Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Cherry Garcia by 52teas

Excited to rip into my new set of packets today! Yes…. because as always, I needed more tea.

Steeped, this one mostly just smells sweet. The bag is juuuuuuust out of reach… too lazy to get it…. ok, got it. The dry tea is filled with huge dried cherries and cocoa nib chunks, and it actually smells like a sweet version of Malted ChocoMate. Cherry sweet. Yes, I can actually smell cherry.

Ok, even with a three minute infusion I’m getting bitterness. I feel like I can almost taste cherry, moreso in the aftertaste, and there’s some creaminess too, but it’s very difficult to find. There was a big cherry, so there should be some flavour…

I think I’ll have to try this again for perhaps a 2 minute infusion? I think the bitterness is just getting in the way. Probably because of the ctc leaves?

ETA: Well well, second infusion at just below boiling for 2 minutes is nearly astringency-less. Much better. However…. also rather lacking in flavour. I can taste a sort of creaminess though, which makes it pleasant enough to drink. I have high hopes for my next attempt at this tea with a shorter initial infusion time!

ETA again: Ok, cooled down, the second infusion was actually rather nice! I mean, this is even the next morning! The tea was malty and creamy and a bit sweet. I’m really excited to try this one again cooled and with a shorter infusion time.

2012-04-27 22:26:25 -0400

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Amy oh 2012-04-28 00:02:46 -0400

hmm, you could try steeping it at a slightly lower temp. I find that helps sometimes with bitter-ish black teas.

Kittenna 2012-04-28 03:05:53 -0400

I think I’ll try that next time too, combined with the shorter infusion. It was frustrating to taste the potential masked by bitterness :(

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.