Dustin Send Message

I am on a roll today! This is the second tea that I have over steeped and ended up with astringency. It tastes fruity, but I’m not picking out cherries as the fruit. It seems more like a blend of fruits to me. There are little green leaves almost like dried rosemary in it and I’m not sure what they are. I have been dipping almond biscotti from Trader Joe’s in this tea and it is so delicious. Sweetening it up and adding milk mellows out the astringency and makes it enjoyable again without the need for cookie masking. I’m really glad to have this as a decaf version for the evenings, but I’d like to try the caffeinated version at some point to compare the two.

I have had this before and enjoyed it, but today I did something wrong and had an astringent toffee flavored cup of tea. The directions say 4-5 minutes and I choose 4. It is black tea so I used boiling water, but it was not a good combo. Second steeping wasn’t very tasty. I’ll have to play around to figure out what I did to get a good cup in the past.

Day 10 of the advent calendar.
Smells like more citrus. Taste a little like mango. It is very light on the sip, but has an almost dirt like after taste. I give it a meh.

The pearls seem like such a novel way to form tea. It smells nice and jasmine like when dry and the smell once brewed is the same, but the taste is a little lighter than I expected. It is a nice clean jasmine taste with the leaves tasting a little buttery at the end and no bite like some jasmine, but it lacks the strength that I prefer in my jasmine teas. Still, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it. I might try a heavier leafing next time and see how that goes. I’m a little unsure of how many pearls to use for a cup.

This has been sitting around for a while, so it has that not going for it. It is mostly cacao pieces with some cloves and stuff tossed in. The first sip was sharp and clovey, but it did mellow out a little. The aftertaste is a little sharp on the spices. Better with milk and sugar. It tastes a little stale in a way I can’t pinpoint. Meh. Must be why it’s been lying around for so long.

I love this tea. This is the first tea I fell in love with at Teavana and the one that alerted me to the nasty fact that they discontinue tea. My heart broke. I have been hoarding my meager stash ever since, unable to truly say goodbye. I want to keep it around so I have it to compare to other teas that I think may be a match, but sadly I haven’t found one. Tonight is NYE, so I decided to make a cup instead of letting it go bad sitting in my cupboard forever.

It has this faint but heavy coffee like scent to it. I think I can pick out the almond, but the orange peel is hard to pick out. My favorite way to have it is with cream and sugar. It doesn’t exactly taste like the tiramisu dessert to me. It has hints of it, but I think I’d be disappointed if I was looking for a match with the dessert. It isn’t quite as delicious as the pedestal I have put it on in my mind, but it is close even after aging for a couple of years. Someone else noted that it tastes similar to Teavana’s My Morning Mate, and I’d have to agree that it has similarities but isn’t an exact match. I get only the slightest rooibos dry mouth after drinking it. If they ever decide to bring this tea back it would be a dream come true and I’d buy enough to fill a tub and roll around in it. Not even joking.

I remember this tea smelling really good when I bought it, which is why I bought it, but it has been sitting in my cupboard for a while and has lost some umph. I don’t think I ever ended up being overly fond of it which is why it has hung around and this cup is no exception. Yeah there is a little bit of cocoa flavor, but anything else is totally derailed by the tart part on the sides of my tongue. This one does not do it for me at all. It is going to go in a reject/get rid of it pile.

I got side tracked while steeping and was worried I let it go for too long. Not a nice way to introduce myself to a new tea. The first sip was a little harsh, but it mellowed out quickly. I used Teavana’s rock sugar to sweeten it and that stuff takes a while to dissolve. Sugar really changed this tea for me and brought out the creaminess while making the pistachio stand out more. The base is really smooth, like most Butiki blends. So far I really like it, but I think it could be better with some adjustment of steeping time. So…
To Be Continued!

Day 8 of the advent calendar.
I was a little worried watching this brew because the water started turning pink… hibiscus. It smells nice and lemony when dry, but once brewed I’m getting an odd smell. Candied orange peels like you get in Asian grocery stores, which is coming through in the taste as well. There is some lemon taste, certainly not an atomic level and I get that hibiscus bite too. It isn’t over the top hibiscus, but it isn’t really a back ground or supporting roll (the only way I can stand it) either. The aftertaste is kind of dirty and dry. I recently read a tasting note where someone described a tea tasting like burnt ash and this tea makes me think of that. Definitely an ashy taste here. Well, time to toss the cup and pick a different tea!

I have had this tea several times now and have tried different temps and steeping times, but I just can’t seem to get the hang of it. It is okay, but I am not getting amazing. I can taste a little chocolate and a little strawberry if I sweeten it. And there is that dry mouth feeling like I get with rooibos after each sip. I think I need to face the fact that this tea is not for me and move on. :(