1048 Tasting Notes
My latest foray into Simpson & Vail’s portfolio of Ceylonese teas, this organic black tea comes to us from the Uva region. The estate that produces this particular tea is part of the Idulgashinna Organic Tea Gardens and may be one of the most progressive tea estates in the region. Seriously, check out some of the things they do for their employees. I have a feeling that many other estates do not offer the same services or level of support to their workers.
I prepared this tea using my familiar one step Western infusion. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 3 minutes. Obviously, I did not attempt additional infusions, though I think one may be able to get at least one more infusion out of this tea. I have also tried slightly longer infusion times of 4 and 5 minutes with this tea. The results were similar to the 3 minute infusion, so I am wholly concerning myself with that one in this review.
The infused liquor showed a dark orange in the cup. I detected distinct aromas of orange, caramel, toast, malt, cream, and almonds on the nose. In the mouth, I noted balanced notes of cream, toast, malt, almond, dried flowers, and orange underscored by a faint trace of caramel. The finish was smooth and rich, offering lingering impressions of toast, malt, cream, and almond.
I have finally found another Ceylon tea that I really adore. What I found so appealing here was the smooth integration of flavors in the mouth. There were no metallic or off-putting flavors. There was no bitterness. There was no astringency. I do not feel like I can say much else other than I recommend this tea very highly.
Flavors: Almond, Caramel, Cream, Floral, Malt, Orange, Toast
Preparation
Back to the grind of reviews on this Tuesday evening, we come to Simpson & Vail’s Smoky Siberian Blend. This blend is a mixture of black teas from multiple countries highlighted by the smokiness of lapsang souchong. Compared to Simpson & Vail’s Russian Caravan Tea, which, in truth, is actually more of a Russian Earl Grey, this blend is more of a traditional Russian caravan blend.
I prepared this tea using my familiar one step Western infusion. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 3 minutes. I also tried slightly longer infusions of 4 and 5 minutes, and of course, I will comment on those briefly. No additional infusions were attempted.
At first glance, the dry leaf blend appears to comprise mostly broken leaves, though I also noted the presence of a not inconsiderable amount of crushed leaves (dust and fannings). Clearly this is the type of tea one may wish to strain prior to serving. I don’t mind sediment though. A quick sniff of the leaves revealed a mild smokiness and woodiness. After infusion, the liquor showed a dark, rich copper in the cup. Mild, integrated aromas of smoke, pine, toast, cream, and malt were present on the nose. In the mouth, I easily detected a somewhat smoother than expected blend of smoke, pine, toast, cream, malt, caramel, and almond flavors underscored by a faint citrus fruitiness. The finish was mild, offering a lingering and effective juxtaposition of smoky/woody and sweet/fruity flavors. The slightly longer infusions produced a maltier, nuttier liquor with a more pronounced citrus character and a somewhat subtler smokiness.
This blend is a little better than I expected it to be. Oddly, the presence of crushed leaf did not really impart much in the way of bitterness or astringency to this blend. Instead, this is an approachable, layered blend in which the lapsang souchong is not overpowering. While I tend to prefer Russian caravan blends that have a more upfront lapsang smokiness, the easy drinking affability displayed by this one is still pretty admirable. I think this would be a solid introduction to Russian caravan teas or a good Russian-style blend for those squeamish about lapsang souchong.
