7 Tasting Notes
My friend and I both got teas from this Sherlock series, and I was surprised when HER selection, Mycroft, turned out to be hands-down my favorite tea of all time. (She ended up switching with me, kindhearted lass that she is!) This is my unexpected perfect tea—sometimes I just open up the bag and give it a whiff in passing, which speaks for how much I love it. It’s spicy and warm-feeling from the chai element, and the chocolate gives it a crazy body. There are whole bits of orange peel, and drinking a cup of this feels a bit like drinking citrus chocolates. Awesome plain, but better with cream and a bit of sugar to make it really desserty.
I’m participating in a sleep deprivation study (oy! It is now 6 in the morning, and I’ve been awake for two hours against my will =D), and as we’re not allowed to have any caffeine my lovely friend bought us some herbal tea to get us through the morning. I have to say, so far I am not a fan of Passion. I’m a little surprised since the ingredients are so lovely, and it is such a beautiful tea, but it’s a bit like drinking straight lemon juice—unbelievably sour and puckery. However, reading these notes makes me start to think that this is more my fault than the tea’s. As others have said, it’s strong, strong stuff—it turns the water purple in just a moment or two and packs a real flavor wallop. I get into the habit of leaving the bag in while I drink herbals because usually herbal for me means mint—and you just can’t overbrew mint. This, clearly, you can overbrew. In addition, honey would mellow this out a great deal. As I don’t have access to honey, I’m going to go brew another cup with some sugar and a shorter steeping time, and we’ll see if this gets a revised review =)
Preparation
This is pretty darn yummy stuff =) To me, it seems very subtle; I don’t know if this is because they’re old leaves (this is a hand-me-down from a friend) or because it’s just a subtle cup of tea. Very lightly flavored. The smell and the taste blossom in a lovely way over the steeping, from a nutty aromy and taste to slightly more grassiness as the pouchong taste comes out. Very light. The smell is toasted coconut, the sip is nice, delicate green flavor, and the aftertaste is really all coconut again. Lovely! =D
A friend gave me a bag of these leaves recently and I’m very pleased she did! I’m on the lookout for really intensely citrusy earl grey teas, and this has a nice citrus flavor with great Earl Grey depth. You have to watch it because it can turn bitter pretty quickly—for that reason, I don’t love this tea as much as some others I’ve tried.
This is really delicious tea!! It tastes like sweet cream with the depth of Earl Grey. Very caramelly. I drank it recently on my first quest to Tealuxe and selected it as part of my endeavor to find very citrusy Earl Greys. This wasn’t exactly what I was looking for…but it is delicious!! Be careful not to overbrew it, because bitterness is unpleasant in this.
This is my favorite tea, and I drink it constantly when I’m at home. I’ve only ever drunk the bagged, but I’m considering getting a tin of loose shipped over. As for the bagged: it’s just light, sweet and interesting. A lot of citrus and a great aroma. In my experience, it is nearly impossible to overbrew the bagged version with not-too-hot water. You can leave the bag in indefinitely without any bitterness.
