Mahamosa Gourmet Teas, Spices & Herbs

First tea of 2013…woooo.

I’m still afraid of being food poisoned, I can’t tell what’s due to last night’s champagne or what could be a result of the bad fajitas so I am erring on the side of caution and not drinking any caffeine.

Spearmint seemed like the obvious herbal to go to. Hasn’t really helped but it’s something that isn’t gatorade.

Also I diluted a little bit and offered it up to Sebastian. He didn’t drink any at first but I did get a drop on his beak, which he ended up tasting. His reaction to that was to close his eyes and make sure he got all of it in his little beak, so I offered it to him again and he drank a bit himself then. I don’t think I have many good bird-friendly herbals but hey, if he likes spearmint then we’re set.

omfg

so because I was in a total food coma last night, it was quite apparent my stomach was going to need some settling before I went to this Jaguar driving experience thing. Spearmint it is! I had it iced because suddenly it is just way too warm. It’s nice and comforting cold though! It loses a lot of that edge mint can have, so that makes it better, not like drinking toothpaste.

And so I was fine, and my stomach felt good all day! I think I actually prefer spearmint as an iced tea.

The rest of this is unrelated about this driving thing but I HAVE TO TELL EVERYONE.

It definitely was for brand recognition and not HEY BUY A CAR because I guess a lot of people still associate Jaguar with the problems they had pre-Ford buying them. So first we took them out on the road in a group, which was fun. Really comfy. I have to say I was just expecting heavy cars that would remind me of my mom’s car but it handled similar to what I’m used to so it wasn’t too weird of a change.

Then, we watched a little presentation and were released into the wild…I mean to the tents with the fun stuff. First I went 0 to 60 mph to 0 in a $130,000 XKR-S. SO AWESOME. I probably got above 60 but I was too busy freaking out inside to look at the speedometer.

Then there was autocross in a $97,000 XKR. I was telling the instructor how I always wanted to do autocross but I don’t want to break my car. So obviously the best thing to do is jump from my 140 HP when it was new car to a 510 HP car. HAHAHA. I didn’t do as great of a job as I was hoping…I was in the 42s or 43s instead of around 40 where I was hoping but yeah, just a little freaked out about the sheer awesomeness of the car.

Then there was just like testing out AWD and the computer system with it, where I totally failed to get it working in sand. And then they had just see how comfy it is where you just drove slow over bumps and stuff and didn’t feel it. I reaaaaally like the XKR convertible…sigh.

And then they load you up with swag so now I have a new travel mug. Yay! I was just about to ask someone to get me a new one for Christmas so that’s perfect. And now maybe the adrenaline will die down.

Still craving mint, and feeling like pizza later (Hey, when you just found out you missed 7 weeks of 50% off pizza due to the football team winning, you better believe you’d take advantage for 8 in a row. And that is the extent of care I have for the undefeated local team LOL), I figured I’d open my big fluffy bag of spearmint.

I have no idea how long I steeped this because it suggests 7-12 on the bag but I can’t possibly handle that right now. I’d guess somewhere in the 3-5 range is where mine ended up.

And…it tastes like mint. There’s not much to say, I guess I’m glad they have a good spearmint tea. I actually don’t even want to know how a company could mess up mint.

It has just the right amount of mintiness to it, so it’s not like drinking toothpaste, but it still has that nice tingling feel on my gums. It still has that green herb taste to it just slightly.

I feel like 2 oz of this stuff is going to last foooooooorever.

I’m not sure how I steeped this the first time I had it, but I noticed there was a lot of green tea in there so I steeped it as a green. I wanted to have it iced since I noticed when I let it cool off completely last time around, it was delicious.

Indeed it was, this definitely is a nice, fruity tea for iced tea. I still really don’t know what a jackfruit tastes like so I’m going to continue to think it is this tea. It’s definitely got that tropical fruit flavor going on.

Next step: cold brew, for sure!

Thanks Mahamosa for including this sample in my order!

I was supposed to go eat lunch downtown with some Yelp people but seeing my bank account changed that. So I ate something here and I wanted to finish up trying to decide on what jobs to bring in for my second class…and I still cannot decide. Might as well bring in four right?

The worst part of the entire project was the realization nothing I want to do can likely be done in Atlanta. The only one in Atlanta is the one with 15-95% travel. And uh that’s okay.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this, because it sounded heavy on flower petals and orange. I like flower petals but I’m pretty meh on orange. I have also never actually had a jackfruit. I have seen them, and I’ve probably had something jackfruit flavored, but I have no idea what they really taste like.

This tastes pretty close to the jackfruit flavored drink I had…I want to say it was a Vitamin Water flavor but I’m not sure. It has notes of those flower hard candies, and I really can’t taste orange by itself. This is pretty good!

