A C Perch's

This smells absolutely wonderful – and I realized one thing. I opened the packaging ( I am totally envious of the little ziploc foil packets Angrboda sent this in) and my first impression was that this smelled “american”. American not having any value associations, I just smelled it and thought it. And then realized why, it´s the cranberries! Cranberry and a hint of vanilla, it is a smell and flavour I associate with the USA. Though not particularly with late summer, but maybe because cranberries for me are so exotic and rare and not associated with any particular season. It is a a very good late winter tea as well!

And it works, it really works here. Very nice tea. Reminded me a bit of a black version of Thé à l´Opéra. Very nice base as well.

This was part from a wonderful surprise from Angrboda, thank you!

First of all thanks to Angrboda for sending this oolong tea to me, it’s the second time I taste an oolong. The other oolong I’ve tasted was called Dragon Eye Oolong, and that one was more a “black” oolong than a “green” oolong, and I have read that oolong teas varies from 8% fermentation to 85%, so that oolong was probably fermented by 60% – 85% I think.
This oolong is by the way much more green than the other oolong I’ve tasted, but it still got some black tea taste.
The dry leaf smells of course of raspberry, but it isn’t that sweet raspberry smell, it smells quite natural and unsweet. There are pieces of blackcurrant in this tea, which really surprises me since it’s just called Raspberry Oolong. The liquid tea smells natural too, and doesn’t has an overpowering sweet “nose”.
The liquid tea has an ever so lightly tartness to it, and is very silky in texture.
It didn’t get tannic or bitter, even though I steeped it for around 6 minutes. This is a really great tea, and I love that it both has a green tea taste and a black one, very nice.
I like this tea WAY better than their White Temple Tea.
Oolong is one of my favourite teas now.

Overview:

Appearance: Furled green/black leaves and pieces of raspberry and blackcurrant.
Dry tea-smell: Natural raspberry. Not overpowering sweet.
Color: Right between a green tea and a black tea, which means brownish-green.
Brewed tea-smell: “Tart” raspberry.
Taste: Very silky oolong, green tea taste and black tea taste, raspberry and a lightly tart aftertaste.

I have a countryman on Steepster now! flails Before, the closest I got, I think, was Rijje in Greenland, which… it’s close, but not quite the same. Anyway, Andreastt recently discovered ACP and had a question about this here raspberry oolong that you may have heard of. :p I tried to answer to the best of my ability, but decided it was probably better to make a cup and check that I actually think what I thought I think.

Besides, any excuse for a cuppa. :D

Since it will be a teensy tiny minority who will actually be able to read the conversation in question, let me just summarise. I mentioned a few of my absolute favourites from ACP, and I was asked how fruity-tart the raspberry oolong was or whether it was all done with essence of fruit.

I answered that it contains lots of dried fruit, but that it was probably doubtful how much flavour these gave off. It did suggest to me, though, that there was more than mere essence of berries involved here and that, if he didn’t care for very tart things, it might not be something for him.

To me, though, it is quite oolong-y at first. It’s got that wooden sort of flavour of a generic oolong, and then towards the end of the sip, there is the fruit flavour, which definitely has a bit of tartness to it. Not super-tart, but there is a small bite in it. Actually the fruit-flavour is really present throughout the sip, but I find it’s most prominent just before I swallow. As if it just needs a splitsecond longer to unfold in the mouth.

It is not, however, quite as tart as I initially remembered it.

Well, this is the first time I try a tea from A.C. Perch’s, and it seems to be a tea house with potential!
I have tasted some white teas before, but not many at all, to be exact this is the 2nd white tea I try, which is to say that it isn’t a lot.
The tea itself is Pai Mu Tan, can’t be anything else, the other white tea I’ve tasted was a silver needle, and it didn’t had much flavor. The dry tea smells nice. Fruity, exotic, sweet and so on. The leaves are quite big and flat, and the steeped tea got that characteristic, almost silvery color to it. White teas are so adorable in color. I steeped this tea for a long time, 6 minutes, maybe 7 minutes, but it doesn’t seem to be a too long steeping-time. I can not clearly tell which fruits it smells of in it’s liquid form, it is just one fruity orgy, but there’s clearly strawberry and pineapple in it.

