Name: Gyokuro Yamashiro
Brand: David's Tea
Primary Type: Green
Dry Scent: Very grassy and green, almost oily-green in scent. This is altogether the most green thing I've smelled in quite some time.
Steeping Time: 1.5 min
Steeped Flavour: This is lovely. Not bitter (of course, only due to careful steeping) and also not in any way fishy or "oceanic" the way that green teas can be. I've heard this described as tasting like buttered asparagus, and I can see where that idea comes from. There is certainly a butteriness overlying the green in this, but it reminds me a bit more of kale or fiddleheads. Definitely fiddleheads. I would buy more of this if it wasn't so very, very expensive.
Food/Drink Pairings: This is marvelous with cheese and crackers, or shrimp...any high-end, delicate appetizer really.
Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Again this was a sample I ended up with and I've been putting off trying it because of the price. I put a buy on this but for goodness' sakes try this before you buy it, and only buy it if you have some experience with the care needed for brewing green teas. This is very good but very, very pricey.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Berry Basil Blast
Name: Berry Basil Blast
Brand: Teavana
Primary Type: White
Dry Scent: There is the sweetness of berries, apples and pineapple front and center in this, but it is quickly followed by the dry, slightly dusty herbal scent of basil and hints of the citrus tang of hibiscus. An unusual combination, although they do seem to play reasonably harmoniously together along with the grassy, fresh scent of the white tea leaves.
Steeping Time: 2-2.5 min
Steeped Flavour: The first and strongest flavour in this is the basil, unfortunately. It is followed by the lovely fruity flavours, and the citrus bite of the hibiscus, but the basil just seems a little odd. Not bad, overall, but odd.
Food/Drink Pairings: This probably would work best with a main course meal, especially pasta, since then the basil flavour might be overwhelmed and allow the fruity flavours to come out more strongly.
Rating out of Six Tails:
3.5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Brand: Teavana
Primary Type: White
Dry Scent: There is the sweetness of berries, apples and pineapple front and center in this, but it is quickly followed by the dry, slightly dusty herbal scent of basil and hints of the citrus tang of hibiscus. An unusual combination, although they do seem to play reasonably harmoniously together along with the grassy, fresh scent of the white tea leaves.
Steeping Time: 2-2.5 min
Steeped Flavour: The first and strongest flavour in this is the basil, unfortunately. It is followed by the lovely fruity flavours, and the citrus bite of the hibiscus, but the basil just seems a little odd. Not bad, overall, but odd.
Food/Drink Pairings: This probably would work best with a main course meal, especially pasta, since then the basil flavour might be overwhelmed and allow the fruity flavours to come out more strongly.
Rating out of Six Tails:
3.5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
I'm putting a "maybe buy" on this. It's not bad, per se, but it's definitely different, and probably not to everyone's taste.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Cherry Delight
Name: Cherry Delight
Brand: Naturally for You
Primary Type: Maté
Dry Scent: Very much kirche, with the green musty maté providing a base to keep the sharpness of the alcoholic cherry scent from being overpowering. This is almost almondy in scent, and not too sweet, especially given that its primary scent is cherry.
Steeping Time: 5 min
Steeped Flavour: Lightly kirche cherry flavour overlays the musky deep flavours of the maté, with a slightly bitter-cherry aftertaste.
Food/Drink Pairings: This would go nicely with mild meats, chicken or fish. Surprisingly enough for a "cherry-flavoured" tea, it really isn't sweet. It's definitely more of a main course tea than a dessert tea.
Rating out of Six Tails:
4/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Brand: Naturally for You
Primary Type: Maté
Dry Scent: Very much kirche, with the green musty maté providing a base to keep the sharpness of the alcoholic cherry scent from being overpowering. This is almost almondy in scent, and not too sweet, especially given that its primary scent is cherry.
Steeping Time: 5 min
Steeped Flavour: Lightly kirche cherry flavour overlays the musky deep flavours of the maté, with a slightly bitter-cherry aftertaste.
Food/Drink Pairings: This would go nicely with mild meats, chicken or fish. Surprisingly enough for a "cherry-flavoured" tea, it really isn't sweet. It's definitely more of a main course tea than a dessert tea.