Flavors: Almond, Caramel, Citrus, Cream, Fruity, Malt, Pine, Smoke, Toast
Preparation
I have been working on this tea for some time now. This differs from Verdant Tea’s regular Qilan in that the teamaker utilized a much lighter roast in order to bring out the pronounced notes of spice and orchid that are so common to this particular cultivar. I think fans of traditional Wuyi oolongs would really appreciate this one.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. As I’m still playing with my brewing method a bit, I did not follow Verdant Tea’s brewing outline all that closely. I started off following their suggestions, but just went with my gut after a point. For this session, I started off with a quick rinse and then steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 5 seconds. Additional infusions were conducted at 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 14 seconds, 17 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 15 seconds, and 2 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted mild, yet intriguing aromas of plum, raisin, sandalwood, and dried flowers. After the rinse, the orchid aroma really emerged. The first infusion produced a pronounced orchid and sandalwood aroma underscored by minerals and a subtle fruitiness. In the mouth, there was a pleasant blend of orchid, raisin, plum, lychee, sandalwood, and mineral notes. The second and third infusions produced much heavier aromas and flavors of orchid and sandalwood. Infusions 4-6 saw the floral quality reigned in significantly, while mineral, raisin, plum, and lychee notes began to push to the fore. There was also something of a wet stone quality on the finish. Steeps 7-9 saw the tea fade earlier and faster than I wanted. I still noted mild sandalwood, orchid, and mineral aromas, as well as mild flavors of sandalwood, raisin, and orchid beneath the stone and mineral notes. Steeps 10-12 saw the tea continue to wind down. There was a slight mineral tinge on the nose, while mineral and stone notes dominated the mouth from start to finish. I found that I could still just barely detect hints of raisin, orchid, plum, and sandalwood when I really focused. I ended the session at this point.
For me, this tea was a hard one to properly evaluate. On the one hand, those early steeps were so wonderful, but on the other hand, this tea did not retain much of its character for the length of time I generally prefer. I think what saved this one for me was that unmistakable Wuyi rock texture in the mouth. It stuck around from start to finish, focusing the robust flavors of the early steeps and the ghostly flavor sensations of the last infusions. In the end, I’ll grade this one rather liberally just for that.
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Lychee, Mineral, Orchid, Plum, Raisins, Wet Rocks
Preparation
I’m continuing to clean out the backlog with this one. Just two more to go after I finish this review. It seems that I always drag my feet when it comes to reviewing tisanes. Anyway, I found this one to be pretty solid.
I prepared this tisane using a one step Western infusion. I steeped one sachet in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. Obviously, there were no additional infusions.
After infusion, I noted a delightful aroma that was equal parts minty and lemony. In the mouth, I noted a pleasant mixture of lemon and peppermint underpinned by traces of straw and cream. The finish was smooth, offering a lingering balance of lemon and peppermint notes.
After reading the above, it should be pretty obvious that I enjoyed this one. So, why a rating of 78? Why not go higher? Well, I did not really see this as being the kind of tisane I would want to reach for on a regular basis. I really like peppermint and I really like lemon verbena, but I think I like them better separately. While this is a respectable herbal blend, it is the sort of thing that just doesn’t hold as much appeal for me. I would rather have straight peppermint or lemon verbena. Still, I think this is good for what it is.
Flavors: Cream, Lemon, Peppermint, Straw
Preparation
Let’s start catching up on this backlog of mine. Also, let’s go ahead and state that I have a sentimental attachment to this tea. It was the first Yunnan black tea I ever tried. It was also maybe the second or third loose leaf tea I ever had. I have been familiar with this one since I was sixteen years old. This tea was a friend to me through both high school and college. With all that out of the way, understand that this tea played a formative role in my appreciation of tea, thus it is unlikely that I will be able to review this one entirely objectively.
I brewed this one two ways. The first preparation was a one step Western infusion. For this session, I simply steeped 1 teaspoon of loose leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. The second preparation was gongfu. I steeped 6 grams of tea leaves in 4 ounces of 212 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 8 second, 10 second, 12 second, 15 second, 20 second, 25 second, 30 second, 40 second, 50 second, and 1 minute infusions. I will comment on both.