The taste is sweet, which may be caused by the candied fruits added to this tea, and of course the white tea itself, which tends to be sweet. I almost only get strawberry and pineapple when I drink it, and it is also tart due to the pieces of fruits added to it. Great tea, but it really is a fruity orgy. I don’t think it overtakes the best Kusmi-teas I’ve tasted.

Overview:

Appearance: Big, flat white tea leaves, orange peel and candied fruits.
Dry tea-smell: Fruit. Strawberry, pineapple and papaya.
Color: Silvery.
Brewed tea-smell: Strawberry and pineapple.
Taste: White tea, sweetness and tartness. Strawberry and pineapple.

Cranberry + vanilla = om nom nom nom!

Here’s one from the work stash. It’s a new one we haven’t had before, and I drank it for the first time today, taking a few quick notes.

This was one that the boss picked. We tend to buy some flavoured and some unflavoured when we buy, some black and some oolong. Our two flavoureds are still the raspberry oolong and the late summer blend, both of which are nommy. I don’t suspect those two are going to change for a long while yet. They’re the sort of teas that it’s difficult to be finished with. Unlike the green Bolivia, which we both seem to like less and less every time we have it. We’ll never be rid of that stuff.

Anyway, we needed to pick some unflavoured black and some unflavoured oolong, and the boss picked this one for the oolong. I had rather hoped she would choose the dark Fujian oolong instead, but alas. It was her turn to pick something and all that and I had already picked (a flop of) an unflavoured black.

Did I mention I was sceptical? The last time I had something called Formosa Oolong, it was from a different shop, yes, but it was SO BORING as to almost turn me off Taiwanese oolongs all together. That’s boring. It had no character. It was lackluster. It was… lifeless.

So I was sceptical.

But I wasn’t in a flavoured mood and I was freezing, so I was rather in a hurry to pick something. Europe is a deep-freezer at the moment. It was -10°C when I was walking to work this morning, and -6°C when I was walking home. And we’re getting off easy in Denmark. Look up Ukraine. Then be glad you don’t live there. shivers

Yes, but when are you getting to the point, Ang? I hear you ask. The answer is now.

I don’t often bother to describe the leaves of a tea unless there’s something about them that strikes me as unusual or noteworthy. Most of the time, when I try, I find myself just looking at me and concluding that they are leaves that look like tea leaves and something they are large and sometimes they are small. These had so many different colours. They were primarily ranging from golden to dark brown, which I didn’t find particularly unusual, but then there were some of them that had white bits on them. At first glance, it looked exactly like they were mouldy! They weren’t, obviously, they’re supposed to look like that, but it was a moment of annoyance when for a second I thought that we had in our recent order had one possibly mislabeled tea and one ruined tea. It would be very unlike ACP, though, so I pulled myself back together and confirmed that I was indeed being paranoid.

Then I smelled the leaves. That a pretty aroma! That was nothing like the above mentioned dead lack of success. Nothing at all. It was all sweet and honey-like, and it had just the teensiest hint of something floral. It smelled like sweets, really.

This took care of some of my scepticism. This was definitely nothing like I was expecting and thank all deities for that. The aroma as well as the flavour was all nutty and chocolate-y. ACP says chestnuts and honey, but I disagree. It was hazelnuts for me.

Ever wondered about a Nutella tea? Hazelnuts and chocolate, this is one. It’s not as creamy as Nutella, for obvious reasons, nor is it as extremely sweet, but it’s definitely that sort of flavour profile I’m getting out of it.

How interesting! That was the sort of thing I had expected to find in the oolong I was hoping the boss would choose. She wasn’t at work today, so I don’t think she has tried it yet, but I’m looking forward to hearing what she thinks.

Also, this is another example of ACP’s ridiculous steep time recommendations. 8-10 minutes! I don’t think so, ACP! I like my tea still drinkable, thank you, and not stewed. I really wonder where they get these crazy times from. It’s all their teas, and they don’t give a leaf amount recommendation. They can’t be using very much at those times.

