Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Stems’

Well, the notes on the website state that this tea will hit maturity in 2010 and peak in 2015. I have enough to try it now, and then hopefully remember to try this four years from now. The dry leaves smell creamy and smooth (I love the smell of cooked Pu’erh), and they have a bit of spice in the aroma. I notice a few stems in amongst the leaves, but the leaves are quite prettily twisted and twirled.

Rinsed, then steeped in a gaiwan for 30 seconds, the wet leaves smell even more creamy, still with a bit of spice, a bit like a nice brandy in a way. The liquor is a very bright and clear amber colour. For what it is worth, this tea looks great. I pour the first cup and sip…and sip…and sip. This tea is great. The flavour profile is not very bold, but it is delicious in its own simple way. There is even a strange hint of sweetness in the background.

The second and third infusions go by quickly as I thoroughly enjoy the simplistic wonder of this tea. I highly recommend it and give it an 87/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the 2005 Xing Hai Cooked Loose Puerh directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

My first tea from T Salon and it looks divine. It’s a blend of roses, vanilla and almond with a red tea base. The Rooibos is clearly high grade, long and slender stems, mixed in with a generous portion of vanilla and almond. I’m happy to see rose pieces in the blend because I’ve had bad experiences with floral teas that are just scented with artificial ‘flavor’.

Brewing this one in my favorite steeping mug because it has a fine enough mesh to contain the rooibos. Steeping in really hot water for 6 minutes. Love how forgiving Rooibos is if I accidently over steep it (almost wondering whether or not it’s even possible to over steep). This tea smells incredible with none of the ingrediants over powering the others, perfect balance. It tastes mostly of vanilla but you can definitely make out the almond in it. I can smell the rose just enough for it to be enjoyable without being perfumy. Planning to spend the rest of today with this tea, inhaling and sipping and enjoying this blend. Would definitely recommend this one to other rooibos lovers.

You can purchase the Silence directly from the T-Salon website.

I love the look of the leaves! The leaves are a nice dark green, long stems and mixed in are big chunks of spices. The smell of the leaves dry left me a bit disappointed as all I could smell was an unrealistic cinnamon flavoring. I love ground cinnamon, but this was more like cinnamon red hot candies.

The wet leaves carried over the red hot candied scent, and left the liquor a light yellow green. The first few sips are very lightly spicy. I taste the cinnamon candy flavor first, followed by a bit of cardamom. I think I may have brewed this too light. I used 2 tsp for 16oz water. I think I will double it next time and do 2 tsp for 8oz water (as I think that’s what I have left of the sample). I don’t care for this blend. I’m not a fan of cinnamon flavoring, I prefer ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks to this flavor. I won’t pour it out, and wouldn’t refuse it if it were my only choice for tea, but there are plenty more teas I enjoy much more than this one.

You can purchase the Bengal Green Chai directly from the Adagio website.