4170 Tasting Notes
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #32
This is another blend in the teabox with lemongrass in it. haha. I haven’t had so many lemongrass teas in my life! Luckily I like it anyway. A lovely fruity herbal. This would be ridiculous iced. It is so sweet it’s like a fruit punch. I’m not sure how they managed it. I can’t tell if it’s splenda or something. This brews up a periwinkle color, so at least there isn’t any hibiscus in it! It doesn’t seem like blueberry or pineapple though. Maybe hints of pineapple but really just sugary sweetness. This blend certainly could have been worse (hibiscus). I just love traveling teaboxes – trying a bunch of teas!
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #31
Super super sweet cinnamon here. I think I’ve had this blend before. It was called Marketspice or something. It also reminds me of Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Sunset but that stuff is supreme. This one seems like the flavor is a little off and the cinnamon is a little too sweet. Definitely doesn’t seem like orange to me, but the ‘sweet’ in the name certainly fits! Nice to try it though!
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #30
Maybe this would help with the mild headache I’ve had for three days. Elderberries remind me of The Walking Dead now… and poor Hershel! It’s tough to tell from the description what should be in this blend, but it looks like mostly lemongrass. There should be green tea here, I think, but I only see like two green tea leaves in my teaspoon. The flavor tastes like something that should be giving allergies, though I’m not sure what that is. It almost tastes like pine or dill and I should be sneezing. But it sure tastes like a cup that should be fighting sicknesses.
I’ve been picking teas for the teabox – I’m using the ‘my highest rating’ function on my Steepster cupboard to make sure I’m adding some good ones.
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #29
Additional notes: I always like to try Laoshan Black when I find it in a teabox, Maybe it’s a pure magic harvest. The leaves of this one look different than I remember: blacker, shinier, twistier. It also seems to tastes slightly better than I remember: sweeter, deeper, unless every time I drink this, I like it better.
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #28
It seems there a bunch of lovely ingredients here, but then the hibiscus takes over, even though I only see a couple small pieces in the infuser. Darn hibiscus. Otherwise there is a bit of mint. Like Veronica mentions, it’s toothpaste not like a herbal mint. Hibiscus and toothpaste? Ick. It could have been worse though. I’m always happy to try teas, and the teaboxes are great for doing that! I’ve been having awesome luck so far. Maybe I just know which teas to steep up, or maybe when it comes to tea, I like most of them!
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #27
Steep #1 // 20 min after boiling // 4 min
I may have waited too long for the water to cool for this one. But maybe there isn’t too much flavor to begin with. The little roses are pretty but I don’t think they impart much flavor to the oolong, not like the infused rose flavoring that Adagio’s has. The oolong doesn’t have much flavor either. The oolong looks gorgeous though. It is very sweet and it kind of tastes like blueberry but that could be what was in the infuser before that.
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #26
Steep #1 // just boiled // 4-5 min
Steep#2 // just boiled // 4 min
Oh I like this one, even though I don’t usually like ginger unless it’s in a chai. I think the ripened pu-erh overpowers the ginger anyway… it’s either the ginger or the pu-erh itself that is very sweet. I love the deep duskiness of the pu-erh… it kind of tastes like raisins. The second steep of any pu-erh is always just a little bit better, deeper yet sweeter. There is a lot of this in the teabox, so I’m taking a couple teaspoons out for later!
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #25
Steep #1 // just boiled // 5 min steep
I’ve always wanted to try this one! I’m not sure if I shouldn’t have used boiling water or if a teaspoon was too much but the flavor isn’t delicate like a flower… it’s pretty tough and astringent. I like it anyway. It certainly tastes like lavender… but with a bite to it. Somehow the next day when there was a little bit in the mug, it seemed much tamer. The steep color was a light periwinkle. This would be great to mix with other teas.
Steep #1 // 15 min after boiling // 2-3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min
I always love a ginseng oolong! The toy jewel rock tumbler tea. :D I can’t help but be reminded of that every time. Usually I can taste the licorice covering the oolong, but with this one, I can’t really find that flavor, even when I noticed that the coating has dissolved, even by the first cup. So if you like ginseng oolong, but not so much the licorice holding it together, this one might be mild enough for you. I could have used more of that flavor though. The oolong underneath is very nice too, though it doesn’t seem to fall into any of the oolong flavor categories… maybe the third steep might have. Boiling water on the second steep didn’t ruin it, even though the cup had the color of apple cider! I wanted to make sure I got all of that ginseng. It certainly seemed to give me super-brain powers all day!
’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #23
Sometimes rose doesn’t like to actually make itself known when it’s actually in a tea blend. Usually it just looks pretty. But when this says rose, it actually means rose! It’s bordering on potpourri here. But it’s tasty anyway. I love Adagio’s black tea base – it pairs with anything with the perfect amount of robustness. And if this is Ceylon, it’s my favorite Ceylon. But the rose is definitely there (probably because it is both petals AND rose oil) and sometimes very sweet. A couple more teaspoons of this one in the teabox! Some nice ones so far!