JoonSusanna

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!

Prepared 1/2 gallon according to package directions and then iced.

So there is a nice sencha background to this tea. But I’m not getting the pear. It’s going to sound really weird but when I opened the bag all I could smell were those circus peanuts – you know, the orange marshmallowy candy shaped like peanuts? It was strange. And it also, unfortunately, didn’t go away – I feel like I’m drinking circus peanut flavored sencha. Not quite what I wanted.

I’m glad I only got a sample size of this – I’ll stick with the peach black or strawberry sencha instead. Now to talk myself into finishing that half gallon…

Oh, steepster! I’ve missed you!

I went on a last minute cruise with my family to the bahamas and sadly, cruises have terrible drinking water that is not fit to waste tea leaves on. While the beaches were great I will definitely travel there by some route other than boat next time – it was hard being tea less for a week!

Anyway, just before I left I cold brewed this (3 tsp. to 27 oz. water) to drink on the car ride to the boat. It was SO GOOD, even unsweetened. The tea smelled wonderfully strawberry and yet still had a strong green background and I have a feeling that adding sweetener in my traditional amounts for an iced tea will be amazing!

I have a bunch of this to use up and I am SO, SO GLAD!

I only got an ounce of this to try iced – I have been wanting some fruity iced teas lately and ordered this with the long island strawberry sencha and pear sencha to hopefully enjoy over the summer.

I made half a gallon of this (using 8 level tsp. of the tea) and added about 8-9 tsp. of sugar to the 8 cups of tea once steeped, which is how I traditionally drink my iced teas. Before steeping the leaves smelled peachy – very naturally and pleasantly so. My boyfriend smelled the leaves when dry and remarked that he wanted to eat them because it reminded him so strongly of a peach.

It was SOOOO good! I used enough sweetener that it really just managed to bring out the peach to the foreground. I may have overbrewed just a tad as there is some slight astringency on the tongue, but overall the taste is a combination of peach juice and black tea. A definite winner, and a definite re-buy during the remainder of iced tea season!

Made up a half gallon of this iced – steeped 4 tsp. in 4 cups of leaves, then resteeped in another 4 cups to get that half gallon. Added some honey to sweeten.

This is not bad iced – it certainly tastes very much like the pineapple and coconut shavings that were in it. The honey nicely sweetens and compliments the tea (I cannot put granulated sugar in a green tea – it just…seems wrong) and it is very refreshing.

I’m not sure I can drink this with meals, though – it seems more of a stand alone beverage. Luckily it’s getting hot enough that I’ll be needing something to keep cool in the afternoons…

The last of the samples I ordered from Rachel!

This one sounded good in theory – I like honeybush, I like spearmint, and I like white chocolate. And it is both tasty and accurate to each of these flavors – however there’s something about the aroma that is really off putting. I don’t know what it is specifically, and why I only get it in the smell and not the taste – but it’s really taking away from what would be a pleasing late afternoon drink.

Mmm..I knew this one would lend itself well to a latte.
3 tsp. leaf to 16 oz liquid.
Custardy and sweet, but still definitely a tea. Quite a good tea, at that.

Made as a latte using 2 heaping tsp. leaves to 16 oz. liquid.

I feel like I finally understand what it means when people say that a black tea “stands up” to the addition of milk and sugar. The flavor of the pancakes have been brought out more, but the flavor of the black tea is still at the forefront so I just have a stronger brew. I am totally fine with this – strong flavors are what I like!

Definitely a good choice for breakfast this Sunday morning!

Another of my samples from Rachel!

I used 2 tsp. of leaves to 1 cup of water, per thepuriTea’s steeping parameters. The dry leaves smelled very clean and fresh – like unadulterated tea. I didn’t get any other scents, fruity or milky or otherwise, but that’s fine with me – I’ve been drinking a lot of flavored tea lately and it was nice to remember what tea is like in its pure form.

The steeped liquor is a light yellow color, really reminds me of a sencha, actually. And it tastes like a sencha with a thicker mouthfeel. I like both of these things separately, and never imagined how nice they would be when combined. Almost like the best of both worlds for me, since I love thicker teas, but also the flavor of greens.

Mmm. It’s almost a good thing they are out of stock, because otherwise I would be spending more money I don’t have on this!

This was another sample I ordered from Rachel.

Made this hot, had a few sips, and iced the rest.
This is a very juicy tea, and the aroma of the leaves, both before and after steeping, is really pleasant and light. It is most definitely peachy – but it also has some floral notes from the rose petals that are blended in. Normally I really don’t like floral teas – I find that they remind me of drinking perfume. This is a very happy exception.

The few hot sips that I had were extremely juicy and flavorful, and since I used my whole sample on them, I decided just to take my chances and throw it into the fridge. I knew that from the reviews here and my own tasting (and the fact it got up to 90 today), I would love this iced.

It is so perfect for summer iced tea that I promptly went on Lupicia’s website and am in the midst of placing an order. Summers are long and hot here, people, and this tea is going to be one of the ways I make due.

Made as a latte because I need some energy to keep on studying.
Tastes really good this way – definitely resembles actual coffee with the milk and sugar.
Only two more big tests left.
I can do this.