Tea Forte
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Sipdown 59
The dry leaf smells like blue cheese. Luckily, once brewed the blue cheese smell goes away, and there is no blue cheese flavor to be found. There is also no ginger or pear. This tastes like bananas. Like banana runts, not a fresh banana. It’s actually not bad for a banana tea….but it’s a pear tea, so I’m confused.
Sipdown 54
I just started on sipping through a Tea Forte sampler I bought quite awhile ago. I made this hot, though admittedly it seems much more suited for an iced tea.
The hibiscus works really well with the bright raspberry flavor. Not usually something I would gravitate towards, and not terribly unique. But, an overall tasty herbal/fruity option.
Would definitely be better iced.
My husband and I had our hanami at a local park that happens to have a bunch of cherry trees. They’re small, but loaded with blossoms. This tea was the perfect accompaniment to the onigiri, shrimp shumai, strawberry daifuku, taiyaki (custard AND azuki bean filled!), and a mini baumkuchen that I brought. I brewed it up beforehand according to the instructions, and put it in my thermos. Delicately floral, light cherry fruit, soft green tea flavor, nothing was too heavy, nothing overpowered any of the other elements in the tea. We enjoyed it so much. I wasn’t expecting much from this, since my previous experiences with cherry blossom green teas have been mixed. They can get cloying, metallic, overly floral. Not so here. This is a winner.
Flavors: Cherry, Cherry Blossom, Floral
Preparation
Single bag grabbed from a tea box. I taste mostly a sour rose and a pepperiness, maybe also from the rose. I get maybe a little chocolate and some nuttiness. The black tea doesn’t contribute much. I’m drinking this with milk, and it’s okay, but not really my thing. I don’t like that these bags are each stored in their own non-sealed cardboard pyramid.
Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge
January 2022 → A tea flavored like your favorite pie
I know, I know. It’s February already. I intended this for yesterday, but time got away from me. My favorite pie of the moment is lemon ice box pie from Jim ‘N Nick’s. I think Jim ‘N Nick’s is a local restaurant, maybe originating in Birmingham but now spread throughout the southeast US. (Just checked and there is a lone location in Aurora, Colorado.) Anyway, it’s mostly known for its barbecue. They have some other great items on the menu too though, one of which is their lemon ice box pie. It’s wildly expensive for a slice of pie, to me at least, so I usually savor a few bites over the course of a few days (if I can make it last that long). Equal parts tart lemon and mile-high whipped cream with a buttery graham cracker crust. It’s heaven on earth.
This tea comes closest to that puckery lemony flavor, but of course it can’t compare. It would be unfair to expect it to. As a tea, and a green tea at that, it’s enjoyable. It’s not tart like I expected but instead tastes more like Pez candy. There are quite a few lemony elements in this tea, so I’m not sure which is giving me that impression. Contenders are lemon verbena, lemon myrtle, lemon peel, lemongrass and natural lemon flavor. I’m guessing it’s either the lemon verbena or the lemon myrtle. I’m not familiar enough with them to match the flavor. So yeah, not as enjoyable as the pie but definitely a nice enough green tea. Coming from someone who doesn’t really like green tea, I think someone who does would probably like this one.
Preparation
This was meant to be my pick for one of the sipdown prompts (a tea with bean notes), but I don’t taste anything bean-like here. I saw one note that mentioned soybeans, so I went with it. I’m no connoisseur of green teas which is probably why I’m only picking up the most obvious flavors (jasmine). I don’t love it, but I also don’t love green tea all that much either.
I’m settling in for trap session No. 2, so scroll past all my notes today if you don’t want to hear me go on and on about it. :D We released our first cat on Thursday, and I can’t think of many times in my life when I’ve felt so proud. We’ve had to put the fostering on a hold for a bit, so I’m really excited to have found something else to learn and do in the meantime. Planning to drink lots of tea today while I wait.
Flavors: Bitter, Drying, Floral, Jasmine
Preparation
Why is this sweet?! I was hoping for a nice, straightforward tea that lives up to its name. Instead I’m tasting sweetness at the front of the sip, so much like stevia that I had to check the ingredients list. Stevia isn’t on there, so I’m guessing that the sweetness is coming from the licorice root. Unfortunately I can’t shake that stevia vibe and I really really dislike stevia. Thankfully this is a sipdown and I’m counting it towards Mastress Alita’s January 2022 sipdown challenge as paired with a favorite hobby because I drank it (or tried to) while decorating my planner for the week.
Another from TreeGal a while ago! Thank you! A single sample that looked so fancy – the package makes it seem so classy and dessert like, so the actual tea was confusing. I expected a long leaf black, with creamy peach sugar flavor. Really, it’s like a tart peach, not even a candy peach. The black tea is finely chopped – very small. I only see an occasional marigold flower, but upon steeping, I definitely taste some coconut and yep, there it is in the description too. No idea how old this is now, but I know I have had this sample for at least a year or two. The description mentions mango flavor? Not even peach flavor? I guess it could taste like mango, but then why not call it mango brulee? It isn’t brulee either. Just confusing all around. I didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. I probably would have been better blindtasting it, than relying on the name to guide me. Glad to sample, glad it’s gone. Next morning cold tea tasted like stone fruits on rich black tea — I love next morning cold tea. :D
Steep #1 // 20 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep
2022 sipdowns: 6
Flavors: Cherry, Coconut, Mango, Peach, Stonefruit
It’s a good tea for the afternoon. Not heavy on the ginger (which is good for me, because ginger and I don’t always get along) and slightly pear-fruit flavored. This is delicate, nothing to whack you in the face. Delightful in an afternoon rainstorm.
Flavors: Ginger, Honey, Pear