Did you know that Ceratopsians (the family of dinosaurs that Triceratops belongs to) might not have had those elaborate head fringes for defense like originally thought? I am currently reading an ARC of a book called Weird Dinosaurs, and finished the section on Ceratopsians where it talks about how the bony head fringe might have been used for mating displays. The theory for this is two-fold, a lot of damage marking on the heads of these dinosaurs match damage you would find on the skulls of deer and goats (and matches the horns on others of the same species) and more importantly the larger horns and weird triangular growths on the more bombastic species (like the fringe on Centrosaurus) didn’t develop until they started going through puberty.

This segues nicely to today’s tea, Tricera-Tips (Assam) from Tea-Historic, a blend of Nahorhabi Estate Assam and Cacao Husks from the Dominican Republic. If you think from the combination of an Assam and Cacao husks that it will be liquid brownies, well, you are right. The aroma blends malt, chocolate, molasses, and sweetness, and it smells just like brownie batter. Not really much else to say, too busy sniffing the brownie batter tea leaves!

After a nice steep in my steeping apparatus, the leaves still smell like brownies, even more so. With the chocolate and molasses comes malt and a starchy baked goods note that really fools my mind into thinking this is food and not tea. I am serious, pretty sure you could shove this under my nose with a blindfold and I would be convinced you were teasing me with incoming brownies. The smell of the liquid is much the same, with a little bit of an extra sweetness and a little less molasses. It reminds me of the constant brownie war Ben and I have, since he wants his brownies sweeter and I want mine loaded with molasses.

So the moment of truth, does it smell as brownie heavy as it smells…yeah it does, astoundingly so! I have had plenty of Assams and enjoy drinking cacao shells, and they are each delicious on their own, but something about the combination of the two really works. Cacao shells on their own taste like chocolate but with a woody and at times sour note, and Assam can be too brisk and malty, but when combined these aspects are balanced out so what you get is liquid brownies. What I really liked about this tea is it is sweet but not as sweet as brownies can be, meaning I could quaff a lot of it without feeling ill (unlike what happens when I fill my gorge pouch on brownies) and of course I had to share with Ben, who loved it and requests more.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/12/tea-historic-tricera-tips-assam-tea.html

Nicole

“gorge pouch” LOL :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

Nicole

“gorge pouch” LOL :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I am a nerdy, obsessive, crafty, tea blogging, gaming nut. Yeah, that about sums me up! Ok, you want something more informative….

I am a Geek, hardcore fan-girl Geek. It shapes my life. I spend a large chunk of my life painting miniatures and contemplating my various army layouts. I hoard dice, get obsessed with games, and will talk about whatever fandom, game, etc that I am obsessed over until I am blue in the face. I am not just a gamer girl type Geek, I also fit in the collecting knowledge and spending way too much time reading and researching category of Geek.

But there is more to me than just being a giant nerd. I love tea, always have and have just gotten more and more obsessed as I get older. I love trying new teas and then writing lengthy descriptions about them on my blog, I love reading and researching the history and culture of tea, I love collecting tea pots and fancy tea tools.

When the weather allows it, I love to go mushroom hunting. I don’t eat them, instead I use them for photography and spore prints. I love nature and worked as a Naturalist in the Northwoods one summer, it might have been the best job ever.

I have Fibromyalgia, it sucks, but I feel people who are going to interact with me should know since I tend to vanish because of it so fair warning! I do tend to not vanish very long though. Also I have some ‘social disorders’ which basically translates to I am really awkward and bad at socializing, so forgive any lack of social graces.

I also have cats, love the ocean and all aquatic life, have teal hair, love cheese, and collect hats.

My favorite tea is definitely Oolong, but I also love Japanese greens and…ok I just love tea actually :P I am not a huge fan of lemony black teas or tart fruit teas. I also loathe hibiscus (usually)

This is my actual tea wishlist, you know that I actually update and keep track of…I tend to forget Steepster’s https://www.facebook.com/notes/amanda-wilson/tea-wishlishtshopping-list-perpetually-in-progress/10152336515414411 I use my steepster WL to keep track of teas I have had and really want more of :P

Location

Kansas City, MO

Website

http://ramblingbutterflythoug...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer