41 Tasting Notes

88

I was in need of a mid-morning snack and cuppa and the genmaicha was on the counter in “comforting standby” mode so I went for it.

I steeped at a slightly lower temperature this time and more of the vegetal green came out to play as a response. Still nice and light and toasty.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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58

I’m not usually one for English Breakfast but I gave this one I try because I wanted a strong morning tea.

I gotta admit, Upton did a pretty good job with this one. The blend of assam and ceylon was well balanced. I actually made it a good 1/4 or so into the cup before adding my half and half.

Like I said, I’m far from an English Breakfast connoisseur so I can’t say if this one ranks in the top, but for a strong wake-me-up tea it does the trick.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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88

Was hit with a sudden bout of extreme anxiety and went to this tea. Genmaicha isn’t a tea I normally use to battle anxiety, but it is a comfort tea to me…something I love to sit and sip at.

Arbor’s Organic Genmaicha is nice and mellow. Very light and delicate. I like to think this is a traditional green for people who don’t like green tea. Some of the astringents from green tea are present but it is nicely complimented by the sweet, somewhat nutty flavor of the toasted rice.
When steeped correctly, this tea will give you a true tea feel with a sweet and mellow finish.

Thank you so much for the sample of this particular genmaicha, moraiwe

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec
music27note

Normally I’d steep it at 175 and do a taste test at 1 minute. Was originally thinking of having an oolong when I remembered and reached for this.

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62
drank Shape Up Blend by Teavana
41 tasting notes

Technically I’m drinking a variation of this. I blend each tea separately and instead of six summits oolong I use monkey picked oolong and instead of black dragon pearls I use nine dragon golden needle.

This is a tea I drink primarily for the energy it provides. I like that it has the pep to give me an initial wake up call coupled with a carry through to last throughout the day.

This tea also helps you feel full when had with a meal. I like to drink it with breakfast to make the most out of the energy boost, but it makes a good early afternoon cup as well.

Most of the time, today included, I prepare this as a big iced cup so I’m sure to get an accurate measurement of each tea. I know a lot of people sweeten this but my thought is: if this is meant to be a diet tea, why sweeten it? The flavor is interesting, but not bad. When iced, the flavor settles down so instead of getting watered down and weaker as you go you actually get more developed fruity flavor.

This is one I don’t end up drinking often but am glad to have in my cupboard.

Notes – I follow the instructions for the Weight to Go when making this. The lower temp makes a big difference when it comes to how the hibiscus tastes. Burn this tea and it could end up tasting like floral soap.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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29
drank Scarlet Cloud by Teavana
41 tasting notes

Made this this morning because my mom was dizzy and I thought the spearmint would help. Made a small pot instead of a cup because why not have some myself while I’m at it?

This tea is pretty much how I remembered it. It’s not the greatest, but it’s not bad either. It’s simply a mellow flavored white tea with giant fruit pieces and spearmint.

This tea isn’t something I turn to for its flavor but it is something I like to drink for headaches and dizziness.

PS – It did help relieve my mom’s dizziness, so that makes me happy :)

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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88
drank Aries by Adagio Teas
41 tasting notes

This is actually a backlog from yesterday…bad me for forgetting to write up my note!

I have made this tea several different ways now and I’ve been happy each time. Most recently I made the tea as normal but with no peppercorn and just a tiny touch of half and half.

Adding that not-even-a-full-dash of half and half was a marvelous idea. The body of the tea overall was the Irish Breakfast and cardamom with just a bit of milkiness at the end.

Truly a wonderful cup to sit and sip on a quiet morning.

PS – This tea is also pretty good made as a latte, but I preferred making it as instructed and then adding the touch of cream.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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9

My brother actually got this tea for my mom for Christmas and she pawned it off on me because I love pomegranate.

Despite not usually doing teabags, I was pretty excited to try this. Celestial seems to be making a move in the right direction with their “no strings attached” and the tea itself smelled heavenly.

…It smells better than it tastes.

This isn’t the worst tea I’ve ever had by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn’t what I was hoping for either. It’s a strong woodsy rooibos with an artificially sweet pomegranate flavoring. Most definitely not a tea for those teetering on rooibos’ edge.

I’m willing to give this tea another try (I have an entire box after all) but I’d sooner market it as a fruit enhanced rooibos than as pomegranate tea.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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67

I was afraid to try this tea at first. As much as I love strawberries and love oolong I absolutely hate fake strawberry flavor.

Luckily, this tea does things right. The rhubarb and fennel really help to balance the strawberry with the subtle floral notes of the oolong. The flavor is great.

My favorite way to prepare this tea is as a syrup with sparkling water. The bubbliness of the water really adds to the champagne feel.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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88
drank Aries by Adagio Teas
41 tasting notes

My excitement over this tea did not go unwarranted.

In my search for a morning cuppa to replace coffee my first thought was black tea. I hadn’t had the best luck with black tea in the past but moraiwe had been convincing me, through samples of her stock, to give it another chance. I knew I’d need a black tea with something extra, something that brought me back to it. I decided to search Adagio for their chocolate black as the cocoa y notes were similar to coffee. Once on Adagio, I stumbled upon the zodiac series.

I consider myself truly well seated in Aries-dom. My original due date would make me an Aries, my actual birthday makes me an Aries and my Eastern zodiac is Dragon – equivalent to Aries. I scanned the ingredients – black tea, check; cinnamon,oooh; cardamom, heck yes; peppercorns, I approve. Add to cart

The tea itself is fantastic. It has a strong black tea body with pepperiness in the initial sip and a sweet cinnamon note as you enter into the aftertaste. As the description states, it has the energy to keep up with an Aries and the flavor to satisfy one. A truly magnificent morning cuppa.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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100

This is the tea that kept bringing me back to Teavana and eventually inspired me to apply there. I already knew I liked white tea but this was my first experience with blooming.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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