237 Tasting Notes

83
drank Strawberry by Whittard of Chelsea
237 tasting notes

Another sampler from the Secret Santa variety sent to me by Alana – thank you! This one has a great fresh strawberry smell to the dry leaf, which also features small bits of dried strawberries. It steeps up dark fairly quickly, so I stopped it at three minutes this first time around. The smell is clearly strawberry without being artificial or cloying – very promising!

Taste is excellent – the fruit flavor is clearly there, not at all fake, and blends nicely with the strong black tea base adding just enough astringency. With half/half and sugar, the astringency is evened out and the strawberry is turned creamier. This is a very nice fruit flavored tea – delivers just as expected.

Being a huge Beatles fan, how could I not think of this song when sipping a strawberry-flavored English tea?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A4r2RU1u3g

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
TeaEqualsBliss

YAY!!!! You played along!!!! :)

TeaEqualsBliss

I wish I could find a tea for my fave Beatles Song!!! (I Am The Walrus!) LOL

Angrboda

Oh yes, I remember this one! At the time I decided it was my Perfect Strawberry tea. I don’t think it would be anymore though. :)

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68

This is one of the samples I received from Jessica as the winner of the herbal tea portion of her recent giveaway – thank you very much! The packaging is very cute – a little cardboard cylinder with a slide off top and nice graphics too. This particular one has a green tea base with lots of other ingredients, including ginger, orange, peach, chilies, acai, and cloves, plus some bright safflower petals which make it look very festive. It’s got a nice fresh and fruity aroma, strong on the peach.

I gave it about 2.5 minutes at 180 degrees, and ended up with a deep greenish-yellow liquor, just a little cloudy. The fruit and spice aromas are very noticeable and pleasant. On sipping it – WOW! – this is spicy! The chili and ginger work together to really give it a burn. Don’t get me wrong, I really like very spicy food, and have occasionally had some chili in teas and tisanes, but this is by far the strongest chili-flavored tea I’ve tried. The fruit is there as well, and a nice green tea base. Next time I’ll be prepared for the heat – it was really surprising the first time around!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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71

The first of the teas I received from my (still anonymous until they step forward or I can decipher the worn away writing on the package) Secret Santa! The leaves are very fine and curly with a nice golden hue to them. They have a light malty aroma to them and a little bit of dried fruit.

They release their color quickly on steeping, so I’m going to limit the time to about a minute and a half for this first attempt, and start the tasting without any additives. Even with this short steep time it’s got a decent amount of astringency, so I’m glad I didn’t go too much longer. It also has a pronounced malty breadiness, almost moving into the realm of a light smokiness. I’m putting in just a little sugar and half/half to round it out and see what happens. Still quite strong, not terribly complex, but a good Monday morning cup to start the day with.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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76

This one interested me in the store because it included lemon peel among the ingredients – something I haven’t often seen compared to the much more ubiquitous orange peel. It also features a wide variety of tasty spices which I hope come out in the flavor. It certainly smells spicy and citrusy at the same time, like lemon peels coated in ginger-cinnamon dust. There are lots of spice pieces to be seen mixed in with the rooibos too, so I’m hoping this will be a strongly flavored chai. For the first time though I’ll make it tea-style rather than chai style and see how that comes out.

The two main flavors are lemon and ginger, which I think go well together. The other spices are there more as a texture than a taste – they add body and warmth to the two main elements. With milk and sugar, it’s a very tasty chai but still a bit mild – I will definitely have to try it chai-style at some point.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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Finishing up the last of the variety of TeaGschwendner sampler bags I picked up recently. On this one, I think I probably should have gone beyond their steeping parameters, which call for 2 minutes at 212. At this point I’m getting hints of flavors and aromas, where I really expected something a bit more fragrant and flavorful. I do get wafts of rose, subtle reminders of the green and black tea base – but would have prefered more. I’ll hold off rating it until I get another chance someday to steep it longer.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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73
drank Lime by Lipton
237 tasting notes

Picked this up from an overseas hotel room – interested because I like elderblossom flavoring. Also called linden in German and tilleul in French. It steeps up to a light greenish-yellow liquor, with a mild herbal/slightly sweet and citrusy aroma. The flavor is gently musky and just a little naturally sweet – overall, very relaxing.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
cteresa

Lime was sort of the default for night tisanes in my part of Europe for ages. Now it is getting replaced by hibiscus which is a totally different “animal” and which I do not like nearly as much!

Adham

Agreed – I find hibiscus brash and lime much more gentle.

slavka78x

In Slovakia we called the tree LIPA ( linden tree ) and we drink LIPOVY CAJ . In England they called it a LIME FLOWER. It taste nice with some honey.

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83
drank Mi Lan Dan Cong by Canton Tea Co
237 tasting notes

My last bit of this tea from the sample pack, and it’s ending up being a little more than the usual amount of leaf. It was really impressive how many different flavors I ended up getting from this, from a rice and vegetable beginning, through fruit and a mild roastiness to a grassy finish. Quite impressive when it’s all coming from one tea!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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83

This is a super mild and buttery Darjeeling – the texture is really rich while the flavor remains on the gentle cycle. The recommended parameters are 2 minutes at 212, which yields a light orange-brown liquor with a fruity and slightly malty aroma. Gentle flavors emerge with bready, dried fruit notes, held together by a rounded creaminess.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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78
drank Kokos by Demmers Teehaus
237 tasting notes

Last bit of a sample I got from them recently – I was in the mood for something sweet and buttery but still robust to start the day. It’s a good, solid coconut flavored black tea, not overwhelming in its complexity but very enjoyable with milk and sugar.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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92
drank Wintertraum by Demmers Teehaus
237 tasting notes

Ah, that’s much better than the Flavia mistake earlier this morning – I needed something to cleanse my palate after that. I put a little extra half/half and sugar in it, so now it tastes like warm cherry pie a la mode with a hint of almond extract in it. Gooood….

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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Profile

Bio

Grandma introduced me to tea as a kid (lipton with milk and sugar; a bit poured into the saucer to cool it down and then sipped from there), and I’ve never looked back. Still have a slight preference for teas that go well with milk (or even better, cream) and sugar, but since Grandma’s day I’ve branched out to appreciate green and white teas, rooibos and pu erh. Absolutely love Mariage Freres!

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Washington, DC

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