Holiday Tea

This another gentle (some would say flat) tea for the day. It smells like it packs a punch of spices and astringency but the taste reveals it to be the exact opposite. There’s a bit of subdued clove but, even with a steep time of over five minutes, this doesn’t qualify for being astringently nippy.

It’s not bad though. I think it tastes a bit like a chocolate orange, without being overly cloying and candy-like. Even without the addition of milk, this cup conveys lightly sweet and creamy milk chocolate, with a bit of bitter nuttiness, spice, and citrus. I don’t know what’s in this or if it’s the spices that are fooling my taste buds but it undeniably has a chocolate orange flavour in the finish and aftertaste.

It’s not something I’d pick up for myself, but I did work through about an ounce of this in a few days without feeling the desire to add anything to it, and it does make up for not getting a Chocolate Orange this Christmas.

Thanks Fiddling for sharing some of this!

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: boiling
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet, cinnamon
Steeped Tea Smell: clove, cinnamon
Flavor: astringent, spiced (cinnamon, clove) black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: astringent, a touch bitter
Liquor: translucent dark brown

I am glad I did not do 5 minutes as suggested. I was not thrilled, it was rather ho-hum spiced black tea.

Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/01/harney-and-sons-teabag-black-tea.html

This tea smells quite strongly of clove and cinnamon, so I was surprised that even went steeped for just under 5 minutes it was really weak, even the black base. Disappointing.

It’s a TRAGEDY! I always start my morning with 2 cups of coffee, but there’s no creamer here at work! So I went straight to tea, but there’s just not enough caffiene. whimpers

Anyway… I consoled myself with this tea, which is one of my favorite blacks. I’m tasting the oranges strongly this morning.

Tea #3 from Another TTB
I have tried to post this about 6 times and steepster keeps eating it up…:(
Anyways, this tea.
I so so so so soooooo wanted to love this one. It smelled of holiday in a cup! I brewed it as per instructions on the tin it came in….5 mins! I should have known better!! It smelled heavenly steeping… Of a cold night sitting by the fire. To taste… Bitter and notes of clove. I will have to try this again but at 3 mins. I’m sorry little tea. You deserved better.

May just be me, but the cloves in this mix make it a little bitter and I walked off without sweetening it this morning. However, paired with a brown sugar-cinnamon Pop-Tart, it makes for a nice breakfast!

I think this is the tea I received from AmazonV in a recent swap. It was labeled Holiday Spice, but the picture looks like what is inside the bag.

I found this tea rather weak with one sachet/8oz water steeped it for four minutes, it had a mild cinnamon and clove flavor, but not much black tea flavor.

I doubled it to 2 sachets for 8oz water and steeped for five minutes. I think I shouldn’t have steeped it for an extra minute, it brought out a bit of bitterness and there are some smoky notes to it I never would have imagined after the first brew. The cinnamon and clove are certainly more apparent, the scent of almond is hanging around the tea. The hint of smoke is intriguing.

Holiday Festivities are beginning, the air is getting crisp (which is a gentle way of saying “it’s cold, winter’s coming”) and nothing beats a cup of tea in the morning.

One of our teas we’re offering in the tasting room this weekend is Holiday. The orange and spice makes me think of the orange peels and cloves my mother would put in water on the stove to make the air smell nice and Christmas-y. It’s smooth with a hint of sweetness. December’s just around the corner.

-SES

I found this tea to be very well rounded not one flavor stood out the most, it was slightly bold as well. I am glad I got it but I am not sure if I would get it again. I will have to drink it again to be sure.