Rating out of Six Tails:
4/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Azteca Fire
Name: Azteca Fire
Brand: Teavana
Primary Type: Herbal
Dry Scent: There is milky chocolateyness in this, hints of fruit, and definitely the bite of chilies. It smells like good mexican hot chocolate, very warming, even just from the scent.
Steeping Time: 5-6 min
Steeped Flavour: This tea sits there looking all innocent and sweet in your cup, but don't believe it. This tea has definite bite. It is sweet, certainly, especially as it cools down a little bit from the heat of steeping, but there is a light skim of chili oil floating on the top of the cup of tea that will bite you in the back of the throat after the flavours of chocolate and strawberries have flowed over your tongue. A couple of important things to keep in mind with this tea, though, to keep it at its best. After steeping, even if you don't add anything to it, you should stir this, as the chocolate tends to settle out a bit. Also, you might want to add a little more tea than you normally would, since it can seem a bit "thin" otherwise.
Food/Drink Pairings: This is excellent with a bit of Bailey's or other cream liqueur. It is definitely a dessert tea, and is also very good for dunking cookies into, or biscotti. Whatever you do or don't add to the tea though, if you need to get warm on a cold winter's evening, this is a good, safe bet.
Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Brand: Teavana
Primary Type: Herbal
Dry Scent: There is milky chocolateyness in this, hints of fruit, and definitely the bite of chilies. It smells like good mexican hot chocolate, very warming, even just from the scent.
Steeping Time: 5-6 min
Steeped Flavour: This tea sits there looking all innocent and sweet in your cup, but don't believe it. This tea has definite bite. It is sweet, certainly, especially as it cools down a little bit from the heat of steeping, but there is a light skim of chili oil floating on the top of the cup of tea that will bite you in the back of the throat after the flavours of chocolate and strawberries have flowed over your tongue. A couple of important things to keep in mind with this tea, though, to keep it at its best. After steeping, even if you don't add anything to it, you should stir this, as the chocolate tends to settle out a bit. Also, you might want to add a little more tea than you normally would, since it can seem a bit "thin" otherwise.
Food/Drink Pairings: This is excellent with a bit of Bailey's or other cream liqueur. It is definitely a dessert tea, and is also very good for dunking cookies into, or biscotti. Whatever you do or don't add to the tea though, if you need to get warm on a cold winter's evening, this is a good, safe bet.
Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Birthday Cake
Name: Birthday Cake
Brand: David's Tea
Primary Type: Rooibos
Dry Scent: Yummy! Vanilla cream icing is what this smells most like, with hints of white cake underneath, and warm sweetness from the rooibos itself only adds to the mouthwatering scent.
Steeping Time: 6-8 min
Steeped Flavour: This definitely tastes like cake. In particular, white cake with buttercream icing. A little more of the icing and less of the cake, but then, this is tea, after all, and it's hard to get some of the subtleties of the actual flavour of cake. Besides, the icing is the more important part of any good birthday cake anyway LOL!
Food/Drink Pairings: This is dessert. No ifs, ands or buts, dessert. Being a rooibos you can drink it any time of day but my favourite thing to do is to add some UV birthday cake vodka to this, doubling down on the birthday-cake-ness only makes it better.
Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
Brand: David's Tea
Primary Type: Rooibos
Dry Scent: Yummy! Vanilla cream icing is what this smells most like, with hints of white cake underneath, and warm sweetness from the rooibos itself only adds to the mouthwatering scent.
Steeping Time: 6-8 min
Steeped Flavour: This definitely tastes like cake. In particular, white cake with buttercream icing. A little more of the icing and less of the cake, but then, this is tea, after all, and it's hard to get some of the subtleties of the actual flavour of cake. Besides, the icing is the more important part of any good birthday cake anyway LOL!
Food/Drink Pairings: This is dessert. No ifs, ands or buts, dessert. Being a rooibos you can drink it any time of day but my favourite thing to do is to add some UV birthday cake vodka to this, doubling down on the birthday-cake-ness only makes it better.
Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
And yes, in case you wondered, it was my birthday a couple of days ago. Thus my having this tea on my backlist of reviews to post LOL!
