606 Tasting Notes
After the last three weeks that I’ve had, I don’t care how messy the house is, I don’t care that the dishes need to be done, I don’t care what needs to be put away… I’m stopping and trying to do my second ever gong fu steeping. Three weeks ago, I had my first ever kidney stone, then a bladder infection because of it, then a head cold. Also in the time, my husband’s grandfather’s lady friend (Girlfriend I guess?) went into hospital for health concerns. While she was there, husband’s grandpa had a stroke and is in there too. She doesn’t know he’s there though as they don’t want to stress her out. Also, my own brother fell off a ladder at his house where he was doing roof repair and broke his femur really bad. They had to get an ambulance to the hospital where they were transfered to a different one a half hour away. Now thankfully he’s already moving as they did emergency surgery, but it was very scarey for a bit.
That’s all on top of the fact that my own gramma had hip surgery mid-october and my father-in-law had knee surgery just before that. Thankfully they are both doing so good.
So anyways, I need to stop and do something that I really love and drink some tea! My munchkin is exhausted after his first ever playgroup this morning so now is the perfect time.
Off I go.
I’ve done a few steeps already and so far my main flavour that I get is roastiness. and some nutty as well. Third steep in I’m getting just the faintest amount of sweetness in the back of my cheeks.
I definitely understand why one would want to use a small gaiwan for a single person doing this as I’m having a hard time finishing each steep as it seems to be a lot of tea for one person. Also, I’m not very good at timing each steep, which is something I need to watch as a few times I have over steeped a bit because the tea is almost too strong or too roasted for my liking. I’m having a moment right now where I’m suddenly realizing how much this is reminding me of Nepal Black from davidstea. It just has a few qualities that are similar, which will have to be one of the next gaiwan sessions I try.
I thought by now the leaves would be completely opened up but they aren’t I’m not sure sure if I’m not steeping long enough or what, but i’m on steep… 5-7 (can’t remember..) and they are still pretty tight.
Alright, I’m going to wrap this up for now. I’m mostly getting roasted with a hint of nuts. If I get anything else I will add to this note, otherwise that’s my general thoughts of this tea. and everything else that’s going on.
So, last year I believe it was, Davidstea had a gingerbread tea that I was so in love with. I think I have enough for one more latte. That’s what I did with that tea. All 100g was enjoyed in latte form. Yummmmmmmm Thankfully I only use 2 perfect spoons for my lattes so it lasted for a bit longer.
Anyways, I am super excited for the as it smells almost the exact same to me! The only thing I don’t like is that it has mate in it! Why couldn’t we just have it as a rooibos that way I had something to enjoy in the evenings? Sad panda…
Now that I’ve tried it… it is so much like last year’s that I’m in love. I won’t know for sure until I made a latte with it, but it’s seems pretty much the same Yumm!! Just the mate this year would make it slightly different.
Either way, I hopefully will enjoy my 100g
Really looking forward to trying this! I don’t mind mate, but I agree I think this one should have been just rooibos cause I prefer my lattes to be caffeine free as well.
Yeah I definitely think it would have been fine without the mate. I don’t mind some caffeine in my lattes, but sometimes I want one after dinner and my list of options caffeine free after dinner is so small.
I drink mostly caffeine free stuff (1-2 cups of green tea in the morning then herbals/rooibos and occasionally decaf green for the rest of the day) and for lattes I use 4 perfect spoonfuls (10tsp!) of leaf so if my lattes have caffeine I would have the jitters and my belly might hurt :(. So for this tea I’ll probably never end up making it into a latte due to too much caffeine
Again, first time I tried this one it was well overleafed. I’m trying again in the hopes that I like it better now. Which it seems I do.
This one almost smells like bubblegum to me. I’m kind of confused by this one, but that’s okay. It almost reminds me of Bubbie’s Backlava from last year. It’s sweet and fruity but with some spice. It’s pretty good! I definitely like this one better now. But it tastes really like bubblegum to me. I don’t know why… haha oh well!
Well this one is exactly what it says it us. Lemon and ginger. It’s citrus with some spice. Not my favourite, but okay. It’s good for someone with a cold which is what I Have… lucky me
First time trying this one. I do wish this one had a bit of a stronger peach flavour, but oh well. It’s not too bad, but I’m not sure if I would get this one again. Again the tea is lovely and enjoyable, but I do with that the peach was stronger.
Edit: It’s lukewarm now and I have to say it almost seems like the peach flavour has come out a bit more, which doesn’t make any sense to me, but whatever. I like it. I want to try this one iced!
