JoonSusanna

Steeped 10 minutes, 1.5 tsp. leaf to 8 oz. water.

I haven’t had this in a long time! But its September and cool out; it’s time to bring out autumn-esque teas.

I thought the smell of the dry leaf was a little more accurate than I remembered – more sweet potatoey. Still very heavy on the cinnamon, but usually sweet potato pie is heavy on cinnamon too. The taste of the tea, however, is also mostly cinnamon. I get some buttery crust notes on the swallow, but its more of the shadow of a taste, rather than the taste itself – it’s the same with the sweet potato flavor. Maybe the flavor has lightened because I’ve just had it awhile?

Even as it cools, I’m not getting any more flavor. Next time I’ll have to remember to add sweetener to see if that brings it out more…

I’m so glad I remember to put the steep parameters at the bottom of my tasting notes – since I go entire seasons without hot tea my memory tends to fade.
That said, I’ve learned that I really like my black teas at around 4 minutes – so even though I stayed with 3 minutes in previous notes I decided to take my 3 tsp. tea leaves to 16 oz. water and let them sit an extra minute.

This steeping is quite dark, and very heavy on the vanilla scent – but that scent is played down a bit in the taste. In fact, it seems a bit more balanced with the bergamot this way. And the black tea makes itself known, too, which I don’t remembering happening in past steepings.

It’s a great way to start a cool, September Friday morning.

ETA: OK, this is just a note to myself: I think that I may be sensitive to bergamot in this quantity. After drinking two cups I felt slightly headachy from the aroma and the taste. I like bergamot, so this is sad – but I either need to limit myself to one cup next time or just mix it 1:1 with a straight black.

3 tsp. leaf to 16 oz. water in my Breville.

Yes I am drinking an Assam at night – gotta study for my exams! I had the first cup with milk and sugar and it was perfect. On the second go around I went with just sugar and realized how much the milk helped smooth out the astringency of the cup. Hopefully a shorter steep time will cut out the astringence next time.

It’s super robust with a nice balance of that custard vanilla flavor, though, which I am glad of. It’s a breakfast and dessert tea rolled into one, and makes me enjoy having to put in these late night hours.

Weather is still cool, and it’s breakfast tea time!

8 oz. of water to 1 tsp. tea.
This tastes as fabulous as I remember – buttery and banana-y, with that nice nutty undertone. I’m not getting the “bread” part as much this go around, but I’m definitely fine with what I do have.

It’s fantastic!

Today is pretty much the most awesome tea day I’ve had in a long time. Mostly because I am FINALLY getting around to trying this hot. (I’m a Pitta and in the southern US, so I seriously cannot even do hot liquids if it isn’t cool enough outside. So on the minus side that means no hot tea for…7 months-ish? But on the plus side I REALLY appreciate hot tea season for the brief time I have it. And I do prefer cold tea, so I’m not deprived!)

The first time I tasted this was after cold brewing, where the liquor was MUCH lighter. It was great cold brewed – the flavor was dead on. So I knew this would be great hot.

It is definitely even better than the cold brew! I used my traditional honeybush steeping parameters for this (boiling/10 minute steep/3 tsp. leaf to 16 oz. water in the Breville) and the resulting drink is SO sweet and pastry smelling. I got the icing, and the dough and the cinnamon all when it was unsweetened, and then added some brown sugar and the flavor sky rocketed to decadent.

SO. NOM. Bumping up the rating a bit…

Do you know what the temperature outside is? Why, it would be 63 degrees. Practically fall weather. I’m not kidding myself, I know it’s because we just had a ton of rain from the tropical storm, and I’ll be seeing mid 80s days again sooner rather than later – but I am ecstatic nonetheless, because I got to fire up my Breville today! (It’s been so long since I’ve done anything but cold brews!)

Since it’s now 2:00 PM and my brain and body are tired from all this studying I decided to go with a black tea to help wake me back up. The leaves smelled so earthy and rich when dry, and now the steeped tea does as well. Between this mug of warm tea and the occasional wind moving through the trees right outside (again, tropical storm, not fall) I can almost pretend seasons are changing. For today.

The tea itself is a touch thinner than I’d like, though I can remedy this by using more leaf next time. I used 1 tsp. per 8 oz. this time around, so an extra .5 tsp. per cup will probably thicken the tea nicely. As for the taste – I love it. It’s a good fall tea, actually – still a bright summery tinge to it, but it’s also got some maltiness, which hints at winter, too. It’s not as heavy as an Assam, but I didn’t want that right now anyway – Assams are much more of a winter tea. I actually think this would be a great tea to make my sweet tea out of, and since I drink tea cold year round I will probably make it and report back on that soon.