Now, somebody revive the gong-fu drinkers. There appear to have been some instances of fainting…

Pucker up because A. C. Perch’s Black Currant black is a tart tea! (Perfect for February with Valentine’s Day up and coming.) :)

Thank you, Angrboda, for this lovely sample!

The scent of the dry tea promises bountiful berry flavor and it has a bit of the sharp tartness of the cup as well. Almost like Kool Aid in the packet before the sugar has been added.

Once steeped, the black currant flavor is evident, even before it touches the lips. It’s very heavily scented. The berry is quite tart, almost raspberry-like in flavor, but with a bit more depth to it. It resonates on the tongue after the sip is gone. There is a sense of creaminess in the flavor, but it’s not enough to offset the tartness. So, as conflicted as I was about my choice, I added some German rock sugar. It toned down the berry, most certainly, but it also changed my sense of the tea actually being a berry tea, and created more of a kids’ drink feel. I think I preferred it plain, tart and all. It’s a fun tea, but more of an afternoon drink than morning. My mouth just wasn’t quite ready!

Thanks again, Angrboda!

The work stock has been replenished and this is one that we are trying there, but I haven’t got at home. The majority of the other work teas are things I keep at home as well, but this was one of the new ones this time. I share a handful of tins with my boss, and when they require re-filling we sit down together and pick out what we want. Some of them we’ve bought again and again, but we usually have something new as well. So we had this one this morning, first tea of the new stock. I took a few short notes while drinking it, and I want you all to remember that at the time of doing so I couldn’t remember what the blend actually was supposed to consist of, so any identification was merely qualified guesswork.

I’m really very surprised by this one. I’m actually not 100% convinced that we actually got the right blend. They have a regular morning blend as well which is supposed to be strong where this is supposed to be medium strong.

The thing is, the cup I had this morning tasted very Assam heavy and it struck me as a rather strong blend. The first few mouthfuls had Assam written all over them, complete with a raisin-y malty note and a fair amount of astringency on the back end of the sip and the aftertaste. For me, those are the embodiment of Assams.

As it cooled a little, the flavour smoothed out a bit, but it never lost that strong Assam-y quality. I just began to be able to tell that there was something else in there as well, something non-descript and default tea-ish. Dark and quiet, yet forceful in presence. My immediate guess here was Ceylon.

At the very very edges I got a small small tiny amount of something vaguely grainy and a whiff of something very mildy floral. It gave me a small suspicion of Keemun, but nothing to really substantiate a proper guess.

So my conclusion was a blend of Assam and Ceylon in the end.

Now that I’m home and have looked it up, I can tell you that this is the Assam-est thing that doesn’t contain any Assam that I’ve ever had. It tasted so Assam heavy that I’m having a really hard time coming to terms with Assam not being involved at all.

The regular Morning Blend is actually an Assam and Ceylon blend, and, although I’ve never had that one, that is why I have suspicions about whether they actually sent us the right stuff.

Also because if this blend is classified as ‘medium strong’ and they recommend a steeping time of 6-8 minutes (!!!), I’m not sure I even want to try a strong blend. At 6-8 minutes I reckon this would be undrinkable. I never go above five at the most if I can help it. ACP generally have a lot of wonderful stuff, but their steeping recommendations are completely wacky!

Angrboda is awesome…I just need to remind people of that! :) Really…she spoils me! Thanks so much for this one, too!

I LOVE trying teas from Tanzania (and more recently Kenya, too!)

This one smells a little malty and a little bready. The black tea strength is that of a medium black, probably. The flavor is semi-bready/semi-malty, a little astrigent but in a good way, and has slight notes of some darjeelings I have enjoyed. Towards the end of the sip I got a few specks of peppery notes which were neat. Two thumbs up on this one, too!

Thank you, Angrboda, for this lovely tea from our swap so many months ago… I finally had the chance to sit and enjoy it this afternoon.

This tea smells gently of strawberry hard candy, with a slight scent of leaves, presumably from the green tea. I didn’t want to risk bitterness as I only had a small sample, so I steeped it lightly, and it turns out that it was the right approach for me.

Together with the orange, the strawberry actually presents more as a gentle, non-acidic pineapple flavor. It’s sweet, yet not overly so. The green is a great choice for countering the sweetness. Other than that, the green tea is unremarkable, but it doesn’t need to be anything more than a crisp base for delivering a pleasantly sweet afternoon tea.

