4843 Tasting Notes
Backlog:
This is a delightful Assam, one of the maltiest I’ve yet to taste. It is also one of the few Assam teas that I’ve sampled that doesn’t have that hint of bitterness to it. Usually I taste just a hint of bitterness to an Assam, like a whispered tone that tells me that if I had oversteeped the tea it’d be quite bitter. I’m not even tasting that with this tea.
Rich and smooth from start to finish. Very little astringency. Sweet. Notes of sweet plum, date and raisin. Hints of flower in the distance.
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/19/assam-gold-black-tea-from-the-persimmon-tree/
Backlog:
I’m always confused at how to categorize flower teas/tisanes like this. So I categorized it as a flowering herb. Neither of these categories is a satisfactory term for what this tea is though – at least, not in my opinion.
This is lovely. I wasn’t prepared for just how much I’d like this. This is one of the nicer flower teas that I’ve ever tasted. It’s better than chamomile. It’s similar to a rose bud type of tea but I find rosebud tea to be slightly sharper than this. This is softer, fluffy tasting. Creamy.
This doesn’t taste perfume-y or soapy. The floral notes are actually ‘barely there’ – I’m tasting only a very gentle floral taste. This is more of a creamy experience.
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/18/sweet-violet-tea-from-mks-tea-company/
Backlog:
Lovely!
This is different from a Chinese Bi Luo Chun (and I guess it should be, seeing as it’s a Taiwanese Bi Luo Chun). It looks different and it tastes different.
This is lovely – buttery, sweet, slightly vegetative. The buttery notes are strong and creamy. The sweetness is fruit-like. There is a slightly dry astringency toward the tail.
Resteep this one!
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/18/bi-luo-chun-green-tea-from-green-terrace-teas/
Backlog:
As I mentioned in my full-length article of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/17/ayurvedic-slimming-tea-from-tea-of-life/ I find myself often confused by the ‘slimming’ claims that some tea companies choose to make. But I didn’t review this because I was trying it for it’s alleged slimming … I reviewed it because they sent me the tea to review.
I wasn’t really crazy about the flavor of it. The one redeeming quality of this tea is the cumin – I liked the warm, toasty flavor of the cumin. The green tea is light and buttery. The rest … blah.
Want more about this, read the full-length review, please!
Backlog:
I had this a couple of times. The first time I brewed it, I neglected to shake the pouch so that I could evenly distribute the little honey crystals that are in it. They do settle so this is one that I recommend giving a good shake so that you can get some of those crystals in your tea.
Typically, I don’t really like it when a tea company sweetens a tea for me. I want to be the one who decides if my tea should be sweetened or not. But I do like the little touch of honey that the crystals bring to this. I probably wouldn’t have added honey to this otherwise, so those crystals do bring a hint of flavor.
As I say in my full-length review of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/17/mindful-morning-blend-from-plum-deluxe/ this is a nice spin on the classic Earl Grey.
The black tea base is a smooth, medium-bodied Ceylon. I taste hints of malt. There is some astringency to this, but it’s mild and doesn’t detract from the enjoyment.
The bergamot isn’t super strong here, but I do get a nice, tangy bergamot note. The notes of vanilla soften the bergamot a bit, and the combination of vanilla and bergamot offers a slight caramel-y flavor. And I think that’s where the honey in this blend really shines. The honey with the caramel-y tones is quite nice.
A really nice blend.
Ooh, sounds interesting! I like the idea if honey in a Earl Grey blend.
I just received my first sample from Teavana (I ordered my mom her favorite teas from there) and it is oolong/mate chai with rock sugar. I felt the same way about it being presweetened…. I’m not THAT lazy folks! :)
DAVIDsTEA has done this a few times as well with Stevia and Rock Sugar; I have the same feeling as you all about it.
An Oolong Mate Chai? That sounds pretty unusual! I don’t see the need to presweeten with either stevia or rock sugar because these elements only add sweetness, no other profile to the flavor … other than ‘sugar’ flavor. Whereas honey, that’s a profile. That’s a real flavor, not just a sweetener, and I found that with this Mindful Morning blend, really that’s what the honey did. It didn’t overly sweeten the cup, but it did add a touch of honey-esque flavor.
Backlog:
OK, so this was one of those flavors from Frank that I just wasn’t too sure about.
Oh, sure, I love cake batter as much as the next person, but in a tea? I wasn’t convinced that this was a good idea. But I still had to try it because it was just too weird not to. Or maybe it wasn’t so weird that I wouldn’t try it.
This really does taste like cake batter. Sweet, creamy, buttery. Fortunately it doesn’t have the texture of cake batter because well, that would be a little too weird.
I like that I do taste a strong cake batter flavor but I also taste black tea.
This one might be my favorite flavor so far.
Backlog:
Ginger is one of my favorite ingredients to have in a tea when the weather is cold. It warms me from the inside out. And the ginger here is really nice.
The light citrus-y note from the lemongrass adds a pleasant touch; a nice contrast to the peppery notes of the ginger. The green tea is sweet, slightly vegetal and a little creamy. It’s a cozy tea.
Here’s my full-length article: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/16/ginger-green-tea-from-teatulia/
Backlog:
The aroma is distinctly masculine: it’s strong and leather-y. The description of this tea says that it starts out light and smooth and has a brisk, full finish. I’d agree with that assessment.
It starts out almost delicate with notes of citrus (only smoother than a typical citrus tasting tea). It starts out bright and smooth. As the sip progresses, I noticed it morphing into more of a dessert-like tea. Rich, satisfying, and sweet! Notes of ripe peach and plum with a sweet, creamy undertone of caramel.
Lovely!
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/15/azores-shade-grown-orange-pekoe-ponta-branca-black-tea-from-what-cha-tea/
Backlog:
I think that this was my favorite of the different Teaveda teas that I’ve tried thus far. I really like the fruit notes. And even though this is a decaffeinated black tea, it doesn’t taste decaffeinated to me.
The black tea base is strong. It doesn’t have that thinned taste that decaffeinated teas often have. The fruit notes are also pleasantly strong. The black tea has pleasing notes of malt, and it’s a rich, robust tasting tea. Very satisfying.
The tropical fruit is tasty: pineapple is bright, passion fruit is sweet and luscious, as is the peach! Quite lovely, very summery. Here’s my full-length article: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/14/serenity-ayurvedic-tea-from-teaveda/
Backlog:
A delightful yerba mate blend. It’s a green yerba mate and it has a fresh taste. It’s very invigorating.
The cinnamon is warm and the cacao nibs add a really nice, rich taste of chocolate that I really liked. It’s a nice combination: an earthy, vegetal note from the green mate, the warmly spiced cinnamon and the bittersweet notes of cacao.
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/14/sweet-cinnamon-mate-tisane-from-because-ur-priceless/
