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Very mild and sweet chai. I am not even sure to call it chai at all.

The rooibos base is fine, and combined with honeybush it is quite woody and sweet. The cacao notes are nice and not overpowering everything else. Spices are mild, but present in taste, mostly cinnamon and cloves in my opinion. Star anise isn’t that strong as in Ahimsa Veda by teakruthi I had yesterday. And this is certainly fresher tea.

Somewhere in distance I notice orange peel. I think I notice it as a base a bit and also in back of my tongue as refreshing flavour.

Overall, a bit interesting combination of ingredients (tell me about another cacao chais), but well executed and good for afternoons/evenings. Thank you Fabiana :)

Another tea bag I have received from my Swiss friend. Thank you!

Today afternoon is quite warm. And for my last day in isolation it is hard. I wanted something refreshing and this seemed like a good choice.

It wasn’t certainly a bad choice, however… I have been expecting more refreshing taste. It was herbal. Herbaceous in taste, mostly after lemongrass — but the pithy, sour lemon is missing naturally. Also, no juniper — no pine taste. Not sure if I was unlucky to do not have any in my sachet, or it was crushed, but sadly there is no contribution to taste. And other ingredients make the herbal notes only…

As a palate cleanser though it works well. And after quite a heavy lunch, it helped with a digestion a little bit I think.

Color of the brew? Similar to the box color. Clear. At least something nice :)

Pretty basic, a bit harsh, black tea. Although they say Ceylon Tea Mix on the packaging, apparently there is also south Indian tea in.

Tannic, a little bit of cardboard, tingling on the tongue. Thank you though, Fabiana. At least I have something to exchange (yes, it has got outer paper wrapper).

Easy sipdown, thank you derk for two sachets of this tea. Well, it’s actually “classic” tea bag, but whatever.

Anyway, it’s easy non-fuss tea with expected flavour profile. Grassy base, lemon-like note from lemongrass, a little harsher lemon-like note from bergamot. Luckily, it’s not extra sour as one could expect from two lemony ingredients.

Easydrinking and suprisingly fine tea.

Spring 2021, thank you derk.
I have asked my brother to get me a red box, where I have tea bags from Swiss friend. He brought me an orange box, where I have mostly green teas. Certainly, something to hard to brew… as I do not have thermometer, scale and other necessary things in my isolation-room. But at least I have a reason to drink greens.

It seems I have been waiting a lot with this tea. I tend to forget about teas and I have another branch of tea museum as Leafhopper have.

Anyway, I was drinking this tea all afternoon while playing PC games which is something I do not do usually. And while not playing, I was watching European Championship in sport climbing. What a sport!

Anyway, the tea… I would really know how much I have used as it is great. 400 ml mug. And three steeps — 90 seconds, 2 minutes and 3 minutes.

All three steeps were great. First one was most flavourful — grassy, sweet, smooth and brisk; but with no astringency nor bitterness. The later one, was again delicate, again with sweet and smooth flavours, this time I think chesnut and some nutty flavour, but not overpowering the grassy note.

The last, was somehow strongest, yet still I haven’t noticed any bitterness or astringency. I haven’t noticed even the strong green flavours, for instance spinach, buttery notes, or vegetals.

Certainly a tea that I may try with other methods, as gong-fu or shall I try the bowl-brewing as derk have tried? Grandpa will suit this tea well too, I am sure.

When two do the same, it’s never the same! Czech proverb

And it suits so well for this tea. Look at Jaf Tea version and read the tasting notes from Roswell Strange and me, and then read this note.

Sadly, in my cup there is nothing that reminds me mango and/or banana. It’s generic tropical fruit flavour, with very weak flavour level. Sadly it doesn’t even smell much after those fruits. At least the base is good. Smooth and grass seed like; so I did not had to toss it out and I have luckily also only one tea bag left.

Next tea please!

SIPDOWN
Okay, finally finished another tea which I had more than a sample, tea bag, or some other little amount. Originally I had 50 grams + I have sent some to AJRimmer in Advent Calendar… two years ago almost? Damn… Also, I have “overleafed” it a bit, as I had left more than I thought.

