292 Tasting Notes

I’m not going to rate this one because it is an old sampler, and I think it lost some of its flavor from sitting.

The peppermint is not as strong anymore, but it is pleasant with what I have. I added a touch of milk because of the creaminess of the oolong just to taste test and I like the silkiness of the addition after a few sips of it without any additives.

I do enjoy this one as a pleasant cup. Sipping this while watching the show, “The Jury Speaks”, which is interesting and something I’ll continue watching.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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77

by Palais des Thés Advent – Day 3

I feel silly, but happened to notice today that when you open each Advent box, there is an inspiring quote for the day. Now that I know that, I went back and read the other days I missed previously lol.

I wasn’t sure at first if this was a green tea because of the packaging, but was able to figure out from the back of the box it’s herbal. They list the main base ingredients on the packet but not all the ingredients, which is unusual. I did a full boil with 7 minutes steep for herbal, although perhaps should have done longer.

The smell dry is bright and lemon-grass filled, which I love. Steeped it is very light. I get the lemongrass but not too strong. I added a cube of sugar to see if that helped, and it does bring out more of the flavors.

The flavor profile is very good. -- I love Ginger and Lemongrass combos. That said, my favorite of this blend is a green tea base. I think this would be much better to have some tea added to it. Since this is strictly an herbal base without the tea to back it up, it comes across a little soft without enhancing with some sweetener. Steeping longer may have helped, but I took a gamble with 7 min being a safe bet.

If you want a pure herbal base tea and like lemon, this one is pretty good one, although not the best I’ve tried. Oddly I’m not finding much carrot, but that is mild anyway as an added ingredient. The ginger is kept at 5% they say, so it is not enough of it to give that ginger bite-spice

Flavors: Lemongrass

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 4 OZ / 118 ML

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80

Sipdown of this one.

It’s bizarre tea can taste so different with different steepings. When I first had this, it was overwhelming in cherry cough syrup flavor. Perhaps age has mellowed it. Now the smoke comes out, but it’s more of a cigar type smoke than a campfire lapsang type smoke. The ending pot of this one was much more pleasant and cozy.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 7 OZ / 207 ML

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61

Day 2 – Adagio Advent 2021 Calendar

I had this years ago apparently and rated it 41 back then. Not my type of tea. The smell is very strong before brewing, but the taste is fortunately less artificial and fake when you’re actually sipping it.

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89
drank Big Ben by Palais des Thés
292 tasting notes

Palais des Thés Advent Calendar – Day 2

Loving this tea. It is such a good black tea heavy on Yunnan, no bitterness, complements sweetness, absolutely adore it. May be a little light for a strong black morning tea but for me it’s very pleasant and enjoyable. I don’t like overly heavy english breakfast that has bitterness or hard astringency, so for me it works well.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 4 OZ / 118 ML

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82

Bought a bag of this on Black Friday.

Very good! I did the recommended steep of three minutes. At first I felt an almost bitterness until it cooled and can tell I wouldn’t care for it if brewed longer. Now I’m thinking the bitterness I sense looming if oversteeped may be actually the stronger rind of the strawberry.

You definitely get a strawberry jam pucker. After the black tea and strawberries as the main note, there are blueberries (I don’t taste them), cranberries (this may be causing some of the almost bitterness now that I think about it), then raspberry leaves, hibiscus flowers, rose, and natural fruit flavors

I did with a cube of sugar. This helps dilutes the fruit pucker. Very nice and strong dessert tea that I may try sweetening even further next time. I don’t think it would be that good iced but makes a good hot tea. Would be a good tea for toast or biscuits with jam

The smell is great and strawberry, and the name fun and clever!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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75

Day 1 of Advent Calendar for Palais des Thés

The “satchets” of these are adorable. Thick thread with muslim type instead of paper. Impressive smell.

I was not sure what to think as it describes as Green tea with almond and roasted rice. I expected an earthy, roasted rice type green tea. Instead I got a fall vibe with cinnamon and warmth. Surprising enough I had to look on the back of the bag for full ingredients, which again just adds green tea, almond, and roasted rice.

On the back of advent box, however, it starts listing other ingredients of Cinnamon, cocoa husk, chicory root roasted, orange peel

The cinnamon is very strong – and very good – in this one. I can taste mainly it with a slightly breeze of the orange to enhance. It’s not artificial. It is candy spice type but done in the right doses well. The tea base part is surprisingly weak in the backdrop, though. I enjoyed sipping on this one, but it wasn’t full in the flavors of the tea or any earthiness.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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59
drank Pumpkin Spice by Adagio Teas
292 tasting notes

Day 1 of 2021 Adagio Advent Calendar

I bought last year’s calendar when I went to buy a bag of the recommended Reindeer fuel and it was so cheap and there was a discount.

I haven’t had new Adagio samples for years, so this is a good way to sample.

Not sure why they chose Pumpkin Spice as the first day of Christmas Advent – maybe saying goodbye to fall?

Either way, the clove smell was so strong on this one dry that I thought at first it had menthol and had to check the ingredients.

