188 Tasting Notes

84

Started with a cold a couple of days ago and woke up this morning unable to taste much of anything … Ugh. I don’t know if it’s a change of the weather thing, or a true cold, but I’m so over it already!

I reached for this because I was hoping to be able to taste it being it’s a bit spicy. The first chai I reached for I will have to rate later, my own fault for thinking it might work (Lipton pyramid I picked up due to an awesome sale)- I should have known better but with a lack of local sources I caved.

I can faintly taste the spice and the sweetness of this tea this morning.. my normal sugar added to this. At least it’s something compared to the nothingness of my first attempt. Wish this had a little caffeine but I believe my first cup this morning did, so I should be set to go.

Glad to have something quick, easy, and with a punch this morning.. Hoping to gain some taste buds back as the day goes on.

Flavors: Cinnamon

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90

Hubby had this one the other night and it smelled sweet, minty, and yummy from across the couch. I had already made something for the evening, or I would have had some too.. Couldn’t waste the perfectly good cup I was drinking because his smelled good.

More wintery stuff here this afternoon.. started with my son getting released from school early due to snow drifting across the roads, and a threat of wintery mix and more snow before school was to dismiss. We had ice hitting the windows for awhile, enough that my dog was huddled at my feet scared, & then snow.. don’t want to know how much .. afraid we may end up with yet another day of school canceled this week due to roads that aren’t passable.

Anyway. No better day to have something sweet, warm and minty! Thanks hapatite for sharing this one in our swap (& asking a question today to remind me to try it)… my first Teavana tea, and I must say I really like this one. I know they have some good blends but have read enough about their stores to be a little leary. I would brave it for this one :)

Dry leaf I would think this might be a milk/dark chocolate blend. Steeped this is minty, creamy, white chocolate. I get no rooibos or earthiness. Just Yum. I could find myself reaching for this anytime of the day, but would be especially good on an evening when I wanted something (decaf) with a little richer flavor than many of the rooibos blends I tend to have around.

I did try a second steep which came out ok. Less creamy, I assume because the white bits were used up in the first steep. Still minty, rich, & refreshing.

Flavors: Chocolate

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91
drank L'Anniversaire by Fauchon
188 tasting notes

I wanted something with a black base this morning and reached for this to try. I had reservations about trying this one as I saw everyone’s tasting notes about it tasting of raspberry. I’m not much of the fruity hot tea drinker, but I am finding myself coming around to some of them.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this one! Thanks MissB.. you sure have a knack for picking teas :)

It tastes of raspberry and even a bit of floral notes to me. The mint comes through simply as a slight coolness at the end of the sip and the black tea base is there, but not showy. A very nice blend that works well together.. even for someone who doesn’t usually pick up fruit teas. I could even drink this one w/o sugar, but added a tiniest pinch to see what it would do… the raspberry came through a bit more. As it cools, I get more floral and less raspberry.

Gonna have to have Hubby try the last of this as he loves fruit teas… It might find it’s way on our shopping list. I could see this one being good iced in the summer too since he really enjoys iced raspberry tea’s at restaurants and this one would be so much better than those if the floral notes don’t come out too prominently that way… I could always add fresh raspberries to give it a bit more flavor and make it pretty :)

Flavors: Flowers

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80

I enjoy my mint in tea, but up until recently it has been fresh spearmint from my garden in my iced tea. Since discovering loose leaf teas early this winter, I have come to really enjoy peppermint in teas, but haven’t had too many with spearmint yet.

Last evening my stomach wasn’t so happy with the pizza I’d had for lunch, so I decided a mint tea mint be good thing to try. I got a box of this at a “white elephant” Christmas exchange with my family, and a sample from hapatite – Thanks :)

I used a big mug with this and probably should have used 2 tea bags, but went with one and a long steep time. The result was nice, mild, and minty. As it cooled a bit, I noticed an aftertaste that I was familiar with.. not a great taste, but not offensive. I recognized it as the flavor my iced spearmint tea gets if we don’t drink it fast enough and it sits in the fridge too long… so it must be a residual flavor from the spearmint. I haven’t noticed it with peppermint blends thus far. I think this a great tea for when you need to grab something easy, refreshing, and caffeine free.

I think I’ve decided that I need to plant a peppermint patch somewhere on our property… far enough from the spearmint so as to not cross each other. I could dry the leaves and play with some of my own blends next winter, and of course use it fresh during the summertime :) I might even seek out a chocolate mint plant to experi"mint" with… Sorry! Couldn’t resist!

carol who

I had a chocolate mint plant last summer and I enjoyed with several of my teas. I felt it added a mild chocolate flavor to my teas but was weak on its own. I may have under leafed it. I’m planning on trying it again this summer (which seems very, very far away! Expecting 5-8 inches of snow today. Oh yeah! Sarcasm intended)

Suziqzer

Thanks for the info. I will have to see if I can find some of it locally. I know I’ve seen it before, but not every summer. I hope they stock it tho year :). I’ll keep in mind to use plenty of leaf. Mint grows so well that shouldn’t be a problem.

I understand the summer being so far away! Kids are coming home from school early today (they were supposed to have it off for President’s Day, but had to make up too many snow days so they went to school), country roads are drifting shut-again, and ice/snow mixture expected to start anytime. I think I’d rather have your snow… But then again, that drifts here and shuts school down too much.

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Hubby gave this a go last night and I asked how he liked it.. thumbs up was the response I got. He steeped at a lower temperature than I did previously, I will have to do the same and see if I get the same reaction since my first try was mostly rooibos.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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91
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
188 tasting notes

My first genmaicha! & probably a good one for me since I prefer blacks to greens and this one is a mix. I needed some caffeine this afternoon, headache trying to come on and wanting to persuade it to leave… hopefully this and some tyelnol will do the trick! & I’ve seen so many great reviews of this one lately that I had to give it a try.

