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Wow! This is good. I don’t usually dig herbals / tisanes, but this has a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors and just the right amount of cinnamon. One can discern each and every voice in the choir, and relax with the beautiful melody. This gift makes me smile every time I brew it. Time to order more!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 45 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
TeaEarleGreyHot 11 months ago

Been sipping down my initial stash of this tisane, Western style, sometimes with a lump, sometimes straight. It has a pleasant and complex aroma both dry and brewed. The hibiscus is not so heavy as to make the brew overly tart, though it makes its presence known! I always like it, and it’s an afternoon drink because it lacks caffeine. Not getting much plum or licorice today; perhaps my stuff is a bit stale. Last year I bought a fresh supply of this cinnamon plum, at the Bentonville location, and boy was the cinnamon strong! When I start drinking it, I’ll make a new review thread. My first steeping today (1 heaped tsp/8z boiling/4min) was potent and deep brown. 2nd infusion looked weak and light purple, so I let it go for 20 min. Very different: sweeter, less tart, more woody, deeper soft fruity notes at the back and sides of my tongue and roof of the mouth. Very sweet lingering aftertaste (no added sugar in this cup). I’m getting a plummy finish with a hint of licorice. I might try a jug of this Western style, iced and sweetened someday. In an additional round with this tea, I cut the first steep to 2.5 min and the second steep to 5 min. This produced two excellent cups of full-bodied liquor, closer to each other in flavor and aroma. This blend might be a good candidate for grandpa-style brewing!

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TeaEarleGreyHot 11 months ago

Been sipping down my initial stash of this tisane, Western style, sometimes with a lump, sometimes straight. It has a pleasant and complex aroma both dry and brewed. The hibiscus is not so heavy as to make the brew overly tart, though it makes its presence known! I always like it, and it’s an afternoon drink because it lacks caffeine. Not getting much plum or licorice today; perhaps my stuff is a bit stale. Last year I bought a fresh supply of this cinnamon plum, at the Bentonville location, and boy was the cinnamon strong! When I start drinking it, I’ll make a new review thread. My first steeping today (1 heaped tsp/8z boiling/4min) was potent and deep brown. 2nd infusion looked weak and light purple, so I let it go for 20 min. Very different: sweeter, less tart, more woody, deeper soft fruity notes at the back and sides of my tongue and roof of the mouth. Very sweet lingering aftertaste (no added sugar in this cup). I’m getting a plummy finish with a hint of licorice. I might try a jug of this Western style, iced and sweetened someday. In an additional round with this tea, I cut the first steep to 2.5 min and the second steep to 5 min. This produced two excellent cups of full-bodied liquor, closer to each other in flavor and aroma. This blend might be a good candidate for grandpa-style brewing!

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Bio

Life is too short to drink bad tea!
Pan-American: Left-coast reared (on Bigelow’s Constant Comment and Twinings’ Earl Grey) and right-coast educated, I’ve used this moniker & Email since the glory days of AOL in the 90’s, reflecting two of my lifelong loves— tea and ‘Trek.

Now a midwestern molecular biologist (right down to the stereotypical Hawaiian shirts), I’m finally broadening the scope of my sippage and getting into all sorts of Assamicas, from mainstream Assam CTCs to Taiwan blacks & TRES varietals, to varied Pu’erhs. With some other stuff tossed in for fun. I enjoy reading other folks’ tasting notes (thank you). I’ve lurked here from time to time and am now adding a few notes of my own to better appreciate the experience. Note that my sense of taste varies from the typical. For example, I find stevia to be unsweet and bitter. My dislike of red rooibos may be rooted in the same genetic palatum divergence, which impacts perceptions of many flavors, from asparagus to stevia to cilantro.

I don’t work for any tea vendor, and I’m not a professional tea sommelier. And I don’t taste every nuance, hint of flavor or note of aroma, nor am I trained to describe those that I do detect. But I taste enough to have opinions, and do my best to be descriptive. Sensory preferences can shift from day to day and person to person, so numerical ratings are kinda bogus, especially between and among various people. But there are individual trends, and I try to reflect that. As reference points for my ratings, I give Lipton Black Tea bags “orange pekoe and pekoe, cut black” a score of 65 because it is widely available and profoundly consistent. I view it as just okay. I would give plain, hot, quality spring water a rating of 25, and I buy Crystal Geyser brand for brewing because my local well water is stinky and discolored, and my filtration & softening system leaves it salty and unpleasant. Tea should make the commercial Spring Water better, not worse, so a rating below 25 speaks for itself.

I am conversationally friendly but absolutely not here looking for dates or money, nor to sell anything. If I’ve started to follow you, I don’t mean to be creepy, it only means you recently posted something I liked reading, or it was about an interesting tea or event. And I’ve recently discovered that the Steepster system only notifies me of new posts written by people I follow. If you follow me, I won’t assume anything. If I do not follow you, it isn’t a snub—you’re still a good human being!
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