Kusmi Tea

nothing incredibly impressive, but still nice.

No one’s really written a note on this one either? Jeez.

I got this as a sample with my order and I figured I could use it this morning because I have a headache probably due to suddenly seeing the sun before 8am because my boyfriend has no idea how to not wake up at the crack of dawn. And people were getting rowdy down in the hotel bar last night. Seriously. Thursday night, hotel bar. Miami is that way, people.

This is nothing impressive. It really just tastes like gingery green tea which isn’t exactly what I was looking for…I guess I can kind of taste the mate in here. So now I know, don’t be lazy and just break out the travel kit for some guayusa.

This is unremarkable and there are too many tasty mate blends out there to look to this one for a boost. Unless you really like spiced green tea that’s falling short of chai.

I’ve been sipping away at this without even thinking! My first day of training got cancelled, nooooo, but I go tomorrow. I went to the mall anyway to confirm my suspicions that I have no idea how the mall works. I ended up in Sur La Table before I ever found a dress, so I called my mom to tell her I found a bear cookie cutter. She was like, where, and I told her, she had no idea what I said so I said it again as “on the table in French.” So then she figured it out, I was so amused. I had to stop myself from buying a tin of Dammann Freres tea in there.

I did find a dress but I was really worried I was only going to find a bear cookie cutter.

So finally home, it is tea time. I am glad I picked this one, though I am not very happy with how these little tins are covered in fannings. They are getting all over me.

I steeped this one for 3 1/2 minutes and used boiling water. No problems, surprisingly, given the ideal water temperature listed is far lower. I love how smooth these Kusmi black teas are. I’ve never enjoyed the flavor of bergamot so much.

This one is citrusy but not just from the bergamot. I can taste lemon and orange too, which gives it more of a sweetness than just bergamot. I like that the bergamot isn’t extremely heavy, which for me always leads to it reminding me of kitchen cleaner.

I love these teas so much. This one I think is my favorite so far, but out of the Russian sampler 5, I only have two left and I think Anastasia may stay …Grand Duchess of these teas.

I would have said queen but it only feels right to go with the proper title.

Yaaaaay my teas showed up. I wanted to try this one the most so I had to make an entire pot of it first!

[Sidenote: Does anyone want to do a quick check of a couple informal reports for me? I ended up with a partner who was too good to actually do a peer review for me considering she only uploaded one of her reports instead of two. They’re both just over a page long so if you’re someone who has to regularly write memos, esp. trouble/investigative reports, you would be REALLY helpful unlike this girl.]

So yeah I made a pot of tea expecting to have two things to edit and I only had one. I’m trying really hard to give her the benefit of the doubt but in class she’s like, oh I’ll have it there in a couple hours! And nope.

I love this one! I’m not really picking up on caramel at all, but the berry flavors are nice, along with the slightly floral flavor. Maybe that’s supposed to be the bergamot? It’s really not coming off as citrus for me.

I took the water off the stove before it boiled so maybe I will let it actually boil and see if that coaxes out a bit more, maybe steep it a bit longer. I like how it is right now though. It’s like a smooth berry Earl Grey.

Thank you for this one, Will Work For Tea!

This is the kind of Earl Grey I could drink plenty of. It’s not in your face but it still definitely has the flavor of bergamot. There’s additional orange flavor to it too, and I quite like it.

I didn’t even know Kusmi existed when I was in Paris and I wish I did because I love the tins. I think if I get the job tomorrow I will buy at least one…I’ve been window shopping on their site for ages but I didn’t want to without trying one first.

This kind of take on an EG is right up my alley and some of the other ones sound very intriguing too. I only steeped it for two minutes, just because I wasn’t entirely sure how strong it would be, and I could definitely up it to three the next time. I don’t get any smoky notes and I would like to, seems intriguing with orange!

With the shorter steep it hasn’t gotten astringent as it cools, in fact, the flavor has hardly changed the entire time. Just a nice smooth black base with what tastes like mandarin oranges and bergamot.

Thanks to Sil for the sample!
Hmmm, I like this one. Kindof. Well, the first steep anyhow. True orange, nice and tart! with some cinnamon spice to balance it out. Yep, I could get used to this tea. As long as I don’t expect more than one cuppa, which is nice because I often feel guilty for not steeping again if I don’t get the chance.
Rating: 84

Almost missed the Almond. The tea base is kind of herb-y..Very light.

I always forget how much I love a good genmaicha. It’s a cool evening here and I wanted something hot and comforting, but still light. This definitely fit the bill!

