Luka Te m.m.

Another tea from the first round of the EU box. I decided to steep a large batch of this one so I can have enough for my new flask to turn it into iced tea. I think Rooibos and lemongrass would make a nice iced tea combination. Anything to get me through work tomorrow :)

It’s a nice blend, simple, sweet, lemony, smooth but very delightful. I love lemongrass teas but have not tried it blended with Rooibos before, probably because I’m not a huge fan of it but together they work well. The balance is nice, the Rooibos is a little heavier to start with but towards the after taste the lemongrass shines through. The Rooibos is thick so it does have that unusual chemical flavour but luckily it does not last for long.

I can’t wait to see what this is like iced, possibly better than it is hot.

O Hai there Steepsterites. I’ve been neglecting you a bit lately. I’ve been keeping an eye on the boards but that’s about it. I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month and there are a number of other things keeping me occupied. We had our first wedding anniversary this past weekend for example. Went out to dinner at one of the restaurants where we also had some of our wedding last year and saw the Tall Ships Races ships as they were in town. Very interesting for a day out if you get the chance for that sort of thing. The restaurant was the place where we were also given a painting by the owner, so we had brought copy of a photograph taken there with him, us and the painting to give to him. Unfortunately he had passed away earlier this year from cancer, but we gave it to his daughter. She said that he would have been very happy with the photograph and pleased to hear that we’ve hung the painting in our lounge. So that was a kind of bittersweet ending to our anniversary.

Husband loves this one so when I ordered some more of it, he all but demanded that I get two pouches. This place sells in 100 g bags ONLY when it’s online and I’m not sure he really had any idea of how much that is before he saw me tinning 200 g of the stuff and commented that perhaps we should just buy it by the bucket. However, it has turned into a favourite of his (likely because of the lemon grass. Husband is a lemon fiend.) so not stocking up was not an option.

This is the shop that I used to live close to so I’ve never ordered online from them before. Looking at the selection, though, I’ve come to suspect that they might have the same supplier as Fru P, so I’m not really missing out on anything by having moved away. I did consider getting some of Luka’s vanilla to compare with Fru P, but decided against it. I’ll just have to remember to check if Fru P has a rooibos blend similar to this one, because that would be so much more convenient. (And Fru P is a really nice lady. I’ve been chatting with her when I’ve been in there and she remembers my name. I want to support her business.)

Anyway, at first when Cteresa taught me to like flavoured rooibos blends, I wasn’t super convinced about this one. It’s lemon-y and that really suits the rooibos and makes it not taste like a chewed pencil, but it still struck me as kind of boring.

I’ve come around to it, though, and I can see now that the old batch had been hoarded a little too carefully. This cup is much more lemon-y and fun to drink.

So there you are, Steepsterites. I aten’t ded! But now it’s back to the writing.

This is one of a few that we’ve got that I haven’t added to my cupboard.

1. They belong to the boyfriend.
2. He brought them with him when we moved in together.
3. He is the only one who drinks them.
4. I don’t like rooibos anyway.

However, after the success of the flavoured rooibos that Cteresa sent me the other day, he suggested that maybe I should also try the three or four that he’s got. Well, three out of the four. He enjoys this one, he thinks I might like two of the others as well and he very much doubts I’ll like the fourth one. I know I won’t like it, because I bought it once, before I realised that me and rooibos don’t mesh, because some female creature kept prattling on about how wonnnnnnnnnnderful it was iced. Let’s just say it wasn’t wonderful hot and it wasn’t wonderful iced. Much less wonnnnnnnnnnnnnnderful. So I’m steering well clear of that one until such time as I come over all masochistic.

Anyway, this one was suggested to start with. Not surprisingly considering the man’s affinity to lemons. I made a whole mug for him and a little more than half a mug for me. It makes it seem a little less scary the fact that there’s less of it.

Hmmm, odd. Yeah, there’s lemon here, but mostly I’m getting something… minty? It tastes a bit like chewing gum, really. The sort that adults eat, not children. I’m not sure I would call it super awesome, but it’s actually drinkable. Again the flavouring seems to cancel out the worst pencil-shaving-y-ness of the rooibos base.

I’m not at all surprised that he’s fond of it, but I’m not sure it’s what I’m looking for. I suspect I require some sweetness here.

