761 Tasting Notes
Tea to go today, and good thing. It smells good, amazing even, but tastes too rooibos-y for my liking. It’s not bad. I even had it unsweetened, with only some milk, and it was sweet enough (barely) for me. If I had to cut out all the caffeine in tea, I might go for this one, but I’d probably reach for Alpine Punch or Amaretto first.
Love the smell of this. In the store when I was swapping out some tea, I asked for some Alpine Punch, and the SA helping me (Sue, who is awesome, btw) asked if I’d seen Orange Blossom…she said if I liked Alpine Punch, I might like this. I think she also may have remembered that I’m not fond of rooibos, but I was fine with Alpine Punch because the rooibos takes a backseat on flavour. Anyhow, so while I wasn’t planning on getting as much tea as I did, I ended up getting a little of this along with the Alpine Punch and Amaretto (I want to do more comparing), Organic Nettles, and Buttercream (omg I can’t believe they still had some!).
I realized that I had no milk left, and opted to try it with eggnog. Yeah, not a good idea. As the concoction cooled, I got a greater juicy and creamy orange creamsicle flavour that I did not get while hot or without the eggnog. I did re-steep and use milk that DH brought home, but I think it got too weak by then.
I also think this one, by itself at least, might be a bit more rooibos-y for me than the Alpine Punch, but I think it sorta borders what I like and don’t like. I have enough for another steeping or two so, I think I’ll give it another go. I think it could have potential…if not for a hot tea, for an iced tea. I’m trying to watch my caffeine intake, especially later in the evenings, so I am trying to get a few good blends for that. Alpine Punch and Amaretto are fine, though quite similar, so I have been hoping to find a few others I like as much. This could work. I need to give it more time. And tastes.
Tea to go today…this was actually pretty good. Not over-steeped and bitter or weak from too few leaves. I find it amazing how well green tea goes with tropical fruits like pineapple and papaya, etc. I might be tempted to get this, though I think I prefer Toasted Walnut and Happy Kombucha from DAVIDs a wee bit more. But this is a tea from Teaopia I might get on my own, in my washi tin. For some reason, I like putting my green teas in it…although it has my Teavivre White Peony since I’m out of genmaicha which is what I usually stock it with.
I am not sure what to say about this tea. There is a licorice-like note but no licorice in it. My guess is the lemongrass and grapefruit peel. I’m trying this though, for the health benefits of the nettle (some specific ones). In past, on individual occasions, I have had nettle (allergy supplement with bromelain? and as a tea) and on both occasions I have itched afterward, even though they say to use nettles to relieve itching generally. I know contact with nettles in the wild can lead to itching though, so it seems a bit strange. My manager at work, who is a strong advocate of nettle tea, said that the itching could be a flushing of toxins coming up to the surface. This could be true, so I opted to get a small amount of this tea to test. I figure 3-4 cups is enough to test with, and if I am still itching after drinking it, then I just ought to avoid it in the future. I’ve already begun itching, not super duper crazy annoying itching, but just fairly annoying itching. I don’t want to go through this on a regular basis in order to get the specific health benefits I’m after…there are alternatives.
I’m not going to rate this because I think it unfair to use my itching from the tea against it, but for flavour, it isn’t my favourite, though I’d be willing to drink it regularly more for health benefits as a tonic, so long as the itching goes away after a few cups.
Blech!
It smelled fine in the store, but it was very tart, like there was hibiscus hiding in there, waiting to be a bully. It is possible it over-brewed as I had the tea bag in my cup for a long time before realizing it was still there.
I drank it all because a) I’d paid for it and b) it was cold out on my walk and I wanted something warm.
Interesting how my first logging of this tea was on a day that I awoke with a headache and congestion, and now today, this is the tea that I have selected for the very same reasons. I opted not to take conventional medicine and have this as one of the ingredients in the otc medication for my headaches is caffeine, and I thought this would be a better tasting way to treat my head issues.
I was reminded of this tea, and the sweet potato and raisin flavour notes that another reviewer noted, and I reread the reviews which all pretty consistently and conclusively list sweet potato or orange and sweet potato notes…and well, that all sounds good, though I’ve never thought of comparing tea tastes to that of sweet potatoes or raisins.
Dry leaves…in the package they are beautiful and golden, and as some have said, fuzzy. I took in as deep a breath as I could muster with the congestion and sniffed as much as I could. They smelled sweet and fragrant, and rich but delicate.
Brewed…I did my best to try to taste the sweet potato notes in this tea, and I think that having that expectation to look for, I found it, at the back of my mouth, as I finished my sip, but I wouldn’t have had the foggiest idea what that was otherwise. There is a bit of tartness, which could be what some are saying is orange or citrus.
The overall flavor is light and delicate, but earthy and warm, and a bit complex. I can sense a roasty/toasty essence which may be malty on the tongue, with a sweet-ish aftertaste.
I have raised my rating on this tea. I used water just before it was at a full boil, with one scoop of leaves in my bamboo spoon, and about 4/5 full of water in my steeper…I did not measure out specifically, I just poured it in over the leaves.
I have one last serving of this. For a straight black tea, I like it. I may have to explore more yunnans.
What can I say that I haven’t already said about this tea? I love it sooo much!! heart
I mean, I can honestly say I don’t think this tastes QUITE like icing, but it does capture an essence of buttercream icing. I find this is best captured with sugar and milk. I mean, icing is sweet and creamy, so this tea kinda begs for milk and sugar, and if you don’t like it sweet, why are you trying a tea that is trying to emulate ICING anyway? ;)
I had this as a tea to go today as I was scouting it out as a potential tea to take to our Friday Night Dinner Group since we’re (mostly) all trying to be healthier after one of our members had a big health scare in December.
It is moderately tasty considering I am not a huge fan of rooibos, though honeybush is slightly more tolerable. I do pick up sweet fruit notes and a juicy feeling in my mouth…I’m not sure if that is the honeybush or the tea in general. Having some Strawberry Pie from My Sweet Honeybush that I got from Jenn now (totally by coincidence…I wasn’t planning on having honeybush twice today), and would have to say it is probably an effect of the honeybush.
That said, I’m not sure I am going to buy this. I can tolerate it, but I think I would prefer to have an oolong or something instead. Maybe during summer I’ll get this and make it iced…I can sense it would be a good iced tea. I think the juicy mouth watering effect would be refreshing in the summer.
Another sample from jenn here…I’ve been putting it off because it smells so strong, but I had a chill this morning, and a bit of a stuffy head, so I thought hot cinnamon tea would be good. Plus, I made cinnamon buns this morning…so it was a cinnamon-y morning.
I think this is still too strong. Don’t get me wrong…I like a hot and spicy chai, but this seemed a little one dimensional by comparison, to say Saigon Chai or Chocolate Chili Chai from DAVIDs which is a little more rounded out and multi-dimentional.
SIPDOWN: Had this yesterday with the hubby’s wonderful but oh so not healthy egg sammies. It was nice to cut the grease and salt but it is just so so. The flavour is nice, but not exceptional. I think I am spoiled by other tea companies and dried fruits in the teas, and this doesn’t have that. It is still flavourful, and it is pleasant, and I would like to find a tea with similar fruit pairings. It is pleasant, like I said, but not one that I simply can’t live without. I thank Jenn for sending this to me though. It was actually the first tea from her that I tried. I do like the concept of the fruits in this blend…and I’d like to see if DAVIDs or Teaopia can come up with a similar blend.
