117 Tasting Notes
Got this tea from Janelle, with a note that she like it better than the Vanilla Orchid (which I’m a pretty big fan of). It’s definitely different! It’s not as vanilla-ey, and it’s got that little hint of citrus in there that I like. I think it’s a little more temperamental, though, ‘cause my water temperature wasn’t super precise and it came out a little bitter. Also, this is super silly, but one of the things I like about oolongs is seeing the little balls expand into giant tea leaves — I’m not sure why, but I find it super satisfying! So, I think the vanilla orchid wins in my book, but I’m glad I got a chance to try this one.
Going to go make another cup now, to try and recover from the horrific awkwardness of this afternoon. >.<
Sample from Janelle. :) And, as usual, I think I ate half the dried fruit before I ever had a chance to steep the tea. I don’t even like dried fruit that much — I have a friend who just keeps it around all time, all sorts, and I’ve never felt the need to do that. But somehow when I open up a tea, just to smell it, no really… I always end up nibbling on the apples and cranberries and papayas… >.<
I could probably figure out what I think about this tea, but at the moment my feelings are pretty much just “meh, good enough”. It’s been an unexpectedly long day. (Today I learned that when I start crying in corpse pose, my tears trickle down the sides of my face and collect in my ears… it’s quite the strange feeling… >.< )
More detailed note to follow, when I am somewhat more coherent. (… she says, for the millionth time…)
Sipdown. :) Although I guess I cheated, because there was that awkward amount between 1 and 2 cups left, so I just chucked it all in. Still counts though!
This tea is nice, but it would be much nicer without the stevia. I would much prefer it sweetened with sugar, I think. I probably won’t repurchase, unless I happen to be in a very blueberry mood…
I think I like it — it’s pretty nutty and kinda chocolatey and I really don’t mind the sugar (at least it’s not stevia) — but even though I put more than the recommended teaspoon and a quarter, it didn’t have enough tea in it. I think this would be nice if I mixed it with a strong black base, but none of my straight black teas at the moment seem like they’d do the trick. My friend had a kenyan black tea from david’s that I think would go well here, I think I’ll get a sample next time (maybe I’ll drag the boy there?) and try it out. :)
I should probably steep this one properly next time. We’ll pretend this is part of my protocol for trying a new tea — see how it holds up to boiling water and being forgotten about. It’s a little bit bitter, but the bitterness kinda reminds me of that bitterness you get sometimes in a red delicious peel, so I think it’s okay. I’m not getting any of the caramel/vanilla notes that people have mentioned, so that’s unfortunate.
I’m glad this one has more tea than movie night — it’s a little disappointing to buy a green tea and then have it turn out to be mostly apples. (Hmm, maybe they’d be good mixed together?)
More notes to follow when I steep it properly. Maybe.
Okay, so I cheated and picked all the anise pieces out of my cup. (I put them back in the bag, so the boy will have an extra anisey cup when he comes to visit…) And then I brewed it pretty strong, with boiling water. But it’s good! The pear is subtle, but it’s there. Sweet with just a hint of spice. Goes well with my (slightly disappointing) rum caramel chocolate bar. :)
Is it weird that I think of lemongrass as a savory thing? The lemongrass in this tea is making me think of soup. (Probably doesn’t help that I just ate a turkey sandwich.) I… i don’t think I like my tea to taste like soup.
Last time I had lemongrass in a tea was adagio’s thai chai, where it was part of a very un-soup-like blend of things including coconut, and that just straight up tasted like soap to me. I think maybe lemongrass tea and I just don’t really get along… >.<
(I really hope it doesn’t make my timolino taste like soup/soap forever. That would be super sad. It’s new.)
There is very little point to this note, because, well, it’s chamomile and lavender. It tastes just like chamomile and lavender should. I wish I could compare it to the other chamomile lavender tea I’ve tried (Traditional Medicinals? I think maybe?) but I’m all out of that, and as such I have nothing to say. But let the record show that I drank it! And it was not a horrific experience. In fact, it was quite good. :)
Got a sample of this from Janelle ages ago, but I’m just trying it now. I’m very bad at trying tiny samples. Like what if I squander them and I never get to truly taste the tea? I worry about that too much I think. But I have more tea than I am comfortable with and I need to fix that. Soooo…
This one is interesting, although I’m usually not a huge fan of white teas. I like the lemony earl-grey-ness, but there a note in there that I don’t really like and I can’t quite place it. I guess it’s either the “freeze dried yogurt” (never tried a tea with freeze dried yogurt before) or just the white tea that probably isn’t super fresh, since this tea has been discontinued I think? (totally not complaining, just speculating.)
I think I should try the rest of it iced, probably.
