1711 Tasting Notes
Advent Day 23
This smells very raspberry jelly like! I get a pastry cinnamon like base under the fruit. There is a slight tartness that seems disconnected from the fruit somehow. I keep going back and forth about this. Some sips I get a really nice jammy cookie flavor, in some the flavors are light and hard to taste and in others in seems to fall flat. When it was hot it was really hard to taste the flavors, but they came out a little more when cooled a bit. It does leave my mouth a bit dry after each sip (thanks rooibos). I have mixed feelings about this tea!
Preparation
AJRimmer Advent Day 23
I have no idea what mince pie is, but like AJR (I hope your ice cream turned out well), I am also a fan of dessert teas. I hear mince and I think of mince meat. Or is it minced meat? Either way, I’m glad there is a desserty meat free version. I steeped this cup, walked away from it for family zoom yoga that my cousin leads and when I came back my cup was cold. My cousin’s family class runs long. I microwaved my cup to bring it back up to temp, but it seems different than when it was freshly steeped. I don’t know if it is all in my head or a real phenomenon of teas and microwaves. It tasted dull, so I added a touch of sugar. It smells almondy with cinnamon. There is a slight bitter taste in the sip, but it’s not prominent. I feel like there is a dried fruit aspect to this. Too late to tell now, because I finished my cup! Now I’m curious what a mince pie tastes like.
Preparation
Mince pie is just a pie with mincemeat, very common in the UK. And mincemeat doesn’t generally have meat these days, it’s just apple, dried fruit, and spices. Some recipes do call for lard or suet though.
Mince meat tarts or pie is one of my favourites. I grew up eating this all the time. :)
I’d love to try one.
I had no idea what suet was until looking up mince pie recipes!
Yeah, it’s not really a thing here in the States. I mostly know about it from British Bake Off… XD
Advent Day 23
They should rename this Only Licorice. That way it’s a fair warning for lovers and haters of licorice. I’m a licorice lover, so I really enjoyed this. I has that slightly sweet finish and is all fennel when sipped. As much as I liked it, I’m not sure I’d pay Kusmi prices for a tin of it. I feel like there have to be more economical options for a similar flavor profile.
Preparation
Hahaha “only licorice”.
I would love an Only Licorice tea, hahaha.
I love your name change, especially as I don’t like licorice. (Like hibiscus, it tends to be a polarizing flavour.)
I just ordered the licorice tea from DF haha! I don’t think I’ve ever had one, so fingers crossed I’ll enjoy it.
Was it Réglisse? I have that one!
It was Cameron! I wasn’t going to order it, but Jessi said we could split the package and so I figured that would be okay.
I just looked up that DF one. I don’t think I’ve seen a black based licorice tea! They are usually herbal or used in a chai where they aren’t a featured flavor.
Mmmmm, I’m liking this one! It’s not quite nutella type chocolate hazelnut, but it’s still pretty good. There is a nice depth to it that keeps bringing me back for more sips. Glad to have something hearty and decaf for an evening cup!
Preparation
Advent Day 22
Trying to focus on this tea and not on people being mean online, but there is so much negativity out there even in work related groups! I need to remember to stay in my cup. I’m liking the passionfruit scent and flavor. It dominates the sip for me. The mango comes out at the start of the finish and lingers for a long time. I bet this would be a great tea for summer cold steeping. This is a tea I think I would buy!
Preparation
A six year old student of mine told me today that a boy called her a “Fraidy Cat of the virus.” I told her I was sorry he did that and that he must have heard an adult say such things, but I thought she was being wise, and to just keep being her nice self even when others are not nice.
I didn’t tell her I wanted to slap the people who raise a child to talk that way.
I’m glad she had you to balance out the boy’s comments! The pandemic seems to be bringing out the worst in people at times. :(
Advent Day 22
I’ve been wanting to try more flavored whites lately and two of my advents have one for today! I can smell coconut when I go to take a sip. I get a cinnamon/cardamom combo in the sip which mixes with the coconut in the finish. It’s nice, but it’s really light and I have to reset my brain which is trained to want super intense rich flavors. The flavors seem easier to taste as the cup cools, but it could be that I’m getting used to the light flavors. I think if I didn’t have a ton of delicious chais in my cupboard already, I might consider adding this one.
Preparation
Trying this again. I let it steep in room temp water overnight. It has an almost sweet but sour smell, like when clothes go sour. When I sip I get a muted nothing. Just weak tea. After an alkaline start to the finish subsides I get a little berry flavor lingering. I don’t know what is up with me and this tea, but we were not made for each other!
AJRimmer Advent Day 22
I’m not quite sure how satsuma differs from orange. Is orange the general term like apple and satuma is a type like fuji or granny smith? I have some google searching to do! I saw one review where someone compared it to the taste of a chocolate orange and I feel like that is a pretty good description. It has a similar flavor and boldness. There is a little bit of a tart tang to it and it lacks the depth that actual chocolate brings to the chocolate orange. The finish is a bright orange flavor, but I’m not getting any spice or the cake association. Either way it’s a nice cup to start my morning with!
Update after my google search: I might have a satsuma tree growing in the backyard! There is some sort of citrus tree that I ignore and the rats from the neighbor’s garage devour. I have a sensitivity to the citric acid, so I have to pick and choose when to eat citrus (flavoring like in tea is fine) and the fruit on this tree doesn’t make the cut. In my quick search I ran across a recipe that uses zest from the fruit for a curd and I think I could eat that. I’m going to have to give it a go!
Preparation
A satsuma is in the mandarin family and is a kind of tangerine. It has soft, loose skin that you peel to get to the seedless citrus sections inside. Its flesh is tart/sweet.
It looks like it’s a type of mandarin, similar to but not the same as a tangerine.
Ah, okay. It’s looking like they are hard to tell apart from others like clementines. Now I’m not sure what this tree in my yard is!
Clementines are usually fairly small. They are smaller than tangerines and satsumas. They are rounder and have tighter skin than a satsuma (which tends to be more like a slightly flattened orb) and their flesh is sweeter than a satsuma, too.
I’ll have to keep a lookout for satsuma at the grocery, now I want to try one! :P
