3240 Tasting Notes
This is a strong cuppa tea for first thing in the morning, and it is exactly what Mike Harney wanted it to be. The store description is accurate. Remembering that I am NOT a big fan of assams but don’t object to them blended with other teas, I thought I would be hiding under a chair from this one. While it is strong, it is also civil. I added milk and sugar. There is a noticeable fruitiness – like the muscatel of a darjeeling. Not a bad tea, but my brekkie favorites are still Chinese keemun and Fujian province teas! I think I should also try it with a much shorter steep next time.
Preparation
Nice rose aroma – not sickeningly sweet but definitely right there in front of you. You don’t have to look for it too hard. I did, however, have to look really hard for the tea flavor. Maybe I let this sample get too old, but I just couldn’t taste tea! The rose scent and flavor were both very nice, but I would have liked to detect the base a bit more. Not bad, just didn’t ring any bells for me. Glad to have gotten to try it, though, especially since I ordered a sample of Harney and Sons Sally’s Secret which is rose and bergamot and I want to see how they compare!
Preparation
This one smells scary-strong in the package – almost grape dimetapp! But when steeped the berry flavor is just right. We took it without additions and the tea base has a nice natural sweetness to it. We enjoyed it, had fun trying it, but black currant by itself isn’t something I would crave. Maybe if I added just a little sweetener I would really crave it, but I still love Tower of London more!
Preparation
This was the second tea for the tea party/tasting today. As always, I am stunned by how rich and caramel-y this is – it actually SMELLS thick in the cup! It was delicious, as always!
A “favorite, absolutely can’t run out of this one” tea.
Preparation
Almost finished the generous sample sent to me by JacquelineM! This is my second time having Marco Polo. Somehow I was distracted the first time I drank it, and thought it was good tea. This time…aaaahhh. I paid attention to the reviewers who said to add sugar and milk or cream to really bring out the fresh bowl of berries taste. What a lovely, delicate treat! We now have a little Tuesday tea party with a 6 year old student, her 4 year old sister, and her mom. They loved this!
Preparation
Still have a sore throat, still can’t taste things the way I want. So tonight I brewed a pot of this, added a more than heaping helping of Tang (there! I said it! go ahead and judge me if you will!) and 15 twists of the cinnamon mill into each cup. Sore throat is somewhat mollified, vitamin C is in my system, and oh boy did I ever taste that last sip with the Tang and cinnamon grit at the bottom! Yee-ow!
Preparation
I shouldn’t have tried this on a day when I have a bad cold. It smells good, and I thought the spiciness was going to come bursting through the stuffiness and let me taste the tea, but alas! It was not to be! I can smell the cardamom and clove, and they smell so bracing and bright, but I can’t taste them much and that is probably the fault of my cold and not the tea. Because my tasting ability is off, readers should probably disregard this review if you want an accurate picture of how this tea tastes! I can’t even taste the black pepper that two others mentioned! Do I detect a citrus scent, or is that just the spice?
A friend from India gave me chai once and her recipe was very close to this one, but another Indian acquaintance was horrified at the thought of including black pepper in chai, so I guess the recipe varies widely by region. It smells really nice with this cold, so while I am not planning to drink it I do plan top cuddle the cup and sniff it!
Preparation
Still stuffy-headed. I can’t taste my tea!!! WAAAAH! And for some reason I just didn’t want my usual morning teas. I went for this one because it would be quick and easy. It is a very good tea, but I must say that Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme is my favorite Earl!
Preparation
It is a little chilly today. Breakfast at the tea table was extra special with the lovely aroma of this pure keemun to gently get me awake and moving. Sugar and milk added, as I always do at breakfast. A very nice cuppa to go with my cheese toast smeared with a little mustard. Does anyone else do that, or was that just something my mom did? It adds a nice little bite to your brekkie when you need it.
Preparation
I will have to try that! I love cheese toast – this will be a nice addition! Do you use a certain mustard? I was thinking a Dijon mustard would be good. I think toast is my favorite food :) Like tea and baths, toast makes a person feel better.
I just use French’s, but I’m sure lots of different ones would be delicious. As for tea, baths, and toast making people feel better, I could use some of each! I caught a bug and have a ferocious headache. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day…
I discovered a “gourmet” toast last night by experimenting - sourdough bread, almond butter, and a little brown sugar sprinkled on top.
My mom also made cinnamon toast, but not with that namby-pamby cinnamon sugar they sell in grocery stores! You buttered your bread, added a thick layer of brown sugar, a sprinkling of white sugar, and then cinnamon. Put it under the broiler until your brown sugar has made a crackly crust – it is practically a layer of candy on top of the toast now! Now THAT was cinnamon toast! (Mom wasn’t big into health foods! heehee!)
My grandmother was Italian – she would put Italian bread over the flames of the gas stove (because it was big and wouldn’t fit in the toaster) and that was toast when I was growing up! I learned about cheese toast and cinnamon sugar toast from novels and made my own on regular sliced bread from what I read in books!
