was tempted by the Shan Cha if I had not blown my budget this year. I tend to avoid Red Jades’ because the caffeine and mintyness tend to be much for me, but this particular blend was just smooth and malty with the ginger.
Thanks! That tea would be fun to try! Their regular Shan Cha has nice apricot and rose notes, though it’s also a bit raisiny and can be astringent when using their recommended steeping parameters starting at 40 seconds. I hope their competition Shan Cha will be smoother.
I held off drinking this one down. I only have a serving left, and I think this one and Violet Cremes are my favorite Brutaliteas. I still have a lot of Krampustachio left and too much of the French Toast Busters. French Toast Busters is more of a latte style tea for me, so I haven’t drank that one down the way I thought I would. This one, I wanted to savor before I said goodbye tumbler style. Letting it steep this way brought more dragonfruit flavor than the pineapple, but it’s still there. Even oversteeped a little bit, it’s juicy.
Flavors: Dragonfruit, Floral, Fruity, Hibiscus, Juicy, Pineapple
This one also has Rhodelia Rosea. I was looking forward to this one as the last blend, and was curious. I’m surprised that it went in the direction of oolong, and a gaba one. Actually, this is one of the weirdest blends of flavors I’ve had. It’s interesting that this one was thrown together after a dance party, and I was weirded out by the orange oil and pomegranate combo with cinnamon and ginger. Fortunately, it’s weirdly balanced and more on the fruity and creamy end. The cinnamon adds a slight kick, and the ginger adds more dimension to the orange and vanilla. The caramel is noticeable, but really just glues the other flavors together to prevent them crashing. I also tumbler styles a teaspoon of this tea, and I could rebrew and let the leaves sit four times over.
The description goes for fruit cake, but I don’t totally get that because it’s a lot creamier than fruit cake. It gives some Christmas vibes off for sure, but it’s hard to put my finger on it. I actually really like that for a Sagittarius, especially defying labels and commitment.
On the foolish buying into the marketing and health benefits stuff, the Rhodelia Rosea is one that may be helpful for diabetics, which is interesting. Some of the studies on it are limited, but there are some out there compared to placebos for lowering blood sugar and depressive disorders, so it’s in my ballpark of needs. On the other end, I would make this a gift or a one time sample. $13 for an oz is on the higher end for sure, and while the Gaba base is usually in the $8 range for an oz, I can see some justification for the added ingredients. However, I wouldn’t frequently get this one, but I’d definitely like some on hand. It’s also one of the stronger astrology teas for my preference anyway.
I’ve got more of their teas to review from a massive order, so there’s going to be a bunch of notes on the bougie So Cal company. I’m currently rating this one around 85, though I see it going into the 90s.
Flavors: Caramel, Cinnamon, Citrus, Creamy, Floral, Fruity, Juicy, Pomegranate, Smooth, Sweet, Vanilla
Did somebody say astrology and depression? Suddenly appears in a cloud of smoke
Lol
Yeah, the main downside is the marketing. Very So Cal and health benefit driven. The teas are very good and original, which is why I’ve been buying them.
It’s a shame when the marketing does the tea a disservice
I have one serving of this one left. I’m still holding off on the sipdown. This was truly one of my top black teas. There are also many, many, many teas I need to add that I’ve drank, so….I’m starting easy before I delve into writing and uploading. I might just write the reviews, then update the pictures.
Floating Leaves has a Li Shan black tea, or they did when I made a big order with them on Black Friday. I’ve yet to try it, but I’m sure I can include some if we do a swap box again. I also got black teas from Alishan and Shan Lin Xi.
Black Friday got me good this year, and I also have orders from Wang, One River, and What-Cha. Lots of tea incoming … including, after several years of pining, a Fuding Silver Needle!
Oo more white tea! The Crimson Red is the one you are talking about. I thought it was out of stock, so it was replaced with a Shanlinxi Black.
I’m not sure whether it’s in stock on the U.S. website, but both the Crimson SLX and Crimson Beauty (Li Shan Black) are available on the international site, which is the one I ordered from. Let’s see how long I can go before opening them! (Actually, maybe that’s a bad idea, since I’ve been known to put my “too good for everyday drinking” teas in my tea museum.)
As it’s gotten colder, I have not enjoyed this one as much. I don’t know if it’s the weather influencing the flavor or if I’m using too many leaves, but it’s mostly been grassy and earthy lately. Maybe I should use less leaf?