Dry leaf this one doesn’t do much for me.. Nutty and faintly sweet.

Steeped this smells nutty and almost like freshly popped corn, minus the butter. I get nutty, toasted something… not sure what to describe it as & I assume it’s the rice coming through. Not really getting the vanilla or caramel. The green and black teas are balanced nicely and don’t overpower each other. I don’t get the vegetal flavor of the green.. a plus for me as I’m still trying to acquire a taste for greens.

Oh… a touch of raw sugar part way through my cup and now I get caramel, mixed with that toasty roasty flavor … now I get the obsession.. Much better ! I should have tried that sooner since I generally like at least a pinch of sugar in each cup.

I have to say this one surprised me a bit. I thought it was going to be too different for me and I could only imagine it having a smoky flavor which I wasn’t sure about. The roasted goodness, combined with the sweet caramel = Yum!

Thanks MIssB for sending a bit of this my way! I likely wouldn’t have picked this one out for a long while on my own. I’m so glad to have been treated to it :)

Flavors: Caramel

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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88

Um… Yum! Thanks for sharing this one MIssB!

I wanted something black this morning and this one caught my attention. It was a good thing I wasn’t patient with my water temp this morning because I forgot I had it steeping.. still came out great!

The black base is very present, but what I was wanting this morning… complete with caramel and vanilla goodness. Gonna have to put this one on my shopping list for whenever I order from Butiki.

Second steep was more black and less of the flavors, but still very drinkable.

Flavors: Caramel, Vanilla

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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drank Coco-Lemon Thai by DAVIDsTEA
188 tasting notes

Thanks to MissB for sharing some of this with me! I had mentioned I’m not yet big on citrus flavors in tea yet, but she ventured to share this one with me anyway and suggested using it for cooking… So smart!

Hubby’s Birthday was Wednesday and one of his favorite dishes is fish served with a Thai marinade. We don’t have it often because I have to think ahead to have all of the ingredients for it. MissB suggested using this tea to infuse rice with it’s flavors & I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how the two different Thai recipes would work together, or if Hubby would even like the rice cooked in coconut milk infused w/tea but I went for it. He’s not big on coconut, but I took the risk. He really enjoyed his meal and the extra thought that went into it all. I asked which rice he preferred, the flavored or the plain jasmine white rice and he was quick to say the flavored. Success!

Thanks again MissB for suggesting a different use for this and including it in my sample box! I might have to pick up some more of this… and who knows, I might find myself drinking it too… I do like coconut!

The tea and coconut milk added a richness and creaminess to the rice without being overdone with flavors. Lightly lemon, coconut, and maybe a bit of ginger. A nice touch.

Not really sure how to rate this since I used it in dinner instead of a tea to drink ;)

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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drank Vanilla Velvet by Teajo Teas
188 tasting notes

I wanted to try something new this evening after dinner and caffeine free was what I was going for.

This one smells of vanilla and rooibos, and maybe a touch of berry as dry leaf.

Steeped I found more rooibos than vanilla while it was hot. As it cooled I got a little more sweet vanilla creaminess, but still much of the rooibos base. It wasn’t offensive, just very present. I did add my normal touch of sugar and it was a bit much with this blend, thinking the sweetness of the vanilla made it come through as sweeter.

I’m thinking this one would work well on an evening when I wanted something no fuss… that or when I want to be creative and add to it :) Thinking a creamy vanilla rooibos chai for an evening when I want some kick.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 45 sec

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79

Thanks MissB for a sample of this one :)

I actually found myself looking for a green tea yesterday morning… not a usual thing for me as blacks are my normal morning tea. I went looking through my samples and snagged this one… mint sounded good too.

Dry leaf smells like mint and bitter chocolate.. Not sure I would call it dark chocolate.

Steeped this is light and refreshing, but I had a hard time finding the chocolate… Mostly mint here like you would get in mint choc.chip ice cream, but not amazingly so, with just enough green base coming through.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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Profile

Bio

37 yr old wife and mother who left her day job to take care of our son. Now running a property management business with my hubby.

I grew up on Lipton -hot w/milk & sugar, Lipton iced w/fresh spearmint and sugar, and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime … Don’t criticize.

I came across Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy out of chance and it spurred my interested in trying new teas because it was a flavor I had never had before in a tea. I’m now new to the world of loose leaf teas and looking forward to learning what I like as I journey through some new flavors. Hubby has always enjoyed the occasional cup when we’ve been out and about at restaurants.. now we will find out what good teas are really all about! On with the adventures!

Still relatively new to loose leaf, but I’m learning… Coconut, cinnamon, chai, chocolate, mint, & pineapple are just a few of the flavors I enjoy. I have found that I can do green teas so long as there are other flavors as well and it isn’t the primary flavor. I have only found 1 rooibos blend that was too woodsy for me, most of the time the base is hidden or blends well enough w/flavored versions for my liking. I’m beginning to enjoy fruit teas more and more. I occasionally like a straight black tea.

Hubby likes milder flavors, any base, berry flavors, sweet aromas, sometimes tart, and or floral, and chocolate to my surprise! Almost the opposite of me.. go figure!

My 8 year old just took interest and loves root beer.. so far Butterbeer is a hit, but we haven’t tried any root beer or cola teas yet.. soon thanks to the Marvelous MissB for sending some samples. He enjoyed Winter Nog (Della Terra) recently, but turned away something else I gave him.. darn if I can’t remember now what it was!

Location

Indiana

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