The Final Sipdown: Day 6.2
It’s a slightly overcast, though otherwise no less beautiful fall day. After momentarily debating over which tea to ELIMINATE next [sorry, I write a word like ELIMINATE and feel as though it needs to be said in all caps], Auggy reminded me that she had sent over some of Kusmi’s Caramel in the last package I received from her.
No brainer.
Using the entire sample [and it was sizeable], I made a large pot in the Breville and poured about a third of it into my tumbler to take while I took the dog out for a walk. Apart from the fact that the tumbler [I keep wanting to type that as tumblr] I have keeps the tea HOTHOTHOT for a long time [great when I’m drinking throughout the day, not so much in the short term], it was a delightful companion to my afternoon excursion.
That said, drinking tea whilst walking a very curious dog does not lend itself to paying attention to nuances within a tea. So I was happy that I had a near full pot waiting me when I returned so that I could log it properly.
This tea is smoooooth. It tastes of caramel, but not in an overtly flavored way. The black tea flavor is nearly always threading in and out of the caramel flavor in a pleasant, complimentary manner. At times I get notes of dates and cocoa, but the caramel is the star here and it is delicious. As the tea cools, I tend to get more astringency from it, but the aftertaste always is silky, part-salty-part-sweet caramel.
I have spent the majority of today sipping on this whilst Little Dog sleeps nearby, I catch up on DVR’d things, and I recover from yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyable, and should I find myself at Dean & Deluca in the near future, I hope I’ll be able to snag a tin of this [though I don’t recall seeing it the last time I was there]. Part of me is now wishing I had used one of my self-alloted five saves to keep part of this sample later, but it’s just giving me another reason to push through TFS so I can justify purchasing a tin.
Little Dog | http://bit.ly/cgMywy
Foliage | http://bit.ly/cb6e5y
And just to reiterate: I ABSOLUTELY ENDORSE THIS TEA.
Teas Downed: 14
I want to like that one more
i know what you mean whatshesaid. i bought a big tin of it and was like ‘meh’ and gave most of the tin away slowly. but today something clicked! and i’m glad it finally did. now i will appreciate it with a new perspective.
interesting how illusive tea can be sometimes! such a tease.
It didn’t turn horridly bitter because the base is Chinese, and the rule of thumb for the majority of Chinese blacks is that you have to really go out of your way to ruin them. They have very little bitterness and astringency in them.
Good to know!! How can a person tell if the base is Chinese?
it says in the description of all their teas really basically “Chinese black tea flavored with caramel”. i just don’t know the differences between teas, but now i’m sure i will remember chinese blacks. and how they like to be abused. ;)
i plan to read some books on tea eventually. so i can learn more. just haven’t quite gotten there yet.
thanks Angrboda
Whatshesaid, you can’t. Not unless they tell you. But if you get an experience like this one where something extremely oversteeped stands up to it and remains drinkable you can make an educated guess that it might be Chinese. :) It seems that most often your average flavoured black has a Ceylon base or some sort of blended base.
Shmiracles, this is one of the major reasons that I prefer Chinese over Indian blacks. Indian teas in particular are often terribly finicky and demanding, whereas I find I can get away with most things when brewing Chinese. Chinese blacks just suit me better. :)
As for really being able to tell the different characteristics between regions, I’m afraid that’s largely a question of experience. Books will help, certainly, because they can give you an idea of what to keep an eye out for, but most of it is paying attention while drinking. (Non-flavoured, obviously, because flavouring can hide the base quite effectively)