1711 Tasting Notes
A friend gave me a sample of this tea, but after reading over other people reviews I’m not sure this is the right one. It was hard to read her writing for the company name.
I’m enjoying this, whatever it is. It’s very umami. It almost smells like the seaweed part of miso soup. Or a roasted furikake. It’s very smooth and well balanced and has a sweet sensation to it. It seems more oolong than puerh to me. Glad to have gotten to try this!
Preparation
I’m liking this a lot more today. I put the rest of the sample in a mason jar and let it steep for a day or so. Added a little maple syrup and took a sip. Wow! It really made it pop! Added a splash of cream and not so much. It didn’t ruin it, but it was better without the cream. There is a little bitter flash in the finish that makes me think pecans that have less meat and more skin. The skin on pecans is a little bitter.
Oooooh! I just remembered! A neighbor brought me a pecan pie that I need to cook in exchange for her borrowing my honey extractor! Between all the jars of honey and now a pie that people are giving me for lending out the extractor, this thing is going to pay for it’s self!
Advent Day 8
Crawling my way out of 15 or so hours of nauseating migraine. It’s becoming a more frequent occurrence. Probably a brain tumor or something. Curling around this cup while munching on crackers. This tea is alright. I think if you told me it was a vanilla tea, I would have agreed. I don’t get much of a difference between this and my memory of a vanilla tea. As it cools it gets a little flat at the start of the sip. Guess I better finish this cup fast!
Preparation
As a diagnosed chronic migrainer for decades now, I absolutely know those days… all too well. Much sympathies.
My husband has them but fortunately they are rare. He gets an aura, speech difficulties, and sometimes numbness in the hands. Nouns leave him.
We found an essential oil called Migraine Relief at Rocky Mountain Oils. It doesn’t touch the headache but all other symptoms disappear almost immediately, whereas they used to linger. He takes over the counter migraine pills that are really just aspirin or ibu with acetaminophen and caffeine for the headache part.
I hope you find something that works well because they are MISERABLE.
Oh, my friend started taking feverfew and St. Johns Wort and hers went away entirely after literally decades of having one a week. Everyone is different. I sure hope you get relief!
For me, I was having upwards of 15 a month. Nothing would touch them. Suffered for decades, and living alone, I didn’t know how I’d continue to hold a job. Then in 2018 a new class of preventative treatment known as CGRP-inhibitors (I had been watching the studies since 2005_) finally hit the US market. Took some strong arming between my medicinal providers and insurance (_of course, harumph) but those injections cut my attacks down to around 5 a month, and the severity and duration of the attacks I do get by a lot. Complete game-changer. Very thankful for the development of those injections even though it was a very long wait, and I was one of those “have tried everything and given up all hope” sort of patients.
Thanks y’all! A friend was telling me about feverfew today and all I could remember was it was an herb that started with an F. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll look into that oil too. I had my diffuser going with a menthol oil last night, but I’m not sure if it even took the edge off.
15 a month sounds like hell! I’m glad those injections for for you!
My friend talked me into doing the Whole 30 diet, and after a month of no sugar, I found that anything over 10g of sugar would give me a headache. It’s a very strict diet for one month to see if certain foods are affecting your health or energy levels. I know I feel much better not eating sugar these days, but everyone is different.
I had been lowering my sugar intake for a while now, but the holiday offerings are spoiling that. I noticed things tasted too sweet after a while of low sugar. I should try some sort of elimination diet for the house to see what foods make us feel best. I joke about a pumpkin pie cleanse each year, but now I’m imagining a month of only sushi!
I ordered some feverfew and that oil and talked to my doctor who wrote me a prescription for migraine meds. This ended up being a two day migraine episode. Pretty sure I’m in the clear now.
Glad to hear you’re feeling better!
AJRimmer Advent Day 7
I’m drinking this with one of those seasonal white fudge covered oreos. God they are decadent, but I can’t resist buying a pack every few years. I totally get the bergamot lemon flavors and behind that is a little ginger. The ginger has that aged quality to it where it doesn’t have the bite. My cup has cooled a little and the citrus seems a little sharper than when it was hot. I wonder what about this tea inspired the name. Is the Mad Hatter fond of ginger? Was there an EG reference in the books? Things to ponder as I near the bottom of this cup!
Preparation
AJRimmer Advend Day 6
The mint is most prominent in this cup. It’s mellowed a little by the chocolate which stands out more in the finish. I’m sipping it a little absent mindedly as I watch the press conference on the new Covid restrictions the various counties in my area are putting into effect tomorrow. Basically another stay at home, away from anyone not in your household and only go out for essentials order for who knows how long this round. Until we have vaccine distributions? And my cup is empty. Tea goes down so quickly when doomscrolling!
