Keep in mind I’m not an expert. :D
The first time I made it, I took a few BURNING sips, and tasted hints of vanilla with a fudgy, hoppy aftertaste. YUM! I let it cool off for a few moments, and… What?! What’s going on?! I think part of it is because I used too much water to too little leaves, because it became something different. It literally tasted like a beer tea. I honestly don’t mind, but where did the fudge and sweetness go? I also think the hardness of the tap water here has been effecting my tea. I used to use a water filter, because I hate the chlorine smell/taste of our local tap water. I had to play around with it a little more…
Second time around…
WOW WOWIEE! Now I know exactly what people are making a fuss about! This time I used almost exactly 1.5 tsp with 8oz of water. (First steep was 12-14oz to 1.4 tsp. Which didn’t turn out well for me.) I let it cool down and it tastes like chocolate malt tea. In my opinion its best this way! :)
I love the weird hoppy, nutty after taste. Its akin to the taste of a good stout. Yum! Any beer aficionados out there agree?
I’ve also read that it tastes like fresh baked bread, after sitting here for awhile, there is a subtle aftertaste of toasty baguette crust.
Definitely play around with this tea. I didn’t have good luck with it at first, but now I know where I went wrong.
So dynamic and interesting. Skipping out on this would be a mistake!!!
