Man Teas

Another smoky tea to try! It’s probably a bad idea to be drinking so much black tea so late at night… oh well…

This is another very generous sample from Azzrian! Another tea I wanted to try before gambling and ordering.

The steeped tea smells somewhat smoky and sweet; not really smelling maple or bacon, perhaps they’ll be more apparent once I drink it.

Hmmm, the flavour is a bit different than I was expecting. A somewhat smoky, barely sweet black tea, with a fair bit of astringency. Darn, I must have steeped it too long. I did add a pinch of salt as has ben recommended, but am not getting anything resembling maple, or even bacon really. I think I might try adding some maple syrup and a bit more salt the next time, to see if that improves the flavour. Also might keep the infusion down to 3 minutes, as I’m really disliking the astringency. I thought four minutes would be low enough, but I guess not.

Thanks again for the sample Azzrian!

WOAH .. this one packs a PUNCH! Okay so it says just a “touch” of cayenne pepper but ummm it seemed like a lot to me and I do love cayenne. Don’t get me wrong however, it was not TOO much – just more than I expected. I did brew this for the full 5 minutes a chai typically calls for – but I would suggest 3 to 4 minutes and that is what I will do next time. It was very strong in flavor all the way around and I do appreciate a strong flavor but it was just a bit too much. Now I did add milk and some sugar and it was wonderful – the way you would get a chai if you went out but far far better of course! :)
The smell in the bag is amazing – sweet, spicy, nutty, yummm and the brew smells the same. This is one to be reckoned with and I see why they put it under “man teas” lol but this gal loves it! Not for the weak. This is one I will have to be in the mood for but then again I am often in the mood for a chai and this is a GREAT chai!

Just got home from being at the doctors offices and dialysis clinic since 8 this morning, open the mail box and yay! I had recieved some of my tea swaps this one came from DjBooth. I like it alot, i’d been wanting to try a Man Tea and this is my first Beer Tea! its a nice dark tea that reminds of a Porter beer, I’ll prolly end up buying some of this tea soon :) thank you Josh.

Try adding maple syrup to this one.

Thank you LiberTEAS for this*. I’m not usually a Jalapeno fan (or anything too spicy really), but this was different and pretty darn tasty! There is a nice bit of kick and spice to it, but not overpowering, just really nice with a smooth finish.

*Purchased from her Tea Trade store. :)

Thank you to The DJBooth for letting me try this one. It’s not harsh like I expected. There are no added flavors and nothing fancy – just a good, strong breakfast blend. I haven’t really paid attention to how much of an energy boost I get from it, but I think slightly more than your standard black tea. Once the stash in my cupboard goes down, I might need to get more of this. Prepared with milk and stevia.

So I had this one to go with my pancake breakfast tea this morning. Ah it was such a good tea day and it’s not even noon.. wait.. it’s 12:30. Sleep ins. haha.

Yes! This is a pretty yummy novelty tea. Noveltea as many like to say. I was hoping it wouldn’t taste like other bacon flavoured things (The bacon jellybeans we have come to mind) because those are a bit over the top. This tea is blended just perfectly – to give you a bit of a bacon taste and maple flavour, but still a strong tea base so that it’s not disgusting!~ I appreciate that! :)

For the second cup, we added the same brown sugar whipped cream with a tiny bit of maple syrup.

It’s a nice smoky tea, and I want to have more smoky teas in my life. I did get a bacon taste, Mike however did not. Here’s Mike!

Mike: It didn’t really taste like bacon to me, but it did taste like breakfast. And maple. mm I liked it, it was yummy! It just didn’t exactly taste like bacon to me.

Received this as a sample when I bought a bunch of Frank’s iced teas that were on sale. I had been curious about this one, so I was excited when I saw it in my package.
I was really surprised with how great this was, as was my bf. Very smoky – which I absolutely love. I added a squeeze of maple syrup and a touch of brown sugar, which really brought out the maple and bacon flavors. It was like smoked maple bacon, candied and liquified in a cup. Actually really enjoyed this and it reminded me how much I love smoky teas. Gets more bacony the more it cools. The thought of this iced seems kind of strange, though; a tall glass of refreshing iced bacon tea? I don’t know about that. haha.