The 5 minute steep produced a tannic and slightly spicy tea. I detected aromas of chocolate, vanilla bean, leather, wood, malt, spice, caramel, and molasses. In the mouth, there were notes of chocolate, malt, caramel, molasses, leather, tobacco, wood, orange peel, vanilla bean, and spice. The gongfu preparation was slightly different. Prior to infusion, the leaves revealed aromas of spice, chocolate, leather, malt, and molasses. In the mouth, the first three infusions produced increasingly rich notes of molasses, chocolate, malt, caramel, orange, fig, spice, wood, leather, tobacco, vanilla bean, toast, and menthol. From the fourth infusion on, the tea began to soften, offering increasingly malty and toasty aromas and flavors underscored mostly by chocolate, vanilla bean, orange, tobacco, caramel, and molasses. A slight minerality started to become evident around this time as well. The final infusions offered mostly mineral, toast, and malt notes, though I could still detect fleeting impressions of chocolate, caramel, and molasses.
This tea was not quite as good as I remembered it being. It lacked the smoothness and depth of some of the Yunnan blacks I have tried over the course of the past year. Still, I would not call it bad by any stretch of the imagination. I could see this tea being a good starting point for those new to Yunnan black teas.
Flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Fig, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Orange, Spices, Tobacco, Vanilla, Wood
Preparation
I have been so busy this week. Even though I have been drinking a ton of tea, I have yet to post any new reviews until now. A lot of that can be chalked up to laziness. When I have had free time, I always seemed to find an excuse to do anything other than get on Steepster. Now I have a backlog of reviews piled up (again) and need to post them. This is one of my most recent sipdowns, and I wanted to start with it, so here goes.
I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped 1 teaspoon of this tea in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions. I also tried shorter infusions around the 3 minute mark and will briefly comment on those. This review, however, primarily concerns the 5 minute infusion because I felt that one was the best.
After infusion, the liquor showed a dark amber in the cup. Pronounced aromas of pine, smoke, cedar, juniper, and toast were present on the nose. In the mouth, I noted more complexity and depth than expected. I easily detected notes of pine, smoke, tar, spruce, cedar, and juniper balanced by toast, caramel, malt, vanilla bean, and subtle spice. The finish was simultaneously rich and smoky, offering a pleasant blend of lingering wood, smoke, caramel, and toast notes. The shorter infusions were much milder, offering softer aromas of wood, smoke, caramel, malt, and toast. In the mouth, there were soft notes of pine, smoke, cedar, juniper, caramel, toast, and malt.
All in all, I did not find this to be a bad lapsang souchong. Granted it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was still very solid. I did not notice any metallic, resinous, or otherwise off flavors in this tea. I kind of suspect that many of the overwhelmingly negative reviews for this tea came from people who either already did not like lapsang souchong or who were more or less entirely unfamiliar with it. Whatever the case, I really do not think this is a bad tea. If you have yet to try it and are looking for a basic, affordable lapsang, I would encourage you to give it a chance.
Flavors: Caramel, Cedar, Malt, Pine, Smoke, Spicy, Tar, Toast, Vanilla, Wood
Preparation
This tea brick was produced in Cangyuan, Yunnan for The Tao of Tea in 2011. I’m not sure who pressed this particular brick (perhaps Cangyuan Wa Mountain Tea Factory?), so I cannot really comment much on this tea’s origin. I can say, however, that judging from the extremely tight compression of the brick that this is definitely a machine pressed tea. Most bricks usually are anyway. A further inspection of the brick reveals the presence of numerous tippy leaves, indicating that this is most likely a high quality product.
Prior to really getting into the nuts and bolts of how this tea smelled and tasted over the course of the session, allow me to state that this brick was a total pain to break apart. Due to the aforementioned compression and the small size, I quickly found that neither of my regular knives would do the trick. I had to use the smallest and sharpest of my tea needles, and even then, it still did not break quite as cleanly as I would have preferred. For the record, I probably should have steamed it.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. I almost always prepare pu-erh tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I allowed the tea to rest for a few minutes. While breaking the brick apart, I managed to stick one of my thumbs with the tea needle and again needed to clean the wound and rebandage anyway. Once I was ready to go, I started by steeping approximately 8 grams of tea in 4 oz/120 ml of 208 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this infusion with 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 5 seconds, 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, and 1 minute.
