240 Tasting Notes

82

The Tea List is a little tea house in Davis, CA, serving a good selection of loose leaf teas and snacks. The lady working was very nice, and I felt right at home walking in.

http://tea-list.com/

I chose their Organic Pu-erh Classic, as I was in the mood for something big and flavorful after breakfast for the drive back to San Jose. It was either this or an Oolong, and I flipped a coin in my head and went for it.

This is a great, simple Pu-erh. Nothing special, but a solid, basic Pu-erh. Every flavor was what it should be, and nice and big and bold, just the way I like it.

I would highly recommend anyone in Davis to check this place out, they have a large and rather complete selection of loose leaf teas, and if they are all as wonderful as this Pu-erh, I certainly want to go back and try more!

-E

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 5 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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80
drank Apple Chai by Cafe Bernardo
240 tasting notes

This was on the menu at Cafe Bernardo in Davis, CA.

VERY interesting. I love a good chai, and I’m usually not into blends, I like to let the tea speak for itself, but this one was special. I literally tasted like apple cider in a chai body. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was just a dark and spicey apple cider served in a chai mug. But knowing that I ordered it from the bar and watched the girl make it, it is definitely a chai with apple.

A great morning sipper in fall or Winter, I would certainly go back for this one.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec 16 OZ / 473 ML

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68

Not bad for a green tea in a bag. Had this one at a breakfast place in Davis this morning. Could use some more taste, it was a bit on the bland side, but what was there was very good. Nice and light, with hints of straw and grass. I could even sense a slight hint of butter. I little too light for my taste, though.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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92

This tea just blows me away every time I drink it. The smooth, easy green tea base with hints of butter, wet grass and straw literally make a cup of pure happiness every time.

All that being said, I think I screwed up this batch. I let it steep for 1.5 minutes, which apparently is way too long. i should have followed the directions on Red Blossoms website which said 45 seconds, but I took some other advice and let it go longer due to my larger teapot.

Nope. It’s a bit on the bitter side. I know what the capabilities of this tea are, and the second steeping will go back to 45 seconds.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 30 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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86

This is easily one of my favorite black teas of all time. Everything about it is the pinnacle of what I think a black tea should be. From the aroma to the taste to the aftertaste to the feel to the color. It’s all beautiful.

Following Red Blossom’s brewing recommendations, I used 3 tablespoons of leaves in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam teapot. After rinsing, I added water that had just barely reached boil, about 200 degrees, and let it steep for 2 minutes.

Right off the bat, as I let the boiling water tumble over the wet leaves, the smell filling the room fills the senses with just what a good morning should be. Calm, smooth, slightly sweet, hints of butter and sweet potato. Happiness in an almost zen sense.

Then I pour the first cup and again my senses are overjoyed with the smell of this fine liqueur. Taking in more from up close, my nose just over the edge of the mug, the sweet, calm, sweet potato smell is about as soothing as I can ask for. A nearly perfect Winter’s morning aroma.

Then there is the taste. What can I say about the taste? It pretty much follows the aroma. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing unexpected or lacking. Just the right amount of bitterness to accentuate the sweet potato smell, but not so much as to become overwhelming.

For a tea snob like myself, this is what I think of when I want a black tea. Sweet, not too bitter, but with some bitterness in there. I like a big and bold, in your face tea that is still well balanced and drinkable. I like to taste the intricacies of the tea, not chew on tannins. They need to all work together, the intricate tastes and feels, and the tannin bitterness, to create the perfect tea. Here is a great example of just that.

I like.

-E

Flavors: Sweet, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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88

I thought we had lost this one, but we found it on a random shelf hidden amongst a pile of Jell-O. You read that correct.

Anyway, it had been a while, so last night I brewed some of this sweet little number up for two. My oh my it is a good one!

The Red Blossom website gives you two different methods to brew this, one for a light, sweet taste, and a more traditional method for a bigger, bolder taste. I voted for the bigger and bolder. The girlfriend voted for light and sweet. The vote was 1 to 1. I lost.

So, the light and sweet version is simply not too long on the steeping timer and not quite as much leaves. I used about 2 tablespoons of leaves in her 2 cup infuser and steeped for about 1 minute. (3+ tablespoons and 2 minutes of steeping time for the bigger and bolder version)

The color was lighter than I remember, and lighter than I am used to for an Oolong, but then again it is a Phoenix Oolong, so, maybe there you go. or not. I’m not really a master on the Phoenix Oolong. It was a nice reddish brown, rather clear color.

The smell was beautiful. Nice and light, sweet, with a hint of honey and almost an orange feel. It really is full of flavor.

I’m really curious as to what the more traditional brew is like. Next time I hope I win the vote!