This tea is intereting to say the least. While I can taste the smokey bacon flavour it’s more subdued than it was in the Maple Bacon tea, though the taste lingers in the mouth for quite awhile. The chocolate is subtle, present more in the smell and as cocoa-y hints on the back on my tongue at the end of each sip. I’ll have to try the trick of adding a touch of salt, though I feel weird adding something like that to tea!

I followed the advice from my last cuppa and tried the tea with with a touch a maple syrup which I found really did bring out the maple flavour. I also added a pinch of salt to see if that would enhance the bacon flavour at all, but found it didn’t really make much of a difference to my tastebuds. So yeah, maple and bacon. :D

The smell of this tea makes me think of Christmas morning when I go over to my parents’ place for breakfast and my dad cooks up bacon, eggs, and pancakes with berries and lots of maple syrup.

The maple notes aren’t as strong in the flavour unfortunately, or maybe that’s just because the smokey, meaty flavour is so strong it’s drowning it out a bit. But the bacon part is definitely there, no questions asked. It’s not a tea that I love per se, but I find drinking it a fun and interesting experience.

Good Morning Tea World, and Happy Mothers Day to all that applies to!

This is Day #2 of my 52teas/mysweethoneybush/manteas week-end, and I have four more blends to drink and review today ..

I’ve actually had this pouch for some time now, but unlike the rest of my zoomdweeblies stash, this has gone untouched since the first pot it made way back when .. Why? Because no-one who was there to sample it (four of us if memory serves right) could stomach drinking more than a few sips :(

Anyhoo, I was determined to revisit it this morning, and with an open mind! So I gave the pouch a good mix up – without taking a sniff as I’m sure strong aroma was partly what put us off originally .. Brewed my pot, and was pleasantly surprised to find the first mouthful wasn’t bad .. Not bad at all ..

I tried it a number of ways: with & without milk, with milk & sugar, with maple syrup & a pinch of salt .. My favourite was with both milk & sugar, however I tried that with the second brew and it turned out pretty weak .. So this doesn’t seem to hold up to a second brewing imho, even with a long steeping time ..

The best way I can describe the flavour is lightly smokey .. I don’t taste any Bacon as such, and it’s not quite strong enough to sit with the Russian Caravans I have either .. But it’s definitely a smokey tea, with medium tannins that leave my mouth feeling a bit tut tut tut .. It can certainly hold it’s own paired with a cooked breakfast!

This really isn’t at all how I remembered it, and while it’s still not something I would purchase again, it’s not bad! Yes I keep saying that, sorry, it just sums up my feelings for it .. I think I’ll pull it out again and serve it without mentioning Bacon to see others also alter their opinion ..

http://i52.tinypic.com/351hag1.jpg

I received this in my Hoppitea package. I just haven’t logged it yet. I was hesitant at first to try it wondering how Jalapeno and black tea would mix. The dry leaves smell like Jalapeno. In the cup it’s not too hot as I was expecting. It tastes more like green pepper. It’s not bad though, and mixing it with a little Lapsang……yum!

The more I sip on this tea, the more I like it. It isn’t super spicy-hot the way I thought it might be – it is a beautifully savory spicy that has a lingering heat.

I’m off to write a review of it for SororiTea Sisters!

This was the tea that AmazonV sent me for my HoppiTea gift! (thanks again!!!) And I’m thrilled. This is actually a tea that I’ve been wanting to try for some time but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it for some reason. I don’t know why!

And this is really quite tasty. It smells like peppers, but not like the marinated jalapeno peppers you might buy in the store, instead, it smells like a fresh jalapeno… mixed with black tea. It’s really much more intriguing a smell than it sounds!

But what I really am enjoying (much more than I ever imagined I would) is the taste. This doesn’t have a Caliente! hot taste, but there is some kick to it. It’s much smoother than I thought it would be. I can taste the fruity notes of the pepper, but I can also taste the heat. It is not overwhelming though… a mild heat that progresses as I sip. This is actually quite an extraordinary tea! Now, I might need to try blending it with the tomato, basil and black pepper and make myself a salsa tea!

Errrm…. Hey Frank, how about a tortilla chip tea to go with it?