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Sorcerer's Tea
Name: Sorcerer's Tea
Brand: unknown
Primary Type: Black
Dry Scent: Warm and fruity, with hints of mango, tangerine and peach. Definitely reminds one of ambrosia salad, but with the heady, slightly earthy undertones of good-quality black tea.
Steeping Time: 4-5 min
Steeped Flavour: Delicious. This definitely is a fine black tea base, which supports the fruity flavours well. It makes me think of spring and early summer, and eating fresh orchard fruits from a roadside stand.
Food/Drink Pairings: This would do well iced with a picnic, or as a breakfast tea. It's fairly caffeinated, so probably not great as an after-dinner tea, but it would do well for a lunchtime tea too.
Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
This was given to me by a friend, who didn't remember where she got it, but the packaging is all in french. The actual listed name is "Thè des Magiciens" and if anyone knows where I can get more I will be eternally grateful, because it is absolutely divine! Buy it if you can find it, and if you do find it LINK ME!
Brand: unknown
Primary Type: Black
Dry Scent: Warm and fruity, with hints of mango, tangerine and peach. Definitely reminds one of ambrosia salad, but with the heady, slightly earthy undertones of good-quality black tea.
Steeping Time: 4-5 min
Steeped Flavour: Delicious. This definitely is a fine black tea base, which supports the fruity flavours well. It makes me think of spring and early summer, and eating fresh orchard fruits from a roadside stand.
Food/Drink Pairings: This would do well iced with a picnic, or as a breakfast tea. It's fairly caffeinated, so probably not great as an after-dinner tea, but it would do well for a lunchtime tea too.
Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6
Buy/Don't Buy
This was given to me by a friend, who didn't remember where she got it, but the packaging is all in french. The actual listed name is "Thè des Magiciens" and if anyone knows where I can get more I will be eternally grateful, because it is absolutely divine! Buy it if you can find it, and if you do find it LINK ME!
White Chocolate Frost
Name: White Chocolate Frost
Brand: David's Tea
Primary Type: Herbal
Dry Scent: Smells like creamy peppermint. A little like after eights or peppermint patties, there's definitely a slightly chocolatey edge to this.
Steeping Time: 3 min
Steeped Flavour: Well, you all know I'm not big on mint teas, so keep that in mind. All in all this one isn't bad on the mint, it's nicely balanced by the white chocolate to keep it sweet and creamy. There is something a little unusual with this tea, though. There is a slight skim of oil on top of the tea, likely from the white chocolate, and it's...almost salty. Sweet, but there was definitely a pang of salt in this, and I just can't figure out where it comes from.
Food/Drink Pairings: This tea is probably best as a dessert tea, as it is actually fairly sweet. The peppermint is of course good for the digestion (for most people, just not me) and it does do a really good job at palate cleansing.
Rating out of Six Tails:
3/6
Buy/Don't Buy
I put a buy on this for folks who like peppermint teas, and because the salty taste did actually help enhance the flavour, but I also do recommend trying before you buy if possible, to be sure, since I can't exactly trust my own evaluations of mint teas for the tastes of others.
Brand: David's Tea
Primary Type: Herbal
Dry Scent: Smells like creamy peppermint. A little like after eights or peppermint patties, there's definitely a slightly chocolatey edge to this.
Steeping Time: 3 min
Steeped Flavour: Well, you all know I'm not big on mint teas, so keep that in mind. All in all this one isn't bad on the mint, it's nicely balanced by the white chocolate to keep it sweet and creamy. There is something a little unusual with this tea, though. There is a slight skim of oil on top of the tea, likely from the white chocolate, and it's...almost salty. Sweet, but there was definitely a pang of salt in this, and I just can't figure out where it comes from.
Food/Drink Pairings: This tea is probably best as a dessert tea, as it is actually fairly sweet. The peppermint is of course good for the digestion (for most people, just not me) and it does do a really good job at palate cleansing.
Rating out of Six Tails:
3/6
Buy/Don't Buy
I put a buy on this for folks who like peppermint teas, and because the salty taste did actually help enhance the flavour, but I also do recommend trying before you buy if possible, to be sure, since I can't exactly trust my own evaluations of mint teas for the tastes of others.
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