1379 Tasting Notes
The description she uses for her teas are so… bland. I guess they get the point across, and they do it quickly. Perhaps she figures most people aren’t going to really read the descriptions? Do you?
This is another sample from the Chicago Tea Festival. The leaf is a bit more broken than I assume the rest of the batch would normally be.
Dry Appearance: Medium-sized leaves and twigs. Dark brown with a few golden buds.
Initial aroma: Creamy, chocolate, slight honey, woody
Flavor: Woody, milk chocolate, perfumy.
Wet Leaf Aroma: Resin, purple raisins.
PLEASE NOTE: Chicago Teahouse is no longer affiliated with TeeGschwendner. You can find out why and more here:
https://teatiff.com/2023/02/13/chicago-teahouse/
Brewing: 5 mins. 1tsp. 212F.
I’m leaving it on the other counter so that I don’t try to smell or touch it until the timer rings.
Dry Leaf: Curly and tightly twisted. Mostly dusty, dark brown in color with a few light brown/golden tips.
Wet Leaf: chocolate brown. Fully opened. Some twigs, pieces of smaller leaves.
Wet Aroma: slightly malty. A bit woody.
Flavor: Woody, malty, resinous, and a bit of deep summer fruits.
Mouth Feel: Astringency.
It’s a decent tea. Good for the morning when one doesn’t really want to think and just drink. But it’s not something I would pull out for a special morning.
Our “local” shop in Raleigh, Tin Roof Teas, also began carrying exclusively Teageschwendner but began carrying other teas as well quite some time ago. There are lots of teas there that you can find on other tea company sites, even using the same stock photo and having the same description. A few have name changes. Madame Butterfly, for example, was available from a number of companies but TRT carried it under the name Fuzzy Navel. Sadly, they no longer carry it so I am back to ordering it online when I buy it for my bestie.
Another sample from the Chicago Tea Festival. It was very kind of them to give this to me. If you haven’t checked out this company yet, I highly recommend them. The owner, Alex, is very kind, and he really knows his stuff.
Dry Appearance: White, downy buds. Fuzzy. Silver. Soft to the touch.
Dry Aroma: Beautiful. Floral, slightly spicy with earthy tones.
Infusing Leaf Aroma: Barnyard.
Flavor: Very earthy. Barnyard, hay, composting hay, compost, woody, there is also a nutty tone that I can’t quite put my finger on.
On my way to Chicago for the Chicago Tea Festival. It’s Friday, and I have two missions. 1. Get safely to my Aunt’s house. 2. Visit Casting Whimsy. They close at five, so with that in mind, I began my day quite early. Upon my arrival at the shop, I was surprised to find a drive-thru board and window. Ah! But just kidding. It is not in use, but they did make the sign very whimsical. The shop is awesome. If you are a geek of any sort, you will enjoy this place. Now onto the tea.
Dry Appearance: The leaf is broken. CTC but not as sad as one would see in a tea bag. These are pretty pieces. Mostly darkish brown with highly of orangish brown. Twisted.
Dry Aroma: Slightly sweet and fruity.
Wet Appearance: Open leaf. All uniform in chocolate brown color.
Wet Aroma: I will come back to this. The second steep seems to have removed all of the aroma.. ?
Flavor: Woody. Planks of cedar. But also some sawdust. Bits of dark forest fruits.
Mouthfeel: Slightly astringent with soothing softness. That sounds weird, but it is astringent enough to wake you up but not punch you in the face.
Another sample from the Chicago Tea Festival. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Gunpowder tea. This brings back memories from when I went to China on a study abroad with my college. The Temple of Heaven is quite amazing.
Dry Appearance: Some shiny, some dusty. Tightly rolled into balls. Dark, greyish green. Smooth to touch.
Dry Aroma: Drying. Plaster?
Quick Rinse. (They say you should rinse the majority of the Chinese teas you buy)
Rinsed leaf aroma: Already experiencing some deep and complex notes. Dark fruits and marzipan.
Flavor: Roasting notes of charcoal and composting leaves.
Wet Leaf: At first, it seems somewhat plain, and you wonder if it was stored wrong but they are just complex notes braced with in roast. Deep fruity notes that hide amongst the plaster, and almost a slight cologne note.
Am I sure this is a good tea but I remember now why I don’t typically drink it.
On a side note: I had those business spam callers. Absolutely annoying.
This was a sample from the Chicago Teahouse. After a weekend of being tossed around, the leaves seem quite broken, but we will see once we open the bag. I wish the website would list where she gets this from. Obviously, it’s Japan. But which city? Shizuoka? Uji? Kagoshima? And what cultivar is this? Okumidori? Doesn’t quite taste like a Yabukita…
Dry Aroma: Umami. Butter. Sweet Grass. Wet Grass. A bit of seaweed. There is also a vegetal note that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Makes my mouth water
Dry Apperence: Mostly broken, but there are still a fair amount of longer leaves. Tightly twisted. Glossy dark green.
