1908 Tasting Notes
I can totally see this as an iced tea, it’s got that fresh, thirst-quenching quality to it that would be wonderful in hot weather. The flavours are sweet and juicy – a mix of mostly peach but there’s a little bit of citrus tucked in there as well. The white tea base compliments the flavours well by giving the tea structure but not drowning the out the fruity notes.
Preparation
I can’t believe I never reviewed this tea – I’ve been drinking it for months! I suppose now is as good a time as any to fix that.
I’d actually expected this tea to have a bit more bite to it than it actually does given that it has both chili pepper flakes and peppercorns blended in it. But it’s actually fairly mild and the dominant flavour is probably the chocolate which is rich and cocoa-y. It goes quite nicely with milk, but a touch more spice would be my preference.
Preparation
This is from a sample packet from god-knows-when that I dug out of my cupboard this morning. I like the blend of spices that Frank uses in his chais as I find them nicely balance. I taste the same thing with this tea but there’s an added creamy vanilla note that makes it seem decadent. I’m not getting that much cheesecake flavour, but that might be due to the age of the sample rather than any failing on the tea’s part.
Preparation
This is the first time I’ve seen a tea made into little pastilles that you unwrap like a Lifesaver. It has a sweet floral, slightly hay-like scent and it expands into a surprisingly large amount of tea once it’s soaked up a bit of water.
The flavour has a natural light sweetness that actually remind me a bit of certain silver needle white teas I’ve drank, with notes of fresh hay and sweet grass. There’s also a bit of a tart, fruity hint, probably from the goji berries. It’s a bit odd having goji berries steeped in tea, as I usually just munch on them as a snack. Overall the blend is light and sweet enough to be refreshing without being cloying and quite enjoyable to drink.
Preparation
Sip down! I found that as I drank more of this tea I liked it less and less. It’s just too much sour herbal to be my cup of tea (*rimshot *) and while sweetening does improve it somewhat I’ve had better herbal blends that didn’t require a ton of sugar.
Preparation
This tea could easily fool me into thinking it was flavoured. When I opened the pouch I was hit with the aromas of berries and dried fruit. The tea itself is practically bursting with flavour, with a juicy peach or apricot flavour standing out most prominently but there’s also a bit of a wine-like undercurrent. So good!
Preparation
This was a Christmas gift from a coworker (part of a Secret Santa exchange) and it comes from a small local tea shop which I would visit more often if not for the fact that it’s located in a rather rough part of town.
This blend has that nice, nutty, vegetal flavour that you get from pan-fried green teas and the sweet strawberries and slightly tart rosehips compliment it quite nicely. I’m not getting much pepper but otherwise it’s quite a nice blend. It’s not really screaming “Christmas” to me though – actually it seems more like a summer tea – but whatever. ;)
Preparation
This came as a sample with my latest Davids Tea order – I love that they always send so many extra samples because it lets me try teas I wouldn’t otherwise have drank.
The smell of this blend is quite lovely, a spicy mix of ginger and tangy orange. The pu’erh/oolong blend is a bit of an odd combo in my opinion, and I think it was the pu’erh that made the tea smell like meat (yeah, I know) when I added the hot water. The flavour was a bit of a let down, all told, as the base had a leathery, smokey flavour that was a little bit bitter and the ginger made the whole thing came across as medicinal. Mind you, it did soothe my mildly upset stomach quite nicely.
Preparation
Here’s another tea purchased at the Victoria Tea Festival imported via the Dream Tea Boutique (http://dreamteaboutique.com/).
I’m afraid that I don’t know what a quince is supposed to taste like, never having tried one, and I had to resort to Google to find out what a ‘cherimoya’ even was. But regardless I found the flavour of this tea to be very agreeable. It’s tastes light and fruity with a bit of a tropical tang to it – from the pineapple maybe – as well hints of citrus and apples. I like that this tea company offers something different from the usual flavoured black tea fare. I mean what other company can you think of that can say they carry a cherimoya-flavoured tea?