The base tea is a mix of black and green. It’s pretty light so it doesn’t interfere with the flavor. To me it’s really just exotic fruit, that vague term to use when you have no idea what it is because you haven’t had it. But it really has that tropical taste to it. It’s kind of reminding me of strawberries and mango with some other unidentifiable flavors.

Like I said though, tasty, and pretty light. It’d probably make a fantastic iced tea too.

I didn’t finish the cup before I left for class, so I’m finishing it now. It is indeed awesome cold. I think the tea base comes out a bit more this way, but it still has the awesome fruity flavor that is loud and clear!

So this is the first time I am having a yellow tea. It was the far cheaper of the two options Mahamosa has, though at nearly $7 for half an ounce it was just because I was really, really curious.

First and foremost the leaves are very interesting. There is not really a way to measure a teaspoon because they are MASSIVE twisty bits. Pretty neat though! Obviously it’s not super high quality because it’s some of the biggest leaves I’ve ever seen for a tea.

Then the liquor is actually quite yellowy…like white tea but with far more color to it.

The taste? It has an intriguing consistency. Kind of like it has a texture, but it still is light. It tastes a lot like hay and papaya. I totally get the way it’s like a halfway point between a white and a green. It has the sweetness of a white, with some of the nice subtleties of green…and none of the grassiness.

One day I am getting myself a Jun Shan Yin Zhen, I am already going to mark down that when I get a real job next year that it is my present to myself.

Still kind of not a fan of the aftertaste of this tea because it is so drying. But a lower temperature and a shorter steep have made it an easier drink.

It’s very sweet and malty, even with less time it’s still a very full bodied tea.

And now this time as it cools, I don’t like it one bit. It becomes almost slightly sour with astringency.

Made this last night before going to a Halloween party, I’ve got a couple pictures of how AWESOME my makeup was but it’s also apparently really terrifying. I did my own eyes and lips and the makeup artist complimented me on that makeup so many times…it was like the highest praise to me. But then of course I felt sick where the party was because there was no ventilation, it was full of smoke, and the a/c was on full blast. Blah.

So this is/was my first Assam. I steeped it for 4 minutes with water that was just starting to boil a little, and I did not like it at all while it was hot. It reminded me of a really dry red wine. So I let it cool, which eventually became room temperature.

And that was okay because it was so good at room temperature. It still has that full bodied maltiness but it loses that flavor that just seems like an overload of tannins. It was just a rich, slightly sweet cup of black tea.

So it is of course necessary next to cold steep it.

Mahamosa is so awesome and sent me 3 half ounce samples of other things to try! I had seen them posting this one but I didn’t even think to look for it when I ordered. Turned out just fine!

This actually doesn’t come across as pumpkin to me because of the honeydew. The honeydew is so sweet and comes across as melon that when it does transition to the more squash-y flavor of pumpkin it’s kind of a shock! It has a really nice sweetness to it, which I like, but it’s kind of lacking creaminess.

That’s what milk is for, right? Milk definitely subdues the honeydew, although it’s still very present, and it now tastes much more like pumpkin. It’s more creamy too. I wouldn’t choose this for a pumpkin tea, but it’s not bad.

Most importantly, it was a rooibos I could actually drink! And it got me over my fear of nettle leaf. Just look at those things, they’re like a seasonal allergy sufferer’s worst nightmare. I know it’s dried out and not going to attack me with histamines but I am still terrified of it.

Cold steeped this overnight. It was just ok. I think cranberry should be tart. This isn’t tart enough, and I think the citrus distracts from it. Tea is trying to be too many things and it’s just a muddled mess. Will drink it, it’s fine, won’t be looking for more.

Backlog:

Sweet, juicy and delicious! This tea really delivers on the blood orange flavor. The black tea base is mild and allows the flavors of the blood orange to really shine through. It’s a very bright, refreshing tea. A nice one to serve iced!

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/03/13/blood-orange-flavored-black-tea-from-mahamosa/

I am a fan of frozen mango. :) And I like Della Terra’s mango tea.

I like this blend. I have no idea if I taste papaya or not – I probably can’t swear that I’ve ever had papaya as a fruit. It’s a good blend with the tea base. Smells wonderful.

The rest of this bonus sample that was generously included with my order will likely be served at the summer tea party on Thursday. And I may serve it iced.

When I order again from Mahamosa, I think this will probably go on the to-be-iced list.

So this wasn’t too bad. Those of you who are on a quest for natural tasting raspberry probably won’t find what you are looking for here but if you just want a decently strong black base with a fairly strong raspberry flavor, this is it.

I love raspberries. I am usually not a fan of it in teas. It almost always ends up being too tart. I think the cream flavor balances out the tart in this blend pretty well.

This is a decent vanilla black tea. Almost caramelly in smell and with a sweetish taste.

For the price and taste I think I’d probably keep Harney & Son’s Vanilla Black in the cupboard over this one, but if one were making an order from Mahamosa and wanted something to round it out, this is a good tea.

