Kally Tea

Yum yum! I needed something strong to cut through my flu buds, and this was it! Though I don’t think it deserves the super high rating…. hard to say if that’s because of the tea, or the devilthing causing my aches n pains

I am on a black tea kick! I don’t expect it to last long as they never do, but I am so loving it. Usually one cup every day or two is fine. The last week or so however, I cannot seem to get enough ceylon, assam, or chinese breakfast.
Thus… my cuppa plum spice is really hitting the spot. Mmmmm good!
It also means that I’m neglecting the rest of my stash! heh

Sadness. This cup just wasn’t doing it for me. Somehow the brew came out murky with none of the sparkle it had earlier. Bah. Come back to me plum spice, come back!

Wow. I love this! love love love it. Thanks Sil for picking out an awesome blended tea to enjoy over Christmas! I think my Aunt will love it to. Yep, you totally called this one :D

When I opened the bag, a blast of spicy plum wafted my way. Oh man, it’s intense! Which made me worry a bit, as I had an herbal version of the same once that was so strong I could only use it as an additive in other teas.
No matter, with a black base, it’s much mellower and smooth. Slightly spicy but it’s blended quite well with the base, so much that I can’t even determine where the spice and teas separate in terms of taste. If this was a blind tasting and someone said that the plum part was a natural flavour within the leaf, I’d believe it. And when a tea is blended that well together, with such subtlety… that is ideal, for me. I love that!
It’s complex and rich, not “in your face” and goes splendidly without any additions.
I’m on the second infusion now and it’s a bit different. Cinnamon is less dominant while the tart puckery plum emerges. I added 1/3 tsp of sugar and it really brought that aspect out.
The two infusions are very different. I’m liking the second less than the first which had that ohhh yes every sip is heaven effect, while this one is merely very good. Hey I’ll take it!
Yum.

Backlog!
I’ll be sad when this is gone. I have a ton of other rooibos in my cupboard and yet I keep reaching for my Berry Chocolate!

Still loving this sans sugar or milk, which makes it a serious keeper. But, I gotta drink it down fast as it’s already lost a bit of flavour. Eeeep!

Have there really been no posting notes since I crashed last night? I was so looking forward to reading a few notes before braving the boxing day sales today.
What tea will I choose to keep me functional… I’m thinking a matcha and a black tea. (odd there are no formatting items in my note, why is it in italics)

Oh and I had a cup of Berry Chocolate last night with some vanilla syrup. It was great but I think I’ll try the next one with chocolate. I received the pair in my stocking! :P

Another LONG, in the best way possible, day. Well that’s not true. I had a job interview that kindof went nowhere but after that, my day was indeed spectacular. Hanging out with Sil for a little bit, and then Raritea… oh man could it get any better?! Well it could have been I suppose if all my tea peeps were there. One day. I’ll do a tea tour of North America visiting all the shops and Steepsterites. Hey a tea lover can dream right?

Anyhow, this tea is pretty darn good! I get alot of berry and a hint of chocolate. A little creaminess, in that chocolate kinda way but without the chocolate flavour. mmmmm good.
I do wish there was a whole lot more chocolate of course.
OK I am falling asleep now. Pencils down folks.

Still pondering this one. I do really like the flavor, tho! I certainly think it’s more berry than chocolate but there is a smoothness to it and that lovely rooibos sweetness without being TOO Rooibosy, ya know?

So I had 2 cups of this earlier and really liked it! I hope to do a more involved review in the next few days but wanted to log it! Berry and Chocolate – check! A nicely flavored Rooibos – Check!

YUM!

Don’t get me wrong…I like Dragon Well. But many of them are around the same type of tasting experience for me. THIS ONE, however, is AMAZING! This one is MEMORABLE. This one is for the record books! Who knew Lung Ching could be so terrific!?

This is incredibly, naturally sweet! It’s wonderfully crisp and clean! It’s smooth! It’s awesomely mouth-watering! Completely hydrating! This is a real gem! YUM to the 10th power!

So, we made another pot of this for tea club today. Today the ginger really popped out. Made it with half 1% milk, half water and a low to moderate amount of sugar. Didn’t seem as rich today. Very, very good, even though the tea taste isn’t very strong. We only got one pot out of it today, but the infuser did sit in the pot the entire time so maybe we leeched all the spices out. :)

We have another pot, maybe 2 in this bag and then I’ll have to order more! Upping the rating a bit as until now I hadn’t thought I’d like it enough to order again.

Smells amazing in dry leaf. Not sure I taste the black pepper very strongly. I get the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and vanilla unsweetened but they really pop after adding a bit of sweetener. This seems somewhat weighted towards cinnamon since there are cinnamon chips as well as cinnamon listed in the ingredients. Without milk, I get a huge hit of cinnamon and cloves. Something in here makes my tongue a tiny bit numb as I get to my second cup – hm… pepper maybe? There are a LOT of spices, but the vanilla does mellow them somewhat and the tea base seems suited to carry them.

I didn’t steep this with 2/3 milk to 1/3 water this time. I just added a splash of milk after steeping in water (Tea Club had a pretty heavy lunch outing today and most of us didn’t feel the need for more in the afternoon).

This is very rich. I think it might make my tummy hurt a bit if I did it with my normal ratio.

Backlog: I started my day with this chai. Rich and smooth and even creamy – even without milk. Spicy too, but, not super spicy-hot. The spices have a good balance to them, peppery but, not so much that I felt as though my mouth was on fire as I sipped it.

