652 Tasting Notes
1 TB fpr 450 mL water, bare.
Oh, MY. Very like the the Black Needle Yunnan that Stash also carries, only maltier, and with a heavier body. Not as much peppery-ness but more honey-like sweetness. A very, very slight creamy-smoky note.
Smoooooth. No atringency. Really good.
Preparation
1 TB for 450mL water, plus 1 packet of stevia (eqiv. of 2 tsp white sugar)
Sweet and spicy. Very warming, as I’ve said before. I love the additions of cloves and citrus oil in this blend. Excellent for a head cold … and to take to a satsuma-scented bubble bath. A good red rooibos base — none of that woody or minty garbage.
Preparation
1 scant TB for 450mL water, bare.
Musky, smoky, peppery. As I’ve said before, an excellent black needle Yunnan. I hoard this one a bit, as ordering from Stash in Oregon, US, gets expensive — nearly $15.00 in shipping alone to Canada — so I order a lot at once. My favourite Yunnan. Dancing tastebuds here this morning.
Preparation
Even cooled off, it’s still delicious. Honey and floral notes now.
Notes on a second steep …
I never used to steep tea more than once. That comes from snobbiness, ignorance, and bad experience in re-steeping low quality tea. Lately, after experimenting with some oolongs, and after a good hard look at my bank balance, I am re-steeping much more often. Some teas and tisanes re-teep better than others, of course.
This Black Needle offering from Stash will lose a lot of pepper and musk, but a second steep is still delicious and refreshing — much more mineral this time round, as I think I’ve noted before, and a bit more earth.
“Expensive” tea can, of course, be quite economical.
1 TB for 450 mL water, 1 scant tsp white sugar.
My beloved Super Chocolate is STILL unavailable from the DavidsTea site. It’s been three months now!
A dear friend recently visited Halifax-Dartmouth, where there’s a bricks-and-mortar DavidsTea, and brought me back a packet. I am sipping the second infusion now. Not as much chocolate or cocoa taste in this batch, but plenty of green rooibos and a bit of cinnamon. I can see what DavidsTea wants to re-formulate this blend a bit — if only to make it consistent from batch to batch. It’s always been good, though. (I wish they’d hurry up!) Delicious and refreshing and a bit sweet. Excellent evening tisane. Love.
Preparation
Agreed! I haven’t had it from multiple batches, but I need more.
I er, um, well, knew I was getting bags from different batches because, well, er, I ordered SC in 250g bags. (Those big bags might last me 6 weeks.) And then I’d have kind friends buy me some from stores. Subtle differences between some of the big 250g bags and the bricks-and-mortar blends. Relative freshness might play a role there, too.
PLEASE, DT, hurry up with the Super Chocolate. I’ve got 25 (!) grams right now, each TB getting steeped twice. A sweet friend is going to get me $20 worth the next time she’s near a DT store, but we’re not sure when that might be … I’m convinced I feel better after knocking back this particular rooibos blend.
Wow! I knew you liked this tea, but didn’t realize how much.
My store has never carried Super Chocolate as it opened in December. They don’t even know what I’m talking about when I ask after it. But if other stores still have it I should try to make it to another location. If I luck out, I’d be happy to send a bit your way!
You sweetheart. Thank you for thinking of me!
I e-mailed DT today. They tell me that Super Chocolate is expected back in stock mid-April.
I was drinking 4 – 6 450mL mugs of SC per day. I drank it instead of water.
I just saw a post stating that Super Chocolate should be back this week or next at latest. Hooray!
REJOICE!
1 heaping TB for 450mL water, bare.
It’s baa-aacck!
My local tea shop, Britannia Teas and Gifts, had run out of this blend for a while, but I found it again on Tuesday. Immediately bought 100 grams. At $11.75 CAD per 100 grams, it’s not a cheap tea, but, being fair trade (yay), organic, and totally delicious, it’s well worth every penny. (Imagine, tea-pickers being paid half-decent wages. It has got to be back-breaking work. Big salute to all tea-pickers this morning! Big salute, too, to the estates which look after their workers properly.)
As I’ve said many times before: a thoroughly excellent black tea blend. Creamy, malty, a wee bit smoky. Never bitter. Cream and heft from what tastes like a really good 2nd flush Assam. (I am guessing here.) Lots of Chinese black tea smoothness, mostly likely from a goodly dose of Keemun. Tiny “bite” of what tastes to me like Ceylon, but the bite is not astringent — it sparkles. Bright and deep, this tea comforts and fortifies.
Seriously, this one is worth ordering. Britannia Teas will ship. http://www.britanniateas.ca/
(Full disclosure: no, I do not work for Britannia Teas. The owner is a friend of mine, and we’ve become even better friends over the last few years, and over many different teas, but I would not recommend her stock, and the effort of ordering it, if I did not think it exceptional.)
Being out of this tea was a loss. I am delighted to have my tin full again.
Preparation
2 TB for 125 mL gourd, 1 tsp white sugar.
Oooh ohhh ah ah ah!
This tisane is so uttterly unique, and such a refreshing change from tea. I LOVE tea, but this coffee-laced mate, which I also love, renews my palate for tea. And it delivers sweeter, cleaner and steadier buzz than just coffee when sipped from a gourd.
Preparation
1 TB per 500mL pot.
A twiggy oolong with gorgeous, varieated leaves. Not detecting any of the fruity notes Formosa Oolongs sometimes boast. This one brings to mind tobacco more than peaches. The leaves are not tightly rolled. It’s a bit temperamental and needs a careful steep. I like it, but I like my Ti Kuan Yin better.
Re-steep: like the Black Needles, mineral and earth notes, plus a subtle aftertaste of dark honey,