Christmas Morning

I’ve got the bagged variety again.

This is alright as plain/unflavored black teas go. I normally prefer plain/unflavored green, but need an extra jolt to get through the afternoon. And zapping myself Crank 2 High Voltage-style isn’t an option…oh my, but I just thought of Jason Statham and my mind is lost…

ANYWAY – sorry, I’m totally boy-crazy but have a wonderful hubby who puts up with it – this tea is definitely good for a wake-up call. I taste the Assam variety, which, to me, is less malty and more bold. Usually I would put some sweetener in this to tone it down but not today, I need all the power this cuppa produces!

Prompted by ScottTeaMan’s tealog about Christmas Tea, I was reminded that I had 3 “Christmas” teas that still needed tested (since it’s snowing this morning, might as well). After not liking Upton’s Irish Breakfast at all, I thought I’d start with this one (a breakfast blend type).

This one is strong, but not bitter. Having added only a tbsp. of honey, this would probably benefit from a little milk/cream as well. I’m too much of a tea newbie to recognize the separate tea qualities, but the taste is pleasant yet complex. Not rating, other than to say that I will finish this cup (without any further additions). Not sure if would seek out more….will see.

The third in a trifecta of Christmas teas I’ve ordered from Stash Tea over the past several years (along with White Christmas & Holiday Chai). First cup steeped as stated below. At different points I sniffed the wet tea bag, and thought I smelled each tea. On the teabag wrapper the teas listed are Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, Keemun, Sumatra, & Jasmine. So it is possible the teabag blend is different.

The cup was rather dark and immediately I smelled the Jasmine. I also smelled Darjeeling & Ceylon notes, and possibly the Assam. It’s hard to detect everything—sometimes I feel like my nose is playing tricks on me. :// I did notice quite a bit of sweetness in the nose and thought it was the Keemun, but according to the description, “the Jasmine imparts a lingering, sweet fragrance”.

The Ceylon adds a smoothness to the flavor profile. The other noticeable flavors are Darjeeling (not too astringent), Jasmine & Assam. The Jasmine & Darjeeling especially linger on my tongue. A very smooth, and enjoyable cup, that exhibited no bitterness.

My second cup was steeped as below, but at 5:30. The cup was darker, and the aromas were still there, but to a lesser extent. I feel that some of the flavor nuances were lost with the longer steep, while it was still an enjoyable cup that showed no bitterness.

Teabags are sometimes more convenient for me during the Holidays, although the great majority of my tea drinking is enjoyed loose leaf style. I really look forward to this blend during the Holidays, and it is very well balanced and delicious! :))

Cupped: Sunday/Monday, December 11/12, 2011.

Reviewed: Monday, December 12, 2011.

ADDITIONAL NOTE*** 12/13/2011: I thought I’d add a little milk (very little), and I let the tea steep for 7 minutes. Honestly, the subtleties were lost. I could taste the tea with the milk, but it tasted only slightly better than regular tea. Sometimes I think I do things like this to my tea just to remind myself not to do it again! At some point in the future, I’m sure I’ll gently remind myself…again. :))

WOW. WOW. WOWWWW!
I am so happy to have stumbled upon this tea. See we had some samples floating around at work but after reading the ingredients, I saw that it contained the eeeeevil Jasmine… and thus avoided it. Until today.
I was at work, and had no time to even fill my little filter with loose tea… and thus grabbed the first bag I set my eyes on (meanwhile forgetting that it was poisoned).
Anyhow, I guess it doesn’t have enough in it to get me down, because this was sooooo good! Man, I want more!!!
It was sweet and slightly malty, and very round. I tasted something like vanilla but not in the cloying way I normally find it. I only made it to two steeps though. It started to get scratchy towards the end. Then again, I usually don’t go for more than two with a black tea anyhow…
Well, I’ll be looking to buy some of this!
Oh and no sugar or milk either. I need to try it ala dairy :)

This is what my mom bought for me to drink at her place on Christmas, so this is what I’m drinking. It’s okay; can’t taste the jasmine, but oh well.

Got lots of tea gifts, though! I prepared this using my new Adagio UtiliTEA kettle, which I’ve wanted for forever now. Also got some Golden Monkey, Milk Oolong, Monk’s Blend, and Vanilla Rooibos, so there should be new tasting notes soon – not to mention the Rishi order that just arrived. So much tea, so little time!

4TB for a 12-cup pot, drunk bare.

Dry leaves: some tips, faint scents of jasmine and Keemun and a lovely comforting hug of Assam.

Steeped: jasmine disappears but resurfaces very subtly in the taste. Oolong aromas. Slight smokiness from the keemun. Winey-ness from the keemun dances with the wine-to-maltiness from the Assam. Aftertaste: Darjeeling, and Yunnan pepper. Some astringency, but I did steep this for 6 minutes; 4 minutes would be better, I think. Medium body. No bitterness. Quite lovely. I feel very relaxed and blessed, drinking this one.

I used water just off the boil out of respect for the oolong and jasmine in the blend.

Tried this in the taster section at the Stash Tea Store. I was weary of anything with “Christmas” in the title – thinking I would be blasted with something pepperminty. I was surprised to find a floral black-ish blend that reminded me of a high-altitude Ceylon. It’s a weird mix, but a pretty good one.

Bagged

Aroma when Dry: Bright, crisp, not quite fruity. clean
After water is first poured: can distinguish individual blacks in the blend, jasmine is barely noticeable.
At end of first steep:
Tea liquor:
first color: light brown
At end of steep: deep red brown

Staple? No.

