1473 Tasting Notes
Whittard of Chelsea sent this along with the rest of the samples offered to me! Yay!
That sentence is awkward, but I have fuzzy brain at the moment and I don’t care. I’m not an earl fan, but my wife is and she was very, very excited to try this. So was I, after smelling the dry leaf. Juicy, juicy mango with a citrus undertone.
My wife tried it first, and she let me know the bergamot wasn’t very strong, which gave me the courage to go after a cup tonight. It’s the lemony freshness of bergamot, but the mango smooths out the rough edges. This is lovely. I need to try it side-by-side with the Marquis De Gris from RiverTea and see how they compare, but I think I would prefer this one. I remember the bergamot being stronger in the other blend.
Don’t be frightened by the bergamot, this is a wonderful introduction to the flavor if you’ve never tried it.
Preparation
Another of the generous samples Whittard of Chelsea shared with me!
My favorite cider in the world is elderflower cider and as soon as I spotted this tea on their website, it flew onto my wishlist. It flew. For reals, people. Everything elderflower that I’ve ever had, I loved (most of it courtesy of IKEA), so I was so excited to try it. I love that it is individually packaged. I’m not a huge teabag fan, but when the bags come from a reputable company like Whittard, I’m willing to try them, I trust it to be more than just tea dust.
Loose leaf, this tea would knock my socks off. In a bag, it’s still pretty damn good. As far as bagged tea goes, this is wonderful. A little heavy on the hibiscus (seriously, why does berry tea always have to equal copious amounts of hibsicus) but I’ve long since learned how to deal with the dreaded hibby.
Still, this is a tea I plan to keep stocked in my purse and I can’t wait to coldbrew it. It smells really floral, but it’s only vaguely floral in flavor with a bright, tart berry. I definitely get the feeling of “blackberry” as opposed to a generic berry.
Points off for the 45% hibiscus and for the teabag, but this is still a winner!
Preparation
This is another generous sample given to me by Whittard of Chelsea. You guys rock!
As is my habit with drinking white teas, I gave this a low temp and short steep. The scent made me think of berries, but there are no berries or berry flavorings. Hmm. Oh well!
Even with a 30 second steep, this came out dark-ish for a white tea. It was enjoyable, rosey without being overly floral. Thank goodness, because florals are not my thing. Too often teas with rose in them taste like perfume or shampoo, but that is not the case here. I highly recommend this if you are looking for a good rose tea, because it is definitely that. I can’t wait to try this cold brewed.
That all said, rose teas are not my bag. It won’t be hard to drink this one down, because it is refreshing, but I won’t feel the need to restock.
Preparation
This is another of the seven generous samples Whittard of Chelsea sent me!
Genmaicha is one of those teas I always pass over when I’m buying tea, because I’m not a fan of greens. But then I go out for teppanyaki or sushi, get a cup of roasty, toasty goodness, and wonder why I don’t have any in my cupboard.
So when Whittard of Chelsea offered to send me some free samples, I thought this would be a good one to try, to see if I like it outside of my favorite sushi places!
And oh, I do. I added about half of the amount of sugar I usually add (1 lump instead of 2) and it tastes like a less-sugary cup of Sugar Crisp cereal! Which I love, love, love. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a green tea this much. It smells a touch seaweedy dry, but that doesn’t translate over to the liquor at all. It’s just roasty toasty goodness.
I don’t drink a lot of Genmaicha, but I like this more than I’ve ever liked anything I got in a sushi place. Of course, I don’t get to control the steeping parameters there like I do at home, so that might be part of it. Still, I am very glad to have this in my cupboard and will do everything I can to keep it well stocked!
Preparation
So a few weeks ago, Whittard of Chelsea contacted me to ask if I would be interested in trying and reviewing some of their teas! I was extremely honored and excited, so of course I said yes! I made a wishlist and sent it to them, but I also requested that they send me ones that are their favorites and I absolutely must try. This is one of seven extremely generous samples they sent to me. Based on my interactions here on Steepster alone, I would order from them in a heartbeat.
Onto the tea! I opened the package and took a deep sniff and immediately fell in love. I ran over and made my wife smell it too and ended up having to make two cups of tea instead of just one, ha! It just smells so deliciously fruity and juicy it made my mouth water.
And boy, did it live up to that smell. The rhubarb was delicious and the black tea base was present, but not overwhelming. It got astringent towards the end of the cup, but I drink my tea lukewarm, so that’s likely my fault. Still, my wife and I kept exclaiming “It’s so good!” as we drank down our cups. I got a hint of creaminess towards the end of the sip, but all three flavors mixed together wonderfully.
My grandmother-in-law makes a coconut rhubarb cream pie that my wife absolutely loves, so maybe I’ll break open a can of coconut milk to see if I can recreate that in tea form. I already have some coldbrewing in the fridge, I am dying to see how this does cold!
My only complaints would be towards the end of the cup, the black tea became astringent and the rhubarb began to taste artificial, but that may all have been user error.
Preparation
This is the second oolong from Davids I’ve had today, the other being Pineapple oolong. I have to say the base is extremely similar, I’m willing to bet it’s the same.
Anyway, this tea is okay. I don’t get any particular ginseng flavor, and the oolong isn’t blowing my socks off. I’m glad we only have a little sample of this left.
