350 Tasting Notes

83
drank Assam #8 by Tealux
350 tasting notes

A Taiwanese Assam! Cool. :) The dried leaves are super cool looking, all long and twisty, and very aromatic. The brewing tea also smells amazing, malty with a bit of fruity baked goods? For a non-flavoured tea, this one certainly has a lot of flavours going on. Very nice.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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72

Trying some Assams this morning – tasting this one along with “Black Beauty” from Tealux. The dry leaves are small, with lots of golden tips. The scent has a lot of floral and fruity notes, and some buscuit maybe? The scent as it brews is actually quite mild, and the taste is smooth and balanced – no one flavour is really jumping out at me. There’s a slight hint of bitterness, but I think I probably just haven’t figured out the ideal way to steep this yet.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80
drank Secret of Love by Tealux
350 tasting notes

So as far as I can tell, this tea is pretty much identical to The Tea Spot’s “White Wedding Tea”. Which is pretty much what I was hoping for when I ordered it, so yay? Anyway, it’s quite lovely: light and sweet and caramel-y (from the chestnut flavouring). The jasmine flowers are there, but I don’t really perceive any jasmine flavour. It’s yummy.

Flavors: Caramel

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 45 sec 3 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80
drank Secret of Love by Tealux
350 tasting notes

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70

I was in the mood for something a bit sweet after dinner, so I brewed up a cup of this. I added sweetener (xylitol – does anybody else use that in place of sugar?) and milk, and it’s hitting the spot quite nicely. :) I get caramel and vanilla from this – not really any fruitiness, but maybe that’s because I added milk right away. It’s nicely flavoured, not too strong or overwhelming.
Addendum: I stuck my nose in the bag while waiting for the water to reboil, and yeah, the scent of the dry tea is definitely fruity! Smells like chocolate-covered cherries. The 2nd steeping is pretty light and I’m drinking it straight. It still has a subtle sweetness to it.

Flavors: Caramel, Vanilla

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75
drank Organic Pu-erh by Tea At Sea
350 tasting notes

Working my way through the Tea at Sea samples. :)
I steeped this western style because I didn’t want to use up the whole sample in one go! So 2.5g, washed once for about 10 seconds, then steeped in 8oz of just-off-boiling water for 3min. I love the rich red-brown colour of this tea! It smells and tastes earthy, like walking through a shaded forest after a rain.

Flavors: Bark, Mushrooms, Wet Earth

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75

Mmm, this is a very nice end-of-day tea for me (here’s hoping it doesn’t have enough caffeine to keep me awake!). The scent is a little sweet, a little woody, a little floral… I was amused that “hot hay” is an option in the list of flavours/scents, because that’s what I was thinking about – fresh hay that’s been warming in the sun all day. Honey, bread, grassy, floral… smooth and gentle, with bit of astringency at the end of the cup. Nice.

Flavors: Bread, Floral, Honey, Hot Hay, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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60
drank White Rose by Numi Organic Tea
350 tasting notes

This came in my October Tea Sparrow box. It’s a pretty simple rose flavoured white tea, nice enough but not my favourite rose-y tea by any stretch. I just got a little gram scale for weighing tea, and was amazed that 3 generous teaspoons of this only amounted to 2.8g – so I’m beginning to see why Tea Sparrow recommends 1 tbsp per cup!

Flavors: Rose

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70

I’m doing a head to head tasting of this with the “Ceylon Pekoe” from the same company. It is also a smooth, woodsy tea but not quite as rich as the Pekoe and there is a really distinctly different flavour that I’m having trouble identifying. It’s kind of floral, and kind of grassy or grainy? Anyway, it’s very nice but again, I don’t think I love it enough to want to buy more of it. Luckily the sample packages have enough that I can give it a couple more tries before making a final decision. :)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70
drank Ceylon Pekoe by Tea At Sea
350 tasting notes

I’m doing a head to head tasting with this and the “Ceylon FFEXSP” from the same company. It’s a smooth, enjoyable Pekoe with a woodsy/earthy flavour. Compared to the other, this had a richer aroma while steeping and a bit of a darker flavour. I like it, but probably not enough to buy more of it? I think I’m going to try brewing it darker next time and adding some milk +/- sugar to see what that’s like.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Profile

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

Northwestern Ontario, Canada

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