1379 Tasting Notes

82
drank Japanese Spirit by Tealux
1379 tasting notes

Good Morning Steepster-ites! It’s amazing what a good nights sleep, morning shower and 82 calorie juice breakfast can do to a gal. This day is officially the start of D Day, which is diet day for me and not about the Normandy Landings of WWII. Though honestly the beginning of a diet feels like a war, there will be hunger, pain and suffering after all.

This loose leaf looks heavily Kukicha or Stem tea, I can’t see the chamomile, St. John’s Wort or gingko amongst them easily at all. For those that are unfamiliar with Kukicha or Stem tea it is literally the stems of green tea leaves so they are thin, longish and consist of both green and yellow colours.

Whilst still raw it has a sweet and rich grassy scent with a dry herbal background.

Once steeped a darkish yellow liquid is produced that bares a sweet yet oddly savoury scent of grass, herbs and soup broth. Must be an umami appearance. Again if anyone is not familiar with umami it is the fifth taste which is often featured in Japanese teas, it’s savoury and soup like. Some wonderful light reading here if you’re interested in umami. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

Flavour is sweet and thick with savoury umami tones that linger on the tongue, resembling grass, soup broth and flowers. Slightly dry in the after taste though forgiveable. It starts of savoury but sweetens and lightens gradually. For the most part it tastes like a standard Kukicha but there is a touch more herb and flower flavours present, though hard to define what they are without knowing. Also a little toasted, like toasted sweet grass, the more I drink the more this stands out.

It’s a nice blend, since I usually prefer unflavoured teas I find this particularly delightful. Plus I would like to point out the added bonus for both the Kukicha and chamomile being organic. I would say this is nice enough to even buy more of in the future, though as it’s mainly Kukicha tea it would so be a nice introduction to Japanese tea for anyone wishing to try umami.

Flavors: Drying, Herbs, Sweet, Warm Grass, Toasted

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 30 sec 4 tsp 20 OZ / 600 ML
Cameron B.

Sounds amazing. I love kukicha! :)

Fjellrev

I’ve had that kind of experience many times where I think, “Hmm, this must be umami” but am not entirely sure I can only go by definitions and descriptions on the internets.

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82
drank Malted ChocoMaté by 52teas
1379 tasting notes

I’m re-visiting this tea after 8 months as I’ve just found a little bag of it left in my drawer. This is now the last pot of this blend and so I’m serving it with some Italian Pandoro cake. I start my diet soon so the last little bits of Christmas treats need to be used up. I will have a Nutri Ninja juice in the morning, a milkshake for lunch and something small and no more than 500 calories for lunch. Hoping to get fitter for my holiday in a couple of months.

I think my flavoured teas will be greatly admired in this time, especially something as tasty as this one. It’s not chocolate as I know it but the sweetness of it makes it special, that being said it’s still a rather toasted and dark flavoured tea. My previous review still stands so this tea has aged well over the last 8 months.

Going to miss this one though no doubt I will find something in my stash to replace it with.

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74

This is called ‘Instant Tea’ and it claims to have instant black tea amongst it’s ingredients. It must only be a small amount as the crystals look more like sugar or sherbet. It’s sweet and lingers in the air, rather dusty and fine though with a sweet fruit and floral scent. Not hugely familiar with damson plum specifically.

I tried this both warm and cold today though it tasted the same for both drinks. The liquid is a pink/red colour and tastes highly floral and sweet though also light. It isn’t until the after taste that a fruit note dances onto the tongue and even then it’s too sweet for plum. More berry like than plum. Even in taste the instant tea is sherbet like and it has that edge of sour yet sweet sugar crystal type powder in each sip.

I’m not sure, the idea of this is a replacement for cordial and fizzy pop so it was never going to meet my satisfaction as a cup of tea, though even in despite of that it’s rather pleasant. I like that it’s floral and light, though sweet it isn’t too much and it does make a nice treat in the day. Not the greatest tea for my diet though considering the sugar but I will let myself off this time.

In basic terms I think I may purchase more of this in the summer as an aid to tea, mixed with some ice green tea I believe this would make a wonderful summer tea punch.

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86

A tea from the return of the EU TTB round 3.

My husband is a huge fan of peanut butter and it’s one of his favourite foods, as soon as I read the name on this one he picked it to try.

It smells sweet and nutty, rather nice actually, like peanut crackers but with something sweet like marshmallow amongst it. Slightly toasted which must be the genmai.

Once steeped my tea is yellow in colour and bares a toasty genmaicha scent with notable dry nuttiness behind it. Not as nutty though much dryer than expected.

