atuinsails

I had forgotten all the components to this before sitting down to brew up a cup, so the smell of the raw tea was sort of a surprise. I hadn’t expected the raw tea to smell so much like one of those expensive coffees you get from Starbucks, but I was willing to give it a try.

The first infusion steeped for 3 minutes. The tea smelled kind of like coffee, but the taste was of very strong tea with a bitter aftertaste. There wasn’t much astringency in the first few sips, but it did get stronger.

I put in creamer and honey, and the creamer was too much. I could taste something else trying to come forward with the honey, but the creamer just blanded it out.

The second infusion (lost track of time, but it was supposed to be for five minutes) was much better. I didn’t use creamer, and the honey brought forward the caramel flavor, which was a nice surprise. I’m not sure if this will be something I keep around all of the time, but it is definitely a nice wake me up.

I think I finally got the perfect steeping time for this. Just the right about of bitterness and sweetness. Creamer plus honey = wonderful deliciousness for breakfast. I actually found the dregs a few hours later as I was cleaning up and gulped them down. Ice cold it was still delicious. Yummy.

There was just something about this tea that was just too light and elegant for breakfast. There is definitely the taste of green tea, but the color of the tea is so light, that I’m not sure if I had the right temperture for steeping, or if the recommended steeping time was long enough. Toward the end of the cup, as it got stronger, I can definitely say that this tea got better.

In future, I will have to remember not to have it with jelly toast :D.

This was such a yummy morning. I had rasin bread and this to look forward to. I can’t help loving this a little more everytime I drink it. The bergamot is balanced so well by the pu-erh.

This is something of a backlog, I suppose. I woke up last night with a dry mouth and the beginning of a migraine. So the first thing I thought of was tea, and this immediately came to mind for some reason. It was just so good and delicious. By the end of the sedond cup, I was feeling so much better that I was able to get back to sleep.

The only problem is, I only have tsp or so left, and recommendation is for two tsps! I guess I may end up mixing this with something else while I decide on how much to order, because this is going to become a staple in my tea cupboard — thanks ladykittkat

I think my water might have been too hot for this. I’m going to retry it again tomorrow. In the end, I had to add honey to make it more palatable. The first couple of sips reminded me of chamomile with a lemon twist. Remembering my reaction to place chamomile, this is not a good thing. Adding the honey brought out more of an orange peel flavor, which I happen to like, but there is this underlying vegetal taste of cooked cabbage that really reminded me of chamomile. I’m beginning to wonder if this is how my palate picks up floral components.

I’ll try this again making as sure as I can that my water is more in the 180 F range, just in case I messed up.

This is some awesome tea. I usually stick to citrus/orange herbals unless it is something for my sinuses, but this was an excellent change of taste. The berries are sweet but offset by a tartness at the end of the sip that makes it a nice balance. I can’t wait to try this iced. Very yummy.

I’m disappointed in this tea. I tried it again this morning, and it just doesn’t taste like earl grey to me. It doesn’t tast bad, especially with creamer and honey, but the citrus flavor that I want in my earl grey just isn’t there to me. I think I’ll be bumping my rating down a bit.

I’m not so sure about this tea. It could be the teaspoon of tea just didn’t have enough bergmot in it, because it was completely not there in that first infusion. The cream and vanilla totally covered it. The tea was nice, but it just doesn’t say earl grey to me. The second infusion was even worse, since I added a little creamer hoping to bring something out in it, but that didn’t work.

I will definitely be trying this again. I’m hoping that I just need to play around a bit with the infusion time, but this particular time, there just wasn’t enough bergamot in it.

Thank you so much for sending this as part of that swap, ladykittykat. I may have to make this a permanent part of my tea cupboard if every cup is anywhere as wonderful as the two infusions I got from this this morning.

I completely forgot that this was the one that had the pu-erh/white peony base, so I spent most of my usual morning cup going “Hmm, what is that?” The bergmot is so much more delicate in this tea than I’m used to. Very little bitterness in either infusion, but nothing too sweet either. Very smooth and wet if that makes any sense. There wasn’t the same sort of astringency I’m used to even in a weak black tea.

The second infusion was steeped for six minutes, and there was very little difference in taste for me. Very yummy for both cups. Definitely will be thinking about putting this in the regular cupboard. Might have to do a taste testing to decide.

This is another tea I got in trade with ladykittykat, and I have to say, this was very nice. Very pink, very sweet, citrus smell. I want this as a cologne :D. Anyway, I kind of lot track of the steeping time for the first infusion, but the taste is amazing. You start out with a hot, vaguely vegetal taste that morphs into this bright citrus tase, then a slightly more vegetal taste at the end. There is a strange counterbalance to the flavors that I like, but it is still rather unusual to have this wonderful citrus flavor kind of bracketed by something so mild.

The second infusion had a better blend of flavors, but it was also a bit weaker.

I really enjoyed this tea, but I don’t know if I will be getting it on a regular basis. I still need to do some experimentation.

This was a surprise in a tea swap I did with ladykittykat (btw, I totally think I came out ahead in that. If you want more of those tea flowers, please let me know). And it was a wonderful surprise.

The smell of of the unbrewed tea was equally sweet and floral, and it reminded me of the taste of honey suckle nectar when the dew was still on the ground, and we would pick the flowers on the way to school to get at the nectar before the heat of the day.

