4329 Tasting Notes
I realized that I’ve been neglecting my Lupicia teas, probably because they’re up on a shelf at the back of my tea cupboard. Well, no more! I figured I would try the holiday teas first, since they’ll be the next limited teas to come out and I may want to make an order. The shipping is rather prohibitive now, but Lupicia is one of my very favorite purveyors so I may need to bite the bullet…
Anyway, starting with this one, which is a white chocolate and apricot black tea. The origin lists India and Kenya, and part of the base is CTC, so I shortened the steep a bit to 2.5 minutes and I was afraid of bitterness.
This is actually better than I remember. The base is a bit brisk, but there is a very nice creamy flavor that could definitely be white chocolate. And I think I may be getting a hint of apricot in the finish? Though I could be imagining it…
I’ll definitely consider this one if end up ordering. The next time, I think I’ll shorten the steep even more.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Cream
Preparation
I’m torn on this one.
On the one hand, I do enjoy the strawberry combined with the bergamot. And it’s a nice convincing strawberry flavor as well. I’m not sure whether I get jasmine, it’s difficult to distinguish from the bergamot.
On the other hand, I am not a fan of the base, which is a rather brisk Ceylon with no real flavor notes other than “tea-ish”. And it’s strong enough that I can taste it quite clearly alongside the flavoring.
So while I do enjoy the concept, and to some extent the execution, I feel like the base ruins it for me by being too assertive and not interesting enough. Plus, I have a headache. :(
Flavors: Astringent, Bergamot, Strawberry, Tannic
Preparation
Getting back into my B&B sample backlog…
I admit, I wasn’t too enthused about trying this one. I’m not a huge ginger person and this is a lemon-ginger maté blend. But I’m pleasantly surprised by it as I sip, it has such a mellow sweet flavor that almost reminds me of chamomile, and a soft herbaceous lemon note. The ginger is a bit spicy and slightly tongue-tingling, but I don’t think it’s over the top. There’s an almost minty quality to it because of the herbs.
It’s very comforting and light. My only concern would be it tastes like an herbal, but containing maté means the caffeine is likely quite high. So I’ll have to keep that in mind when deciding when to drink this!
Flavors: Ginger, Hay, Herbaceous, Lemon, Mint, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Yay, my Palais des Thés advent calendar order arrived! I’ve ordered four tea advents so far this year and now have two of them on my shelf, along with a jam advent. I’m going to very busy with tea drinking this December!
Along with the advent calendar, I ordered this and the other Louvre tea, as both sounded delicious and the art is lovely. I chose sachets as I didn’t want to buy 100g and have it be wasted. I was pleasantly surprised that the sachets are actually individually wrapped as well, so I don’t need to worry as much about them degrading over time. Plus they’re made of linen, like Kusmi’s, which I always somehow find charming.
Anyway, on to the tea! This is a green tea base with apple, quince, and plum flavors. I don’t have a lot of experience with quince, as it’s not very common here in the United States, but I’ve had quince preserves and they reminded me of pear with a touch of apple. This tea has a strong, fruity dry and steeped aroma, but the taste is quite mild.
The beginning of the sip is mostly the base tea, which is pleasant enough but generic and grassy. The fruity flavors come in mid-sip and then dominate the end and aftertaste. I do mostly taste pear, and there is some stonefruit as well, though I don’t know if I would pick it out as plum specifically. The pear has a lovely honeyed flavor.
The flavors here are lovely, but I do wish they were a bit stronger overall. This is similar to the Thé des Divas that I had recently in that it’s a bit too subtle, which keeps it from being a truly great tea. Still pleasant though, and I don’t regret ordering some. :)
Flavors: Dry Grass, Grass, Honey, Pear, Stonefruit, Sweet, Tart
Preparation
Wow so many advents! Can’t wait to hear about them. And a jam advent sounds amazing!
I really enjoyed the jam advent when I had it a couple of years ago, so I figured I would do it again. So much toast! :P
I saw the jam advent by Bon Maman last night at World Market! Pricey, but I bet I would love it.
I didn’t find it that unreasonable considering it’s all mini-jars. I think it was $35 on Amazon?
My last teabento sample from VariaTEA. Thanks again for the swap! I figured after having a Ceylon, which is less to my taste, I would switch to a tasty Chinese black tea that I was sure to enjoy.
For some reason, I always have a hard time tasting chocolate notes in teas. I see chocolate mentioned often for Golden Monkey and Fujian black teas in general, but I never seem to find it unless I really look for it, and at that point it’s likely just me tasting it because I want to. And this tea has that same quality for me.
What I do get is oodles of malt and dark pumpernickel or rye bread. The mouthfeel is thick and almost chewy, which really sells the bread angle for me. There’s a faint sticky, raisiny sweetness contrasting with a more savory, earthy mineral note and a hint of smoke.