In flavour this starts as a normal genmaicha ie toasty, lightly grassy and dark but it lightens up in the after taste with a sweet and almost gooey marshmallow and butter notes. It works, the blend remains light enough to be pleasant and the two elements of savoury and then sweet compliment each other. I’m not sure why this received such a negative score.

I love genmaicha and I adore subtle sweetness, this has both. It may not be peanut buttery in flavour but the marshmallow sweetness is a wonderful treat. My only complaint is that after half a cup I’m left with a dry mouth.

Very nice, happy I got to try this one. Thank you.

Flavors: Butter, Marshmallow, Nuts, Toasted Rice

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec 5 g 20 OZ / 600 ML

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83

Let me start by saying potato pancakes and applesauce sounds delicious! It’s nothing something I have ever tried or seen but the dynamics of potato + apple is an interesting one.
Albeit rather late on my list since Hanukkah has come and gone but this was a wonderful find in the return of EU TTB Round 3.

Upon steeping this I admit that the cubes of potato were intriguing enough for me to bite into, and it was dry and crumbly but oddly pleasant. The blend as a whole had a gentle yet floral and sweet apple scent. It was also exactly as pictured, but with Butiki it’s a safe bet in terms of quality ingredients.

After the advised 4 minute steep my tea is now a light tan colour and bares an amazing scent mixture of cinnamon, apple and toasted bread or pancakes. Even without knowing the name of this blend that is what I would have thought.

The flavour is warming, savoury yet sweet and very delicious. The white tea dominates with a dry yet generally light floral base with rich cinnamon notes and a soft touch of apple in the after taste. The combination of the dry white, cinnamon and apple gives a toasted bread or pancake like affair, which pretty much matches the scent. The flowers add some sweetness along with the apple and that adds a cream/butter flavour. So on the whole I suppose it does taste like what I imagine potato pancakes and applesauce to taste like. All while keeping in mind that this blend is soft and of medium strength, so nothing offensive or truly dislikeable.

I say this is another blend that Butiki has managed to carry off well. Not a favourite but something I would certainly drink again.

Flavors: Apple, Butter, Cinnamon, Flowers, Toasty

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec 5 g 20 OZ / 600 ML

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81

Scent Notes: The Genmai is strong with this one, it’s very toasted and rice/bread like. All with a grassy and rather fresh green tea to lighten it.

Flavour Notes: It tastes as toasted as it smells and is very savoury. The beans come through for an interesting flavour too. A little dry though not in a bad way. The Matcha is also noticeable in a grassy way. The Sencha adds some sweetness though only a minimal amount due to it’s savoury nature. I would say that fans of GenMaicha should like this one.

For pictures and more information please view my blog entry.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2015/01/02/happy-new-year/

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61
drank Red Sour Cherry by Malwa
1379 tasting notes

It’s all go this morning with the arrival of an engineer that’s going to fit our new boiler. Involves knocking a hole in the wall to fit an extractor fan, not keen on the idea of the whole but nothing I can do about that.

This tea was from my mum for Christmas, another Polish shop find I believe. Sour cherry sounds nice, I don’t do fruit tea often but I do love cherries.

The raw bags smell like natural cherry with a slight herbalness. Sweet yet sour at the same time. Rather nice actually.

Once steeped it’s dark red and has a herbal scent, stronger than it’s raw form, and the cherry is replaced with a sour flowers.

There is no way to delicately dance about with flavour notes….this tastes like hibiscus, pure hibiscus. The wonderful cherry scent has been completely lost in taste and replaced with a sour, tart and dry hibiscus. Even the husband said “This tea’s not great” and he usually doesn’t mind what he drinks. You could argue that it leaves a light cherry after taste but it’s so dry that it’s too hard to tell for certain.

Such a shame, had high hopes for this considering the raw bag smelled so nice. Oh well.

Flavors: Hibiscus

Red Fennekin

It’s always such a shame when the drink doesn’t match up with a really delicious smell :(

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65

For Christmas I got some tea from my parents and this was one of them, I think my mum went to a Polish supermarket to get some of them which I never thought of doing.

Flavour is very mild despite being such a dark red colour. It’s dry with a gentle, sweet yet sour hibiscus and spicy after taste. I suppose it does taste like mulled wine in a way, though it’s too mild. If it was any stronger the hibiscus flavour would be too thick.

I’m not sure with this one, it’s very non offensive since it’s so mild but the fact that it is mild means I can’t taste much overall. I can drink it which is something, so it’s at least average.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Ysaurella

you have Polish supermarkets in the UK ? that’s nice.

