6106 Tasting Notes
Delicious delicious delicious. Travel mug of this the other day, and fed some to my mother and MIL; both enjoyed it. I’d have a sipdown here, but my MIL took the last couple tsps of a bag to her house, which doesn’t qualify as a sipdown until it’s actually gone.
On that note – I’m going to have some serious catching up to do in this remaining 2/3 of May; I did give away a bunch of teas to my mom while she was here, but my sipdowns were lacking, and now I’m distracted by my new 52teas and Bird & Blend stuff (and a big pile from AQ2T will be here around mid-late June, plus I see DT released some yummy-sounding new things…. I am hopeless.)
Another tea I wouldn’t typically have picked up 50g of, but the description just sounded so appealing. “Smashed strawberries with sweet, crumbly meringue + creamy flavours” – YES.
I was fairly worried when I opened up the bag – the smell is lovely, but gosh… it looks like a lot of hibiscus, which I really wasn’t happy about. Luckily, I either brewed the cup perfectly or there is a lot less hibby in there than it looks like, because the tea is not tart at all. Well – there’s a teeny bit of tartness, but not more than you’d anticipate from a strawberry blend. Creamy strawberry is definitely the dominant flavour here, and it’s pretty good, although I’m getting a staleness in this blend too (I’m familiar with this one and have tasted it before in other (old) herbal blends. Uncertain of the culprit, though.) It’s not overwhelming, but the tea would be much better without it.
This also reminds me of a DT blend… maybe a strawberry rhubarb tisane? I can’t remember. The flavour is familiar, but then again, creamy strawberry is not a particularly unique combination. Overall, this was pretty good but I really wish I wasn’t picking up that stale note.
This tea sounded quite delicious, so despite only being able to get it in a 50g package (I know there was a sampler, but I wasn’t interested in 2/4 teas, I think), I picked some up. First immediate impression was that it reminded me of DavidsTea’s Chocolate Macaroon. Maybe it’s the cacao nibs and some of the flavourings? Sipping it stirs up those same memories, but it definitely has some different flavours. For one, there’s kind of an alcoholic note that I’m picking up. Kind of like a chocolate liquor. It’s interesting; I’m not sure what I think of it quite yet. I also can taste the popped rice, which gives me the impression that Chocolate Macaroon has been mixed with genmaicha with chocolate syrup on top. Sounds weird, tastes ok, but not a favourite. Might be good with a bit of milk and sweetener, but I think it’s too light to latte without using up the whole bag.
Well, I oversteeped this one and it was strong. Like, too strong to drink straight. Lots of lavender flavour, less bergamot, and lots of black base. I am looking forward to brewing it properly next time.
The one thing I do wish I got here, though, was some creaminess. I’m hoping that a shorter infusion will fix this, but it’s a little harsh to me. I might try a mix with DT’s Vanilla Orchid, as it feels like a good combo, or maybe adding a drop or two of vanilla plus some milk? (I used whipping cream yesterday and that was too creamy).
Holding off on rating until I’ve tried it again. It’s kind of middle-of-the-road at this point.
Still super backlogged. I guess that’s what happens when you have a free night and decide to “sleep when the baby sleeps” and go to bed at 8pm, and sleep until the baby wakes up at 8:30am… (there was a 5:30am feed in there too, but I did not eat when the baby ate, and woke up quite hungry as a consequence).
Anyways, in the interests of cleaning off what may soon be known as “Tea Couch” (it is currently adorned with all of the packets of teas I’ve had recently, as that’s how I remember to review things), I’ll try to plow through a few while baby is napping (given the approximately 12 hours of sleep I had last night, I am not as tired as usual).
I’ve obviously received my Bird and Blend order (well, if it’s not obvious, it will be shortly with the number of B&B reviews I’ll be posting). This was a pretty random pick for me though – an herbal, with rose? Not my style. But I was curious, and there was a 20g samplers option, and I had a free slot, soooooo this one ended up in there. It’s actually not bad, as long as I remember what I’m drinking – the rose is present but it’s not as strong as it could be (oh – and the rosebuds are beautiful – this would be a gorgeous tisane to IG if I did such things), and I can taste the cacao shells nicely, although there’s a touch of a stale flavour that I’m picking up. Unsure if it’s the cacao or a different ingredient.
