Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea

Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea
Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Oolong

Where to Buy: Teavivre 

Tea Description:

This Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin has a little of coffee’s flavor, which is suitable for who loves teas with coffee taste. You will sense a familiar fragrance of coffee for first sip, and after swallowing the liquid, a sweet aftertaste will quickly upwelling to your throat. As it is 85% fermented, this Tie Guan Yin will not become bitter even for a long time infusion. Dry tea leaves are brown and curly, has a smell of charcoal fire. The liquid is in golden yellow color, which truly feasts to the eyes.

Organic Roasted Oolong with Coffee Aroma

Organically produced near Zhangzhou(漳州) in Fujian, China.

Harvest Time: September, 2012

Hand made into small, rolled up leaves

Roasted, 85% fermented

Golden Yellow color, bright and clean liquid

Sweet and soft taste with coffee fragrance for first sip, long-last flavor, sweet aftertaste around throat

Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The aroma of Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea is milky and creamy, which is surprising since I was really anticipating a deeper roasted aroma. Regardless, I love a milky tea so if it tasted milky I would be fine with that. I decided to go ahead and let it steep for a couple more minutes since Iron Goddess does not get bitter with longer steeps. This seems to be the way to go because after two more minutes after an initial 2 minutes it became stronger, bolder, with a coffee like aroma and that roasted aroma I was expecting. I will later hate to try it with a shorter steep though as I am sure that milky aroma had something to it!

Finally, the first sip was delicious! I did initially get a little creaminess but the smokiness and roasted flavor took over. The tea is a bit sweeter than I had expected having it compared in the description to a coffee like flavor but I rather like it. It is robust, not as robust as some black teas but robust for an oolong.

While I really can see how this would be a great tea to serve to a coffee drinker I don’t want the tea drinkers out there who do not care for coffee to be afraid to give it a try. The quality of this tea is astounding, as are all of Teavivre’s teas and realistically nothing taste like coffee but coffee itself. This is clearly an excellent Iron Goddess, deep, roasty, and toasty, and the creamy texture of this tea on the mouth is really special.

Also this is a tea that keeps on giving. Even with my long five minute steep the first time around I can continue to keep on steepin! Following steeps have some interesting notes highlighted that bring about the thoughts of a green tea, such as green bean for example, but more like veggies that are fire roasted! So good! I love having this Iron Goddess with some milk chocolate, it really taste like s’mores between the creamy note in the tea and the smokiness with the toasty note, and of course the chocolate!

This tea has some serious NOM factor!

Sinharaja from Golden Moon Tea

Sinharaja from Golden Moon Tea
Sinharaja from Golden Moon Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea

Tea Description:

For Sinharaja we use rich, dark loose leaf tea leaves that are nourished by fertile rain forest streams in the hills of Ceylon. It has a toasty, molasses-like character with ripe berry notes and a caramelized finish. Serve with a touch of raw sugar and cream for a taste that is smooth, full-bodied and warming.

WHY IT’S SPECIAL:

A sweet, full bodied Ceylon Tea

Natural notes of cocoa and honey with a finish of molasses

A personal favorite of our Owner, Marcus Stout

Pairs excellently with milk and honey

Grown at the basin of a rainforest giving it a wonderfully rich flavor

WHAT TO BE CAREFUL OF:

Sinharaja has a touch of astringency, which is great for first thing in the morning

A bold flavor that is heavier than most Ceylon Teas

While good as an iced tea, it actually tastes better hot

Not as malty as other Black Teas (like Assam)

If you drink the tea without milk and sugar/honey, then the second infusion is better than the first

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The aroma of Sinharaja from Golden Moon Tea is delightful. It smells rich, robust, sweet, and full of molasses. Yet to balance out this sweet tea we have an almost spicy, woodsy flavor. It is quite delicious. Now I can’t say it is the most robust black tea, nor the heaviest in the mouthfeel. Actually I have had teas with far more depth of flavor than Sinharaja, however I do love this tea. I like the subtle astringency indicative of a breakfast tea, without the ability for it to easily become bitter when oversteeped. Let’s face it, if I am going to over steep a tea it is going to be when I am barely awake, in the mornings. Well in honesty my mornings are more early afternoon, but you get the idea.

