Story of my Tea’s Blind Tea Tasting #tea6026 & #tea6027 | Tea Review

by Tea in Spoons

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6026 spoon  I’m always on a quest to learn more about tea. A great way is through flights and comparing teas. So, when I saw a blind tea tasting Kickstarter campaign, I was in!

When the Company, Story of my Tea, first was in the process of funding the Kickstarter, one of the reward tiers was an international value pack (company is based in the USA) for 14 teas. However, it was an assortment of blind tea pouches.

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting Wheel

So, I reached out and asked if there was a way for them to pair up the teas because it made more sense for me to blind taste similar teas. The company liked the idea so much, that they added that as a feature for everyone!

The Kickstarter was described as: “[The] World’s First Tea Tasting Game – Taste mystery tea, identify the flavors, guess the teas and origins, and improve your tasting skills.” I was excited when the project was funded! 

When I received my package, it contained 14 teas. Each tea pouch contained enough tea for 3 to 4 cups, as well as an information card and a QR code on the label to scan to find out more information. The package also included a small tasting wheel, which was a nice touch! Depending on the teas, they are paired together in pairs of two or four. Not all teas are paired together.

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting Pouches

Since I love blind tastings, I thought that maybe other people would too! Therefore, I am going for format this post in a fashion where I describe the tea as unbiased as possible, provide my guess, then reveal the answer.

Let’s go!

 

#tea6026

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6026 spoon

Instructions: 8 fl oz | 200 F | 2 tsp | 2-4 mins 

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6026 dry dish

Review: The tightly rolled up leaves were dark brown-green with a very grassy and green smell. After a 3 minute infusion, the leaves were mostly unfurled and were more of a brown olive green colour.

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6026 wet dish

The liquor was yellowish-orange with a red tinge and had roasted notes intermixed with a fresh smell. It had a deep earthy, vegetal and grassy taste. The lingering flavour was roasted and woody. The liquor left the mouth feeling dry (3.5/5 rating).

Guess: Tieguanyin Oolong from China 

Reveal: Iron Goddess of Mercy from Fujian, China (also known as Tieguanyin)

Description: “It is also known as Iron Goddess of Mercy, named after a Chinese Buddhist goodness who according to the legend made a gift of this tea for a poor farmer for his faithfulness. This tea was produced in the classic style of baking the leaf that creates a sweet and toasty flavour balance in contrast to the modern style that is a little sweeter and greener.

Layers of sweet, floral and toasted notes with a hint of roasted pine nuts.”

  • Type: Oolong tea
  • Origin: China
  • Caffeine: Unknown
  • Ingredients: Unknown
  • Company: Story of my Tea


#tea6027

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6027 spoon

Instructions: 8 fl oz | 175 F | 1 tsp | 3 mins 

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6027 dry dish

Review: The leaves were dark brown with a dark green tinge. It had strong roasted notes, as well as a fruity undertone. After infusion, the leaves were still dark brown and in small fragments. It had a very malty and chocolate smell.

Story of my Tea Blind Tasting tea6027 wet dish

The liquor was a reddish yellow-orange and smelled like bark or wood. The tea had a roasted quality like hojicha. It was sweet, roasted, woodsy and malty. The liquor left the mouth feeling a bit dry and was thin (4/5 rating).

Guess: Roasted Oolong from Taiwan or China 

Reveal: Formosa Fine Oolong from Taiwan

Description: “This is a darker style Oolong from Formosa, which is the old Portuguese name for Taiwan. It is carefully produced from select dark brown and twisted leaves and baked to a pronounced toastiness. 

Vibrant, fresh, and toasted notes with hints of apricot.”

  • Type: Oolong tea
  • Origin: Taiwan 
  • Caffeine: Unknown
  • Ingredients: Unknown
  • Company: Story of my Tea


Final Thoughts

Overall, I have to say that I am really enjoying this so far! It is very fun to guess.

The pairing made it fun but also gave me a hint. I knew that it had to be a roasted oolong because the first tea was an oolong already. That being said, it didn’t really take away from the experience. If anything, it helped me learn more!

I liked the format of this post and plan on doing more in the future! I got one correct and half of the other one. How did you do?

The question of the post: Do you enjoy blind tea tastings?

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10 comments

theteacupoflife February 28, 2019 - 12:11 pm

I love blind tea tastings! You are such a cool tea blogger.

Reply
teainspoons March 1, 2019 - 8:22 pm

I don’t know about…”cool”…. stop making fun of me. 🙁

Reply
Eustacia | Eustea Reads February 28, 2019 - 7:55 pm

I’ve been seeing this around the internet and it looks really fun! Sadly, I only found this after the kickstarter ended :p

Reply
teainspoons March 1, 2019 - 8:21 pm

I plan on doing more in the future, so you can play along! Did you like the format?

Reply
Eustacia | Eustea Reads March 1, 2019 - 9:48 pm

Yes, I did! It was pretty easy to follow along!

Reply
Blake March 5, 2019 - 12:21 am

This seems like a really fun idea (the blind tea tasting sets). Now, I want to try one for myself!

Reply
teainspoons March 5, 2019 - 8:10 pm

In the meantime, I will be posting reviews like this every once and a while, so stay tuned for that.

Reply
Blake March 7, 2019 - 8:55 pm

Nice. I liked the format of this post. And I’m currently trying to limit my tea spending so I’ve been resisting the urge to buy one of their blind tea tasting subscriptions. In the meantime (until my moratorium ends or I cave and order anyway), it’s nice to know I can at least live vicariously through your future blind tea tasting and review posts.

Reply
teainspoons March 7, 2019 - 10:39 pm

I am here for you to live vicariously through! I am glad my blog can help you with your temptations. I am also on a tea buying ban, which I think I will turn into tea and teaware buying. We can do it!

Reply
2019 Toronto Tea Festival | Event Recap – Tea in Spoons April 12, 2022 - 9:50 pm

[…] am considering making it a separate post and setting it up as a blind tasting like I did with the Story of my Tea post! Tell me if that is something that you would like to […]

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