New Tasting Notes
Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act IV scene 4
O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Henry V, Prologue
The last time I had a straight-up Keemun I was doing my basic black trio comparison in order to learn what Keemuns, Ceylons, and Assams generally taste like. Keemuns came out on top as being my favorite amongst the three. With this Keemun I didn’t have to focus on the comparison at all, but instead just enjoy a good cup of black tea.
After my first sip I knew that this tea would be one of Shakespeare’s histories. It just seems too earthy and real to be anything else. I had visions of a mud-spattered Kenneth Branagh with a bad haircut giving rousing speeches to an outnumbered army. Therefore this tea is my Henry V (the king formerly known as Prince Hal). In Henry IV part 1 we watch Prince Hal go through his “Lion King” type transformation. Well, now that he’s a king we get to watch him get his king on.
This tea seems to give me an internal speech that says:
Once more unto the morning, dear Rabs, once more;
Or close your eyes with your braincells dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a woman
As modest snoring and humility;
But when the blast of dawn blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger. . .
Or something like that. NE
Preparation
What a delicious tea! It’s beautiful dry and the steeped tea has a very sweet liquer. I can most certainly taste the marzipan/almond flavor. The pistachio is a bit more remote, but it’s there. I also pick up on a big coconut flavor which is not puzzling considering that the written catalogue I have mentions the flavour of “Parisian macaroons”.
This is a perfect pick-me-up afternoon black tea and it would also be perfect for a special meeting…. Simply lovely! The flavors are exquisite but the black tea does not compromise its strength.
Preparation
Starting my day with this delightful British gentleman. He is so wonderful to wake up to!
The bergamot flavoring with the Keemun leaves really make this tea a stand out amongst other Earl Grey blends.
For those of you who might not know this, TeaEqualsBliss and I have started our own tea review blog – It debuted yesterday with a welcome message but we will be posting reviews very soon. This tea will be the first that I review for that blog.
Preparation
I’m very pleased with this. I used 2 tsp for about 14 oz of water and it came out just right – the spice flavors are well balanced and naturally sweet. The natural flavor of the rooibos is there in the background too, and plays well with others. I think I’ll end up having some of this on hand as one of my non-caffeine drinks.
Preparation
This tisane has actually improved for me. I got a more recent batch and it is fresher, orange-ier, and just plain tastier than the old batch. it is still very much a “health” tea, though, so I wouldn’t recommend drinking it just for taste alone. Incidentally, these herbs really do work on my blood sugar, so much so that I recommend that those drinking it take steps to avoid letting your sugars get too low. Drink this, then eat something!
This is another tea from the Dammann Freres group tea ordering project Doulton put together. I started laughing when I read the ingredients. This is indeed the fourth tea from Dammann Freres I’ve tried with fig as an ingredient. Fig. 4!
Amazingly, the dry leaves smell like peach even though there is no peach flavored anything identified as an ingredient. I can get fig as well. I had to look up what pitanga is, and if it smells like cherry, I can find that as well. Ironically, what I’m not getting is a whole lot of citrus, which, one would think, would be the main event since there is lemon, bergamot and orange in this. It’s definitely in there, but it isn’t in-your-face.
The aroma of the tea also reminds me, inexplicably, of peach. Through some weird synergy of the ingredients, that’s what I smell. I can pick out the individual fragrances as well, even the rose.
The word that came to me when I was thinking of how to describe the taste is “French” which I realize isn’t very helpful. It’s a complex flavor; like its name, a well-blended perfume that doesn’t have one particular note sing out, but if you’re willing to spend the time putting your mind to each flavor you can find it there and, more interestingly, find how it interacts with the others. That’s what I think of when I think of French perfume.
It’s a tea I think would taste particularly fine on a fall day when the air is just starting to get a crispness in it. It’s not heavy, but it has a depth to it that may feel too heavy for spring and summer consumption.
