Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Teapot’

My preference when it comes to pu’erh is certainly for a nice cooked and aged pu, but all the same, this 2004 Ji Xing Yi Wu sheng pu’erh was a gift from a friend and came highly recommended. So I decided to first give it a shot in my gaiwan and take it through it’s fragrant paces.

After the first infusion, the wet leaves smell a bit smoky, like burning logs, and quite musty. The infused liquor is a lot lighter, still with mustiness. My first cup left my mouth with a distinctive dry feeling. The earthy, vegetal taste is quite full and leaves a lasting impression on the tongue. Quite frankly, this pu’erh has the biggest aftertaste of any pu’erh I have ever had.

For the second infusion, I let it steep for 30 seconds, which I found to be a bit too long for this tea, when using the recommended amount of 3-4 grams. 20 seconds will be certainly sufficient for the first few infusions. This second, strong infusion very much emphasizes the dry notes of this tea. As I finish this infusion, I very much enjoy how robust the flavour of this uncooked pu’erh is.

After five additional steepings, these leaves were beginning to lose much of their robustness. Canton Tea Co.’s website does recommend at least six infusions for this tea. Overall, this tea was an excellently smooth example of a tasty raw pu’erh. My rating for this tea is 85/100.

You can purchase the 2004 CNNP Ji Xing Yi Wu Raw Beeng Cha directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Canton Tea offered up this opportunity for me to try their Superior Long Jing and I jumped at because I’ve never tried this quality of Dragon Well before.  I really appreciate and enjoy the experience that comes with every Long Jing, regardless of it’s grading, it’s always good.   This particular Long Jing is from a aged tree high up in the Weng Jia Shan Village of the Zhejiang Province. It’s a ‘Superior’ grade meaning
that it was picked in early spring (first flush).  The dry leaves are long and flat and have a strong vegetal scent to them and they are full leaves, clearly they had to have been hand-picked.  There is absolutely no dust in this tea which doesn’t surprise me, I’ve never had a tea from Canton that was dusty.

I’ve pre-warmed my teapot and boiled water to 208 degF.  Pouring the water over the leaves and the first scent I’m getting is one that is slightly sweet with a touch of grassiness.  I let the leafs steep for 5 minutes and the color went to a crystal clear, light green hue.  The taste is clean and slightly nutty.  I have resteeped this tea five times and, only now, the flavor is fading.  It really is a pleasure to be able to enjoy this quality of tea and I hope to have the opportunity to try new teas from Canton Tea.

You can purchase the Superior Dragon Well Green Tea | Traditional Long Jing directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Hmm, the scent of this dry rooibos is legit. And by legit, I mean it legitimately smells like vanilla. Not fake vanilla like is used in various desserts, but real vanilla. Adding three teaspoons of this tea and steeping it in two cups of water for six minutes, I was left being tantalized by the aromas of vanilla wafting from my teapot as I waited. The tea smells sweet, but not in a fake sweetener way. It is more like the sweetness that comes from plants like mint or various fruits. The liquor is clear, yet a very dark red-brown.

My first cup smells warm. And not just from the hot tea. It just has a warm, and soft, aroma about it. It softly caresses the senses and lingers in the nose. Eagerly, I take my first sip and am immediately surprised by how sweet it tastes. The sweetness is very passive, but it is definitely there, and a quite pleasant surprise. This tea’s mouthfeel is thick and smooth. The flavour of vanilla is, of course, at the forefront. The rooibos, sadly, seems to have taken a backseat in this brew, as it does not show its head much, except in the aftertaste.

The flavours do not change much throughout the rest of the pot. I very much enjoyed drinking this tea. It is good, it is unique, and it is well worth a taste or two. I give it a 77/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Vanilla Rooibos directly from the TeaFrog website.

The name makes me curious. Why would a tea be called Love? Aside from being TeaFrog’s most popular rooibos blend (imply that people love it), I couldn’t figure out the reason for the name. So, taking this initial assumption in hand, I had high hopes for this tea. Opening the package, I placed my nose at the opening and was assailed by a myriad of aromas, not the least of which smelled like the Fig Newton cookies I enjoyed as a child. It was different, yet delicious smelling.

The boiling of the water teases me as the scent of the dry rooibos wafts from the open teapot to my nose. Clock-watching begins as the time ticks toward zero…and toward tea time! Three teaspoons, two cups of water, and six minutes later I was ready to enjoy this aromatic treat. The package says to steep for 5-6 minutes, and I chose the upper end as I like my rooibos strong.

And strong it was! Wow, this tea brewed up a dark red, almost muddy complexioned. The ingredients are well balanced, as I can definitely smell the red rooibos in amongst all the other ingredients. It has almost a spicy aroma to it now. Taking my first (big) sip, the subtly fruity liquor, with a tinge of spice (possibly from the orange peel), flows quickly and easily over the tongue. The flavour is well balanced between the rooibos and the additions. This tea definitely leaves one eagerly wanting to take the next sip. While it seems to have a light mouthfeel, the tea leaves a strong aftertaste of the non-rooibos ingredients. It really is quite a delicious blend and seems to be a tea that one would enjoy on a cold day, as the other ingredients combine with the rooibos to create a brew that warms the body and mind. Sadly, more descriptive words fail me as I’m lost in the tasty flavour of this tea. I give it 75/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase TeaFrog Love Flavoured Rooibos directly from their website.

OMG. I am so glad I choose this tea for my samples this round.

The smell in the tea is peachy. The leaves are a beautiful blend of black and green and some flower parts…the flower parts…I am usually not a fan of flowers in my tea, BUT this is over the top wonderful.

The peach comes through both dry and brewed. The black and green tea leaves are in perfect harmony together. There is astringency, but you don’t notice until you finish the entire teapot of tea, then the astringency sets in. The tea tastes so good that I may just have to get used to the dryness of my mouth.

I was able to get 2 flushes from two tsp of leaves brewed up in my trustworthy yellow Chatsford Teapot.

Love this tea

You can purchase the Geisha Beauty directly from the Sanctuary T website.