New Tasting Notes

It’s very gloomy outside this morning and I’m having trouble getting motivated to make the most of my day. I have so many new teas to try, but I decided that an oldie but goodie may be my best bet to turn this drag of a morning around.

Adagio’s Caramel black tea delivers a delicious, creamy, true caramel flavor. The black tea is strong but not over powering. Caramels are my favorite sweets, and I get so disappointed when caramel teas smell amazing but then they don’t deliver in the taste department. This tea defiantly delivers. Is it as beloved to me as David’s Buttered Rum? Nope, but I still have room in my heart and tea cupboard for it.

Popcorn Tea?
Well, I love Genmaicha, so I suppose it wasn’t too much of a leap…

And what a joyous leap it was! I have fallen deeply in love with this tea.

The smell is delightful – just like caramel corn. Brewed up, the apple and maple flavours really come forward. It is definitely sweet, but there is a nice tartness from the apples that balances it out. My only wish is that the green tea flavour was a bit more prominent. As it is, I like to steep it on the longish side to get just a hint of bitterness from the tea – I think it offsets the sweetness a bit.

I like it with just a drop of agave as a dessert. Or plain and naked during the day. Or yes, smuggled into the movie theatre.

A definite favourite.

This morning I am trying Supreme Breakfast with a slightly hotter temperature than I normally do. This increase is pulling out a little more bitterness and spiciness from the tea, but neither is overpowering. I’ll keep using this temperature for a while and see if I prefer it to my usual 185.

Another tea from Indigobloom, This one looked rather interesting. Shui Xian oolong with a whole jumble of stuff in it. It reminds me a bit of the Forbidden Fruit from David’s. Overall it is very nutty, with a rather smoky taste. I fully expected this to be a rather sweet tea, seeing the caramel pieces, but really I’m not quite sure what good they did, because clearly it did not melt and looks just a whole as before steep. I can’t really taste the jumble of the other ingredients much at all actually. The quality of the Shui Xian is better than that of David’s, and though there are awfully large pieces of twigs, there are rather bigger pieces of leaf. Instructions say to steep for 1min, but unless you’re using boiling water and packed a gaiwan full.. I don’t really see the point.

Steamed gardenias. A very light, floral cup. Super delicate. Just a hint of cream and toast.

I’m home today – finally, the permanent glass is getting installed in our door after the firemen broke it (remember that saga?)!

I am glad to be home, because I’ve been craving this tea all week! I am so excited for this afternoon pot. And what a pot! Not only did Doulton gift me with this delicious tea, but she sent along this beautiful Beehouse pot!

http://www.spo.gs/RetroCamera.jsp?img=Ri8g

How did she know I have blue speckles in my countertop!!!??? :)

Anyway, this milk ‘n sugar classic is so good. Smooth. Strong. Tea with a Capital T! It must be blended really well because it tastes uncomplicated – just the epitome of British style tea. And let’s face it, brewing it in a beautiful little pot instead of a fill your own teabag with a saucer on top of the mug like I usually do at home when I am alone (my other pot is a biggie) makes it taste even better :) :) :)

My jug of cold tea for the next few days. Out of a fear that the black wouldn’t resteep well (to make iced tea, I make one pot of tea, pour it into my jug, and then resteep the leaves to get my full two liters), I probably used way too much and it is super strong. I used about twice the amount of leaf I usually use for 2 L of tea, and I brewed it in a smaller teapot (to avoid having an extra liter leftover…and the other one was dirty). So it is super strong, but very, very tasty. I’m enjoying this iced a lot, though I need to be careful about drinking it after five. I like sleeping. Maybe I need to keep one jug of caf tea and one jug of decaf in the fridge.

This tea really is a delight iced, and it’s creamy without any milk added. A bit bitter, but that’s my fault. It’s creamy and sweet and everything I want in a black tea.

Maybe when I go home to Tennessee in August, I should steal a milk jug or two from mom so I’m not lying when I call my pitchers of iced tea “jugs”.

I made a two-liter jug of this the day before yesterday, and by yesterday evening it was all gone. That right there says it all. Cold, this is an absolute delight. I am so glad we bought a tin of it.

This is another one of my vacation Groupon purchases. In the store I wasn’t completely sure I would like it as the smell was a bit off, but, since their selection was a bit small and I was having trouble finding ones I thought I’d like, I decided based on the ingredients to give it a whirl. Opening the bag last night, it smelled much tastier, almost making me wish I had gotten two bags.

Taste-wise it’s pretty yummy! A nice, nutty flavor with a hazelnut finish (nicer than Tealicious’ Hazelnut Black which tastes a bit coffee-y to me). Added some brown sugar splenda blend (my go-to sweetener as the agave experiment did not work out – seriously, what is that stuff?!?) and we’re good to go.

