82
drank Troika by Kusmi Tea
477 tasting notes

Smells like an earl grey, although brighter, a bit—I think I can pick out the sweetness of the mandarin orange. But there’s also a strong tea smell in there as well, which I like.

FIrst sip… Is tea and mandarin, actually. The mandarin is very mild, but it’s the first of the citruses to pop out at me.

As it cools, I’m getting the bergamot. No orange anymore. It’s devolved! Aaaah!

I keep telling myself to wait, and let it cool more, so I can make a few notes on the changing flavour, but I keep sipping it hot.

The mandarin’s slipping back in, as an aftertaste on the edge of my tongue. This is a very mild, afternoon sort of tea, I think. I enjoy earl greys, but I don’t think I have the palate to pick this apart like many Grand Earl Grey Drinkers (which I’m sure exist!). Still, I love earl grey variations. Mmm. Bit of a drying astringency in there as well.

I’m giving this a tentative rating, a “I’m not sure what my opinion is yet, this will probably change; let’s put it above this, but below this for now, because that looks safe”.

Also, this is my first Kusmi Tea! I was so happy to find it amongst the others, because I’ve been very interested in trying Kusmi. Especially their Russian blends. I want to collect ALL of their Russian blends, but can’t bring myself to flood my Shopping List with them. I’ve found a store downtown that is supposed to sell them, so I may be getting more soon.

Second steep has a stronger orange taste. Weaker tea and bergamot, so it pokes through more.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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Disclaimer: I work for Murchie’s Tea and Coffee as a taster and blender. I will avoid putting any ratings on teas from them from here on out.

A tea-drinking transgendered Canadian, university graduate, majored in geology (yes, “rocks and things”). I take most of my tea made straight into a mug, although occasionally if I’m not in a hurry (this isn’t often), I’ll have time to sit down with a pot or gaiwan. It’s the highlight of a good day.

My notes are pretty disjointed because I’m absent-minded, and I also keep a teatra.de blog for reviewing and rambling about tea books/publications, and an instagram for photos. Expect nerding about tea production and history on both.

I’m a Doctor Who fanatic (Jon Pertwee, if you were wondering).

“But you should never turn down tea, when it’s offered. It’s impolite, and impoliteness is how wars start.” ~Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann

https://www.instagram.com/greywacke.tea/

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Canada

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http://artoftea.teatra.de

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