New Tasting Notes
This sample is courtesy of threewhales! Thanks!
I really wanted to love this tea because I’ve never found a chamomile blend that I was crazy for. Initially this tea tastes pretty great – all orange with hints of mint and a smoothness from the chamomile. However, eventually the orange starts tasting old and kind of dry which isn’t very good. I also may have oversteeped this slightly, so I could be to blame for the less than great tea. It IS drinkable, but not my fave.
Anyone has any suggestions for a great and tasty chamomile blend?
Cold brewed for 28 hours, 3 tsp in 3 cups water. The third of 4 samples from a Black Tea sampler from Upton.
As a cold brew this is quite refreshing. There is a very clear, strong honey note in the tea, and a hint of a thicker honeyed texture to the liquid as well. When I drink it a little too quickly, there’s some after taste that I can’t really describe other than to say it’s not very pleasant (it almost is a very subtle smoky note, but that’s still not a 100% accurate description).
The astringency of the tea is there, but it is really mild when prepared this way and again, not something I notice unless I drink a lot really fast. I assume sugar would be a good addition, but it tastes just fine to me without, too. So far I prefer this to the Keemun, but the Darjeeling has been my favorite of all the black teas I’ve tried- I have a few left and it will be interesting to see where they’ll fall…
Preparation
I enjoyed this tea. I love anything strawberry, especially in the flavor of teas. I would of enjoyed more cakey/pastry flavoring. It has a touch of creaminess to it. I would buy this tea again. Enjoyed plain, but I could see milk in this.
Preparation
The aromas of this white tea’s dry leaves are quite sweet and grassy. Fuzzy, short, white twists intermix with small green leaves for an enjoyable looking tea. Canton Tea Co’s packaging suggests using 2 teaspoons of leaf per cup of water and infusing the tea for 2-3 minutes. Accordingly, 2 teaspoons of the tiny leaves went into my cup for a little over 2 minutes. The resulting aroma of this tea was somewhat different than the dry leaves suggested.
My cup of tea still maintained its grassy aromas, yet felt deeper and stronger with a light, roasted smell. I was further surprised when, upon tasting it for the first time, the flavour burst in my mouth, both sweet and fruity and without a lot of the formerly smelled grassiness. Impressed by the full flavour, I continue drinking.
This is one complex white tea…the flavour is not, in any way, straightforward. Slightly reminiscent of half a dozen different white teas, this is a must-try for white tea lovers. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it a 91/100.
Steeped in a Tea Forte Café Cup, with the spent tea pyramid resting on a Tea Forte tea tray, all the pieces were set to provide an enjoyable tasting experience of this mango flavoured green tea. Impeccable as always, the packaging of this individual tea pyramid infuser bag was clean and sharply presented. After heating the water to the proper temperature, I proceeded to steep the tea for only two minutes before moving on to tasting it. The aroma is light, and the mango smell is lighter yet. My guess would be that the green tea base is a sencha or something akin to it.
The tea itself has light forward notes with a strong finish. The mango is present but not very prominent. Overall the tea is not very impressive in its taste. Not wanting to judge it by first try, I steeped a second cup. This time, I left the tea pyramid in the water for three minutes. The mango flavour is now a lot bolder and broader. It complements the green tea far more than during the first infusion.
Overall, I think this is not one of Tea Forte’s better blends. However, for lovers of fruit flavoured green teas, it may be worth giving this one a try. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate it a 76/100.
My other roommate (not grayfoxgirl) has a box of tea bags that she either bought or got from other friends. I found this one and decided to try it because it is a Numi Teas and I like most of their teas.
I have never really tried a straight chamomile tea before. I have tried it in blends but that was about it, so I was glad to find a plain chamomile tea. I was pleasantly surprised when the tea was a very nice golden yellow color. It tasted very delicate and floral and strong. It was a nice strong. It announced itself without being overbearing. The big surprise was that this tea tasted sweet. Almost like I had added honey in it even though I didn’t. I really liked that sweetness.
