1908 Tasting Notes

60

Instead of the usual spicy cardamom scent this tea smells like cinnamon – I mean REALLY like cinnamon, as in ‘are you sure someone didn’t stick those spicy cinnamon hearts in here?"

The flavour was rather disappointing though, the spices were quite weak to the point that I’m not sure this qualifies as a proper chai blend at all. Definitely not ‘Traditional’.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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96

The smell of the dry tea threw me for a little bit because it actually reminded me of pineapple. A quick check of the package revealed that no I had not grabbed the wrong oolong, nor was there any pineapple in this blend. Huh. Whether pineapple or banana (and the brewed tea definitely leans more toward the side of banana) I have to say that I LOVE this tea. It’s delicately sweet and fruity it pairs perfectly with the green oolong base. It’s all very exotic and tropical-tasting. A+

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 5 min, 0 sec
tigress_al

Too bad they discontinued this one :(

Jillian

I know – but at least I stocked up when they were clearing it out.

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70
drank Spiced Brandy Shou Mei by 52teas
1908 tasting notes

I think I got this tea originally as a free pouch that came with a promotion Frank was doing. I’m not sure I would have chosen it on its own as I’m pretty ambivalent towards brandy and brandy-flavoured things generally.

The scent of the tea is like a spicy orange with a distinct licorice note from the anise. The flavour is almost chai-like with the brandy as sort of an aftertaste. The anise thankfully isn’t as strong as the scent would suggest though I can still pick it out. There’s also a faint bitterness that I’m not sure I care for – I think this tea would benefit from some sweeter flavours. It’s not a bad tea but not my thing, I think.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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75
drank Genmaicha Satsuki by Den's Tea
1908 tasting notes

A lower and slightly longer steeping time really brings out the sencha base which gave the tea a slightly grassy taste but it’s too light to really be astringent and it has a nice savory undertone that goes nicely with the toasted rice.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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77
drank Chai Apricot by Tea Desire
1908 tasting notes

This tea smells like Christmas fruit cake (the good kind) full of cloves and other spices. The flavour of the chai spices is distinct but mild with cloves in the forefront along with a bite of black pepper and the heat of cinnamon and ginger. It’s a very ‘warm’ tea and perhaps it’s the memory of fruit cake, but it makes me think of winter and Christmas. I do wish that the apricot flavour was a bit stronger – as it is now it’s more of a sweet fruitiness in the background, though it works well with the spices.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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68

I’ve tried drinking this tea with and without milk and I definitely think it’s better with. I was also a bit disappointed that there weren’t more white chocolate chips in the blend although it did smell quite chocolatey. However, the chocolate flavour was quite subdued, I found although the milk helped bring it out. I do appreciate that the company uses a nice high quality base for most of their flavoured teas, but in this instance the flavouring itself could do with some improvement. All is all I found this blend to only be okay.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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60
drank Browncoat Genmaicha by 52teas
1908 tasting notes

I agree with other Steepsterites in that this tea has an odd scent – or at least the dry leaves do. The brewing tea smelled more like your garden-variety genmiacha. Flavour-wise the malted, toasted rice character of the genmaicha dominates though I don’t think the green tea base is actually a sencha. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Den’s Tea. ;)

The cocoa adds an interesting twist to things, though the end result is a bit too bitter for my tastes. It’s a cool experiment, but I’m not sure this one panned out. I’ll play around with the steeping parameters to see if that makes a difference.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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67
drank Prince Vladimir by Kusmi Tea
1908 tasting notes

This tea came as a sample probably in a swap or in an earlier round of the Traveling Teabox. It has an intriguing scent, citrusy with a bit of spiciness. I think I expected the flavours to be bolder than they were – the grapefruit flavour is a nice twist on the usual earl grey-type blend and the vanilla gives it a smoothness that is nice particularly with milk. But I find that there’s something that’s a little bit flat about this tea – the base is rather weak and overall it lacks substance. Of course I have no way of knowing how old my sample is so it may be that it’s gone a bit stale.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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90

I had to double-check the label on the tin because this smelled very much like an earl grey when I opened it and I thought I’d mixed it up with the Earl Grey Classic in my sampler set. I’m glad to be proven wrong though because, even though there is a distinct tang of bergamot, it’s definitely the vanilla cream that dominates. The tea has such a sweet, rich flavour even though I brewed this cup plain with no milk or sweeteners. I’ll try it with a longer steep and milk next but even as is it’s an excellent blend.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 45 sec
TeaBrat

Their tins are so pretty…

Jasonde

Any Creamy Earl Grey that is similar to Heavenly Cream come to mind?

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78

I think this sample came from the Traveling Teabox – which it turns out is not lost after all, despite being in postal limbo for something like a month. *whew *

This tea reminds me quite a bit of Numi’s Chocolate Pu-erh and like that tea, in my opinion, this would be a good pu-erh for beginners. It has a rich, dark cocoa flavour that the pu-erh base compliments really nicely. And it’s a fairly mild pu-erh as far as these things go – it mostly just adds a pleasant earthy flavour that’s fairly tame compared to some plain pu-erhs I’ve tried. It has a nice undertone of cinnamon that spices up the chocolate, but apart from that I’m not really getting much ‘chai’ from this tea.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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I’m a university student in her twenties who’s currently working her way toward a Bachelor of Natural Resource Science degree. I love both science and science-fiction and I’m a history nut on top of that. Maybe I should just call myself a nerd and leave it there. ;)

I’ve been drinking tea since I was young but it’s only in the past couple years that I’ve become interested in the good-quality stuff.

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