When I was at the local Teavana store on Saturday, I let my nose pick the teas du jour. As the sales associate fanned this herbal blend my way, it immediately struck a nerve in my sweet tooth (teeth). I could be happy just snorting this one all day. It smelled like a delicious chocolate and caramel candy bar.
Several minutes after I opened the container to brew the tea this morning, I had to snap myself out of the aroma euphoria so I could steep it. I brewed the blend at 205 degrees (my tea maker doesn’t have a recommended 208 degrees setting) for six minutes.
The steeped aroma wasn’t nearly as impressive as the unbrewed odor but there was a faint caramel scent detectable in the cup when I plunged my nose into it. The color was a muddy gold.
I was initially disappointed after the first sip. The flavor did not have anything approaching the impact of the aroma. However, as I determinedly sipped more and more from my cup (I REALLY wanted to like this tea), a nice sweet caramel taste began to accumulate and linger on my taste buds.
After two cups of this herbal blend, I concluded that, although this tea is a slow starter, if you don’t give up on it, you will eventually be rewarded with a relatively full and defined sweet caramel flavor. The sea salt factor didn’t seem to identify itself for me.
This tea is smooth without bitterness. I enjoyed the second cup much more than the first, even though both cups were steeped in the same pot at the same time. If you are a patient tea drinker, you might like it too!
Sounds pretty good :)
Give it a try, Tommy! Thanks for your comment!