592 Tasting Notes
It’s cold again around these parts (but not THAT cold), so I’ve been trying to get in some hot teas. This tea is not hitting the spot for me tonight. I think it’s partially because I steeped a little too long while I was testing out my new camera by taking pictures of the tea steeping in my clear gongfu teapot. Anyway, it’s vegetal with some bitterness mixed in. I think I may dump the leaves after this steep and go for a sweeter tea? We shall see.
This tea comes to be courtesy of Stephanie. I actually had very high hopes for this tea because I really enjoyed the grape sencha. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. It started off hopeful with a very candy-like apple scented dry leaf. It actually really reminded me of the smell of apple Jolly Ranchers. After steeping, though, it also started smelling a bit waxy like crayons, which was confusing. The taste of the tea had that nice candy apple flavor, but followed up with a waxy flavor and a greasy feeling as well. I just couldn’t get over that last part. I will probably give this tea another shot as a cold brew, but it was just not what I was expecting and hoping for.
I decided to continue with the French teas today with this very generous sample from Stephanie. This tea is very confusing to me. The dry leaf smelled heavily of caramel, but the steeped tea smells more like jasmine. I can taste both the floral and sweet notes in the cup. Also, my mouth seems to fill up with the floral flavor afterwards. It leans a little on the perfume-y side in that aspect. I also feel that there is something a bit nutty in the flavor as well? Overall, this tea is very overwhelming and confusing for me, so it’s hard to know what to think about it.
I’m getting so excited that fruits are coming back into season! One of the many perks of warmer weather. Anyway, I did something a little different with this cold steep. In addition to adding the green tea, I added some sliced up strawberries to the water bottle as well. I let the whole concoction sit for about 6 hours with delicious results! The strawberry flavor was much stronger than I anticipated, but I think it complemented the green tea very nicely. Also, it kind of makes me feel like I’m at a spa or something where they have those refreshing fruit infused waters. This was fun, and I think my next target will be orange slices. Gotta love fresh fruits!
This is the first Mariage Freres tea that I’m trying thanks to Stephanie! I’m actually going to be in Paris in June, so I thought it would be most appropriate on this rainy day to continue planning my trip while sipping on this tea! First off, the dry leaf is so pretty with the blue bits of cornflower (I think) and nuts. Plus, it smelled wonderfully sweet without being overwhelming. I steeped for a few minutes, and right away I can smell the spices. It smells mainly like cinnamon to me, but I have a hard time distinguishing between similar flavors. The tea is nice and sweet with the most distinct notes being cinnamon and almond to me. I do think there is a bit of something missing that makes the tea taste a bit empty toward the end of the sip. It may be the black tea base is not strong enough? Or perhaps I simply underleafed. Anyway, it’s a good thing I have another serving of this one left because it is hitting the spot today!
How exciting! How long are you going to be in Paris? I would have to take an empty suitcase to bring back all the teas and goodies I’d want to get! :)
Haha, I’m already planning on packing light so that on the way back, I can fill every crevice with tea and souvenirs! I’ll be in Paris for 4 days, but I’m also going to Rome, London, Barcelona, and Dubrovnik, so it should be an adventure!
I’m bumping up the rating for this one a little because I’m getting more nuance this time around beyond “strong, black tea.” It has a warm baked bread and honey flavor that I missed last time. There’s also more astringency than last time, but the tea is so delicious that I can look past it. Overall, I feel like most of the Verdant black teas I’ve had have the same sort overall feelings and flavors. This is definitely not a bad thing in my book because I love them! Too bad I seem to always be running out of them when they’re out of stock on the website, eek!
I met up with a friend in Cambridge today, so I used it as an excuse to stop by Tealuxe! Today, I tried iced pear & green tea with bubbles. First off, the tea was just okay. I could definitely taste the pear flavor and a light green tea. However, the tea somehow came off perfume-y and weak at the same time. The bubbles were sweet and chewy, but that didn’t make up for the weak tea itself. I’m finding that with the fruity teas at Tealuxe, they tend to be a bit on the perfume-y side, so I need to be more selective when I go back!
Sipdown (119)! Ok, so after seeing posts about almond milk both here on Steepster and on other sites, I decided to go for it and buy unsweetened vanilla almond milk. First, I tasted the milk on its own, and I don’t think I’m a fan. It tastes kind of weak. Maybe because it’s unsweetened? Anyhow, I mixed this matcha in there and shook it about to see if I liked it better than matcha in regular milk. It still wasn’t really my style. The matcha had a sharp, grassy/seaweedy flavor that was matched with an artificial sweetness from the cheesecake flavoring. Not my favorite combo by far. At least now I can read others’ tasting notes about flavored matchas and not feel too sad that I’m missing out.
Backlog from this morning. I didn’t have the best experience with this tea today, but that is definitely not the tea’s fault. First off, it suddenly started getting humid, so I was already a bit uncomfortable and sticky by the time I got to school. And also my straight teas never taste quite as good in my tumbler. Anyway, it helped give me the energy I needed to get through the day, and just for that, I am grateful. So sad that I’m running out of this one!