381 Tasting Notes

85

Steeping this one gong-fu style today. 4g in the 4oz gaiwan. water around 95C. First three steeps were about 15 seconds.

First steep is very creamy. Like, if I closed my eyes I could almost believe milk had been added. Smooth, malty, with a honey sweetness. Second steep brings a richer, slightly woody malt flavour with an almost citrusy fruitiness. Still very smooth, but no longer milky. Third steep is like the second, very fresh and clean tasting with a tiny bit of astringency. I’m definitely going to keep steeping this, but I’m running out of patience for this note so I’m going to end it here. :)

This isn’t always the kind of black tea I crave, but it’s definitely high quality and an excellent example of the type.

Flavors: Citrus, Malt, Milk, Wood

Fjellrev

Nice description. The first steep especially sounds delicious.

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I was inspired by Brenden’s “Art of Darkness” blend to try mixing this with Tisano cacao shells. So, I started with 1.5tsp of this shou in a brewing basket and gave it a quick rinse with boiling water. Then I added 1.5tsp of the cacao shells, put it in my 10oz tea mug, steeped western-style with boiling water. I did… 4 steeps: 3min, 5min, a long time (I walked away and forgot about it), and 10min. It was really delicious – chocolately and creamy and a bit earthy. I’ve steeped cacao shells with chocolatey black teas like Laoshan Black, and it’s pretty good, but I think this is my favourite combination so far. Highly recommended!

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85

I’m finally breaking into the Wymm Tea samples I got a while back. :) I have to agree with everyone who has complimented the packaging – it’s just lovely. 6g in the gaiwan, one rinse with boiling water, and I think the first steep was boiling too, then 90 degrees after that. A whole bunch of roughly 10 second steeps, and now I’m up to about 20-25 seconds.

This is a lovely clean and fresh-tasting sheng. It causes a bit of tingling on my tongue, maybe a slight bitterness that’s more of a refreshing feeling than anything unpleasant, and then gradually a sweet aftertaste has been building up in the back of my throat. I’m having trouble identifying any specific flavour notes besides “delicious sheng” but I’d say there are definitely some grassy and maybe some fruity notes in there. I’m pretty sure I’m at least 8 steeps in and this is still definitely going strong. Yummmm.

Christina / BooksandTea

Oh man, I loved this one. I restocked when they had their Midautumn festival sale.

Lindsay

I bought a bunch of samples during the midautumn festival sale. :)

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drank 2015 Poundcake by white2tea
381 tasting notes

I have nothing new or insightful to say about this, just that I’ve been drinking it all day, and it’s lovely. :)

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83

This is a very nice chai blend. I tried it straight at first, at it was quite good – robust, malty assam CTC base, good blend of spices (lots of cinnamon, cardamom, a bit of heat from the ginger and pepper). Then I added some sweetener and milk, which made it even better. Tasty tasty. :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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90

Off topic: You guys, I am SO obsessed with the Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Recording right now. Ugh, go listen to it so I’ll have someone to geek out with. :)

Instead of buying more Whispering Pines tea I thought I’d drink some of the stuff I already own. This is an interesting and delicious blend – I love the roasted cedar and vanilla.

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80
drank Black Beauty by Mandala Tea
381 tasting notes

Another sample from Nicole! I had this earlier today, and it was a good mid-day pick-me-up. It’s a very rich, dark, flavourful tea (I also steeped the whole 3.3g sample at once in my 10oz mug, so that might have contributed to the intensity). To me it tasted malty, earthy, spicy, a little fruity… quite complex and interesting. This one might be an eventual order. :)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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85

YUMMMM. Oh, I really like this one. :) The dry leaf smells intensely of vanilla, sugar, marshmallow. Once the hot water hits, that continues but the roasty toasty notes of the genmaicha are added in. The aroma translates well into the flavour, and the tea is quite sweet (I actually pulled up the website to see if there was some kind of sweetener in this) and creamy and delicious. The green tea base is subtle and in the background – no bitterness or astringency.

Flavors: Creamy, Marshmallow, Sweet, Toasted Rice, Vanilla

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 4 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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This is a pretty good cold steep, tastes (unsurprisingly) like ginger and pear, with some apple and cinnamon in the background. It tastes like a fruit tisane though – there’s enough going on flavour-wise that I think the white tea is just drowned out. So, I’m not sure I’d buy it again, since there seems little point in paying extra for white tea in a blend if you can’t even taste it.

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66
drank Maple Sugar by DAVIDsTEA
381 tasting notes

I cold steeped this one and it was pretty good. I think the name of this tea is totally wrong though, it should be called Apple Crisp, because that’s what it tastes like – apples, cinnamon, brown sugar. It’s not really very mapley at all.

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Bio

Well it has been over a year and everyone I know thinks my tea obsession is a bit out of hand, so… I guess I’m not a total newbie anymore. :)

I’m drinking a lot more pure tea these days, though I still love a good flavoured blend too. Current favourites: Chinese and Taiwanese blacks, fresh Chinese greens, oolongs both green and roasted, sheng puer.

I really love companies that buy directly from tea farmers, and have an emphasis on quality and sustainability. Favourites: Verdant, Whispering Pines, Eco Cha, White 2 Tea. I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so I buy almost all my tea online.

For hot tea, I’m usually brewing in either a 100ml gaiwan, or a 10oz mug with a steeping basket. For cold tea, I cold brew overnight in 500ml mason jars.

My cupboard on Steepster doesn’t include small samples, just the ones I have at least 15g of. So if you see something you’re interested in, I probably have enough to share. :)

Location

Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada

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