KittyLovesTea

Yes we have a lot of them, in Leicester – East Midlands anyway. We have a fairly large Polish community here and in turn lots of Polish supermarkets and shops opened up. My next door neighbours are Polish. I like the chance to see different cultures :)

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100

Late night Chai, my reward for finally clearing away more boxes today. I get my new combi boiler installed on Monday so I need to make space, cost £4000 but should have cheaper bills in the long run. Plus I’m booking a holiday to the Canary Islands next week, picked the place and dates today :D I’ve never been on holiday abroad with my husband, it’s out 12 year anniversary in March so we leave then.

Sorry, just excited. Anyway this tea is called latte and it suggests making it as such, one third water and teabag for at least 3 minutes and then top up with warm and frothy milk. Simple.

I sniffed the bag before I steeped it, it was delicious! It had a pure sweet almond scent with a gentle hint of spice. Mostly sweet over the spice.

In flavour my first words were “Oh My God!” It’s amazing! It tastes sweet and nutty (very almond) but the spices have become more recognizable. So you have sweet almond, light black pepper and cardamom with a cinnamon finish. It tastes like an authentic Chai, the type that they serve in local Indian restaurants. It’s so full of flavour though it’s never too much. I think I’ve found my perfect Chai. I love Chai and have tried many but this is the best, it has everything I love in a Chai and it’s authentic flavour is top notch.

Wow, I was really not expecting to like this one but it blew me away. A new favourite Chai, will have to hoard this as soon as I run out.

Flavors: Almond, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon

Ysaurella

Enjoy your holidays in Spain Kayleigh

KittyLovesTea

Thank you :)

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79

First tea of the day and the first I tried from my Christmas haul. My mother bought me a lot of flavoured tea bags again, I told her before that bags aren’t my thing but she never remembers. Gives me the chance to try something I wouldn’t normally, I suppose. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday.

This bag was pulled out the packet and sniffed, out of habit above all else, but to my surprise it smells amazing! Rich and dark cocoa with roasted hazelnut and gentle spicy finish.

Put into boiling water for roughly 3-4 minutes.
The result is a sour, dark roasted hazelnut tea that matches the smell. Each sip fills the mouth with flavour that remains smooth enough without milk nor sugar. The Assam base adds a nice rich spice to the blend. The downfall of praise is that this tea leaves some dryness in the after taste, and after drinking this I feel I need something else to wet my mouth. Still the flavour was nice and perhaps with milk and sugar it would have eased the dryness, or turned into latte form this would be amazing!

This is what I was talking about, it’s a tea I would never have bought myself but actually enjoyed despite bag form. Best hazelnut tea I have tried.

Flavors: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Spicy

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Profile

Bio

I’m 34 years old from Leicester, England named Kayleigh.

I started off many years ago drinking herbal and fruit teas which over time peaked my interest in trying new types. Eventually I began to import and sample many different teas and cultures which I still do today. My life goal is to try as many teas and ways of having tea as possible.

Tea wise my cravings change constantly from pu erh one month to jasmine green to the next and so on.

I also enjoy watching Japanese Anime and horror films.

I am always up for tea swaps so if you see anything in my virtual cupboard then please contact me.

A short list to help swapping with me easier though honestly I am not fussy and am willing to try anything. Plus the notes below are usually, sometimes I love a tea that has an ingredient I tend to dislike and other times I hate a tea that I thought I would love.

Likes: Any fruit but especially melon and orange, vanilla, all tea types (black, green, white etc), nuts (any), flowers, ginger, chai.

Dislikes: Licorice, aniseed, clove, eucalyptus, lavender.

My rating system
I have my own way of rating teas that makes each one personal. I have different categories, I rate each tea depending on what it is made of. For example: I rate green teas in a different way to black teas or herbal teas. So black, white, green, Pu Erh, Rooibos, Oolong, blends and tisanes all have their own rating system. That way I can compare them with other teas of the same or similar type before for an adequate rating. And when I do give top marks which is very rare I am actually saying that I would love to drink that tea all day, every day if possible. It’s a tea that I would never turn down or not be in the mood for. So while I agree that no tea is 100% perfect (as nothing is) I am saying that it’s as close as it comes to it. After all, in my book the perfect teas (or close to perfect anyway) are ones that I could drink all the time. That is why you will find a high quality black or Oolong will not have as high a score as a cheap flavoured blend, they are simply not being compared in the same category.

Location

Leicester, England, United Kingdom

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