4843 Tasting Notes
Brewed my second infusion of these leaves. I actually brought the water to a boil this time as I wasn’t standing over the kettle to monitor it, so I allowed the tea to cool a bit before adding it to the leaves (I generally will pour the boiling water into a cool teapot, and wait a minute, and I find that this cools the water enough to add to this greener Oolong).
The flavor of the second infusion is very much like the first. Perhaps a little more vegetative quality.
I don’t sweeten this tea – doesn’t need it! Save the sweetener for flavored teas! This one is perfect!
Preparation
My daily cup of Oolong. I love this!
I just submitted my review of this tea for the Tea Review Blog, although I don’t know when it will be published. The flavor is much like a green tea – fresh and bright, but with delightful, sweet buttery notes as well. Lovely mouthfeel.
I think that this just might be my favorite tea from Narien that I’ve tried thus far.
Preparation
I wrote a review for this tea which appears at the Tea Review Blog (http://www.teareviewblog.com). I am really enjoying this tea. Right now, my favorite way to drink it – and the way I’m drinking it now – is with a bit of raw sugar and the tiniest pinch of salt.
No, I don’t ordinarily add a pinch of salt to my tea, but, with this tea, it seems to bring out the flavor of the cashew nicely as well as cuts through some of the sweeter notes of the white chocolate. I like white chocolate, but I sometimes find it just a bit too sweet.
Overall a very nice flavored black tea.
Preparation
Cashew and salt I can see… Chocolate and salt…
actually, I like the combination of chocolate and salt – and especially caramel and salt! I didn’t think I would like it the first time I tried it (It’s been years since I first tried the combination) but now, I actually find myself looking for salted caramels and chocolates.
I don’t consider white chocolate overly sweet though… actually kinda savory since it’s a butter. Doesn’t the sugar and the salt just cancel each other out?
Not really. In this particular case, the tea remains sweet, but just not too sweet. The salt isn’t really a discernible “flavor” in the cup, it just gives a proper accent to the flavors – the cashew tastes a bit more like a cashew, and the sweeter nature of the white chocolate is a bit less so, but, somehow still tastes a bit MORE like white chocolate.
No, I find that the combination actually enhances each element. I love sweet and salty foods—like kettle corn popcorn, seal salt caramels, salt water taffy…they’re all yummy!
SALT! I’ve never even thought about adding that to a tea! But now I’ve gotta try it.
< Ditto Stephanie
< Ditto Erin
52teas smoky bacon needs salt… I wish it’d come w/ it already in.
As someone who has blended/flavored teas for eight years, I will offer this: Salt is a difficult thing to add to a blend. I’m not saying it can’t be done, of course. But the problem is that the salt would settle to the bottom of the package and would not be evenly dispersed throughout, resulting in a very inconsistent tea, with some infusions being way too salty, and some not being salty enough (or at all). Also, since salt is sort of a personal thing (much like sugar), perhaps it is better that it is left to the individual to decide if they wish to add it.
LiberTEAS, I can totally understand that- but couldn’t there just be a note on the package to shake to disperse the ingredients much like chai?
Yes, there could. I haven’t yet tried the smoky bacon, although I did try their maple bacon which I really liked. Is it really smoky? I’m not a big fan of lapsang souchong (one of the only teas that I’ve actually THROWN OUT in my life because I couldn’t bear the scent of it).
It’s more beef jerky-ish vs. bacony where I think regular lapsang souchong is more campfire-y. The only way I can drink it is w/ southern comfort or breakfast food.
Thanks. I think I can easily forgo the purchase of it then. Some months ago (before 52 Teas came out with the Maple Bacon) my husband had been pushing me to come up with a bacon flavored tea, so I actually have some Lapsang Souchong on hand that I had planned on using to create a bacon blend, but, I never did use it. I hate throwing tea away. I will probably send it to the Tea Guru, I think she likes it.
