Popular Tasting Notes
For a tea so evil, it tastes so good.
It smells really great in the bag. Once you take a sip the ginger practically explodes on your tongue. Further drinking lessens the ginger and you start to taste some of the other spices in the Masala Chai. Cinnamon is one of them, and cloves too. The cloves and the ginger work to leave a pleasantly herby and tingly aftertaste at the end of each sip.
I can imagine this tastes great with honey, sugar, milk, or even a dash of Bailey’s Irish Cream. Like Mycroft, I can imagine that this would make a great desert tea, but in a different way. If Mycroft is a chocolate cake, Moriarty is a gingersnap. If you wanted to enhance the effect, I’d even go so far as to say add a bit of fresh ginger to your desert tea mix and you’ve got yourself one spicy cookie in a cup.
Despite how much I love ginger and gingersnaps, however, of the Sherlock teas I’ve tried so far this isn’t a top pick. I think because I’ve had teas that have done the same ginger theme but better. I feel like this blend could be stronger, with more snap, but doesn’t quite get there. I’m not disappointed, though, merely wishing it had more of that Moriarty burn to it.
Preparation
This steeped weaker than I expected but that is prob. because I didn’t have the silicone part attached to the inside part of the lid of my DAVIDsTea travel mug so the pressure (from the hot water) in the mug couldn’t build up properly :-( I bet it would taste better next time if i did it right.
My Personal Notes
Personal Rating (1-5)? : 4.0/4.5
Amount? : 1 scoop, DAVIDsTEA Perfect Scoop
Water Volume? : 16 oz.
Steep Time? : 5 minutes 0 seconds
Water Temperature? : Unknown
Had Hot/Cold? (Prefer?) : Hot (Prefer-Prob Cold)
Smell? : VERY Cherry.. not artificial, but like somehow baked/warmed up
Taste? : Cherry and something else
Allergic? : No
Added Sugar? : No
Caffeine? : Yes, Low
Special Prep (add milk, add honey, etc.)? : No
Flavors: Cherry
Preparation
I have to say that I do not understand the high rating this tea has. It is massive Lychee both on the nose and the palate and little else ( maybe a bit of lemon zest and other citrus ) mildly astringent, I found it to be completely one dimensional and uninteresting.
Less-floral than some of this variety, this is a pretty straight-forward Tieguanyin. Light florality in the nose. Faint sweetness, very mild vegetal and mineral notes.
We brewed this western style in small pot (5 grams to 450 ML water at 190F).
This is a good everyday, Tieguanyin. Not overly complex, none of the flavors predominate.
Flavors: Floral, Mineral, Vegetal
Preparation
1.5 tsp for 100 ml; loose-mesh stainless steel basket in small ceramic cup
First thought on smelling the freshly opened dry tea—fennel. Somewhat sweet, rather than vegetal, though none of the berry notes sometimes found with tamaryokucha.
Dry leaf warmed in cup. Could have used a longer warming, but the smell was nonetheless intriguing, as always. Seemed both darker and cleaner than the Mellow Monk mecha and shiraore (“Blissful Buds” & “Frosty Garden”) that I’ve been having.
01 (1m00s; 155F): Not terribly fragrant liquor. Sometimes that comes across more on the second steeping. Medium astringency, with a somewhat upfront mineral flavor. The finish is closer to what I would expect from this tea, though darker like the warmed dry leaf. None of the brightness or sweetness that I enjoy.
Seems like this one will take some figuring out as far as preparation.
02 (20s; 150F): Tried going lighter on this steeping to see if I could lessen the astringency, potentially allowing lighter flavors through. Nice color, and a slightly more discernable nose, with some herb-y notes. The mouth is still pretty unexciting, though on this steeping I’m getting some great semi-sweet herb flavors and a little bit of tang on the long finish. A little bit of “sweet salivation” / cooling.
03 (45s; 158F): Leaf acquired much more seaweed smell. Mouth has a very pleasant, clean feel and taste. Very nice actually. A little more of that tang picked up on the finish of the second steeping, this time in the mouth, pleasantly playing with the herb flavor. Interesting how little sweetness is present. There is definite potential in this tea.
Preparation
Very cherry! The more I drink this the more I can see it tasting better as an iced tea. It reminds me of those crystal light cherry drinks but warm. UPDATE: I tried the tea cold and it tasted a lot better. Also, I got about 2 steeps from it.
Preparation
Smells like key lime pie – which is one of my favourite desserts so I thought I would love this…but I didn’t. It’s very weak, even when I tried steeping for 10+ minutes, and I think I just don’t like the idea of hot lime – I feel like it’s a flavour that’s meant to be cold in most circumstances…so maybe I should try it iced when summer comes?
Preparation
I received this tea as a sample with an order and I will be buying it again.
The tea is a joy to look at. There’s nuts, fruit, things that kind of look like berries, the rooibos of course, and some other little shapes and sizes.
It tastes wonderful. There is a slight spicy taste that’s ginger-like, but it doesn’t really remind me of ginger bread. The nuts combined with the rooibos provide the anchor for the flavor, which is accented by the citrus. It’s a bold and yummy tea.
This tea does remind me of the holidays. It’s almost like a house full of holiday decorations in a cup. Tasteful ones, like pretty wreathes and big red and silver ornaments, not some inflatable Grinch out on the lawn.
This will be one of my go to winter teas next year.