If you like to add creamer, milk, sugar, etc to your tea this is an excellent one to do it with. Although I find this tea to have plenty of flavor on its own and does not need additives, I have to admit that the milk and sugar do bring out new and exciting qualities in this tea. It enhances the richness and makes the tea a bit more robust, rather than drowning out the flavors. I also only added a slight hint of milk, and sugar.

There is a earthy yet sweet balance in this tea that keeps drawing me back. Chocolate notes that seem almost creamy as the cup cools some present. Bright berry notes do liven up the cup giving an almost sparkly like sensation to the palate. The berries taste more red berry, perhaps even a slight cherry or perhaps raspberry note to the cup. Based on the sparkly sensation I am going to have to go with very sweet raspberry.

I particularly love the after taste and while I know that Golden Moon says this is better hot I can’t wait to try it iced. I feel like this is one of those teas that can really match any weather. I can see this being so comforting on a dreary day, or really refreshing on a hot day. I need to get my hands on some more of this.

Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green from Teavivre

Organic Nonpareil Dragon Well Long Jing from Teavivre
Organic Nonpareil Dragon Well Long Jing from Teavivre

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Green

Where to Buy: Teavivre

Tea Description:

Produced in Tianmu Mountain(天目山), Lin’an County, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang, China

Harvest time: March 8 – March 10, 2013

One bud with one or two leaves

Dry tea is shaped straight and pretty

Soup presents tender a yellowish green color, tastes sweet and brisk; aroma lasts long in the middle and back part of the tongue.

Fresh aroma with chestnut flavor

Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

When I received my samples of the new spring teas my first tasting selection to sample was Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green from Teavivre. The aroma is strong, awakening, and  as fresh as a tea can smell. The dry leaf is so pretty and bright green. The flavors range through various steepings from nutty, buttery, vegetal, and salty, but every single steep brings forth the freshest flavors you could imagine.

When steeped properly there is absolutely no astringency and of course no bitterness. There is also a lovely light sweetness to the flavor that can be detected at different levels through the various steeps. The color is very light so do not be tempted to over steep this lovely tea. Take your time with it and let the flavors be gently caressed out of the leaf with shorter steep times which will provide you a longer and more relaxing brewing session. Green teas like this one from Teavivre are deserving of your time and focus. I do not recommend a tea like this for an out the door on the go tea. You can do that if you wish, but I feel it is cheating the tea from providing all that it has to offer and really just cheating yourself.

Some teas are great for an on the go pick me up and get me going for my day ahead tea. This Long Jing however is a relaxing, meditative, sip and consider type of tea that will rock your world in a totally different way if you give it time and allow it to. I find that while this tea is refreshing, and so lightly fresh, it has a brothy mouthfeel, verging on creamy in some steeps. I love it when a tea can bring out both feelings, light and fresh, yet thicker in the mouthfeel, as it is an unusual combination.

Teavivre brings us so excellent offerings in their new spring line, and I am really amped up to try them all but today I shall sit with this tea, looking forward to many steeps to come. It is absolutely lovely. See all of Teavivre’s Spring Teas here and learn how you can get samples of all of them for free!

Organic Creamy Earl Grey Black Tea from Fashionista Tea

creamy_earl_grey

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Fashionista Tea

Tea Description:

Organic, high grown estate black tea hand blended with cornflowers, fragrant oil of bergamot and a touch of French Vanilla.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Well, this is it, folks!  This is the last tea that I have to try from the Fashionista Tea collection!  And I saved (one of) the best for last!  Organic Creamy Earl Grey Black Tea!

If you’ve been reading my reviews for any length of time, you are probably pretty aware of my love affair with the smooth Mr. Grey.  I’ve never made it any secret of how much I adore the combination of rich black tea and the tangy bergamot fruit.  And I’m always excited to try variations of the classic combination of bergamot and black tea … like this Creamy Earl Grey from Fashionista Tea.

