210 Tasting Notes
Confession: I can’t tell the difference between British Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, and Scottish Breakfast. I mean, I looked it up, but I can’t taste the difference. Black tea is black tea. I mean, I can taste the difference between PG Tips and Barry’s. And I know Earl Grey is different because the bergamot (mmmm bergamot) sets it apart. But that’s about it.
So yeah, as black tea blends go, this is fine. As has been my experience of late with RoT tea bags, it’s just fine. I’ll take PG Tips any day.
Oh, and it’s better with milk ‘n’ sugar (or oat creamer and stevia, in my case).
Flavors: Tea
Preparation
LOL! Nik I have been drinking tea of all sorts for close to 70 years and to me, it ALL still tastes like ‘tea.’
Heavy duty unleaded breakfast teas are my happy thing and have been for yours, but I’m not sure I could correctly classify them in a blindfold taste test. Everybody’s blend is a little different. Irish Breakfast blends tend to run heavier on the Assam (done properly, there’s a good burnt toast vibe), and although I always expected those Scots to drink tea the consistency of road tar, Scottish Breakfast blends I’ve tried are surprisingly light. I’m with you—if I need to wake up, just hand me my PG Tips and a carton of milk.
In regards to black tea, how do you both, Nik and White Antlers, differentiate what’s good to your palate?
Well…if it tastes like what I have come to expect tea to taste like, it’s good. that would be a bit malty, a bit tannic, even slightly metallic if it;s that kind of tea. I also like my black teas brewed strong. If it tastes like fake fruit, fake cake or cookies or any kind of pastry or food item, it’s not good. I dislike Earl Greys because the bergamot always tastes overdone. I can pick out some things that I find pleasant in tea, though. For example, Mokalbari estate assam has a very soft plum note that I love but I can’t always taste it when I drink it.
I have a long history practicing and using TCM, so if I drink an herbal, I don’t expect it to satisfy what ‘tea’ tastes like to me. I never drink herbals for pleasure; they are always used medicinally. That includes chamomile before bed, spearmint or peppermint after a heavy meal and so on. Unlike you, derk and a lot of folks here, I don’t a highly sensitive palate nor do I have the gift to ascertain hard to tease out notes in tea. That’s probably not a very erudite answer, but it’s the best I can do. Keep in mind that I am very old and had a TBI in my teen years so my senses are not as keen as those of someone who is 30 years old and in sound mind and body.
> LOL! Nik I have been drinking tea of all sorts for close to 70 years and to me, it ALL still tastes like ‘tea.’
I think we’re doing it right, then, friend. =)
> In regards to black tea, how do you both, Nik and White Antlers, differentiate what’s good to your palate?
I like the flavour to be bold but not bitter (and I know much of this is preparation-dependent), the brew to be smooth going down my gullet, and not having a dry-mouth after-effect. Associating goodness more with how it feels is probably why I can tell the difference between PG Tips and Barry’s but not Darjeeling and Kenya.
Nik-you summed it better and up more concisely than I could-‘associating goodness more with how it feels…’ YES!
Thank you both for you insight!
RoT’s 12 Days of Sipping, day 9. The first whiff of this dry blend was awful. It smelled spoiled. It quickly passed and then it smelled like it’s supposed to smell, but that first impression, wow, I have no idea what happened there.
All three flavours are present in equal measure: rooibos, peppermint (more candy cane than actual mint), and chocolate—and all three are equally muted. The end result is just okay. I imagine using two tea bags would’ve been better, but that doubles the price of the tea, and it’s just not worth it. I’m not adding a separate note for the sweetened, creamer version, because it wasn’t significantly different: as expected, the sweetener was kind of nice; the creamer (coconut milk) would’ve probably been wonderful if the flavours were bolder, but as it is it just obscured what little flavour was there.
Flavors: Chocolate, Peppermint, Rooibos
Preparation
Oh, honey! Got two sachets of this in RoT’s 12 Days of Sipping. Prepped plain, this brew is smooth, fragrant, and all honey. If that’s your thing, and you can have a bit of caffeine, you’ll love it. It needs nothing to enhance or “fix” its flavour, either; just steep and enjoy.
Flavors: Honey
Preparation
Second of two sachets included in RoT’s 12 Days of Sipping. Prepared this time with creamer and sweetener, which didn’t do anything to improve the tea’s flavour or presentation. Rooibos is still the only discernible flavour I taste.
Flavors: Rooibos
Preparation
RoT’s 12 Days of Sipping (2020), day 7. First of two sachets, prepared plain. I like neither cinnamon nor vanilla, so I adjusted my expectations accordingly. The brew smells like Big Red (the chewing gum)—all cinnamon, with perhaps a bit of vanilla smoothness. (I can’t really explain what I mean by a fragrance being “smooth,” so make of that what you will.)
It tastes like rooibos. Maybe a hint of cinnamon, but that’s it. Great for me because I love the taste of rooibos, not so great for anyone expecting cinnamon and vanilla. And if I wanted plain rooibos, I would just drink plain rooibos.
Flavors: Rooibos
Preparation
RoT’s 12 Days of Sipping, day 6.5. Quickly prepared the second cup, this time with oat creamer and stevia. It’s still pink, but not as pretty with the creamer. The creamer and the sweetener do a great job of cutting the tartness, of course, and the result is somewhat reminiscent of Fruity Pebbles.
I’m still not sure about oat creamer: no matter how little I use, I taste it too much. That said, it worked well here.
Still not for me.
Flavors: Fruity
Preparation
Got two sachets of this in RoT’s 2020 12 Days of Sipping thing. I had one plain and one with oat creamer and stevia. Both were nice, although the flavour was a bit too muted by the creamer. The tea’s fragrance is better than the flavour. I tend to like really bold flavours, so I had high expectations upon sticking my nose in my steaming mug. Ah, well. It’s nice, especially for a bagged tea, but not much better than nice. The spices do make it warm and comforting, though, so it lives up to at least half its name.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Spices
Preparation
Got two sachets of this in RoT’s 12 Days of Sipping advent calendar thing. Drank one plain and one with oat creamer and stevia. Both were good, but the sweet ‘n’ creamy one was better. It’s all peach, no real ginger to speak of. Were I willing to take the time and less lazy than I am, adding freshly grated ginger to the steep and straining it out before drinking would’ve really improved the boldness of this blend.
Flavors: Peach