Holy chocolate batman! I made this one into a latte and apparently made it much too strong! Oh my. I didn’t notice the orange as much, but the chocolate was definitely there. Oh my… This isn’t one of my favourite teas to begin with so in some ways it doesn’t surprise me that I was kind of… not sure about this as a latte? It’s not bad, but not amazing. I dunno.
Not a tea for me… But it has a nice banana flavour and there is definitely a nut taste to it, but I’m not much for banana stuff unless it’s just straight up a banana or banana bread.
Either way, it was a good tea but I probably won’t buy any as I don’t really think I’d be the type to grab for this one.
The first time I had this one I didn’t care for it, but I think it was much overleafed. So today I’m trying it again with a three minute steep and only a perfect spoon in my mug. It’s grassy with a lovely almond flavour. I probably could have let it steep 30 more seconds, but I’m glad I tried it for less. This tea has a nice flavour. Almost like an amaretto but not as sweet unless you were to sweeten it. I would be intrigued to try this iced.
Tea judging. And I don’t mean critiquing. I mean judging. Making someone feel like they are absolutely crazy for liking a certain tea because you yourself don’t like it. I have experienced that in the last few days. And for some reason it’s really bothering me. I had someone look at me like I had a third eye for commenting that I liked a certain chai tea. They couldn’t believe that I could like it. And it got me to thinking. This isn’t the first time that this person has done this. Normally I would shrug it off, but it’s really gotten me to thinking. I’m sure they don’t mean any harm by it, it’s probably just a more… shock than anything, but at the same time, I have to wonder… do I do that?
I love tea. And I have for years now and for many different reasons. I have my favourites and I have the ones that I hate. I know there are ingredients that I don’t like and ones that I do.
But when I find something I don’t like, I think I try to avoid sounding as though I’m judging the person for liking that tea. There maybe times that I am shocked, but I think overall I don’t. Or at least I don’t mean to. It’s funny how different everyone’s tastes truly are. We all have our own opinions and likes and dislikes and really it’s not up to us to make others feel weird or bad for liking certain teas. It’s just one of those things. Everyone’s tastebuds are different.
So, to go along with that, I do like this tea, but I think I made it a bit too strong for my tastes today. I’m still going to drink the cup probably ‘cause it’s not that bad but I probably won’t make another one of this today.
I think in my case, rather than shock or even perhaps in addition to shock, it is curiosity. I really do want to know what exactly this person likes and how this person perceives the various flavours of the tea. But, hey, different things work for different people.
I hear you. I’m definitely in a niche group here on steepster, since I mostly drink herbal and decaf tea. I also really appreciate the convenience of bagged tea. So I have a mixture of bagged and loose teas and more herbals than not. I feel like this puzzles a lot of people around here.
My taste buds are off today. I have my four wisdom teeth out yesterday and today I’m attempting tea. haha I actually feel really good. I had no pain yesterday whatsoever, which makes me really happy. Today I’ve got a little bit but it’s more of a sore jaw then pain from the incisions. I’ve taken an advil to see if it’ll help. I probably should have taken two.
Anyways, so I decided that this was the tea to have as I can’t eat too much yet. Lots of pudding, yogurt and soups… and I’m going to attempt scrambled eggs and a soft tea biscuit if I can make myself mix them up and bake them.
So, I am having a hard time getting all the flavours from this one like I was hoping. I really wanted to taste the buttery-ness to this one as that’s what drew me to it. I wanted something with that taste because frankly I’m so hungry and want something, anything that is of substance. haha Either way, I’m not really getting the buttery, but rather the straw flavour from this one. There might be a hint of butter or something…
Like I said, my tastebuds are off today, but that’s okay. I’ll eat something, I’ll continue to heal and life will continue to be good. My baby is coming home early today (he was suppose to be at my mom’s until this evening, but she’s not sure how to keep him entertained I guess so she’s bringing him back.) I’m not too upset though. It’s been more than 24hours since I’ve seen him, so I miss him and I’m sure he does too. :)
Ohhhh my goodness…you enjoy that tea. You deserve it.
:) Thanks!
Yeah it’s been a tough last bit. I’m just praying things go up from here. I’m sure they will.
I pray so as well for you!
Thanks :)
Goodness! May all the outcomes be positive ones for you and yours.
Oh my! When it rains, it pours. Definitely saying some prayers for things looking up and up and up!
Wow! That’s definitely a deluge! Rest, breathe!