1719 Tasting Notes
Emptied the bag into my press added chocolate mint and steeped 3 minutes. As I found with my hojicha, the roasted aroma is greatly intensified when steeping with this method. I used a coffee filter in a strainer to pour through. This worked a lot better than trying to clean the press screen afterrwards. The taste difference between bag and no bag is not as intense as with the hojicha but the mint/oolong combo does seem a little more unified this way.
Thump, thump, thump… Another one bites the dust… that’s right a sip down. This is good. It is sweet and heavy on the cinnamon but I don’t find it overly hot. It reminds me of my early days with Bigelow Cinnamon even though they taste nothing alike. I always had a box on the shelf but I seldom craved it. I think a box of this in bags would be nice to have around or just a sample size of loose. A full tin would go stale long before I would use it all.
Not been able to post much lately as I am battling a rootkit (since last Saturday). If you don’t know what a rootkit is, you should learn or prepare to spend a lot of money with a computer diagnostics person. Your anti-virus will likely not catch these things. This one is a nasty little booger buried deep and was hidden in my master boot registry. It is on the move. I’ll get you my pretty… and your little malware too!
Enjoyed the first cup so much I wanted to try it again. This time I left the tea bag intact and added the chocolate mint to the cup. The bag says to boil the water but I have learned using water well below boiling makes a better cup. The steeping aroma is nowhere near as intense as when I prepared this in the press. The cup smell stays about the same. The sip is good but not as great as before. Less chocolate and a bit more minty. The roasty tea has kind of lost its edge. Looks like removing the dust from the bag really does improve the cup. On the other hand, the press clean up at work was a hassle. Next time I may try not using the press plunger and instead pour the brew through a coffee filter to strain it. This has been a fun experiment. What I learned is if I remove the tea from the bag and add the chocolate mint, this takes on the characteristics of a brand new flavor. But when left in the bag, it tastes like the bag tea with the mint added.
I enjoyed the Foojoy oolong/chocolate mint so much I decided to continue to experiment. I grabbed my old tea ball which hasn’t seen the light of day in a long time. I intended to put the chocolate mint in the ball to make it easier to remove from the cup. While I was at it I figured I might as well free the tea from the bag. I tore open the bag and poured it into… and through… the tea ball. Oops. I learned there is a big difference between the fannings of my usual bagged teas and the dust in this one. Rather than waste the tea I put it into my press. Clean up will be a bit of a hassle but live and learn. The lesson wasn’t over yet. The aroma wafting out of the press was pretty eye opening. This tea is roasted (supposedly over high temp charcoal). The smell while steeping was intensely smoky. Nothing like leaving it in the bag. The cup aroma was heavily roasted but not smoky. The sip is really really good, except I added more sweetener than intended. But, this is the chocolatiest experience I have had yet with the addition of chocolate mint. The roastiness and chocolate blend perfectly. The mint is very mild and in the background. Get your hands on some fresh chocolate mint and give this a try. I think you will not be disappointed. I would give my experiment a 90+ if it were its own blend.
I brewed a cup of this bagged tea with 5 chocolate mint leaves. The result was very good. The oolong is a dark wuyi oolong and is roasty. The mint is a light peppermint taste with a hint of chocolate. The combination really worked for me this morning.
One of THOSE days. The office is making me insane. After lunch I finally brewed my first cup. I needed something peaceful but not boring. This nicely fit the bill. Finally caught what ashmanra called pepper notes in this. It is not an up high pepper note but more under the flavor, if that makes sense. It fades as the cup cools and I believe it is the sharpness of the bergamot reacting with the tea leaf. I normally don’t drink this hot. I let it cool until it is just warm, so I had never noticed this before. A new flavor note in an old favorite.
I have been trying my hardest to stay away from this tea. I need to drink up some of my other teas before I order more. (When you drink alone and do multi-steeps with each, tea lasts a long time) I just couldn’t resist today. The wonderful grapey smell of the dry pearls made me too weak to fight it. The jasmine aroma of the wet leaf is so fresh and natural. This is my very favorite of the Teavivre offerings. It’s sweet, silky, and not any way overpowering. It definitely has a milky feel on the tongue and even tastes a bit of milk. Can it be milky and silky at the same time? I guess so since that is what I experienced. There is just nothing I can find to write negative about this tea. In the middle of the office chaos I find myself able to shut it all out and just relax with each sip. I had 3 cups before lunch. So much for my brief excursion into the world of decaf.
So, lately I have been drinking a lot of chilled Tetley English Blend decaffeinated tea in the evenings trying to reduce my caffeine intake. The last couple days I notice I still seem to have too much in my system so time for a detox. Today I am drinking this fine rooibus. It has the same spices as carrot cake but it doesn’t really make me think carrot cake while drinking. On the other hand it stands miles above all other rooibus blends I have tried. It is delicious and satisfying. I find myself chugging instead of sipping and have to remind myself to knock it off. It makes the room smell nice as well. 3 mugs. Highly recommended.
Don’t care if others think this is pedestrian. Until I try something I like better this is my EG of choice.
Here’s to quality pedestrian bagged teas.
This one happens to be loose although I like the bag version too. I can get 2 steeps out of a spoon of leaf and it is under $6 for 100g. It is definitely Cheapster Steepster material.
as long as you like it, who cares what other ppl think. :)
This is also the EG of choice of a friend of mine who loves EG, and tries every single one:) There must be something special on it.
About 10 times the bergamot of Harney, with a solid bite in the black tea.
That sounds like quite a kick! Not that I have ever had Harney tea (made a very small order, but it has not yet arrived). Ahmad´s is pretty easy to find around here, and yeah, all the tea of their I had had is stuff with a bite.
Harney EG is a very popular tea around here but it is quite lite on the bergometer. This one is about the mid point.
I have just tried Ahmad’s English No. 1 Tea and it is nice, and similar to the London Cuppa tea that I have been enjoying this past year.
If you like something then keep in stock.
I wish I had read this last night before I placed an order with a vendor who had this pretty cheap! I had it in my cart and had to cut back on some items and this was one to go. I had read this I would have left it in my cart!
