1711 Tasting Notes
I’m about half way through this tin! Been having this hot steeped and poured over ice with soy creamer. It has been a very reliable tea that delivers on the promise of caffeine. After a sweaty motorcycle ride to class today, my mug of this was drained pretty quickly.
I’m liking this tea much better than the last time I had it! I boiled sweetened vanilla soy milk and steeped the tea in it for about five minutes while stirring. I strained it into a jar and let it cool in the fridge overnight. Today, it is quite delicious! It seems to have a good mix of cinnamon/cardamon/clove going on in it. It isn’t quite as heavy or earthy as I would like and I prefer a little more of a pepper spicy bite, but it is still pretty good. I might try adding a few peppers in it next time and see if that fills my chai desires.
Preparation
Picked this up in San Francisco in Japan town. Some store that sold tea an incense tucked away in a back corner. I had no idea what I was buying (other than matcha) and feel I stumbled onto something kind of amazing. I have been adding a little matcha into some creamer, frothing it up and adding an ice cube to combat the summer heat. What I get is amazing! It is so smooth! There is no bitterness! This matcha is quite mellow on the sip and has only a slight green tang at the very end of the sip and aftertaste. I am not super familiar with matchas, but this is the best I have had yet! I’m trying to pace myself and not go through the tin too quickly!
Lupicia’s Tochiotome vs. Kusmi’s Strawberry Green
Strawberry Greens! I could have sworn I had a third strawberry green tea in my cupboard, but maybe I had passed it on. Oh well! Both teas were steeped at 175 for 2 minutes.
Lupicia’s Tochiotome
The first sip was very light, almost not there. A few sips in and I get the strawberry, mostly in arouma and aftertaste. There is a little bit of green nipping at the sides of my tongue. It has a softnes at the start of the sip. It is smooth and round and almost creamy without the cream. The start and finish of the sip couldn’t be more different! I can pick out the gummi candy scent again on this one.
Adding cream… It seems to flatten the tea until the aftersip. I made note of a canned catfood taste last time I had this tea and I now wish I hadn’t reread my review and had that idea fresh in my head because I’m picking up on that a little mid sip. It is this light weird hint of it before the strawberry picks up at the end of the sip. Once I’m past the middle of this sip, it is great.
Kusmi’s Strawberry Green
Dry, the scent is overpowering! Almost candy like in it’s intensity. I can pick up the strawberry at the beginning of the sip. There is a little green on the sides of my tongue for this tea as well. I got a strange tingle at the back of my throat, which made me cough briefly… strange. The end of the sip and aftertaste are pretty smooth too. The entire sip is pretty consistent aside from a bit of green in the middle.
Adding cream…. the strawberry is muted. Might be nice with a little sugar to pick it back up. It really isn’t impressing me at the moment. The sip again is even in flavor with no changes. It seems a little more dull in flavor than it’s rival.
Conclusion
Both teas smell fantastic dry, but seem to loose a bit of that magic once steeped. Lupicia’s tea seems to have more depth with the taste changing as you go, but Kusmi’s doesn’t have the weird mid sip taste that the other does. I think I would like a cold steeped round two of these teas to determine my favorite.
Preparation
I’m not quite sure what tea I should post this under, or if I should post it in all the contenders profiles, so for now it will go in the winner’s corner!
Malty cocoa toffee tea taste off! I have a few teas in my cupboard that remind me of eachother, so I thought I’d do a taste off and compare them side by side. All teas were steeped at 205 for 3 minutes.
NY Breakfast
First sip, very smooth, lots of cocoa, only the tiniest bit of bitter in the back of the sip.
Adding cream… Oh god! Delicious! The cocoa is rounded out with creaminess and the flavor sits on the breakfast base. No bitterness at all and the flavor is the same throughout the sip. I sink into a cup of this every time! It is so well rounded. Coming back to my cup after 20 minutes I swear I taste a slight coconut creaminess to it.
