Kusmi Tea

See, to me, this is everything the tea Dorian Grey should have been, but isn’t. Caramel and bergamot. Berries, though not the apple it uses instead.

Picked up a single bag of this when SOKO started carrying it, because they didn’t have the mini tins. Have you seen the next size up? Those tins are HUGE. Might grab one anyways. I’m just used to 1-2oz.

Finishing up the rest of this sample! Bright and fruity, with sweet caramel. Not picking up any vanilla today. Would possibly consider getting this myself… Although I’d like to try every last Kusmi Russian blend I can get my hands on, first.

I make two-hour-long trips downtown for tea. And I did so again this time, for this little House Decoration store that I learned (through the internet) also sold Kusmi teas. I was planning on buying a bunch of their Russian blends (maybe even the whole Russian giftset), but she was mostly out of them. The ones she WASN’T out of, she had sold out of the tiny tins and only had the HUMONGOUS tins left. So she gave me samples of two, and I bought a third little tin.

This is one of the samples. Although she only gave me two teaspoons, so in order to conserve, I used a level teaspoon full, and 6 ounces of water.

It smells like bergamot and caramel, it tastes like red berries and vanilla. I’m also getting caramel on the tip of my tongue. I think this would benefit from a bit of sugar, as JacquelineM said, but I haven’t any and don’t feel like going upstairs to fetch some. Otherwise, the flavours are very subtle, but still very enjoyable.

I think I will have to get a tin of this, when they come back in stock.

Second steep has a stronger caramel note, followed by the fruit.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t invest in something indicated as “spicy,” but since it came in my sampler pack I decided to be bold and try it out.

I actually rather like this. The spice is a “cinnamon and cloves” kind of spicy, not an “Indian cuisine” kind of spicy. (Hey. I always expect the worst.) I don’t taste the chocolate too much, but it’s real subtle in the scent and aftertaste. And the leaves. The leaves are a bit sweeter-smelling than the tea itself.

It’s black tea with a little spicy kick. I approve. Another win from Kusmi!

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping tsp
Water: 500ml filtered 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot
This does not follow the website’s recommendation of 185°F-195°F for 3-4 min

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vanilla, lemon, citrus, black tea
Steeped Tea Smell: vanilla
Flavor: spiced vanilla black tea, a little astringent and bitter
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter, astringent, lemon
Liquor: translucent dark orange-brown

I bought this when I visited the Kusmi store in NYC, it’s a tiny tin part of the Russian sampler.

It could be my preparation method but i don’t like the bitterness and astringency, but the mix of vanilla and spices and citrus is interesting and has potential if I play with adding sugar and cream.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/09/kusmi-tea-loose-leaf-black-tea-prince.html

I’m having a cup of this thanks to a coworker who got a box from a student who traveled abroad. It’s a really really good cup of tea. I also happen to be drinking this after steeping in the muslin teabag that it came in. As far as teabags go this one is excellent!

For me the smell of chocolate is greater than the taste, and the spiciness is about the same in scent and flavor. There’s definite clove, though I’m not sure what else. It’s a rally nice dessert cup and I find myself wishing for more so that I could experiment with sweeteners and milks.

Finished this one up too yesterday. Delicious and fruity.

I made this tea for my boyfriend since he has a cold and sore throat. I also added lemon grass to it. To his small cup, I added a dash of honey. Mine I kept plain. Delicious. :)

The smell of the dry leaves is amazing! I’m a fan of bergamot, and this tea has a nice balance of flavors and green! The leaves look like gunpowder.

Once brewed, the liquor was a nice deep orange-yellow color. The smell was less intense but still delightful. The taste was great! I can imagine this can become bitter if brewed for too long or too high a temperature. It had a fruit aftertaste that lingered in my mouth. Delicious and it wasn’t strong either. :)

Sipdown no. 28 of 2017 (no. 309 total).

Drank the last bit of this cold brewed, which was quite interesting.

No. 2 drank some and said, “I can’t really taste the difference between teas, they all taste like water with some tea to me.”

I said, “Did you taste the pepper in this one?”

He said, “Oh yeah. Pepper. I tasted that.”

Now to find the next cold brew sip down candidate.

Cold-brewed, this produces a very interesting flavor.

It’s the pepper.

The pepper does a solo with the rest of the spices and tea as the backup band.

I really do love peppery chai hot. I’m not sure what I think about it cold yet. It might grow on me. I’m going to give it another shot. Right now, it’s just weird.

Made on the stovetop with Teavana English Breakfast (High Grown) as the extra black tea, just because it was close at hand having arrived as part of the tea of the month club for August while I was on vacation.

I haven’t made chai in forever, it seems. I forgot how much I like it. To me, it’s really a comfort food instead of a drink. I’m wondering how this one will turn out.

This mix says it has six spices in it, but declines to be more specific. Let’s guess, shall we? A few are easy to discern. There are big honking whole cloves in this mix, as well as green cardamom pods, and a light brown bark-like substance that is probabably cinnamon though it could also be ginger, I suppose. There are also some broken, crispy green leaves that look suspiciously like bay leaves though I somehow doubt that’s what they are. And there is an aroma of anise or fennel though I don’t see anything that looks like anise seeds in here.

Then I cheated and looked it up on Amazon, where the full product description is far less coy than it is even on the Kusmi web site: cardamom, ginger, laurel, cinnamon, anis seed, and cloves. The green must be laurel. Guess what? I looked up laurel and one form of it is the source of bay leaves!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Laurel

Am I good or what? ;-) This is a different mix than any I’ve had before and also missing pepper, which completes me if I am a chai. I’m skeptical about how I’ll feel about the taste, given the lack of pepper. I am prepared for this to be a rather mild chai, based on past experience with Kusmi flavors.