Prior to the rinse, I noted slight aromas of woodsmoke, sea salt, and pickled seaweed coming from the dry leaf material. The rinse allowed slightly stronger aromas to emerge. The rinsed leaves and the first infusion both produced a pronounced smoky, vegetal aroma with slight fruity undertones. The first infusion produced mild notes of pickled seaweed, pickled vegetables, smoke, and sea salt. The next 4 infusions were milder and fruitier on the nose and in the mouth. I detected integrated flavors of pickled seaweed, pickled vegetables (radish, cabbage, lettuce) pine, smoke, sea salt, tart cherry, crabapple, and unripened pear. The final series of infusions grew gradually smokier and more vegetal, with slight grassy undertones and an ever increasing hint of minerals.
I didn’t find this to be a bad sheng by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn’t really my thing either. It’s a very briny, vegetal, smoky tea, and I generally prefer a somewhat different flavor profile in shengs. The next time I drink this tea, I may lower the brewing temperature a tad. The Tao of Tea recommends a water temperature of 200 F, but I may do 205 F instead. I’m curious to see how it would react.
Flavors: Cherry, Fruity, Grass, Lettuce, Mineral, Pear, Pine, Seaweed, Smoke, Vegetal
Preparation
I’m backlogging just a bit with this one. I received a free sample of this tisane back in July and drank it three nights ago when I needed a sleep aid. I then promptly forgot about it. Since I have a little time, however, I figured I would go ahead and post a formal rating and review.
I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped the silken sachet (approximately 1 teaspoon of material or so I’m guessing) in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. As usual, I did not attempt a second infusion.
First off, I have to say that this smelled absolutely wonderful. Floral, herbal, straw-like aromas from the chamomile blossoms mingled with zesty, lemony hyssop, woody, floral linden blossoms, rose, and a mild toastiness and woodiness from the rooibos. In the mouth, I noted dominant notes of hyssop, linden, and chamomile. I also noted subtle notes of toast, malt, and cream undoubtedly provided by the rooibos, though I failed to note any rose presence. The aftertaste was very lemony, floral, and minty, perpetuating the dominance of the hyssop, chamomile, and linden in this blend.
I’m kind of torn on this one. I love the way it smelled, and the combination of herbs and flowers used was rather novel to say the least. Still, I found it to be rather unbalanced in the mouth. There was way too much chamomile, hyssop, and linden for my taste. If the individual presences of the rooibos and rose petals were a bit more pronounced, I may have liked this blend considerably more. As is, however, I found this to be just decent and nothing more.
Flavors: Cream, Floral, Herbs, Lemon, Malt, Mint, Rose, Straw, Toast, Wood
Preparation
Evol, I found it to be a more or less okay tisane. I will say, however, that I am serious when I claim that the smell is wonderful. The rose petals, hyssop, lemon myrtle, and linden really give this tisane some depth on the nose. I think there may be some kind of natural flavoring in this one too (they do list natural flavors in the ingredient list on their website), but it is not obvious. Even though this is not my favorite of theirs, Steven Smith Teamaker produces some excellent tisanes. Their No. 45 Peppermint Leaves may be the best peppermint tea I have tried to this point. I even like their hibiscus teas and their straight chamomile, which is saying something as I am normally indifferent to chamomile and openly hostile to hibiscus.
A wonderful smell accounts for a lot. One of my very favourite tisanes is this one: http://www.mightyleaf.com/loose-tea/chamomile-citrus-loose.html
Isn’t that interesting! Peppermint is near the bottom in terms of herbals that I reach for. Or non-herbals, for that matter. There are a few minty teas that I like, but they are rarities.On the other hand, send me all the hibiscus! Not only do I like it, but recently my naturopath has suggested that I include a cup or two in my day. Each day. So not only do I like it, but I have been actively seeking it out. I’ve been purchasing straight up organic hibiscus and blends with rose hips, but now I am looking for good blends with hibiscus so that I can change things up.
