17229 Tasting Notes
Gongfu!
This fragrant, full-bodied black tea is an explosion of sweet, juicy fruity and floral flavours. The osmanthus contributes such a fresh ripened apricot or peach-like flavour with undertones of persimmon and golden honey. The finish is slightly nut, but still retains much of the sweetness present throughout the rest of the sip. It makes me think a little bit of almond extract or amaretto. Overall a wonderfully summery feeling and well balanced tea!!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJhAoSbtg31/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSswmFErgxc&ab_channel=daisyveacock-Topic
Gongfu!
This mini had such a thick and brothy liquor once steeped up. Though woodier in its undertones with a bit of a subtle “brown” burnt sugar sweetness like the torched top of a creme brulee, I mostly was reminded of bouillon while drinking this tea, with an especially umami finish that made me think of soy sauce. It’s a beautiful dance between rich caramelized goodness and a more unctuous savory flavout. Miso caramel, in some ways, but heavy and dense. I’m glad I took the time to revisit this ripe pu’erh as it was a very grounding way to start the day!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJkLKAhSueh/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJFTh_QlOgU&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart
Gongfu!
I love a bud heavy black and the bright, coppery liquor practically glows in the sunlight. It’s quite a sweet black tea, with a velvety smooth mouthfeel and more of a medium body. As expected, it tastes a lot like honey, with warm floral undertones that make me think of wildflowers. More unexpected are the sweet, airy, and creamy confection notes – like marshmallow fluff! They don’t eclipse the honeycomb that takes center stage, but they’re an undeniably present supporting role. It’s probably one of the more standout black teas I’ve brewed up as of late.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmacE0Nja2/?img_index=1
This set looks right at home out here among the grass and stones; AKA my favourite spot for outdoor tea as of late.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRBa34X5Hwg&ab_channel=SayaGray-Topic
…aaaannd finished off the last RTD I’d stocked piled while grocery shopping a little while back. I think I will probably take a break on this one since drinking it so bunched together is just starting to make me feeling a touch sick of the tropical flavour. However, I am sure I’ll probably revisit this in the future. It’s quick, easy, and perfectly fine for the type of tea it’s trying to be.
Trying this Western style for the first time as that’s how I usually would drink a breakfast tea, but no milk or sugar for this first tasting. Part of me expected this to be brisker and more tannic, but I’m also delightfully surprised to be met with a very rich and full-bodied cup that is actually quite smooth and velvety. Though there is a woodiness and almost oak-like note, mostly I found this quite chocolate-y tasting. A less refined and more bittersweet cacao chocolate, sure, but chocolate forward nonetheless.
I have had other black teas from W2T steeped Western style that have left a more immediately striking first impression, but I thought this was solid and it’s something that I could see servicing that early morning breakfast cuppa role quite well.
I’m so glad I restocked this tea because it was an absolutely joy to sip on this morning. The cherry note is stronger to me than the marzipan/almond, though that nuttiness lingers longer and ties in with some of the more roasted and mineral notes of the oolong base. In general I quite like the cherry flavouring that Adagio uses, and think it’s one of their better flavourings. Bright, fresh, sweet and distinctly red cherry. Elements of the mug made me think of Amaretto Sour cocktails (a nostalgic flavourite of mine) but also Sour Cherry Blaster candies – but in both cases not so sugary or aggressively acidic.
I made a mug of this today at work, but ultimately it was just really, really sweet and artificial banana candy flavoured. Though I sometimes seek out that kind of profile, today it just felt like a little too much for the mood I was in. Though I did finish the mug, the lingering sweetness after each sip for sure crossed into cloying territory for me today…
I felt like the bag of this tea was just staring daggers at me from it’s bin all throughout the start of the week, so finally I just pulled it out and brewed up a cup. Definitely quite tropical and refreshing with more of the mango coming out than I’d remembered there usually being. I liked that it was fresh, a little bright and very tropical without necessarily being sweet or feeling heavy/syrupy either. The turmeric added a gentle nudge of spice and earthiness, and the whole mug was just rather balanced feeling to me.
Sipdown (2925)!
Is this a unique lemon ginger blend? Nah. Is it a good one? Yeah, pretty solid! Mostly I was just impressed by how fresh and zesty the bold notes of lemongrass and ginger were. There was a lot of brightness to the sip, but then it finished with a warm, tingly heat and earthiness from the ginger. Dynamic, and full of life and flavour. Would have been quite good with some honey, I think.
This tea made me think of Mastress Alita while I was drinking it. Probably because it’s really, really licorice-y and if I remember correctly Mastress Alita is a fan of licorice teas. Definitely fennel forward but also anise notes and a bit of the lingering sweet flavour you might expect from licorice root, too. I happen to like the taste of black licorice (even if I don’t love licorice root) and so this highly fennel-y blend did appeal to me a lot.
