1216 Tasting Notes

78

Decided against better judgment to stay home with the migraine today (work gets pissy whenever someone happens to “be sick” on a Monday or Friday, but damn it all) so I promptly got a batch of this cold-brewing first thing this morning so I could sip on it throughout the day to help with the nausea. Mint and ginger are two of the only things that help curb that rather unfortunate side effect. I don’t have a Trader Joe’s anywhere near me, but my friend Todd sent me a box of this from one of his Bay Area stores when he made a Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold run for me (which is another tea that isn’t sold in any of my local stores). Popped four teabags in a quart-sized mason jar and left it until it was that brown color you expect of mint tea.

Cool. Refreshing. Has that nice, fresh, cool menthol mintiness of spearmint that settles in the back of the throat and is calming on the tum. Mildly grassy from the green tea, and there is a gentle citrusy burst from the lemongrass, but the spearmint is the dominant note. Satisfying. I should get another jar steeping now as it will probably go quickly.

Thanks Todd!

Flavors: Citrus, Grass, Menthol, Mint, Spearmint

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 4 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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70

Continuing to work on teas from the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!), I brewed this up for my breakfast this morning. I had a terrible migraine yesterday (which I worked through 8 hours at work, then promptly passed out the second I got home and fed the cat yesterday) and it still isn’t quite broken and I have another 8 hours of work ahead of me, so I wanted some caffeine against the lingering pain. Hense, a hardy black for breakfast. Used a 2.5g sample in 350ml 205F water, western brew, for a 3 minute steep.

This tea had long, twisty dark leaves, and the brew has a deeply malty aroma, that smells very warm and bready, with a hint of cinnamon. The flavor has notes of malt, baked bread, a bit of lemon citrus, and a very subtle hint of spice. There is a bit of mild astringency and drying on the tongue after the sip. It’s a quite solid breakfast-type tea, deep, malty, and satisfying. It would probably take additives well, if I felt in the mood for that.

Thanks for the share, tea_sipper!

Flavors: Astringent, Bread, Citrus, Drying, Lemon, Malt, Spices

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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82

Continuing to work on teas from the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!), I brewed this up to have with my mandarin for breakfast this morning. I only took a 3g sample from the box, and I normally use more leaf with herbals (especially fine rooibos/honeybush), so to compensate I dropped my water from a 12 oz. cup to an 8 oz. cup, and hopefully that will balance things out. If it doesn’t, well, that was just me being stingy and trying to not take much leaf from the box, I guess.

The aroma is very pleasant, though! It definitely has a pungent scent of blueberries and cinnamon, and a sweetness that makes me think of something warm and gooey and pastry-like. The blueberry isn’t as strong on the tongue as it is on the nose (or maybe I’m just too spoiled by how juicy 52Tea’s blueberry comes off), but it is definitely present. The cinnamon is a bit of a stronger note than the fruit but not overwhelming, and is very sweet; it tastes like a cinnamon-sugar toast spread to me. The base is sweet, and while some rooibos waxes more woody or medicinal (I especially get medicinal notes often when its paired with fruit flavors, ala cough syrup), I am not getting that in this tea at all… I’m picking up more on notes of honey and vanilla.

This is a really nice tea! Maybe not quite as good as the Apple Cinnamon French Toast, but close!

Thanks for the share, tea_sipper!

Flavors: Blueberry, Cinnamon, Honey, Sweet, Vanilla

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 235 ML
tea-sipper

I’m glad you liked this! I agree – not as good as Apple Cinnamon French Toast, but I don’t think many teas can be better than that anyway. :D

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This is another tea from the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!) I think I ran into LST (Love Some Tea) at the San Francisco International Tea Festival 2018, but considering I have a hard time remembering what I did last week let alone something from two years ago, I have no idea if this was one of the teas they had out for sample that day. Anyway, it was in this teabox, so I took a 2.5g sample to try. I prepared it cold brew style, letting it steep overnight in 350ml of water.

