11 Tasting Notes
I love this tea; it’s almost got a “harissa in a cup” thing going on. If I can indulge in synesthesia for a moment, it tastes the way a sunrise over the desert looks and feels, if that makes any sense—the cool velvety night air, the golden-red light washing over the buttes, and finally the first hot, dry, dusty breath of Day. Putting the dry tea into my teapot made me sneeze from the pepper. The flavor is very cinnamon-y and a little sweet, and then there’s a nice burn at the back of the throat at the end. The label says “almond rooibos”…so I guess the almond is adding some sweetness and smoothness as well. So good! I was feeling a bit congested, and this really helped. Honestly, this has got my brain turning a bit and I’m kind of tempted to try this as a brisket rub.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Pepper
Preparation
I just can’t bring myself to like Green Tea (yet)…it tastes like dried lawn clippings. I am forever reading how Green tea is so good for you, an excellent source of antioxidants, a fine remedy for allergies and an aid weight loss and general good health, but I just can’t stand it. The only green I’ve found tolerable was “Earl Green” and I can’t find it anymore. The ginger is not detectable in this, the lemongrass is slightly present, but not enough to offset the basic ‘green’ flavor. I really want to cultivate a taste for Green Tea, but I haven’t been able to. blecch. :(
Flavors: Dirt, Grass
Preparation
It’s interesting. I personally love green and white teas (and I now prefer my black tea unsweetened too), but my sister can’t stand green tea either. If she drinks it, she has to have honey in it (and lately, she says that doesn’t help much either), whereas I can’t stand having any sort of sweetener in my greens and whites. And both of us were raised on black tea with milk and sugar (to this day, my parents make it the same way). Just different tastes, I guess. (Also a little funny for me, because in general, she has “healthier” tastes than I do, usually.)
Have you tried sweetening your green tea? I don’t know if that would work for you, but it might be worth a try. Otherwise, greens just may not be for you. (I’m in the same situation with Pu-erh teas. I’d like to drink them more for the health benefits, and I’m ok with them, I guess, and they’re growing on me, but they taste…dirtier to me, and I just don’t enjoy them as much as other teas, sometimes.)
Another good option for you to try might be oolongs. If I remember correctly, oolongs are basically partially oxidized green tea (blacks are fully oxidized), and while I don’t know if you would like the flavor profile and better than green tea, if you do like it, it might be a good stepping stone between greens and blacks.
And if you don’t end up liking oolongs and greens, then you don’t like them. Everyone’s got different tastes. :)
I love oolong! I had some in Chinatown in San Francisco many years ago with my friend J-Law. I keep looking for something that will be as good as what I got in San Fransisco but no luck yet :) I didn’t know what the process was on making oolong. That’s very interesting! Thank you!
(Gifted to me by my friend Jen D AKA “J-Law”) I’m a coffee drinker. I have generally found tea to be boring, and often the tannins in black tea and the ‘green-ness’ of green tea are unpleasant to my palate. Herbal teas have been a thing I use when I’m sick, liberally dosed with honey, lemon and whiskey— consumed for medicinal value of the herbs rather than for the flavor. This is the first tea I’d ever had that I actually enjoyed on its own merits. This is a really good blend, with a full, smooth & smokey flavor. Yep, this tea is a smoke-bomb! It is very strong, gives a boost as good as coffee, but does need cream and sugar to balance the smoke, just like they drink it in the Motherland. This stuff will wake you up with visions of being bundled up in a horse-drawn sled, being carried across the steppes, with a warming cup of this tea in your mittened hands, breathing the fireplace odor of Baba Yaga’s hut as it looms on the horizon. This is a tea for Adventures!
Flavors: Smoke
& Bacon Jerky (website would not allow me to add bacon jerky to ingredient list)
This is a light black tea, quite floral without being overwhelmingly flowery, has notes of maple, I do taste the bacon, and, surprisingly, BUTTER! No fake smoke or other unpleasantness that is often the accompaniment of ‘bacon flavored’ gimmicks.