-E

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec 6 tsp 24 OZ / 709 ML

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80
drank Portland Blend by Stash Tea
240 tasting notes

I’m normally not a huge fan of tea blends, especially ones using rose and berries, but this one is actually quite delicious.

It is basically a black tea with added what-have-yous, namely cocoa, rose, raspberry, and blue cornflower. All these things together made me pause at first, as usually when you have a blend with this many things, it comes out a mishmash of sensation with no real direction.

Not the case here. Each flavor could be picked out fresh and ready, but overall it was still clearly a black tea with added flavor.

I used 2 heaping tablespoons of leaves in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam, rinsed first, added boiling water, and let it steep for 3 minutes, the minimum recommendation on the package.

It gave me a dark, velvety, reddish black liqueur with an aroma of black tea with cocoa, rose, and berry. The taste itself gets a little more specific, and you can point out the rose, raspberry, and cocoa adding to the fine black tea base taste.

As the package says, it is eclectic and quirky, just like Portland. That’s pretty accurate, I would say.

VERY well done, Stash Tea!

Flavors: Cocoa, Raspberry, Rose

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 6 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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70

I was at a friend’s house for game night last night and we were in the mood for tea. As the high tea snob of the party, I offered to make it, and soon found myself hunting through a box of tea bags. Some good stuff, mostly leftovers of teas bought long ago and quickly found to be not all that good.

I did find this gem, however, as well as a few other good ones in the mix.

Quick heads up: I have been trying a lot of different very high quality loose leaf teas, and it had been a while since I had anything other than the standard blends in a tea bag. Jasmine Green, Earl Grey, English and Irish Breakfast, etc.

But I am glad to say I was delightfully surprised by the quality and flavor of this little bag. Of course, it did not compare to the control, flexibility, and quality of a loose leaf, but it was actually very good.

Even the 2nd steeping was still full of flavor that had not yet been mashed and mixed to the point of bleh like many cheaper tea bags will do.

Good stuff!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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87
drank Tie Guan Yin by Unknown
240 tasting notes

So, I got some loose leaf tea as a Christmas present from a student before Christmas. I reviewed it the first time I drank it, but since they are from China and bought it when they were there, I could not read the label.

So, I put a pic up on the Facebooks and got a few answers. It’s a Tie Guan Yin, but the brand is unknown.

But, it’s damn good. Like, one of the better I have had. It came in a small wooden box, with several wrpped, vacuum sealed bags inside.

Brewing two bags, (about 3 tablespoons total) in 32 ounces of water at 200 degrees in my Bodum Assam teapot, I get a nice dark golden, almost wet straw colored brew.

The smell is amazing. Rich, robust, with hints of roasted nuts, wet straw, and toffee.

The taste is equally impressive. Full of flavor, but still so well balanced and smooth.

It’s rare you can find a tea so full of flavor, so big and in your face, so bold and beautiful, but still so well balanced and drinkable. No bitter tea face here!

Flavors: Roasted Nuts, Straw, Sweet, Toffee, Wet Earth

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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85
drank Unknown Black Tea by Unknown
240 tasting notes
I do like that Unknown Black Tea is such a thing here. I would hate to taste such a great tea and not be able to write about it.

Long story short:

I play and teach music for a living, and often my students give me gifts around the holidays. I have one student in particular who is from China, and his family knows I love tea. Last year they gave me a great green tea.

This year they gave me a black tea. I didn’t ask them about it, and the label and container has only Chinese Characters on it. They did tell me it was a black tea, so I know that much for certain. I’ll find out more about it later, but I wanted to get some words down first.

This tea came in small freeze dried bags, each one containing just under 2 tablespoons of loose leaves. I used two of these bags, so probably 3-4 tablespoons in total, in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam teapot.

I followed the loose brewing guidelines for black tea, rinsing the leaves before adding water that had just reached nearly a full boil and letting the steep for 2:30.

The result was a liqueur with a dark golden, see through color More of an Oolong than a black. It smells and tastes like a Tung Ting, with my limited knowledge of tea.

The aroma is what gave it away. It has that bite, that sweetness that is familiar in teas harvested from higher elevations. I’ve had a couple of Tung Tings from Red Blossom Tea Company, and this was very similar. Sweet, full bodied, hints of sugar and caramel.

I hope to find out more about this tea, I really like it!

-E

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 9 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML
yyz

If you open a discussion and post pictures of the packaging someone may be able to help you I’d it. As well sometimes the tea factories name is on the packaging in English which can help find a web page or if you’re really lucky there is a website listed. I’ve used all of these to help I’d types of teas and their makers before. Good luck. Often the gift teas are some sort of Lapsang Souchong ( the ones for the Chinese market are rarely that smokey and I have had one that tasted like a caramel chocolate oolong before. It was fabulous).

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