1548 Tasting Notes
This came from a Twinings herbal sampler box that somebody left on the counter next to the water dispenser. It’s newer but called Bedtime Blend. Did Twinings switcheroo the names again?
I don’t know that I could tell the difference between this and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime.
Flavors: Chamomile, Herbal, Lemongrass, Meadow, Spearmint, Sweet, Tangy
Preparation
Smells like red jello and vitamins, tastes sweet-tart. This one’s too sharp for me. The pomegranate flavor is pretty spot on, though. I like Twinings Holiday Berry better. It has more of a darker red fruits flavor. I also seem to be in the minority for not liking this tea.
Flavors: Acidic, Artificial, Bright, Floral, Pomegranate, Red Fruits, Rosehips, Sweet, Tart
Preparation
Tastes like strawberry jello liquid with a little something extra. Not too sour. Strong aroma. I’m not particularly fond of these kind of hibiscus-based strawberry jello liquid teas but for those that like this “red fruit” flavor profile, I do recommend. Hehe.
Flavors: Acidic, Artificial, Berries, Fruity, Jam, Pleasantly Sour, Red Fruits, Sweet, Syrupy
Preparation
I was editing my review for this tea to add a few tasting notes. While I had the pop-up window open, I accidentally swiped right or left on my touchpad and that deleted any history of my review. Except I can see that a “review”# still exists in the admin site but the accompanying “note”# is gone. I wonder what is the difference between a “review” and a “note” in Steepster’s programming.
So to anybody who swears they’ve reviewed a tea but “Steepster ate the note”, this might be how it happened.
Boo >:<
Flavors: Almond, Astringent, Beer, Broth, Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Camphor, Caramel, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Citrusy, Cocoa, Geranium, Grapefruit, Honey, Juicy, Lavender, Lemon, Lemongrass, Malt, Malty, Oak, Oily, Peanut, Rose, Rye, Salty, Soft, Tannin, Tea, Vanilla, Wood
Looks like the ingredients for this have changed since I last had it. It now contains ginger rhizome, ginger rhizome essential oil granules, moringa leaf, turmeric rhizome, caraway fruit, cinnamon bark, ginger extract. That’s a big difference compared to the old formula with ginger rhizome, blackberry leaf, stevia leaf and lemon myrtle leaf.
I like it better now but I like turmeric. That’s about all I taste — ginger and turmeric, none of the other stuff. It’s spicy and rooty but not overwhelmingly so. Thin. Came in handy this past week at work when I felt like hot garbage.
Flavors: Ginger, Roots, Spicy, Thin, Turmeric
Pagoda Tree flower buds. Very interesting! The brew smells savory like marinated then grilled skirt steak and a dash of cocoa with soft cinnamon? The tea is a golden color, sweet and thick and creamy with some background complementary astringency. Very floral perfumey and nectarous — they are flower buds after all. Nutty like sesame-honey candies. Then a flash of that cola flavor. It feels very warm going in but then this most excellent cooling feeling emerges and lingers long with the perfume and natural nutty sweetness.
I never prepare Verdant’s teas according to their parameters because they’re so generic but this time I did. 5g to 8oz, 175F for 20s. This turned out very well in a glass mug with glass infuser. Steeping the second cup now for 30s.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Cocoa, Cola, Cooling, Creamy, Floral, Honey, Nectar, Nutty, Perfume, Sesame, Sweet, Thick
Preparation
5g of flower buds is a lot. Made 3 cups last night and still going this morning. I will switch up the brewing parameters to see how little material I can use to make a brew that tastes as good as this first attempt. It tastes so much like something that I can’t quite figure out. Honey-nut-cinnamon-cocoa-floral something.
A nice Nepali black, though I’m having difficulty bringing out its full potential. A lower temperature than normal for black teas – 185F – seems to do it well.
Sweet and nutty nose of chocolate-covered peanuts. It’s darker in tone than the Annapurna Black Beauty. Astringent but smooth. Not particularly sweet; rather, it’s malty-nutty-earthy and tangy with rounded flavors and a touch of cream. I like this as a post-breakfast tea to cut grease but it’s not so bold that I could enjoy it with a meal.
Thanks for sharing, Martin!
In other news, it’s hella storming and a section of our front fence was destroyed early this morning by a fallen power pole in the corner of our yard. It missed my neighbor’s truck parked on the street by about 6 inches. Lucky guy!
Also, I’ve pretty much adopted one of the semi-feral backyard cats since Sophia passed last year. She’s a small grey and white firecracker of sweetness. President of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee. Responds to “Dora”. She’s a ratter and a bugger and also sadly a birder — Kiki said she brought in a hummingbird the other day. But I love her so.
Flavors: Astringent, Bergamot, Bread, Chocolate, Citrusy, Cocoa, Cream, Earthy, Geranium, Honey, Juicy, Malt, Nutty, Peanut, Round, Smooth, Tangy, Wood
Preparation
Glad that damage was only material and neighbor’s truck is fine. Also, saved cat is always a good thing :)
I wish I could’ve gotten this Nepali black tea to work for me since Martin esteems it highly.
It’s a very high-pitched aroma tea for me with lots of red berry and citrus; deeper notes of malt, leather and cocoa. The taste is less sharp but still tangy-citrusy and malty, also salty and peanutty. Overall, rather tonal. I love that it makes my mouth water but a soapy aftertaste kind of kills it for me.
Thanks, Martin! On to the next Nepali black :)
Flavors: Berries, Citrus, Citrusy, Cocoa, Dust, Grilled Food, Hay, Leather, Malty, Meat, Osmanthus, Peanut, Red Fruits, Salty, Soap