12 Tasting Notes

90

This is a lovely cup of white tea. I struggled to taste the pear and the ginger was more subtle than the packaging implied, but this resulted in a balanced and soothing coat of flavor.

In fact I think that’s the theme of this tea. Upon careful recollection, I can’t quite place my finger on precisely what, besides peach and ginger, comprises the center of the tea’s flavor.

And weirdly enough I caught a whiff of what resembled my father’s favorite IPA beer while this was steeping, and the taste of hops was there, too, dancing ghoulishly on the tip of my tongue before melting away.

Plus if you taste it carefully, there’s the tiiiiiniest hint of mint underlying the whole flavor profile.

Overall, a very well-rounded cup, not too sweet but not bitter at all, with little dazzling, ephemeral shimmers of unexpected flavors tiptoeing in a circle around a mysterious but refreshing prima donna core of pure white tea.

Flavors: Cucumber, Ginger, Herbs, Hops, Mint, Peach

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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20
drank Red Zinger by Celestial Seasonings
12 tasting notes

Blech!!!!!

So I left the tea bag in for maybe half a minute and the water was still clear.

But then I took a chopstick to stir it a bit and an oil spillage of fuchsia happened. Not two heartbeats later, the scent blasted into my face as if a jet stream made of cotton candy scent.

The taste was exactly what those harbingers of doom warned: in-your-face, sweet to a point of nausea, maybe a little bit tart, and cough syrupy in a distinctly synthetic range. I noticed the hibiscus scent for maybe fifteen seconds, and the flavor for an even shorter amount of time, before it succumbed to the avalanche of undercooked cranberry pie flavor.

It sure has a zing, but do not drink this unless you want the taste of hyperglycemic levels of sugar on your tongue.

Flavors: Apple, Artificial, Cake, Caramel, Cotton Candy, Cranberry, Hibiscus, Raspberry

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 45 sec

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85
drank Mint Rose by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
12 tasting notes

The rose isn’t very noticeable, which struck me as pleasantly surprising. There’s a fresh, almost ozonic taste — think fresh air in the mountains — in a top layer, underscored by the tingle of different mint flavors. Quite a nice tea if you can brew it just right; this one also works well with the tea just in a cup (no filter needed!), since the fragments all sink to the bottom and stay there as the liquid steeps into a pleasant golden color.

Flavors: Lemongrass, Peppermint, Spearmint, Sugar

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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93
drank Jasmine by Ten Ren
12 tasting notes

Today, the taste reminds me of rain forest mountain mist, the kind one would taste when not fully awake but hiking anyway.

Flavors: Forest Floor, Honey, Jasmine, Sap, Spices, Wet Wood

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 300 OZ / 8872 ML

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93
drank Jasmine by Ten Ren
12 tasting notes

This jasmine is amazingly 香 and thick in its scent plus sweet and honey-like in its taste as soon as it cools down, but the taste gets a little too flat a little too quickly.

Flavors: Honey, Lychee

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more

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88
drank Ceylon by Whittard of Chelsea
12 tasting notes

Quite nice and silky. This is one of those teas that gets better with re-soaking.

Use this with a tea infuser ball or a really good filter — otherwise the shavings get everywhere.

Flavors: Caramel, Dates, Vanilla

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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96

YUM YUM YUM! This tea was perfect this time! Plus it stays flavorful even after repeatedly re-soaking it (in my new Japanese thermos, yay!). It even gets a creamy texture, almost of the condensed milk variety, that slides down my throat smoothly. Definitely helped with a sore throat. Unfortunately I’m running out, so I might have to restock it soon.

Flavors: Cream, Stewed Fruits

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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96

Still amazing, even when over-steeped. Nice and smooth finish with a very golden, almost Kona coffee-ish undertone. The flavor lasts, too, even after two re-soaks.

Flavors: Cream, Espresso

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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18
drank Icewine Tea by Canada True
12 tasting notes

Oops. I was in a rush when I prepped this tea and forgot about it until class time, so it was way over-steeped. This would probably be why it was way too cinnamon-y.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Tobacco

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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96

My go-to Oolong since I received it as a gift from my auntie.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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Bio

Hi! I’m a coffeeholic-turned-tea-addict, though my experience with tea doesn’t extend much past re-steeped home go-to pots and dim sum restaurant cups. I am fascinated by the history of tea because, hey, wars were fought over this stuff, right?

My favorites are jasmine (my #1), mint, Ceylon, oolong, the occasional well balanced tie guan yin, the occasional white, chrysanthemum, and chamomile. Herbals are a hit or miss — I seriously cannot stand rooibos or other flower bomb tea.

Regardless, my tea-steeping and tea-pouring etiquette could REALLY use some work. Hopefully this website will change that!

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