2108 Tasting Notes
ADVENT DAY 19, tea 3/3
Hmm, an oolong. Alishan oolong.
Gaiwan time again; so 5 grams / 125 ml and boiling water.
So yes, gongfu with rather longer steeps… first three were 60/40/70 seconds long and then I just steeped it as long as I thought it is just right.
Definitely it is a floral bomb, lilacs and orchids… and in flavour a very mild, slightly green oolong notes (grass and meadows) and as well as some milkiness.
I believe I had better oolongs, but this is a very fine example for daily drinking. Or, maybe rather, a no fuss drinking. I have no comparation if it is not too expensive for that, though.
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 19, tea 2/3
I was a little bit losing my temper today, indeed. So this tea comes in time. You know, holidays shopping, chores, just a little bit of everything…
As of tea, it is pretty standard herbal blend; without any distinctive notes; just fine and not annoying in any way. Even when steeped longer than expected.
Drank lukewarm and it was fine.
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 18, tea 3/3
I am still behind. I am glad I finished the day though; there was rarely time for 2 cups. But I managed it.
This tea looks visually very nice. Lots of golden needles, some black ones and smells wonderfully. I regret I didn’t had time to brew it at work (on time), because I believe, based on my experience today with western brewing; that it could survive grandpa brewing.
Today late afternoon/early evening sessions were wonderful and I am glad I had two.
I couldn’t point out the aroma when sniffing first steep, I thought about honey but my brother disagreed. But it was familiar and so cozy.
When sipped, there were lots of flavours and I am not able to pin them all. But wihout any more ado, here are a few that comes to mind when drinking second steep: bread, freshly baked bread or bread crust; yams; malt; cocoa and chocolate — that goes well to the coconut balls we were making; a little of spicy notes, and again, I do notice that honey-ish note, especially when a little colder.
High chances to buy a bigger pouch of this.
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 18, tea 2/3
This sounded so good in theory, but sadly it doesn’t go well in practice. Smells wonderfully though!
I wonder what went wrong with this; it contains lots of cinnamon… but too little of orange. It was mild non-specific fruit tea; probably because used hibiscus and apples a bit too much and just a little.. too little of orange peels and oil.
And there could be more of the clove — though I know many of you will disagree.
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 18, tea 1/3
Whoa, those days were intensive! Two days ago I met my best friend and we had a few beers. I took that day all 3 teas to the office, but I was glad I could drink at least this one. There was no time for other two. And yesterday? Again, a very busy day… and as I returned late the day before yesterday; I didn’t took any tea with me. And I had another gathering with co-workers (different group I work with); so… I didn’t drank any advent tea that day.
And now I am sitting here, writing about a tea I had two days ago and I remember it. Was it because it was good? Or it has been that bad? Read and make your own opinion.
Well, I have to start with disclaimer that I have no experience with candy canes. But I am afraid they shouldn’t be like this tea.
The base tea was mediocre, probably just Ceylon; as it was quite “normal and flat” tasting. There were some cocoa notes, though I don’t recall seeing any nibs in the sachet. And it was quite sweet, but that’s fine, candy cane probably is sweet. But I assume it doesn’t have artificial menthol taste and mostly aftertaste; which was… like a toothpaste. Sadly that aftertaste ruined it to me by quite a lot. I don’t like this in my tea.
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 17, tea 3/3
Yes, a relaxing blend. How welcomed today!
Doesn’t taste anyhow special… herbaceuous notes with hints of lemon from different sources and hints of floral notes thanks to elderflowers.
Nice and mellow, enjoyable especially warming up in the bath.
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 17, tea 2/3
Gongfu, 3 grams / 100 ml (not filling full gaiwan) / 90°C (as suggested)
Nice and grassy sencha, with no seaweed, buttery or salty taste; instead I got nice meadow and freshly cut grass notes.
I wasn’t paying too much attention to the steeps, so some were good, some worse and one or two were truly exceptional with very long mouthfeel and nice flavour and aromas. In those exceptional steeps are definitely also notes of mountain and morning dew (no matter how lyrical this sounds) and to be honest, maybe I just didn’t noticed or it’s not there… there was no umami (or very low).
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 17, tea 1/3
Tasting note #2000
More or less similar to Scottish breakfast blend, but milder and more malty. Also very strong in caffeine, robust and strong tea. Less of the woody flavours. Tasty overall, but somehow I prefer the Scottish. Maybe because it tastes just stronger, maybe it actually is… maybe I didn’t liked Ceylon here enough?
Preparation
ADVENT DAY 16, tea 3/3
I intended to try this tea after the second one, as they seemed to have a similar flavor profile.
While they are indeed similar, this one is more hibiscus-forward, perhaps due to the longer steeping time. Instead of the prominent cinnamon notes in the previous tea, I detected more cloves here. Unfortunately, I missed the apple notes that were present in the first tea, and there were no noticeable crumble notes in either. It seems this blend hasn’t changed much since Kelmishka tried it two years ago.
