Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Ripe For Romance by Adagio Teas

Uhhhh, call me a teenager, but I have a huuuuuuuge band crush on Hedley right now. Huge! So ridiculous.

So this tea. Another sample from the wonderful Alphakitty! Have I mentioned yet that my goal for today is to try drink one tea from each person that has swapped with me so far? Preferably a new one, but the cute little tuochas Amy Oh sent are a bit intimidating yet, so I might just go with a different tea from her :D

I keep getting off track… this tea, dry and steeped, and even the bag it came in(!) smell like delicious chocolatey raspberry goodness. (And apparently that is making me sneeze?? Oh boy.) And WOW does this ever come through in the flavour! This may be the most strongly-flavoured black I’ve had – the raspberry pops immediately, followed by a full-bodied dark chocolatey flavour, and then the two combine deliciously like I just ate an expensive dark chocolate raspberry truffle. I say expensive, because this raspberry flavour is no cheap pink cream crap, it’s more jam-like. Amazing.

I’m very impressed with this cup. And glad I was sent enough of this one for at least 3, maybe more additional cups! It’s not a tea I would buy (I said the same about Butiki’s Raspberry Truffle tea, which is a similar flavour combo) because although I enjoy it, there are too many other flavoured blacks I’d be likely to go for first, given the choice. Namely caramel/vanilla/creamy blacks.

Oh, and CHAroma, I have hiccups again. And this time it could very well be caused by drinking tea too quickly… looks at empty mug

ETA: Second infusion for 4 minutes still has a fair bit of flavour, but a bit of astringency. I’m drinking it cold but I imagine it would be quite a bit better warm.

2012-06-28 16:41:49 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

3 min 15 sec

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7 comments

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Chellybean 2012-06-28 16:52:15 -0400

Band crushes on Hedley are always appropriate!

Kittenna 2012-06-28 17:07:35 -0400

I had the chance to go to a concert earlier this year and I am sorely regretting not making more of an effort to go :( :(

Alphakitty 2012-06-28 17:20:42 -0400

Glad you liked it! This might be the most heavily dessert-y tea that I own, it’s like drinking a truffle.

Kittenna 2012-06-28 17:27:45 -0400

I actually didn’t think I would like it that much, because the DavidsTeas like it I wasn’t terribly fond of. But the flavouring is done quite well! And yes, it does taste like drinking a truffle! Like you melted a truffle in your cup and added hot water, but somehow it didn’t get watered down. Delish.

Amy oh 2012-06-28 17:32:16 -0400

Drink the tuochas!!!! :-P

Kittenna 2012-06-28 17:36:42 -0400

I’m just worried I’ll do something wrong!! And I only have one shot. Pu’erh still confuses me a little. Maybe I’ll get up the courage to try it tonight, after scouring the internet for advice :D

CHAroma 2012-06-29 11:21:58 -0400

Hahahahaha, oh no! :P

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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.