TeaNoir

Is it as spicy as advertised? Oh yes, yes it is. Yet somehow, it manages to be sweet enough on its own for my liking. A little splash of milk is nice, and the flavor is indeed intense — but it doesn’t need sugar! I really like the balance of this chai. It’s not wussy, it’s not clingy, it’s delightfully aromatic, and it warms me down to my tippy-toes. Granted, it’s an unusually warm day today (January in Chicago should not see me walking outside in a hoodie). But it’s also incredibly windy, and that wind really whips right through you and chills you to the bone. A wonderful afternoon tea, and I’m sure I’ll love it more when it gets cold again. I’ll write another tasting note about my experience of this tea with milk next time — as most chai is usually served.

I love this tea so much.

Sweet but not too cloying, it’s refreshing and tastes great both hot and iced (it tastes really good iced.)

Unfortunately the etsy shop we bought it from is currently closed due to health problems, so we’ve been rationing it out (thank god we bought a 4 oz bag.)

If anybody knows where I can get a comparable coconut/anise flavoured rooibos, preferably with no vanilla, please tell me.

::sends hopes for a speedy recovery to the PTB::

Some confusion this morning as I put together my little bags of tea for work: I picked TeaNoir’s Backwoods up as one of my morning blacks, then thought about it for a second and decided to take another tea instead. Then I remember pulling this tea out and thinking “well, I’ll take a TeaNoir oolong for the afternoon instead.”

I must’ve still been thinking Backwoods because that’s what my bag was labeled. And I pulled it out of my desk drawer all excited for maple syrupy goodness. Alas, it was not to be. I took one sip and realized my mistake.

Ultraviolet is a pretty decent tea. My main complaint with it is that it’s nearly identical in flavor to one of my favorites, Mighty Leaf’s Orchid Oolong, except that OO has coconut added, while this does not. The coconut gives OO that wonderful little edge. So this tea fails in that respect.

Light and grassy with a subtle flavour of melon (cantaloupe, I think) As with the sencha sakura I had earlier the second steeping is definitely the best.

This marks the last of my 1oz sample of Cashmere, which I’ve managed to keep around for about a year now. Sadness.

Cashmere is a take on Kashmiri chai, typically made with green tea, almonds, cinnamon, cardamom, and other spices. TeaNoir’s version is gunpowder green, almonds, cardamom, fennel, and cinnamon.

The most obvious flavor note (and scent) is almond, which is fine by me since I love anything almond. There’s just a hint of smokiness from the gunpowder, and the sip finishes off with a kick of cardamom followed by more sweetness from the almond. So good.

Again, if anyone can recommend a good, similar Kashmiri Chai, I’d be much obliged.

And that spells the end of Backwoods. So long, Backwoods. I will miss you dearly. I hope TeaNoir reopens soon.

Probably only a cup or two left of this. Sadness.

For anyone who’s interested in trades, I’m in the process of a major clean-out of my tea stash. I have these full or near-full Adagio 1oz tins that I’m looking to send to a good home:
Pumpkin Spice
Darjeeling #22
Yunnan Jig
White Cucumber
White Peony
Vanilla Oolong
Fujian Baroque
Lemongrass
White Tangerine

Also will give samples from anything from my Cupboard in a trade. Comment if you’re interested!

TeaNoir is an Etsy seller that has been MIA now for nearly a year. Their “tea mistress” has had a lot of medical problems, so she’s been delaying the reopening of her shop for several months now. As a result, I’ve been trying to ration the 1oz samples that I had and loved from her shop. I bought four about this time last year, and liked one and loved two.

Backwoods is one of the loved samples. This is a Yunnan black tea blended with maple flavor and walnuts. It is divine, especially for this time of year. The walnut taste is strong and prevalent; it reminds me a bit of Adagio’s Hazelnut, but not quite as sweet. The maple flavor comes in toward the end, and stays in the mouth with a rich, deep sweetness. It’s really, really good.

If anyone knows of a similar tea that could tide me over until TeaNoir reopens, I’d appreciate it! I still have about half of my 1oz sample left of this, but unfortunately I’m going to finish off the sample of my other favorite today.. review to come later.

This tea didn’t impress me as outstanding in any way, despite its pretty blue malva blossoms. The complexity I look for in an oolong just wasn’t there. Toasty taste without sweetness or florality, not even the promised (and hoped-for) violet. A bit of spice and caramel emerged in the third steep. However, it must be noted that added flavorings, such as (in this case) violet, weaken with age faster than the innate flavor of the tea. My sample came from a swap, in a well-worn bag, which might indicate an old or ill-kept bit of tea. So I moderated my rating accordingly.