They combined the delicious flavor of the traditional favorite and added a touch of French Vanilla, which adds a smooth, creamy note … eliminating the need to add milk or cream to get that delicious latte flavor!  This has that flavor built right in!

But that’s not the reason I love it so much (because I rarely add milk or cream to my Earl Grey tea … make that VERY rarely … as in nearly never!)  I love this because the creaminess of the vanilla gives the Earl Grey a really different kind of flavor.  It is smooth and creamy, of course, and sweeter than the standard Earl Grey, but it is the play between those sweet, creamy notes and the bergamot that I really enjoy.  It gives it an almost “creamsicle” kind of taste … only more interesting because the orange notes here are bergamot orange!  It tastes like an exotic creamsicle.

The bergamot is markedly toned down here, it is not as sharp or tangy as it is in the classic version of Earl Grey.  But don’t mistake that as meaning that there is less flavor – because this cup is definitely a full-flavored tea.  It has a rich, solid flavor that offers a creamy overtone, tangy mid-notes and a strong, black tea base that supports it all.  It is not overly astringent (it’s quite mild as far as astringency goes!) and not at all bitter.  Just … really enjoyable!

After having tried all of the teas in the Fashionista Tea collection, I really must say that this company has some MUST TRY teas in their collection … and this one is among them.  I’d also recommend their Fashionista Blend and their White Tip Jasmine Tea.  Of course, you can’t go wrong with the Basic Black Blend, either.    And you’ll LOVE getting a package in the mail from them – the packaging is as much fun as the tea!

Maiden’s Ecstasy Organic from Samovar Tea Lounge

Maiden's Esctasy by Samovar Tea Lounge
Maiden’s Esctasy by Samovar Tea Lounge

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Puerh

Where to Buy: Samovar Tea Lounge 

Tea Description:

Wild-crafted from 30-foot trees in the jungles of Southwest China, this tea is a traditional wedding gift and evening mood-setter. Dark, creamy, and luxurious with notes of bittersweet chocolate and espresso.

Details

Tea Type: Pu-Erh

Origin: Jing Mai Mountains in Yunnan, China

Caffeine Level: Medium-high

Processing Details: Tender, young-leaf, vintage, loose leaf Pu-Erh

Tasting and Aroma Specs: Very balanced, smooth, rich and dark, with a slightly sweet, wildflower honey finish. Deep, strong forward notes of earth and moss with a lingering raisin sugar sweetness.

Food Pairing: Dim Sum and Samovar’s Mushroom Quiche

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

It is really difficult to sum up a puerh in a review without mentioning each and ever steep. Especially when it is such an excellent puerh like this Maiden’s Ecstasy Organic from Samovar Tea Lounge.

Maiden’s Ecstasy is one of the first pureh that I ever tried and is still one of my favorites. I stopped drinking coffee shortly before I found my love for loose leaf tea, and this Maiden’s Ecstasy provides such a rich, full, and robust cup that it brings back memories of my once loved coffee, but is so much better, and far more flavorful!

With a creamy, heavy mouthfeel, this tea has notes of german rock sugar, brown sugar, raisins, tree bark, oak moss, and so much more. Sometimes you will taste a more woodsy note, while other times you get a taste of chocolate, and other times a savory note of mushroom!

There is something otherworldly about this tea. It is the kind of tea I like to drink while watching a movie such as Avatar, or The Never Ending Story. I would take this and drink it at the Renaissance Festival every year if I could find a way to keep steeping it! It makes me feel like jumping from toadstool to tree trunk and swinging from branches of friendly tress and cavorting with gnomes but beware of the trolls because this tea does have a sparky, spicy kick to it at times as well! Its not dangerous though, it won’t burn your tongue at all, its just a little spark of playful now and then in the middle of an otherwise dreamy cup.

It does evoke thoughts of sipping on a very luxurious espresso, a good one though, one you could probably only find at one of those quaint cafes in Italy, as you sit writing in your diary at a white linen clothed table, dreaming of a romantic interlude. Flavors of molasses peek through resembling the sweet desires playing out in your mind as you gaze into nothingness, while someone, sitting at a table not too far away can see everything emoting through your eyes.

Yes, this tea is that special.