Oh look, a vanilla black! My obsession with vanilla these days is hardly a secret, is it? Actually, it’s one that has been going on for a fairly long time now. I can’t even remember what set it off. I suspect it was the awesome vanilla bean Nilgiri that Chi of Tea had and which was sold out when I had decided to buy a large quantity of it. (Does anybody know what’s going on with Chi of Tea these days? There has been radio silence on that front for a long time now.) Anyway, that particular vanilla black seems to have ruined me for all others, and now I can’t find the perfect one.
Auggy has sent me this candidate, and from the aroma of the leaves and the cup after brewing, it’s a serious contender. It’s a little bit coconut-y sweet, and it has that smell that feels tough and leathery. Like the skin of the pod itself rather than just the grains on the inside. The smell that reminds me of a certain sort of sweets that actually has nothing at all to do with vanilla as far as I know. In the cup, it smells all creamy too.
So the aroma is exactly what I’m looking for in the perfect vanilla black.
OMG HOW EXCITING!!! Could it really be the Perfect One?
The first sip was definitely vanilla flavoured, and the vanilla tasted right too. It even tasted milky grey, which is a good sign. But then… that was it. The vanilla flavour is everything that I’m looking for, but the base is really where everything falls like a house of cards. There doesn’t really seem to be much body to it. I can barely taste that it’s a black tea, but I can’t say anything at all about it, because it’s only so faintly there under the vanilla, and the flavouring doesn’t even seem to be that overwhelmingly strong. I should really really like to find this flavouring on a slightly more forceful base. I don’t know which tea this one is made on, but it just doesn’t seem to be asserting itself.
The first time I had it was in the large pot that I share with Husband (I think. I must have forgotten to get his opinion), and then tried again in the medium sized pot for the same result. Yesterday I had it in the smallest pot and it was a little bit better, but not really enough to make that much of a difference.
Still, I’ll rate it pretty high, because the flavouring of it is spot on. It’s just not the perfect base.
People who liked this
Comments
Mmm, vanilla. Such a classic, perfect flavour, but so hard to find the perfect vanilla-flavoured tea.
Tell me about it! O.o Every time I come close, it fails Perfectness on availability. If I can’t buy it without having someone else act as middle-man and forward it to me, it’s not It.
Have you tried Vanilla Plantation from Silk Road?
http://www.silkroadtea.com/black_teas.htm
It’s the best vanilla tea I’ve found so far. My stash is a bit old, otherwise I’d send it to you. But, I can get some more if you want to try it out.
Gah, that tea store is in my city and I still haven’t gone yet. Was seriously going to go the last two times I was downtown but ran out of time. When I get my butt over there, I could get some and send some out your way too, Angrboda.
Thanks for reminding me that I need to go there, MissMylin haha.
LOL! I’ve been to Victoria only once, and I found Silk Road purely by accident. I wasn’t even a tea fanatic yet, so what a lost opportunity!
This is my favorite vanilla so far. I keep trying others in comparison but I haven’t found any thing better yet. More questing is in order. ;D
MissMylin and Incendiare, Silk Road is out of my reach, unfortunately. I’d love to try some though. Incendiare, thank you so much for the offer, I would like that. When next you go there, can you let me know as there may be a few other things I’d like to try as well. I can paypal you the cost of purchase and shipping, or I can send you something of your choice instead if you like. (And if you’d prefer to keep it simple and stick to just the vanilla, that’s fine too. It’s your call) There’s no rush, though. In your own time. :)
Missy, I know! I was having high hopes for it because of that, but I think it just wasn’t quite… assertive enough for me somehow. I’ve used up my sample now, but I might have been able to experiment my way out of that problem otherwise. I did think I got a better result the second time than I did the first time.
Mmm, vanilla. Such a classic, perfect flavour, but so hard to find the perfect vanilla-flavoured tea.
Tell me about it! O.o Every time I come close, it fails Perfectness on availability. If I can’t buy it without having someone else act as middle-man and forward it to me, it’s not It.
Have you tried Vanilla Plantation from Silk Road?
http://www.silkroadtea.com/black_teas.htm
It’s the best vanilla tea I’ve found so far. My stash is a bit old, otherwise I’d send it to you. But, I can get some more if you want to try it out.
Gah, that tea store is in my city and I still haven’t gone yet. Was seriously going to go the last two times I was downtown but ran out of time. When I get my butt over there, I could get some and send some out your way too, Angrboda.
Thanks for reminding me that I need to go there, MissMylin haha.
LOL! I’ve been to Victoria only once, and I found Silk Road purely by accident. I wasn’t even a tea fanatic yet, so what a lost opportunity!
This is my favorite vanilla so far. I keep trying others in comparison but I haven’t found any thing better yet. More questing is in order. ;D
MissMylin and Incendiare, Silk Road is out of my reach, unfortunately. I’d love to try some though. Incendiare, thank you so much for the offer, I would like that. When next you go there, can you let me know as there may be a few other things I’d like to try as well. I can paypal you the cost of purchase and shipping, or I can send you something of your choice instead if you like. (And if you’d prefer to keep it simple and stick to just the vanilla, that’s fine too. It’s your call) There’s no rush, though. In your own time. :)
Missy, I know! I was having high hopes for it because of that, but I think it just wasn’t quite… assertive enough for me somehow. I’ve used up my sample now, but I might have been able to experiment my way out of that problem otherwise. I did think I got a better result the second time than I did the first time.