Vegan MoFo is pimping Monochrome Meals today which means we will be seeing a lot of food that is all based around ONE color so for our Vegan MoFo Tea choice today we are pushing Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix – Brown Wrapper – from Teasenz.
This Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix – Brown Wrapper – from Teasenz is part of the Teasenz Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix. If you purchase the 70 gram TIN for $10.89 you will receive 12 or 13 mini tuo cha. I think this is a pretty fair price for 12 or 13 mini’s of which you get to try 4 of their pu-erhs!
We are specifically reviewing the Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix – Brown Wrapper – from Teasenz in this review. The scent of this one once wet and infused is an earthy, woodsy, wormy type. It infuses to a dark brown. I was pleasantly surprised that the taste on the tongue was mellower than I thought it would be based on the scent of the infusion. It was really quite nice. Sure it had woodsy notes but they weren’t over the top or anything I winced at. Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix – Brown Wrapper – from Teasenz was even a bit smooth, too! I’m not saying this Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix – Brown Wrapper – from Teasenz was dull or lacking in flavor at all! It’s just more smooth than I thought it would be based on the scent! I’m very excited about this offering!
Because Mini Yunnan Tuocha Mix – Brown Wrapper – from Teasenz is a solid brown color DRY and WET I figured it would make a nice connection to the Vegan MoFo Monochrome theme of the day, today!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Description:
Pu erh tea is an important part of the Yunnan culture. For a beginning pu erh tea explorer there is definitely a long way to go in order to fully appreciate the complexity of this type of tea. Sip and feel its richness in taste that evolves after each steep and imagine the history that is within this tea. Order today and have some of those high quality leaves that made it to our Teasenz website right in your teapot. Each and every piece is source directly from Yunnan and you will love it. Read our guide below as a roadmap for your puerh journey!
- Brown: Start off with the flat tuocha wrapped in brown paper to experience the classic taste of pu erh tea. Note: Don’t underestimate those small tuocha teas. One piece can easily steep you several pots of tea. Instead of moving too fast from one color to the other, first strive to get as many steeps from each piece! Try to notice differences in flavor between the different steeps.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Anxi Tie Guan Yin from Teasenz
I can’t remember the last time I drank a Tie Guan Yin, which is something of a surprise as it’s become one of my favourite oolong varieties. I was more than pleased when I came across this one, not least because it’s a good opportunity to reacquaint myself. This particular Tie Guan Yin is from the Anxi Nature Reserve in Fujian Province, a major Chinese tea growing region (although one I seem to associate more with black tea than with oolong, strangely enough!)
I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in water slightly cooled from boiling. The resulting liquor is a clear, pale green with a light yellowish tinge. The leaves are beautifully variegated, encompassing pretty much all shades of green from the palest to the darkest, and just a hint of brown. It’s like walking through a forest in the sunlight! The leaves are rolled, and after three minutes they haven’t entirely unfurled, suggesting that this one might be good for at least another couple of steeps.
The scent of the brewed tea is light but noticeably floral. It reminds me primarily of orchids, lilies, and jasmine – heady, scent-heavy flowers. This carries through into the taste, which initially is very heavily floral. So floral, it almost tastes thick. It doesn’t cross over into territory that’s too perfumey or cloying, but it’s definitely distinctively floral. The mid-sip brings a green beany sweetness that helps to freshen up the overall flavour profile, and towards the end of the sip there’s a hint of nuttiness that puts me very much in mind of hazelnuts. It’s an interesting flavour combination, but one that ultimately works well.
I’m also pleased to find that it very smooth in terms of mouthfeel, with an almost-silkiness about it. There’s no bitterness or astringency at all,
even though the water was quite hot and the brew time reasonably long. As the cup cools, it develops a creaminess that complements the flavours (and particularly the lingering nuttiness) beautifully.
This reacquaintance with a Tie Guan Yin has reminded me why I enjoyed these teas so much in the first place. I’m impressed with the quality of this tea, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of Teasenz’s offerings in the future. Impressed!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Description
An all-time favorite of Chinese oolong tea lovers. This beautiful emerald green tea is named after the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin. Poets of the Middle Kingdom have described this premium tea for its purifying taste, bringing you into a peaceful, meditative state of mind.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Da Hong Pao from Teasenz
I really adore the whole gamut of Big Red Robe teas, from the sweet ones to the smokey and robust ones.
