Rumpus Parable

Third steeping.

It has turned very vegetal and puts one in mind of fresh mown grass -but in an oddly pleasant way. So far I’ve yet to find anything distinctly non-pleasing about this tea; each flavor that comes out is enjoyable.

I’m not sure I can stretch this to another steeping, but will give it a try.

Second steeping at 4 minutes is very vegetal. As it cools a touch more of the sweetness comes out, but it’s much overwhelmed by the green taste. It remains very pleasant.

I put 13 in my 12oz steeper cup.

The color is very clear, but with a cream hue.

The scent is sweet with a strong berry tone.

The taste is very lightly sweet with a hint of berry through the nose area, with a green and hay-like roundness in the mouth and back of throat. It has a medium and light finish.

This is my second white tea, after a Drum Mt. White; my spouse bought me a sample of each of Imperial Garden’s whites. I wasn’t quite sure about whites after the first one, but curious to try more. This makes me glad I tried more. It’s just lovely.

I look forward to fiddling with steep times and such; it’s a very pleasing tea… you could scarf it down if it wasn’t just so good you want to sip it.

Nope, didn’t like it NOR think it’s good quality.

The smell of the steeped tea is lovely; all black tea and richly raspberry.

The taste has no raspberry in it, is all bitter, stinging black tea. The Ceylon isn’t even pleasant in this. The whole of it would be more suited to nasty medicine than a tea.

Another case of “I liked it but wouldn’t buy any more of it”.

The dry and steeping scent is of apple & cinnamon sweetened oatmeal or maybe apple crumble.

The taste is much the same, but weaker. I’d steep it for longer next time to see if that strengthens the flavor, as it was at 4 minutes it was a little watery.

It tastes mostly of apple, red apple flesh in this case, with a hint of cinnamon sweetness in the nose and a toasted flavor around the cheeks just as you finish your sip.

It’s much more an apple drink than anything else. Would likely be loved by those big on fruit tisanes, but I’m not one of those. Again, I think it’s good as a fruit tea but I, personally, wouldn’t get any more of it and will be trading a lot of it.

I cold brewed this for 23 hrs.

It is very floral but in an artificial/perfume way. It has the dark taste that tends to go alOng with black teas, that somewhat generic “tea flavor”.

Overall: not good. I could t finish the cup.

This tea is generally disappointing so far.

This time made with 4.5g to 12oz water, steeped 1 minute.

The smell has a stronger “muscatel” fragrance than other Darjeelings I’ve had. Slightly sweet.

This one is best drank warm but not hot. When truly hot the flavor doesn’t yet come out fully.

It’s a richer Darjeeling than I’m used to. It doesn’t have the (much loved by me) daintiness of others I’ve had.

It’s very round and filling in the mouth without hitting one particular area for flavor/feel. I’m not getting any of the pineapple or such from this. It’s a fairly flat tasting tea.

I’ll try this cold-brewed and see what I can get out of it that way.

I made this with 2tsp to 12 oz water steeped for 2 minutes. Wasn’t greatly impressed. It came across as a fairly middle-of-road Darjeeling. It was nice tasting, very pleasant, with a lovely aroma but nothing I’d put on a must-have list.

Cold-brewed this for 24hrs.

Very intense flavor. VERY floral in the back of throat and mouth. Delicious if you like such, in this case I do. Yum. But not for every day.

The steeped tea is yellow, with a strong fresh apple scent… sort of a tart, maybe green apple.

The tea isn’t sweet or apple-juice toned at all. It’s a touch bitter and astringent and has only the lightest, barest hint of fruit to its finish… and that seems more plummy than apple.

As it cools it takes on more of the taste of a green (maybe granny smith) apple’s skin. It doesn’t have a flesh or juice taste.

The more I drink, the less I like it. Not finishing the cup.

Tried this cold brewed.

The flavor is again very light for an Assam. Closer to a Darjeeling. The cold-brewed tea is vegetal and somewhat sweet, with maybe a hint of berries in the finish.

It’s not bad, but I’ll not bother cold-brewing this one again.

No notes yet.

Cold-brewed this, but not sure how long it spent in the fridge so it’s not a very good experiment haha.

What I can say of how it turned out: It is more tart with just a touch of the berry flavor in the finish. The taste is pretty weak except for the tartness… that’s about all there is in flavor.

I might cold-brew it again when I can do so for a set time, basing it off one of the suggestions in the cold-brew thread. Until then, not impressed.

The steeped tea smells lightly, not a strong scent here. It has a slight berry scent to it and a bit of the nutty associated with Oolongs. It’s a delicate fragrance.

The flavor is light, has a hay or nutty taste, a mild maltyness in the back of the mouth. Maybe a vegetal edge along the sides of the tongue. It’s also a touch floral. As it cools there are a lot of different aspects that come out.

It tastes like it’s somewhere between a black and oolong, really. It has a bit of both to it and not quite completely either.

