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Small, choppy leaf pieces; an edge of sweet funk from the warming leaf, like a packaged caramel custard. Dark amber brew gives up something vaguely floral; florals on the wet leaf, too; I don’t get any of the cinnamon TR describes. Mostly tannic, crisp, biting, drying. I wouldn’t drink this by itself again, but I can see it complimenting a fatty, salty meal.
Flavors: Biting, Crisp, Drying, Floral, Tannic
I am so glad I warmed my pot — dried leaves smelled like almond milk, but steamed they transformed into toasted raisin bread. The liquor here is pretty straightforward — beautiful dark amber, malt and light tannins with a drying prickliness as it approaches the back of the mouth/top of the throat. Here is that note that people describe as “tomato plant” — the broken green vine scent you get while picking in the garden. Wet leaf smells deep green like a grape leaf in a dolma.
This isn’t a tea I feel compelled to keep around, but I’m so glad to have tried it. I traded some of my heicha stash for a bunch of black teas, some from less-well-known regions, and I’m super psyched to try them all. Mozambique… check.
Flavors: Astringent, Malt, Raisins, Tannic, Toast, Tomato
I really like Fujian teas in general and Golden Monkey in particular. I cold brewed a big pitcher of this one, and I may have goofed on the amount of leaf. It was just a tad bit bitter. But blending it 3 parts tea to 1 part lemonade makes a refreshing glass of iced tea. The weather has turned quite hot up here in North Dakota recently. Some of you would laugh to think that 80-85F is hot, but it is for me. I sure don’t want winter again but some nice days around 65-70 and cool nights would be nice. I don’t get to order the weather according to my likes, so I guess I’ll just concentrate on drinking cold tea.
Cold Brew Sipdown (2516)!
Another older sample that feels nice to polish off since I have many comparable teas in my stash. I recall not loving this the first time I had it, but as a cold tea I think it was a step up. It’s definitely still really tart in a sharp way and despite having such an intense red berry flavour (cranberry or raspberry??) it’s really devoid of natural sweetness. Not inherently bad because I definitely don’t always want a sugary berry blend, but it does make it feel unbalanced to me and also really makes you pucker! In some ways, it’s closer to drinking a straight hibiscus infusion. Time and place, though. Time and place.
Iced!
This was alright, but so extremely hibiscus forward herbal blends aren’t typically my favourite – especially when they aren’t balanced out by another flavour. In addition to that very tart hibiscus note there were several other red fruits notes like cranberry, cherry, and raspberry – but none could outweigh the hibiscus and I felt overall that the infusion was lacking sweetness or, alternatively, something more dense and grounding. All very shrill, sharp top notes.
The anise here is super strong both in scent and flavor. It’s almost savory instead of sweet it’s so strong. There are other herbaceous flavors in the background, but it’s difficult to overpower that anise. I’ve been keeping the steep time short, and that helps me enjoy this one more. Not sad to have finished my ounce of this!
Brewed this up as a late night cuppa earlier in the week. I was craving something light but decadent and I thought this might fit the bill. It was an alright cuppa and I do feel like it checked off all the boxes in terms of having the light taste and minimal level of sweetness that I was looking for. However, it was just so oily from all the coconut and almost sort of too buttery. I couldn’t really get over the fatty mouthfeel.
Decided to try this again so I could update the rating for my new system and give consideration to decluttering this one.
This time the flavors seem more towards floral. No sign of ginger in scent or flavor at all.
Just not to my tastes at all. Very disappointing.
Another that I suspect got missed in the move chaos and I suspect why.
I am not fond of this at all. It feels harsher than I would desire. Plus I really can’t detect any of the aromas or flavors that are mentioned in the description.
Maybe its my steeping parameters. Maybe its just the way this is and I can’t detect what others can.
Either way, this just isn’t for me.
Gongfu Sipdown (2137)!
Sipping on the last of this sample from VariaTEA with some sliced up starfruit that’s probably a day or two past its prime. I was meaning to get around to enjoying this fruit paired with some tea earlier in the week but, as I’ve been sick, this is my first proper tea session in a couple days. Apparently two days without posting on IG is enough to trigger a check in from friends (I got a call from Marika earlier today just to check if everything was okay because I was radio silent on the social media front), so this is to say that I am alive and well enough.
Palate is still a bit dead; I’m getting the pop of acidity from the fruit and a lot of baked bread notes from the black tea but everything is a bit foggy and muted. This contrast pairing would probably work a lot better if I could actually fully taste it, but I didn’t want to let the fruit go to waste waiting for that to happen. Still, it feels pretty good mentally to be brewing again after a couple days pause.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpa9d1KOf2d/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDut0S-3des
That’s really sweet of your friends to check in on you! Hope you feel better soon.
In hindsight it was incredibly sweet, though in the moment it was very concerning. I notoriously don’t like talking on the phone and the call was so out of the blue (and not proceeded by the usual text warning) that I was convinced in the moment that it was gonna be the type of call where someone tells you there’s been a horrible accident. So that was scary.
The rooibos base here wasn’t my favorite. The mango came through clearly in the scent, but the flavor was a little murky and generic. I taste raspberry and rooibos. It’s not bad cold, but not delicious enough to buy specifically. I did start to enjoy it more over the course of the 1 oz bag. It was decently refreshing cold, and the berry flavor was pretty prominent.
I was having virtual tea last night with a friend on instagram. Usually I brew gongfu when I’m doing that, but I just wasn’t in the mood to pull out the full tea table set up so I made a few Nordic mugs of Western tea instead.
This was my first time trying this tea, though I’ve meant to get around to it for a while now. I wasn’t surprised by the intensity of the spices as they’re quite strong in aroma as dry leaf and visually comprise a significant part of the tea. I think was did catch me off guard with both how prominent the anise/licorice type flavours in the cup were as well as the general sweetness. I enjoy anise a lot, so I was pretty into how it presented here. Definitely made this Chai more round and balanced feeling, and worked with the subtle notes of vanilla and oak that made this feel appropriately named.