These twisted black leaves with only a few golden brown ones mixed in attest that this will be one of the roasty ones.
I tried this yesterday with Chocolate Silk Pound Cake, strawberries, and freshly whipped cream. It was fantastic with food, with a nutty flavor like dry walnut skin contrasted with a light underlying sweetness. I didn’t pick up on smoke as much as nuttiness.
Today I had a cup by itself, and was surprised to find that it tastes much smokier on its own, bordering on a mild Lapsang. (This is a Lapsang loving household!) The smoke was really front and center, whereas yesterday walnut predominated.
Both days I noticed a light drying effect which was nice with cake as its clears the palate. I really want to try it iced as well. I think it would be great!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy :Teasenz
Description:
Enjoy a sophisticated, complex flavour with woody roast, aroma of orchid flowers, finished with subtle caramelised sweetness. Up to eight steeps when applying Chinese kungfu brewing as you can expect from a true Wuyi rock tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Snow Crysanthemum from Teasenz
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
A ‘heavenly’ rare flower tea that is grown only in the Kunlun mountains, where slow flower growth results in a delicious flower taste with notes of caramel and dark red tea liquor. Snow Chrysanthemum flower tea contains high amounts of amino acids and proteins, which are beneficial to your health by lowering blood sugar, reducing high cholesterol, and preventing heart diseases. A Teasenz favorite.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is a perfect example of why I love being a SororiTea Sister! All the fun and unique teas you get to experience that you might now have tried on your own. I love my floral and flowering teas so this one I thought would be right up my alley.
When I first looked in the pouch, I was very surprised with what I found. Being relatively new to Snow Chrysanthemum teas, I didn’t expect such a unique looking flower. I was thinking more like a fluffy Chrysanthemum like I’ve had in the past and this was more of a berry flower bud. I gladly poured a few heaping scoops into my tea pot and allowed this tea to brew to its gorgeous purplish amber brew for me to try.
While this tea was brewing, I was getting a very strong tangy berry aroma. I was hoping that the aroma would translate into a very tangy flavor. And it did! This tea created such a lovely tangy herbal like tea that soothed this tired soul after a really long day at the office. I just loved it.
There wasn’t a floral taste that I could really pick up but there was a familiar tangy herbal flavor that almost had a sour like resemblance. I brewed up another infusion and I was greeted with the same flavor profile. I can see how this would be a favorite amongst Teasenz customers. This tea is gorgeous hot. But I knew and had a feeling this would make an incredibly iced tea.
So I grabbed a few ice cubes from our break room and threw them in my cup and poured the tea in. Wow! This tea was just as good iced as it was hot. I’m getting the same flavor profile but just in a different temperature. Regardless of how you brew this tea, I think it is a winner!
Daughter’s Ring from Teasenz
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Tea Description:
A farmer needs to work seven days, just to produce about 1.5 kg of this artisan tea, picking only the most-tender leaves from large-leaf tea trees in Simao, Yunnan. Afterwards, each ring is carefully hand-rolled piece by piece, requiring patience and mastery of advanced tea processing skills. A pure organic and luxury green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very excited to try this one. Very excited. The beautiful rings were something to behold. Just gorgeous. I’ve never tried a tea like this before. I steeped this in my Breville One Touch so I would have the right temp for water.
Not having this tea or any teas from this company, I was a little intimidated so I did a bit of research about this tea on Steepster and what reviews this tea has already received. The more I read about the tea the more excited I seemed to get. Sweet, delicate, not grassy, buttery, and nutty. How lovely does that sound?
When I heard the beep of the Breville announcing the tea was ready, I basically ran to the tea pot to pour myself a cup. Poured myself a cup and let the brew cooled off for a minute.
Took a nice big sip and wow that was not the taste I thought I would be greeted with. From the reviews I had read, I was thinking this was going to be a more delicate floral green tea. What I got was a tea that reminded me of a savory Slim Jim based tea. Not bad, just not what I had expected so I was taken by surprised. This is a very very savory green tea with hints of smokey flavors popping through each sip. I’m curious if further steepings will create a different flavor, but I doubt it would be that much of a difference. I’ll have to just experiment some more. That is one of the aspects of tea that is just so much fun! All the different tastes and textures you can get out of steeping the tea differently!