523 Tasting Notes

65

Thank you Rie for sharing some of this tea with me.

I didn’t realize that it had ginger in it when I first asked to swap for it. I do not like ginger except in cookies and other heavily spiced recipes, just not ginger alone. ginger tea makes me nauseous just smelling it. For the longest time, I didn’t realize that ginger was my problem. There was a flavor I frequently detected in some Chinese dishes and it was awful, but as I didn’t know what it was, it was impossible to avoid. I never suspected ginger, because it is common in all the yummy autumn pastries that I love, how could it be the enemy? Then one day, when I was eating some store-bought sushi, I sampled the pickled ginger that came with it. Yuck! that was it. That was the nasty Chinese food flavor that alluded me for so long. Finally! On a related note, I was in shock the day I learned that ambrosia fruit salad is made with mayo. Strange how ingredients can take on a life of their own in a blend. So far, I haven’t had any luck with ginger blend teas.

I read reviews of this tea and most of them say that the ginger stands out. Strange enough, I didn’t detect it at all. A case of ambrosia salad? This tea tastes like peach gummy rings. Oh man, I used to love those things when I was a kid. I had a bag of them in my candy stash at all times. The tea brings back memories, but I’ve largely lost my taste for candy. My sweet tooth aims for cakes and bakery goods, but generally not candies.

My husband on the other hand, who is not the biggest fan of peaches, likes this tea. He says he gives it an 88. Good thing since I have quite a bit left!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Terri HarpLady

Mayo in ambrosia salad? blech! My mom never put it in hers, thank god!

Shelley_Lorraine

Yeah, I’ve heard that some people use sour cream, cool whip, or both. And mayo is often mixed with cool whip too. My mother always used just mayo and coulda fooled me, I always thought that it was cake frosting!

Rie

I’m really glad this turned out okay despite the ginger! :‘D The gummy rings comparison is appealing, I’ll try imagining that the next time I attempt to like this, haha

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85

This was a bonus sample in my swap from Rie. Thanks!

I really am starting to appreciate green oolongs more than I used to. They aren’t my favorite teas, but I think I can be in the mood for them sometimes and might even keep a few in my regular stock.

I brewed this one western style as I didn’t have a lot of time, but it came out pretty good. It has a very delicate floral aroma and a creamy texture. I think when it comes to flowers, as long as they aren’t jasmine and they aren’t slapping me in the face, I can appreciate them in my tea.

Rie tells me that her family brings this tea back from Taiwan. I suppose I’ll have to find my own source for a good Gaoshan oolong if I want any more.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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75

Backlog:

I selected this sample from Shmiracles as my after dinner tea with an episode of Merlin. I am surprised that there are so many just-average ratings for this tea. My only issue with it is that raspberry is my least favorite berry. Other than that, I think that this is an excellently blended tea. The flavors don’t taste too sweet or artificial and there is absolutely no questionable aftertaste (as I have found all too common with many flavored teas). This is like the tea version of a berry blend juice. If I liked raspberry more, I’d give it 100.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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75

Backlog:

I really wanted to love this tea because of the name. My husband loves it. To me, it’s another novelty flavor that hardly tastes like tea at all. It’s fun and pleasant to drink, but my cravings are usually aimed towards tea (and flavored teas so long as the tea isn’t lost to the flavors).

This tea tastes like a melted stick of chewing gum. The marshmallow gives it that gummy-like texture. Unlike the 52teas Lime Jello Salad tea, I could see myself drinking this tea again, but not too often.

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75
drank Smaug Tea by 52teas
523 tasting notes

I bought this tea mostly for my father and husband. They both like spicy cinnamon and they are both a fan of Butiki’s Winter Fire tea, so I thought this one would be for them too. I can’t handle the Winter Fire tea at all. It tastes alright, but I feel like I am suffocating for just a moment after each swallow. My mother and sister felt the same way. I attribute it to the hot peppers. This, having cayenne pepper and all, I figured would not be a good match for me. And it supposedly has Lapsang Souchong in it too! Oh, no thank you to that! Adagio’s custom Smaug blend was all the Lapsang Souchong encounters that I ever needed.

