761 Tasting Notes
Meh…normally I like this tea, but today, not so much. I think it is partly as this was a tea to go today, and it was put directly into my timolino. First, I don’t think there was enough agave in it; second, it took forever for it to cool, and that was with the lid off, that even after about 30 minutes or more of chatting with my friend, it still burnt my tongue(!); third, it got bitter after being in the main compartment under the strainer for so long.
None of these things are the fault of the tea, just the circumstances that they were prepared and drunk in.
Smells awful (fishy), but doesn’t taste too bad, actually. I will say I had it with milk and sugar as I do with pretty much all blacks and dark oolongs, so this pu erh was no exception. Maybe that is what made it good.
It might just be that this brew was more fruit and less tea…when you have big chunks of fruit in the mix like this, the ratio to tea leaves decreases. Still, I can taste the tropical fruit in this mix. I can’t really taste the chocolate, but I think it helps smooth out the blend.
I can’t say if this is a tea I will refill or not…I only got 10g or so of it, so I might get more to test it more since I think with this bag, I may only have one or two more steeps out of it, though I did get two decent steeps with this first round. I bet this is gonna be good as an iced tea, once it gets warmer.
How does this compare to something like Life Long Oolong of Happy Kombucha? Ihaven’t had either in a while, so it might be worth getting some again to try, but I think they’ll all be pretty similar.
I say that you should ignore the smell, and if it is fishy, give it a quick rinse first. I do feel like this is a nice tropical taste, but the heaviness that gets me through the winter. I do tend to like pu erh teas and I do like this one.
Eh, not my favourite tea, but far from the worst. I made a double batch of this for brunch today since DH doesn’t like heavily flavoured teas…he actually likes the Red Rose, PG Tips, Twinnings variety of English tea. I thought I had my packet of Darjeeling from DAVIDs left, but turns out I have already had that, and the packet was Tung Ting Vietnam instead. So I looked at this and Golden Fleece instead. I opted for this because I thought the intricacies of the Golden Fleece might be lost on him, and I wanted it all for myself, but also because I thought he might be ok with the Madagascar Vanilla instead. In retrospect, I think I probably would have preferred the Golden Fleece today, but oh well, more for me later.
This just feels a bit weak. Maybe it was my brewing. That said, it is not very astringent, and that is a nice thing. Thanks to indigobloom for sending this to me to try. I don’t know that I’ve ever have heard of it any other way.
Wow, I was really not sure if I would like this because of the hibiscus, but as a hibby hater myself, I can honestly say that it is not overpowering in any way and doesn’t ruin the tea for me at all, and in contrast to the heavy notes of the pu erh base, it goes quite well. It makes the berries feel just that bit juicier in my opinion. So I do like this tea, but I am not sure whether or not how I like this as compared to Strawberry Slender Pu Erh from Teavana. In that one, it is just the tea and strawberries. In this one there are the leaves as well, though it isn’t just strawberry in this one. I would have to say that I like it at least as much as the Strawberry Slender Pu Erh, but I don’t know if I like it more or not (I know I like it more in that it is David’s, but not sure on taste yet). I am glad there is this offering in the Pu Erh line now. I picked up some Aloha as well, but like others say, it is much more fishy smelling than this one, so I might have to give that one a rinse first. We’ll see. I am having Madagascar Vanilla with brunch now since hubby is a purist with tea…he likes black English tea…with plenty of milk and sugar. I thought I had my Darjeeling left, but I didn’t, so I made the Vanilla instead since it was the least “fluffy tea” I have. More on that one later…
Oh how lovely this tea is right now! I just love how juicy it is and how it makes me feel like I should be eating a scone or a sweet croissant with it. This is another one of those transition teas I love. It was nice to have today as it was overcast and cloudy, and this just sorta wrapped warm arms around me saying, it will get better soon. It also said, I am so much better than all that water you drank this morning for the ultrasound, right? Oh man was that ever horrible. I can’t imagine being pregnant and having a full bladder and a baby pressing up against it while the tech pokes and prods with the wand, but I guess for the pregnant woman, the sight and sounds of their baby make up for the torturous discomfort.
Anyway, back to the tea….ahhhh! Yummy, juicy, sweet! I think the funnest thing with this tea is the colour it turns…it is vibrant pinky purple, and when you add the milk, it makes it a purplish tinged colour. Kinda weird, kind cool.
Used up the last of this today, so I will have to pick more up soon.
Ouch! My roomie had one of those lovely full-bladder-ultrasound experiences over the Christmas break. She said it was sheer torture. I’ve been lucky enough to only ever have my legs and chest ultrasound(ed?), which didn’t require anything special of me.
