83

This smells like warm gingerbread after steeping, with no woodiness or cedar chippiness from the rooibos base. The flavor gives the impression of being cinnamony but I’m not sure it really is. The cardomom, ginger, and cloves keep the cinnamon from running away with the flavor and the vanilla adds a sweetness and a mellowness. I can’t taste the rooibos, at least not very much, which makes this a successful blend in my book.

I’m torn on how to rate this because it’s very good, but I’m not sure I’d stock it. It’s a little on the spicy side for a night time cup; if I’m going to be drinking something at night I’m looking for calming rather than invigorating and I really only drink decaf options at night.

I’m going to go ahead and rate it to reflect my opinion that it is a successful blend, with the caveat that I usually would put something with a rating this high on the shopping list and I am not yet sure I plan to do that here.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec
pyarkaaloo

“no woodiness or cedar chippiness from the rooibos base”- great description! and so accurate.

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pyarkaaloo

“no woodiness or cedar chippiness from the rooibos base”- great description! and so accurate.

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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