So why am I sitting here with a cup of this tea anyway? I don’t really know. I seem to be having an OCD issue causing me to try out teas just because I have to simply say that I tried them. Here and there, if I am in the right mood, I can override the OCD, but not tonight. Of course, I only brewed a tiny tea cup of this.

The Lapsang Souchong is completely lost on me in this tea. I know it is in there sparingly, but that’s some powerful stuff to hide even in small quantities. I’m getting just a small touch of the same sensation that choked me upon swallowing Winter Fire, but not enough to actually make me cough. That all being said, this is really just a strong cinnamon flavored tea. It’s not fooling around when it comes to flavor.

I like cinnamon plenty, but I don’t usually crave it in a tea unless it’s blended with other ingredients too. This is a tea that I will likely drink more of simply because my husband likes it too, but I won’t be reaching for it when I’m making tea for myself alone.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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75

TastyBrew’s Personally recommended blend from her mystery swap box.

It’s not half bad. The flavors are very well balanced and there’s no unpleasant aftertaste. I’m not super thrilled about almond flavor in my teas, but I wouldn’t say no to a second cup of this.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 30 sec
TastyBrew

This is definitely one of my favs. Glad you kinda liked it!

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85

After sampling a few so-so teas, I needed a definite good one with which to end the day. A bit odd going from three black-based blends straight to a green, but it was so worth the abrupt transition.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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65

Thanks for this sample TastyBrew :)

What a strange tasting Yunnan. It’s not bad, but it’s unusual. There is something fruity, almost citrusy about it. It’s plenty drinkable, but as far as Yunnans go, I have a couple preferred ones already.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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65
drank Christmas by Adagio Teas
523 tasting notes

Another über-generous sample from TastyBrew!

After the watery cinnamon flavored teas that I’ve had recently, this one definitely seems to have a stronger flavor. It’s the clove, probably.

Judging it on its own, it really isn’t all the exciting. The dried leaves smelled like strong Christmas spices, but they didn’t come out so vibrant in the end. It has a relatively strong flavor of some sort, but it’s a flat generic sort of flavor, as others have already pointed out.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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65

This tea tastes similar to ‘Sunrise Sensation from STeap teas in that it is a weak cinnamon-flavored brew. The tea base is extremely weak and the only flavor that really stands out is cinnamon. The cinnamon in this one is slightly stronger than the other though. It really isn’t much of a pumpkin-spice tea.

Thank you for sending me such a generous sample TastyBrew, but I think I’m going to let this one move on in a future swap.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec
TastyBrew

Yeah, I realized that I just don’t love pumpkin spice tea. So I didn’t even try this one. Culinary teas have proven to be a bit of a letdown to me.

Shelley_Lorraine

Have you tried Butiki’s Pumpkin Creme Brulee? That is a good tea. It tastes like pumpkin and spice and tea. It’s in my top ten :)

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Profile

Bio

Name: Shelley Lorraine Limegrover
Location: Livingston, MT

Hobbies: Learning, reading books, math, physics (have a degree in it), literature (have a degree in it too), anthropology, traveling, piano, and drinking TEA, of course (^o^)

Favorite teas: Kukicha, Green teas in general, aged oolongs, charcoal roasted oolong, taiwanese oolongs, Assam . . .

Don’t like: Genmaicha, Earl Grey, Darjeelings, ginger, coconut, smokey teas (even mild ones), nut flavors, overwhelmingly strong floral flavor (esp. Jasmine), most della derra and adagio teas. . .

My Rating System

100 My happiness absolutely depends on it

95 Will definitely repurchase

85: Might repurchase (teas that depend on my mood)

75 Won’t repurchase (but I would drink it again if offered).

65: meh

45: I reluctantly finished a cup.

15: Couldn’t finish a cup.

I simplified my ratings to single numbers rather than ranges because I can’t precisely compare so many teas with a system more detailed than this.

An unrated tea is most often one that I recognize as having significant notable quality, but that does not suit me personally. Sometimes, I leave teas unrated for other reasons, such as I am undecided or I brewed it wrong, etc.

Note: Boiling temp. barely reaches 200 where I am (and a few times it sticks at 195, I assume due to unexplainable shifts in altitude or the position of the moon. . .aliens?. . .).

Location

Colorado

Website

https://shelleyintherain.word...

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