Anastasia

This was a bit of a letdown. Supposedly a lady grey type, except IMO good old cheap lady grey from a teabag is much better – a more interesting balanced flavour (less bergamot I think) and more intense.

Without additives: Lemony. Bergamot. Something that tastes like rosemary or some slightly bitter herb/plant. Not very smooth.
With additives: Slight improvement because I like the taste of milk.
It seems like the flavors just don’t go together with the tea.

Pure bliss. It makes my day brighter, music sound better and it makes my taste-buds smile. An perfectly balanced flavor and a to die for aroma. 100% Perfect.

Pronounced lemon oil aroma on open of dry leaves. Nose on steep is rich with some of the classic earl grey roundness and gentle floral quality (coneflower? Vanilla?). On palate it is a little stiff and not as nuanced. My least favorite of the Kusmi earl grey variations.

1 sachet (full leaf within) to 300mL water steeped 4 minutes at 90C, drunk bare.

I’ve got a sampler! I love samplers! And it’s an Earl Grey sampler from Kusmi, so it’s bergamot forever here at my house today.

After s subtle and gentle start with Kusmi’s basic Earl Grey, it’s up several notches of brightness with a good Ceylon and China base, bergamot oil, lemon and lime oils, and orange blossom flavour! The first sip is very citrus, but not rudely so, and the orange blossom gives it all a soft finish that I could get really get charmed by. This blend is supposedly named after Anastasia Nikolovna Romanova, the youngest daughter of the last tsar and tsarina, and she was impish and playful, very bright and loving.

I’d call this a soft-to-medium EG. The orange blossom flavour really mellows things out at the end. I’d drink this any day. No bitterness — I expect using 90C water helps there.

This is another blend from my swap with Cameron, while this sort of blend is typically my jam, it was not my favorite. I thought it was pretty bland because I like super strong bergamot flavors. It also had a thick film on the top even though it was looseleaf I’m not sure how that happened.

SVTTB Tea #2

I got the tea box on Wednesday and since I am in wedding celebration crunch time (Sept 24th), I decided to take samplings of teas that piqued my interest, add my contributions and send it on its way again so I can enjoy the samples over a longer period of time. I managed to find two types of Kusmi tea in the box: Tsarevna and Anastasia. This is my first time trying Kusmi tea and I am pretty excited; it was one of the companies on my “want to try” list.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: Really nice smooth base, lots of deep floral notes and the citrus/bergamot wasn’t over powering. So far I can see why people like Kusmi tea’s blacks. Would drink again if I had more. :)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A Tea Flavoured Like a Favourite Muffin – Lemon Crumb

While I won’t be running to refill this tea it was no hardship to drink it up (my mom was also a big fan so it was consumed with enthusiasm). It’s a simple earl grey with a citrus twist. It’s a near-perfect mimicry of the taste of a real lemon slice and a dash of honey (good citrus here). The orange is a floral blossom variety, instead of a juicy flavour; the lime is muffled. The black tea base is bright but kind of boring.

A perfect casual drinker, that takes well to milk and pairs nicely with a citrus-like raspberry crumble cookie (or muffin type in question). Good times.

Adventaggedon Day 4: Tea 3/7

As I mentioned yesterday; I got the third and fourth day of my Kusmi advent mixed up so this was what was supposed to be day three.

It’s a total classic when it comes to Kusmi so I’m not surprised at all that it was so early in the advent. I do prefer the white tea version of this blend a lot more but I actually think it’s a pretty good Earl Grey even still. The bergamot is very strong and floral tasting to me which is not something I usually like, but what saves the blend for me is how distinct the lime note is. I don’t think there are a ton of Earl Grey’s out there with lime flavouring but I personally feel like it works really well – it adds this brightness to the cup that I don’t find most EG usually has and it makes the whole tea feel much more dynamic because of it.

Kusmi Advent Day 1

Had an early day at work today, so was only able to squeeze in one cup of tea before going in. This was a wonderful way to start the day (and advent month!). The lemon is fresh and vibrant, and more realistic (rather than being a lemon candy). There bergamot is perfectly balanced with the lemon. Overall, a really really solid cup of EG.