Therefore, I conducted an experiment and if the following is some huge rooibos faux pas, I suggest you either avert your eyes now if you don’t want to risk it, or consider yourselves dutifully warned.

I added some sugar.

And this is an entirely different picture. Yeah it’s a little on the sweet side due to the dosage of sugar (I have funky thingie with sugar in which doses it for you and you just empty a ‘room’ over the cup) and the size of the cup, but what remained of unpleasant rooibos-y woodyness has been well and truly subdued.

I think, if it’s not a naturally sweet flavour, I might require a bit of sugar in a flavoured rooibos.

Interesting.

No, I’m not feeling particularly discouraged about this. Probably not something I’ll be drinking very often though.

Oh! This is what is Pai Mu Tan is supposed to taste like. Got it.

Thanks Angrboda

bleeuuuuurgh…

Added a little honey for extra medicinalness. Seems to make the chamomile a wee bit more bearable.

At least it’s soothing. Poor us.

(You should hear Husband’s magnificent bedroom voice, guys!)

Ergh yuck! The next time I find myself in the unfortunate situation that I have to buy chamomile, I’ll go cheap and get some bagged supermarket brand.

Because this stuff looks absolutely disgusting when cleaning it out of the pot.

Okay, so it wasn’t just because I’d been snoring. I had a few errands to run and I had a stop at Luka anyway, so I asked for something chamomile for myself. Then I asked her if she had something in a blend that could take a bit of the nasty flavour and she gave me this.

Chamomile and licorice root which is also something that’s soothing for the throat. Not a combination I can really imagine. It smells awful too. Still very chamomile-y after brewing and I can’t detect much licorice root.

But if it’s good for me… bottoms up, right?

BLEURGH!

Bleurgh and bleurgh again.

Could be worse though. It’s not undrinkable, it’s just not really very nice. Mostly chamomile which I’ve steadily disliked more and more over the years (as a child I really enjoyed it) and some licorice root on the swallow

What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Or something.

What a delicious blend! I’m swooning with delight. Many many thanks to Angrboda for introducing me to this tea. I love smoky teas and this one refuses to wimp out. It’s a strong and serious drink with smoldering yet clear intentions. This tea offers uncompromising deliciousness to all lovers of smoky tea. Many Lapsang Souchong blends tend to add sweetness or lightness to the mix but this one reinforces and enhances the strong smoke.

Absolutely, devastatingly perfect—a tea to love!

De-cupboarding this tea. Unfortunately the dregs at the bottom of the bag were rather bitter so I didn’t enjoy the last few cups as much as I would have liked.

Thank you for sending me this tea Angrboda, I did enjoy drinking it. :)

It’s been awhile since I’ve drank this tea – I’m not quite sure why, I certainly don’t find it objectionable. It smells just as smokey as I remember, but I find myself surprised at how smooth and gentle the tea actually is. The tea doesn’t have a heavy, lingering flavour and I find it feels quite clean in my mouth.

Like that Vanilla Date tea from 52Teas this one has been banned to a separate cupboard to keep it’s strong odor from permeating all my other teas. I’m noticing a bit of bitterness this time, though it’s mostly when the tea is quite hot and it mellows out as it cools. Maybe I’ll reduce the temperature or steeping time slightly.

The resteep is lighter and sweeter with a slight woody note that’s most noticeable when the tea is hot. It’s still quite smokey, but it’s a more unobtrusive sort of smokey.

Angrboda was kind enough to send me a generous sample of this tea and I was terribly curious to see what it was like, so I decided to brew up a cup of it tonight. First of the all the dry tea practically reeked of campfire/BBQ and the smell permeated the house as I steeped it. I think my nose became habituated because I couldn’t smell it after awhile steeping, but the boyfriend-creature walked in the door, gave me a look and said “You’re making that smokey tea, aren’t you?”.

I was pretty worried at that point since Lapsang Souchong tastes like liquid BBQ to my palate and I was worried that this tea would have a similar flavour as, from the smell of it, it obviously has a large helping of that particular chinese tea in it.

Much to my relief it wasn’t nearly that bad – the smokiness was about on par with the Russian Caravan I got from Murchies recently. There’s a distinctly green note in the middle of each mouthful that I think serves to mellow the flavour.

