1759 Tasting Notes
I need to hit up Kensington Market more often. This place made it to the tea festival in January, but I didn’t get a chance to see their teas because it was swarmed with people all the time. I’d been meaning to visit ever since.
I chatted with the owner for atleast half an hour before picking some of this up. He recommended this one, highly. and he was right.
I’m finding notes of sweet potato, molasses, maybe corn? second infusion had a slight menthol effect, and the third one has a bit of smokiness to it.
Very sweet on it’s own. Reminds me slightly of a baked ham, with brown sugar (sans pineapple and saltiness haha)
On a more personal note, I had some disturbing news from the doctor yesterday. This tea purchase was my aftercare. Still processing things. Nothing life threatening but I don’t think it will go away and it has me questioning every decision I’ve ever made. and the medication… seems I have more decisions to make now. Sorry for the vagueness. Sighs. Curveballs suck.
Damn it, had I known, I could have taken Dex when we were there. I will have to check it out the next time I am in the vicinity.
Ouf! I have just read down to your last paragraph. So sorry that all this angst is crammed together with self-doubt. I hope a couple of good night’s sleep and a bit of reflection sorts and clarifies things. If I can be of help, holler. I have a lot of good contacts in the the world of alternatives.
My first stop would be a naturopath to see how to balance and reverse things if possible. I’ve got a good one if this is of interest.
@tea-sipper thank you <3
@Evol – he’s got really good stuff. Most of the sample packets are the standard intro ones for beginners, but might still be good to try. $20 for five. Tempting but I just got this one and a TGY. Right beside the Witches Brew if you know where that is. And Little Pebble coffee (Japanese desserts!)
I will put you on the prayer list as of now. Hopefully it will be something that can be treated easily.
Perhaps my other comments are not coming through. If I have said something untoward, my apologies. Hoping that the sunlight is making things easier and kinder.
@Evol Strange, I only saw the one comment the other day – haven’t logged in since. I’ll msg you on fb. Thank you! <3
This was tasty. But not quite as good yesterday. All three of us in the house were feeling a bit queasy so I won’t blame the tea… but it certainly did affect my experience drinking the cuppa.
I still definitely enjoyed it but I’ll have to note that this is by no means a tea for the flu ridden :/
The second infusion was nice, which I didn’t really expect from an Assam.
Wow. Ok. Got some things to say about this one!
First off, I think this is the tea I have in my cupboard that I bought ages ago at the tea festival? I hope.
It steeps up pretty dark, like a chocolate brown. Not quite coffee. Later infusions are lighter, of course.
There are plenty of woody notes but then somewhere around the fifth infusion, some intense aromas of garden soil emerged, while the taste was more of garden rocks. I had a very difficult time deciding whether I liked it! My brain told me I should hate it… but then I couldn’t figure out if that was psychological or not, and some strange throwback to my childhood made me think well maybe I should enjoy it after all… because I wasn’t permitted to lick rocks as a kid and it would be some kind of secret revenge LMAO. Not that I can recall ever wanting to lick rocks, but I’m certain it would have been prohibited!! Sighs. Yeah. I belong in the loonybin, I know.
Welp. It did go back to more of a woodsy note after two infusions. And then towards the end I noticed a sweet honeysuckle type note, and that airiness I love when I make it to late infusions of pretty much any oolong or black/puerh tea.
None of the notes (asides from the soil aroma) were particularly in your face, so I would say that its pretty smooth and mild. Not much of a caffeine buzz.
Also, I would say that there is almost no astringency, except it does have that drying sensation at some points, the kind I often see associated with clay notes. Here, that dryness was present during most steeps, petrichor and woodsy, although it did fade mostly in the last two infusions. Personally, I wouldn’t call that sensation astringent, as it didn’t have that typical sourness to it, and the drying sensation sat more at the back of the mouth, versus the front. Maybe my opinion on astringency will change, if I see it often after this? Oh. And that sensation did get a bit overwhelming at one point, and I had to take a break with another tea before coming back to this one.
Overall, I love the complexity but as you can see, its thrown me off a bit!! I guess it’s fitting that I hear rain tapping outside my window. There was snow earlier.
Feel free to judge. I’m a crazy bird what can I say :P
So a friend of mine is getting married next week. I missed her bridal shower, so we went out for dinner to make up for it. For any Toronto peeps who have never heard of Scaddabush, you MUST go. They make mozzarella cheese onsite! and because it is so fresh, they don’t need to refrigerate it. The appetizer version comes in a soft gooey ball that you can cut up and squish on to bread. We had the one with honey and truffle oil on it. Best cheese I’ve ever had in my life. Seriously. I won’t go on about the other food as that would lead to a very long note!
Anyhow. I figured a packet of this tea would be the perfect fit as part of my bridal shower gift. We were at an Italian restaurant after all :P
She was very intrigued, and I did warn her it tasted kinda soupy, but that I’m kinda addicted. Oh and total agreement, it fit right in with the evening’s theme :D
Hope you will find it!
Gah it has been too long since I logged in. Sorry just saw this! Still haven’t found it. Did a half sort – was interrupted and had to put everything away
Oh snap, I’m sure it’ll turn up. I’m having the same problem with a deluxe sample of a face cream. Can’t find it anywhere haha.
Fingers crossed for both of us! Oh samples are the worst. So tiny they get lost easily :/
Exactly! Knowing our luck, they’ll turn up when we’re not actually deliberately looking for them.
LOL isn’t that always the way things happen. I suppose the real question is, who will find theirs first? the race is on :P
Haha my money’s on you!
I’m hoping for a tie. Keep me posted :D
Haha still no sign on mine yet.
lol same!
Found it!!! any luck with yours?
Way to be! No, I haven’t yet haha. I probably won’t until I finally get my moving situation all tied up.
Aw that sucks!!! Maybe you’ll get lucky and find it sooner
Was it in a really weird place or is it one of those situations where it ended up being in an obvious place that was still overlooked?
I have a lot of my sample teas in a bin and this one is that weird amount where its larger than a sample but not quite enough for a tin. Somehow it slipped behind my bin. Annoyed because I looked there more than once and yet somehow it was there this time…
I totally know what you mean! It was playing mind games with you, clearly. ;)
I know right?! sneaky tea :P