Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tea Source
Tea Description:
This rare white tea from Yunnan is a winter-pluck tea with huge downy buds and leaves from wild growing tea trees and produces a liquor that is mellow, sweet, slightly fruity (ripe plums?), and lingers with a soft floral finish. Can also be aged, as a puer.
Learn more about this tea here.
To subscribe to Steepster Select, click here.
Taster’s Review:
I was happy to find this Silver Bud Ya Bao White Tea from Tea Source in this month’s Steepster Select box, if for no other reason than I enjoy Ya Bao teas and even though I do enjoy them, they are not often a tea that I put in my “cart” when I’m shopping for tea. It was a nice surprise to find this among this month’s tea selections.
I took this tea for a few steeps, because Ya Bao teas are one of those types of teas that the flavor develops over the course of several steeps – it’s definitely worth the effort to brew this one more than once!
The early infusions were very light in flavor. Very delicate. Sweet with hints of vegetation (on the grassy side) and notes that are reminiscent of honeydew melon. I taste a hint of nutmeg – a warm, gentle spice – with maybe a hint of white pepper. I love the subtle flavors here … although I do find myself wishing that they were a little more pronounced.
That wish was granted with the later infusions. The flavors began to develop with the second infusion, offering notes of peach and sweet, creamy notes. I am tasting less of the aforementioned spice notes now, and the vegetal notes have become more hay-like to me. This cup is sweeter and the flavors are more defined.
With the third infusion, I noticed the flavors beginning to wane and became less distinctive, which tells me that a fourth infusion may be futile. However, the three infusions that I did get from this tea, I really enjoyed them.
A really lovely Ya Bao! Thank you, Steepster, for selecting this tea for this month’s box! If you’re interested in the Steepster Select subscription program, click here to learn more.
Laos Black Tea #05 from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
A black teas from Laos with this quality of manufacture is almost unheard of. Our dedicated producer has thrown convention out the window and began making teas that rival India and China. This rolled, jet black tea with golden buds is a sure sign Laos is on its way.
Taster’s Review:
When I first opened the packet of this Laos Black Tea #05 from Steepster and smelled the contents, I found myself bewildered by the fragrance. It was a scent that was totally unfamiliar to me, especially in the world of tea. Usually a black tea smells “earthy” or “leathery” or even “fruity” or “floral.” But this tea smelled like none of those things!
On Steepster, one of the tasting notes suggested a “tomato” fragrance, and while I don’t know that what I smelled was that of tomato … I do certainly agree that it smells different.
The flavor is also quite different from any black tea that I’ve had, although there are some familiar notes to this as well. This has a richness to it, although I find the body to be somewhat lighter than the typical black tea. It is sweet (like honey!) and there are some delicious malty tones to this. I also taste earthy notes with whispers of smoke.
And, yes, these are all notes that in other black teas … but it’s just the way these particular flavors come together in this particular tea that makes it different. It’s malty and rich, but it is lighter than other black teas that are known for malty, rich flavors like an Assam or a Fujian black.
It’s an easy to sip tea … something I’d be happy to drink again.
Rare Orchid Oolong Tea from Tea Source
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Source
Tea Description:
This rare regional oolong from Wuyi Mountain, Fujian yields a light liquor, but with great aroma, taste, and texture. You’ll experience: sweet, nutty, fruity, honey, and silky over many steepings. These long, large, twisted, bronze/brown leaves are produced at more than 1000′ elevation from the Qi Lan cultivar.
Learn more about this tea here.
To subscribe to Steepster Select, click here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a really nice Oolong! This Rare Orchid Oolong Tea from Tea Source is an example of why I really love the Steepster Select boxes – I get the opportunity to try teas that maybe I wouldn’t have tried if not for the Steepster Select program.
I’m loving the malty notes to this Oolong. It’s not a flavor that I usually associate with an Oolong, and I love it when I discover an Oolong that offers me something a little different that I haven’t really tasted in an Oolong before.
Over on Steepster, some of the other tasting notes on this tea mention an Asparagus-like flavor, and I’m not tasting that yet. I’m hoping that in later infusions, I’ll pick up on that flavor. But for now, in this first cup (infusions 1 and 2 following a 15 second rinse), I’m happily enjoying the flavors of malt, a sweet honey flavor, and a sweet, creamy vanilla note. There are some lovely floral notes to this cup too.