The tea is definitely reminiscent of turkish delight (which I don’t like, surprise surprise), especially with that chocolate hint. (I’ve only had chocolate-covered turkish delight, I believe.) A fantastic choice for lovers of such things, but I’m actually finding it to be fairly decent despite not being big on rose. High marks for uniqueness, lost a few points because of the slight stale flavour (remember, this is a new order, not a 7-year-old tea like practically everything else I’ve been having lately, so this shouldn’t be expected). Worth trying if you’re into such ingredients, or at least, not too averse to them.
An interesting idea for Melisandre; I have to say that I would have probably gone for more of a syrupy caramel/rum tea for her and with this name, but that’s probably because I’m not familiar with a “Stormy Night” cocktail.
This tea had the potential to go either way; I’m not generally fond of the base teas, but I like the combo of lime and ginger. I also don’t care for rum and have had aversions to alcohol-flavoured teas in the past.
The aroma from the packet was alcoholic, gingery, and slightly limey (much less lime than other teas I’ve had recently), but also with a good dose of that medicinal rooibos smell. Brewed, it’s similar, though heaviest on a kind of gingerale aroma. The flavour is pleasantly surprising; the rooibos is tamed sufficiently to not be annoying, and the flavours meld quite well together. It’s like having a gingerale (with fizz) with a lime wedge and a splash of rum. I’m particularly enjoying the heat of the ginger as I drink the tea, which I think is contributing to the fizz sensation.
Overall, it’s a decent tea, though not one I’d look for often, as I prefer the flavour of caffeinated tea, but the combo of ingredients is nice.
This is a first in a while – I’m actually drinking a tea while writing about it! Which is quite helpful.
Anyways – aroma of the dry leaf of this tea is strongly pineapple, which gave me immediate associations to Butiki and Pineapple Cilantro Cream (even though my bag of that is no longer strongly flavoured). Brewed up, it’s actually not very aromatic at all, maybe just a touch of pineapple. Flavour is, again, heavy on the pineapple with a teensy kick of heat, which might actually be more noticeable as the tea cools, since right now there’s also temperature heat involved. Base tea blend seems to be pretty good, though the mouthfeel is a tad bit drying (brewed at ~200F for ~2min, measured 1.5tsp leaf for 8oz, fairly cautious parameters, so I was hoping to avoid any of that). I’m not sure I’m perceiving any smoke at all, though (I just exhaled and am now waffling on that, though).
This is a very unique tea; I feel like I’ve had pineapple habanero-type teas before, and none ever really tasted so pineappley, so it’s kind of neat to experience it here. I do wish, though, that I was picking up on more mango. The heat level, depending on what it’s like in the cooled tea, could maybe be amped up juuuust slightly, but that could also be the mix of ingredients in the infuser, hard to say. Likewise with the smoke, although maybe it’s just blending in so well that I can’t pick it out – that happens sometimes with ingredients I’m not averse to. However, for a tea made to pay tribute to the Mother of Dragons, I think a bit of both ingredients would be warranted.
Anyhow, not a favourite, but fun to try!
I think this is the first of the GoT teas I’m reviewing? It was a fun month to subscribe to, and I’m looking forward to drinking the teas while watching the remaining episodes (we are cheap and added HBO to our cable package for May only, specifically to watch GoT, but have only watched the first episode so far).
This tea is very much lemon. Pleasant, bright lemon, though, but I found it almost a bit too strong. I believe I also oversteeped this when I brewed it, so I think I need to give it another shot with less leaf and a strict 2 minute infusion. I also was a bit sad that I wasn’t picking up more on the jasmine (I couldn’t care less about the rose, though, which was also hidden to me). Overall, not my favourite, but I’m interested to try it again. It was fine to drink brewed how I did, so it can only be better when brewed more carefully, I’m thinking!
Not my favourite. I don’t think I’m a fan of the cherry flavouring used in this blend, and I don’t really pick up on apple or pear at all (but really, they aren’t strong flavours so that’s not surprising). Ambivalent about the base; it does have the tendency to become bitter with too long of an infusion, as most greens do.
I probably should stop trying fruity (non-berry) greens; my track record with them is pretty sad! I can’t even think of one I’ve enjoyed recently. That said, I wonder how this fares as an iced tea?
Another tea I was pretty excited about, as it sounds delicious. And, it’s pretty good, although the base didn’t make as much of an appearance as I expected/hoped. Primary flavours are light strawberry and lemon, but I got an absolutely delicious creaminess kind of late-sip once it was fairly cool. I am writing this note the next day, so I can’t remember everything about this tea, but it was certainly enjoyable.