It’s a really interesting blend, thank you Angrboda! :)

So, no less than three people at work have wrinkled their nose today at this lovely, smoky deliciousness of a tea. Rich, heavy and smoky, smoky, smoky. Ah. So tasty. They can wrinkle their noses all they like. I will reveal in the smoke.

Today I’m focusing on samples. I hope. Well, that’s the goal. Who knows how I’ll actually do on it. I’m feeling sort of blah due to the combo of a sinus headache, a spider bite, crappy weather and miscellaneous other stuff that I won’t whine about here. But on the plus side, I have this tea from Angrboda to try and I’m quite excited about that!

Okay, I officially hate this tea because it’s delicious and there is no way for me to easily buy more. It probably has the cleanest end I’ve ever had with a smoky tea. Heavy smoke on the front followed by a faintly sweet note that lifts the taste a bit and then a clean, smooth finish. But it doesn’t skimp on the smoky so it ends up being a strong, bold but still smooth and almost gentle tea with hordes of flavor. This tea is so nice and soft spoken while it smacks me around with bold smoky that I can’t help but love it and want to cuddle with it.
3g/8oz

Last tasting note from my Christmas present – yes I am very slow ;-)

The lemongrass is fairly prominent in the aroma, along with some other scent in the background. Not really sure about this one… but pleasant. Maybe it reminds me of lemsip a bit :-)

The flavour is relatively uncomplicated; the fresh lemony taste is present but not overwhelming. Fades to leave a nice citrus tingle in the mouth. A good cup on a fearsomely cold day like today.

So this is the last of the samplers of Rooibos, as mentioned… I don’t think I’ve found anything to tear me away from my love of the quince rooibos, although the caramel and lemongrass ones are good, and nice to have on the shelf. Now I have to stop being lazy and write notes for the other black tea I’m drinking and haven’t mentioned!

So – one of the remaining rooibos blends that I got from Angrboda. This one is a little exotic… the leaves themselves are interspersed with many twigs, small berries, and other oddments. Rather reminds me of a forest floor, or possibly the insides of a vacuum cleaner. ;-)

Smell and taste-wise, it’s a bit of a riot. The orange definitely comes through, as does some bite from the pepper/chili, which dominates the aftertaste. Not sure where the rooibos itself has got to, possibly quivering in a corner somewhere.

All in all, it’s interesting, but probably a bit too interesting. Perhaps one or two of the flavours on their own could work well, as it is, it’s a bit overwhelming. Anyway, it’s certainly not boring ;-)

Angrboda strikes again! Thanks girl!
Another get gift from the steeper-famous Angrboda!
Smells like veggies.
Looks like a white tea.
Tastes CLEAN. A bit nutty. Almost a little floral.
Delicate but flavorful for a white! YAY!

STRONG in every way. Be careful NOT to over infuse.
SIPDOWN from earlier this morning…

I woke up with this this morning and BOY oh BOY was it smokey! WOW!! The hotter the water the smokier it seems to get!

The smoky scent I can smell right thru the bag! (Another Tea Swap!!! Thanks!) I have had my struggles with Lapsang Souchongs but I must say this one seems to be the strength of smoke I need to make it so. It’s smoky in scent and taste but the taste is right where it needs to be…not to overpowering. The coloring is that of a darker oolong. I appreciating that there is not much of a funky aftertaste. This is a goodie.

More interesting rooibos variations from Angrboda. I’m diligently reporting them, but very slowly, due to drinking them very slowly.

Aroma is very caramel-y, as one might imagine, initially very sweet, with a more malty smell persisting.

Upon tasting, the flavour is fairly well balanced – I’d been somewhat concerned the caramel would drown everything. However, it plays quite nicely with the rooibos… if anything maybe it’s a little subdued. Nicely lingers on the palate. There’s the usual problem of tiny rooibos leaves getting everywhere, but such is life ;-)

This tea has great staying power – I had a cup last night and two more today and the leaves kept that same nutty, and sweetly-greenish flavour throughout. I image I could get at least another couple steeps out of these leaves if I were so inclined.

I went for shorter steeps this time ‘round even though white teas are supposed to get a longer steep in general, I think. The result was a lighter tea with a smoother taste but with plenty of flavour. The nuttiness still predominates, but I’m also getting a hint of something else that makes me think of rhubarb or maybe underipe blackberries – veeeery interesting.