The tea is okay but milder, the clove is the only thing I really taste. Perhaps some added spice but it’s hard to tell. No pumpkin found in here by my palette. :(

Flavors: Clove

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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85

I love fall and fall flavors, but many of them end up a disappointment. I tried this one after clocking out of work and relaxing on the porch with my Kindle Fire and playing some of the very addicting Homescapes game. Brewed a large TB in 6 oz in a tea pot to keep moving in my cup.

Many maple blends and fall blend come across too spicy – this one lists cinnamon and that is clear right away, but it’s not an artificial or candy type cinnamon. There is not pepper in this blend, and it’s a very good blend of spice that is subtle but not distracting. The Maple was at first a little subtle although the strongest note, but got stronger and sweeter the more I drank. Just for kicks, added a touch of Maple Syrup to enhance.

I did steep at first at 3 minutes but that’s a bit too weak. I recommend up to 5 with this one re-added for another few minutes while sipping and that strengthened.

It said to brew at 212, but I did the “oolong” setting on my electric kettle since it is an oolong tea. Will try at 212 later to see if there is a difference.

Very good and very “fall” feeling. Another winner so far from trying from this company.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML
Nattie

Forever searching for a replacement for Maple Pecan Oolong, so this one got me excited. Added it to the wishlist.

Lupiressmoon

Nattie, I am in no way an expert so hopefully you enjoy this one based off my recommendation!

Nattie

Fingers crossed!

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90

This was my first sampler of this company based on a recent semi-large order. I am a big smoked tea fan, and have become very much a fan of earl greys the past two years.

The website does not list all the ingredients, but according to the package it is: Lapsang Souchong, Keenum, Yunnan, Bergamont Flavoring, and White tea. Updated the listed on Steepster.

I tried it yesterday first but the pairing of food was a disaster. I enjoy eating cheeses and sometimes crackers with cheese, I find that they compliment tea without altering the flavors, probably because of the creaminess of the cheeses and sometimes the buttery crackers. My mom gifted me with a ghouda cheese with pepper, and I dug into both at the same time. A mistake. This ghouda cheese had chilies (???), so the pepper in this case did not make me trust the sampler as it was too spicy. I got the smoke, but was thinking the cheese was overpowering any earl grey.

So, today, second sampler. 6 oz water with 1 tbsp and I kept the brew at the recommendation of 4 minutes. This is a STRONG tea. It is only for Smoke fans. It is not “mild smokiness”. The Lapsang is the predominant tea certainly. The last ingredient listed is white tea, which I don’t get, unless they use to soften or that is how they add in the Earl Grey.

Speaking of which, the earl grey part is very small. I sense it today but it is more of the last note of the sips, and not the main when first drinking. It is smoke, then pleasant and smooth black tea, then some mild earl grey.

Very enjoyed! Would go great on evenings with porch reading, a cozy blanket, and non-spicy sharp cheddar :D

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML
Cameron B.

Reading this just made me want cheese lol!

Also, I really love Lupicia’s Earl Grey Grand Classic if you ever want a more subtly smoky Earl Grey. :)

Lupiressmoon

Haha happy to spread around the cheese cravings :D
And thanks for the recommendation of another to try

Nattie

Ooooh that cheese sounds good! Now I wanna eat cheese paired with a Lapsang. The idea of a smoky EG is intriguing to me, but the Keemun puts me off since I’m not a big fan. What an unusual blend!

Lupiressmoon

Nattie, it is definitely a strong tea and I enjoyed it :)

And yes, cheese and strong teas are so perfect together for me, especially the smoky teas

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Profile

Bio

I have a drink obsession in general – daily lattes and coffees, and of course teas of many varieties. I mainly drink hot tea in Florida, but still enjoy the occasional southern sweet iced.

My preference is black tea, although I’m open to trial and error with others. I like the old fashioned English style tea cups, tea parties, food pair-ups, mini desserts and pies, cubes of sugar, small collection of Rose Red tea pets, you get the idea. I will always have an old fashioned tea kettle on the stove, but have recently purchased an electric tea kettle that I absolutely adore. I’m lazy by nature, so I have switched to stuffing tea bags for the loose teas to save on clean-up and disposal with other strainers.

I love smokey teas, non-bitter, not overly astringent, strong tea background mixed with flavored teas, no artificial sweetener tastes, balanced florals IF there must be a floral. I used to love spice, but it has to be done right. A former chai fan – now it reminds me of colored pencils. Cinnamon sounds good but so many teas have it artificial or odd tasting. Same goes for chocolate, some things have to be done just right to work.

Primary Tea Companies currently in 2022 – Harney and Sons, August Uncommon, Simpson & Vail, Fusion, Tea Spot, English Tea Store for odds and ends, The Tea Table

Most missed tea place and tea: Plum Brandy Cheesecake by Butiki

Very picky with anything Roobios, and Darjeeling/Oolong are hit or miss depending on the blend and my taste buds. Mint works in a mood but I’m not a big fan. Gravitate toward good name blends and fall themes when doing yet more sampler orders.

I like adding a cube of sugar to almost all teas, not usually milks. I don’t like stevia or any artificial sweetener taste. I adore honey, but to me it doesn’t suit tea unless I have a sore throat as both the tea and the honey change their flavor profile quite a bit if I mix them.

Location

Lakeland, Florida, United States

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