Gingerbread

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 1 zarafina cup, filtered water
Tool: Zarafina Black-loose-medium
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Sweet fruit
Steeped Tea Smell: Sweet black tea, nutty
Flavor: astringent, bitter black tea, a little cake-y
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: Translucent orange brown

Steepster Traveling Teabox Tea

Made this while rushing around in the morning getting ready to go to work.

I didn’t smell spice or ginger, more fruity.

I started the second steep before tasting the first.

I ended up chugging it as it was so bitter and astringent.

It could have used less time (mild) and perhaps cream and sugar to be palatable.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Resteep: Zarafina Black-loose-strong

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/adagio-loose-leaf-black-tea-gingerbread.html

I gave this another go today, iced as usual. It still doesn’t taste much like gingerbread to me, but it does sort of taste like a cookie or graham cracker. It could use some vanilla, I think. And next time I make it, I’m going to add milk. Milk or whipped cream would make this pretty yummy first thing in the morning.

I wish this was more gingery, too. Hmm, maybe other brands are doing this better. I should do some research.

This particular tin was a little elderly, so it may have just lost some muscle, but when I made a cup this morning, there sure wasn’t much “ginge.”

On the other hand, with a little half and half, it turns into liquid graham crackers. Paired with the right munchie, I think this still has some possibilities.

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Not too spicy — kept the steep time shorter than I normally would per everyone else’s experience (thanks, everyone!). The result was rather smooth with a smell and taste that lives up to the name.

Not bad! This one seems to get a lot of negative reviews. I’m not going to go out and buy a pound of this, but it’s definitely drinkable. I definitely get a molasses smell along with the spices and ginger. Lighter taste, definitely gingerbread. Again, not bad.

Based on reviews, I was expecting awful. So it was a pleasant surprise when I could easily drink the entire cup!

I got this tea from Doulton a while back (I think…correct me if I’m wrong). The tea smells quite chai-ish, slightly sweet and gingery, and slightly spicy. The taste was a bit disappointing though, being rather harsh and not terribly flavourful. The ginger’s really only a hint, I’d have like to be able to taste it a bit more readily.

Sorry Doulton, but this tea isn’t getting much love from me. :(

The smell of the dried leaves is spicy, but by this time, the batch I have is a few months old, so maybe it has calmed down a bit. It’s a black tea with additional spice and from my experience, I know that I will like this much more if I understeep. I brewed for three minutes instead of the usual five. The liquor is still very dark. The aroma is spiced black tea. As a precautionary measure, I add a pinch of rock sugar.

This is not bad. It is definitely spiced, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, the tea is a light black, not too strong in anyway. I believe the only way I do enjoy this at all is because I underbrewed it.

I ordered this as a sample on my order. To be honest this smells like a tobacco I once had. This smells warm and dark. The brewed flavor does not at all remind me of gingerbread. Despite this, I think that it is very nice. It has a deep almost clove flavor and what I feel it really needs is more bite. I think that the molasses quality of gingerbread is there, but it needs a few improvements to make it truly awesome.

It smells nice dry. The flavour isn’t much of anything. Doesn’t really taste like gingerbread. Or ginger really.

Ginger works better as red bush tea.

Thank you Doulton for sending a sample of this my way. I like the lightly spicy notes to it. I think I may have over steeped a bit, as it is a tad bit bitter, but the spices are nice. I think I prefer Oriental Spice from Adagio as my go to spice tea, but this tea is pleasant on the tongue.

I feel like all of the holiday teas I got were a bad batch :\ I’m having an epic sip-down today and decided to try and finish the holiday teas. I remembered that this one would have a VERY bitter aftertaste so I added a bit of sugar.. It actually helped round the bitterness and bring out the sweet gingerbread taste. Now it’s a bit better. It’s a little spicy but mostly sweet. Now it just tastes like gingerbread with icing :]

Taken with milk and sugar + plain.
Without milk and sugar the tea leaves are over powered by the strong spices. Drinking this tea plain is actually kind of unpleasant in the way that tasting cinnamon by itself is dry and bitter.
With only sugar the spices mellow out and become nice. My only complaint is that the spices still over power the tea and it has a very weak mouth. This tea really just tastes like spiced water. It’s nice but not awesome.
Adding milk with the sugar rounds out the body and flavor but they are still not at all robust. The spices become well mixed and the tea flavor pops out a little more.
This is a nice holiday change but if I could have it year round I really wouldn’t be excited because it could have been done much better.

There are no words for the way this tea smells dry. As soon as you open the tin — fresh gingerbread. Spicy-sweet and gorgeous. The ginger, cinnamon, and a hint of orange are clear to smell. Oh, heaven!

As you might expect it doesn’t taste quite like it smells, but it’s pretty close. It’s probably the closest you can get to drinking cake, at any rate. The orange is all but lost but the cinnamon and ginger shine through, complemented by the smell of baking. Drinking this tea is a truly divine experience.

As with most black teas, I drank this with a splash of milk. I think this adds a certain something here — a softness, or a creaminess. I’ll try it without next time, for the sake of experience, but I’m pretty sure milk is the way with this tea.

Maybe because it’s getting cold, but Adagio’s holiday teas are really hitting the spot for me right now.

I made this over the weekend while at my sister’s house. I boiled milk, water, and sugar together with the tea, then let the tea steep for several minutes before straining the leaves out and drinking (what I could remember of takgoti’s chai method posted on Steepster earlier).

It’s okay, but I didn’t get a ginger flavor, just a spiced tea flavor. Rather dissappointing.

This smells JUST LIKE Gingerbread! It’s steeps quick and is dark in color. At first sip I was turned off my the overpowering gingerbread taste…it’s probably one of the more flavorful black teas that I have tried from Adagio. After the first sip I was afraid I was going to write a really bad review BUT the second sip was much more pleasant…maybe my palate just wasn’t ready for it!? Not sure. As I drink it more I’m adjusting to the taste. It’s OK but not one I would buy again. I will continue to drink and continue to try and mess with the amounts and lengths of steeps.

Like others have suggested I didn’t steep this one too long. Even with only two minutes the taste is bitter and not very gingerbready at all. I got this free in my black tea sampler and I’m glad I didn’t get too much or I would have to unload it on someone. The smell is reminiscent of a holiday candle from Yankee candle, there’s a waxiness to the taste as well. I usually stay away from black teas flavored to be like desserts, it’s just too risky.

This is by no means a bad tea, but I wish it had more of a kick to it. Perhaps a bigger ginger flavor. As it is, this is a decent cup of tea with some spice to it. Smells stronger than it tastes, a bit of ginger on the aftertaste. I do like that the black tea base isn’t bitter.

As always, I drank it straight.

got a sample of this stuff in a pyramid bag with my latest adagio order. not bad! i used 3 packets of stevia and added a bit of half and half. it was a bit too bitter for me without all of that added.

I purchased a sample tim of this from Adagio. I’m not sure if my tea was too old or I just got a bad batch, but I could detect no hint of gingerbread when I opened the tin to smell the dry leaves. So of course after steeping there was no gingerbread to be found. The aroma was to me a very sweet caramel-honey with only the barest hint of spice. I did not taste any ginger or spice when I drank it.

I tried this tea both plain and with sugar. With a little sugar I found it to be a very pleasant black tea to drink, but as a flavored tea it is a disappointment.