Time of day preferred: Afternoon
Taste:
first notes: can taste the Darjeeling & Ceylon and Jasmine. Can smell more then I can identify.
As it cools? The tea opens up quite a bit, I can taste 4-5 individual notes, not sure exactly which, save the Jasmine
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No.
Lingers? Yes, slightly smoky, floral, woody notes.

Might try the loose leaf version sometime.
Will try as base for chai at some point.

Second steep color: med red brown
second steep taste: sweet, nutty, almost creamy

I got this in a swap with brandy3392 – thanks!! I just got my package yesterday and decided to break into it this morning. I like the idea of a black tea with jasmine. I think I might decrease the steep time next time i make this tea because it was a little bitter but definitely not undrinkable. Also the bitterness went well with my maple quaker squares. I think this is a really solid breakfast tea with an interesting twist of jasmine. I definitely enjoyed this cup.

I read some reviews for this before I bought it (it was on sale, and I figured what the heck), so I wasn’t too surprised when I tried this blend. As someone else stated, I don’t understand exactly why this is considered a holiday blend because there’s honestly nothing special or remotely holiday-ish about it. No fancy flavours or notes, just a kind of average breakfast-y black tea blend. I like it enough for what it is, but I don’t think I would bother repurchasing. I’ve left it at my desk at work (where I drink most of the black blends that don’t require much notice… I just need the caffeine!) to finish up the box.

I didn’t steep it quite long enough. The flavor was a little more plain than I expected. I added milk and that smoothed it out very nicely. I don’t think I would like this one much without milk, and I’m not one who really loves milk in tea. I only tasted the black tea flavors, until suddenly about 3/4 of the way through the jasmine made an appearance.

Received this courtesy of Joe Cool. At First taste a nice breakfast blend with the Assam and Keemun. I couldn’t taste the jasmine though. I am really enjoying this tea. It cooled off a bit and….hello there jasmine glad you made it to the party! This is definitely not what I thought it would be with Christmas in the title, but definitely a good cup.

This was given to me at work in bag form. I normally shy away from Stash black teas. I generally find them too weak. This was not even close to what I expected. I thought it would mint or something. When I read the label it started sounding interesting, Ceylon, Assam, Keenum, then I read Jasmine and I flinched. I don’t like Jasmine tea, well until now. It adds a slight pleasant aroma but is so subtle in the sipping that I found myself really liking it. The blend of black teas comes alive with a little sweetener. Really impressed with this one. My second Keemun blend and I am a fan.

I dunno, a pretty standard black, in my mind. Perhaps the water isn’t hot enough to get all of the flavor out (I try not to drink blacks at work, since I brew out of a water cooler and the water is only 190°).

My first thoughts? Jasmine? Oh, crud.

I received one packet of this in the mail, so no harm, no foul if I don’t like it. Right?

Steeped, it smells floral (as you would expect), but not overbearing. I have a sample of jasmine green somewhere around here that I can’t even bear to finish because of that exact reason.

I noticed that some reviews said that the jasmine didn’t come out until cool, but I am tasting it right from the start. I like it with the black tea base.

Still not going to be seeking out teas with jasmine in them, because I really feel they are too perfumed (?). (I have what my husband and I refer to as a “super sniffer”, and so sometimes things that are supposed to be subtle aren’t really, to me.) It was a nice change for the one try, though.

I don’t get why Stash thinks this is a Christmas tea, though. I get more of a “SPRING!” feeling when drinking it.

I drank a bit of this tea plain until the jasmine got to me and I added milk to dull it down a bit.

(PS: I liked this one even more as it cooled down.)

I found it! Down in New West, when I had to walk through a marketplace to get to an unrelated tea place. Lucky.

I’m going to go ahead and say that, because both companies are the product of Steven Smith, he must really associate greenblack blends with Christmas. Joy? And Christmast Morning? Or, another way to think of it, would be red-green blends. See what I did there?

Dry, I could definitely pick up jasmine. Steeped, it smelt like Joy, but it’s definitely darker in colour.

First sip—bitter green. Bakey oolong. No black… I think there’s a nutty keemun, and/or a darjeeling in there. Mmm… Getting a dryer black taste now.

Overall, darker and sweeter than Tazo’s Joy. I like this one much better. Damn, and I hinted to my brother that Joy would be a good Christmas present.

I would like to try Smith’s new line of teas, though. I’ve found them at Chapters, but they don’t carry much variety—about three blends. Bergamot was the only black, I believe.

Aaah, picking up a very good ceylon now. With just a touch of green bitterness.

For the teabagged variety: fairly mild in flavor in comparison to other black teas I have tried. The Indian Assam is easily distinguished, however, which adds some uniqueness to the taste. Just wish the other herbs were more prominent, but otherwise the tea is just fine.

Christmas in April!

Actually, I can’t say for sure that this reminded me of any holiday, but I can see how it could be called festive – actually, I think I’m celebrating spring with this cup (though they’re calling for ice pellets tomorrow..).

Aroma: Immediately I thought “FLOWERS” – and of course, but it wasn’t jasmine to my nose.. more like carnations! In any case, not a bad start.

Flavour: A touch bitter (drinking it straight) but a very pleasing complex kind of bitterness that makes me want to go back for many many more sips. :)

Overall, a winner, and I believe it’s the first tea I bought based on YOUR reviews – thanks, Steepster!

Was kinda disappointed in this tea. It was just a black tea. A step above your standard bagged black, just still . . . just a black. Didn’t taste anything special.

A basic black breakfast blend. This tea is robust with just a little bitterness. It’s decent, but nothing spectacular. It kind of seems like a strong cross between Irish and English breakfast. I would prefer the flavor be a bit more malty. Prepared with stevia and almond milk.