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Kristal drank Darjeeling Green Tea by M&K's Tea Company

415 tasting notes

Tea 10/11 of the tea I got from M&K’s etsy shop. I got a green tea sampler pack (10 teas) + they threw in one sample which was also a green tea :). Each of the samples I got were enough for 2-3 “servings” of tea.

First off, a comment on the steeping instructions- on the back of this sample it recommended 205 degrees F for this tea. What in the world were they thinking? This isn’t a roasted green tea so it can’t stand those temperatures. For my first cup I used half of the sample steeped for 3 min in 10 oz of 185 degree F water and the taste was so bitter I dumped it out along with the leaves since I knew they were burnt- what a shame. So I used the rest of the sample in a second cup of tea at 175 degree F for 2min. Still somewhat astringent, but much better. Second steeping of the leaves, 160 degree F water for 2 min and the tea is still bitter?? Maybe I overleafed this tea, but I’ve used the same amount of other teas with this amount of water and temperature and they’ve been fine (but of course, not all teas are made equal…)

Overall the best steeping was the 2nd one, and so my final verdict based on that steeping is that this is an okay tea, but obviously it has a tendency to get bitter very easily. Therefore this is not a tea I would repurchase.

Flavors: Astringent

Preparation

2 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 295 ML

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I used to drink coffee, but it started to hurt my stomach so I switched to tea. A friend of mine introduced me to DAVID’s TEA and I couldn’t stop after that! I’ve now been expanding my scope beyond DAVIDs away from “candy-like teas” into more natural teas or flavourings. Current favourite stores include International House of Tea (iHOT) and Verdant Tea.

When it comes to tea ratings, I usually only ever rate them once. I know a lot of people on steepster do many tasting notes for the same teas depending on their mood, but I prefer to rate once and if my opinion changes, I will delete the old note and rate again. How I rate teas goes as following:

1-49: Teas I won’t buy again. Either the taste is disgusting to me, or it’s too bland, etc. I’m most likely not even going to finish the tin/bag.

50-59: Teas I wouldn’t buy again; I have to force myself to drink the whole cup to not waste it.

60-69: I’ll finish the cup and even the bag/tin, but I wouldn’t buy these teas again. Teas of this rating are “lacking something”.

70-79:Teas that are pretty good and ones I might buy again. Usually these teas are ones I have to be “in the mood for” and drink occasionally.

80-89: Great teas! Ones I will drink several times a week and often have in my stash :).

90-100: Favourite must-have teas!

My favourite types of tea are green tea and different types of “natural” herbal tea (different herbs, natural flavourings, etc). I cannot drink black or oolong teas due a sensitive stomach. I don’t really go for white tea due to its cost and the fact that it has just a little caffeine (if I want caffeine I’ll just go for a green tea and if I don’t I’ll go for a herbal-no sense on just having a little caffeine). I also like to do iced teas in the summer time, and then I’ll gravitate towards herbal fruit blends that are bagged to cut costs and convenience (it’s easier to throw out bags than clean a filter). Flavours I don’t care for include anything too tart, bitter, artificial, overly spicy or overly sweet.
Also, when I have time (usually when I’m not working much) I like to make tea lattes out of different rooibos blends.

My everyday green tea is Gunpowder since it is strong and not sensitive to temperatures or steeping time which is something I cannot be bothered with when I’m getting ready for work. Other greens I enjoy are dragonwell, sencha, and different Chinese greens. I’m not the biggest fan of yunnan greens since they are so finicky (although I do like gyokuro)

On a day to day basis I usually have 2-3 cups of green tea and several more cups of different herbal blends.

Besides tea I also work at a couple libraries (I am finishing my library tech diploma),am in my early 20s and got married in Oct 2014.