Thank you again, Angrboda! :)

I first had this at my brother’s in Copenhagen, when we visited him last year. We enjoyed it so he sent us some for Christmas and now it is in the regular line-up of teas in our house. The best bit is being able to experiment with how I brew it, instead of relying on my brother’s Philistine ways with tea! ;-) So, I started the pot with two teaspoons of the tea in my 250ml glass pot and brewed it initially for two minutes at 80 degrees. Not enough flavour came through. It was pleasant and a bit bubblegum, but not as nice as I remembered it. After a bit of experimentation, I finally got it right for me. Between 75 and 80 degrees was the right temperature and a 3-4 minute steep brought out the flavours nicely. All the fruit came through, but delicately enough not to be overpowering. I did not notice much of the white tea, except as a background to the rest. Still, it was very nice and perfect for when I want something sweeter to drink. I wonder if it will be sufficient to counter my addiction to jelly snakes and jelly dinosaurs?

Another one from Angrboda! Thanks so much!
The A C Perch’s teas I have tried I have really liked! I’m eager to try this one as I have been eating a lot of dried cranberries lately!

Ummmmmmm! Yum!

It’s Cranberry! But not bitter cranberry – sweet and juicy cranberry!

As it cools at room temp I get that little bit of tart pop at the beginning but then it smooths out. I really like this unique cranberry experience, I must say! It different from other cranberry flavor teas I have tried! It’s stand-alone! I like that!

This is darned tasty! Not sure if it can beat my LOVE for the A C Perch’s Raspberry but this IS up there!!! YUM!

YES! Very good!

I received this bag as a free sample when I ordered from AC Perch’s recently. The last two times I’ve ordered from them I’ve received free bags. That must be a new practice and although I haven’t had anything that I actually expect to like (This, bleh. A green ginger-y one, bleh. And a jasmine one, bleh), I definitely approve. :)

Anyway, I thought this would work as the sample finished for the day, so I made a cup. Unfortunately then I got side-tracked and forgot about it.

After some hour and a half, the boyfriend came home and commented on the neglected mug in the kitchen. As an Indian, I knew it was probably ruined, but I test-tasted the lukewarm result anyway.

Bleeeeeeeech!

No clue what it would have been like as properly made, and I swear I didn’t sabotage it on purpose.

This is a backlog from… uh… a time in the past!

I bought this as part of my recent attempt to BUY ALL THE FRUITY BLACKS!!! and I bought it for the boyfriend primarily because he generally tends to enjoy things with lemon. We tasted this not long after we had ACP’s orange flavoured black and the decision to make this that day was actually inspired by just having had that orange. How’s that for a complicated sentence?

It seemed to me to be a rather basic citrus-y experience in both the aroma and the flavour. Nothing really told me, ‘hey, hello, I’m a lemon tea’. It could be anything really. It reminded me of low-grade Earl Greys where you can’t really identify the bergamot as such. I find those often taste more like lemon to me, so I suppose that’s why the comparison entered my mind.

I found it fairly uninspiring, but drinkable indeed. Just another one of those that you can drink without necessarily having to think too much about what it is your drinking.

I have no intel on whether or not the boyfriend found it adhered to his lemon-y standards.

(I should probably point out here that I have in the past had at least one of ACP’s many EG-y varieties, and that the earlier comparison to a low-grade EG doesn’t apply there. ACP’s EGs are definitely properly bergamot-y in my experience and not the slightest bit lemon-y. In a direct comparison between an EG variety and the lemon within this particular brand, this would definitely be far more easily distinguished as actual lemon.)

So, I sipped to this tea and guess what??
It tasted like… wait for it… wait for it… TEA!!
(Yes! I am a HIMYM-fan)

Muhahah!!!
Heh, no seriously, it tasted great for a clean black tea. It has a orangy note, that sweetens up everything and makes it superFRESH… Of course Me likey.
I resteeped the leaves 3 times, and it only getting better by it.

I missed you Steeps :) I have been holed up in a little town in South Greenland with only 3000 people inhabitants. And now I am back to civilization and ready to upload all my tasting notes…. Oh, the joys of cheap internet!

