Featured & New Tasting Notes
This tea is what I was thinking of when I was a child and making imaginary magic potions that could heal your lifeforce or imbue you with magic. The tea itself is a feel good item and can lift spirits. It allows you to shrug off discomfort, like it was some kind of winter coat and just feel good.
It has a cool blonde liquor and a mild smell like tanned leather or some sort of soft herb like tarragon. The taste has notes of butter and hay, like some impossible grain beverage. There are no truly bitter flavors present.
I got this as a sample and decided to give it a soak tonight. First off, I almost want to buy this for the sole purpose of being able to yell SERENITY NOW! whenever someone asks me what I’m drinking. And while we’re on the thread of non-practical reasons to like this tea, it also reminds me of my most favorite canceled television show ever, Firefly.
As for the tea itself, I’m officially impressed. The concept of a Tea Sommelier is pretty cool, but with the way that this tea come together it makes me think that the people at Tavalon have someone over there whose work is more akin to that of a mixologist. I could easily pull out every single one of the components they listed in the description of that tea, and they unfolded very nicely. The chamomile, the vanilla, and the rooibos give it warmth, the lemongrass adds a brightness, and the peppermint leaves you feeling clean at the finish. The combination of it all, at points, reminds me ever-so-vaguely of Red Vines [who, for those unfamiliar, makes the best red licorice in the world and would stab the heck out of Twizzlers in a knife fight]. The tea is not sweet, but the aftertaste makes you think that it is.
I don’t hate chamomile, but I don’t love it either, so this isn’t something that I could drink on a regular basis. When I find myself in the mood for a little chamomile action, however, I can most definitely see this being a tea I would crave.
Sorry, but I’ve got to do it.
SERENITY NOW! SERENITY NOW! SERENITY NOW!
Fin.
I love Firefly. It always seemed to me that Joss Whedon had produced multiple dramas and each person on the ship had their own show with quite different emotional timbre. So for this Serenity tea, whose drama is it? Is it Mal? Zoe? Inara? Simon? Kaylee? River? One of the others? From what it sound like it couldn’t possibly be Jayne, right?
So totally unrelated but – I had a friend in school who named his dog Taxi because he really wanted to go out in the neighborhood (which at the time was pretty country) and yell “Taxi!”.
@Carolyn Hmm, that’s a toughie. I’m going to have to say Kaylee. It’s too “soft” to be any of the men [well, except for Simon I suppose, but it doesn’t read as a Simon tea to me]. It’s not exotic enough to be Inara or bad ass enough to be Zoe or crazy enough to be River. Actually, now that I think of it, it reeks of Kaylee to me [in a good way]. As for Jayne, I’d peg him to be more of a Lapsang Souchong, myself. Possibly a gunpowder. [Ba-dum, CHING!] THE AMOUNT OF THOUGHT I AM PUTTING INTO THIS IS EMBARRASSING. GOING TO STOP NOW.
@aug3zimm That’s hilarious. My friend Steve wanted to name his dog Damnit, for similar reasons.
Do all teas remind you of Firefly in some way?
Please. Everything in the world can remind me of Firefly, so far as I’m concerned.
touche
Boiling water 3 min, resteeped 4 min. The liquor is red-amber, rosy, almost orange — a beautiful shade — with a chocolate aroma. I am tasting caramel, toasted almond, bittersweet cacao, with a sweet plum finish. A perfect accompaniment to the Walkers shortbread I brought home yesterday!
Preparation
Among tea snobs, Assam teas often get a bad rap and are largely relegated to the category of mass-market teas, due to the fact that there are more than 3,000 tea estates in the Assam Region, many of which produce lower-quality teas that wind up in tea bags. By comparison, there are less than 100 Darjeeling tea gardens, enabling the Darjeeling growers to better protect their “brand.” That said, however, good Assam teas from the better estates are great teas and Rembeng is definitely in that category. This organic tea is everything a good Assam is supposed to be, malty, balanced and rich enough to hold up to milk, but smooth enough to drink straight. A four- or five-minute steep seems about right. One of the best teas for making iced teas, too. Available at Itoen and a slew of other online tea purveyors.
Preparation
Rob, what source did you get this tea from. It doesn’t say. SpecialTeas has it as Rembeng TGFOP Organic which is pretty close to what this one is called.
I got mine from Ito En in New York — from the actual store, not the website. That said, Rembeng was the estate that grew and processed the tea. So the Rembeng that SpecialTeas has is going to be the same stuff.
I understand what you’re saying about the same estate. However I wonder if some supply buyers don’t get higher grades than others from the same estate per a given harvest by paying a different price. Hence I like to know the consumer source so I know where to order if from if I want to experience what others who bought from the same consumer source have found.
To my chagrin, Ito En doesn’t list the Pekoe grade on the Rembeng they sell, which is particularly annoying since Indian teas always come with a pekoe grade. That said, however, Ito En is selling their Rembeng for about $3 an once. And the TGFOP grade you refer to that SpecialTeas sells is a fairly high grade.
This is my first blooming tea. Nice light floral scent/taste. It does get a little bitter after a while, which is somewhat problematic since I’m steeping it in the Teavana Rhapsody tumbler – I can’t really get the bloom out until I’m done!
It’s an enjoyable experience, though, and I’ll definitely drink it again.
Mmm, this is great after dinner too. I’m already dreading the day that I run out.