I had this yesterday as a point of comparison with Steeped Tea’s EGdlC.

This one is better. Not as harsh, more creamy. Still not sure if it’s the best one, but it’s pretty good. Bergamotty, mildly creamy, good tea base. Still leans towards a tendency to astringency but not bad and I could probably go with 2 minutes instead of 3 and reduce that.

I’ve been looking for a plum flavored tea tasting of ripe, juicy plum for some time now. Unfortunately, my disappointment continues with this sample. The dry tea contained pieces of fruit which purhaps spoke to the slightly fruity scent to the leaves but which neither appeared in the liquor nor persisted in the spent leaves.

After following the steeping recommendations to the letter, I experimented further but was unable to coax any flavor other than that of an ok black tea from leaves. Given that is was a recently received 2oz sample (from Amazon<2weeks) which remained sealed until sampled – I have to conclude that it was inadequately flavored, not inadequately handled by me – so the hunt must continue.

First, this is very, very pretty as it steeps. The leaves and flowers falling through the water as they get heavy with liquid look like autumn in a glass.

This tastes very similar to other teas I’ve had with jackfruit so I’m pretty confident in saying they nailed this. Whatever the “flavors” are, one of them is jackfruit. There is a mild creamy note to it as well, maybe from the almond. I can’t pick out almond specifically. It all blends nicely together, as Momo noted, under the heading “exotic fruit.” As it cools, it is getting better and better. I think this will be a nice tea to keep around for summer as an iced blend. There will likely be more of this ordered.

I have been looking for something to approximate the Shangrila house blend I had at tea at the Willard Intercontinental in DC last year. I wish I had bought more than one tin while I was there! This comes close, as best memory serves me at this time.

I’m glad Mahamosa has small sample sizes available. I might not have ordered a large size taste unseen, so to speak.

This is good. Much milder than other tiny rotovaned teas I’ve had. Of course, it could be that I just learned my lesson with the others and I steeped this for like a quarter of the recommended time.

Even at a minute and a half steeping time, this is decently strong and still full bodied. A nice, mild, basic tea. Nothing special but nothing bad, either. I’ll try it eventually with the recommended steep time and see what happens. :)

So… this is pretty much exactly what the description says. Spicy, malty, dark, strong. And it would have seemed odd to me to say this months ago, but I can taste the high-grownness in it. It reminds me of other high-altitude teas I’ve had. Along with a tendency to get a bit bitter if not handled correctly, I’m guessing. This cup was steeped a tad too long I think and I can glimpse the bitter lurking in the background. The instructions say 4-5 minutes and I’m fairly sure my tastebuds would quit in protest at 5 minutes.

Not positive on whether or not this goes onto the “must keep” list. Going to put it in the shopping list so I don’t forget about it. But I’ll have to have a few more cups and try some resteeps to see what I really think.

And try it when my tastebuds are not off as I suspect they may be on a day sick at home. :) Hey, the heat is nice and I can definitely taste the tea.

So this morning I wanted something basic. Nothing fancy.

This tea delivers on that without being the same stuff you can get at a restaurant. :) It’s a good, medium bodied tea with just a hint of dryness. I get the feeling that it might turn bitter if oversteeped. Not sure I can tell the difference yet between Nilgiri teas and others in a blind taste test, but I do know that I tend to like Nilgiri teas. Just something a little different about them but not so over the top that I have to pay a lot of attention when drinking them.

I think this is a pretty reasonably priced tea and it seems to be of a decent quality. That said, I don’t usually keep plain old teas in my cupboard so this probably won’t be a reorder. However, it would be a good tea to keep around to gradually introduce Lipton-is-the-only-tea people to the wider world of tea. :)

This wouldn’t be my favorite yunnan but it’s perfectly acceptable for the price.

Nothing but what you’d expect. A dark, intense tea that wakes you up. I’ve tried this twice now, and despite rinsing it before my second cup, there is still a bit more dustiness than I’ve gotten with other Yunnans.

Lots of golden tips – they are not exaggerating! So pretty.

This is smooth, strong, slightly dusty at the front of the sip… Mildly sweet but with a most decided kick. This would be a good kick yer butt outta the house morning tea. :)

Oh, and I should add that they were very nice people to deal with. They even included a complimentary black tea tin with my order.

Look for full review on SoroiTea Sisters on the 22nd!

Peach Melba from Mahamosa Gourmet Teas, Spices, and Herbs is a sweet, tangy, treat.

I want to address the hibiscus in this blend. Its done so well! I am not one to favor hibiscus in any amount. I see no need for it 99% of the time, however in this blend it actually does something good! To begin, it provides the right amount of tart to make this rather sweet tea balanced. Secondly, it does not cover all the other flavors in the tisane.

If you enjoy this tea hot you simply must try some on ice! It is something I can see myself serving in place of juice this summer and far more healthy!