81 Tasting Notes

75

When I first came upon this it came as quite a surprise to me.

First of all it comes in long strands – think anorexic All-Bran. These are a bit difficult to spoon out of the container – you either get just two or three strands on the spoon or a baby haystack towering over it.

It’s also a surprise in the cup. There’s a good, generic tea flavour, but there is also a definite element of coffee or chocolate. I also get the tiniest hints of eau de cologne and raw mushroom.

That may all read a bit odd, but it’s become one of my real favourites – I really love it.

I make it with one heaped teaspoon to a mug and steep for three minutes.

ETA – Over time I’ve slightly downgraded my opinion of this. When I first tasted it the chocolate element was something new to me (in a tea, anyway). As I’ve tasted more and more teas with a chocolate element I’ve come to realise that this one has it a bit too strongly so that it’s not balanced with the other flavours. So I’m now tasting it as quite pleasant but rather ‘one-dimensional’.

Incidentally, I accidently found that I can make a quite interesting and enjoyable mug of tea by using a heaped half-teaspoon of this and a heaped half-teaspoon of the Postcard Teas Big Smoke. Doesn’t really work with the teapot, though – by the time you get to the second mug the flavours have blended together into something different.

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Bio

Happily retired male.

Started exploring ‘proper’ tea in March, 2010 after decades of PG Tips teabags. I was initially looking for ‘the perfect tea’; now I don’t want to find one – I’m so much more enjoying exploring the variety.

A confession: I take my tea with four sweeteners to a half-pint mug.
28/05/2012 – I’ve decided to wean myself off the sweeteners, starting this morning, so, three per mug instead of four (I’m getting a growing feeling that I’m failing to get the best out of some of the oolongs and greens I try and I intend getting a gaiwan and the appropriate little cups, and sweeteners don’t seem to be appropriate, there). 16/02/2013 – since New Year’s Day I’ve only been using two sweeteners. I’m struggling to get used to it, to be honest – some teas are more difficult than others.

How I make tea: either in a traditional teapot which holds enough for three half-pint mugs and has a removable infuser (London Teapot Company); or in a half-pint mug with an Agatha’s Bester filter. Sometimes I vaguely think about getting some nice, genteel cups and saucers …

Important: I measure the tea with plastic kitchen measuring spoons – teaspoon and half-teaspoon sizes – so when I say a ‘heaped teaspoon’, as the correct measure is a levelled one, I should probably be calling it ‘two teaspoons’!

Location

Derbyshire/Staffordshire, UK.

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