Fragrant Pearl Jasmine Green Tea from Life in Teacup

jasminepearl1Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Life in Teacup

Tea Description:

Production Year – 2010
Production Season – Spring
Production Region – Sichuan Province
Style – Chao Qing (stir-fry to kill enzyme), scented with jasmine flowers

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

There is something about jasmine pearls that make me so happy … I love to watch them brew, I love their aroma, I love the delicious tea they brew.  It is a very happy tea for me.  And this Fragrant Pearl Jasmine Green Tea from Life in Teacup is an example of jasmine pearls at their finest!

jasminepearl
What the pearls look like when they open up …

The dry pearls are very aromatic, smelling of the exotic flower.  It took a few infusions to get these tightly wound pearls to open fully, but, that’s a big part of the joy for me … more infusions mean more tea!  I brewed the pearls in my gaiwan, and infused the leaves six times and combined all six infusions in my jasmine Yixing mug.  (Yep, I have a mug just for jasmine tea!)

The result is a very flavorful cup of tea that tastes strongly of jasmine.  But what I like about this is that the floral notes do not taste fake … this is a jasmine tea that was flavored with the scenting process.  Lovely!

This cup has a wonderful balance of green tea and jasmine … sweet, alluring jasmine with hints of buttery vegetation.  So delightful!  But then, I’ve come to expect that from Life in Teacup.  They offer some of the very best teas I’ve ever had.

2012 Tong Cheng Small Orchid (semi-wild) from Life in Teacup

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Life In Teacup

Tea Description:

Production Year:  2012
Production Season:  Spring, Harvested on April 9th
Production Region:  Anhui Province, Tongcheng.  Single Estate.  800m (2400 ft.) above sea level.
Style:  Hong Qing (roasted)

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is nice.

The description states that this tea has been roasted, but I don’t really smell a roasted/toasty kind of fragrance to the dry leaf.  The brewed tea has a slight roasted aroma to it, but it melds with the lush green notes in a way that it comes across as a fresh, nutty scent rather than a distinct roasted smell.

And as I took the first couple of sips of the very pale, light green (almost clear!) tea, I didn’t really notice a strong roasted flavor to the cup.  At first, all I noticed was a very light, crisp, refreshing taste that was definitely “green tea” tasting but without the strong grassy notes or even a definite vegetative note that lead my mind to think of “green tea.”  Just a sort of insinuation of green tea.

With the next few sips, some of the roasty-toasty notes begin to emerge, tasting slightly nutty and sweet.  With each subsequent sip, it seemed that the nutty tones seemed to grow stronger and stronger.  By mid cup, there was a very distinguished roasted nut flavor to the cup.  I like how this tea develops on the palate, starting very light and fresh, toward becoming a sweet, deliciously nutty taste.

The flavors here never really become very grassy or vegetal.  There is a sort of whisper of greenery – like the taste of a morning dewdrop on brand new spring leaf.  It’s more like a hint of green taste, rather than something that is more discernible, but there is a very refreshing quality to this first cup.

With my second infusion, the vegetative notes begin to emerge to become more of a “real” flavor rather than a hint or an insinuation of one.  It still isn’t a strong, distinct vegetal taste but, definitely more of a vegetative note than with the first cup.

But how this second cup is really different from the first is the roasty-toasty notes – this is a very distinguished flavor now.  I taste even a hint of smoke to this cup, almost like it’s been fire roasted over charcoal, I can taste all those notes here.  The smoke, the charcoal and the warm roasted flavor.

As much as I loved the first cup in all it’s subtlety, I am loving this one even more for it’s more forward flavors.  Both cups are very rewarding, and this is one of those teas that you absolutely MUST resteep!

As I write this review, I see that the Life in Teacup web store is temporarily closed, but it states that it will reopen in a couple of weeks – it didn’t give a specific date.  Who knows, by the time this article publishes, the store may be up and running again.  If it is, you should definitely check out this tea.  It’s really quite lovely!

2012 Wild Tea Orchid Fairy Twig from Life In Teacup

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Life in Teacup

Tea Description:

Production Year – 2012         
Production Season – Spring
Production Region:  Jiangxi Province, Wuyuan

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This tastes so crisp and light!  It’s such a refreshing tea.