The dry leaves have a strong orangey aroma which reminds me rather a lot of the orange pu-erh from Nothing But Tea, which I’m very fond of. That one currently holds the place of my ideal orange tea, so I find this aroma quite assuring. But it is very strong indeed. So strong that I actually had a small coughing fit because the sheer strength of the aroma tickled my throat so much.

I wasn’t looking specifically for anything orange flavoured when I bought this. It was partly based on aforementioned orange pu-erh, yes, but mostly it was because I was getting a generally wide selection of fruity teas and I thought I might as well include it. I actually got a couple of things that I probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise on that occasion. I think, with this order, I’ve now bought every single fruity black that AC Perch’s has to offer at one point or another (there are some that I’ve had before and didn’t stock up on), except for the more fanciful blends with more than one flavouring ingredient and also excepting the many different varieties of Earl Grey that they have.

Anyway. After steeping the aroma is a more tolerable level of orange intensity, although it’s still pretty overwhelming. I can’t find anything of the base tea underneath and I wonder about the wisdom of choosing a Chinese black as the base rather than a Ceylon. I wonder if maybe a Ceylon would have been better able to hold it’s own against the flavouring. Or perhaps that’s all just because I’m used to the significantly stronger pu-erh base. I really mustn’t compare with that one, it’s completely unfair. It’s hard not to, though.

The colour of the tea is quite dark and you know what? On the first sip, it is similar to the orange pu-erh! It’s a bit less of a murky flavour but it’s the same sort of orange. The flavouring is very strong and the base isn’t really coming to it’s right, and this is the only real difference between this and the orange pu-erh.

It’s a good alternative to the orange pu-erh in a pinch, but I do prefer the pu-erh to this one, mainly because the base is more assertive in that one. In the meantime, I think I shall rather enjoy this one.

In amusing news the Steepster blog post from January last year showed up in my Google Reader this morning.

First time I made this, it was a botched, although relatively enjoyable cup. I had been too cautious about the fact that it’s CTC and at the same time completely forgotten about the fact that timers exist. You may remember that following that brewing I could report that it had not been particularly damaged by my mistake, but that it also wasn’t anything other than simply another faceless Cup of Tea.

This morning I decided to see how it would behave if I threw CTC caution to the wind and brewed it like I normally do everything else. With a timer, mind you.

The result is definitely a much smoother cup with no hint at all of bitterness or astringency whatsoever. It’s soft and silky and very pleasant to drink. Apart from this, however, not much has changed. It’s still a faceless Cup of Tea. Pleasant enough, but just not interesting at all. There’s nothing here that grabs the attention or even something that makes me thing of region specific qualities. This is disappointing when I know for an absolute fact that Kenyans can be interesting. Just not in this form, unfortunately.

On the upside, because the leaves are so tiny I’m forced to use a filter bag, there’s no cleaning out of the pot afterwards. Silver lining on everything and whatnot.

The dry leaf of this one smells rather disturbingly like apricot flavoured yoghurt. And not just any old yoghurt either. An apricot Petite Danone. That’s what it smells like. (Do you have those over on the other side of the Atlantic? They’re like yoghurt-y desserts marketed for children so they contain more sugar than fruit and they come in tiiiiny little cups that somehow still manages to cost more than a whole carton of normal fruit yoghurt.)

After steeping thankfully it’s more real fruit and it has completely lost that weird yoghurt-y note. The tea base comes through as well and had it not been for the fact that they say it’s Chinese, I would have guessed it might be a Ceylon, because there seems to be a rather prominent sort of malty note to it. After careful smelling and consideration I have come to believe that this malty note is actually my own nose playing tricks on me and masquerading the actual fruit flavouring in this way, making it seem a lot more subtle than it really is. It’s like magic!

The flavour finally puts the whole Petite Danone issue to rest. Nothing even remotely like it here. This is an example of a well balanced fruit flavouring. It’s clearly fruity and it’s strong enough to be recognisable, but there is still a very clear note of actual tea shining through. It’s a fairly non-descript tea flavour here, but it’s there. It feels like drinking an even mix of the two, which gives the impression that the apricot manages to be both strong and rather subtle all at the same time. Like magic!

