SpecialTeas
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Okay, Nougatine is just a fun word to say. Sounds like something that would be on the grocery shelf right by the Nutella and the Marmite.
Nougatine is also fun to smell. Fruity-sweet; if it were a bit stronger, it would make awesome potpourri.
Trying an experiment this afternoon. I made a single-serve pot, heavy on the dry mix and steeping time (10 full minutes). The hibiscus in it hits you first—gotta love it or gotta hate it—but the vanilla and lavender and almond leaves this wonderful pastry sweetness on your tongue in between sips.
Also have a mason jar steeping on the front porch of Shabby House for sun tea. Since the hot tea steeping time has to be so long, I’ll have to let it go till sundown and see how the iced version comes out tomorrow.
It is so sad that specialTeas.com was taken over by Teavana… now this blend (called Almond Biscotti Black) is more than double the price.
It’s so sad when tea goes up without a good reason – I understand when certain tea is harder to get or make because of particular ingredients but when it’s that a company comes in or the same company just raises the price it can make an otherwise wonderful tea suddenly taste just a little less nice.
I was looking for a strong breakfast tea this morning…. Man, this one will put hairs on your chest for sure! I probably over steeped, and did not even consider adding milk before I dumped it (which is a shame, because I needed the tea for morning clarity to think of the milk first….). This is for the Irish Breakfast lovers on a day they want something stronger! And perhaps it is a good thing this one is not a love, as SpecialTeas is no more.
Thank you to Batrachoid for the sample and reminding me that I am pretty soft when it comes to tea! I like mine smooth enough to forgo the milk. I might just resteep this, for the sake of scientific experimentation, and I will remember the milk!
Preparation
I tried the one from Harney and Sons and it was pretty good. It wasn’t too terribly strong, but was in the vein of Irish Breakfast as you say. I think maybe the particles were not as small? But I agree, strong assams make my tummy rumble and I like a tea that is good straight, even if I do add milk and sugar in the mornings!
This tea has changed my opinion on Darjeeling. I had a sample of a 2nd flush, where the flavor was brash and bitter and in your face. I wasn’t a fan. Then this one is FLORAL! The dry tea smells and tastes like what daisies would taste like. I can’t rate it since I don’t feel like I know what Darjeeling is yet. The varieties at tea shops does overwhelm me, from the initials given after the estate of the tea, to which flush it is. It’s very diverse.
I wasn’t sure this was a black tea, but on the package it says black tea, but the tea’s appearance looks white tea like.
Thank you Doulton for a sample of this tea.
I almost rejected the whole Darjeeling tea category, but now I am interested what else it offers
Preparation
Smells heavenly; disappointingly hibiscusy. Just had a small sample, so I’m chilling it and adding a bit of grenadine syrup to see if I can camouflage the tartness.
(MUCH better after overnight in the fridge with a generous dose of grenadine, but now it’s more like HI-C with no tea-ishness to it at all.)
Preparation
I’ve decided I don’t like the mouthfeel that coconut gives teas. It’s so smooth it’s nearly oily. I love the way this blend smells, but it is too much like the Harney and Sons green tea with thai flavors that I already have. Meh. Not bad, not great, but drinkable.
Preparation
About 3 teaspoons to a 2-cup teapot. It’s thick, as though there ought to be cocoa in it, and there’s a little sediment drifting to the bottom of the cup, as though there ought to be cocoa in it, and there’s maybe a hint of chocolate, as though there ought to be cocoa in it…but mostly I’m just getting the cream. May have to doctor it with milk to see if it coaxes the chocolate out of hiding.
Sounds like the cocoa is a bit shy!
Or obstinate, like Lucky, my mother-in-law’s bad-tempered cat. (I almost wrote “bad-tempered mother-in-law’s cat.” Nothing like a misplaced modifier. Oops!)
Creamy-tasting tea doesn’t sound too bad!
It’s very similar to Adagio’s Cream … but if that’s what you’re wanting, go with Adagio.
Did you add any sugar to the cup? I have found that this helps lure the flavors out of hiding.
I never think of adding sugar since I’m not a habitual sweetener. You’re right. That probably would have helped.
Just a little sugar (or other sweetener such as honey or agave nectar, artificial sweeteners like splenda don’t really do the trick) usually encourage a flavored tea’s flavoring to come out and play… and you don’t really even need a lot of it. I’ve often used the analogy that it’s like salt with food, a little bit of salt when you’re cooking doesn’t really make the food taste salty, it just helps the food taste like itself. This is the case with sugar in tea. A little bit, and it doesn’t taste overly sweet, it just helps the flavors come out.
I’ve been reading a lot about other steepsterites doing chai in the traditional way, and I had some Masala Chai I hadn’t tried yet, so hey – perfect!
The scent of the leaves was pop-you-in the face amazing. Very, very spicy, very strong. Yum! I love strong flavors, strong spices, and this looked to be a good experiment.
Boiled the leaf, added the milk, let it rest, all the while almost wanting to lick the air because it smelled so good. Then, finally, it was done, and it was time to drink.
Warm, creamy, sweet milk with.. um.. hey! Where’d my chai go?
I must have not added enough chai, because while it was very tasty, it was a very wussy taste. I think of Chai as powerful and strong, and the leaves smelled that way. So I’m leaving off the rating until I try it again. (I used Lena’s recipes from here http://steepster.com/discuss/25-chai which said 2 heaping spoons. I added 2.5 heaping teaspoons. Should that be tablespoons? I always think of tea in teaspoons, so I may have flubbed this. Any suggestions?)
Preparation
I would try increasing it by one heaping teaspoon each time you make it until you get it to your taste. If it was really weak, maybe start with two :)
I guess it all depends on the strength of the chai you are working with. I usually keep the ratios relatively equal. If it’s still not strong enough switch to tablespoons! :)
An interesting tea that has the scent of a floral Oolong, but also has a mild woody green character on the tongue. It’s not really distinctive or robust, but it’s good if you’re not expecting it to give a stronger Oolong style experience.