I think 3 minutes was a good brewing time, as it is starting to become somewhat astringent as it cools, but it isn’t detrimental to the taste. Any more steeping and it might have been. I am so excited for fall this year- it will be my first as a full fledged loose leaf addict so I’m sure this will be the first of many new teas I try!

One singe steep packet prepared cold brewed for 20 hours, in 12 oz. of water.

The smell of the dried leaf reminded me of a cherry soda, really. It smelled carbonated. But there wasn’t anything medicinal or alcoholic (yay!) so I was cautiously optimistic as I left it to steep in the fridge.

Once steeped the scent of the liquor was much the same – fizzy cherry-ish. The color of the tea was pretty much dead on for cranberry juice or cherry juice – it was that vibrant and red – so pretty!

Unsweetened this is mouth-puckeringly (and undrinkable, to me) TART. The hibiscus and cherry are no doubt to blame for this – in fact, it tastes like cherry juice that has had all of its sweetness extracted. It is very drying on the tongue and needs a bunch of simple syrup to be palatable, but once it is, it is tasty. More like juice than tea, but tasty.

This was another of the samples generously sent to me by Tea Forte. Tried this cold brewed overnight for around 20 hours – used the entire sample in 12 oz of water, as directed.

What I have noticed with these samples is that the smell of the dry leaf right out of the bag seems indicative of whether I’ll like the tea once steeped. Mojito marmalade=delicious, apricot amaretto and kiwi lime ginger = not. So when I first put this in water to steep and liked the scent I had high hopes.

Once steeped, the tea (okay, well it is a tisane, I guess) actually smells more like a juice than anything else. A blueberry/cranberry juice. It also looks like a juice – a dark reddish purple color, which I expected from the blueberry and hibiscus. It smells really really good and fruity. And the taste?

Well, the taste is tart, as you’d expect blueberry and hibiscus to be. Yet also sweet, from the fruit as well. And then in the background there is some sage to add another layer at the end of the sip. On their site TeaForte states that this tea won an award at the tea championships, and I can definitely see why. It seems that so far with their blends I have a love or hate reaction – but when their blends are good – they are REALLY good. I’m glad I got to try this at the tail-end of summer – it’s the perfect time of year to have it, and something I’ll want around me when the weather gets super hot again!

Cold brewed for 28 hours, 3 tsp in 3 cups water. The third of 4 samples from a Black Tea sampler from Upton.

As a cold brew this is quite refreshing. There is a very clear, strong honey note in the tea, and a hint of a thicker honeyed texture to the liquid as well. When I drink it a little too quickly, there’s some after taste that I can’t really describe other than to say it’s not very pleasant (it almost is a very subtle smoky note, but that’s still not a 100% accurate description).

The astringency of the tea is there, but it is really mild when prepared this way and again, not something I notice unless I drink a lot really fast. I assume sugar would be a good addition, but it tastes just fine to me without, too. So far I prefer this to the Keemun, but the Darjeeling has been my favorite of all the black teas I’ve tried- I have a few left and it will be interesting to see where they’ll fall…

I received this as a complimentary sample from my Upton Tea order. It fit in well with the other teas of my order- black teas that I was going to try iced. And it was also a tea that I wouldn’t have tried on my own – I’ve not had good experiences with floral teas and it’s hard for me to imagine drinking something you cannot also eat (I mean, you could eat a rose, I guess, but it’s not going to fill you up like, say, a cheesecake :) ).

Anyway, so as I’ve been doing with all my teas, I cold brewed this one for a little less than a day (21 hours seems to be the magic point for me with black teas) and added 3 tsp. of leaf to 3 cups of water in my thinksport bottle.

This is wonderful iced. It’s quite smooth and mild, and the rose presence is just perfect – literally a hint, and nothing more. It accentuates the tea base nicely and makes the tea seem more delicate and less bold than I normally consider black teas to be.

As with all my Upton teas so far, this is great unsweetened. Finally, a floral tea that I like!

Cold brewed 3 cups with 1 tbsp. leaves, and let sit for 21+ hours.

This also pours a lighter color than I expected it too – darker than the darjeeling from this same sample collection, but not as dark as I have always seen black teas to be.

The steeped smell and a large part of the steeped taste that I’m getting is cocoa, though I do sense a little tiny bit of (the idea of, really) smoke in the front of the sip. Writing that out it sounds like a bad combination – smoky chocolate – but it really just tastes like a super super dark chocolate flavor in the tea. It has a stronger taste than the darjeeling – and even though it’s not drying on my tongue it still seems more tannic than the darjeeling as well.

It’s still really good unsweetened, though – I assume sugar wouldn’t hurt it but I like how bold and unadulterated it tastes without additives for right now.

