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“This was my firestarter this morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxU9zm7t8Cg I slept though my alarm so I had to reach for sumpthin’ with a kick. I am really liking Assam. It’s got a nice...” Read full tasting note
“I guess I wasn’t a big fan of this before. I actually found it ok this time, was expecting to need to add milk/sugar but it was actually perfectly fine without, probably in part due to age? Malty...” Read full tasting note
“Thank you to whoever sent me this! This is nice and malty with a nice sweet note that resembles a touch of honey in the aftertaste. There is a flavor in this tea that reminds me of fresh baked...” Read full tasting note
“Thank you to The DJBooth for letting me try this one. It’s not harsh like I expected. There are no added flavors and nothing fancy – just a good, strong breakfast blend. I haven’t really paid...” Read full tasting note
Our official “Dads & Grads” blend for 2009, RadioactiviTEA is a blend of CTC Assam estate teas. The Assam region in India is known for producing hearty, malty teas.
The CTC nature of this tea makes it even more so. CTC stands for “Cut, Tear, Curl”. This is an automated method of harvesting and processing the tea which yields a product that looks more like coffee grounds or, as one of my employees once unfortunately referred to it, “fish food”. Whatever it looks like and however they arrived at it, the great thing about CTC tea is that more surface area of the tea is in contact with the water when you steep it, and it brews up particularly strong.
This is a tea that can be enjoyed hot or iced, and with a little cream and sugar, it’s almost like drinking a Bit-O-Honey candy bar. We will warn you however, we have several customers who are now hard pressed to start their day or get through the afternoon slump without a cuppa this robust blend.
We here at Zoomdweebie’s (where we are “Nerdy About Tea”) have started this website to showcase only the manliest of teas. You won’t find any rose petal teas here, or any teas that smell like your grandmother’s air freshener. This is man tea country.
This was my firestarter this morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxU9zm7t8Cg I slept though my alarm so I had to reach for sumpthin’ with a kick. I am really liking Assam. It’s got a nice boost and lovely maltiness. Not to mention Prodigy is good to pumped. I’ve started getting back into the swing of working out and hitting the gym. I hadn’t realized how inactive I have become till now. I find anytime Prodigy tickles my eardrums I work a little bit harder…a good kick in the assam if you will. The supply of this one is starting to dwindle. So I may have to reorder or explore some other CTC. This also reminds me of a song I used to play on my radio show in college by the Channel Surfers-C.T.C http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgWBMtPdMCI quite the groovy little bit. Ah Tea and good music slaying the Buttdragons together.
I guess I wasn’t a big fan of this before. I actually found it ok this time, was expecting to need to add milk/sugar but it was actually perfectly fine without, probably in part due to age? Malty but not as punchy as the name would suggest.
I actually had a request some time ago to reblend this one. It’s one that I never got the recipe for because some of Frank’s recipes were lost when his computer crashed – and some of the ones he sent me were lost when mine did. (Lesson: keep these things saved on a separate drive.) But it was one that was lost when his computer crashed. I’ve been thinking about featuring a month of all unflavored teas, like a tea basics theme – but that’s still just a thought.
I would cry tears of joy if a reblend of Razzleberry or the iced Earl Grey came back from Southern Boy!
Yeah, Frank sold all his equipment and the rights to the name of SBT so I would not hold my breath for the iced Earl Grey. I also use a different bergamot than he did – I use actual cold-pressed bergamot as opposed to tea flavoring. So if I were to make an Earl Grey (and not a variation like Foggy Coconut) it wouldn’t be the same as SBT Earl Grey. I have done at least one reblend of Razzleberry plus created some variations to it. Which Razzleberry did you want, the black tea base? I can add that to the poll for the 12 teas of Christmas.
Heh, yes, that reminds me that I need to back up my computer…
A month of unflavoured teas is an interesting idea. I think it would be neat if they were all blends, so they’d still be something unique to 52teas.
@ashmanra – now I need to go look up Razzleberry and iced Earl Grey. Can’t remember if I’ve tried, or like them!
@Kittenna: yeah, that’s what I’m thinking – maybe a month of unflavored blends so that people can kind of get what I’m starting with. Like my classic black blend, my green blend… try my hand at the RadioactiviTEA (maybe?). It’ll be quite a while before this happens though – because I’ve got my themes planned out through next year about this time (unless an amazing idea hits me that I like better than the themes I’ve already planned out)…
Thank you to whoever sent me this! This is nice and malty with a nice sweet note that resembles a touch of honey in the aftertaste. There is a flavor in this tea that reminds me of fresh baked wheat bread with a tiny bit of butter. I actually really like this! Thank you again :]
Thank you to The DJBooth for letting me try this one. It’s not harsh like I expected. There are no added flavors and nothing fancy – just a good, strong breakfast blend. I haven’t really paid attention to how much of an energy boost I get from it, but I think slightly more than your standard black tea. Once the stash in my cupboard goes down, I might need to get more of this. Prepared with milk and stevia.
I once dropped in for a cup of this tea when running on no sleep for 24 hrs straight. It did the trick quite well indeed. Sometimes I cannot handle coffee as it does not sit well with me when I am not feeling all that great. This tea leaves one feeling energized but not jittery.
A great breakfast tea that packs a punch. This tea brews up darker than most other black teas in just the first few seconds of steeping. This is CTC style tea, which means that the leaves look more like coffee grinds than tea.
Unbrewed tea smells somewhat like licorice, while brewed it tastes just like an incredibly strong black tea.
A great substitute for coffee. Using 1 tsp per 6 oz, I prepared it three ways: plain, with rock sugar and milk, and with flavored coffee creamer. Same with coffee, I love it black or with cream, sweetened or not. Re-steeped with boiling water for 3 mins, flavor was still strong but a tad bit milder. I should have tried increasing the steep time. Next time…
I think that an important part of learning about tea is trying several ways to drink it. Plain, sweetened, with milk or cream and so on. This road of discovery reveals the hidden wonders in some tea’s. A plain black tea or puerh can become pastry or caramel with additions, but a thin tea can be limp with milk.
What I’m trying to say is…keep doing what your doing. Your palate will benefit.
This is one robust tea! I made a cup for myself on Sunday afternoon to try and galvanise myself for the week of work ahead. I was feeling pretty stressed at the prospect, and so a strong, plain, dependable tea was just the ticket.
I gave 1 tsp of leaf 3 minutes in boiling water, and added a splash of milk. I was expecting a fairly generic black CTC, but this actually tastes remarkably distinctive. It’s malty with a slight edge of sweetness, a touch of honey, and a little baked bread. I’m going to say rye bread, because it’s a dark kind of taste. There’s a tiny bit of astringency in the aftertaste, but it’s actually reasonably pleasant. To be fair, I was expecting it in a tea so strong.
I do want to try this with cream at some point, because I think that would really turn it into something special. Maybe a little sugar, on occasion, although it’s malty enough to not really need that. This is a straightforward, easy drinking tea, but it’s also flavourful and delicious. I confess myself very pleasantly surprised! This may become my go-to “stress” tea.
This reminds me of one of my favorite songs from 2011 (or 2010?) Radioactive by Kings of Leon. They are synonymous with each other, “It’s in the water/where you came from,” and I imagine this tea! ;) I haven’t had it yet…