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Angrboda

815 Followers / 221 Following

Angrboda drank Caramel by Kusmi Tea

How much do I love this one?

T_________H_________I__________S_________________M_________U_________C_________H!

Normally I make this with a water temperature of about 90°C, but on a whim today I tried lowering it even further to 80°C. I’m not sure why I did that. It was just one of those things.

I was craving this one today for some reason. My day went a whole lot better than yesterday, and I just figured some truly awesome tea would be a good thing to add to it.

Actually, that’s a lie. It was the vanilla from yesterday, really, that I fancied, but then I decided to do that thing with the temperature and thought it would be better to do that with one I knew inside and out and sideways so that I could really compare the results.

The result is that 80°C is too low for me. The tea seems a bit watery and weakly compared to my usual experience, as if it has not been able to fully develop during steeping. It lacks a lot of creamy-ness that it usually displays so prettily.

Okay, then. That’s useful knowledge. 90°C really is a very good temperature.

2011-11-15 12:04:10 -0500

I Like This

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9 comments

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Comments

Amy oh 2011-11-15 12:13:11 -0500

this seems like the one from kushmi to try…

Angrboda 2011-11-15 12:17:02 -0500

It’s my very very favourite from them and my perfect Caramel black. Bit subtle on the flavouring and the less than boiling temperature is important, though.

Amy oh 2011-11-15 12:31:04 -0500

I tried one at Samovar a few weeks ago, it was ok but I did not notice anything amazing…

Tamm 2011-11-15 23:46:19 -0500

Seeing this made me want some of this so I brewed up a cup! :) mmmmm perfect for super-chilly November basement days.

cteresa 2011-11-16 08:15:05 -0500

I have been looking for this, loose leaf, based just on your love it. Well, must check again the places where they usually have Kusmi loose leaf tea. Beautiful as Kusmi tins are, i do not want to invest too much, since so far me and Kusmi teas have not quite hit it off – though not for lack of trying on my part. But this one, ah it sounds like it might be the one for me.

Matt 2011-11-18 11:17:37 -0500

My amazon wishlist thanks you. I look forward to this one!

Angrboda 2011-11-18 12:07:22 -0500

Cteresa, unless you can find a sample tin of it, I think the smallest you can hope for is 125g. Alternatively, if you like, I can totally share a sample with you. :) Shoot me a pm if you are interested in that.

Matt, you are quite welcome. I hope you will like it. :)

cteresa 2011-11-20 12:32:52 -0500

Ah, thank you so much for the offer, but I will keep looking. Some local places got 5 or 10 kg bags of Kusmi (and more usually Mariage Freres) tea which then they sell by the gram, the 50 gr is the usually minimum you can buy and quite reasonable a price to try (it´s usually around 70-80 euros a kilo for loose tea, so much more reasonable a way to try than a full tin. Though if you are going to not use it all very fast, it is better if kept in some airproof container) . Thank you so much for you, I will keep lobbying the local stores to have this particular Kusmi blend in that by-the-weight format.

Angrboda 2011-11-20 12:52:54 -0500

Okeydoke. :)

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Bio

Angrboda felt her bio needed to be re-written, but she failed to consider what she wanted it to say instead.

Um…

Okay. Ang prefers black teas and the darker sorts of oolongs. She has to be in the mood for green and white and she enjoys, but knows little to nothing about, pu-erh.

Her preferences with black teas are the Chinese ones, particularly from Fujian, but also Keemun and just about anything smoky. She occasionally enjoys Yunnans but they’re not favourites.

She is sceptical about Indian blacks as she generally finds them too astringent and too easy to get wrong. She doesn’t really care for Darjeelings at all.

She likes flavoured teas as well, particularly fruit flavoured ones, but also has an obsession with finding the Perfect Vanilla Flavoured Black.

However, she thinks Earl Grey is generally kind of boring. Cinnamon and ginger are also not really a hit, and she’s not very fond of chais. Evil hibiscus is evil. Even in small amounts, and yes, Ang can usually detect hibiscus, mostly by way of the metallic flavour of blood it has.

Ang is not super impressed with rooibos or honeybush. She doesn’t care for either, really, but when they are flavoured, there have been known to be surprising exceptions to this rule.

Ang has a number of teas that she regards her Standard Panel and will always try to have on hand.
-Lapsang Souchong, any brand really, but preferably AC Perchs.
-Blackberry flavoured black or similar, any brand.
-Late Summer Blend, AC Perchs
-Raspberry Oolong, AC Perchs OR Red Fruits Oolong, Le Palais des Thes
-Caramel, Kusmi OR Toffee, Le Palais des Thes
-Something orange flavoured, black or pu-erh, any brand.
-Tan Yang Te Ji, Teaspring OR Bai Lin Gongfu, Teavivre
-A good Keemun, any brand.
-The Perfect Vanilla Black if and when she ever finds it…

Angrboda is almost always open to swapping. Just ask her.

The Formalities

Contact Angrboda by email: iarnvidia@gmail.com
Contact Angrboda by YIM: angrboda@ymail.com
Angrboda does not respond to gmail chat.

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