1301 Tasting Notes
The loose leaf version of this was in my 2016 Happy Bag. I’ve been drinking loose leaf at the office much more often since my office mate got me a steeper mug for Hannukah. I just use the water cooler hot water. I don’t know what temperature it is but it’s hot enough to provide for a decent brew. It’s also cool enough that I can generally get more steps than usual out of the leaf. In this case, I got four good steeps outs of the blend. Each one was grassy and candy sweet but not cloying. This is a nice substitute when I’m craving bubble tea. It’s also interesting enough that I can savor it but not so phenomenal as to distract from my work.
I’ve reviewed this tea before, but it’s been over a year so I am giving it another go. The fragrance of the leaves (both wet and dry) hasn’t mellowed with age. It’s still bold, baked, slightly smoky, hearty bread. The flavor has faded slightly, which is to be expected. The heavy Russian bread and manuka honey notes have given way to a slightly smoky sweet potato taste. The orange brew goes down smooth with a very slight astringency after the sip.
Teavivre’s website says that this is a low-caffeine tea, which is fairly unusual for a black tea but I believe it. I’m not supposed to have caffeine late in the day but I had a gong fu session with this tea last night and still slept ok. It does make my stomach hurt a teeny bit, which most black teas do to me, but if I eat first it is ok. I am having another gong fu session with it now. I started before eating (bad idea) but it complements my Chinese delivery nicely (American Chinese food, not the real stuff).
Thanks to Teavivre for the sample!
backlog
I suspect that every restaurant and spa at every MGM property in Las Vegas carries this as their jasmine green tea. At least that was the case at every place I went to when I visited, which was about 6 different restaurants and a spa across 3 properties. Ok, so that’s a relatively small sample size, but I was surprised by the consistency across locations and fanciness of establishment. The company website only lists this as being available in loose leaf and teabags but I’m pretty sure that I had it in pyramid sachets. I don’t want to rate it because steeping parameters were out of my control. This is a pretty solid blend though. Not the most amazing but far from the worst. Just a nice, middle of the road jasmine that’s hard to mess up. It’s not cloying or artificial tasting at all, and the base is pleasantly light.
Wah, I’m home sick! Thankfully, I picked up some of this lovely loose ginger when Phi and I went to the Spice & Tea Exchange last weekend. I have been alternating it with H & S’s pyramid-bagged ginger tea and Trader Joe’s Gingerly Turmeric blend. The blends are nice, but there’s something about the punch of straight ginger that really cuts through the unpleasant symptoms of a cold. It reminds me of Breezy Morning’s West Indian Ginger Root, which I try to keep on hand at the office because it comes in convenient teabags. This loose version pleases me more though – the pieces are big enough that I can get multiple steeps out of one serving.
Woefully, this is a sipdown. It’s probably a year old at this point and the flavors have certainly mellowed with age. In my last tasting note, I said this blend reminded me of raspberry thumbprint cookies. The flavor is much less specific now; the raspberry is more generic juicy berry and the cashew cookiness is a general nuttiness. This blend is still delicious and I got a solid three steeps out of it, but it’s a good thing I have finished it off before the flavors faded further.
Mmm. This blend seems just right for a snow storm. I like it with a healthy dash of rice milk. It adds a slight sweetness and creaminess that complements the caramel and milk chocolate notes beautifully. I’m not really getting any nuttiness but that’s fine by me.
Happy birthday to me! I’m celebrating by only drinking teas I love. This was one of my favorite Butikis (I miss you, Stacy!). The flavor is starting to fade so I overleaf to compensate. It’s still creamy, sweet, pumpkiny goodness. I have one cup’s worth after this, but I feel like it’s time to make some sipdown progress on these teas while they’re still tasty.
Also, I haven’t posted in a while so Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a joyous holiday season and wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous year.
