2201 Tasting Notes

85
drank Bamboo-Pomelo by TeaGschwendner
2201 tasting notes

Well crap, safari crashed on my iPad and I lost my tasting note. Thanks to MissB for this tea!

Long story short: this is a tasty citrusy herbal blend. The main flavors I’m getting are lemongrass, pomelo, and the sweetness from the licorice root. I like it and would drink it again!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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88

I was thrilled to see some of this in my package from MissB. I had wanted to try this but it was sold out when I did my last Verdant order. This is definitely interesting, and easy to see the Laoshan green tea bones in this tea. To me there is more of the dragonwell-style to this than the regular Laoshan green (more buttery, I think) but it’s been a while since I’ve had either. There is a hint of sweetness that lingers on the palate afterward. It isn’t really floral like a Tieguanyin, but it’s got a bit more heft to it than the regular Laoshan green tea. I do really enjoy this tea and I’m so glad I finally got to try it.

If it seems like I am drinking all samples these days, well, I am. I’m grateful for all the samples folks have sent me lately (including this one, a surprise from MissB!), but I’m trying to drink down all the samples before I embark on an epic journey in which I drink every tea in my cupboard (trying not to repeat any) from oldest to newest.

Flavors: Butter, Green Beans

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Terri HarpLady

Sounds like a good journey to me!

Dinosara

I am pretty excited about it actually! :D

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drank Graham Slam by Herbal Infusions
2201 tasting notes

Another sample thanks to MissB! I do like the flavor pretty well on this one… it’s lightly sweet, a touch creamy, a bit cinnamon-spicy. However, there is something in the blend that is making the back of my throat itch just after I swallow. It is fairly unpleasant. Don’t know what it could be, but I’m sorry I won’t be able to finish the cup.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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84
drank Nirvana by American Tea Room
2201 tasting notes

I did a cold brew of the rest of this one. It was INTENSE and I thought maybe too intense, but surprisingly I drank the entire thing. Very fruity, but somehow not overwhelming. It could probably be diluted even more and still be super flavorful. Definitely tasty.

Preparation
Iced

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70

Holy tea scum! The top of this tea after brewing looks a bit gross, to be perfectly honest. Way too many dissolvable items in this, I would guess. There is a layer of oil droplets and another of some other solids, and when I move the cup they jiggle disconcertingly in different directions.

Honestly I kinda didn’t want to try it after that but I did anyway. It tastes like weak black tea with melted chocolate and caramel in it. It’s not bad tasting, but it’s not really good either. I guess these DTTs are generally not for me. Sorry it didn’t work out for me MissB, but thanks anyway for the sample!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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88
drank Tung Ting Vietnam by DAVIDsTEA
2201 tasting notes

Thanks to MissB for this surprise free sample! A Vietnamese tung ting/dong ding oolong sounds really interesting.

I have to say I’m impressed by the quality of the leaf here. I pulled them out after steeping and they are almost all nice full leaves, with hardly any shredding on the edges. The scent of the brewed tea is nice and floral, with some sweet cream butter notes as well. The flavor is quite good; not too vegetal, but with some grounding leafy notes. Mostly sweet, with florals and a bit of butter. It’s definitely a sweeter, unroasted dong ding and not the slightly toasty variety. I am enjoying it quite a bit! Thanks so much for sending it along, MissB!

Flavors: Butter, Cream, Flowers

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Abby Noelle

I’ve been wanting to try these tea for awhile!

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78
drank Earl Grey Cream by Zen Tea
2201 tasting notes

Much thanks to OMGsrsly again for sending me the last of her sample of this tea as well. I wanted to try it because a lot of people love this one as their perfect EGC, so I had to see what the fuss was about!

I have to say, this comes across as a fairly standard EGC to me. Not only that, there is an underlying bitterness that reads as citrus-pith bitterness, not black tea bitterness. Maybe I accidentally overleafed without realizing it? Yeah, the cream is nice, but not extraordinary. The black base is hardly noticeable. I’m glad I got to taste it, but it won’t be making a home in my cupboard any time soon. :)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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80
drank Crème Brulee by Bayswater Tea Co.
2201 tasting notes

Mmm, I’m in a dessert tea mood, which is nice because I have a pile of tasties from OMGsrsly and not much to do today.

This is an interesting one. It tastes a lot like the burnt-sugar caramelized crust of the creme brulee but not a lot like the cream custard itself. I think the burnt-ness of it is what evokes coffee a bit. It’s a bit too burny for me overall, but I am still enjoying this pot it this afternoon. Interested to see how it will play out when I mix with Divine Temptation.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
OMGsrsly

:) I prefer this one mixed. Unless I make this as a latte.

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84

A big thanks to OMGsrsly for a sample of this tea. I have to say I have wanted to try this one for a while because of all the rapturous tasting notes on it (and I kinda didn’t believe a flavored puerh could be that good). I kept asking swap partner after swap partner but no one had enough, and OMGsrsly was so nice and sent me the last of her sample. Thanks so much!

This one made me glad for the new “average preparation” section on the tea page since sTEAp shoppe doesn’t provide steeping parameters on their website. I hope the leaf per water gets incorporated into that now that it’s available (I still had to troll old tasting notes for that info).

When the water hit the leaf I immediately smelled a bit of stinky puerh, but then the sweet cinnamon bread aroma started overtaking it. Steeped, when I get a hint of it I smell cinnamon and a bit of earthy puerh, but then when I inhale deeply it really does smell like cinnamon bread.

I have to say, pretty impressive on the flavor here. I am glad I finally got to try this one. The Yunnan black tea and the puerh do a good job of making a bready base for this one, although the occasional whiff of puerh diminishes my enjoyment a bit. But I am enjoying it a lot nonetheless. Sweet bread, cinnamon sugar, a bit of icing. Pretty authentic! I don’t think I need this one in my cupboard, but I am really glad I finally got to try it!

Flavors: Bread, Cinnamon, Vanilla

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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90

Snow day! Our students have been given a reprieve because there was an exam today but the university closed due to quite a bit of snow (for southeast Ohio).

Thanks to OMGsrsly for this tea. Nougat and hazelnut sound awesome, and it certainly smells awesome. Sweet, nougaty, marshmallowy, and of course a bit nutty. The flavor is great. It’s funny because just a few days ago I had Eight Candles from Della Terra, which had marshmallows in it and was sweet but not that interesting. This tea has nougat bits in it, which theoretically act in the same way as the dried marshmallows, but the blend is just so much more successful to me.

This tea is really what a dessert tea should be for me: it tastes like a rich, nutty nougat but it’s not actually sweet on the tongue. How does that work? I don’t know, but it does. Plus the base is so much nicer on this one. I mean, it’s not a fine black tea or anything, but it has a presence, and lends body to the blend. There is a hint of bitterness that comes out as it gets cold, but that’s only at the very end and otherwise while warm this is delightful. Thanks for sharing OMGsrsly, this was really nice (and I have enough left to do a Divine Temptation/Creme Brulee mixture as well)!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Profile

Bio

I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

In my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: Mind-blowingly good, just right for my palate, and teas that just take me to a happy place.
89-86: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
85-80: Pretty tasty teas that I enjoy well enough, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
79-70: Teas that I would probably drink again, but only if there were no preferrable options.
69-50: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.
Unrated: Usually I feel unqualified to rate these teas because they are types of teas that I tend to not like in general. Sometimes user error or tea brewed under poor conditions.

Location

Ohio, US

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