This tea is listed as a blend of black and green leaf, with lots of flower petals and dried mango and papaya with some natural flavorings. My sample, I’ll note, is only tea leaf, with no petals or dried fruit (maybe what was left in the bag?) I also don’t know the age of the sample… my brew is a light yellow color, and has a very faint sweet honeysuckle-esque aroma. The flavor tastes mostly like a crisp green tea — like sweet grass, with some subtle honey notes. I am not getting any fruit notes at all, and only a subtle florality that mostly reads as a bit of sweetness. I think this is mostly due to the selection/age of my sample more than the tea itself, though. It still made for a refreshing iced tea, based just on the tea leaf without the additives or flavorings.

I’m going to leave this unrated since I feel I didn’t get a fair representation of this one, but I appreciate the chance to try it all the same.

Flavors: Floral, Grass, Honey, Honeysuckle, Sweet, Vegetal

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 2 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
tea-sipper

I have some of this tea from another teabox, haven’t even tried it yet. I will soon!

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72

Another tea I yoinked from the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!) I have been curious about this one since I saw derk’s initial review, and those of some folks she traded with, so when I saw it in the teabox I knew I had to try it. Brewed up a small teapot to have with my potstickers for dinner.

The tea looks like a rooibos in its reddish-orange color, but has a strong herbal aroma, with a hint of floral sweetness to it. The scent reminds me of fresh yellow dandelions, with a backdrop of vegetal hay. It also has a spicy aroma, a bit peppery. The flavor is slightly floral, but leaning more to the herbaceous side. I get a vegetal, warm grassy/hay flavor, with a sweet floral taste that somehow reminds me of chamomile without the unpleasant soapiness that makes me dislike chamomile so much. There is a sharpness at the back of my tongue, toward the end of the sip, that I can only describe as citrusy. A strange amalgamation of herbaceous, floral, and citrus notes, but altogether very pleasant.

Thanks for sharing!

Flavors: Citrus, Dandelion, Floral, Grass, Herbaceous, Hot Hay, Pepper, Vegetal

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML
tea-sipper

I almost had this today, digging through my neglected Yunnan Sourcing teas. sigh.

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69

I grabbed this out of the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for coordinating and all who contributed!) because I have never heard of lotus flavored tea and, liking floral teas, was simply curious about it. I took a 2g sample from the box, with no guesses as to age of the sample… it’s definitely been sitting in my house now for far longer than I really should’ve allowed (I’m now putting getting all teabox teas sipped down at a priority, even if that means “drinking them the wrong way and not doing time-consuming gong fu sessions that I just can never fit into my schedule”).

Brewed, it does have a floral aroma, but it’s very delicate. There is a honeysuckle sort of sweet aroma, but also a vegetal sort of note, like a marshy/water plant aroma? The black tea base itself (from Cambodia), smells of malt, honey, orange marmalade, and hay. The flavor… isn’t really a floral black like I was expecting. It’s a nice black tea, malty but not astringent, with a bit of honeyed sweetness, but there is a sort of vegetal quality at the back of the throat that reminds me a bit of that wet, marshy taste I usually get in pu’erh, just not quite as strong. I certainly like this better than the “swamp marsh” tasting pu’s I’ve had… this is a much smoother flavor, and every now and then, at the end of a sip, a subtle sweet hint of florality will pop up on the tongue, in the aftertaste. It’s a rather strange tea. Certainly nothing I’ve tasted before. I’m still not exactly sure what the “lotus flavoring” is… but I am glad I got to try something so unique, so thanks to whoever shared this one!

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Honeysuckle, Malt, Smooth, Sweet, Vegetal, Wet Earth, Wet Moss

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
ashmanra

I have no idea what Lotus would taste like! Glad you reviewed!

Mastress Alita

Well, even after drinking it, I’m still not sure what it should taste like either, hahaha!

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79
drank Fujian Rain by Adagio Teas
1216 tasting notes

One of my old Adagio samples that I’m working on sipping down, now that I’ve finished all my old Tealyra stuff off. The leaves are very long, twisty, and dark, and smell almost chocolately in the bag. Brewed western, 2.8g in 350ml @ 205F for 3 min.