Could there be a more satisfying tea? I would consider Yunnan teas to be my favorites, but these Fujian varieties are great when you want a deeper, meatier tea that’s almost a meal in itself.
Flavors: Bread, Cocoa, Earth, Malt, Mineral, Raisins, Rye, Smoke, Smooth
Preparation
Another old swap sample from VariaTEA!
It’s been a while since I’ve had a plain Ceylon tea. A few years ago, I ordered a variety of samples of Assam and Ceylon teas from Capital Tea Ltd. and enjoyed trying the different estates. I may have to do that again soon, once I’ve emptied out my cupboard a little bit more.
This particular Ceylon is from the Amba estate in the Uva province, and tea flowers have been added. It’s quite brisk with medium astringency. It tastes similar to an Assam to me, with pleasant malt, tobacco, and raisin notes. There’s also a nice bready flavor and a touch of honey, and perhaps a bit of citrusy acidity. I’m not getting any floral notes, so I’m not sure which flavors, if any, are coming from the dried tea flowers.
It’s pleasant, but perhaps a bit brisk for my tastes. I’m sure this would take milk very well as a breakfast tea, though that’s not really my style. Not going to rate since I don’t really have a point of reference at the moment…
Flavors: Astringent, Bread, Citrus, Honey, Malt, Raisins, Tannic, Tobacco
Preparation
This is a perfectly pleasant cup.
It is essentially a green version of Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice, but with some added orange. I quite like the orange addition, though the cinnamon is still by far the strongest flavor here. I don’t really taste the chili or the clove, which is fine by me. The orange mostly comes in at the end of the sip, adding a little citrus tang. The green tea might as well not exists (which really, is similar to the Harney blend as well). I think I might be getting a little chili tingle on my tongue with continued sips?
Overall the flavor is a bit light, I think I will steep it hotter and perhaps with more leaf in the future when I want a stronger cinnamon flavor. Very comforting and perfect for fall!
Flavors: Cinnamon, Orange, Spicy, Sugar, Sweet
Preparation
To be honest, I find this one quite boring.
It’s simply a plain generic green oolong with peppermint leaf and flavor added. I tend to prefer spearmint to peppermint anyway, so it’s bound to not be my favorite. There are pretty peppercorns and sprinkles as well as butterfly pea flower, but they don’t contribute any flavor here.
Also, it’s a couple of years old so the mint has degraded in flavor a bit, as it is wont to do. It gets a little bit of that wet rag flavor. Meh!
Flavors: Herbs, Mint, Peppermint
Preparation
Steeped this one up after Tourbillon didn’t satisfy my desserty craving!
I wasn’t so impressed with this tea at first, but I feel it’s grown on me over time. It has a lovely red fruits flavor that I enjoy in other French teas. I think I taste strawberry most, followed by cherry and then raspberry. All are rich and jammy sort of fruit notes. Then there’s a light buttery cake or cookie flavor that comes out more at the end of the sip and in the aftertaste. At the very end is a light lavender-esque floral hint.
It’s like red fruits +! This doesn’t appear to be on Dammann’s website at the moment, so I’m not sure whether it’s seasonal or they simply don’t make it anymore. If it’s the latter, that’s a pity…
Flavors: Butter, Cake, Cherry, Cookie, Jam, Raspberry, Smooth, Strawberry, Sweet
Preparation
I really wish I had looked at my previous tasting note before ordering this one… The website tricked me!
This is quite a floral tea. But in the description, orange blossom is mentioned only in passing, and it’s not mentioned at all in the flavor list. But I would say orange blossom is definitely the strongest note here. I can taste a bit of apricot, and perhaps some nuts, but I definitely don’t get biscuit or caramel. The apricot does pop out a little more in the aftertaste.
It’s not that I don’t find this enjoyable, it’s just not at all what I had in mind! Ah well, serves me right for not checking to see whether I’d tried it before! :P
I can’t imagine I’ll get through 100g of this, so please feel free to send me a message if you’d like some!
Flavors: Apricot, Floral, Nuts, Orange Blossom, Sweet
Preparation
It’s so true. I always want this one because of the maple-like scent, but I made it yesterday and it was so floral I actually dumped it out. :O I’ll try again another day.
Sounds heavenly to me!
If you don’t have takers already, we can have a discussion! Ha ha!
@Courtney – Fortunately I don’t mind orange blossom as much as some other florals, but I feel lied to! :P
@ashmanra – I’ll send you a message!
Lex asked me about Lupicia just this afternoon and I thought I might have to look at their website (along with the growing list of others). I miss the Orzo I always used to keep around.
Unfortunately I don’t think they have Orzo anymore, along with a lot of other teas, since the website was turned over to the Hawaii store.
Oh, I am glad you reviewed this because it reminded me that there is a Christmas tea my husband would have loved last year but I was too late to order it after I tried my sample!