Anyway, this tea had it’s best before date on March this year. And it is August already! And it is certainly past it’s prime time.

First of all, I haven’t noticed orange again. Which is a bit werid is it should be Sweet Orange tea. Instead, stonefruits. I said apricots last time, but they are gone. Also oranges aren’t much present. It was somehow generical fruity tea, with hints of raisins, which are in; and it was quite pleasant.

So, in conclusion, it wasn’t bad. But I am happy that I have finished it.

Another tea from Teerausch, this time a caffeine-free cup of tea. The translation of it is My summer in Elbe-Florence and Elbflorenz is nickname for Dresden. Actually bought it as “local” blend, not much checking what is in. Again, only 20 gr sample.

Based on the ingredients, which are down below as on their website, it contains mostly: apple pieces, pineapple and mango.

I steeped it for quite long, I think it could be up to 10 minutes and then I forgot… so I was drinking it rather cold. I had it warm before and I have to say that cold version is actually better. Maybe I will use the rest for cold-steep once I can leave my “isolation-room” (after a week). Or make an iced tea.

Because it is what this tea deserves. Cold drinking. Thirst quencher. Great and quite sweet. Maybe because mango and pineapple are candied. But it is fine.

Flavour is somehow generic tropical, maybe mango a bit more prominent than the pineapple. But it is very fruity and enjoyable in warmer days as today.

Moringa in the ingredients does nothing to taste. Maybe making it a wee bolder liquid, than one would expect from fruits only.

I am happy with this purchase.

I bought it in Teerausch, however I decided to put it into database with origin company. And yes, I am sure it is from this company, as the lady was opening the bag pictured. I took only 20 grams and well, next time I am there I will try to take more. Because it is very fine tea; however, I think it is only my second hojicha.
Prepared with approx. 80°C water, well, it is hard to recognize the temperature in electric kettle. Stove-top ones are better for that… and steeped for suggested 70 seconds (only!). Next steeps will be 10 seconds each. Prepared western as I do not have much other opinions right now. More in the end of tasting note. Also, my senses can be affected.
Dry leaf smells roasted, which isn’t actually surprising, and lightly salty. In taste of brewed tea, I got again the roasted notes. Then caramel notes, rather a bit like a salted caramel. And very smooth, round taste. Very pleasant to drink. If I did a blind tasting, I would say it is an oolong and not a green tea. I won’t lie, I would love to hear other opinions of this. Sadly, I have so little I can’t share.
And now, why I have limited teaware access. And affected senses maybe. I am tested positive for Covid-19 today. Yes, I had symptoms, but I thought I caught just a common cold. Today I felt better than yesterday but decided to test myself at work. And voilà, positive. So, I left work again and went home. Is there anything more I could do? I called my brother, who prepared “quarantine” for me and my mother I had close contact with, and she have chance to test herself at work too, moreover she works in social services. I am only one in my family so far it seems. But it is no fun, as it would be much better if I would be at work, as I had week off and many things were waiting for me… and now I have at least one another week off. Tomorrow I am going to my GP. I hope that three doses of vaccine would help me having a mild case.

Of the flavoured teas, I was looking forward to this tea the most from Probier-Kollektion Nr. 1

Sadly, it doesn’t deliver much and I mostly blame the Chinese sencha used. It was smelling nice, again hoppy citrusy note as in their Earl Grey. Their bergamot flavouring I really enjoy. It was also nicely floral based on the flowers in the blend. And then some tropical notes — mostly mango as they say it is mango-citrusy tea.

But when brewed, and yes, I have used around 80°C water as suggested, and steeped just in half of both minutes written on the bag (2-3 minutes), it does brought me quite a mediocre tea. The sencha was dry, hay like, somehow buttery and overall I haven’t been impressed by base. On the other hand, the bergamot was great as in Himalaya Earl Grey. And tropicals and florals? They were there. But I imagine it is super hard to recreate mango flavour as I haven’t got a proper one yet I think. And yes, overall it was floral. But nothing impressive.