My tea order came yesterday! I have long awaited another supply of this tea. So refreshing, good hot or cold. And the cold part is really good since it is nearing 100 degrees each day.

This is the only tea I brought back from Poland. By the time I got to Warsaw, I was experiencing some tea-buying fatigue (believe it or not!), so I said I wouldn’t buy any tea there. But I had passed a tea shop a couple of times, and an adorable tin in the window with a European Robin on it drew me in. I could get the small tin filled with effectively a sample size of any tea, and I immediately chose Mnichów (the pronunciation of which I completely butchered when ordering it… I’m lucky he understood me enough!).

I had a pot of Mnichów (Polish for “monks”, i.e., Monk’s Blend) at a tea place in Warsaw earlier, which I liked and was generally intrigued by, but the tea house didn’t sell their teas dry. This one I have no description for, but the smell of the dry leaves indicate it’s probably a fairly traditional Monk’s Blend. What that means… well, the descriptions for the Polish tea Mnichów that I’ve found online indicate a bergamot, jasmine and vanilla flavor is standard. Sometimes no vanilla, but this one definitely includes it. This is not quite the same it seems as most Monk’s Blends in the states, which seem to be primarily vanilla and grenadine (exception: Upton’s, which is more like the Polish blend). Oh yeah, and this one is actually a black/green blend (again, I found out after steeping when the difference is more obvious). All of this makes me feel pretty dense because quite obviously this tea is very similar to the last tea I reviewed, Thé au Tibet by Mariage Freres. Perhaps that one is really more properly Thé au Tibetan Monks.

As I mentioned, the dry tea leaves definitely have notes of vanilla, bergamot and jasmine to their aroma. There is also a distinct chocolate aroma, which is surprising. (spoiler: this doesn’t show up in the taste). The aroma of the brewed tea is very vanilla, though I do detect the bergamot adding a high, citrusy note. Sometimes I think jasmine florals can almost smell a bit earthy when in a blend with other flavors, and I’m getting that here as well.

This is another one I’ll have to steep at a lower temperature to really get a feel for (darn hiding green tea leaves!), but it the vanilla flavor isn’t as omnipresent as I expected. It’s light, especially as the tea cools, but definitely detectable in the background. It’s overall fairly floral, the bergamot lingering at the tail of the sip. The jasmine is floral but on the earthier side and not honeysuckle-sweet. It’s a good blend, and I can’t complain about the flavor combination. I think I prefer the blend of these flavors in Thé au Tibet, but I also think I need to try both again at a lower temperature to really know.

Like it! Fresh bready aroma, nice and strong. Milk and sugar would be appropriate, but I needed it straight up this (yawn) morning.

Jungle Ju-Ju… Please for the love of God wake me up enough to help me play the part of “Bus Driver” this morning! I stayed up too late, reading a book that was somewhat of a let down and somewhat great, with a little “Happy Kombucha” by my side… But 4 hours sleep will get me know where when the work day today goes from 7am (which means up by 6am out of the house by 6:30am) and not home again until 9pm… Oh I am not sure how I feel about Summer Training Days!

Jungle Ju-Ju, please oh please make sure I am not too grumpy today!

This reminds me of Black Needles from DAVIDsTEA, but this is a bit “spicier”, more earthy and slightly less sweet. When it comes to black tea buds you really can’t go wrong. Yunnan Da Ye Hong is another easy to enjoy tea that can be drunk multiple times a week without getting boring or sickening. Also I think it’s a shame not to resteep teas like this, the second and third steeps are very tasty.

Hi there, it’s been a fucking while since i’ve drinked tea!

I’ve moved to another city and now I have a new job so I doesn’t having the time for this, but NOW! Let’s see what this tea has in his taste :)

Review : Well, really fruity in da mouth. It’s like taking a bite in a watermelon. Seriously the taste of this tea (iced) is simply impressive!

The taste is not “weak” like a lot’s of iced tea i’ve tried, it’s plain and satisfying.

Perfectly roasty, tangy, and full of dark chocolate notes. I think I actually prefer the second infusion better than the first. Definitely a tea to try at least once!!

This has a very interesting aroma – I can smell the vanilla notes, the citrus-y notes, and some of the nutty tones of the rooibos. I am also getting some of the herbal-y scent that the others who have logged tea notes on this blend have mentioned. They meld together into this unified scent that is a little bit of everything. It’s different but it isn’t unpleasant. I like it.

And I am also enjoying the flavor. I like the combination of red and green rooibos, I think that the fruitier tones of the green help to cancel out some of the funkier flavors of the red. It has a nice creamy background from the vanilla, and the orange is fainter than I expected. I don’t know that I can actually pinpoint or describe the flavor that is emitted from the cactus flowers, but I can tell that there is something different about this. Almost a weird, sour flavor that hits the back of the throat. Again, not unpleasant, just unusual.