So I was ecstatic when a friend told me this was reblended. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while now. I’m an avid beer enthusiast. So I had to buy it. It was also the first mail that came to the new place :) So I opened up the package and a very strong aroma comes out of the pouch. However it’s not one of beer. It’s more like wiskey. So brewed it five minutes. Tastes….like whiskey. So it doesn’t really taste like beer to me, but the fact that a tea tastes like whiskey or another alcoholic beverage is brilliant in my opinion. I will continue to enjoy this and maybe combine it with a little Glenlivet.

This was my firestarter this morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxU9zm7t8Cg I slept though my alarm so I had to reach for sumpthin’ with a kick. I am really liking Assam. It’s got a nice boost and lovely maltiness. Not to mention Prodigy is good to pumped. I’ve started getting back into the swing of working out and hitting the gym. I hadn’t realized how inactive I have become till now. I find anytime Prodigy tickles my eardrums I work a little bit harder…a good kick in the assam if you will. The supply of this one is starting to dwindle. So I may have to reorder or explore some other CTC. This also reminds me of a song I used to play on my radio show in college by the Channel Surfers-C.T.C http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgWBMtPdMCI quite the groovy little bit. Ah Tea and good music slaying the Buttdragons together.

Starting off the day with this one in my Bodum french press. I think this is a great way to brew this one since the assam pellets are so small. I think I used just a bit too much tea because it is quite strong! Not bitter though. I really love the maltiness of one.

So of course I took advantage of Frank’s mess up special and requested some of the Man Teas. This is my first 52teas purchase. I have never had a CTC Assam. I thought it was cool how small the “pellets” are(I would call them for lack of a better term). So I brewed this after the time change Sunday morning after tearing down a few shows. I love how dark and malty it is. I went cowboy on this with no milk or sweetner. The tea was so small it fell through my strainer. Reminds me a lot of coffee but it was a great start to the morning.

This one has been on my shopping list since Frank created it! Thanks to Rachel I was able to sample it! This is a fun tea! It smells like warm beer…some people may not think that is very fun but stay with me!!! Then…the taste is quite good! There is a nice non-bitter beer type taste to it. Quite amazing! Mission Accomplished, eh!? The aftertaste is just as beer-like if not more beer-like than the actual sip! It has a malty quality to it that I love. The more I sip this the more I like it! Great job on this NovelTEA, Frank!

Rough all the way down, but just what I need when i want to defy the morning! Dirty and malty…one hand’s holding my mug, the other hand’s flicking off the chippy office. I don’t want to face Monday, but RadioactiviTEA helps.

OK, I’ve been staring at this sample in my tea drawer for weeks now. Chris_s gave me a sample. I’ve been afraid to try it, worried it would be as bad as my experience with puehr (which to me, tastes like a fish market).

So, now I’ve brewed it. It sits next to me, mocking me. What to do. How long can I stall? When it was brewing, I smelled it and actually gagged. Meaty liquid ham smell.

Alright, here goes.

The smell of the brewed tea is black tea, smokey, and meaty. Not sure this works for a vegan (the bacon bits in this tea are actually not made of animal products in case you are wondering).

I tasted it. Hmm. Weird. At first sip, I liked it. It was a nice black tea with smokey maple syrup. The maple adds a mild sweetness (and I added a touch of agave nectar). But… at the end, the flavor of the bacon bits really takes over. The bacony meaty smokey ham-like flavor is all in the aftertaste. Alrighty then. Not as bad as I expected, but not going to finish this cup.

I also (like Lisbet) will give this a pretty high rating as it is exactly as advertised. But, it’s just not for me.

What the? I am giving this a pretty high rating because it really tastes like bacon plus black tea. I often HATE maple, but I really just tasted the bacon so I didn’t need to stab myself a fork to end the pain.

I hated this so very much. I couldn’t even finish a single cup. But it is exactly what it claims to be, so it deserves a high rating. My J tried it and just thought it tasted like a smokey black tea, so it may even be tolerable to folks who enjoy, say, lapsang souchong. Scary. Truly, truly scary. A great present for that bacon lover in your life. Me, I’m a vegetarian.

Thank you again Jaime you are awesome!

This one is without words amazing. I just can’t believe how good this was not to mention how it tasted as I would have imagined chocolate covered bacon would taste like. I found it to be rich and deep in flavor and it looks like I need to order some of this for myself. I had a friend over when I drank it and I gave her some to try and she too was amazing at how good it was and how unexpected.