Steeping the way I learned with a larger cup filled with liquid and dumped on the leaves.
Taste: High in umami. Wet grass. A small bit of minerality. Fresh steamed spinach.
Mouth Feel: Smooth. A bit of astringency if steeped too long, but not unpleasant (unless you really forget ^^; )
My mum-in-law gave this to me for Christmas, and I apologize to you tea because I have been on a Japanese tea kick for the past year. Good news is I haven’t opened it yet
Dry aroma: Hmmm, I’m not sensing the usual notes. Perhaps it’s the packaging? I know it’s not because of where it is stored. I’m taking it out of the bag and adding a desiccant pack in to see if it reveals something better tomorrow.
Dry Appearance: Tightly rolled into balls. Mix of dark and light greens.
Quickly rinse with boiling water. Then 10 second infusion.
Flavor: Mineral. Wet rocks. Granite. Floral. Vibrant greens and tropical floral notes.
I can definitely tell my palate for oolongs has lessened with my insatiable appetite for Japanese greens. But I do love oolongs, so I want to get it back.
Wet Leaf aroma: A bit vegetal with hints of butter and slightly sweetened water.
It’s good but just not as good as I was hoping. Will try again tomorrow after the bag aroma has dissipated.
My mom bought this matcha. She doesn’t listen to me and store it properly. But according to the bag she is storing it properly. Granted even with proper storage this matcha wouldn’t be considered anything over lower grade. Culinary. Maybe slightly premium. If you are using western grading.
Color: muted green.
Aroma: metallic
Made for latte
The flavor is bad. Can’t do on its own. Metallic. Harsh winter veggies that have become bitter.
I need to write to Marc and thank him for this, and Davidsons’, and finish the Substack… and post on the MN Tea socials… But sometimes after a busy morning what our brains need is a moment to just chill.
First I need to reiterate that this was a sample Marc sent to me. I interviewed him about his company, Ooika, back in February and I tell you this guy is going to shake up the matcha industry!
We opened and tried it for the first time at the MN Tea Society on Mar 22nd. (Free to the public). The first brew was great. However, what was more interesting were people’s reactions. The lady who preferred Diet Coke, you could tell this was too much for her. But the lady who practices Urasenke, she could tell this was top of the line. We were split between liking it before or after the higashi (a dry Japanese sweet made entirely of very fine high-grade sugar).
Freshly gound matcha… you guys. If you haven’t tried some yet even just the color will blow you away.
Dry Aroma: Creamy. A bit nutty, more along the lines of a pecan. Lovely hints of fresh cut grass.
Dry Appearance: GREEN. So very green. The powder is smooth.
Whisking. Fairly easy to whisk into a foam. I’d say this is a slightly lower-grade milling because of the 3 or 4 bowls I’ve made each has contained a fair amount of big clumps. Could just have to do with this cultivar or something.
Taste: Like crystal clear water with delightful creamy and nutty notes.
Suspension: Stays for quite awhile. Not that I generally have long enough to see it sink because I just want to drink it ^^;
Please do check out Ooika: https://ooika.co/
And if you have time read his interview while drinking a cuppa: https://teatiff.com/2025/02/14/ooika/
VRBO cupboard tea. Good dry leaf aroma through the tea bag. Notes of various spices and a nice touch of vanilla. The infusing aroma is pleasent ntes of german christmas cookies.
Oh man. Licorice root! You know how some poeple think (me) cilantro tastes like soap? And others can only taste stevia when stevia is involved? Well I’m adding another one to the lise. Licorice Root. It overpowers this blend like a dictator. The spices and the black tea try to muscle themselves in but the licorice root is like a little mob boss. Overall, it’s a decent blend and I’ve learned a good lesson.
I feel the same way about licorice.
A certain type like black licorice or just all?
I wasn’t aware there were different types. I’m talking about the cloyingly sweet, anise-flavoured licorice that’s used in tea blends. Several years ago I was looking for a decaf chai and they all seemed to include licorice. (I eventually found a rooibos chai from Camellia Sinensis that doesn’t.)
Oh gotcha! Yeah so licorice root is an alternative to sugar kind of like stevia. I just usually say licorice root versus saying just licorice because most people think of the candy harhar
Yeah, I was thinking of black licorice. I was wondering why anyone would put that in a vanilla chai. Makes more sense now. :)
Mob boss. Beautiful licorice metaphor. I will add that to overbearing mother-in-law and bulldozer ;)
Hahaha oh man. Those are great descriptors too.
When I was still receiving paper catalogs from Upton Tea, I would read every last word like a novel.
@gmathis, as a young gardener, I was the same way with seed catalogs, reading every word!
@Skysamurai, I read the descriptions, repeatedly, along with folks’ tea notes here. I’m amazed at the sensitive and refined taste buds people have, snd their ability to identify specific flavors and aromas!