I’m coming to the conclusion that apricot and black tea are two of those flavours that just fit like puzzle pieces. They seem to compliment each other so nicely.

All in all, a quite good fruity black, although it certainly didn’t send my socks into orbit or anything like that. It was just good and enjoyable and will do well as a sort of every-day fruit tea, I think, which means we can save some of the really really good ones for a little longer. Sometimes we just need something that is merely good in order to fully appreciate the awesome.

I can’t believe I bought a 100 grams of, let’s face it, fannings! I mean, I knew it was CTC and I was sceptical about that, but as I was buying the Tanzania (again) and I have this budding fascination with the African continent’s tea offerings, I couldn’t not get it. This and the Tanzania are the only African blacks they’ve got. I do wish they would look into getting a better Kenya because the fact that this one is CTC makes it seem rather pedestrian compared to just about everything else they’ve got. I can’t say for sure if it really is, but it’s the only CTC I can recall having seen from them ever.

So, uncharacteristically I opted for using a filter bag with this one. There is no way that my otherwise wonderful strainers would have a chance against this sort of leaf size. Or lack of leaf size. I also used only 3/4 of my usual number of teaspoons of leaf.

And it was a good thing I did because I ALSO forgot to set the timer, so when I came back to get it I had to test-taste a mouthful in order to find out if it was necessary to make a new pot. To my vast surprise, it was fine. A CTC steeped for at least 5 minutes unattended and it’s fine. Shocking! I was going to do it at 3…

But then when I really start tasting the cup, I discover why it didn’t go wrong. There’s nothing here TO go wrong. This is just about the dullest, blandest tea I’ve ever met. In spite of the tiny leaf size, there is very little aroma or flavour here to speak of. A bit of astringency on the end of the flavour, but anything else you have to search for. And the more you keep the tea in your mouth to try and find other flavours in it, the more you only find the astringency.

The aroma at least has a hint of something woodsy and slightly malty. It’s just a shame that so little of it comes across in flavour.

Perhaps I should not have been so cautious with the leaf amount, CTC or not. I’ll have to experiment some more with that, I guess, although it is very much against my better judgment to not be cautious with CTC leaf amounts. This cup more resembles something that usually comes in cheap teabags with a generic blend name, rather than something from a shop selling supposedly quality leaves. You know, the sort of blend where they have something proper to give the majority of the flavour and then stuff it with something cheap and filling to keep the price down and pretend it’s still lovely. This here then would be the something cheap and filling.

I really do hope I can find a way to improve this (a lot) because right now I’m so disappointed. If nothing else it’ll work as a morning tea when I don’t want to do an awful lot of thinking.

I have received a MASSIVE Perch’s order this morning. Mainly we’ve got fruity teas here as well as stocking up on some black. The all-important Lapsang, the Tanzania I liked, and to try their Kenya. Anyway, I let the boyfriend pick out the first one to try and he chose this one.

I rather like cranberries and cranberry flavoured things, so it has been one I’ve been meaning to buy for a while. Especially after I’ve had their Late Summer blend (which I also bought this time), which is a heavenly mix of cranberry and vanilla. This, though, is plain cranberry.

The aroma is tart and heavy on the cranberry. There can be no doubt in anybody’s mind that this is a flavoured tea and that it’s flavoured with cranberry. Sligthly tart and thickly sweet underneath, with tendrils of the base tea sort of reaching through and reminding me that it’s not hot cordial we’re drinking here. It’s all in all a wonderful aroma and it gives me high hopes for the flavour. I can tell already know that we’re going to find ourselves on the higher end of the scale here.

I can report, thought, that Luna the Cat seems to think it’s rather stinky. Them kitties, what do they know? I have yet to find a tea they don’t think smells repulsive.

Oh yes, this is nice. At first I get primarily the base tea which definitely tastes Ceylon-y and some subtle cranberry flavouring. I’m almost positive this is a Ceylon base. It’s slightly astringent and a bit malty, which I believe accounts for the sugary aspect in the aroma.