OMG, yes, just torture! What was worse was the washroom that was connected to the waiting area, with the door WIDE OPEN, like it was just begging me to go. They have to have a full bladder to push the uterus up enough to see inside it properly. I didn’t even drink the full amount of water. They could not have come any later. I was just about ready to convince myself to scrap the appointment and go pee. I had actually gone to the receptionist desk to ask how much longer when I heard my name down the hall and was thanking any supernatural being that might have had some influence on the situation.
Lol, those ultraounds are so uncomfortable. My bladder was so full, it was almost exploding I swear. So they let me go to the bathroom just a tiny bit!
Heather, you reminded me I have a lot of this tea and I kind of forgot about how much I like it, you made me want to brew a big pot of it right now!
This is one of those “ahhhh” teas for me, however, it is also one of the teas that I find I love to have in the new year, when winter is mid-way in, and spring looks closer. I find that I really love chocolatey teas in the winter, but with the strawberry notes in this one, it is one of the teas that I feel is a little lighter for a black, but still hearty enough for winter. I’m like that….there are teas that I only drink in the colder months and those that I only drink in the warmer months…this is one of those transition ones for me. I tend to drink it from mid-January through late summer.
Anyhow, I do really love this tea. It is everything one could want in a love tea. Who doesn’t love chocolate and strawberries? I find that the rose petals really do little for the overall flavour, but look nice in the mix. This is good for me as I don’t like very floral teas, but I find the blend well balanced.
This is the first tea I made in my new Timolino. I discovered a few things about the Timolino the hard way, such as either emptying (completely) the strainer basket or removing it entirely once the tea finishes brewing, or you will get tea leaves coming through the drinking holes. I don’t think that an oolong would have that problem since the leaves are so large, but I am not sure the basket is large enough for them either. I know you can put the leaves in the main compartment, but I am not sure that is a good idea on most tea leaves as they might over-steep, right? Anyone got feedback on that? Also, it does keep the tea hot! In some ways, it stays too hot to drink for a while, and so I had to leave the lid off for a bit. Also, the metal outside gets cold outside this time of year…my kids tumbler isn’t the most insulated, but it keeps my hands warm…the Timolino is so good at insulation that the mug is not warm to the tough at all. It is much easier to hold though. So a few differences between my kids mug and this one, a little learning curve.
The Trimolino is awesome! I always make my tea before I go to work, and it is perfect temperature at my coffee time which is 3-4 hours after I made it. I learned this the hard way. The first time I drank the tea, I burned my WHOLE mouth, it was so hot!! I like that the outside doesn’t get hot, because then I couldn’t throw it into my work bag!
But see, that’s the thing. I make mine for work also, but I want to be able to drink some at the bus stop or on the bus. I don’t want to wait an hour for it to cool off enough for a sip.
Yeah, that drives me bonkers sometimes too. My best strategy is making the tea in a mug, letting it cool to be drinkable, then putting it in. However, on a rushed morning that does not work. I picked up a Contigo mug which is slightly less good at holding in the heat (it gets warm around the lid area), but it still does the job too well…
I did notice with my refill today that it was a little warm around the metal ring at the top. I’m wondering if the tea would keep if I made it the night before when I went to bed.
I have been wondering the same thing! Depends how long you sleep for, perhaps?
Another thing I was thinking about was brewing tea in less water, then adding cooler water to top up the mug.
That or maybe adding ice.
It might be too cool if you leave it overnight. A little ice does do the trick. I have taken tea out on errands before on our crazy cold Saskatchewan days. Warms me right up!
Is it sad to say that I don’t find this gingery enough, despite it smelling super gingery, or is it a testament to how off my buds and sinuses are right now that I just can’t perceive how gingery it really is? That said, this will be a staple as a medicinal tea as I routinely get sinus upsets and nausea.
For the record…although this is a rooibos tea (green I think) I really don’t taste any of it under the ginger.
This is one of the samples I got got indigobloom. I had it the other night, so this is a bit of a backlog. I used the whole sample, but perhaps maybe I shouldn’t have. It was a strong genmai cha roasty toasty flavour, which isn’t a bad thing…I love genmai cha specifically for those flavours. I could detect a little of the soybean. I had a slightly bitter brew, but it might be due to using all the tea, or not being diligent enough to watch the water temp or time too closely.
This was still a nice tea. It is a nice one to try, and I appreciate the thought to blend this all together.
This was my first tea of 21013. I’m not entirely sure why I chose this one, over one of my Davids teas, as this is not a fave, but it is ok. Perhaps I just wanted a change, and to go through my box from indigobloom more, but perhaps I also chose this for the citrus in it, and the hope that spring is coming soon, now that the new year has begun.
Once again, it is not a remarkable tea. It is mild and not overly tart or citrus or bitter or anything. It is pretty inoffensive, really. Had it with sugar and the last of the milk.
Probably not something I would buy for myself, but it is something I don’t mind drinking.
I appreciate the sample though.
Sorry to hear that. Bad tea experiences like that are a serious mood killer :(
It’s ok, I know I like it. But yeah, a little of a downer.