So imagine my surprise when in the first infusion (1.5 tsp), the bergamot is LOUD and really BITTER. Sorry to shout, but the floral notes really got drowned out there. Usually, I like bergamot’s bitterness, but I think I’m just not used to the concentration that they suggest for brewing. However, adding a tsp of honey smoothed and mellowed the flavor of the tea. It was still on the strong side, but the honey smoothed the floral notes in with the bergamot and I got more of the honeysuckle back in the smell.

The second infusion was on the weak side as far as the tea was concerned. The floral taste came through with a tsp of honey.

I really like this, and I think if I can find the best brewing times for my taste, I might have to order some.

For some reason, I’ve been off tea for the last week, but this was such a yummy reintroduction, that I’m going to give it a bump in the ratings.

Edited 4/7: resteeped for breakfast. Yummy with creamer and honey.

Thanks for the tip on steep time. This was a delicious addition to my lunch. I think I kind of like it just a little bitter though. I’m going to enjoy the experimentation, though.

I’ve decided that this is some kind of wonderful. Something about the roasted almond flavor when mixed with honey and creamer. The coconut just kind of skims long the top. Very wonderful morning.

Back to the rut this morning. Unfortunately, it started to cool before I could drink it all. It started to get a bit strong, so I dropped some creamer in. Yummy.

I ended up having this as a midmorning tea after sleeping in. I was surprised by how light the tea was after steeping for seven minutes. The smell was pleasant. There was hit of floral, and something underneath that I kind of recognized from drinking Cantaloupe Bai Mu Dan by 52teas.com.

The first couple of sips had that floral note, but eventually that note seemed to fall away. The tea cooled rather quickly, which I thought might bring some of the flavor back, but no, it didn’t. It still had that very light flavor I associate with white tea, which isn’t unpleasant, just very wasn’t very flavorful.

Any suggestions would be helpful if someone out there has a different way of brewing this than the instructions given by adagio.com.

I mixed this with some of 52teas.com’s ultimate citrus spice black tea. Very yummy.

Wow, the first sip is so smooth. There is just a hint of bitterness from the chocolate, I think. It could be I steeped it too long. However, the sweetness of the berries show up as the tea goes down, and the effect if very yummy. I am definitely going to have to try this with a bit of creamer.

Edited 3/27: Resteeped this this morning, and with some creamer and honey, it was kind of like eating really good cake. Can’t wait to try this again.

So I’m giving this a little bump in rating now that I have my favorite way to prepare. For the first infusion, I steeped it for four minutes, which really seemed to work. The coconut and cream kind of fall to the back, and you get this big roasted flavor from the almonds. Some creamer and honey kind of pulled that coconut flavor forward a bit on the end of the sip.

I managed to get a very nice second infusion by steeping for five minutes. The roasted taste of the almonds was quite so big, but again, a little creamer and honey really brought the coconut taste forward.

I think I’m going to take a little break from this for now to try some of those other blends I bought :D.

Still trying to get the steeping times right, but I think I almost have it :D Very yummy, especially with a bit of creamer.

Smelling the loose tea was confusing. It looks exactly like the earl grey bravo, but the smell is a bit off — not bad, just vanilla and cream I suppose. I haven’t really been exposed to cream tea until last night, and I don’t know if I like it much.

The first infusion had this strange smoothness to the taste that contrasted with the bitter citrus of the bergamot and made it POP. I couldn’t really taste vanilla or cream, but I could smell the vanilla. At first, I just thought the tea was more astringent than the earl grey bravo, but realized that it was the bergamot when my mouth didn’t get that funny dryness that astringent tea causes.

The second infusion wasn’t very flavorful. I only steeped it for four minutes, so I’ll have to try a longer steeping time. All in all, the second infusion was okay by the end. As it cooled I got a hint of citrus and vanilla.

All in all, it was okay. I wasn’t prepared for how big the bergamot was going to be in the first infusion, but I like bergamot, so it wasn’t a big deal. If I can find a proper steeping time for a second infusion, I could see this becoming a “sometime in the morning” tea to replace my usual earl grey if I need something different.

Wow, I couldn’t believe it when I realize that no one else has tried this. This blend was made by a good friend with excellent taste (feel free to speak up, if you want to) who also introduced me to steepster and loose tea.

When I opened the bag, the smell made my stomach growl. Sweet coconut with an almond undertone and something that just had to be the cream component. I’ve never had a cream flavored tea, so I didn’t know quite what to expect.

I steeped both infusions for five minutes, which might have been too long for the first infusion. The almond came across as kind of woody, sort of like the aftertaste of eating a large handful of roasted almonds. Not unpleasant but not a favorite. The coconut came through clear on each sip, and the tea itself wasn’t bitter, but it wasn’t as sweet as the loose tea had smelled.

For the second infusion, I added a tsp of honey just to see how it would turn out. I’m not sure if this tea isn’t up for a second infusion or not, but it completely masked the almond and made it almost too sweet. The coconut only came through in the aftertaste. Once the tea had come almost to room temperture, another taste seemed to develop, a blending of coconut and almond and was quite delicious.

I’m definitely going to have to experiment with this tea, especially with icing it I think. Once that second cup got to room temperature, it was kind of like another tea altogether.

If this is a rut, I really think I’m liking it. I actually fell asleep waiting for the water to boil because I forgot to turn the eye on :D. This did such a nice job of waking me up this morning.