ETA: Well, that smokiness that was only an idea when I sipped slowly got SUPER smoky when I started drinking faster. Weird. I’m not a fan of the smoke, though, so I have to bump it down some – this is not something I can drink fast (like with meals), but if I want to sit and savor it it’s okay.

So, I’ve decided that I am familiar with my green teas, and I really like my dessert teas. But I don’t know very much about black teas – like at all. I mean, I know I like the flavor, but I don’t know much about specific regions and that just cannot stand.

So I placed an Upton order and am working through my black tea samples, cold brewed for right now because it’s STILL August (I mean, really? Where the heck are you November?) and therefore still too hot to think about hot tea.

After one day of brewing 3 tsp. leaf in 3 cups of water, this was the first tea I tried. I was surprised at how light the color of the steeped liquid was – but then I read that Darjeelings are technically oolongs because they don’t get fully oxidized and that lighter color made sense. Still, the aroma of the tea definitely smells like a black tea should – earthy and strong. Despite the fact that cold brews seem able to smooth out most teas, this one is still somewhat astringent – not unpleasantly so, but I’m sure that I’ll have to be careful not to oversteep when I finally do try it hot.

Also, I think I get the muscatel note – something in it does remind me of grapes toward the end of the sip, but it also seems kind of perfumey too. I am drinking this unsweetened and it is fabulous – I’ve gone through all three cups with dinner. I’m super glad to know this one works as a cold brew though – I think this will be something I bring along with me to class this semester…

For my 100th tasting note (!) I wanted to have a tea that I know is good – I’ve had some hit or miss samples that are leaving me a bit skittish of the unknown as of late.

When searching through my teas though, this one unexpectedly fell out of my sample bin. It was a sample from Rachel months ago, and I thought I’d finished it, but apparently not. I also had a lot more than it looked like from the bag (almost a tbsp, so belated thank you to Rachel for being so generous with me!).

Because I had just enough I was dying to try it cold brewed, so I did – steeped it over night in 750 ml. filtered water. The tea was buttery and very green smelling once brewed, and it looks just like a sencha (light green) after steeping.

It tastes like a creamy sencha with some floral notes in it – with the cream and floral parts coming out more as it nears room temperature. It is wonderful – a pure, unflavored tea was just what I needed today. Maybe one day thePuritea will restock this, because I would love to have more!

Cold brewed for around 20 hours in 12 oz. water. This is the third of the five samples provided to me by Tea Forte. I loved Mojito marmalade, HATED apricot amaretto, and so I had no clue what was going to happen with this one.

The smell of this (both before and after steeping) reminds me of sour gummy worms. So, kind of fakey. But gummy worms are tart and limey smelling, which makes it kind of accurate, too. Luckily I like sour gummy worms (understatement: they were one of my favorite candies when I was younger).

The sip does treat the lime and ginger pretty equally: first I get lime, and then ginger which has a bite. But then I get the “bonus” of some kind of medicinal aftertaste. Nowhere near as terrible as with the amaretto, which was all medicinal, but just enough that it kind of ruins the drink for me.

Meh, at least I can finish this one. Two to go, and I am definitely curious as to what will happen with those.

This is the second of five samples provided to me by Tea Forte. The first one I tried was the mojito marmalade, which I loved. This one, in contrast, evoked almost the exact opposite response in me.

The smell of the dry leaf alone made me nervous. It was SO vile and medicinal – more accurately, it was reminiscent of Robitussin. It gave me a headache and the memory of the smell lingered unpleasantly for a while after I set the leaves in water to cold brew. I didn’t find any apricot in the scent at all.

After steeping some of the apricot smell was more evident, and the medicinal odor had faded a lot, but that first sip…

Let’s just say I didn’t get past it, because it tasted like it’s original smell and I can’t drink Robitussin. :(

Oh, well. I have three more samples to try – I hope they’re more like the mojito marmalade than this one.

I received the sampler pack Tea Forte generously offered on Steepster and this was the first of the five that I tried. It was prepared cold brew style in 12 oz. water and left for about 20 hours in the fridge.

This is superb! The balance between citrus and mint is PERFECT in scent and in taste, but what is exceptional about this herbal in my opinion is the texture – very thick and almost chewy for a tea. It doesn’t need any sweetener, and I’m thinking that I’m going to be ordering this to help get through the rest of the summer.

Now to restrain myself from drinking all of it so the boyfriend can have a taste when he gets home from work…

Cold brewed. I was taking a chance on this one, because I haven’t had it hot yet. Ideally I feel like you should try a tea hot before you do so cold – but it’s August. I just couldn’t bring myself to turn on anything that would heat up the house.

