RadioactiviTEA

Ok, I’m only trying this one because of my curiousity about 52teas’ blends and the generosity of Azzrian! It’s not something I would typically pick out myself…

The dry tea looks so much like coffee! I suppose that’s because it’s CTC, but it’s really odd. And consequently, requires a filter with teensy weensy holes, or alternately, a disposable filterbag, which is what I went with. There isn’t toooooo much smell to the dry tea. It smells kind of like a… black tea. And perhaps has picked up the slightest hint of Mayan Chocolate Chai in its aroma. Highly doubt it will be present in the tea though.

I’m really hoping I didn’t oversteep this one… used a level teaspoon’s worth in a regular mug, and 95C water for just over 3 minutes… and it smelled POTENT. The aroma actually reminds me strongly of Red Rose, an association I’m only making because of recently having drank some Red Rose. Had I not, I probably would have recognized it as a familiar smell and been frustrated at not being able to place it!

The flavour is definitely not as strong as I anticipated. It really just tastes like a “standard black tea”, which I would use to describe any black tea I had prior to 2012. There is some astringency, and a hint of bitterness – I probably could have used a bit less tea and dropped the infusion time to 2:30 and been a touch happier, but it’s not bad. I am not really caring for this one plain though, it’s just too boring-black-tea-like. It really does taste like a bagged tea. So, I’m sure it will be great once I add some milk and sugar, and I’ll be able to finish it off that way, but not a tea I’d purchase myself!

So of course I took advantage of Frank’s mess up special and requested some of the Man Teas. This is my first 52teas purchase. I have never had a CTC Assam. I thought it was cool how small the “pellets” are(I would call them for lack of a better term). So I brewed this after the time change Sunday morning after tearing down a few shows. I love how dark and malty it is. I went cowboy on this with no milk or sweetner. The tea was so small it fell through my strainer. Reminds me a lot of coffee but it was a great start to the morning.

Thank you to The DJBooth for letting me try this one. It’s not harsh like I expected. There are no added flavors and nothing fancy – just a good, strong breakfast blend. I haven’t really paid attention to how much of an energy boost I get from it, but I think slightly more than your standard black tea. Once the stash in my cupboard goes down, I might need to get more of this. Prepared with milk and stevia.

I once dropped in for a cup of this tea when running on no sleep for 24 hrs straight. It did the trick quite well indeed. Sometimes I cannot handle coffee as it does not sit well with me when I am not feeling all that great. This tea leaves one feeling energized but not jittery.

Rough all the way down, but just what I need when i want to defy the morning! Dirty and malty…one hand’s holding my mug, the other hand’s flicking off the chippy office. I don’t want to face Monday, but RadioactiviTEA helps.

A great breakfast tea that packs a punch. This tea brews up darker than most other black teas in just the first few seconds of steeping. This is CTC style tea, which means that the leaves look more like coffee grinds than tea.

Unbrewed tea smells somewhat like licorice, while brewed it tastes just like an incredibly strong black tea.

Love this tea with a touch of Mintastic by Adagio, helps that I can sip my tea and look at Kevin’s pic at the same time – it’s a beautiful morning…

Malty and a great morning wakeup tea!

This is a GREAT alternative for coffee. Provides a great pick up without the jitters or acidic stomach that coffee does at times.