American Breakfast – Marriage Freres
Very tangy and bright. Almost has a citrusy green feel to it. Not really getting much cocoa, it has a slight breakfasty base in the background. No almond like
Adding cream… Much smoother! The bitterness is gone. It still has that brightness to it that is familiar, but I can’t quite place my finger on. I must have had a tea that has similar qualities to it before.
Wedding Imperial – Marriage Freres
First sip was a little bitter and shocking, but also full of caramel on a deep black base. A few more sips in and the bitter fades letting the caramel shine through a little more.
Adding cream… Smooth. Caramel. Light. The base isn’t heavy on this and I think I would prefer that to carry the caramel better. It seems like a lighter version of NY Breakfast. There is a depth to NYB that WI lacks.
Toffee – Palais De Thes
First sip was smooth! It is light. The scent is sweet and toffee like. I could enjoy this one without additions, even tho it isn’t as deep of a flavor as I would like. There is a slight alkaline tang to it, which could very well be my water source.
Adding cream… Still so smooth! The toffee is still present, but maybe not as prominent as I would like.
Summary
These teas are all so similar, but so different at the same time. They all have that malty/cocoa/toffee way about them and at the same time they have different depths, intensities and nuances. When I drink one I am reminded of the others similarities. I definitely don’t need all four in my cupboard and think I could be happy with just NY Breakfast, although I will be out of NYB way before I finish off the others. If I had to list my preference starting with the favorite, it would be NY Breakfast, Toffee, Wedding Imperial and American Breakfast.
*side note: I keep running into other teas I should have included in this comparison. Lupicia’s Cookies would have been a good one to add.
Preparation
That’s really interesting. Is it an unflavoured tea then? I haven’t tried any unflavoured ones from TWG.
No, NYB is flavored but on a breakfast base. Lots of cocoa in it! Soooo good!
I might have to pick up a to-go cup to try it. Unfortunately I haven’t been enamoured with their teas yet, but I’m always willing to try another!
Is there a retail shop in your area that sells it by the cup?
I have several other of their teas and none have resonated with me the way NYB does. I wasn’t super impressed by it the first time I had it, but it has grown on me tremendously over the year.
Yes. The TWG store here is called The Urban Tea Merchant.
Oh! That’s where I ordered the bulk of my TWG teas from!
This has been cold steeping in my fridge for a few days now. It has a generic tropical fruit smell where I can’t quite pick out the individual fruits, but it’s not the more common non tropical fruits. I want to say I taste mango, but I also get that alkaline taste that happens for me in pineapple teas. I don’t get any coconut this time. Maybe a little creaminess on the end of the sip. It baffles me which of the Hawaii teas Lupicia decided to keep and which they discontinued. I think this is one that they kept while cutting out Loki Lani, which makes no sense to me. This one really doesn’t come across as anything special.
After eyeing F&M teas online, I finally came across some at William Somoma and picked up a tin! I decided to cold steep this overnight and it turned out quite light. I get a little malt to it, but not nearly as much as I’d expect with a breakfast blend. Adding a little cream to it is nice. It is strange, but now that I read apple is one of the flavors, I can definitely pick it out on the after taste! So far this tea is nice, but not amazing.
This tea is a totally different animal when cold steeped! Much more enjoyable and refreshing. It still has that weird tang that leaves me suspecting stevia like a couple other David’s Teas that have sugar added. The tea is sweet, but has a slight sour tang or pucker to it. I’m still not head over heels about it, but if cold steeped, I can easily finish the rest of this sample.
I’m smelling peaches. It reminds me of Lupicia’s Momoko, but on a black base instead of green. Oh ughck! I steeped it hot, poured it over ice and it tastes disgusting! Does pineapple flavoring go bad? It has this horrid bitter aftertaste followed by this dirt/alkaline taste. I seem to remember some other pineapple tea having the same dirt taste to it. Adding cream makes it better and brings out the vanilla, but there is still underlying yuck. Maybe cold steeping this would be better?
Note to self: try cold steeping
Response to self: Nope, other Dustin, cold steeping was no good either. Time to chuck this tea.
