So I didn’t exactly have a metric ton’s worth of luck the last time I made this puppy up so I thought I’d give it another go and use the hubby as a guinea pig to see if his tastes agreed with the tea more than mine. I also decided to brew this like a regular black even though there’s obviously other goodies in there. I could say it was something like I was experimenting to see what flavors I wanted to pull out of the tea, but in all honestly, the Zojirushi was set on 208, so I just used that. Apparently when I get lots of sleep, my mind is even groggier than when I get very little sleep.
This cup is actually more successful. But that’s only been on sips 2+. Sip one, things hit me why I wasn’t a big fan. Good brisk start to the sip, watery bland finish. That’s what did it for me the other time I had this – the taste at the end of the sip. It tastes raw and weak and thin. So I got that this time, made a face, then put the cup down for a bit while I checked out the flurry of activity that happened on here while I was asleep.
Letting it sit seems to have been beneficial in some ways since the raw, thin flavor is now gone from the sip but now there is a hint of bitterness right at the tail. It’s not unpleasant though, so I’m cool with it (others might not like it though). Fortunately, I’m drinking this out of my new 15oz mug so I can let the tea sit for a while without it getting cold. Which means to me, I’m only going to enjoy this tea in large quantities, when I can let it sit long enough to make that end taste transition but still remain a bit hot.
Still not a favorite tea or something that I’ll have to get in the future but definitely a more successful steep for me this time around. Gave the rating a nudge upwards as a thank you. The husband is quite enjoying his cup, though, saying it reminds him of a good morning coffee that he would actually like (neither of us are big coffee fans). He even went so far as to ask if it had Darjeeling and Keemun in it. I’d probably guess so and that helped me with that bitter flavor I get at the end – Darjeeling. Not sure what the raw, green flavor at the end previously was though, but now that I’ve let my mug cool a little too much while discussing Calibre sorting with the husband, I seem to be getting a little of that rawness back.
The husband also stated that he was a bit torn on this tea because it is awesome but borders on being a touch bitter at some times. He even went so far as to give it a low 5/5 stars. Which for him is huge. So yeah, apparently I’m the freak that doesn’t enjoy this tea.
Oh well.
