32 Tasting Notes
My mum got my dad a Twinings wooden compartment box full of teabags for Christmas – the tea love runs in the family :) I was in the mood for chai, so I thought I’d give this one a try.
I made it with milk and sugar – chai is always better that way, in my experience. This tea isn’t as strong as most chai blends I’ve tried before, there’s less emphasis on the spices, and the flavour is quite balanced between the maltiness of the Assam and the sweetness of the cloves, with cinnamon being more of a background note. I can’t really detect any other flavours such as orange peel, will have to steep for longer next time and see if that makes a difference.
Preparation
I was excited to try this tea for a couple of reasons: firstly, it’s a Japanese sencha base, and I really love Japanese green teas; and secondly, this tea looks absolutely beautiful, full of whole mallow flowers and big chunks of lemon peel!
This is a very fragrant tea, and it smells absolutely amazing. The lemongrass is the clearest note in there, but I can also smell something sweet and sherbet-y, which I think is the mallow flower. As the tea cools down, it smells sweeter as the pear begins to dominate the scent. This is the most delicious-smelling tea I think I have ever had – I really can’t express how lovely this tea smells.
This tea has quite a mellow flavour. Sencha and lemon go perfectly together, and so this tea is already off to a great start even without the pear and mallow flower flavours shining through. The mallow flower is a great inclusion, as it gives the tea a slight sweetness which brings out the lemon and pear flavours to complement the sencha.
I suspect this would make a good iced tea – I will have to test it out when the weather warms up, but I don’t think the rest of my sample will last that long :)
Preparation
I don’t drink a lot of moroccan mint, because I don’t like gunpowder. That said, I did enjoy this tea: there’s a great balance between green tea and peppermint, you can clearly taste both without one overpowering the other. I don’t know if it was good enough to make me want more of this tea, though.
This tea looks like a chamomile from the bright yellow colour, but the smell gives away the variety of ingredients. This tea doesn’t have a strong smell, rather a faint liquorice scent with a hint of spice. As the tea cools, the smell becomes more complex – I can make out the aniseed, fennel and a hint of chamomile.
Right away I’m a little disappointed as some of the tiny, tiny bits of herb and whatnot have made it into my cup (I’m using a La Cafetiere Teafusion and the filter is normally really really good, so I’m blaming the tea rather than the pot).
On the first sip, there’s a warmth to the taste but none of the individual flavours are really jumping out at me. After letting the tea cool a little, I can just about make out the chamomile but it’s very faint (almost wasted) under the pervasiveness of the fennel and aniseed. I can’t make out the green rooibos at all.
That said, this does suit its purpose – it’s definitely calming. But overall it isn’t my thing – the taste just doesn’t stand out at all, probably because there are too many ingredients in not quite right proportions.
Preparation
I think this is going to become a regular in my tea cupboard: it tastes far, far better than I was expecting considering how affordable it is (cost me £5 for a 200g jar).
This tea is very pretty. The dry leaves are adorable little curly things, the tea itself is a nice yellow-green colour, and it comes in a pretty glass jar :) I never have enough containers to keep all my tea in, so this is a plus for me. Definitely the sort of tea you want to use a glass pot for.
When I brewed the tea, the first thing I noticed was that this tea has a bit of the same ‘fish’ taste that you get in dragonwell, and this dominates the smell of the tea. I really like dragonwell, so this is a big plus for me. Overall the tea has a very smooth taste, with very little bitterness and a hint of sweetness towards the end of the sip.