The black tea base is robust enough to stand on its own with the strong flavor of the spices, the ginger and pepper are the strongest notes, followed by cinnamon, with cloves and cardamom filling in the background. The vanilla seems to even everything out and give the flavor a smooth, creamy taste that I really enjoyed.

A really enjoyable chai.

Mmm. This has a definite honey taste. Not a fake honey either, but a real honey. I get no nut taste at all, though. The black tea base is very nice. I can’t tell if it is the honey or the tea base that gives it a noticeable dryness which increases as the cup cools.

Overall, though, I will say that the initial impression of the 4 Kally teas I have tried thus far is that they are some of the smoothest black teas I’ve had. I’m not sure I’ll keep this around but I will certainly enjoy it while it lasts!

Update: It does resteep decently for a second cup, though the honey is lessened a bit.

I love Earl Grey!

This is a good Earl Grey representation. It has a vibrant bergamot aroma and flavor. The black tea base is a Ceylon, and it is quite a strong tea for a Ceylon as I typically think of Ceylon as a milder base, but, this one has some gusto to it. It also has a moderate to fair amount of astringency to it, and the astringency seems to build as I continue to sip … starting out softer with the first few sips and now that I’m mid-cup I notice it more. It is a dry astringency, but it doesn’t bother me. I am not an astringency wimp. But it’s there.

The flavor is very much like what I’d expect from an Earl Grey: tangy, uplifting … not perfume-y. A very good Earl Grey – not the best I’ve had but definitely one that’s worth my while.

I thought I had seen this tea reviewed here before, but I guess not!

This is really quite an interesting tisane. I could distinctly smell the cola notes when I opened the sample pouch, brewed, the cola aroma is not there so much – it’s a spicier fragrance. But dry, it’s definitely cola!

And I can taste cola notes too. This is definitely one of the better rooibos chai blends I’ve had, and that’s difficult for me to say since I actually had a rooibos chai blend that I created when I was doing my flavoring and blending thing. But, I am loving the cola aspect of this chai. It is really awesome!

The combination of the cola flavor and the spices is really yummy, it isn’t overly spicy-hot, the cola tapers the spicy flavor a bit, making it taste like a spiced soda but … served at a warm temperature and without all the bubbles … I bet this would be really good if it were brewed at a double strength and then served with soda water to give it some bubbles. It’s good now, without.

Really, surprisingly tasty.

Just steeped to directions and enjoying a cup right now. I am liking the idea of a green tea with subtle chai overtones. It isn’t overpowering at all but smooth, elegant, and PERFECT on a 2 degree F morning before you have to go out back and split some wood. I had this the other evening and wasn’t too impressed but I think my palette had been flooded from dinner. This morning, however, it is grand and I foresee this as a staple in my cupboard.

I love English Breakfast. It’s the first unflavored tea I tried so long ago, and I remember being surprised that I liked it! But some English Breakfasts just don’t do the trick. This one is perfect. Not too strong, not too weak, a perfectly equal blend of everything that makes English Breakfast so good. I feel kind of like Goldilocks but seriously, this cuppa tea is “just right”!

This came as a complimentary sample in my Kally Tea order.

When I opened this up and took a whiff of the tea I was pleasantly surprised. They smelled like the strawberry candies you can get at christmas time here, the ones with the hard candy shell and the sticky middle. I LOVE that smell.

When brewed, strawberry flavor settled down a bit. the tea still mainained that lovely strawberry candy smell, but it tasted like more like really good green tea with fresh strawberries. Hands down the best green tea I’ve had.

I will be buying this soon.

I notice the caramel right off. No distinct apple taste to me, but there is a slight hint of sweet that might come from the apple. The bergamot is very light in this, almost to the point that I’m not sure I’d call this a “grey.” It’s very nice, though. One of the better caramel teas I’ve had.

The brew is a lovely deep mahogany color but be careful not to let it steep too long and in fact, you might want to go on the short side. This does get bitter quickly.

Slight hint of sweet, possibly from the apples.

The dry leaves smell like almond extract. I followed directions on the package, deciding to steep for 7 1/2 minutes, the directions say from 5- 10, next time I will use the whole 10 because it wasn’t very strong.

Do follow the package instructions, out of curiosity I tasted the tea straight and it was probably not the best idea I ever had.

I used lactose free milk in this, which seems to be sweeter than regular milk. I think it covered up most of the almond flavoring because I couldn’t taste it at all even though the dry leaves reeked of it. What I could taste was the cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves.

I did enjoy this, though not as much as the gingered peach. I’ll play around with it though, because I think it has potential. It really soothed my sore throat for a some time while and after drinking it, so I’m definitely going to be drinking it all day today anyway.

Liberteas! Thanks Girl!

First infusion…I could taste the full black tea base then the spices and then the plum. I enjoyed my first infusion but was looking for a little bit more plum.

The 2nd infusion, however, HAD that little more plum I was searching for. I may be one of the few people who try and get multiple infusions out of black teas. Sometimes they don’t always play along with multiple infusions. THIS one, DID!!!! I was so happy! The plum was lovely and the spices were nice, too! The black tea base was toned down a bit from the first infusion but that was ok, too.

I like that not only I was able to get multiple infusions out of this but because the infusions were different and both satisfying to my palate but in different ways! Nice flavored black tea!