Sadaf

It was good

Good morning everyone. :)) Many thanks to Anna for this generous sample. :)) When I opened the box all I could smell was Cardamon! Wow, what an aroma! The aroma alone scores a 95. Dry tea leaves are a decent size. I put about 1/2 the sample in my glass tea press. The smell of cardamon filled the room. I got three really good steeps from the tea. Good dark brown cup color and aroma. At 2 min the first steep was delicious! I really enjoy teas like this where the base is strong & noticeable, nice cardamon prescence in flavor and aroma. Second steep was at 2:45 to 3:00. Strong aroma and flavor and not bitter. Wow the caffiene was really intense. Third steep was still good at 4:00 boiling. Flavor of tea was weaker, as was the aroma, and flavor of the cardamon. Wet leaves still smelled of cardamon….amazing!

I got at least 30 oz of tea in total! If I tinker with steep times I may be able to get 4 quality cups with the rest of the sample. What a quality tea in every respect! I checked online and the tea is reasonably priced. The website is packed with goodies, and I will definitely reorder this tea in the future.

Cupped & reviewed Wed, 11-16-2011.

THIS IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! GETTING TO MY ROOTS HERE!
This is the exact tea of my life………delicious. So warm and love the undertones. If you’re feeling fiesty do it without any milk or sugar and feel super ethnic. Perfect for a foggy day in your snuggy watching some Project Runway.

Afternoon pot of this with ginger snaps <3

There is a stubbornness in human nature which condemns us to making the same mistakes. Perhaps the least of these is under steeping the Sadaf, again.

My morning daze nearly had me brew this wrong but I’m glad to say that I managed to blend it with hot water before I took the first sip. Mmmm… cardamom…..

I prepared it by packing a tea bag and brewing a little over half a pot of tea with it. After, I fished out the tea bag and filled the rest of the tea pot with hot water. Served with some sugar cubes and drunk with a smile.

I really enjoy this tea. The leaves are quite fragrant and have a perfume scent when you smell it from the package. The black tea taste is subtle but the cardamom flavors stings your taste bud in the most delightful manner.

I’m most likely going to hyper all day since I made myself an entire pot of the tea. So worth it.

The lower temperature was an accident rather than an experiment, but somehow it did work out better. I’ve felt like the bergamot oil and the tea are better balanced when the steep time is longer. In this case, it seems a bit less astringent that when the water is boiling.

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My wake up cup. http://instagr.am/p/BPIdT/

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Woke up too early this morning to run errands. Hockey game this afternoon but before that I need a cup of milk tea to wake me up!

No notes yet.

Made myself a quick cup of this to drink before microbio lab!

I went to my cousin’s over the holiday and she gave me this delicious box of Persian tea. It’s the cardamom that makes this one so addicting. <3

Subtle Earl Grey flavour that is smooth and not at all astringent! I LOVE this tea!

I’m already a fan of the Sadaf special blend with cardamom, and I’m a fan of Earl Grey. So why, one asks, did it take me this long to try the Sadaf special blend with Earl Grey? Because I couldn’t fully appreciate it until a cold afternoon where I’m at my wits’ end and running errands which, serendipitously, included a Lebanese food store.

I always drink black tea with sugar and milk, and this brew mellows quite nicely into a lovely cup. I get the taste of Earl Grey, and a not-too-bold base of black tea. This is a fabulous afternoon tea.

First, did I mention the importance of adding cardamom to this tea? Ok good, also it seemed to have a bit more body with a longer steep time. I really should be at work by now but the combination of Sadaf Special Blend and a little Piazzola has put me in a spicy haze that has rendered me incapable of getting anything done (including writing coherent metaphors).

I tried this as iced tea yesterday. Quite wonderful! The cardamom still lends personality to the tea, and this has a lovely flavour as an iced tea. I imagine it would be great with a Thai style splash of cream as well – I’ll have to try that soon. :)

This is ideally a tea to savor with dessert and a bit of sugar. However, I’m having it straight with oatmeal in the morning. At least I put three cardamom pods in. The taste of actual tea is in the background at this point, behind the cardamom and bergamont. This ok since the tea is pretty one dimensional. It seems like this may be a good candidate for chrine’s London Fog recipe so I will probably try that sometime this week.

I love black tea with cardamom. I have to say that my favorite is Alghazaleen (or Doh Ghazal) Cardamom Ceylon blend, but this one will do in a pinch.

I put a little too much tea for the water I had and then steeped a little too long, so the result is a little bitter, but still good. The cardamom flavor is not as strong as Alhazaleen’s version, though. Almost too subtle.

I’m still in love with this tea. I sometimes feel guilty smothering the cardamom “bite” with milk, but it’s great either way. It feels like a bold black tea with that extra kick of cardamom, and it’s deeply satisfying with or without milk. This has become my current dinner tea!

If you’ve ever been to a Persian restaurant and ended up falling in love with the tiny glass of fragrant tea, then you need to find a box of Sadaf’s Ceylon Special Blend with cardamom. Not quite as spicy as a chai, the cardamom lends a subtle kick with a sweet finish in this tea. I sweeten mine, because I’m silly that way; it’s even good with milk. But the first time you make this tea, just inhale the beautiful perfume of the cup. It’s fantastic.

Much better with 3 cardamom pods. Mildly, but not unpleasantly astringent. I may try it a bit hotter tomorrow.

Hmm… I’m running out of cardamom pods and this tea really needs them.