144 Tasting Notes
I tried this one iced today (cold-steeped overnight). It’s such a pretty clear red but it’s way too tart and there’s a weird aftertaste… I think it might be because of the hibiscus. I’ve never tried a hibiscus tea iced before but it really takes over everything. Blehhh. I’ll be drinking this one hot from now on. It smells nice though.
Preparation
Dry, this smells like strawberry drumsticks (like, the ice cream kind of drumstick). It brought back vivid memories of when I was a kid going to visit my dad’s Seattle apartment, eating drumsticks and watching Star Wars or Star Trek OS with my brother. The brewed tea kind of smells like that too, but with more of a strawberry-tea smell.
It started off as an excellent cup of tea, amazing strawberry taste and sweet and slightly cake-y. But there’s this bitterness/astringency that seems to build up the more I drink it. The good far outweighs the bad though… I still think this is awesome. There’s so much strawberry taste but at the same time it doesn’t feel like a “fruity” tea. I can’t wait to try it iced… I will definitely cold-brew it and hope that the bitterness/astringency is gone!
Preparation
I look forward to cold-brewing this as well. Do you find that when you cold brew black teas that the flavour is really strong or feel lilke there is more caffeine than normal?
I’m actually pretty new to cold-brewing and I don’t think I’ve ever tried it with a black tea! But I would be interested in hearing other people’s opinions on that.
I cold brew tea probably twice a week. I only have done everything except for mate, black, and pu’erh because I am fairly sensitive to caffeine and can only drink one high caffeine tea a day. I am worried that caffeine content of cold brewed would be too much for me.
But I do really enjoy cold brewing, it is very convenient!
Cold-steeped for about 14 hours… wow! This is a lot more tart than I was expecting. Then the vanilla really moves in for the aftertaste. Weird! I think… I think I like it? I’ll try it hot next and see how it works out. I was expecting the pear taste to be more like pear jellybeans, but I think it plays off the apple and becomes quite sharp.
Preparation
Due to forgetfulness I let this cold-steep for a little over 24 hours.
Oh… my… goddd
This is amaaaaazing. It is incredibly sweet without having to add anything to it, and I usually don’t like watermelon but the watermelon taste really comes through here and I don’t know, it’s just amazing. Perfect for summer cause it’s so refreshing and fruity and did I mention amazing.
Also this is the first tea with beetroot in it that hasn’t bothered me! Maybe it’s because it’s iced?? I can’t pick it up at all! Yayy!
Brb, going to buy a huge tin of this.
Preparation
This is totally one of my favourites, and yeah, it is better and better the longer you let it cold steep.
So true! I find that the same with Blazing Strawberries as well. I’ll sometimes like the two of these steep for days – enjoy this all summer long!~ woot :D
Sooo agree, I adore LW, I need to buy more. If I could drink a pitcher of this every day this summer I’d be so happy, but I’d go broke!
2nd note
I added some milk to this tonight but it actually took away from the flavour. I thought it would go perfectly with milk! It’s still nice and sweet and creamy but it’s bordering on too artificial this time, even for me. Oh well, it’s still a nice dessert tea. And it’s making me really tired so it was a good pre-bed choice. Yay for not being affected by caffeine… except that I can’t use it to my advantage to wake up in the morning/stay up late either .__.
Preparation
I let this cold-steep from yesterday afternoon to this morning and am having it now post-gym. It’s much better when iced!! The mediciney taste is gone and the ginger/strawberry/hibiscus all blend so beautifully. I can pick out each flavour but none of them are overpowering. I added a little agave but it was great without too. It’s a lovely pinky red colour and it smells so sweet. Does anyone know if they’re gonna make this permanent? If not I may need to stock up before it disappears.
Edit: I just realized this is my 100th tasting note!! Yay!
Preparation
Ugghhh I’m so tired… I pushed too hard at the gym and work was stupid. I’m gonna pass out in bed after finishing this pot of tea. Good tea can make anything better! And sleep. Sleep is good.
This tea is alright. It’s sweet and fruity but also kind of… creamy? And unmistakably a green. It turned out a little bitter but that may have been due to steeping errors. It’s kind of weird when something is sweet and bitter at the same time. This tea seems somehow thick, kind of the consistency of whole milk? I think I like it alright, but not enough to buy more right away.
There’s only a bit left in my bag so I think I’ll cold-steep it later cause I’d like to try this iced. I hope that won’t make it bitter… I’m kind of new to the whole cold-steeping thing.
Okay, goodnight!!
Preparation
I’m brewing this western-style since I only have one gaiwan, and I’m using it for oolongs. I hear you are only supposed to use a gaiwan for one type of tea?
First steep:
Wowww, this is so good! My only other encounter with a Yunnan black tea was Davids wild yunnan or something, and it tasted like baked goods, like soft pretzels or something. This is like that too, only with more natural sweetness and a strong honey note. The aftertaste gives me the impression of a very dark chocolate. I haven’t had a cup of tea this nice in awhile.
Second steep:
This cup doesn’t have as much of an aroma as the first one did, but the taste is just as intense. The baked goods taste is still there, and the sweetness, but less honey. I think I like this steep better actually! There’s something almost cakey about it, and I can pick up a bit of the cinnamon people were talking about.
I know this would be good for a couple more steeps, but I have to go to work :C
MASSIVE SADNESS.
Lay the tea on a plate to dry…come back to it later and you can steep again. At least here tea drys in 20 minutes. Some places it takes longer. Just can’t leave in the basket or gaiwan wet long or mold can develop. Good tea huh!
Good tea helps turn :C to :D!!
I use my gaiwan for multiple kinds of tea (but not at once! :D). I thought only yixing had to be kept to one type of tea?
I thought gaiwans were (typically) porcelain, so a rinse/wash would remove all previous flavours, so they could be used for anything, whereas yixings are clay and porous, retaining flavours, therefore only should be used for one type of tea.
There are clay gaiwans too.
The clay ones are supposed to be only one tea. Not one type, but one specific tea. But the porcelain ones you can use for a variety.
Awe I have a Yixing just for pu’erh not just one type (brand) although I could see a pot for shu and one for sheng.
Thanks for the tip Bonnie, I will do that next time!! I feel so bad wasting good tea :(
And my gaiwan is clay on the outside but with a porcelain lining, so I guess it will be okay with multiple tea types?? If so this is good news and I’ll definitely be trying this one in the gaiwan!
Thanks for all the input everyone!!
I’m drinking this iced today because my tongue hurts from eating hot chicken wings yesterday (worth it). I put some agave in and it’s everything I like in an iced tea: fruity, sweet, and refreshing. I don’t even care how much artificial flavouring they may have loaded this up with, to me it tastes awesome hahah. I don’t usually even like mango, but it blends in so nicely with the guava and green tea. Mmmm
Preparation
Drinking this tonight with some rum, milk, and brown sugar. Omg… I can’t believe I thought this was overrated before. It’s creamy and coconutty and sweet and amazing. But I think everyone already knows how great this tea is. So I’m gonna go curl up on the couch in my pajamas and drink this and watch some star trek.
