1384 Tasting Notes
Another tea from the Chicago Tea Festival. These guys are fun to talk to. Unfortunately, whoever was walking around taking pictures caught my face in an extremely weird angle and pose while talking to them.
Anyway… a bird got stuck in my bunny netting, and it smelled awful. I’m taking a timeout to drink some tea.
Dry aroma: There is a hint of something, but it is far too faint to really give it a name.
Rinse: Old wood house (1800s) and charcoal
Flavor: 1800s wooden house. Cream of wheat. Charcoal. When steeped longer, the charcoal notes really punch you in the face. There are also notes of wet wood after a fire.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth with less time. On longer steepings, there is some astringency that hits with an almost acidic type of feel. (Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it seems, but that is my best way to describe it.)
Aroma cup: What is going on in here? It’s like dark red berries are having a bonfire. Not quite cherry but more like a currant perhaps? I want to travel more just so I can smell all the things.
Wet Leaf: Musty 1800s house. A bit of water damage. Slight fruity with charcoal.
Lovely. A perfect way to wind down the evening. A nice herbal latte and the new season of Rising of the Shield Hero.
The dry aroma is intense and pleasant. Soft nose sips. Too much of a whiff will lead you straight to a tissue. Strong in all the ingredients.
Add the powder first. I used about 3/4 tsp of powder. Then hot water. About 4-5 oz. Mix. Then milk of choice. Mix. Enjoy. Honey is also a welcome addition to the party.
This is a nice and spicy blend. It will clear your sinuses. Smooth with a slight but pleasant afterbite.
Another Chicago Tea Festival tea that I have yet to open. They ran out of this one (they were sampling) but said they’d ship for free. Hopefully, that didn’t cost them too much money.
My excitement in trying this tea has quickly diminished, knowing that they have added rhubarb leaves. Technically, you aren’t supposed to consume it in high amounts. Apparently, you need to consume around 11 pounds of rhubarb leaves to reach a fatal dose. But otherwise, it can cause other issues like kidney stones.
Not going to lie… I am apprehensive and I don’t think I can open this one at the moment till they reply to my email.
Here is there response: “We appreciate your concern regarding the rhubarb leaves in our Rhubarb Berry Tea. We prioritize transparency in our ingredient labeling. While we do include a small amount of leaves, it is important to note that consuming excessive quantities would be necessary to experience any negative effects. If you have any further questions or need clarification, please feel free to reach out.”
I was always told that rhubarb was toxic if you ate the leaves due to oxalates. I also know to avoid feeding the leaves to rabbits and other animals. I don’t think it is problematic is smaller quantities.
For some perspective, even ordinary parsley contains high levels of oxalates. On a dry weight basis oxalic acid is 2% in parsley. I discussed this with my urologist after having kidney stones and he dismissed it saying nobody eats much parsley (he thinks of it as a garnish). I think that was a rather ethnocentric statement of his because tabouli is a very common dish with some families, and it is essentially parsley salad. In contrast, the oxalic acid content of rhubarb leaves is typically 1% or less. But they are considered toxic. Given the very low levels of rhubarb leaf in tisane compared to a parsley garnish, I think it is safe to view the rhubarb leaf content of this tisane as safe, in agreement with the statement by Nature’s Tea Company.
Agree with both of you. I think it’s safer to not consume much of it and it you do in small settings and I have a feeling it’s more potent raw. And thank you for the info on parsley! That’s fascinating!
Purselane is another commonly-eaten plant/weed which is high in oxalates. Honestly, though, all of this information has simply reinforced my rejection of rhubarb, and continued my avoidance of purselane, add caused me to begin avoiding parsley. I never want another kidney stone!
T_T I’m sorry you had to go through that.
lots of fluids, and potassium or magnesium citrate can bind to oxalates and help your body flush them out to prevent kidney stones. But potassium can also cause problems if you already have unhealthy kidneys. Genetics are also a factor, but if you are well hydrated your risk is lower.
TY, Skysamurai! I agree with those tips & observations, rosebudmelissa! Thanks!
The story of this tea is what led me to buy it. The flavor/aroma profile is also very unique. You can check out more on that here: https://teatiff.com/2025/07/08/volition-tea/
Dry aroma: Nothing. More on my thoughts about this below.
Dry Appearance: Trichomes all over. Silvery buds, a mix of dark green and olive green.
Wet Leaf: Mouth-watering. Greens, sweet melon, and a note of freshness that makes you float away.
Flavor: Honeydew, Vegetal. Bamboo shoots. A bit of pine and birch, Minnesota’s varieties anyway.
Mouthfeel: Soft. Like a silk comforter.
On the dry leaf: There is no odor-absorbing packet but there is biodegradable packing peanuts to keep the leaf from moving around. While I understand the reasoning behind it, I would do a few things differently. One being that the peanuts shouldn’t be directly touching the tea. While they are technically edible, they are not made in food-safe areas (unless that has changed?) I also wonder if they absorb aroma like desiccant packs do? According to what I read, some do. A nice double use to keep the tea from being contaminated by other aromas.
This is Spring 2024.
TTB: I realized, like a dufas, that I have some tea that I forgot to add back into the TTB. There isn’t much left to this sample, though.
Dry Appearance. Glorious. Mainly golden and fuzzy (they call it golden, but honestly, it’s more like a shiny, creamy, golden-brown). Mixed with dark brown. Curling.
Wet Leaf: Less curly, but you can still see the fuzz. Golden chocolate brown.
Flavor: Creamy, woody, yum.
Wet leaf Aroma: Sweet cream, sweet wood, chocolate milk
This one is incredibly smooth. When your friends ask you why you drink loose tea instead of tea bags, this is why.
TTB. Super Sorry. This is not from this TTB. It’s from the last TTB. Yikes. Good thing it’s a dark tea.
Loose Leaf: Pretty typical dusty look, browns, with a mix of leaves and some buds. Not much aroma.
Wet Leaf: Dark greenish brownish. Chopped. Slight muscatel. Old wood.
Flavor: old decaying wood. 1800s house kinda. Kinda tannic, but that’s probably my fault. Overall probably a good one I just don’t do most dark teas very well…
I’m a little bit lost. Is this a sheng pu-erh? Or just an aging “dark” tea? I can’t really tell from EoT’s description, either.
My guess is a sheng. It looked like a shou at first hut after steeping it tasted more of a sheng profile
Although the cake looks very dark for a sheng, you’re right that the steeped leaves appear more like a raw than a ripe. I wasn’t even sure of the cakes’ status as puer, since I did not recognize the large calligraphy on the center of the wrapper. Though I do now see the puer marking twice on the periphery. Nice that you’re enjoying it!
It’s a sheng! This was pressed in 2004, so as unbelievable as it sounds, this is a 20+ year old tea – very normal for the leaf to look so much darker and shou-like with some age on it. Afterall, shou is actually meant to replicate the look/taste of aged sheng ;)
Do you ever have those times where you start feeling like the sneezing isn’t from allergies, and then suddenly you feel warm and just kinda meh? That was me yesterday. My immediate thought is always elderberry syrup. (If you get some, make sure it doesn’t have sugar!) I swear by the stuff. We didn’t have any, but I do have this tea.
Dry aroma: Cinnamon. Cinnamon bark, more specifically. And a hint of lemon.
Flavor: This is a pleasant blend. A bit spicy and a hint of woodiness. But overall, cinnamon. If you don’t like cinnamon, you will hate this. But if you enjoy cinnamon like I do you’ll find this quite pleasant.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon
It’s all about the cinnamon.
