Azure

This one smells like incense indeed with its sandalwood and spice aroma. I was a little worried it might taste overly incense-y and was relieved to be greeted with warm spices and honeysuckle instead. It reminded me a LOT of another favorite: Kashmiri Chai.
It makes sense as Kashmiri chai has similar spices (cardamom, star anise) and uses either green tea or lightly oxidized oolong as a base instead of black tea.

For those unfamiliar, this is a unique chai served in Pakistan that’s creamy, lightly spiced, and has a beautiful pink hue. A quick video showing what Kashmiri chai looks and how its prepared: https://www.tiktok.com/@kitchen_diaries_by_zubda/video/7186720975180860677?_r=1)

Thanks derk for sending this tea!

So I am going to say it probably wasn’t the best to brew this specific chai blend as a latte. I think that it was meant to be drank straight. For that, reason I am not going to rate this one this round. I do have to say that it smells super interesting brewed straight: licorice, smoke, incense. Drank as a latte, the black pepper and licorice were mainly present.

Thank you Derk! I was really into this one!

This tea is incense, but in tea form. I can see some people being a little bit off put, but the tea could have been more overwhelming easily. I’m impressed with how the sandalwood actually smoothens out the rougher edges of the anise. I also tasted the honeysuckle in hints in the body and texture. I think the cardamom might make it soapy for some; I think it enhances the Sandalwood. The oolong actually borders more on the cocoa side, but overall, it’s roasty/toasty and minerally.

I actually would have paired this one with Dune as a geek pairing because it has a mystical and contemplative vibe, and azure is the color of the Fremen’s eyes. Only problem is the lacking of cinnamon, since Melange is described as being like cinnamon.

I will likely finish this one as winter melts into spring. The spice must flow…

Backlog from last night.

This is the kind of evening for which I’ve been saving this tea.  Rainy February nights here in the Bay are like (I really don’t want to say it!) cold November rain in Ohio.  Contemplative, maybe depressing if one possesses that lean.

I want to write so, so very much something poetic about this tea but I’m exhausted.  To further derail my effort, this tea is inducing a mental and physical state that is utterly calm.  

This is a beautifully scented oolong with a dark, woody-grassy-earthy sweet incense aroma of aloeswood and vetiver with smooth integration of the licorice-like star anise and cardamom.  I also smell something dark and fruity; I can’t shake the idea of mulberry. On the sip it transitions to sandalwood then mid-mouth to a general woody-mineral oolong.  On the swallow it moves back to the aloeswood, vetiver, star anise and mulberry, though less pronounced than in the aroma.  Cardamom is noticed in the aftertaste as those flavors slip away.  A zesty tingle and some mouth watering arrive after that and then the cardamom and aloeswood return.

I couldn’t see myself drinking Azure often but this is something I definitely want to keep in my cupboard.  It’s almost medicinal in character (drying, warming, deeply calming) and smells and tastes wonderful.  Try this if you’re an incense fan or seeking an air of the exotic.

Derk was kind enough to send me some of this tea to try! Thanks so much! It had been on my wishlist, so I was super excited to try it. I’ve tried one other tea with sandalwood in it and it wasn’t a prominent flavor. This is all sandalwood! It’s a pretty looking blend both when dry and steeping. There is something roasty in the sip behind the sandalwood. I’m not sure if I can taste the oolong. The sandalwood is very aromatic in the finish, lingering for a long time. It almost goes soapy if I wait too long to take another sip. Overall I really like it! It’s the first Chrome tea I’ve tried.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJrS6_yAaQg/

I placed a small Chroma order, as I could no longer resist the lure of the interesting ingredients and blends (especially after the sandalwood discussion!)
This is the blend I was most excited to try- sandalwood, honeysuckle, vetiver, star anise, cardamom, and aloeswood? Generally things I enjoy in perfume….and that is exactly what this blend smells like. A really expensive fragrance you’d find in a perfume or candle. The scent translates directly into the flavor. Tastes like incense in the best possible way. The vetiver and star anise are strongest, with a bit of sandalwood and (what I’m assuming is) aloeswood. I’ve never tasted aloeswood (I generally know it by agarwood), but I’m decently familiar with the scent.
This is one heck of a tea. I wish there were more unique, interesting blends like this out there.

Geek Steep S1E15 – V for Vendetta

This was my second tea pairing for the graphic novel read through, after my fumble with the first pairing. We talk about this much more detailed in the podcast episode, but the tone of the graphic novel is very well conveyed right off the bat so it was SUPER easy to figure out what to try as my next tea.

Chroma Tea has this mastery when it comes to creating such nuanced and layered flavour profiles with their blends, and that seemed so perfectly reflective of the story and its characters so I really felt like I wanted to choose something from this company as my second tea. What made me chose this one specifically, though, is that one of the main flavours is sandalwood. I get this very specific “feeling” when I smell or taste sandalwood and it was almost eerily applicable here.

I’m going to paraphrase what I said on the podcast, but basically…

“The notes of sandalwood evoke this feeling of smelling the musk of exuberantly wealthy, cigar smoking and pin suited white men in their old parlors and studies – surrounded my ornate bookshelves fashioned of exotic woods that display antique books they’ve never read and exorbitantly priced knick-knacks and bobbles that only serve to display their excess wealth.”

…and if that doesn’t just sum up the corrupt future painted by V for Vendetta.

I ended up liking this pairing so much that I continued with it for the remaining two sessions of reading I had, making a total of three cups of this I enjoyed over the graphic novel.

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