As the cup cools more of the “tropical” flavor comes out and fills the mouth. Now it’s noticeably different from a straight green tea. That top-of-mouth floral and citrus is much stronger and rounder, filling. I can’t quite place what food it reminds me of, darnit.

Much better now, it’s one best drank semi-cool.

The dry tea has a somewhat off-putting smell, but I can’t place it.

I followed the package directions on this and use 1tsbp to 12oz of water, but didn’t boil the water. I just used 180 degree-ish water when it said to boil. Oops.

The steeped tea has that off-putting scent, too. It’s kind of a citrusy, floral thing mixed with the green tea.

The taste is mostly just green tea. It has a greener, more citrusy feeling (not truly flavor) as an after-taste that settles around the roof of the mouth. Maybe a little sweetness in there.

It’s okay. Not enough different from plain green tea to bother with as a purchase, but not bad and I’ll either trade off or drink the rest of the sample.

The unsteeped tea fits its name: rich berry flavor. It is a mix of purples that looked dried-juicy… you know, when dried fruit retains a bit of juiciness and isn’t completely dried out.

The scent is, likewise, describable as juicy. It’s rich, full, and strong of purple berries, especially blackcurrant. It smells delicious.

The instructions say 2 tbsp to 12oz of water, I thought it only said 1 so that’s how I made it.

I can’t imagine how strong it would be at 2 tbsp. The flavor is very strong berry, not at all watery or weak. It’s sweet in the way that fresh or dried berries are, not in a sugar or honey sweet. It’s true to it’s name.

Blackcurrant is the strongest flavor, just like the smell, but the other berries mix and add a full round flavor. It wraps around the sides of the tongue, off of the center. There’s a faint tartness that completes the taste and make for a tiny bit of mouth pucker.

I like this one and will probably be experimenting with ice tea/sweet-tea and cold-brews. I’m not big on fruit, flavored or herb teas but this is a winner. I can see myself buying some of this after the sample is done.

On a second steep, the jasmine flavor is too overwhelming. It’s unpleasantly strong and I’m not finishing the cup.

The scent is very much jasmine, very pretty.

The flavor is very jasmine-floral, fills most of the mouth -all except the back of the tongue and throat. The jasmine overwhelms the green tea quite a bit and the tea is quite astringent.

Is not unpleasantly jasmine, like some I’ve had, but it is mostly a jasmine flavor. However, with a bit of food it was quite refreshing. So I would say that this is not a sit-and-sip tea, but rather an eat-and-drink tea.

I prefer sit-and-sips so I’ll not be buying more after this sample is up.

The steeped scent is very much a mix of chamomile and vanilla. It’s not cloying; it’s well balanced in smell. Smells darn good, actually.

The flavor is very vanilla with chamomile as the backbone of the tisane. It’s not a sweet vanilla, it’s unsweet vanilla. Just the natural flavor itself.

I’m finding I’m truly not one for herbal or fruity teas, flavored teas or tisanes… but this is another I’d give a thumbs-up on for those that are into them.

I need a few more cups to make a real opinion for myself, as seems to be the case with these fruities and herbies… but so far I like it but wouldn’t buy it (I got it as part of a sample pack).

It would probably be good for a before-bed drink, with the restful qualities of chamomile and the pleasant vanilla mixed in. If nothing else, get a sample of it; it’s worthwhile.

I can’t believe there are no ratings for this by me. This is my favorite Assam in my cupboard and the one I drink most often.

Normally I have it hot and it’s wonderful.

Today I’m reporting on the experiment of cold-brewing it.

Just like when hot it’s excellent. But very different.

It’s not at all bitter from a longer-than-expected brew time (I forgot about it, it’s been in the fridge about 20 hrs).

It’s sweeter than hot-brewed. Very floral tasting and feeling through the roof of the mouth with a sweet honey-ness in the back of the mouth and throat when swallowed. The finish is dark under the tongue and a light feeling at the roof of the mouth. The flavor is complex but refreshing, at the same time. I can’t fully describe it. -But I definitely can recommend it.

I’m running low on this and it’s delicious both hot and cold; I’ll have to buy some more!

The steeped tea smells a bit like wine, but a bit more like raisins.

The taste is black tea and a overlay of a wine-y taste. The tip of the tongue has a slight sweetness but most of the wine taste is in the back of the mouth. It’s not a strong wine taste, but not too weak.

Not a buy-again, but not bad.

Tried this at twice as much tea and a minute longer steeping time. Still just a weak top-of-mouth sweetness and a little darkness in the back of the mouth. No “buttered rum” flavor, mostly just watery-tea taste.

This isn’t for me.

The unbrewed tea smells sweet and of RUM. Strongly rum.

The steeped tea is pleasantly sweet in a vanilla way and a rum-sweet way.

The flavor shows no rum, it is somewhat watery with a buttery secondary taste… maybe a hint of rum in the nose but not really any flavor of it.

I’ll try this with more tea and longer steeping times.