With my second cup (infusions 3 and 4), I noticed more vanilla notes … this second cup is so creamy! More honey notes, less malt than in the first cup, and the floral tones seem somewhat subdued compared to the first cup – not quite as sharp, or perhaps the vanilla has softened the floral tones just a little bit. Either way, I really like the way the vanilla flavors seem to really envelop the palate. And if I focus, I taste hints of the asparagus note that I was searching for in that first cup, and I’m also picking up on a distant fruit note.
My final cup (infusions 5 and 6) was a mellower tasting cup. I still tasted the vanilla, but this was less creamy than the second. I could taste the fruit notes a little more than I did in the second cup, but, I’m tasting less honey and malt this time around. Still a really flavorful cup, though, and definitely worth the effort!
This was a really lovely Oolong, I’m glad that I was able to try it – thanks to my Steepster Select subscription! Interested in subscribing to the Steepster Select program? Click here.
Jasmine Pearl Select 2013 Green Tea from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Picked from the Da Bai Hao cultivar, this high grade green tea is gently picked and hand rolled. The tea is then meticulously dried with fresh jasmine to impart its distinct floral aroma and flavor.
Taster’s Review:
This Jasmine Pearl Select 2013 Green Tea from Steepster is the fifth tea from my February Steepster Select box – and I figured I better get busy and review it because my March box arrived yesterday.
I love Jasmine Pearls, so I was very happy to receive these as part of February’s box. Over on Steepster, most of the tasting notes about this jasmine tea are positive, but I did read one tasting note that suggest that the jasmine notes are too strong, I would disagree with that, because I think that the jasmine here is just right. Then again, I believe that the flavor is very reliant upon how it’s steeped.
I steeped this in my gaiwan, using short steeps (a 15 second rinse, followed by a 45 second infusion, and adding 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion). I kept infusing until my yixing mug was full – it usually takes five infusions.
The result is a cup of jasmine paradise! The jasmine tastes soft, sweet and exotic, and melds beautifully with the sweet notes of green tea. The green tea is very light and has a subtle grassy taste. It is a delightfully floral cup.
A really wonderful Jasmine.
Imperial Keemun Tea from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
The Burgundy of tea, Keemun is considered by many to be the finest black tea produced in China. Grown in the Huangshan mountain range, this black tea is soft and approachable while incredibly complex: a marriage of floral, fruity, smoky, and mineral flavors.
Taster’s Review:
I received this Imperial Keemun Tea in my Steepster Select box for February and let me tell you it’s a mighty fine Keemun! I don’t know that it’s the best of it’s kind that I’ve tried, but, I am enjoying the balance of flavor profiles that I’m experiencing with this cup.
Just as the above description suggests, there is a nice “marriage of floral, fruity, smoky and mineral flavors.” I get each of these notes … perhaps more fruity and smoky than floral and mineral, but I taste each of these qualities.
The first note that I taste is the smoke. That probably has something to do with the smoky fragrance of the tea, because I deeply inhale the aroma before I take a sip. Then I notice some of the fruity tones. Sweet and I taste something that falls somewhere between sweet, juicy berries and luscious plums. The smoky tones give these fruits an almost “roasted” type of flavor, as if they have been fired over a charcoal pit.
With Keemun tea, I tend to find that there are two different “categories” of Keemun: one is a strong, rich, smoky Keemun, while the other is slightly less bold and more wine-like and fruity. This Imperial Keemun from Steepster offers a balance between the two. It’s strong, rich and smoky, but I can also taste those wine-like fruity notes.
I also definitely taste notes of charred wood as well as the smoke and fruit. The aforementioned floral tones are more subdued. The mineral notes I notice mostly toward the finish. I also taste a lovely undertone of caramel – a sweet and delicious note that tastes like a caramel made from molasses. The finish is clean but not overly astringent. The aftertaste is sweet and slightly smoky.
I liked this one. Not the best Keemun I’ve ever tried, but, I’m glad I got to try it!