1291 Tasting Notes
Chocolate! This actually has chocolate chips in it, which is a bit gimmicky but I like it. The color is definitely chocolate-y, and it smells like dark chocolate. Tastes chocolate-y too. Kind of like thin hot cocoa. I don’t know whether it’s really this good or I’m just projecting my desire for a good chocolate tea. Either way, yum!
Short tasting notes are better than none.
I like this tea. The orange and cinnamon dominate. Before looking at the ingredients list I thought there was clove in this. I guess that’s the cinnamon + licorice taste? At any rate, this was tasty and a nice complement to dinner. Thanks to oOTeaOo for the swap!
The dry leaves of this smell wonderful. Tropical, in fact. It smells heavily of dried mango, even though there’s no actual mango in this. It has some nice overtones of vanilla. The brewed tea loses the mango smell entirely and goes straight to cherry. It’s creamy, even without milk. Unfortunately, I just learned that I don’t like cherry-flavored tea (which shouldn’t be all that surprising, since I don’t really like cherries…). Blah. Into the swap pile with you!
Preparation
Wow, there are so many tasting notes already! And so many of them come from swaps that I’m starting to wonder whether only three people actually bought the tea and then it got passed around to everyone else. I too got this in a swap. Thanks moraiwe!
The dry leaves smell lovely, but the scent is so strong that they have to be sequestered in their own jar away from the other teas. The brewed tea is so dark that it looks like raw apple cider. It just straight up smells like bread. I can’t think of a more accurate description. Thick, warm, yeasty… I have no idea how they did it, but ATC made a tea that truly lives up to its name. It does get a little bitter as it cools, which I’m not too happy about, but I think the lesson here is to drink it right away!
I can’t usually drink black tea, so this won’t make it onto my shopping list. But I do highly recommend it for anyone looking for a good breakfast tea that makes it easier to skip your morning pastry. Or, if you’re the type of person who can still sleep after drinking black tea, this would make a great nightcap.
Preparation
The weather was finally nice enough to have a cuppa and I finally had a little time at work to write up a tasting note. Imagine my consternation when I discovered that the dilapidated old browser on my work computer isn’t capable of running the “write tasting note” feature. Bah!
So this is a somewhat belated tasting note, but I feel that I must write it or else Internet Explorer 1782 wins.
I quite enjoyed this tea though! I haven’t got a whole lot to add to my prior note. I drank it after only steeping for about 4 minutes, at which point it was still tasty but not as well balanced as when you really let it sit. The sage aroma and flavor are very strong and soothing. I really wanted to add some honey to it, though, to round it out a bit. Overall, good for a quick fix during a busy workday.
I was picking out a tea when the skies blessedly split open and gave us some rain to end this miserable heat wave. This tea seemed apt. Thanks to Shelley_Lorraine for the sample! The dry leaves have a vegetal smell with a hint of sweetness. The pale yellow brew is vegetal and smoky, with a dry mouthfeel. That’s about all I have to say – I’m out of the habit of writing detailed tasting notes, but I’ll get back into it eventually.
Addendum: The second brewing is very buttery and a little tangy, with a tart aftertaste. Yummy.
Preparation
Mmm. I used more tea and brewed longer this time. Definitely an improvement. The flavor up front is spicy – black pepper and clove. The flavor on the back end is all honey and cinnamon. But the middle of the sip is somehow just watery. I still can’t find a good way to articulate it. There’s simultaneously an abundance of flavor and lack of depth. I’ve only got enough of this stuff left for one more cup… I swear, next time I’ll remember to make this with apple cider!
Steepster, I’ve missed you! The past few months have been pretty busy with travel and starting a new job, but it’s good to be back.
I needed a good, uncaffeinated tea for my return. After 20 minutes of ransacking my stash to find this tea, it mostly tastes like victory! A bittersweet victory, though, since this is a sipdown and I won’t be getting more any time soon. It’s still one of my favorite bedtime teas, grassy and soothing. I’m sad to see it go.