I was fairly proud of myself having made a green tea without it going bitter. I tend to have that problem a lot, but I’ve gotten (slowly) better.

This particular genmaicha is really lovely! Sweet and amazingly smooth with that familiar popped rice toastiness. I’m also getting a really subtle floral note, which makes it even more tasty! Mm, I have to drink this more often.

I enjoy this tea very much, it’s really reliable and tasty. I don’t really think it tastes extremely caramelly, but I can detect it. And I adore the tin <3

Got a single teabag of this as a sample with my Kusmi order. Wouldn’t mind one more to try it again in more controlled circumstance. Making it at work didn’t result in a likeable cup.

Was very grassy, and the mint had the “wet washrag” taste I’ve referred to before, that I get with some herbs.

Thanks so much for Tamm for sharing some of this with me!

So I store all of my tea swap samples in the same box, and I just noticed recently that all of them smell like Hu Kwa (the smoky tea from Mark Wendell). Evidently the Hu Kwa is so potent that it needs it’s own humidor or something.

So this morning when I went to go try this out I swear I can taste some smokiness in this tea but I don’t know if it is my imagination or what. As others have noted the cinnamon flavor is very subdued here so this isn’t a choice if you wanted something that was going to taste like cinnamon gummy bears. It really is more of an herbal-y cinnamon and I also like that you can really taste the flavor of the tea underneath (a Chinese black – perhaps a Keemun?)

I did enjoy this, but I’m not going to bother rating it due to my fears of inadvertently getting the Lapsang Souchong aroma in there… we shall see what happens with the other samples.

This one is a freebie teabag that was put in my recent(-ish) Kusmi order. I’m not a huge spice-in-my-tea type girl, but hey, always up for trying stuff. (Well, almost always.) And I do enjoy Lindt’s Chili dark chocolate so who knows!

The smell is more cinnamon spicy than cayenne spicy (and I was anticipating/wanting more cayenne so that’s kind of uninspiring). The chocolate is there in the smell, somewhere between a cocoa and a not-so-creamy, kind of cheap milk chocolate. So far this isn’t looking good.

The taste isn’t all that… well, all that anything. It’s a bit warm spicy. Warmer than cinnamon, not as warm as cayenne. The chocolate… isn’t. I mean, maybe there is a faint hint of it but it’s more like Tootsie Roll chocolate than chocolate bar chocolate and the strength is more like licking the wrapper than eating the Tootsie Roll.

All in all, it’s just kind of boring. It’s not bad. But it’s not great either. It’s not going to turn me into a spicy-in-my-tea fan but it’s not going to turn me off of tea, either. I give it a solid ‘meh’.

(By the way, is it just me or are notices not working? I mean, the little red number shows up but I can’t get to the page to see them detailed.)

I usually like floral, but this is a bit too much. Any black tea is pretty well buried in the flowers, and even the bergamot is a little subdued in comparison. Just too light and tart for me overall. Might be nice iced?

Blech. Tastes like liquorice. There’s some other spicy flavors too, and I think I can taste the guarana? But mostly liquorice, or which I am not a fan.

Second cup: this was definitely being contaminated by the mint, so I’ve moved those out of the box now. I’m less overwhelmed by the flavor this time – not having that weird too-strong-but-not-bitter experience – but still not overly impressed. It’s nice with milk, but I’ve had many breakfast teas wow me more, so this won’t be making a home in the cupboard.

Hm. It’s been a little while since I had a non-Chinese breakfast tea, so I’m mostly noticing the Ceylon in this one by contrast. There is a slightly smoky note, but it’s not very strong. There’s something sweet also, maybe malt or honey, but mostly the Celyon. I think the aroma’s being thrown off by it’s having sat next to the Spearmint Green in the sampler box – it smells kind of minty-sweet.

Interesting, and pretty good, but this certainly isn’t making me desperate to buy more. Drinking plain, at the moment, but will add milk shortly and see if that brings out anything new.

ETA: I did like it better with milk, and better plain on the second steep. It might have just been too strong for me at first, somehow, though it wasn’t overly bitter. Peculiar.

I can smell the lime and the orange blossom in the dry leaf and the tea – I’m impressed already. Upon tasting, I’m actually finding the tea to be overwhelmed by the citrus. Maybe that’ll get better as it cools. Ooh, there’s a nice floral aftertaste though.

… Still very fruity as it cools, also floral. Having this with just a bit of honey. Not sure I’d buy a tin of this, it’s pretty distinctive for everyday drinking. I’ll try it with milk next time (how I usually take my EGs)