Also, we rolled out a few minor bugfixes and updates to Steepster this evening. The most noticeable thing is that the “recent activity” items that used to be on the side in your dashboard are now rolled into the main column. Let us know what you think!
THIS… IS… THE… BEST… TEA… I… HAVE… FOUND… IN… AGES.
I cannot imagine anyone disliking a single thing about this tea. Even me… usually I’m not a mint person. But I cannot drink enough of this. It’s incredible. A very new blend from Rishi, and it’s sure to get rave reviews once people start trying it.
Also… I was incredibly impressed to see the reference to Yak butter tea that is a rumoured delicacy from Tibet. I’ve heard of Yak butter tea on numerous occasions now due to the personal interest I take in that part of the world, and have yet to come across anything that would compare to it.
Rishi’s reference to this rarity is what sold me, but the tea’s taste is what I’ve found to be beyond impressive, and is sure to please.
Whoa, Yak butter tea is a new one for me. This sounds SUPER interesting.
Wikipedia will give you a lovely overview of Butter Tea if you’d like to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_tea
I believe I saw either Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bourdain from the Travel Channel try butter tea also! I’ll have to see if I can find the clip online.
But yes, the accounts I’ve heard of many Americans who have tried Butter tea say that it is not to their liking – however they usually credit their “American palate” as the reasoning for their distaste for it.
Nonetheless, I am curious to try it for myself!
On a related note; Rishi recommends that you try brewing the delectable Pu-erh Vanilla Mint like you would a chai – half water, half milk, and slightly sweetened… I haven’t had the opportunity yet, because I need more! But as soon as my order arrives that is the first thing I am going to do :) I’m really looking forward to it!
Finally drank this last night – got in my Steepster Select Adiago Fall tea set a few weeks ago! I have never seen a pearl tea before so I was really excited to try this out! I enjoyed the tea. It was light and subtle. But, I think something up went wrong in prep, either not enough pearls or water wasn’t hot enough. Still enjoyable and will certainly try again.
try 10 pearls per 16oz at 212 degrees F for 5 min.
@cofftea: Wow, really? I think I used 3 pearls for about 12oz at around boiling for 5 mins. Maybe I’ll try more tea next time. But I have been trying to use less because I feel I usually pile on too much.
Thanks for the advice, Cofftea. I will add more pearls next time and let you know how it turns out! Jason, made the same mistake, only used 4 for about 12 oz! Could be why it was so light!
Cooking this up now. Makes the house smell amazing! I’ll be sure to edit this after I’ve tried tasting it. I predict it’s going to taste just as wonderful, if not better, than it smells.
It’s a “be brave” day. I’m trying pu-erh again. This time it’s the cute looking little tuo cha nests. I have followed the directions rigorously. I’ve boiled my water to 212 degrees. I rinsed it in boiling water then steeped it for six minutes.
The pu-erh tea is thick and black. It smells of leather and grass with a slight sweetness. I added creamer to it as I do to all of my black teas. It isn’t too bad, which is not to say that it is all that good either. Still, it doesn’t smell or taste like dung, which is my previous pu-erh benchmark. There is a slight saltiness and the leather smell carries through to the taste. It still turns my stomach over, though.
I think this is a pretty definitive test. I am a failure at pu-erh appreciation. Does anyone want the rest of the pu-erh sample?
It took me some time to get used to pu-erh, but now I quite like it. You might want to try something that’s got some other flavor to it – I’m a big fan of Samovar’s Blood Orange Pu-erh, myself.
boiling water is only 212 degrees.
Puerh definately takes getting used to. Try skipping the creamer next time though. What did you brew it in? I prefer making my puerh in a gaiwan so that the steep times are much shorter.
Sometimes the problem with a pu-erh is that is has not aged long enough. Throw it on your shelf and come back to it in 5 years.
No, I’m not kidding!
http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-pu-erh-will-age-well.html
P.S. Good pu-erh will not take getting used to. :)
Ones I’ve tried and would recommend include Rishi’s Green Pu-erh Tuo Cha, Pu- erh Ginger, and their new Pu-erh Vanilla Mint.
Pu erh I have found is def. hit or miss, and once you find one, savor it all you can, you may not be able to find it again!
Thank you all so much for your advice. This latest pu-erh tasted ok, but I had the same problem I do with almost every pu-erh: I drink it and then I throw up. The only one that worked out ok was a pu-erh combined with black tea, cocoa, and spices. My guess is that the quantity of pu-erh was small enough that I didn’t react that way.
If I am to throw the remaining pu-erh on a shelf and come back to it in five years, how should I store it? Does it want to breathe or be sealed up tight?
Thanks for the advice Oh Cha. I may try the Pu-erh Ginger since I currently use ginger tea to settle my stomach. So maybe the combination will work well together.
I spent yesterday in a hazy, yawn-y, groggy, unproductive fog. It was one of those days when you know you’ve got shit to do but you feel like you’re moving through molasses, and then you realize you’re in the middle of things you shouldn’t be doing…two hours later. One of those days when it feels like it should be rainy and depressing outside, but isn’t, so it frustrates you further.
I woke up this morning, was thinking of starting off the day with a white tea, and then thought, “NO! NOT AGAIN!” and decided today needed something a bit more hardcore. Ryokucha, I love you. And you look gorgeous in my new mug, if I do say so myself.
