477 Tasting Notes
I finished this in record time. I like it. It’s bold and deep, toffee sweet, vaguely salty but not in a way that turns me off. I’m not a huge fan of salted caramel, but I see the appeal. It’s just that all the salted caramel I’ve tried have been giant salt crystals mixed with caramel, so instead of a consistent salty-sweetness, it’s just giant pockets of salt with sweet.
Preparation
…Huh. Could have sworn I’d written up a tasting note for this.
Well, long story short, this was one of the two teas my aunt sent to me while I was working up north. I found the base rather bitter, and thus wasn’t much a fan of this.
However, I’ve been using it to make London Fogs with since I got home. Milk /mostly/ tempers the bitterness, although it still makes its way through. It’s just a really cheap black tea base, I suppose.
Used this one up with one last tea latte today.
Wasn’t sure what to expect. Would the leaves be dry? You can’t “dry” honey. Maybe crystalized. Nope, I realized when I got the vacuum-sealed bag open and went in to scoop some out. Honey coated. Not leaves in a pool of honey, though. Really infused.
Couldn’t smell the honey on anything but my spoon after I’d scooped. Brewed in a gaiwan, the liquid is a cloudy, toasty yellow. Smells like a toasty oolong, no sweetness.
First Steep: Despite the obvious stickyness of the leaves, I’m not getting too much of a honey flavour. A nice oolong—not sharply vegetal, very pleasing, buttery notes. When I breathe out… Sweetness, I think, bordering on honey. As if the honey does not directly add any flavour, but somehow enhances the oolong itself so that I am enjoying this immensely.
More sweetness as I sip. I have a feeling the honey may have settled to the bottom—as it tends to do when you stir it directly into the tea anyhow. Starting to get a sticky honey taste with just a touch of sweetness.
Second Steep: Bolder taste in the second steep, as I didn’t actually rinse this. I think I’m getting more honey. Just a faint, sticky sweetness under the toasty oolong notes. I like darker, roasted oolongs, and I think the honey goes with it well.
Third Steep: Didn’t pay as much attention to this one. Still fifteen seconds. Didn’t get any sweetness.
Preparation
It tastes all right, steeping it in boiling water? I’m leery of doing that with my oolong teas, ordinarily, and aim for a few degrees cooler.
Whoops, didn’t realize I’d set that to boiling. I let the boil fade completely (but didn’t take the temperature) before I poured, but still pretty close.
Yeah, most companies recommend that you don’t us boiling, but Teavivre and a few others recommend that you do, but also suggest very short steeps. Was playing with that first, and then was going to try cooler water and longer steeps with what’s left of the sample. It didn’t taste bitter with near-boiling, or flat. Luckily.
But I think a cooler temperature and longer steep would help the honey.
Using up the last of this one. Accidentally used a bit too much and too long of a steep, so it’s sharp—bordering on bitter. It’s still unique and interesting to sip, and I’ve got room for many more steeps.
It’s a bitter cocoa taste. Reminds me of Dawn, but Dawn was a delicious powdery cocoa—no bitterness. The scent and taste are dark and earthy, rarely any fruityness to this tea.
Finishing this one off as well.
I neglected to type up a steeping note when I picked it up a second time. I wanted so much to like it, and I couldn’t understand why the initial batch was so bitter. I got it in store again, and it tasted as wonderful as I remember, so I sprung for another two ounces.
I think I was write when I assumed it was something with the batch, because this one was fine all the way through. Probably one of my favourite tea blends. Grassy green and smoky, very unique—screams “Murchie’s”.
It’s up there with Library Blend as teas I will probably re-buy. Although I think I should truck through all their other green-black tea blends first.
Preparation
I’ve had a smaller rolled yunnan tea before (rolled a bit smaller than a pea), but I wanted to try these out because they seem a great serving size for a small vessel.
I went in expecting great things, because I do love yunnan tea. I did one pearl for my 100ml gaiwan. Meant to do about three to four minutes, went a little over… Would have been fine with a shorter steep, though.
Definitely more on the peppery side. There’s still an undertone with a bit of sweetness, though.