Yes. The answer is yes, this has moringa, and therefore, it will be more earthy with too much.
Flavors: Almond, Earth, Grass, Moss, Vanilla
I have too much black tea. I’ve been mostly guzzling my flavored teas and oolongs, but I have barely touched some of my black ones from Spirit and Trident. As winter comes in, the tannins strike differently and I’ve been able to enjoy these a little bit more. I got more peanut, leather, and malt vibes yesterday which were welcome.
The problem with blacks is I’ve gotten more sensitive to caffeine, and my stomach has been upset easily. I don’t know what is causing it-I drink plenty of water, and though I’ve been stressed, I’ve been able to manage a lot better than previous years. Either way, I have had to stick to milder teas lately. I am thinking about selling or getting rid of a good portion of my stash. The majority of them are higher end malty Chinese blacks like this one and Nepal blacks, with some Darjeelings I’ve barely touched. On the flipside, I have been going through my green teas a lot quicker lately.
Flavors: Leather, Malt, Oak, Peanut
Caffeine sensitivity fluctuates for me. I never get an upset stomach, but I sometimes have trouble sleeping if I drink tea too late in the day. This can go on for a couple weeks, then seems to fade, and I can drink tea in the early evening again. I’d hold on to your stash for a while to see if your sensitivity resolves.
I seem to be on the opposite trajectory as you are, as I’m gravitating more toward black tea as the weather gets colder. However, I like fruity Fujian and Taiwanese hongcha, not the malty Yunnan varieties.
Yunnan’s are hit or miss for me. I get foolishly sold by “cocoa notes” nevermind some have more malt than I prefer. I also got a bunch of Himalayan ones that were tippy from trident. They are very good, but I’ve barely touched them, even my Fujian Wuyi Blacks.
Interesting take on Scorpio, especially picking figs with their resemblance to a scorpions tale. I like how this tea is like the cousin of Taurus with both teas having fig in their ingredients, which is interesting since the two signs are opposites in the cycle and are both fixed signs. Tasting it, it’s very rosy and strong with the fig and cinnamon. The vanilla is more in the background. The tea uses Rose Congou black, so it’s more floral than malty. I tried it first in a tumbler, and it was fairly forgiving on a cold fall night of football. The cinnamon got stronger as well as the vanilla for me as it sat.
Doing it western, it’s a lot more balanced. All of the flavors are tasteable, but the rose and fig showcase the better with the vanilla. The cinnamon, rose, and fig are still the most prominent flavors. I’m not totally in love with this one since I have to be in the mood for fig, but it’s great for fall, and better for significantly colder weather. A lot of the Zhena’s Magic Hour Blacks are made with the intention of turning them into mocktails or lattes, and this one works with some cream and sugar to highlight the vanilla and cinnamon, but the tea does better straight highlighting the saffron more, maybe with just a little bit of sugar for my preference.
I personally would not get this one again for preference, but I do like it a lot as a Scorpio tea. It will also make your girlfriends crazy. Now, I’m just waiting on my Sagittarius to get here….finally, another oolong.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Fig, Floral, Malty, Rose, Saffron, Spicy, Vanilla
Hovers between 87-90 for me. I loved the sachets, and so did my mom. I love muscat flavors in general, and Lupicia doesn’t disappoint with fruit flavors in tea. I’m impressed with the staying power on this one, and even though it’s gotten colder, the tart muscat grape taste with the floral oolong and white tea feel great on my throat and palette. I actually like this one more than the darker oolong version, which surprises me since this one tastes a little bit fresher. At the same time, I’d really underleaf this one because the flavor is strong. It gets astringent with too many leaves. The sachets are forgiving, but I use them in 12 oz cups so they have room to breath.
I so do not regret getting this one.
The concept for these teas sounds so neat! And Fimbulwinter is a perfect description for the weather systems we’ve seen across the continent lately :|
Zhena has really stepped up her game with most of them. The bases are usually higher quality teas, and they can be affordable if you don’t get the jars. I’ve actually drank the blended blacks from this company more often than my straight ones. I still drink my oolongs frequently, but I’ve plowed through the Bohemian breakfast and this particular sample-hence getting the full 6 oz amount.
Mmm… I’ll keep that in mind for a possible 2023 order :)