Jiri Horse

#adventageddon Day Twenty Four – 7/7

Officially the last adventageddon tea! I did it!!

I think it’s cool this was day 24 – in my head when I think of the teas carried by teabento this one is the one that comes to mind first. I know it was/is incredibly popular here on Steepster. I meant to Gongfu it today, but time just got away from me and I waited too long to do it. It’s ok though – I actually have this in my tea stash right now so I can revisit it some other time and still do it Gongfu then!

It’s a really damn good tea though! Super full bodied and rich, with a velvety smooth mouthfeel – almost like melted chocolate! It tastes chocolate-y too – the sort of dense chocolate that truffle-y and somewhere in between milk and dark chocolate. Not the cheap waxy kind but real cocoa heavy chocolate. It’s also quite nutty; I’m very struck by the kind of peanut brittle-y/roasted peanut notes I’m pulling from the mug. Other flavours going on are a pleasant kind of musk or leather type note, a hint of red fruit in the undertones of the tea, and a bit of a barley/grains type of flavour.

It’s complex, and I’m digging that! Definitely one of my favourite teas from teabento this month and I do really see why it blew up here on Steepster and was so popular!

2021 Sipdown 86/365!

I’ll miss this tea. It was a lovely rich black tea, nicely chocolatey and different from Laoshan Black. Something I’ll likely purchase again sometime in the future.

Dexter was kind enough to surprise me with some of this in her assortment of teas to me while I waited for my batch and I was super delighted because everyone had been raving about this tea and I wanted a cup or two.

Yes indeed, intensely delicious bittersweet chocolate black. It reminds me very much of a Chinese black tea that I’ve had recently, but the name escapes me. Delighted with this one.

Thank you, Dexter. Hope you are staying warm out there in the deep chill.

edit—I am finding it interesting that others have described this as specifically milk chocolate while for me, it is not that at all. Perhaps in another cup.

Sipdown (234)

I made another peanut butter, cocoa, and banana smoothie this morning and this time remembered Jiri Horse. I almost didn’t use it because I realized I only had 2 servings of leaf left which meant two more cups or one smoothie addition. I was about to put it away and save it for later when I noticed a whole in the bottom of the bag and figured I might as well finish it up.

My hope was that the tea would add some milk chocolate notes to the smoothie. Alas I decided to be lazy and not measure anything so I am mostly getting banana and yogurt. That means this sipdown of Jiri Horse is a bit of a waste and I am sad to see it go in this manner. Good bye Jiri Horse, I am sorry I did not cherish you like I should have…

This the last of the black teas from teabento that I needed to try. I saved this one for last because it was the reason for the teabento order. There were lots of good reviews for it showing up on my feed.
And again I think it’s just ok – nothing bad, nothing great, just black tea.

I’ve written several “just ok” tasting notes about the teabento blacks I got. I want to clarify my position on these teas as a whole. I don’t want to bash teabento as a company. I can appreciate that these are good quality teas. Someone from the company goes out into the world and tastes a bunch of teas and makes decisions on what to buy and what teas are going to be offered by that company. What I think is happening is that my tastes and that buyers tastes are not the same. We don’t agree on what certain styles of tea should taste like. I don’t want anyone to think that these are bad teas – they just aren’t to my taste. There are other companies out there that sell teas that are more to my taste……

Insane cold today and has been for the last few days and will be for the next several days. Life is just difficult when it’s so cold that it hurts to breathe. I know it’s been really cold across central Canada, so it’s not just us. Be safe out there everyone, this is dangerous cold.

Notes of cocoa, roasted nuts, grain malt and marshmallow waft from my cup. Does it taste as good as it smells?

Yes.

I’m never forsaking black tea again.

Holy moly, this is hands down my favourite Teabento tea that I’ve tried, and I purposely left this one to try last because I had a feeling it would be my favourite.

While I was expecting some chocolate when I initially opened the packet, I didn’t expect this much. Seriously, opening it was like unwrapping a bar of dark chocolate with cacao nibs. Although I haven’t had it in ever, this totally reminds me of Endangered Species chocolate, in particular, this one:

http://www.chocolatebar.com/?portfolio=dark-chocolate-with-cacao-nibs-2

Look at that cute little bat. Just in time for Halloween too. But yeah, dark chocolate tea without the guilt. Brewed up, this has the thickest mouthfeel of all the ones I’ve tried, which is my thing. The chocolate notes are the strongest, followed by grainy sweetness. No bitterness whatsoever.

Thank you so much for the wonderful bento box full of delicious samples, Teabento! This brings me to the end of my sample bento journey, and I can definitely see myself ordering this one.

This is a good tea. I tasted a bit of marshmallow and malt. I like Prince Pengu more though. I still have more of their teas in my cupboard that I have to try.

I agree with everyone else who has tried this tea: it’s fantastic! It’s like a Laoshan Black, only toastier. It’s also my first balhyocha and my second Korean tea—assuming that Teavana’s Jeju Island Green is a decent example. I did five gongfu steeps of 20, 10, 40, 90, and 180 seconds, followed by another ten-minute steep because I didn’t want the session to end.

In the first two steeps, cocoa and cereal predominate, with caramel and berries in the background. To me, this is milk rather than dark chocolate. Although the fruit then disappears, the toasty cocoa is more than enough to hold my interest. The tea never gets astringent or bitter.

I’d definitely consider buying this again to keep me warm over the winter. It’s also inspired me to seek out more Korean teas. Thanks to Teabento for providing this sample.

Thanks to tea bento for this sample. Today we have BALHYOCHA from korea, which is an oxidized tea. This is a pretty dark black tea, and I started by heating my yixing for black tea and using about 205 water. Since I keep hearing about the deep chocolate flavors of this tea, and higher temp usually brings that out. I got a strong aroma of chocolate, nuts, and a bit of fruit, dark fruit like dark plums.

Brewing this up , I skipped a wash as I wanted to get the full flavor and feel of the tea, and I dont think black teas really need a wash. Sipping I got a flavor of chocolate, the dark fruit flavors as well as a tiny bit of citrus, honey and a teeny bit of pleasant sourness. Its a bit sweet as well, and a touch of caramel. Very interesting tea , I was a bit surprised that it is from Korea, its so rich and sweet.

This is quite the interesting tea, I might have to get some more to see what some variations on brewing produce. I highly recomend at least trying this tea, if you like black tea at all.