Anyway, so cold brewed, steeped for about 20 hours in the fridge with 4.5 tsp. in 750 ml. of water. Did take a sip plain but ultimately added some (1 tsp.) simple syrup. I definitely think that the flavor is right on – the smell and taste were cinnamon rolls and I immediately wanted something pastry-ish to pair with it. There is the taste of the roll itself, and icing and butter notes were present as well.

On my end, I think that more steep time (a couple more hours in the fridge) would have been a good thing – I got impatient and it tastes thinner than I’d like, but that’s my fault. I have the honeybush steep parameters down for a hot drink, so once I can imagine EVER needing to drink something hot again this is first on the list to try. It’s definitely yummy and I’m so glad I snagged a pouch!

Cold brewed – 4 tsp. leaves in 750 ml. water. Left for approximately 20 hours, with no sweeteners added/needed.

This is a tea that I know well, in terms of the amount of tea leaves needed, the temperature it tastes best at, and the amount of time it needs to steep. I like it well enough, but it’s nothing compared to my boyfriend’s love of this stuff. He went through 4 oz. of this since the end of April from drinking it everyday at work, and so yesterday we went to Teavana (and got the traditional upsell, which we politely refused) to replenish another 1/4 pound’s worth. Before it goes away to work with him I snagged a bit to cold brew, just to see what would happen.

I was worried that the mint would make it seem like I was drinking cold bubble gum, but luckily it’s just a nice refreshing drink for an abominably hot summer day. A nice green that stands on its own with no sweetener required. Another cold brewing success!

Cold brewed 3 tsp. in 750 ml. water for 20 hours. Tried at 9 hours but it was still too light so I left it overnight.

This is very tasty cold brewed – but not sweet at all, though I should definitely have expected that, as marshmallows don’t melt in cold water. (Not my smartest moment). Since the taste was affected but it was my fault, I won’t detract from the ratings. In fact, I compensated by having it to drink with a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, where it paired REALLY well. Plus I didn’t need to sweeten it! I love when I can drink a tea with no sweetener!

I’ll probably stick to keeping this brewed hot so I can taste the rice krispy treat that it is named for, but it was a fun experiment none the less. :)

Cold brewing is one of the most amazing things that’s happened to me this summer.

So, I made 3 cups of this a few days ago and drank half of it. I left the rest in my container in the fridge WITH THE LEAVES until, oh, say…1 hour ago? And it was still really freaking good. Even better, really, than the first time – it is stronger but not bitter, and even seems a little sweet – enough so that I can drink this with no added sweetener, anyway. Quite yummy, both hot and cold. Woohoo!

Now, I wonder which tea I should try cold brewed next….

Tried this cold brewed – 18 hours steep time with 3 tsp. of leaf for 3 cups of water. Sweetened with less than a tsp. of simple syrup.
This makes an absolutely beautiful cold brew. The smell is just absolutely intoxicating, and the taste is spicy, but gently so. It still is cooling, despite some underlying pepper taste. I am going to resteep these leaves and see how it turns out – but so far this is one of my favorite cold brews!

Tried this cold brewed using 5 tsp. of leaf to 750 ml. water. Steeped in the fridge for around 18 hours, and sweetened with a tad of simple syrup.
I definitely taste some strawberry pie right here and oh my gosh I am loving it! The cold brew seems to make the pie flavor pop out moreso than the strawberry but it is a good balance. I think I’ll try these leaves in a resteep and see how they fare.
Yum!

YOU GUYS. So, I’ve liked the idea of cold brewing forever with the problem that I sweeten my tea. Not with a lot of sweetener, mind you, but enough that drinking cold brewed black tea with nothing else didn’t quite cut it for me. And add in the fact that I know sugar won’t dissolve in cold tea, and cold brewing just seemed like it wouldn’t be an option for my palette.

Enter in lightning moment that just randomly hit me: SIMPLE SYRUP! So I made a batch, let it cool over night, and cold brewed some of this earl grey (4 tsp. for 3 cups water) for around 10 hours to try it out this morning.

I probably can lighten up on the amount of leaves for next time because the vanilla is STRONG, both in smell and in taste. And, why hello there bergamot! These two flavors are quite bold together – the tea base only manages to make itself known over the back of the sip. A wake up tea this morning, for sure.

In conclusion: cold brewing is awesome. Seeing as I have months and months before I can stomach hot tea again (even in the morning) this will serve quite nicely in keeping the tea brewing alive around here.

Made 1/2 gallon iced using 16 g. leaf at parameters stated below.
I think a shorter steeping time might actually have been a little better – it seemed to get a little astringent towards the end of the sip. I left it unsweetened and added it into a fabulous smoothie after my run, though, and the astringency was lost, thank goodness.

I do so love this tea cold!