Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Leaves’

Another day, another interesting oolong to try. This Taiwanese oolong is purported to be incredibly flavoured, with evolutions of flavour at every steeping. I start off by rinsing, then steeping this tea first for two minutes in boiled, but not boiling water. This first infusion smells sweet, slightly tart, and, in general, fruity. I often find that the leaves, after steeping, have a different aroma than the liquor itself. In this case, the smell of the leaves is far more buttery and creamy, in contrast to the liquor’s fruity notes. This infusion is super smooth, tastes very clean and fresh, and is reminiscent of apples.

Infusion number two, steeped for another two minutes, leaves the leaves smelling more vegetal than before. The flavour of the tea has evolved. Still fruity, there are now spicier notes of cinnamon, as well as floral tones that I had not noticed before.

Steeping this tea for a third time, letting it infuse for two and a half minutes. Still containing notes of cinnamon, the mild fruitiness is quite delectable. Four Seasons is a great name for this tea, as it evolves and changes like the seasons of the year, with every infusion. I highly recommend this tea for lovers of oolong, and I would give it a 91/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Four Seasons directly from the Tula Teas website.

At a venerable 104 years old, Mark T. Wendell Company has perfected the art and science of selecting and purveying fine estate-grown teas. This variety, according to the website, was a favorite of the founder himself.

This is a great tea, but if you’re proficient enough to recognize a Keemun with your eyes closed, you may be surprised. This one behaves a little differently. Keemun teas generally have grainy, hay-barn, feedlot aromas. Dry, these big leaves lead with that smell, but there’s a fermented, fruity accompaniment that sets it apart.

Steeped, M.T.W. Formosa is a beautiful burgundy-brown. That magic “other thing” that changes up the dry aroma is present in the liquid as well, toning down the sharpish taste that I normally associate with Keemuns. Sweet…dry and a little puckery…it’s a little hard to describe, but extremely pleasant to analyze! Left (neglected for a couple of hours while I ran to the mall) to itself in the pot to cool, it reheats nicely without turning bitter.

Good tea reviews sum up with a pithy one-sentence summary recapping the tea’s personality in a few concise words. Because this one’s so not-run-of-the-mill-but-really-interesting, I’ll have to do in three: Steep. Taste. Repeat.

You can purchase the Formosa Keemun directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.

The leaves are rich black with a sweet waft of vanilla.

Three minute infusion…first sip…ummm…the black base is not what I was expecting. It leaves me wanting a more robust black tea in its place. The vanilla while it had a sweet smell is not sweet on my tongue, the taste is unnatural. This tea does not take milk well. It is too mild for any additions.

I had high hopes for this tea, vanilla notes in a black tea. I pictured creaminess and robustness. What I got was a cup of tea that is ok to drink IF you have absolutely no other tea choices. The black base is mediocre. The vanilla flavoring will leave you wanting something else to drink.

You can purchase the Vanilla Bean directly from the SpecialTea Brew website.

I just love the little mini-cakes that pu-er occasionally comes in.  They’re just cute.  An adorable little pellet of yumminess.

This is a lovely, lovely tea.  The creamy rice flavor blends with the warm masculinity of the pu-er to make a dark blend that is rich with complexity and vigor yet smooth and tasty.   Along with the rice flavor, it has the typical leathery, woody and earthy notes of a pu-er, but blended together smoothly.   Others found citrus flavors, but I’m not tasting those.  And, like many pu-ers, it’s great for multiple re-steeps.  I’m on steep three currently… or is it four… of my current set of leaves.  And the sweet and creamy rice flavor lasts and lasts.  Other literature notes people getting up to 9 steeps.   I would not be surprised to get rice notes to the end.

This is really great pu-er.  I recommend it to anyone.

You can purchase the Rice Shou Pu-erh directly from the Tao Tea Leaf website.

I am a big fan of Canton Teas, so it was with anticipation that I opened the packet of Superior Long Jing.  And at once, I got the green bean aroma and the visual of the large flat leaves.  Ah, Lovely.  I tried brewing this two ways.  The first way was with approximately a teaspoon of leaf per cup, brewed at about 165 for 2 minutes.  This resulted in a nutty, buttery brew; quite enjoyable and a pleasure to drink.  Then, after review the company web site, I tried brewing it with a lot of leaf at a very low temperature.  This resulted in a more vegetal brew, very light yellow in color.  It tastes less buttery and more like green beans.  Very clean tasting, and also quite drinkable.

Of the two, I preferred the less leaf / higher temp steep.  But either way, it’s a nice light, lovely green tea.  A great example of this type of tea.

You can purchase the Superior Dragon Well (Long Jing) directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.