Preparation
Made this via stovetop method using a mixture of skim milk and fat free half and half for a total of 1 cup milks 1 cup water with two heaping teaspoons of tea. Wowsa is this good! I’m in chocolate chai heaven. It’s making me forget the Kusmi Spicy Chocolate that I miss so much. I think this could possibly be better! It’s more chai spicy and more chocolatey, and made with the cream it is oh so good. I have some of this cold brewing with skim milk in the fridge. I’m excited for that brew later today :)
Preparation
I still have ONE tin of this left for our Memorial Day Tin blowout: http://www.52teas.com
Sold…I caved…again. Probably the last of my online tea buying for summer as hubby will be home all summer (he teaches). And I get enough stares when packages arrive during the school year!
This is the fourth and last of the teas in the British Blend sampler. I have to say I really like the little tins Upton uses for its sampler sets. They’re very cute.
The darjeeling owns the smell of the dry leaves here, along with a little smokiness that must be from the Keemun. Fruity and smoky. Yum. The Ceylon seems to be coming out more in the steeped tea’s aroma. I am getting that sort of berry undercurrent I’ve found in other Ceylons.
The tea is flavorful and medium bodied bordering on full with a mouthfeel that is thicker than water but not thick enough to feel like it’s coating your throat. I didn’t try it with additives yet. It doesn’t really need it, at 3 minutes of steeping. There’s nothing harsh or bitter about it. It has some astringency.
It’s deceptively simple tasting. It seems to me sort of a Rorschach inkblot of black teas. If you want to find a chocolate note in here, I think you can. Vanilla, probably. Fruit? Definitely. Nut, I think so. Smoke? At tad. Wood? Some. Earth, probably. Name some other things you typically find in tea and if you let your mind wander during the tasting you can probably convince yourself it’s there. At least until you’re more highly caffeinated than I am this morning, as this is my first caffeine of the day.
Preparation
I had a cup of this last night. Another tea from teaequalsbliss thank so so much! Dry this smells like black tea with alot of chocolate and some peppermint. I steeped this up. And this I’s a good tea,I can taste the black tea with some chocolate and peppermint,I just would have preferred more chocolate. This is a good tea though.
An almost-afternoon tea break to top off a big home cooked brunch of poached eggs with savory parmesan, oregano, and black pepper popovers. This is one that both I and my husband love, but isn’t that popular on Steepster! I find the tea and vanilla well balanced, and with a little half and half and sugar it’s a great treat…almost like having yet another baked good!
Preparation
Ahh Holiday weekend, which means I woke up this morning and really needed some tea.
Rinsed the cake, 40 seconds. I find that rinsing it for shorter periods actually does not get rid of the raw natural wet dog smell and flavor, so I have to go for a longer rinse. Anyway, after my rinse, I steeped another cup for 20 seconds. The liquor is dark, not transparent, thick soupy black. The tea has a natural, but not fishy or dirty, smell but it is woodsy and rich.
Drinking this really helped to settle my stomach and was a great boost to start my day.
As an aside, I have been drinking some teas I got from a local shop, there is no online description which I can find, so I requested information from the company. Hopefully, I can get the info I need and then can I post away about them soon. I just wanted you all to know so you don’t think I’m slacking over here :)
Bagged but bold!
This is a creamy malty not an overly-bold or strong manly malty. It’s still of good strength so we will go with a medium strength bold and malty description. It ‘brews’ quickly and is rather good. I’m very pleased with this morning cuppa.
Preparation
meh. the (candied) pineapple flavor is weak, and the base tea tastes unremarkable. I added a packet of Sugar in the Raw, and it sort of overpowered any other elements in this tea. Now it’s just hot and sweet, with a hint of pineapple. shrug
Preparation
Steeped according to packaging. 1 minute @ 100°C it produces a golden colored sweet to the finish delicacy. I say sweet to the finish meaning there is no sweetness initially, but seconds after you have in in the mouth there is an overwhelming sense of sweetness, unlike that of sugar. Very light and pleasing. No caffeine or sugar!
Hard to find even in Korea.