I don’t think that there is another bag in the tea box, but I would be willing to go through and try to find another one. If I ran into this tea again, I would gladly drink it.
Preparation
I’m back to regular steepstering!
The leaf appearance before the brew was actually quite lovely. Large, long needle tea leaves were accompanied by full-sized, open brownish leaves. I saw many two-leaf one-bud pairings, which I found interesting in this white tea that’s supposedly second-third flush.
The dry leaves had a woodsy smell, with an almond-nut undertone. After the brew, the needles opened to reveal subtle greens, and in the strainer, they had the appearance of army camouflage, pre digital BS.
The colour of the tea itself was a light amber, glowing in my glass cup.
The nose was earthy and moist, the nutty undertones from the dry leaf scent coming to play and promising a wonderful undertone.
Flavour: A full bodied, earthy white tea with almond undertones and a smooth, cleansing finish. Almost had a mouthfeel like a homemade mead, smooth and thick.
Overall, I was thrilled with the results of this one. Here, I opted for a two minute brew at 175, which is my standard for white teas.
Preparation
“Tea” of the evening…..
I got a small order from Ovation today to try out a few more things. I am interested in some honeybush blends as well as a few of the black ones. This one is light on the chocolate flavoring. It is slightly detectable with the sweetness of the honeybush in the background. I do get some pecan notes, and the strongest note, albeit still a subtle one, is the caramel. I do find the tea pleasant and great for an evening blend, but I won’t likely try any more blends with chocolate flavoring. A little more tea might have helped, but it is still good as is.
24 oz teapot, 5 actual tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 7 minutes. Lightly sweetened.
Preparation
I’m not a big drinker of oolong teas – but I have a feeling that might be changing.
Picked this up at David’s Tea and brewed for 6 minutes (I like my tea pretty strong). The fruity aroma of the brewed tea was muted from the dry tea (which had a bit of a fake smell), but still delicious smelling (peaches, apricots and the slightest hint of almond).
I was very pleasantly surprised by this tea – the fruitiness of the peach and apricot nicely compliment the earthiness of the oolong and there’s a creaminess to the tea that is really enjoyable. It truly slides down your throat like buttah (as Paula Deen would say).
I also ended up trying it iced as well as I didn’t finish my cup before I had to leave the house, so I put it in the fridge. I really enjoyed this tea iced as well – I felt that creaminess really shone through and the hint of peach, apricot and almond were perfect iced.
Love this tea both hot and iced and I’m thinking if you like your tea sweet, the sweetness wouldn’t take away from the tea. Though I won’t be drinking this everyday, it will definitely be staying in my tea cupboard and regular rotation.
And I also feel that I should give it extra points for the Star Trek reference in the description (but I didn’t).
Preparation
I brewed some of this last night for today’s iced tea. It is quite yummy.
The Lychee flavor is strong without being overpowering… there is a nice balance of flavors. It is sweet with a sweet-tart kind of taste in the aftertaste. The astringency of the tea works well with the Lychee, as it seems to cut through some of the more pungent flavors of the fruit.
Makes a very pleasant iced tea.
I have been sipping on a tumbler full of this that I have cold brewed all day. It is interesting. It really feels like you are sipping on water and then the spices hit you in the back of the throat. At first, I didn’t like it. I thought it was far too weak even though I brewed it with two bags and for a good 18 hours or so. But it grew on me when I was studying. It gave me a little more energy with the spices and rejuvenated me. It was a better version of a flavored water.
I don’t know if I would ever have this cold brewed again. I might try it brewed hot and then iced and see how that tastes. It was an interesting experiment. Better yet, I still like this tea and will be drinking it hot throughout the semester.
Preparation
It’s a white tea, and for me an incredibly finicky tea when steeping. I do think this will be a tea that I will not purchase more of. It was great while it lasted, and I enjoyed the fact that the fruit flavours were able to hide times when I over steeped the tea, but there was still a finish that I can’t explain but it was not pleasant enough for me to want to race out and buy more.