Preparation
I like this one! It’s nice and smooth and heavy at the same time. I usually take cream in my breakfast teas, but this cup was so nice that I wasn’t willing to ruin it like I didn with an earlier cup with one of the many replacement creamers I bought now that my favorite soy creamer is not being made. I wish I knew what the different straight teas tasted like so I could identify the features I’m tasting better. It has a hint of malt, a little tobacco. There is the slightest tang that I get near the end of the sip now that my cup has cooled. Not sure I’d run out and buy this, but I’d definitely take another cup!
Preparation
Advent Day 7
Not sure what to make of this tea. It’s super strong on the orange, but it’s a smooth bright orange without a bite. I’m not sure what other ingredients there are that are rounding it out. I’m getting some lemongrass. It’s almost too much at the end of the sip where the taste starts to overwhelm and cross into unpleasant and then it leaves my mouth feeling really dry. It has the feel of sweetness, but not the taste. I bet it would be really good cold steeped or with creamer or both!
Preparation
Advent Day 6
What is this?! A hibiscus blend that isn’t hideous?! I cold steeped it, because that is the only way to drink hib IMO, and it isn’t gross! That’s high praise from this committed hib hater. It is tart, but not overwhelmingly so. The tartness seems to just overshadow and round out the other fruits that I can’t quite pin a name to. It’s a little fruit punchy without the depth of cherry. I am totally amazed that I just drank the whole cup. I wouldn’t add it to my cupboard, but I know I could drink it without too much resentment if I were, oh say… lost in the desert for a week. This would be fine!
AJRimmer Advent Day 6
AJR had mentioned not being able to see the glitter in this tea well, so I broke out my glass travel thermos. The latest one. That I haven’t yet broken in some random tragic tea bungling mishap. It will happen eventually. Always does.
Anyway, this tea looks really pretty steeped up with little bits of sparkle. They seem to fade after a while which I’m guessing might be them sinking to the bottom. The flavor is really light, not heavy like I’d expect a chai to be. Glamour chai? I get some cinnamon in the sip, although it’s stronger in smell. Mostly just getting cinnamon, but it seems rounded out and not a sharp cinnamon. I should do a longer steep next time and see if I get deeper flavors.
I love the way this tea looks dry. There are little bits of cinnamon bark, various seeds and little rock crystals. I got a new macro lens to use for photographing my work and had to try it out on this tea! Posted some pictures on my IG. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIeUBR-gTJ4/
Preparation
I think there must be more glitter toward the bottom of the bag because I finally saw some in the cup I had of this a few days ago!
It looked like most of the pieces were coated in a light dusting of glitter, but some of the more confection like pieces were extra coated, so it makes sense that those heavier parts might sift to the bottom.
Awesome detailed photos!
Why I haven’t noticed that photos back then? I agree with tea-sipper completely! My photos seem lame compared to yours!
No Martin, your photos are great, but I love seeing Dustin’s close-up tea leaves. haha
Thanks! My secret is an awesome lens that attaches onto their specially fitted phone case! I take close up pics of tiny jewelry and the photos I’m getting with this lens compared to my previous clip on macro lens are a huge improvement. Taking macro pictures of pretty tea is fun too!
Advent Day 6
This is very aromatic… almost like a perfume version of pecan. The closer I get my nose to the cup, the stronger and richer the scent. Almost baked and sweet like the pie. The flavor is a little lighter than the scent, but a pretty good representation of pecan.
I used to hate pecans. It wasn’t until I lived in Austin and had two pecan trees in our yard that I really grew to appreciate the nuts. Fresh, they were a totally different thing than the old stale going rancid pecans I had come across in California. It’s a really good thing that pecan trees give bountiful tasty treats or everyone would chop them down for being such messy trees. In the spring they cover everything with a thick layer of yellow pollen and you better hope you aren’t allergic to it. Then they rain down pollen pods after that. Then the nut season, which is very loud when your roof is under their canopy and last is leaf season where they drop all their leaves and take a break for the winter before starting the whole process back up again in the early spring. They are also known for self pruning aka dropping branches when they get the hankering. They are also large and expensive to have chopped down when they catch some sort of root fugus. Ask me how I know about that one. :(
The more consistently I sip on this cup, the more the flavors edge a little too close to too much. Like an oversaturation of flavoring that gives a slightly artificial taste. I bet it would be phenomenal with cream. I’m really enjoying this cup and it’s the first that I might consider buying, but I’m not 100% there yet.
Preparation
I loved reading about your pain pecan trees. :D The huge pines around here don’t sound so bad now.
Pines which my eyes are allergic to.
I do miss those pecans. It’s pecan season right now too. :(
Tree allergies are a huge factor of what drove me from Austin. The oaks out there had it in for me. I hope the pines take it easy on your eyes!