So at first I thought it was rather subtly flavoured and how odd that was when the aroma was so heavy. But then I swallowed and there it was. Lots and lots and lots of cranberry, which somehow manages to not be too tart. I’m reminded of the cranberry sauce from Christmas, actually.

When it cools a bit the flavour develops more and covers the entire flavour experience more evenly, a soft layer of fruity berry over the flavour of the base tea and more uniform experience than the first sips of the cup.

Given the fact that I’ve enjoyed the Late Summer blend so much, I was actually a bit concerned if I might find this one a bit wanting with not having the vanilla aspect in it as well, but I’ve discovered to my relief that it stands on its own very nicely indeed. I am very pleased with this choice.

After a workday where I didn’t even have time to eat my lunch(!), this tea has never been better.

Never.

(And if it hadn’t been for the two cups of raspberry oolong I took with me in the lab (Yes, I know. Ssshhhh!), I’m not sure I would have survived.)

And that’s the end of the Tanzania.

I have really enjoyed this tea, and to her vast surprise, so has my boss. This was actually one we bought for work. My interest in African teas was very new then, so I had to have it. My boss was sceptical because of the relatively high caffeine content. We compromised. The smallest amount of loose leaf AC Perch’s will allow you to buy from the webshop is 100g, so we bought the bag of 100g. I then divided it up into two equal portions, took one to work and kept one at home. My boss then only paid me back for half of the work-portion.

Now that it’s gone, though, I am definitely going to want to stock up on it again. As mentioned, even my boss found that she liked it a lot more than she had expected. Her own surprise was clearly audible when she told me this.

This was the last of the home portion. The work portion disappeared a long time ago. I would prefer to stock up on it at work rather than at home, I think. I found it an excellent work tea, and before you ask me what sort of qualities a work tea should have, let me tell you that I don’t know. It’s something to do with how it feels in the situation, so it’s not even something I can try to predict. We’ll see if the boss is interested in another batch of it. If not, I’ll probably get it for home.

I got this tea in a swap with Angrboda , and, to be honest, wasn’t in any hurry to taste it. I have not had good experiences with green tea. I know that many people love them, but most of the ones I’ve had before, both flavored and unflavored, never impressed me. So I figured I was simply not the green tea kind. So this tea sat in my sample basket waiting for that day when I was feeling adventurous enough to try this in spite of my (so I thought) certainty that I would not like it.

I took it to work with me today, to make in my new heavy cast-iron teapot. I steeped with less than boiling water (it’s a water dispenser, so Ive no idea how hot it is, just that it is not boiling), with a short steep time – about 2 minutes.

This is really good! and I mean REALLY good. I assume it smells like rhubarb, although I will admit that I have never smelled rhubarb in my life, but It’s a pleasant sweet aroma. The green base is smooth and mellow with a slight (rhubarb?) sweetness to it. Not overwhelmingly fruity (a good thing), but the flavor is there.

This has actually made me think that maybe I need to give green tea a second chance.

Oh damn and blast!

And damn.

And blast.

Last week I thought I placed a Nothing But Tea order, a quite substantial one containing among other things a Mystery Box with things they were clearing from the stocks and things they had too much of and such. I was quite excited about that one as well as getting some of the other things I had added to the order.

I think I must have missed a step though, because I was looking at my bank balance (other reason) and noticed I had still not been charged for that order at all. A little detective work followed and I can’t find as much as a shadow of that order anywhere at all. I think something must have gone wrong and I thought I placed it but didn’t actually. Perhaps a final confirmation step, or something. Unfortunately their site can’t remember the contents of the basket between visits, so… Yeah, that’s gone. I can’t remember what all I put in it now.

Shoot. Oh well. There will be other orders. Missed out on that stock clearing box, though.

In the meantime this one is nearly gone. I don’t think I’ll be re-stocking this one again. It’s good and all, but it’s not the perfect strawberry tea. I think we’ll go back to that blackberry one for a while instead, and there are still a couple other fruity teas from AC Perch’s that I want to try. I’m debating the necessity of trying their cranberry flavoured black based on the fact that I really enjoy their Late Summer blend which is cranberry and vanilla. I have a strong suspicion that I’ll end up preferring the Late Summer anyway, so I don’t know if I can be bothered to actually test it.