52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 3
I was excited when this one earned its way into this year’s box, because it’s one that I’ve not yet blended! This reblend IS definitely going to be different from the original for several reasons: first, I didn’t really care for the bergamot flavoring that Frank would use. It tasted a bit more like bubblegum than bergamot to me & I love bergamot. I have sourced an excellent, organic cold-pressed oil of bergamot that I’ve used in my previous bergamot blends, so that’s what I used here.
I also have a different base of teas. I typically do not use Darjeeling teas in my blends, not because I dislike Darjeeling teas – I have used them in the past and will use them in the future, but I prefer my Darjeeling tea not to be blended with other black teas as I feel the more delicate flavor profile of a Darjeeling will be poorly supported by the addition of other teas. Instead, I used a blend of Assam, Ceylon, Yunnan & Nilgiri teas. This well-composed blend worked so beautifully with these flavors.
Anyway, this tea turned out even better than I hoped for. A lovely note of bergamot, softened just so with the addition of a rich, creamy cheesecake essence that is vegan, gluten-free & allergen-friendly! So much yum in one cuppa!
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PS: I brewed this pot of tea strong so I can go latte with it. It is sooooo good as a latte! So good!
You’re going to break my tea buying hiatus if there’s any amount of this available on your site at the end of the advent. It’s seriously delicious!
Although I never had the chance to try Frank’s version, it’s neat to see what you changed up! Thank you for sharing. :)
Ha, now that I see what black teas you put in this, it makes sense. I mostly taste Ceylon, but I can now gather Assam and Nilgiri but not Yunnan. I bet the Assam and Nilgiri are what made Kiki think “fruity”, whereas I thought it might be Darjeeling giving her that fruity impression (which I didn’t get). Great tea, Anne :)
@Crowkettle – I hope you’re not expecting me to apologize for breaking the tea buying hiatus. :) because – sorry, not sorry.
@derk Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. There is a very small amount of Yunnan – just to add a bit of roundness to the base, but not so much to add an assertive Yunnan flavor. The Ceylon tends to work best when it comes to the bergamot. Not sure why, it just does – the bergamot just seems to need the Ceylon to live up to its full potential. However, my plan is to slowly phase out Ceylon from my regular inventory. My plan is to only utilize it for my EG teas as I prefer Assam and Yunnan teas (and these two together will be my new go-to base for black blends). As for the Nilgiri in this blend, I wasn’t terribly sure about adding it, but because Frank utilized a Darjeeling tea in the original blend for this tea, I decided to go with a somewhat similar base – Nilgiri – in my opinion – is the stronger, bolder cousin to Darjeeling and as a result, I tend to prefer Nilgiri over a Darjeeling, especially in a blend. And all of that is probably more than you wanted or needed to know when it comes to my mental processes while blending teas!
Actually this was super helpful and informative, both because it’s just interesting and because it helps me assess how the blend is likely to affect my comically delicate constitution. Thanks for sharing!
Kaylee: I have found that black teas from India tend to do a number on my stomach. I steep them with delicacy! Green Indian tea has never bothered me – Harney and Sons often uses it for their flavored green blends. I guess terroir plus processing plus varietal all matter.
ashmanra: yes, same! black teas from China, even Nepal are usually fine, but Indian black teas are just not my friend.
PS: I brewed this pot of tea strong so I can go latte with it. It is sooooo good as a latte! So good!
You’re going to break my tea buying hiatus if there’s any amount of this available on your site at the end of the advent. It’s seriously delicious!
Although I never had the chance to try Frank’s version, it’s neat to see what you changed up! Thank you for sharing. :)
Ha, now that I see what black teas you put in this, it makes sense. I mostly taste Ceylon, but I can now gather Assam and Nilgiri but not Yunnan. I bet the Assam and Nilgiri are what made Kiki think “fruity”, whereas I thought it might be Darjeeling giving her that fruity impression (which I didn’t get). Great tea, Anne :)
@Crowkettle – I hope you’re not expecting me to apologize for breaking the tea buying hiatus. :) because – sorry, not sorry.
@derk Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. There is a very small amount of Yunnan – just to add a bit of roundness to the base, but not so much to add an assertive Yunnan flavor. The Ceylon tends to work best when it comes to the bergamot. Not sure why, it just does – the bergamot just seems to need the Ceylon to live up to its full potential. However, my plan is to slowly phase out Ceylon from my regular inventory. My plan is to only utilize it for my EG teas as I prefer Assam and Yunnan teas (and these two together will be my new go-to base for black blends). As for the Nilgiri in this blend, I wasn’t terribly sure about adding it, but because Frank utilized a Darjeeling tea in the original blend for this tea, I decided to go with a somewhat similar base – Nilgiri – in my opinion – is the stronger, bolder cousin to Darjeeling and as a result, I tend to prefer Nilgiri over a Darjeeling, especially in a blend. And all of that is probably more than you wanted or needed to know when it comes to my mental processes while blending teas!
Actually this was super helpful and informative, both because it’s just interesting and because it helps me assess how the blend is likely to affect my comically delicate constitution. Thanks for sharing!
Kaylee: I have found that black teas from India tend to do a number on my stomach. I steep them with delicacy! Green Indian tea has never bothered me – Harney and Sons often uses it for their flavored green blends. I guess terroir plus processing plus varietal all matter.
ashmanra: yes, same! black teas from China, even Nepal are usually fine, but Indian black teas are just not my friend.