I will take a look at what they offer. There is no mention of whether they ship to Canada though, or I haven’t come across it, or what their shipping costs might be. Always a factor when dealing with American companies, especially now that our dollar is suffering so.
If they do ship here, Black Friday is coming soon. :)
I think I did rate it, though mine now is totally different. Between a 70-75. It’s a solid tea for calming you down with good ingredients, and with the added bonus of the bag having whole chamomile flowers and rose petals. You can brew it at least twice, and the only criticism is the price. In U.S. dollars, the average I’m seeing is over $12 bucks for 15 bags. The taste is closer to a 75-80, but because of the price, you could get more of the same quality herbal for cheaper.
So, I am slowly accomplishing my goal of finishing off the teas I have accumulated from Steven Smith Teamaker by November. I have 7 to go at this point, and should be able to finish at least 1 more before the end of the month. This blend of Ceylonese and Chinese black teas was the most recent sipdown.
I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion I tend to favor for many black teas. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. Obviously, no additional infusions were attempted.
After infusion, the liquor showed a dark, rich amber in the cup. On the nose, I detected a mixture of roasted nuts (black walnut, chestnut, hickory, and almond), leather, caramel, toast, malt, and cream. In the mouth, I detected complex notes of caramel, toast, malt, cream, roasted nuts, molasses, leather, smoke, and orange peel. I also noted a slight floral undertone that I could not quite place, as well as a hint of cocoa.
This tea is a blend of Steven Smith Teamaker’s Keemun Hao Ya B, Ceylon Uva, and Ceylon Dimbulla. All were teas that I rather enjoyed, and here they combined to produce a good, solid, respectable blend. Unfortunately, I feel that the combination of Ceylonese teas overpowers the admittedly small amount of Keemun used. I think I would have enjoyed this blend more if there were slightly more Keemun in it. The Keemun could have provided a little more fruitiness and richness to balance out the natural briskness and astringency of the Ceylonese teas. Though I still rather enjoyed this blend, I think people who are maybe a little more interested in Ceylonese teas would enjoy it more than someone like me.
Flavors: Astringent, Caramel, Cocoa, Cream, Floral, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Orange, Roasted Nuts, Smoke, Toast
Preparation
This is the other jasmine tea I have been drinking lately. It is yet another one that I like. I am beginning to find that floral teas don’t bother me as much as they once did.
I prepared this tea using the two step Western infusion I tend to use for many Chinese green teas. I first steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 190 F water for 3 minutes, and then followed up this initial infusion with a second infusion of 4 minutes. I can also say from experience that you can use a slightly shorter second infusion and this will still come out good. I have yet to try this tea gongfu, but I am assuming that it would do well.
After infusion, the liquor showed a delicate, pale gold in the cup. On the nose, I picked up a strong scent of jasmine, as well as subtle scents of straw, grass, and squash blossom. In the mouth, the jasmine flavor was strong, but was capably balanced by notes of squash blossom, peach, nectar, honeysuckle, gardenia, bamboo, straw, grass, soybean, and green beans. The finish provided a delicate swirl of floral and vegetal flavors with a hint of pleasant minerality on the back of the throat. The second infusion dialed the floral and fruity tones down a few notches and really emphasized the underlying grassy, vegetal, and mineral aromas and flavors. I still noted, however, that there was just enough lingering jasmine to provide a semblance of balance and depth.
This is yet another impressive tea from Steven Smith Teamaker. It makes an extremely effective contrast with their No. 99 Jasmine Pearls. To me, this Jasmine Silver Tip has a stronger floral aroma, but a more defined and complex green tea taste, while the Jasmine Pearls had a more balanced nose, yet a more robustly floral flavor. To be frank, I really like both, though I think I still like the Jasmine Pearls slightly more. Again, I’m seriously impressed. I would have no problem recommending this tea to any fan of floral teas.
Flavors: Bamboo, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Green Beans, Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Mineral, Nectar, Peach, Soybean, Squash Blossom, Straw