The tea smells like malt, honey, caramel, and strongly of roasted nuts. It has a pleasant roasted flavor; I’m getting notes of malt, toasted bread, roasted nuts (particularly a more earthy walnut flavor), honey, and a bittersweet cocoa that settles toward the end of the sip. There is a hint of a cherry note, as well, but it is subtle. There is some earthiness and minerality as well, but the tea is quite smooth. I’m really enjoying this one.

Flavors: Bread, Cherry, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Earth, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Nutty, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Toast, Walnut

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
gmathis

Yum. This sounds lovely. I really need to revisit Adagio. It’s been a while!

Mastress Alita

I’m not much of a fan of the flavored stuff (though I do like the obnoxiously strong rose one, but I’m a fan of obnoxiously strong rose flavoring!) but some of the straight teas are aight. I really like the Fujian Baroque Chinese black.

ashmanra

Oh, I need to try the rose one!

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65

I’ve tried a few different Rooibos EG’s and haven’t liked a single one thus far. I’ve had this one in my cupboard for ages and have yet to have tried it, probably because of my bad track record with bergamot on rooibos. However, I’m out of a black lavender EG and that was what I was craving to go with my lemon poppyseed cookie, so I finally decided to try this. Maybe the lavender made a big difference, because I actually didn’t mind this. The bergamot tastes a little grapefruity, but doesn’t come across too sour, even on the lighter base. The lavender is lovely and strongly floral, and pairs well with the strong citrus flavor of the bergamot. The rooibos is a strong flavor, a bit woody, hay-like, and sweet. I wouldn’t select this over a good black lavender EG, but this is surprisingly suitable for a rooibos alternative when I have traditionally hated bergamot paired with rooibos.

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Floral, Grapefruit, Honey, Hot Hay, Lavender, Sweet, Tart, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML

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80

I received this from Ost’s cupboard sale in summer 2018. I had about enough for a single cup so I brewed that up this morning. The tea is a lovely brown color and does have a nice fruity aroma.

The taste of the tea is slightly malty with some honeyed notes, but the lychee flavor fills out strongly in the brew. I really love the taste of lychee, I get strong notes of pear and rose. The fruitiness and florality leave a lot of sweetness in the brew and the tea is very smooth. I think I enjoy Art of Tea’s Lychee Peach a bit more, but the age of this sample might have something to do with that; fresh, it could easily be on par with that one for me. Even aged, it is still a very enjoyable cuppa.

Thanks for the sample!

Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Honey, Lychee, Malt, Pear, Rose

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML

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78

I thought I had reviewed this before, but a Ctrl+F of my steepster.txt file proves that my memory is atrocious as ever. And since I’m working on sipping it down, I’d better rectify that before it is gone. I received this from tea-sipper in a cupboard sale in early 2018, so thanks, tea-sipper! I’ve prepared it as a cold brew, letting the leaf soak in a glass mason jar overnight before straining and then drinking ice cold.

The tea is a purpley/crimson hue, and has strong aromas of berries (a bit of a blueberry/muscatel scent), citrus (heavily lime), and pine/sage. And the flavor reflects the aroma. I’m getting hit with a strong lime flavor, and this nice, fresh pine note from the juniper and find this sort of cooling effect left on my tongue from the citrus and pine. The fruity notes are more muted against the strong citrus/pine, but there is a berry sweet/tart note beneath that, and it can be tasted at the back of my tongue, especially as the citrus and pine starts to wear off. The berry flavor tastes more like red berries in the brew, while the aroma smelled more like blueberries/grapes on the nose.

It’s a nice iced tea, and I always like the inclusion of juniper in a blend. I’m not sure how I’d feel about this tea as a warm brew, and am kind of content to just drink it as a refreshing iced blend during these warm months.

Flavors: Berries, Citrus, Fruity, Lime, Pine, Sweet, Tart

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 8 g 32 OZ / 946 ML
AJRimmer

Ooo I love pine type flavors. I hope B&B brings something like this back!

Mastress Alita

I do too! Usually whenever juniper berries are in something, it’s a win for me. I’ve been drinking more of this today, it’s a scorcher today and its so refreshing!

tea-sipper

I’m glad you like it. :D

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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