It’s very reminiscent of spring, the season in which it’s produced.  It has that light, fresh taste that reminds me of new plant growth in the spring, the tiny leaf buds as they begin to open and turn everything green again after the cold of winter.  So sweet and pure.

The vegetative notes fall somewhere between grassy and steamed baby spinach.  The grassy tones are very mellow and slight, not quite tasting as grassy as some other green teas that I’ve tasted but, it’s something a bit more than just your average, everyday steamed spinach too.  It is mild and smooth, with a moderate astringency toward the tail.  It has a creamy delivery – smooth from the start and then toward the end the astringency leaves the palate feeling clean and refreshed.

Quite a lovely tea!  I was sad to see that all that remains of this year’s harvest of this tea are a few samples … it’s a delicious tea, one that is definitely worth trying.  Keep an eye out and watch Life in Teacup’s website for an announcement, as they are planning on taking pre-orders for this tea just before next year’s harvest!  This tea is definitely worth the effort.

Red Tie Guan Yin (Black Tea) from Life in Teacup

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Life in Teacup

Tea Description:

Production Season Spring
Production Region Fujian Province, Wuyi Mountain region

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

A black (or red) … Tie Guan Yin?  I was a little surprised when I read the label of this sample from Life In Teacup, because when I see the name “Tie Guan Yin” immediately I think of Oolong tea.  But this is, indeed, a black tea.  The leaves are dark, slender, slightly curly and I see some silvery tips amongst the dark leaves.  It looks very much like a typical black tea … certainly not at all like a Tie Guan Yin Oolong.

As I poured the tea, I could smell the amazing aroma that reminded me of freshly baked cake:  a sweet, rich, chocolate-y scent that made my mouth water!

And even better than this delicious fragrance is the TASTE!  Every sweet, decadent smell that wafts from this cup can be tasted:  the chocolate notes are so rich and satisfying, and they meld beautifully with the delicious caramel-y undertones of this tea.

This is a full-bodied tea with a malty tone – vaguely reminsicent of a fine Assam tea but without the bitterness that sometimes is present in an Assam.  No bitterness here!  Only smooth, rich, delicious flavor.

Definitely one of the best pure black teas that I’ve yet to taste.  And I’ve tasted quite a few.  If you’ve room for only one black tea in your tea cupboard – this should be the tea that occupies that space.  (I do hope you have room for more than one black tea though!)

Seriously, it is that good!  Don’t believe me?  Try it for yourself!

2006 Guan Zi Zai Sheng Puerh Meng Ku Bing Dao Ancient Tree Tea from Life In Teacup

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Pu-erh

Where to Buy:  Life in Teacup

Tea Description:

Production Year – 2006/Production Season:  Spring/Production Region:  Yunnan, Lincang, Mengku

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Wow!  What a name, huh?  With a name like that, this had better taste good.  I want it to be worthy of so many keystrokes.

And I’m happy to say that it is – at least, in my opinion!  This is remarkably sweet and incredibly smooth, with a pleasantly broth-like mouthfeel, and without some of the stronger earthy notes that I often expect from a Pu-erh.  Sure, this has an earthiness to it, but, it doesn’t taste like dirt.  It is more of a vegetative earthiness, but without tasting grassy.  It has a nice warmth to it, as if it had been gently spiced with subtle notes of pepper.

Very often on Steepster, I read tasting notes from tea drinkers who describe the Pu-erh that they’re drinking to have a brine-y or fish-y taste to it, and I’m happy to say that I don’t taste that here either.  The aforementioned earthy tones have a slight “saltiness” to them without tasting like brine.

Mostly what I taste here is sweetness.  It is a sweetness that I find difficult to describe.  It isn’t a caramel-y or honey-esque sweetness, it tastes like rock candy (aka rock sugar).

Overall, I find this tea to be quite mellow and enjoyable – a very pleasing Pu-erh.  This is a Pu-erh I’d recommend to someone who has tried Pu-erh in the past and decided they didn’t like it because it tasted too earthy or fishy.  This Pu-erh is deliciously different!