180 Tasting Notes
Gah! Okay, so things have been crazy lately and I’ve been away from Steepster for a week. I’ve been mostly sipping on teas that I’ve already logged, but I cold-brewed this one for the first time, so I think it warrants a tasting note.
It was delicious! Very lemon and vanilla. Even cold brewed, it turned out a little creamy. Will be making a pitcher again soon.
First smell (dry) was awesomely chocolatey. On a second sniff, I noticed something a little smokey. Glance at package “Ah, it’s Keemun.”
Did a 2 1/2 min steep in boiling water. Color is red-brown, smell seems more leathery than chocolatey now. Tastes complex, lots of layered flavors. Malty chocolate with a kind of leathery, scotch-like background.
I dig it, but it’s probably not going to be a repurchase for me.
Sipdown! Thanks to QueenofTarts for swapping! Finished off the remaining sample by brewing up a nice big mug.
The dry form of this one is so pretty; beautiful, light little spindly curls for leaves. They open up nicely when steeped.
I don’t think this smells like chocolate. I think it smells (unsurprisingly) like a Chinese black tea. The color of the liquor is a beautiful dark mahogany-brown. Tastes predominantly like a smooth & malty black with notes of chocolate. (I think the base tea is also caramely, as I’m picking that up, but can’t imagine they’d add caramel flavoring without labeling it so.)
To be honest, if I was given this tea in an unlabeled/blind taste-test (without ever having tried it before), I’m not sure if I’d be able to tell you “chocolate flavored black.” Perhaps my palate isn’t developed enough yet (w/r/t tea; I’m aces with beer), but I think I would guess that it was an unflavored black that was malty and had caramel and chocolate-like undertones.
That said… ‘tis good. Very good. The base tea in this is wonderful. I just don’t find it overwhelmingly chocolatey, which could be a plus or negative, depending on your tastes.
ETA: Whoo-hoo, I might get down to under 50 in the cupboard today! So what if I have a shipment of 7 new teas due to come in tomorrow? It’s still a goal achievement for today!
Preparation
Things that are not this tea’s fault:
1. I used a cheap infuser basket that left little pieces of leaf escape into my tea
2. I forget to set my timer, so I have no idea how long I steeped
3. I was impatient, so the water may have been a tad too cool
Things that are this tea’s fault:
1. The chili is a little milder than I’d like
2. It screams for creamer to get a real hot chocolate consistency, which makes me up my calorie intake (But oh-so-very worth it! Decadent!)
3. It makes me crave MOAR CHOCOLATE
4. It always makes me want another cup…or 12. And a chocolate bar…or 10.
This is wonderful, even if it is inappropriate for late May.
If that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right!
I think I’ve said all there is to say about this tea. It’s great. I’m just logging it because I think that I will sadly soon be out, and I need to keep reminding myself to do a better job at hoarding it!
(My other tasting notes are more detailed, I’m sure.)
Preparation
Holy sweet tea, Batman! Cold-brewed my free sample of Pom Tango. When I was adding the leaf, there was a HUGE slice of dried mango in there. I decided to steep it instead of just rinsing it off and eating it. (That took some serious self-control, let me tell ya.)
Anyways… this steeped up to a much lighter color than I expected for a black tea. It’s the same gold color as champagne! Taste is sweet. Like, really sweet. Like, “I can’t believe I didn’t add sugar to this” sweet. Like, “you sure this is black tea and not a tisane?”sweet. You get the point.
Tastes predominantly like mango, and not much like pomegranate. Though that may just be because my sample packet was mango-heavy. It’s hard to really get a feel for a tea when you only have a tiny bit to dig through. I’m enjoying this glass; it makes me feel like I’m drinking fruit juice!
Preparation
You know why I love Steepster? (Or, one of the reasons, at least.) Because I learn so much from all of you awesome people. Like cold brewing. I’d never heard of the wonder of cold brewing until I joined here. I used to make my iced tea like a barbarian! Boiling water on hot, sweaty days just to steep and pour over ice. And I’d always over-ice, so I would have to guzzle it down before it all melted and watered-down the tea.
But now, thanks to your knowledge, I just toss some tea and water in a big ol’ Mason jar, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and voila! Perfect ice cold tea ready to go. You’re all geniuses, I tell you, Genius!
So yeah, I cold brewed my sample of this. I’m not normally a huge fan of mate, but this one is good. I think the green rooibos helps to cut the mate taste. It’s very juicy, just like a big bite of melon. When I had tried this hot, I got more of an artificial watermelon taste (Anyone else remember Bubbalicious Watermelon?). But cold, it tastes more actual honeydew! And the smell… pure overripe melon goodness.
I’ve very much fallen out of “love” with this tea. It’s a bit too sweet & floral for my preferences. But, I’ve only enough left for 2 cups, so I shall diligently drink it up to achieve another sipdown today. (Need to make room on my shelf for the Summer Collection!)
Added a bit of milk to the cup to try and mellow out the floweriness a bit, and I have to say I’m liking it a little better this way. I won’t change my rating, because there was time when I liked this better than I do now.
Preparation
Sipdown! Yay, working my way back down to a manageable 50 (plus a few samples, but those don’t count, right?)
ETA: I fail on the trimming down my cupboard front. I needed a new iced tea pitcher, so just ordered one from DavidsTea… along with 2 individual teas + the entire summer collection. Sigh, I’m incorrigible.
