Tap Twice Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

75

Oh lordy, all this snow we are getting in the Pacific Northwest is killing me. Every day we’ve been getting buried all over again. When I was home over the holidays and could stay in, it was managable, but now that I have to drive to and from work every day… oof. It’s been putting me in a mood.

Pulled this as my nightly herbal, hoping it soothes my nerves and warms my body. Smells like… rose, mint, and cocoa. Yup.

Teabag left in cup treatment. Tastes like… Rose, mint, and cocoa. Mm-hmm. I’m actually surprised I’m picking up the cocoa notes so well… I could do with even stronger chocolately notes, but what is here is lovely, sort of a dark chocolate bitter-sweet note that fades to something sweeter and slightly fudgy in the aftertaste, probably thanks to the sweetness of the floral. The mint is bright and crisp, with a lovely cooling menthol sensation after the sip. The rose is noticable, and pairs nicely with both the cocoa and the mint. It is not overpowering or perfumy, but does leave that distinct rose-floral-taste-with-a-peppery-aftertaste note in the cup.

Lovely evening tea.

Flavors: Chocolate, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Floral, Menthol, Mint, Pepper, Peppermint, Rose

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
derk

Oh, I miss this tea! Glad to see your note for it :)

Mastress Alita

I got it at that co-op you told me about, on a long, long ago Bay Area trip… how many years has it been since I went on a trip? Siiiiiiigh. Depressing. (But not the tea, the tea is good!)

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Hey, guess who’s having a cuppa? This girl!

Anyway, this is a sample from the lovely derk, and I had to google the brewing instructions. I was shocked to find it says one tablespoon per 8oz, so that meant the entire sample was going in one cup. Oh well…

I was shocked a second time when I added the brew basket to the water and immediately the water turned brown. I guess there is straight up cocoa powder in this? Weird. Does that make it hot cocoa, instead of tea? Or a hybrid of both? Don’t know.

Anywho, taste is… there. Like, it doesn’t taste like plain water, but, it also doesn’t come anywhere near in the vicinity of “Pop”. I’ll try adding a splenda.

Well, either there wasn’t enough leaf in that sample for the size of mug I own (12 oz) or this is just really poop tea. It tastes like if you put a quarter teaspoon of mint hot cocoa in a gallon jug of hot water, and shook it. There’s next to nothing to it. I’m getting a sharp mouth tingle from the mint, but I can’t really taste the mint itself. I can’t really taste anything, actually. Maybe I’m getting sick? Do I…? I dunno, they say that one of the symptoms is losing your sense of taste and for as strong as the tingle is from this, you’d think I’d be able to taste the mint properly.

I used the entire sample in one go, so I guess we’ll never know.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
derk

I haven’t had this for at least 6 months. I’ll have to try it again soon to see if the mint is still detectable. No cocoa powder in this, only cocoa shells.

derk

I hope you weren’t getting sick. I just finished off my supply of this and it’s still very flavorful and minty for me.

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drank Root Brew Detox Tonic by Tap Twice Tea
1556 tasting notes

Sarsaparilla and sassafras heavy complemented by the darker depths of vanilla bean and honeybush. Natural woody cinnamon taste not like cinnamon oil. Lots of warming ginger, too, with a bite that disappears after the swallow where the perfect touch of sweet licorice root comes in that doesn’t quite balance a very tingly effect. It’s a great true root taste without added flavoring or sugar. Do wish it had some body and more honeybush.

Tap Twice Teas recommends re-steeps but it’s one and done for me.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Ginger, Licorice, Root Beer, Spicy, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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90
drank Rosemint Cacao by Tap Twice Tea
1556 tasting notes

Here’s another one I picked up from the co-op this evening, a tisane blended by Tap Twice, a San Francisco tea company. On their website it sounds like they encourage people to contact them to meet up and drink tea. Maybe when my social side picks back up I’ll drop them a Herro.

I must have sniffed 50 different jars of teas and tisanes at the co-op and this one was like WOWZA. I bought enough for two sessions and will definitely be picking up more. It’s a straight-forward tisane – cacao, peppermint, rose petals and damiana. The aroma and tastes both are a perfect balance between the ingredients. Nothing tries to take center stage and somehow the peppermint tastes so pure. Kind of fluffy, sweet, no bitterness or astringency. This tisane will be a mainstay.

(Western, 1T, 8oz, 200F, 3/5m)

Tap Twice also has a good-looking selection of Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese teas in their online shop, sometimes with questionable tasting notes like ‘wisdom’ lol.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Mastress Alita

Mint/chocolate/rose is a winning combo for me, too. Yuuuuuum.

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98
drank Brandy Oolong by Tap Twice Tea
16 tasting notes

This stuff is amazing. It’s Golden Monkey’s brother, with rich round notes of molasses , honey, and flowers.

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Molasses

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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98
drank Brandy Oolong by Tap Twice Tea
16 tasting notes

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60

A sample from Miss B! It’s definitely chai weather now, so I’m working through my samples at quite a rate. I’ve drank this one twice now, both times in a Timolino at one of our interview day events. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for both cups, and gave it approximately 4 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk each time, but it strikes me as a tea that doesn’t take milk particularly well. It looks a bit thin and pale, although it doesn’t seem to affect the flavour so it’s not too much of a problem. The other thing that struck me straight away about this blend is that it’s mostly spices (quite chunky ones at that – whole cardamom pods, star anise, peppercorns, etc.) There’s not lot of actual black tea that I can see, which may account for the “thin” appearance.

Still, flavour is all and there are no issues with that here. I like cardamom in chai, and it’s pretty prominent here. There’s also a nice warmth from the ginger/cinnamon combination, and a touch of heat from the pepper. The only thing I dislike is the artificial sweetness that hits me in the back of the throat. It’s very reminiscent of stevia, but it could be liquorice root. It’s that kind of over-sweet, cloying flavour. I’d prefer to add my own sweetener, if I’m honest, but the rest of this one is so good I’m prepared to overlook what is a relatively small fault.

I’ve enjoyed this one, but it’s not my favourite chai. I’d probably not actively seek it out, but I’d not turn down a cup if offered. If you like a “chunky” chai blend that’s big on flavour but with not too much caffeine/actual tea, this might be just the thing!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp

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