52 Tasting Notes

85

Received this as a gift and fell in love with the presentation – the tin is just so elegant and it’s a lovely tea to look at. And sniff. I swear, my habitual tea sniffing will eventually be to the detriment of my collection. :D

Anyway, about the tea…did a quick brew earlier to give me something to sip on while emailing. The cherry aroma comes across very strongly in the final amber liquid, but the actual flavour is pleasantly mild. You pick up a lot more of the grassy/woody tones of the green tea with only a gentle overlay of fruitiness.

No issues with bitterness and I’m inclined to believe it would take sweetener well.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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70
drank Caramel Nougat by Tea Forte
52 tasting notes

TeaForte and I may have slightly different interpretations of how much tea is in a “single steep” – I didn’t think to measure this before dumping it in my infuser, so I was then scraping it out to get an idea of the quantity.

Suffice to say, even with dropping the steep time to 2 min there’s still quite a bitter overtone. I’m definitely picking up the nougat and alcohol (?) notes, but it’s somewhat lacking in the caramel I’d hoped for. Very tannic, dark and rich, but just not a flavour profile I find particularly enjoyable.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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drank Grape Expectations by DAVIDsTEA
52 tasting notes

Oh, this smells SO good…both dry and after steeping. I’ve been wafting it across the table at my kid for the past 5 minutes in anticipation of it cooling enough to take a sip.

I may have steeped it a bit long – not nearly the 4-5 min on the label – because it came across very bitter on the back-end of each sip. I’m willing to attribute this to human error and not rate it…since where it stands now it’s going to get fed to the sink.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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78
drank My Morning Mate by Teavana
52 tasting notes

My Iron Buddha Oolong leaves finally gave up the ghost, flavour-wise – 6 glorious western-style steeps in – so I snagged a cup of mate (my first ever!) to help get me through the giant pile of emails I need to handle today.

This is…interesting. It smells sweet in the container and brews up super dark. There’s a chocolaty note to the liquid with a deep woodsy fullness behind it (perhaps mate mixed with the black tea leaves I glimpsed?). It has a similar mouthfeel to a heavy Irish Breakfast blend and provides a nice little caffeine buzz as you work your way through the cup.

Taste-wise this is right up my alley, but due to my subjective reaction to the caffeine it’s not one I can afford to keep in stock.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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77
drank Turmeric Bliss by Adagio Teas
52 tasting notes

10min steep because I was in the middle of rearranging my tea cabinet when I decided this was my brew of choice, but it’s still within the recommended allotment, so it’s all good.

It’s beautiful in the bag – big chunks of apple, golden threads of marigold leaves – and it steeps to an enticing gold that smells of citrus and warmth. Each sip is softly fruity with a heat that trails along just at the end (the pepper I’d assume); as the tea cools it becomes more prominently citrusy without losing the heat.

My only complaint with this is that the flavour isn’t exactly robust. I think I was more in the mood for a heavier mouthfeel or more lingering aftertaste for my first cup of the day, so I’ll have to try this again as an evening brew.

Second steep and I think I’ve figured out what it was needing! I added about 1/4 tsp of ground ginger to the basket and gave it a solid 15 min @ 212 – the fruit flavours have dropped back a bit, but there’s earthiness from the turmeric and pepper that slides into a heavy, lingering ginger aftertaste.

I’d give the mix + ginger a solid 84, but stand by my rating for the unaltered version.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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80

Accidentally brewed this one at low temp – I was trying to manage sixteen things at once and didn’t think to see if the kettle was /done/ before pouring the water over – but it doesn’t seem to have ruined it, thank heavens.

This tea is all smoke. There’s a rich, malty black tea underneath billowing flavour-clouds of that perfect Lapsang Souchong smoke…which is exactly what I wanted. 10 oz of it feels a bit excessive (this brew is usually a 6 oz cup for me) but for something to sip on while I wake up it’s a pretty good fit.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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65
drank Beach Bellini by Teavana
52 tasting notes

This is one of those teas where I brewed up a cup and drank it without it making any sort of an impression on me at all. :/

It certainly wasn’t offensive, but at the same time I only have the mildest recollection of it being fruity with a lightly spicy push at the end. Tolerable, but not something I’d go out of my way to brew again.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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73
drank Fruits d'Alsace by Harney & Sons
52 tasting notes

I love how this tea smells. Adore it. So much so that I’ll occasionally open up my tea cabinet just to pop the lid and take a sniff.

After a slightly-longer-than-desired steep (pets are distracting little buggers) I was rewarded with a mid-amber brew that smells just like the leaf – fruity, sweet and gently tasty. Now that I’ve stopped sugaring my teas, however, I’m having just a bit of trouble finding those notes in the taste portion of my drink.

Adding a tablespoon of whole milk helps to temper down the intensity of the black tea and bring some of those fruity notes to the forefront, but overall I think this may be a tea which just requires some sweetener to truly shine.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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80
drank New Delhi Delight by DAVIDsTEA
52 tasting notes

Accidentally steeped this for 14 min instead of the 10 I was aiming for…surprisingly the flavour still isn’t overwhelming even with such a long steep, so I may push it to 15+ in the future.

Aroma-wise it reads heavily of samosas (says the midwestern white girl who eats too much Indian/Pakistani food and still can’t name half the spices in the cuisine) but it’s remarkably bland on the palate. Reassuringly bland, if that can be a thing.

You can tell there are spices, but there’s none of the bite you sometimes find in western “chai tea” mixes. Just a warm, comforting blend to soothe the throat, settle the stomach and warm you when you need a drink without all the caffeine.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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55
drank Apple Delight by Wissotzky Tea
52 tasting notes

Found this teabag while cleaning out my cupboard and – since I’m supposed to be less caffeinated in the evenings – decided to give it a go.

It brews up much darker than I’d expected for a tea-less tisane, with a heavily fruity aroma (mildly reminiscent of potpourri) and a pleasantly mild apple-y taste. I didn’t really pick up on the hibiscus or citrus, but for a mellow night-time sip it’s not unappealing.

I won’t be rushing out to buy a box, though as a one-time brew it was sufficient.

Flavors: Apple

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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Profile

Bio

Self-employed, sleep deprived and always on the go.

Trying to cut down on caffeine – trying being the operative word – but I’m generally an Earl Grey drinker with a strong aversion to coconut, jasmine and chocolate in my tea.

I brew almost exclusively Western style, unsweetened.
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Rating Scale

90-100: Cupboard staple – will buy when I run out

75-90: I’ll drink what I have, may restock when out

55-75: I’ll drink it, but probably won’t buy it

0-55: Might finish it, might feed it to the sink
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If you see something in my cupboard and want to try it, hit me up – I’m always down to sell/trade samples

Location

Indiana, US

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