The flavor has more of a black tea flavor than I’d expected, but I’m going to attribute this to the Teavana addition and move on. There’s just a hint of the anise, not enough to make it taste like licorice, which I’m thankful for. I get a fair amount of cardamom, a bit of ginger, not a lot of cinnamon. Whatever function the bay leaves are serving is not immediately apparent to me. It isn’t converting the gingerbready effect of chai into something savory in any case. If I really concentrate, I can make out a bit of bay leaf like flavor around the edges. But for the most part it is probably there to boost the flavor of something else in a way that isn’t obvious.

I’d say this tastes almost exactly as I expected. It isn’t at all spicy, there’s no kick to it. I like it better than some of the other milder chais just because I find the flavor a bit more interesting. It’s been a long time since I had the GM Kashmiri Chai. I really should have some of that soon to compare. I’m not sure whether I like this better or not, primarily because I can’t remember the GM well enough.

BTW, my Brita pitcher recently began to insist on growing something that looks like algae. I washed it well, changed filters. Algae again. I washed it really, really, really well and am waiting to see if it grows more algae. Anyone else had this happen? Is there a solution or should I buy a new one?

(Note seems to no longer be available online)

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp, 12.2g
Water: 750ml filtered 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: potpourri, floral, citrus, spicy
Steeped Tea Smell: cardamom, pepper
Flavor: black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: spice
Liquor: translucent dark brown

This tea smells spicy, and when you start to sip you only taste the black tea, but as you swallow you are hit with a melody of spices.

I don’t not like the tea, but I really don’t like the tea either. It’s almost a chai flavor but lacking some of the homey spices that would make it my kind of chai.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/08/kusmi-loose-leaf-black-tea-sweet-love.html

After making a huge stovetop pot of traditional chai (using President’s Choice) for everyone in my family, I decided I needed to follow it up with something a little bit more mellow.

I opened this tin to find that I’ve only about a teaspoon and a half left, and was a little surprised at how sad this made me. Not to mention, I haven’t a clue what to do with the tin after save covering it with white tape or something so that I may reuse it for another tea.

As I took my first sip, I realized how much I would miss this tea. I believe I got it from AmazonV’s art contest? I think I’ll have to go and buy more. It’s not a love relationship, but it’s like a Lady Grey. And it’s very nice to relax with. Light and cheery and citrusy. It’s a little drying, but I keep sipping it.

Edit: Decided to throw the last half a teaspoon of fanning dust in with the second steep of this, to give it a little boost and to allow me to decupboard it.

Sipping this sweet, bright earl grey, and adding tea to my cupboard.

I chose this one today with the Tea Randomizer again (as I have been doing for the past several days—I’ve just forgotten to log them). And I think something’s wrong with my tongue, because I’m not tasting very much. My mouth just feels dry. Ick. Still, I can taste the bergamot, and something slightly lighter and sweeter.

Finally got my Life in Teacup samples in today. It always takes no less than two weeks for things to get to me. Canada, you know. But they’re here and I’m happy! Although I hate that I was already in the process of making this tea when I noticed I had mail. I should have waited on the tea a few extra minutes so I could have made one of these. Ahwell. Tomorrow!

Smells like an earl grey, although brighter, a bit—I think I can pick out the sweetness of the mandarin orange. But there’s also a strong tea smell in there as well, which I like.

FIrst sip… Is tea and mandarin, actually. The mandarin is very mild, but it’s the first of the citruses to pop out at me.

As it cools, I’m getting the bergamot. No orange anymore. It’s devolved! Aaaah!

I keep telling myself to wait, and let it cool more, so I can make a few notes on the changing flavour, but I keep sipping it hot.

The mandarin’s slipping back in, as an aftertaste on the edge of my tongue. This is a very mild, afternoon sort of tea, I think. I enjoy earl greys, but I don’t think I have the palate to pick this apart like many Grand Earl Grey Drinkers (which I’m sure exist!). Still, I love earl grey variations. Mmm. Bit of a drying astringency in there as well.

I’m giving this a tentative rating, a “I’m not sure what my opinion is yet, this will probably change; let’s put it above this, but below this for now, because that looks safe”.

Also, this is my first Kusmi Tea! I was so happy to find it amongst the others, because I’ve been very interested in trying Kusmi. Especially their Russian blends. I want to collect ALL of their Russian blends, but can’t bring myself to flood my Shopping List with them. I’ve found a store downtown that is supposed to sell them, so I may be getting more soon.

Second steep has a stronger orange taste. Weaker tea and bergamot, so it pokes through more.

I like it – it is quite pleasant. Not over the top wow good but very solid. The flavors are subtle – the bergamot/citrus is muted but there.

I spent Saturday fighting with a vintage knitting pattern, and the pattern won :( A whole day’s work had to be ripped out. I needed something sweet and wonderful to soothe me, and this tea came right to mind. Sweet, yes, but also complex and rich, and GOOD. Satisfying enough to have plain, yet feel like you were having the most delicious dessert. Ahhh – that’s better.

(and after sleeping on it, I got back on the horse and made friends with the pattern. All is well :)

Angrboda was kind enough to send me some of this tea! It was quite a surprise too! I’m still feeling amazed and so grateful!! :) It was sure a delicious surprise. I l-o-o-o-o-v-e caramel and I love Kusmi, so I did not waste a second and hurried to the kitchen to make a pot of this for my husband and I. It smelled so. good. in the package!!

The first thing that struck me was how multidimensional the caramel was. It was smooth, chewy, that under layer of burnt richness yet somehow sweet. The second thing that struck me was how wonderfully it interacted with the tea base. Again, smooth kept coming to mind. Even my husband said “Gosh this tea is good!”

Totally my favorite caramel I’ve tried so far. Kusmi nailed this one. I wouldn’t change a thing.